John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 14:21

"Do not abhor [us], for thy name`s sake; do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us." — Jeremiah 14:21 (ASV)

Jeremiah continues with the same prayer. He offered it out of love and also to encourage the faithful who remained among the people to seek forgiveness, for he undertakes here to represent the true Church, which was then very small. Indeed, all boasted that they were God's children and gloried in the covenant made with Abraham, but scarcely one in a thousand called on God in truth and from the heart. The Prophet, therefore, represented the common sentiment of a very small number; and yet, as I have said, he continued with his prayer.

Therefore, he says, Reject not, overthrow not, the throne of your glory; or the two verbs may have the same meaning, which seems more probable to me. But the Prophet joined two verbs together, not so much for rhetorical embellishment as rhetoricians do, but to express the intensity of his concern and anxiety, because he saw that the kingdom of Judah was in extreme danger. He then did not try to avert God’s vengeance in an ordinary way, but he hastened like someone extinguishing a fire, because obtaining pardon was difficult.

He calls Jerusalem the throne of God’s glory because God had chosen that city as the place where He was to be worshipped—not that He was confined to the Temple, but because the memorial of His name was there, according to what had been commonly said, especially by Moses (Exodus 20:24). Nor was the ark an empty symbol of His covenant, for God truly dwelt there; the presence of His power and grace was demonstrated by the clearest proofs.

But since this way of speaking is often found in the Prophets, it was sufficient for Jeremiah to briefly address the subject. God indeed, as is well known, fills heaven and earth, but He gives symbols of His presence wherever He pleases. And since it was His will to be worshipped in the Temple, it is called His throne, and elsewhere it is called His footstool, for Scripture describes the same thing in various ways. The Temple is often called God's rest, His dwelling, His sanctuary, the place of His habitation; it is also called His footstool,

We will worship at His footstool (Psalms 132:7).

But these various terms are used for the same purpose, though they are apparently different. For when the Temple is called God's habitation, His palace, or His throne, the presence of His power is emphasized, as though God dwelt as a friend among His worshippers. But when it is called His footstool, it is to check a superstition that might have crept in, for God raises the minds of the godly higher, so that they do not think His presence is confined to any particular place.

We then perceive what Scripture intends and means whenever it calls Jerusalem or the Temple the throne or the house of God.

But we must carefully notice what is mentioned here by the Prophet: For your name’s sake. We know that whenever the saints pray to be heard for God’s name’s sake, they set aside all confidence in their own worthiness and righteousness. Whoever then pleads God’s name to obtain what he asks, renounces all other things and fully confesses that he is unworthy to find God favorable to him, for this way of speaking necessarily implies a contrast.

Since the Prophet flees to God’s name as his only refuge, the words include a confession, as we have previously noted—that the Jews, because they had acted wickedly towards God, were unworthy of any mercy. Nor could they pacify Him by any of their own satisfactions, nor did they have anything by which they could obtain His favor. This then is the meaning; and since this doctrine has been more fully handled elsewhere, it seems sufficient to me to briefly show the Prophet's design.

He calls it the throne of glory to suggest that God’s name would be unknown and unnoticed, or even despised and exposed to reproaches, if He did not spare the people whom He had chosen. The genitive case in Hebrew, as we know, is used instead of an adjective; and it is useless to elaborate on this subject, as this is one of its primary elements.

The Prophet, then, by calling the Temple the glorious throne of God, in which His majesty shone forth, in a way reminds God Himself not to expose His name to reproaches. For the ungodly, according to their evil dispositions, would instantly vomit forth their blasphemies, and thus God’s name would be reproached.

He afterwards adds, Remember, make not void, your covenant with us. Here also the Prophet strengthens his prayer by recalling the covenant. For it might have been said that the Jews had nothing to do with God's holy name, with His glory, or with His throne; and doubtless they deserved to be completely forsaken by God.

Since they had divorced themselves from God and were entirely destitute of all holiness, the Prophet here brings God's covenant before Him, as though he had said, “I have already prayed You to regard Your own glory and to spare Your own throne, as You have favored the place with so much honor as to reign among us. Now, though our impiety is so great that You may justly cast us away, yet You did not make a covenant with Mount Zion, or with the stones of the Temple, or with material things, but with us; do not, then, make this Your covenant void.”

Thus, we see that there is great emphasis in the Prophet's words when he implores God not to make void, or not to undo, the covenant which He had made with the people. For though God would have remained true and faithful even if He had obliterated the name of the whole people, yet it was necessary for His goodness to contend with their wickedness, His fidelity with their faithlessness, because the covenant of God did not depend on the people’s faithfulness or integrity.

It was, so to speak, a mutual stipulation, for God made a covenant with Abraham on this condition—that he should walk perfectly with Him. This is indeed true, and the same stipulation was in force in the time of the Prophets. Yet at the same time, Jeremiah assumed this principle: that God's grace cannot be entirely obliterated, for He had chosen the race of Abraham, from whom the Redeemer was eventually to be born.

But Jeremiah intended to extend God’s grace still further, as has already been said, and we shall soon see the same thing again. However this may be, he had a just reason for praying, “Undo not your covenant with us.” But God had hidden means of accomplishing His purpose. For He did, according to common human understanding, abolish the covenant by which the Jews thought Him to be bound to them; and yet He remained true, for His truth finally shone forth from darkness after the time of exile was completed.