John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 11:20

"But, O Jehovah of hosts, who judgest righteously, who triest the heart and the mind, I shall see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I revealed my cause." — Jeremiah 11:20 (ASV)

Here the Prophet, after having found that the impiety of the people was so great that he was speaking to the deaf, turns his address to God. O Jehovah of hosts, he says, who are a great Judge, who search the reins and the heart, may I see your vengeance on them. The Prophet seems here inconsistent with himself; for he had previously declared that he was like a lamb or a calf, as though he had offered, as they say, his life as a willing sacrifice. But here he seems like one who has suddenly become angry, and he prays for God’s vengeance.

These things indeed appear to be very different. For if he had offered himself as a victim, why did he not wait calmly for the outcome? Why is he inflamed with so much displeasure? Why does he thus call down God’s vengeance on them? But these things will agree well together, if we distinguish between private feeling and that pure and discreet zeal, by which the meekness of truth can never be disturbed. For though the Prophet disregarded his own life and was not moved by private wrongs, he was nevertheless not a block of wood; but zeal for God consumed his heart, according to what is said in common of all the members of Christ:

Zeal for your house has eaten me, and the reproaches of those who upbraided you have fallen on me. (Psalms 69:9; John 2:17; Romans 15:3).

The Prophet then had previously freed himself from all suspicion by saying that he was prepared for the slaughter, as though he were a lamb or a calf; but he now shows that he was, nevertheless, not destitute of zeal for God. Here then he gives vent to this new fervor when he says, O Jehovah, who search the reins and the heart, may I see your vengeance on them.

The Prophet, no doubt, was free from every carnal feeling and pronounced what we read through the influence of the Spirit. Since then the Holy Spirit dictated this prayer to the holy man, he might still have offered himself as a voluntary sacrifice, while he yet justly appealed to God’s tribunal to take vengeance on the impiety of a reprobate people; for he did not indiscriminately include them all, but called down God’s judgment on the abandoned and irreclaimable.

It is indeed true that we may regard the Prophet as predicting what he knew would happen to his people. Some give this explanation; they consider it as a prediction only and not a prayer. But they are terrified without reason at the appearance of inconsistency, as they think it inconsistent for the Prophet to desire the perdition of his own people. For he might have wished it through the influence of that zeal, as I have said, which the Holy Spirit had kindled in his heart, and according to the words which the same Spirit had dictated.

He calls God the Judge of righteousness; and he called him so, that he might wipe away and dissipate the disguises in which the Jews exulted when they sought to prove their own cause. By this then he intimates that they gained nothing by their evasions, for these would vanish like smoke when they came before God’s tribunal.

In short, he means that they could not stand before the judgment of God. He then adds that God searches the reins and the heart; he says this, not only that he might testify to his own integrity, as some suppose, but that he might rouse hypocrites.

For he intimates that they stood safe before men, as they concealed their wickedness, but that when they came before God’s tribunal, another kind of account must then be given. For God would prove and try them, as the word בחן, bechen, signifies: he would search the reins and the heart, that is, their most inward feelings. For the Scripture means by reins all the hidden feelings or affections.

He says, For to you have I made known my judgment. The Prophet, no doubt, appeals here to God’s tribunal because he saw that he was destitute of all patronage—he saw that all were against him. Few pious men indeed were left, as we have seen elsewhere; but the Prophet speaks here of the mass of the people.

Since, then, there was no one among the people who did not openly oppose God at that time, so that there was no defender of equity and justice, he turns to God and says, I have made known my cause to you. This is as though he had said, “O Lord, you know what my cause is, and I am not being deceitful; for I serve you faithfully and sincerely, as you know. Since it is so, may I see your vengeance on them.”

Now, we are taught in this passage that even if the whole world were united to suppress the light of truth, Prophets and teachers ought not to despond, nor rely on the judgment of men, for that is a false and deceptive balance; but they ought to persevere in the discharge of their office, and be satisfied with this alone—that they render their office approved by God and exercise it as in his presence.

We may also learn that the ungodly and hypocrites make shifts and evasions in vain, while they try to elude the authority of the Prophets; for they will eventually be brought before God’s tribunal. Therefore, when we find teachers rightly and sincerely discharging their office, let us know that we cannot possibly escape the judgment of God unless we submit to their teaching.

And Prophets and pastors themselves ought to learn from this passage that though the whole world, as I have already said, were opposed to them, they ought not yet to cease from their perseverance, nor be changeable, but to consider it enough that God approves their cause.