John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 18

The sum of what is taught here is that, as the Jews gloried in God’s singular favor—which, however, had been conferred on them for a different purpose, namely, that they might be His sacred heritage—it was necessary to take this kind of confidence from them. For at the same time, they heedlessly despised God and the whole of His law. We indeed know that in God’s covenant there was a mutual stipulation: that the descendants of Abraham were faithfully to serve God, just as God was prepared to perform whatever He had promised, for it was the perpetual law of the covenant, namely:

“Walk before me and be perfect” (Genesis 17:1).

This was once for all imposed on Abraham and extended to all his posterity. So, since the Jews thought that God was bound to them by an inviolable compact, while they nevertheless proudly rejected all His prophets, and polluted, and even, as far as they could, abolished His true worship, it was necessary to deprive them of that foolish boasting with which they deluded themselves. Therefore, the Prophet was commanded to go down to the potter’s house, so that he might relate to the people what he saw there: namely, that the potter, according to his own will and pleasure, made and remade vessels.

It seems indeed at first view a simple way of speaking; but if we examine ourselves, we shall all find that pride, which is innate in us, cannot be corrected unless the Lord draws us, as it were, by force to see clearly what it is, and unless He shows us plainly what we are. The Prophet could have listened to God speaking to him at his own house, but he was commanded to go down to the house of the potter—not indeed for his own sake, for he was willing to be taught—but so that he might teach the people by adding this sign as a confirmation to his doctrine.

He then relates what had been commanded him: that he went down into the potter’s house. Then he relates what he saw there: that when the potter formed a vessel, it was marred, and that he then made another vessel from the same clay, and, as it seems, one of a different form, for there is a peculiar emphasis in these words, as it seemed right in his eyes. The application is afterwards added: Cannot I, as the potter, change you, O house of Israel? Doubtless, you are in my hand as the clay in the hand of the potter. That is, I have no less power over you than the potter has over his work and his earthen vessels.

We now see what this doctrine contains: that men are very foolish when they are proud of their present prosperous condition and think that they are, as it were, fixed in a state of safety. For in a single moment, God can cast down those whom He has raised up, and also raise up on high those whom He has previously brought down to the ground.

This is even well known to pagans, for moderation is commended by them, which they describe thus: “That no one ought to be inflated in prosperity, nor succumb in adversity.” But no one is really influenced by this thought, except one who acknowledges that we are ruled by the hand of God. For those who dream that fortune rules in the world rely on their own wisdom, their own wealth, and their own strongholds.

Consequently, they must always delude themselves with some vain hope or another. Until men are brought to know that they are so subject to God’s power that their condition can be changed in a single moment, according to His will, they will never be humble as they ought to be. This doctrine, therefore, deserved special notice, especially when we consider how foolishly the Jews had abused the privilege with which God had favored Abraham and all his posterity; it was therefore an altogether necessary admonition. Besides, if we reflect on ourselves, we shall find that it requires a great effort to learn to humble ourselves, as Peter reminds us, under the mighty hand of God (1 Peter 5:6).

With regard to the words, we must observe that האבנים eabenim is a word in the dual number. The Prophet no doubt meant the moulds, des moules; for those who render it “wheel” seem not to understand the subject. The Prophet evidently refers to the moulds, made either of stone, wood, or white clay; and this the dual number sufficiently proves. He then saw the potter with his moulds, avec ses moules, so that when he had formed one vessel it was marred; then he took the same clay and formed another vessel, and that according to his own will. I have already stated why it was necessary for the Prophet to go down to the potter’s house: he did so in order that he might afterwards lead the Jews to see their own case in a more vivid manner. For we know what a powerful effect a representation of this kind produces when a scene like this is set before our eyes. Naked doctrine would have been cold and ineffective to slothful and careless men; but when a symbol was added, it had a much greater effect. This, then, was the reason why God ordered the Prophet to see what the potter was doing.

Now, in the application, we must notice how things correspond: Just as the clay is at the will and under the power of the potter, so men are at the will of God. God, then, is compared to the potter. Indeed, there is no comparison here between things that are equal, but the Prophet argues from the less to the greater.

So God, with respect to men, is said to be the potter, for we are the clay before Him. We must also notice the variety in what was formed: from the same clay one vessel is made, then another different from the first. These three things that are compared should be specially observed.

It is then said, Cannot I, as the potter, do with you, O house of Israel? God includes here two of these comparisons: He compares Himself to the potter, and He compares the people to clay. We know that God has much greater power over men than a mortal man has over the clay; for however a mortal man may form it into vessels, he is still not the creator of the clay.

Thus, God has much greater authority over men than the potter has over the clay. But the comparison, as I have said, is of the greater with the less, as though He had said, “The potter can form the clay at his will; am I inferior to him? Or, is not My power at least equal to the power of the artisan, who is a mortal and of a humble condition?” Then He adds, with you, or to you, O house of Israel? as though He had said, “Trust in your own excellency as you please, yet you are not better than the clay, when you consider what I am and what I can do to you.”

We have now seen two of the comparisons; the third follows: that God can turn us here and there and change us at His will. How foolishly, then, do men trust in their present good fortune! For in a single moment their condition can be altered, as there is nothing certain on the earth.

But we must bear in mind what I have already stated: that the confidence with which the Jews deluded themselves was vain. For they thought that God was bound to them, and so they promised themselves a state of perpetuity, and, as though they could despise the whole law with impunity, they always boasted that the covenant by which God had adopted the seed of Abraham was hereditary.

Now the Prophet shows that the covenant was hereditary in such a way that the Jews nevertheless ought to have regarded it as an adventitious benefit, as it were. It is as though He had said, “What God gave you, He can take away at any time. There is, then, nothing certain for you, except insofar as God will be propitious to you.”

In short, He reminds them that the whole of their safety depended on God’s gratuitous favor. It is as though He had said, “You have nothing as your own, but what God has conferred on you is at His will and pleasure. He can today take away even what He had yesterday given you. What then does this foolish boasting mean, when you say that you are exempted from the common lot of men?”

The Jews might indeed have rightly disregarded all the dangers of the world, for God had gathered them under His own protection. They would indeed have been safe under His guardianship, had they observed mutual faithfulness, so as to be really His people as He had promised to be their God. But as they esteemed His whole law as nothing and made void the covenant in which they foolishly gloried, the Prophet, as we see, did not without reason shake off that confidence with which they deceived themselves.

Hence, we may gather a useful doctrine: With regard to the whole human race, there is nothing certain or permanent in this life. For God can change our condition at any time, so as to cast down the rich and the eminent from their high position, and also to raise up the most despised of men, according to what is said in Psalm 113:7.

And we know this to be true, not only concerning individuals but also concerning nations and kingdoms. Many kings have so increased their power as to think themselves beyond the reach of harm; and yet we have seen that God laid them prostrate as if by a sudden whirlwind. So also it has happened to powerful nations.

With regard, then, to the condition of mankind, God shows here, as in a mirror or by a vivid spectacle, that sudden changes often occur in the world. This ought to awaken us from our torpor, so that no one of us may dare to promise himself another day, or even another hour, or another moment.

This is one thing. But this doctrine has a special application to us; for as God has by a special favor separated us from the rest of the world, so He would have us depend wholly on His mere good will. Faith indeed ought to be tranquil; indeed, it ought to disregard whatever may bring on us any terror or anxiety. But faith—where is its seat?

In heaven. Therefore, courage is required in all the children of God, so that they may with a quiet mind disregard all the changes of the world. But we must ensure that the tranquility of faith is well founded, that is, in humility.

For as we cast our anchor in heaven, so also, with regard to ourselves, we ought always to be low and be humble. Whoever then flies with vain confidence boasts in vain of faith and falsely pretends that he trusts in God. Let it then always come to our minds, and constantly recur to us, that our condition is not safe and secure through ourselves, but through the gratuitous goodness of God. We now see the application of this doctrine. The Prophet proceeds—

This is a fuller application of the Prophet's doctrine, for he had said generally before that the people were in God's hand as the clay is in the hand of the potter. But he adds here what is more accessible or comprehensive: that all people are in the hand of God, so that he now favors one nation with his blessing and then deprives them of it, and that he raises up those whom he had previously brought low.

I have said that this part of the doctrine is more accessible or comprehensive, for it refers to repentance. When Paul presented this likeness—that we are in the power of God as the clay is in the hand of the potter—he did not speak in such an accessible manner. For he did not speak of repentance, but ascended higher and said that before the world was created, it was in God's power to determine what he pleased concerning every individual, and that we are now formed according to his will, so that he chooses one and rejects the other. Paul then did not refer to faithfulness or to repentance, but spoke of the hidden purpose of God, by which he has predestined some to salvation and some to destruction (Romans 9:21).

Isaiah also seems to have had the same thing in view, for he says only:

Woe to them who rise up against their Maker.
(Isaiah 45:9).

Cannot I determine, says God, with regard to people, as the potter, who forms the clay as he pleases? We must then maintain this principle: that people are thus formed according to God's will, so that all must become silent. For the reprobate uselessly clamor, object, and say, “Why hast thou formed us thus?” Does not the potter, says Paul, have power, etc.? This is what must be said of God's hidden predestination.

But Jeremiah here adapts his doctrine for the people, so that he might show that God, by a gratuitous covenant, had chosen and adopted the seed of Abraham in such a way that he could still repudiate the unworthy—even all those who despised so great a favor.

We now see the various applications of this doctrine. God determined, before the creation of the world, what he pleased concerning each individual; but his counsel is hidden and, to us, incomprehensible. A more familiar application is made here: God at one time takes away his blessings, and at another he raises people, as it were, from death, that he might set them on high, according as he pities those who truly and from the heart turn to him, or is offended by the ingratitude of those who reject his offered favors.

Hence he says, Suddenly will I speak against a nation and against a kingdom, to pull down, to root up, or to extirpate, and to destroy. By saying suddenly, he reminds the Jews of their origin. For what was their condition when the Lord stretched out his hand to them and brought them from that wretched bondage in which they lived? It is as though he had said, “Consider from where God raised you, and then acknowledge that he raised you in a wonderful manner and beyond human expectation. For in the same day you were the most miserable of all, and then the most happy of all. One night not only brought you from death to life but also carried you from the deepest abyss to a place above all earthly happiness, as though you rode on the clouds.” God then suddenly spoke.

But he also refers to punishment. God speaks of a nation and of a kingdom to do it good; and he speaks again to pull down and destroy a nation and a kingdom. How then does it happen that those who seem for a time to flourish and to be most happy suddenly perish? Because God punishes people for their ingratitude. And how does it happen that those who were trodden underfoot by all suddenly rise? Because the Lord pities them.

But the Prophet speaks first of punishment. Suddenly, he says, will I speak of a nation and of a kingdom, to pull down, to extirpate, and to destroy. That is, even those who seem far from all danger will find that they are exposed to my judgment.

But if a nation, he says, turns from its wickedness, against whom I have spoken, then I will repent of the evil, etc. The Prophet no doubt intended to silence the Jews who, as we have seen before, continually contended with God, for he could not convince them that the punishments God inflicted on them for their sins were just.

Since they were then so perverse in their wickedness, and hypocrisy had also hardened them all the more, the Prophet says here in God's name, “When I speak against a nation and threaten final ruin, if it repents, I will be immediately reconciled to it. There is therefore no ground for the Jews to protest to me, as though I dealt with them too severely, for they will find me reconcilable if they repent from the heart.” It follows then that their obstinacy was the cause why God proceeded in his judgments, for the repentance of God means nothing other than what Scripture says elsewhere: that he is merciful, slow to wrath, and ready to forgive (Numbers 14:18; Psalms 103:8). He then testifies here that nothing hindered the Jews from being in a better state but their own perverseness.

On the other hand, he affirms that the lost are restored when the Lord speaks suddenly of a nation and of a kingdom, to build and to plant. It is as though it was said, “I will not only forgive, but I am ready to bestow blessings on those whom I had previously rejected as my enemies.” Then God magnifies his goodness when he says that he will not only forgive the sins of people, so as to freely pardon them, but that he is also ready to bestow on them all kinds of blessings if they seek to be reconciled to him.

Now follows the opposite clause: But if it will do evil before my eyes, so as not to hear my voice—that is, when a nation has been planted through my kindness (for this is required by the context)—then I will repent, etc. By this denunciation it is meant that God would tread into the dust those whom he had favored with singular benefits, on account of their abuse of them. This is true even though he had said, “When I promise bountifully and freely to a nation or a kingdom everything that can be wished, if my favor and goodness are not rightly received, then I repent of the good done to it.” The meaning is that the way of pardon is always open when a sinner turns to God, and that it is in vain for people to boast of God's promises unless they submit themselves to him in fear and obedience.

Both these things were necessary: that the Jews should know that God would be moved by entreaty if they repented, and that his promises could not be extended to those who were guilty of such gross abuse as a total disregard of his law and his prophets. Then the Prophet mentions here the ordinary course: that as soon as people repented, they might safely and fully expect good things from God, for he is inclined to mercy. Furthermore, no nation, however it may excel in gifts, ought to indulge in foolish confidence or use its present glory as a means to despise its giver, for God can take away what he has given. The real significance of the whole, then, is that we cannot expect to enjoy the benefits which God bestows on us unless we persevere in faithfulness and in the fear of him. It is indeed certain that God's blessings do not depend on human worthiness. But still, he will not have his bounty despised, as was the case with the Jews, and as is common in the world today.

The Prophet is now instructed to turn his discourse to the Jews, so that he might apply the doctrine of repentance, to which he had referred; for a doctrine generally stated, as is well known, is less efficient. He then contends here, as it were, in full force with his own nation: Say then to the Jews and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who indeed ought to have shown the way to others, but were themselves the worst of all, return ye, he says, every one from his evil way. Here God shows that what he had previously stated generally, applied particularly to the Jews—that he is reconcilable when a sinner returns to him, and that those who disregard and despise his goodness cannot possibly escape unpunished.

Return ye, he says, every one from his evil way, and make right your ways; why so? For behold I frame for you an evil, and I think for you a thought; that is, “Vengeance is now prepared and is suspended over your heads, unless you turn in due time; but if you truly and from the heart repent, I am ready to receive you.” We see how God includes the two things previously referred to: He had previously said, “If I speak against a nation, and it turns from its sins, I immediately repent; but when I promise to be a father to a nation or a kingdom, I do not allow myself and my bounty to be despised, which men do when they reject what I offer.” But he now says, Behold, I think, etc.; this refers to the former clause, the threats; and then when he adds, Return ye, he promises pardon; for as it has been said elsewhere and often, there can be no exhortation to repentance without a hope of favor, as God cannot be feared, unless there is propitiation with him, according to what is said in Psalm 130:4.

God then shows in this verse that he was ready to receive the Jews if they repented; but that if they continued perverse as they usually were, he would not allow them to go unpunished, for he thought of evil for them. But this thought included the effect, the execution, as he was the potter, in whose hand and power they were.

Then the Prophet adds what shows how hopeless was the impiety of the people, for all his labor was in vain. It was indeed a monstrous stupidity, when they could not be terrified by God’s threats nor allured by his kind promises. But the Prophet also meant to show that God tried all means to restore the people from ruin to life and salvation, but that all means were tried in vain, owing to the irreclaimable character of the people. I cannot finish the subject today; I must therefore defer it until tomorrow.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since we stand or fall at your will, we may be conscious of our weakness and frailty, and constantly remember that not only our life is a shadow, but that we are wholly nothing, and thus learn to trust in you alone, and to depend on you alone and on your good pleasure; and as it is yours to begin and to complete whatever belongs to our salvation, may we in real fear and trembling submit ourselves to you, and proceed in the course of our calling, ever calling on you, and casting all our cares into your bosom, until being at length freed from all dangers, we shall be gathered into that eternal and blessed rest which has been obtained for us by the blood of your only-begotten Son. — Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

The Prophet, having related that he had pronounced God's vengeance against the Jews, now adds how proudly they despised his threats. Their sin was enhanced for this reason: a hope of pardon remained for them, if they returned to God. But the Prophet says that they expressly refused to do so.

They said, נואש nuash, which we render, “It is all over,” though interpreters in general render it, “It is past hope.” We have spoken of this word in chapter two, and the Prophet now repeats the same thing—that the Jews were obstinately given to superstitions and also to perverse counsels, thinking that they could well provide for their own safety and drive away all dangers by connecting themselves, at one time with the Assyrians, and at another with the Egyptians.

But as the verb יאש iash may be taken as signifying to be weary, as we learn from Ecclesiastes 12, it may perhaps be not unsuitably rendered here, “We have become weary;” that is, we are unwilling to consume so much labor in vain. For the ungodly took this as a reason for their obstinacy: that they had labored long and much in something or another, and pride hardened them, and they said, “Have we not until now labored in vain?”

Now this meaning, “We have become wearied,” does not appear unsuitable, by which they implied, “You ought to have called us back at the beginning; but now we have nearly finished the whole journey and are not far distant from the goal. We cannot then return to the starting place, for it would be absurd for us to spend so much labor in vain and to no purpose.” Nor is this meaning disapproved of by those who regard the word as a noun, “It is weariness,” that is, “It is now too late to reprove us, for we have now followed this way for many years.”

With regard to the main subject, there is little difference. But the meaning would be clearer if we were to paraphrase it this way: “More than enough labor has already been spent; you then come too late.”

Isaiah, in Isaiah 57:10, seems to have reproved the Jews for what was praiseworthy, if this declaration of Jeremiah is right; for he spoke thus:

“For ye have wearied yourselves in your ways,”

and no one has said נואש, nuash; and Jeremiah reproves them here for having said נואש, nuash. These two places then seem inconsistent. But when Isaiah spoke thus, he reproved the insensibility of the Jews, for even experience, which is said to be the teacher of fools, had not made them weary. For when they had so often found by their own calamities that they had been at one time deceived by the Assyrians, and at another by the Egyptians, it was an instance of palpable madness not to learn eventually by long experience, and to confess, “We have surely labored in vain.”

Thus we see in what sense Isaiah blamed them for not saying, “It is weariness;” that is, because they did not consider that their labor had been in vain. But our prophet here has another thing in view—that the Jews were unwilling to lose their labor, but went on in their course obstinately, for they had hardened themselves so as to persist in their corrupt habit of sinning.

It follows, For after our thoughts we shall go, and every one will do the wickedness of his evil heart? Undoubtedly, they did not speak this way openly, for they did not avowedly boast that they were ungodly and despisers of God. But the Prophet did not regard what they said, but what their conduct proved, for the Jews were accustomed to set up their own devices and the fallacies of Satan against the word of God. No wonder then that the Prophet charges them with these impious and sacrilegious words: that they resolved to follow their own thoughts and the wickedness of their own hearts, rather than to submit to God and to obey his word.

Hence we see that hypocrites gain nothing by imposing their vain pretenses, for God cannot be dealt with sophistically or cunningly. Condemnation then awaits all the ungodly, however they may disguise their wickedness; for whatever is contrary to sound doctrine is a sinful device, a fallacy of Satan, and, in a word, the impiety of a corrupt heart.

Whoever indeed turns aside from the plain teaching of the prophets and from the teaching of the law, follows their own thoughts, or the figments of their own hearts. Hence it follows that they try evasions in vain, for when they reject pure doctrine they set up their own inventions. In the same sense we are to take the words “his own evil heart,” לבו הרע labu ero; they never confessed that their heart was evil or wicked, and yet the Prophet charged them with having uttered the words stated here, for he considered, as I have said, what their conduct proved, and not the evasions by which hypocrites usually attempt to deceive God.

God shows here that the Jews had become completely beyond reform, for they reached the height of impiety when they were so bold as to reject the salvation offered to them. For what was the Prophet’s aim but to rescue them from ruin? God Himself, through His Prophet, wished to ensure their safety.

How great, then, was their ingratitude to reject God’s fatherly care and not to listen to the Prophet, who was to be an instrument of salvation for them? Now, since they were utterly deaf and foolish, God turns to the Gentiles.

Inquire, or ask, he says, among the Gentiles, Has anyone heard such a thing? It is as though he had said, “I will no longer contend with these brutish animals, for there is no reason in them; but the Gentiles, lacking the light of knowledge, can be made witnesses of such flagrant impiety.” And he says the same thing in Jeremiah 2:10:

“Go, pass through the isles and survey the whole world, has any nation forsaken its own gods, and yet they are no gods?”

It is as though he had said, “Religion so greatly prevails among miserable idolaters that they remain steadfast in their superstitions. Since they consider it a terrible thing to change their god, they therefore avoid it as something monstrous. This is why they are devoted to their superstitions, for the god whom they have once received, they think it the greatest impiety to abandon, even though these are not gods. But My people have forsaken Me, who am the fountain of living water.” Jeremiah now repeats the same thing in other words: that such an example could not be found among pagans.

He then adds, A base thing has the virgin of Israel done. Some indeed translate שעררת, shorret, as “a monstrous thing,” and it may be taken this way metaphorically, for the verb שער, shor, means to count, or to think. This meaning could be adopted here, but as in many places it signifies baseness, I will not depart from that usual meaning.

He says then, that it was an exceedingly shameful thing for the people to forsake Him. He does not call the people the virgin of Israel as a mark of honor, but to increase their shame.

For God, as we have seen before, had betrothed the people to Himself. Therefore, it was their duty to maintain marital faithfulness, like a virgin betrothed to a husband, who ought not to regard any other, for she is not to look for any other after she has given her pledge.

But the people of Israel, who ought to have been, as it were, the bride of God, sinned most shamefully, indeed, most disgracefully and infamously, when they prostituted themselves to wicked schemes as well as to superstitions. He now adds comparisons by which he more fully exposes their wickedness.

As I have just said, God here highlights the sin of the people by a twofold comparison. For when one can draw water in his own field and find a spring there, what folly it will be for him to run to a distance to seek water! And then, when water does not spring up near but flows from a distance in a pure and cold stream, who will not be satisfied with such water? And if he seeks to find the spring, will not all laugh at such madness?

Now God was like a living fountain, and at Jerusalem was the spring where the Jews might drink to their fill. God’s blessings also flowed to them, as it were, through various channels, so that they lacked nothing. We then see that here a twofold madness in the people is condemned: that they despised God’s kindness which was nearby, as though one close to Mount Lebanon refused its cold waters, or as though one would not draw water from a river without going to its source. Since God offered Himself to them in every way and presented His bounty to them, it was an extremely base and inexcusable madness to reject flowing waters and the fountain itself.

We now perceive the meaning of this passage. It is doubtless natural for all to be satisfied with present blessings, especially when nothing better can anywhere else be found. When one has a fountain in his own field, why should he go elsewhere to drink? This would be monstrous. Do you want water?

God supplies you with it; take it from your own fountain. If one objects and says, “That fountain I dislike; I wish to know whether better waters can be found at a distance,” this, we see, is a proof of brutal stupidity. For if the water which flows is cold and pure, and he dislikes it because he wishes to go to the spring, he shows his own folly, whoever he may be.

If, for instance, anyone today would not drink the waters of the Rhone, which flows by here, and would not taste of the springs, but would run to the fountain and source of the Rhone, would he not deserve to perish through thirst? God then shows that the Jews were so devoid of all sense and reason that they ought to have been considered detestable by all.

Therefore, in the application, when He says, My people have forgotten me, both clauses ought to be repeated. This indeed by itself would have been obscure, or at least not sufficiently explicit; but God here in substance repeats what He had said before: that He is the fountain of living water which was offered to the Jews, and also that His bounty flowed through various channels like living and cold waters.

Since the people forgot God, they were doubly ungrateful, for they refused to drink of the fountain itself and disdained the cold and flowing waters, which were not hot enough to cause nausea; they were also pure and liquid, having no impure mixture in them.

He again calls them his people, but for the sake of reproaching them, for the less excusable was their perverseness when God in a special manner offered Himself to them, and they refused His offered bounty. Had this been done by heathens it would have been no small sin, though God had not favored them with any remarkable privilege. But when the Jews had been chosen in preference to all others, it was a monstrous thing, as it were, that they forgot God, even Him whom they had known. He was unknown to heathens, but He had made Himself known to the Jews; hence this forgetfulness, with which the Prophet charged them, could not have proceeded from ignorance, but from determined perverseness.

He afterwards adds, In vain they burn incense to me, since to stumble, etc. (the copulative is to be rendered as a causal particle). When He says, in vain they burn incense, it is to anticipate an objection.

For we know that the Jews trusted in their ceremonial rites, so when they were reproved by the Prophets they always had this answer ready: “We are the worshippers of God, for we constantly go up to the Temple, and He has promised that the incense which we offer shall be to Him a sweet odor.” He at the same time includes under this word all the sacrifices, for it is said generally of them all, A sweet odor shall ascend before the Lord. Then by mentioning one thing, he denotes all that external worship in which the Jews were sufficiently assiduous.

But as the whole was nothing but hypocrisy when the integrity of the heart was absent, the Prophet here dissipates this vain objection and says, “In vain do they set forth their ceremonial rites, that they attend very regularly to their sacrifices, and that they do not neglect anything in the external worship of God: it is all in vain,” he says.

This truth is often referred to by the Prophets and should be well known by the godly; yet we see how difficult it is to bring the world to believe it. Hypocrisy always prevails, and men think that they perform all that is required of them when some kind of religion appears among them. But God, as we have before seen, regards the heart itself or integrity; yet this is what the world cannot comprehend. Therefore, it is not without reason that the Prophets so often inculcate the truth that inward piety, connected with integrity of heart, alone pleases God.

He afterwards mentions the cause—that they made them to stumble in their ways. He means here, no doubt, the false teachers, who allured the people from the true and simple worship of God and corrupted wholesome doctrine by their many fictions. And it is a common thing in Hebrew to leave a word to be understood, as we have said elsewhere: they then made them to stumble, or to fall. The meaning is that the sacrifices of the people could not be approved by God because the whole of religion was corrupted. And the crime the Prophet names was that the people were drawn aside from the right way, that is, from the law, which is alone the rule of piety and uprightness.

From this we learn how frivolous is the excuse of those who say that they follow what they have learned from the fathers, and what has been delivered to them from the ancients and received by universal consent; for God here declares that the destruction of the people would follow because they suffered themselves to be deceived by false prophets.

As to the words in their ways, or 'in their own ways,' interpreters differ. Many apply the pronoun הם, em, to the false prophets, but I prefer the other view: that they made them stumble in their right ways, for by errors they led them away from the right course.

When, therefore, he says, in their ways, the words are to be taken in a good sense, for God had pointed out the right way to the people. He then calls the doctrine of the law 'the ways' to which the people had been accustomed. Then follows the expression, the paths of ages, which is to be taken in the same sense. But we must notice the contrast between those paths and the way not trodden.

This brevity may be considered obscure; I will therefore give a more explicit explanation. The Prophet calls those 'the ways of the people' in which they had been fully taught; and this took away any semblance of a defense, for the people could not object and say that they had been deceived, as though they had not known what was right. For they had not only been taught but had also been led by the hand, as it were, so that the way of the law should have been well known to them.

Then he adds, the paths of ages; for as the law had not been introduced a short time before but for many ages, this antiquity should have strengthened their faith in God’s law. We now see how these two things bear on what is said: that the Jews, being deceived by false teachers, fell or stumbled in those ways to which they had been accustomed, and then in the paths of ages, that is, in the doctrine long before received, and whose authority had been for many ages established.

On the other hand, he says that the Jews had been drawn to paths and to a way not trodden, that is, had been led from the right way into error. And he further aggravates their sin by saying that they preferred to go astray rather than to keep the way which had been trodden by their fathers.

But it may be here asked whether this change in itself should be condemned, since we despise antiquity, or rather regard what is right? To this the easy reply is that the Prophet speaks here in the name of God; therefore, this principle should be maintained, that there is no right way but what God Himself has pointed out.

Had anyone else come and boasted antiquity, the Prophet would have laughed to scorn such boasting. And why? For what antiquity can be in men who vanish away? And when we count many ages, there is nothing constant and sure among men.

It should, therefore, be noted that God was the author of that way which the Prophet complains had been forsaken by the people, and how the things which follow harmonize together: that the people had strayed from the way which they had long kept.

For the Jews, as has been said, had not followed any men, but God Himself, who had been pleased to stretch forth His hand to them and to show them the sure way of salvation. We must also observe what sort of people the fathers were—namely, those who had followed God. Since they had such examples, they should have been more and more stimulated to imitate them.

It was therefore an inexcusable wickedness to forsake a way found good by long experience—the way of ages, which had been approved for a long time—and to depart into paths not trodden. For no example from the saints, who alone were the true fathers, had led them to devise for themselves new and fictitious modes of worship or to depart from the plain doctrine of the law.

Had anyone answered that these ways had been long trodden because they had both the Assyrians and the Egyptians as associates in their superstitions, such an exception could not be admitted. For the Prophet, as I have said, does not speak indiscriminately of any kind of examples, but of the examples of the fathers, who had been ruled and led by the Lord.