John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 18:21

"Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death, [and] their young men smitten of the sword in battle." — Jeremiah 18:21 (ASV)

The Prophet seems here to have been driven by indignation to utter imprecations that are not consistent with a right feeling. For even if Christ had not said with His own mouth that we are to pray for those who curse us, the very law of God, always known to the holy fathers, was sufficient.

Jeremiah then ought not to have uttered these curses and to have imprecated final destruction on his enemies, though they fully deserved it.

But it must be observed that he was moved by none other than the Holy Spirit to become so indignant against his enemies. For he could not have been excused on the ground that indignation often transgresses the bounds of patience, because the children of God ought to bear all injuries to the utmost.

But, as I have said, the Prophet here has announced nothing rashly, nor did he allow himself to wish anything on his own accord, but obediently proclaimed what the Holy Spirit dictated, as His faithful instrument.

We have said elsewhere that the first thing to be noticed is that when we pray for any evil on the wicked, we ought not to act on personal grounds. For he who considers his own interests will always be led away by too strong an impulse; and even when our prayers are calmly and rightly formed, we are still always wrong when we consider our private advantages or seek to redress our own injuries.

That is one thing. Secondly, we ought to have that wisdom which distinguishes between the elect and the reprobate. But as God bids us to suspend our judgment, since we cannot surely know what will happen tomorrow, we ought not to imitate indiscriminately the Prophet in praying God to destroy and scatter ungodly men of whom we despair; for, as it has been stated, we are not certain what has been decreed in heaven.

In short, whoever is inclined, after the example of Jeremiah, to pray for a curse on his enemies, must be governed by the same spirit, according to what Christ said to His disciples. For as God destroyed the wicked at the request of Elijah, the Apostles wished Christ to do the same by fire from heaven; but He said,

You do not know by what spirit you are ruled (Luke 9:55).

They were unlike Elijah, and yet wished like apes to imitate what he did.

But, as I have said:

1. Let all regard for our own benefit or loss be dismissed when we would show ourselves indignant against the wicked.

2. Let us have the spirit of wisdom and discretion.

3. Let all the turbulent feelings of the flesh be checked, for as soon as anything human is mixed with our prayers, some confusion will always be found.

There was nothing turbulent in this imprecation of Jeremiah, for the Spirit of God ruled his heart and his tongue. Then he forgot himself, and lastly, he knew that they were reprobate and already doomed to final ruin.

He therefore did not hesitate, through the prophetic spirit, to imprecate on them what we read here.

And there is no doubt that he was always solicitous for the remnant, for he knew that there were some faithful; and though they were unknown, he still prayed to God for them.

But he fulminates here against the reprobate who were already given up to ruin. This is the reason why he did not hesitate to pray that they might be delivered up to famine and given to the sword, so that their women might be bereaved and become widows, and their men put to death, and their youth smitten by the sword.