John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 11:16-17

"Jehovah called thy name, A green olive-tree, fair with goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken. For Jehovah of hosts, who planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have wrought for themselves in provoking me to anger by offering incense unto Baal." — Jeremiah 11:16-17 (ASV)

The Prophet says first that the Jews had indeed been for a time like a fruitful and beautiful olive; then he adds, that this beauty would not prevent God from breaking its branches and entirely eradicating it. He afterward confirms this declaration, and says, For God who had planted it, can also root it up whenever it pleases Him. This is the meaning of the two verses.

The Prophet no doubt here derides the vain confidence by which he knew the Jews were deceived, for they were so intoxicated with their privileges that they dared to despise the very Giver of them. Hence the Prophet thus addressed them, “Do you think that so many vices will be unpunished? You omit nothing to kindle God’s wrath against you—you have polluted His Temple, you have corrupted the whole of Divine worship, you have despised the law; and can you think that the Lord will perpetually spare you?”

But when the prophets thus assailed them, they had this answer: “What! Will God leave His own Temple, concerning which He has sworn, This is my rest for ever? Is not this the Holy Land? And is not this also His heritage and His rest? And further, are we not His flock? Are we not His children? Are we not a holy people?”

What then the Jews were accustomed arrogantly to claim, the Prophet concedes to them. “So,” he says, “you are a green olive, a beautiful and tall olive, a fruitful olive; all this I grant; but cannot God kindle a fire to burn the branches and to reduce to nothing the whole tree?” We now then understand the purpose of the Prophet.

But the next verse must be joined, For Jehovah of hosts, who has planted you, etc.; as though he had said, “Your beauty and whatever is valuable in you, is it from yourselves? Surely, all your dignity and excellence have proceeded from the gratuitous kindness of God. Know then that nothing comes from you, but from God and from His good pleasure. Then Jehovah, who has planted you, can, when He pleases, pull up by the roots a tree which He has Himself planted.”

He says that it was a green olive, beautiful in fruit and form. How so? Because God had favored them with much honor. This comparison is found in many other places, but yet it is varied in its meaning. It might indeed with regard to God’s dealings be applied to the whole people; but as hypocrites deserved to be spoiled and stripped of their privileges, so that which was offered to all in common could only be truly applied to the faithful, according to what David says,

I am a fruitful olive in the house of God (Psalms 52:8).

He then no doubt separated himself from hypocrites, as though he had said, “Even hypocrites seek to have a place in God’s Temple, and are, as it were, tall trees, but they are unfruitful: I will then be a green olive in the house of God; but they will wither.” But the Prophet, as I have said, compares the Jews to a green olive on account of their adoption and the free favor shown to them, for God had raised them to a high state of excellence and honor.

But after having thus spoken by way of concession, he then adds, At the sound of a great tumult, or of a great word, he will kindle his fire upon it, and broken shall be its branches. Some, as I have said, render the last clause, “and they have broken its branches.” As to what is intended, there is nothing doubtful; but if we take the verb in an active sense, something must be understood, that is, that enemies, who will be like fire, shall break its branches.

Then follows what I have said to be a confirmation—that Jehovah, who had planted it, had spoken of or pronounced an evil, or a calamity against it. He thus shows that there was no reason for them to trust in their present beauty, for they did not have it from themselves, but possessed it only at the will of another; for God who had planted them, could also destroy them. But on this subject more will be said.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as You have deigned to gather us into Your Church, we may never turn aside in the least from the purity of Your worship, but always regard what pleases You, and learn to direct our doings and our thoughts in obedience to Your truth, and worship You so purely both in spirit and in external forms, that Your name may be glorified by us. May we especially retain that purity which You everywhere commend to us, so that we may be indeed the members of Your only begotten Son. And as He has sanctified Himself on our account, may we also through His Spirit be made partakers of the same sanctification, until He at length will gather us into His celestial kingdom, which He has obtained for us by His own blood. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

We mentioned yesterday why the Prophet reminded the Jews that they had been planted by God; it was so that they might know that they did not stand through their own power, and that they had their roots elsewhere, even in the good pleasure of God.

The meaning of the whole is that whenever God pleased, they would instantly perish, for they did not stand through their own power, but only through His favor. This is what He confirms elsewhere, by comparing God to a potter and the people to vessels of clay.

Similar is the argument which Quintilian quotes from the Medea of Ovid, “I was able to save you, and do you ask whether I can destroy you?” As then the Jews, relying on their long tranquility and on their forces, thought themselves beyond the reach of danger, the Prophet ridicules this confidence. He shows how vain it was, for God had planted them, and so He could easily root them up again.

But this metaphor is very common in Scripture. Yet the comparison is more suitable when the Church is said to have been planted by God; for as a tree draws juice and strength from a hidden root, so the faithful draw their life from the hidden election of God. But this refers to the hope of eternal life. The same is meant by Christ in Matthew 15:13, when He says,

“Every planting,” that is, every tree, “which My Father has not planted shall be rooted up.”

He then says that the elect alone are planted by God, for they have their roots in the hidden life of God. But this is also extended much farther, even to the external state of the Church, according to what is said in Psalm 44:2,

You have rooted out the nations, and planted our fathers;

as we find also in Psalm 80 and in other places. As God then plants His own elect, so also in gathering an external Church to Himself, He is said to plant it. But those who are thus planted may be again rooted up, as the Prophet here testifies, while secret election cannot be changed.

We must then observe this difference—that God’s children have their roots in His eternal election, respecting which there can be no repentance and no change. But the external state of the Church is also compared to a planting. Yet those who flourish for a time and are full of leaves and seem also to produce some fruit, are rooted up by God’s hand when they become degenerate. And this mode of speaking is to be taken sometimes still more generally, according to what we will see in the next chapter, and also in other parts of Scripture.

The Prophet says that God had spoken concerning the wickedness of Israel. This refers to what had been taught, for though the Jews had already in part felt the just judgment of God, yet they still continued in safety. He then says that ruin was near them, for God had announced it by His servants.

And He adds that it was on account of the wickedness of both kingdoms; and this was said in order to dissipate all their complaints, for we know that men are ever ready to clamor whenever God chastises them, as though they wished to contend with Him. But the Prophet shows here that God would deal thus severely with the Jews because they had never ceased to provoke His wrath by their evil deeds.

Hence He says that they had done it for themselves. Some render the words, “And it will therefore happen to them.” But there seems to be much more force in the Prophet’s words when we say that they had done evil for themselves, that is, to their own ruin.

He adds, To provoke Me—that is, their object is to provoke Me. In short, God intimates that He would justly punish the Jews because they had procured evil for themselves; and at the same time He points out the fountain of evil, for they had designedly provoked God by offering incense to Baal.