John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 14:11-12

"And Jehovah said unto me, Pray not for this people for [their] good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt-offering and meal-offering, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence." — Jeremiah 14:11-12 (ASV)

God first forbids the Prophet to pray for the people, as we have previously seen (Jeremiah 7:16; Jeremiah 11:14). But we must remember what I have said before: this prohibition is to be understood concerning their exile. Because God had already decreed that the people should be banished from the promised land, the Prophet was forbidden to pray, since that decree was unchangeable.

It is not, therefore, a general prohibition, as though the Prophet was not allowed to ask God’s forgiveness on behalf of the whole people, or at least on behalf of the godly who still remained. The Prophet might indeed pray in a certain way for the whole people—that is, that God, being satisfied with their temporal punishment, would at length spare the miserable with regard to eternal life.

He might have also prayed for the remnant, for he knew that there was some seed remaining, though hidden. Indeed, he was himself one of the people. He not only knew that some true servants of God were still remaining, but he also had some friends of his own, whose piety was sufficiently known to him.

God, therefore, did not strictly exclude all his prayers, but only every prayer regarding the exile which the people were soon to undergo.

Unless we bear in mind this circumstance, the prohibition might seem strange. For we know that it is one of the first duties of love to be concerned for one another before God, and thus to pray for the well-being of our brothers (James 5:16). It is not then the purpose of God to deprive the Prophet of this holy and praiseworthy feeling, which is necessarily connected with true religion. Instead, His design was to show that it was now in vain to implore Him for the remission of that punishment which had been determined.

From this we see first, that under the name of "people" not every individual was included, for some seed remained. We further see that this prohibition did not extend to eternal life, but on the contrary, to temporal punishment. And the demonstrative pronoun this indicates contempt or disdain, as though He had said, “What! Why should you pray for a people wholly unworthy of mercy? Let them perish as they deserve.”

So when He says, for good—לטובה, lethube—it ought also to be referred to their exile. By this He intimates, “Do not hope that what I have once fixed respecting this people can be changed by any prayers. They must therefore suffer the punishment which they have deserved, for I will banish them from the land.”

He afterwards adds, Even when they fast, I will not hear their cry, and when they present a sacrifice and an oblation, I will not be pleased with them. He doubtless touches on the hypocrites. Though lacking all sincerity, they professed to be the true worshippers of God and wished to prove themselves so by sacrifices, fastings, and other external rites.

He therefore says that He would not be favorable or able to be appeased, though they fasted, prayed, and offered all kinds of sacrifices. The words, as I have said, were especially addressed to hypocrites. For we know that declaration remains unchangeable: that God is near to all those who call on Him in sincerity.

Whoever, then, calls on God with a true heart, infallibly obtains His favor, for in another place it is ascribed to God as something necessarily belonging to Him: that He hears prayers. Whenever God is invoked, He cannot rid Himself of what essentially belongs to Him—His readiness to hear prayer.

But here He intimates that there was no sincerity in the people. For even when they fasted, prayed, and offered sacrifices, they did not truly worship Him. As it was said before, they could no more put off the wickedness which adhered to their marrow than the Ethiopian could change his skin or the panther his spots (Jeremiah 13:23).

He then shows, in this place, that though they wearied themselves in appeasing God by an external profession, they did nothing but act falsely. Therefore, their efforts would all be in vain, for they profaned the name of God when they thus grossly deceived Him. This is the meaning.

Fasting is expressly mentioned, and from this it appears that when nothing is lacking in outward appearance, God still always regards faith, as we have seen in the fifth chapter. Therefore, God does not value what is highly esteemed by men and excites their feelings. Why? Because He regards the faith of the heart, and faith is taken for integrity. So then, God abominates a double and a false heart; and the greater the fervor hypocrites display in external rites, the more they provoke Him.

We pray to God daily, it may be said, and yet we do not fast daily. It is indeed true that prayer is more intent when we fast. Yet God does not require daily fastings, while He enjoins prayer both in the morning and in the evening; indeed, He would have us implore His grace continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

But when fasting is joined to prayer, then prayer becomes more earnest. This is usually the case when there is any danger, when any evidence of God’s wrath appears, or when we labor under any heavy affliction. For we then not only pray but also fast so that we may be more free and more at liberty to pray.

Besides, fasting is also evidence that we are expressing disapproval of the wrath of God, while we confess that we are guilty before Him. Thus also, those who pray stimulate themselves more to sorrow and to other penitential feelings. It is therefore the same as though He had said, “Even if they pray in no common manner and every day, and add fasting, so that greater fervor may appear in their prayers and extraordinary attention, yet I will not hear their cries, precisely because their heart is false.”

We further gather from this passage that fasting is not in itself a religious duty or exercise, but refers to another end. Therefore, unless those who fast regard what is intended by it—

• that there may be a greater eagerness in prayer,
• that it may be evidence of humility in confessing their sins,
• and that they may also strive to subdue all their lusts

—unless these things are regarded, fasting becomes a trivial exercise, indeed, a profanation of God’s worship, as it is merely superstitious. From this we see that fastings are not only without benefit unless prayers are added and those objects I have stated are regarded; they also provoke the wrath of God, as all superstitions do, because His worship is polluted.

But under the Papacy, the reason given for fastings is that they merit the favor of God. The Papists seek to appease Him by fasting as by a sort of satisfaction; they will have fasting to be a work of merit.

I will not now speak of the numberless trifles which also pollute their fasting. But let us suppose that they are not superstitious in their choice of meats, in their hours, and in other childish follies, which are mere nonsense, indeed, mockeries also to God.

Let us suppose them to be free from all these vices; yet the intention, as they call it, is nothing else but a diabolical error, for they determine that fasting is a work of merit and of satisfaction, and a kind of expiation.

Let us then know that though Jeremiah speaks of hypocrites, he briefly points out the design of fasting by mentioning prayer. So also Christ, when recommending fasting, makes mention of prayer (Matthew 17:21; Mark 9:29). The same is done by Paul (1 Corinthians 7:5).

But it ought to be noticed here that though hypocrites joined prayer with fasting before men, they were still rejected, for there was no sincerity in their hearts, but only an outward profession, a mere disguise. But God, as we have seen, regards the heart, and sincerity alone pleases Him.

The same thing is said of sacrificing: When they present sacrifices, or burnt-offerings, and an oblation (מנחה, meneche, that is, the daily offerings), I will not hear them, or, as He says in the second clause, I will not be pleased with them. Sacrifices without prayers were no doubt vain and worthless. Just as prayers were not acceptable to God without a sacrifice, so too, sacrifice without prayers was only a vain show. These two things are then united as by an unbreakable knot: to offer sacrifices and to pray.

Prayers, as I have said, cannot be acceptable to God without a sacrifice; for what can proceed from mortal man but what is abominable before God?

Our prayers must therefore be sanctified so that they please God, and the only way of sanctification is through the sacrifice of Christ. When they offered sacrifices under the Law, they also joined prayers. By this ceremony, those who made any request professed themselves unworthy unless a sacrifice was offered.

The Prophet then mentions here what God had commanded under the Law, but he shows that hypocrites separated the principal thing from the external signs. God indeed neither disregards nor rejects signs; but when what they signify is separated from them, there is then an intolerable profanation.

Let us then know that though nothing may be lacking in the external worship, yet whatever we seek to do is abominable to God unless it is accompanied by sincerity of heart.

But I will consume them, He says, with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence. I render the particle כי, ki, “but.”

He refers here to three modes of destruction, so that the Jews might surely know that they were to perish, according to what is said elsewhere: “He who escapes from the sword shall perish by the famine, and he who survives the famine shall perish by the pestilence.”

God shows, in short, that He was armed with various kinds of punishment, so that those who had so provoked Him as wholly to lose the hope of pardon could by no escape deliver themselves from destruction.

God might indeed have consumed the Jews by one punishment; He might have also threatened them in general terms without specifying anything. But as unbelievers always promise themselves some way of escape, His purpose was to hold them bound in every way, so that they might know that they were shut up on every side and that no way of escape could be found. This is the meaning.