John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 12

The minds of the faithful, we know, have often been greatly tried and even shaken, on seeing all things happening successfully and prosperously to the despisers of God. We find this complaint expressed at large in Psalm 73. The Prophet there confesses that he had nearly fallen, as he had been treading in a slippery place; he saw that God favored the wicked; at least, from the appearance of things, he could form no other judgment, but that they were loved and cherished by God.

We know also that the ungodly become thus hardened, according to what is related of Dionysius, who said that God favored the sacrilegious; for he had sailed in safety after having plundered temples, and committed robberies in many places; thus he laughed to scorn the forbearance of God. And therefore Solomon says, that when all things are in a state of confusion in the world, men’s minds are led to despise God, as they think that all things happen on the earth by chance, and that God has no care for mankind (Ecclesiastes 9).

But with regard to the faithful, as I have already said, when they see the ungodly proceeding in all wickedness and evil deeds with impunity, and claiming the world to themselves, while God is, as it were, conniving at them, their minds cannot be otherwise than grievously distressed.

And this is the view which interpreters take of this passage; that is, that he was disturbed with the prosperous condition of the wicked, and expostulated with God, as Habakkuk seems to have done at the beginning of the first chapter; but he appears to me to have something higher in view.

We have said elsewhere, that when the Prophets saw that they spent their labor in vain on the deaf and the intractable, they turned their addresses to God as in despair. I therefore do not doubt that it was a sign of indignation when the Prophet addressed God, having, as it were, given up men, since he saw that he spoke to the deaf without any benefit.

Here then he rouses the minds of the people, so that they might know at length that he could not convince them that they were doomed to ruin by God. For when Jeremiah spoke to them, all his threatenings were scorned and laughed at; therefore he now addresses God himself, as though he had said that he would have nothing more to do with them, as he had labored wholly in vain. This then seems to have been the object of the Prophet.

But lest the ungodly should have an occasion for calumniating, he intended so to regulate his discourse as to give them no ground for caviling. Therefore he makes this preface: that God is, or would be just, though he contended with him. This order ought to be carefully observed; for when we give way in the least to our passions, we are immediately carried away, and we cannot restrain ourselves within proper limits and continue in a right course.

As soon then as those thoughts, which may draw us away from the fear of God, and lessen the reverence due to him, creep in, we ought to fortify our minds and to set up barriers, lest the devil should draw us on further than we wish to go.

For instance, when anyone in the present day sees things in disorder in the world, he begins to reason thus freely with himself, “What does this mean? How is it that God suffers licentiousness to prevail so long? Why is it that he thus conceals himself?” As soon as these thoughts creep in, if we possess the true principle of religion, we shall try to restrain these wanderings, and to bring ourselves to the right way; but this will be no easy matter; for as soon as we pass over the boundaries, there is no restraint, no limitation.

Therefore the Prophet wisely begins by saying, You are just, though I contend with you. It is not only for the sake of others he speaks in this way, but also to restrain in time his own feelings and not to allow himself more than what is right. We must still remember what I have said: that the Prophet here directs his words to God, so that the Jews might know that they were left, as it were, without hope, and were unworthy that he should spend any more labor on them.

He says, And yet I will speak judgments with you; that is, I will dispute according to the limits of what is right and just. Some indeed take judgments for punishments, as though the Prophet wished the people to be punished; but of this I do not approve, for it is a strained view.

To speak judgments means nothing else than to discuss a point in law, to plead according to law, as it is commonly said. By saying, “I will legally contend,” he does not throw off the restraint which he has before placed on himself, but asks it as a matter of indulgence to set before God what might seem just and right to all.

David, or the Prophet who was the author of that psalm which we have already quoted (Psalms 73), even when he expressed his own feelings and ingenuously confessed his own infirmity, yet made a preface similar to what is found here. But he there speaks as it were abruptly, “Yet you are just;” he uses the same word אך , ak, as Jeremiah does; but here it is put in the last clause, and there at the beginning of the sentence, “Yet good is God to Israel, even to those who are upright in heart.” The Prophet no doubt was agitated and distracted in various ways, but he afterwards restrained himself.

But it was otherwise with Jeremiah; for he does not confess here that he was tried, as almost all the faithful usually are; but as I have already said, he advisedly, and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, addressed his words to God; for he intended to rouse the Jews, that they might understand that they were rejected, and rejected as unworthy of having their salvation cared for any longer.

By saying then, Yet will I plead with you, he doubtless intended to touch the Jews to the quick, as they were so extremely stupid. “Behold,” he says, “I will yet contend with God, whether he will forgive you?” We now see the real meaning of the Prophet; for the Jews in vain brought forward their own prosperity as a proof that God was propitious to them; for this was nothing else than to abuse his forbearance.

Jeremiah intended in short to show, that though God might pass by them for a time, yet the wicked ought not on this account to flatter themselves, for his indulgence is no proof of his love; but, on the contrary, as we shall see, a heavier vengeance is accumulated, when the ungodly increasingly harden themselves while God is treating them with indulgence.

This then is the reason why the Prophet says, that he would plead with God; he had regard more to men than to God. Yet he does not set up the judgments of men against the absolute power of God, as the sophists under the Papacy do, who ascribe such absolute power to God as perverts all judgment and all order; this is nothing less than sacrilege.

Now the Prophet does not call God to an account, as though there was no rule by which he regulated his works and governed the world. But by judgments he means, as I have said, what God had declared in his law; for it is written:

Cursed is every one who continueth not, etc.,
(Deuteronomy 27:26; Galatians 3:10)

Now then, as the Jews were transgressors of the law, indeed, as they did not cease to provoke God to wrath by their vices, they ought surely, according to the ordinary course of justice, to have been immediately destroyed. Therefore the Prophet says here, I will plead with you; that is, “Had you dealt with this people as they deserved, they must have been often reduced to nothing.” At the same time he had no doubt, as we have said, respecting the rectitude of the divine judgment; only he had regard to those men who flattered themselves, and securely indulged themselves in their vices, because God did not immediately execute those punishments with which he threatens the transgressors of his law.

Therefore he says, How long shall the way of the wicked prosper? for secure are all they who by transgression transgress; that is, who are not only tainted with small vices, but who are extremely wicked. Then those who openly rejected all religion and all care for righteousness, how was it that they were secure and that their way prospered? We now then more clearly understand what I have stated: that the Prophet turned his words to God, that he might more effectually rouse the stupid, so that they might know that they were summoned, as it were, by this expostulation before the celestial tribunal.

When the happiness of the wicked disturbs our minds, two false thoughts occur to us—either that this world is ruled by chance and not governed by God’s providence, or that God does not perform the office of a good and righteous judge when he allows light to be so blended with darkness.

But the Prophet here takes it as granted that the world is governed by God’s providence; he therefore does not touch the false notion, which still harasses pious minds, that fortune governs the world. Well known are these words, “I am disposed to think that there are no gods.” It was thought there were no gods who ruled the world, because he died who deserved a longer life. And the wisest heathens have thus spoken, “I see fortune, which yet no reason governs; I see fortune, which prevails more than reason in these matters.” But the Prophet, who was far removed from these profane notions, held this truth: that the world is governed by God. He now asks how it was that God exercised such long forbearance. The ungodly, the thoughtless, and inconsiderate might have said that this forbearance was far too scanty. But the Prophet, as I have said, clearly describes what the Jews deserved.

Then he says that they had been planted by God, for they could not have prospered if God had not blessed them. The metaphor of planting, as we have seen before, often occurs, but in a different sense. When the celestial life is the subject, God is said to have planted his own elect, because their salvation is sure.

He is also said to have planted his people in the land which he had given to them as a heritage. Now, when he speaks of the reprobate, the Prophet says that they had been planted by God, and for these reasons: because they flourished, because they produced leaves, and because they produced some fruit.

In short, as Scripture, for various reasons, compares men to trees, so it employs the word planting in a corresponding sense. The Prophet indeed says that the ungodly are supported by God, and this is certain; for if God were not to deal kindly with them for a time, they would certainly perish instantly.

Hence their prosperity is a proof of God’s indulgence. But the Prophet expresses his wonder at this, not so much through his own private feeling, as for the purpose of showing to the Jews that it was a strange thing that they were tolerated so long by God, since they had a hundred times deserved to be wholly destroyed.

Yea, he says, they have taken root. By this metaphor he means their continued happiness. He also says that they had advanced aloft; that is, were raised high and increased. He then adds that they had brought forth fruit. The fruit of which he speaks was nothing else than their offspring. It was as if he had said that the ungodly were not only prosperous to the end of life, but that they also had offspring, so that they had children surviving them, so that their families became celebrated. But the meaning of the whole is this: God not only tolerated the ungodly for a time, but extended his indulgence to many ages, so that their descendants continued in the same wealth, dignity, and power that their dead fathers had possessed.

He afterwards adds, Thou indeed art nigh in their mouth, but thou art far from their reins. Jeremiah no doubt intended to anticipate them, for he knew that the Jews would have objections in readiness: “Who are you, who summons us here before God’s tribunal, and who pleads with God that he should not bear with us so patiently? Are we not his servants? Do we not daily offer sacrifices in the Temple? Are we not circumcised? Do we not bear in our bodies the sign of our adoption? Do we not possess a kingdom and a priesthood? Now, these are pledges of God’s paternal love towards us. But you would have yourself be more just than God himself! Can God deny himself? He has bound his faithfulness to us by the sign of circumcision, by the Temple, by the kingdom, by the priesthood, and by the sacrifices; and when we do anything wrong, then our sins are expiated by sacrifices and washings, and other rites.”

Since the Prophet knew that the Jews were typically thus loquaciously and perversely defending their own cause, he says, “Oh, I see what they will say to me, even that which they typically say; for their common refrain is that they are the children of Abraham, that they sacrifice and have other ways of pacifying God, and then that they possess a priesthood and a kingdom. These things,” he says, “are well known to me.

But, O Lord, you know that they are mere words. You know that they act fallaciously and that they do nothing but declare what is false when they pretend these vain shifts and evasions. For you know the heart (καρδιογνώστης); you therefore understand that there is nothing right or sincere in their mouth, for their reins are far from you, and you also are far from their reins.”

From this we also perceive with more certainty the truth of what I have stated: that the Prophet here pleads with God, so that the Jews might know that they could in no way be absolved when they came before God’s tribunal.

The Prophet is not here concerned about himself but, on the contrary, undertakes the defense of his own office, as though he had said that he faithfully discharged the office committed to him by God. Although the Jews, and even the citizens of Anathoth, his own people, unjustly persecuted him, he was not motivated by private wrongs; and though he disregarded these entirely, yet he could not give up the defense of his office. Therefore, he does not speak here of his own private feelings but only claims for himself faithfulness and sincerity before God in performing his office as a teacher, as though he had said that he executed what God had commanded him to do, and that therefore the Jews were not contending with a mortal being, but with God himself.

Therefore he says, But you, Jehovah, know me and see me, and test my heart toward you; that is, you know how sincerely I serve you, and endeavor to fulfill my vocation, and thus to obey your command. He afterwards glories over them as a conqueror, and says, Draw them forth as sheep for the day of sacrificing, prepare them for slaughter.

Here no doubt the Prophet intended not only to touch, but sharply to wound the Jews, so that they might know that they had been until now secure to no purpose, and to their own ruin, because God had spared them. Those who consider that the Prophet was himself troubled, because he saw that God was gracious and kind to the ungodly, think that, with reference to himself, he took comfort from this—that the judgment of God was near at hand. However, I have no doubt that the Prophet had regard for the Jews, as I have already reminded you. When, therefore, he saw that they were lethargic in their delusions, he intended to rouse their sensibilities by saying, “I see how it is, O Lord; you do indeed allow this; but what else is your purpose but that they should be fattened for the day of slaughter?”

He says, first, You will draw them out: others read, “You will lead them forth,” and quote a passage in Judges 20:32, where נתק nutak, is taken in this sense. The word properly means to draw out with force, as when a tree is pulled up, or when anyone is drawn out against his will; and this is the sense most suitable to the present passage.

You will then draw them out; that is, you will suddenly draw them out to slaughter. He therefore intimates that there was no reason for the Jews to be dormant in their prosperity, for God could in a moment act against them; and as the pain of one in labor is sudden, so also, when the wicked say, Peace and security, their ruin will come suddenly upon them (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

This, then, is what the Prophet now means. But he goes on in his way of teaching, for he does not address men as if they were all deaf, but speaks to God himself, so that his doctrine might be more effectual: You then will draw them out, and do you prepare them—for it is a prayer—do you then prepare them for the day of slaughter.

The last expression ought especially to be noticed. The Prophet indeed seems here, in an excited state, to imprecate ruin on the people; but there is no doubt that he was here discharging the duty of his office, for he was the herald of God’s vengeance. He therefore asks God to execute what God had commanded him to denounce to the people. He had often promulgated what God had resolved to do to them, but he had moved no one. So he now asks God to fulfill what he had foretold the Jews—that they should shortly perish because they refused to repent.

We may also learn from this passage that when the ungodly accumulate wealth, they are, in a manner, fattened. When oxen plough and sheep are fed so that they may bear wool and bring forth young, they are not fed so that they may grow fat, and a moderate quantity of food will suffice for them. But when anyone intends to prepare sheep or oxen for slaughter, he fattens them. So then, feeding them is nothing else than fattening them, and fattening them is a preparation for their slaughter.

I have therefore said that a very useful doctrine is included in this way of speaking. For when we see that plenty of wealth and power abound with the ungodly and the despisers of God, we see that they are, in a manner, thus supplied with good things so that they may grow fat—it is fattening or cramming. Let us then not be troubled that they are thus covered with their own fatness, for they are prepared for the day of slaughter.

Jeremiah confirms the previous sentence and more strongly rebukes the Jews, who still continued obstinately to despise what he had said. "What do you mean?" he says. "For God’s judgment is apparent even concerning brute beasts and birds. And what have birds, sheep, and oxen deserved? You know that there is no fault in these unfortunate animals, and yet the curse of God is set before you through them. You see that God is offended with brute animals, but the fault is undoubtedly in you. And will God spare you, when He has already begun, and long ago begun, to inflict punishment on innocent animals? How can He bear with you to the end, you who are full of so many and such atrocious sins?" This, then, is a confirmation of his former doctrine.

From this we also learn that he did not speak for his own sake, nor express his own private feelings, but that he defended the doctrine which he had announced, so that the Jews might know that God was angry with them, and that they were not to expect that He would always conceal Himself, though He for a time overlooked their sins.

How long, he says, shall the land mourn? Or, how long should the land mourn (for this is how it ought to be translated); and should every herb become dry? "What!" he says. "Is not God’s judgment visible in herbs and flocks, in beasts and birds? Since this is so, and the whole fault is in you, shall you be spared? Will God pour forth His whole wrath on herbs, on sheep, and on cattle? And shall you, at the same time, be exempted from His judgment?"

And he expresses his meaning still more clearly when he says, Because they have said, He shall not see our end. Here the Prophet briefly shows that the wrath of God was seen in herbs as well as in brute animals, because He was despised by the people. Since, then, evil proceeded from them, should it not return on their own heads?

It surely could not be otherwise. But he speaks expressly of the end, for the Jews were so stupefied by their prosperity that they thought God was no longer adverse to them: "Ha! What have we to do with God? We are already beyond the reach of danger." Since they thus perversely rejected God, he rebukes them for the thought that they were to give no account to God.

It is indeed not probable that they openly, or, as the saying goes, "with a full mouth," vomited forth such blasphemy. But we know that Scripture often speaks in this manner: "God shall not see;" "God will not look on Jacob." Though the ungodly did not speak so insolently, they undoubtedly thought that they could erect many hindrances to prevent God’s hand from reaching them.

Therefore, Jeremiah, according to the usual manner of Scripture, justly charges them with this: that they thought they were now, as it were, unknown to God and beyond the reach of His care, so that He would not see their end. In other words, they believed they had no concern with God, because they were so well fortified on all sides that the hand of God could not reach them.

Prayer: Grant, Almighty God, that though the same hardness is innate in us as in Your ancient people, we may not become rooted in it. Instead, rouse us by Your Spirit, so that we may allow ourselves to be gently governed by Your word and be so touched by Your threatenings that we do not delay when You announce Your judgment to us, but strive to be immediately reconciled to You. And as there is no other way of being reconciled except through Your only begotten Son, may we in true faith embrace the favor which You offer to us in Your gospel, and also devote ourselves wholly to You, being truly penitent for our sins. And as we ought to make progress to the end of life, may we strive more and more to put off all the lusts of our flesh, until we are at last made partakers of that glory which Your only begotten Son has prepared for us. Amen.

Many think that God here checks the boldness of Jeremiah, as though he had exceeded the limits of moderation when he contended with God, as we have seen, because He patiently endured the reprobate and did not immediately punish them. Hence they elicit this meaning from these words, “You have until now been contending with mortals, and have confessed that you maintained an unequal contest; do you dare now to assail me, who am far greater than the whole world? Footmen have wearied you, who walk on earth; but you engage now with horsemen, that is, with me.”

But I have already shown that the Prophet did not undertake this cause presumptuously, nor was he carried away by blind zeal when he disputed with God, but that he thus spoke through a divine fervor. He was indeed influenced by God, in order that he might by this mode of speaking more fully rouse an obstinate people. There was therefore no need to check him; for his object was no other than to show by a lively representation, that God would be the Judge of the Jews, who had despised His teaching and esteemed it as nothing.

Some think that a comparison is made between the citizens of Anathoth and the citizens of Jerusalem. They therefore suppose that Jeremiah is encouraged, lest he should succumb under the temptations which awaited him; as though it was said, “Your citizens or your people are like footmen; you see now how much they have wearied you, for you cannot bear their insolence. What then will become of you when you come to Jerusalem? For as there is more power there, so there is more arrogance; you will have to contend with the king and his court, with the priests and with the people, who are blinded by their own splendor. Horsemen will be there, and you will have an equestrian contest. From this you may see how you are to prepare yourself; for these things are only the beginnings, and yet you complain of them.”

But when I maturely weigh all things, I come to another opinion, which both Jerome and Jonathan have suggested, yet obscurely, and so confusedly that the meaning cannot be correctly understood, especially because they did not state the exposition which we have until now given. Therefore, the meaning of what they have said does not seem suitable.

But the Prophet, I doubt not, here reproves the people and condemns their presumption, because they thought themselves furnished with so many defenses that they despised the judgment of God. I regard then this verse as spoken in the person of God, for until now Jeremiah has been the accuser, and arraigned the whole people as guilty before God, and was also the herald of His judgment.

Now, that what he says might have more weight, God Himself comes forth and says, You have until now run with footmen, and you have been wearied, how will it be when you come to an equestrian contest? He intimates by these words that a much greater outrage was near than what the Jews had already experienced.

Their country had been oppressed, their city had been exposed to extreme peril, there had been, as it were, a pedestrian conflict; but God now intimates that a heavier storm was near, for horsemen would assail them, because the Chaldeans and the Assyrians were to come with much greater violence to lay waste the whole country and to destroy the city itself.

This then is not addressed to the Prophet, but to the people; as though it was said, that the Jews had but a slight contest with the Assyrians, and yet were conquered and oppressed by many calamities. But they would now have to fight more seriously, as a greater violence was impending over them: How then, He says, can you contend with horsemen?

He then adds, In the land of peace you trust, and how will you do in the rising of Jordan? The land of peace is commonly taken for the town of Anathoth, where the Prophet ought to have enjoyed a quiet life, as he lived there among his relations and friends.

The rising of Jordan is also taken as signifying violent waves; but this has nothing to do with the subject. Were I to approve of this view, I would rather take the rising of Jordan as meaning its fountain, for we know that Jordan rose from Mount Lebanon, north of Jerusalem. So then I would interpret the words, and the explanation would be plausible.

But as I feel assured that the words are not addressed to the Prophet, but to the people, I do not doubt that the land of peace is the land open to plunder, that is, not protected. As that is called the land of war, which is surrounded by defenses, and fortified by towers, moats, and ramparts, so that is called the land of peace, which is not capable of repelling enemies.

The Prophet derided the Jews, because they swelled with so much arrogance, though they possessed no fortresses: “You are,” he says, “in the land of peace, having no means to carry on war, and possessing no forces to resist your enemies. As then you swell with so much pride in your penury and want, what would become of you, were you in the rising of Jordan? That is, were your cities on the banks of Jordan, where it widely spreads, so as to prevent any access?”

Rising here means height or largeness: for גאון gaun, signifies pride, and metaphorically it means the highest or chief glory. “What would you do,” He says, “in the largeness of Jordan? That is, were that river a defense to you against enemies? For there is nothing that can hinder your enemies from coming to your gates, from breaking down your walls by warlike instruments; and you glory: how great is your madness, for you do not consider how weak you are?”

We therefore see that in the whole of this verse the foolish boastings of the people are beaten down, for they were proud without a cause, as they were destitute of all defenses and auxiliaries. This then is what I consider to be the real meaning.