John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 18:23

"Yet, Jehovah, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me; forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight; but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thou with them in the time of thine anger." — Jeremiah 18:23 (ASV)

I shall not be able to explain this verse today.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since you exhort us daily, and even constantly to repent, by the doctrine of your Gospel, and show yourself to us reconcilable—O grant, that we may not disregard so incomparable a benefit, but with resigned minds devote ourselves wholly to you; and that we may not so far provoke your wrath as to be altogether rejected by you, and to find at last that there is no mercy for us. May we instead anticipate extreme judgment while the time of your good-will continues, and thus embrace the benefit of reconciliation which you offer to us, so that being thankful to you and accepted in your only-begotten Son, we may proceed in the course of our vocation, until we shall at length enjoy that eternal inheritance which your only-begotten Son has obtained for us by his own blood. Amen.

Yesterday, we presented the words of the last verse of the eighteenth chapter. Let us now see what the Prophet means by them, and what fruit we should gather from them. He says that God was a witness of the wickedness of his enemies—that all their counsels had his destruction in view. Moreover, a contrast is to be understood: that the Prophet, as we have seen before, faithfully cared for their salvation. It was, then, most base ingratitude for them to plot the death of the holy Prophet, who was not only innocent but also highly deserved their thanks for laboring for their salvation. We hence conclude that they deserved no mercy. You know, he says, their counsel, that what they consult among themselves tends to bring death on me: do not then be propitious to their iniquity, and do not blot out their sin.

We said in our last lecture that this vehemence, as it was dictated by the Holy Spirit, is not to be condemned. Nor should it be made an example of, for it was peculiar to the Prophet to know that they were reprobates. We also showed why no common law is to be made from particular examples. For Jeremiah was endowed with the spirit of wisdom and judgment, and zeal for God’s glory also so ruled in his heart that the feelings of the flesh were wholly subdued, or at least brought under subjection. Furthermore, he did not plead a private cause. We said in the first place that it was oracular, for God designed to make it known that those who thus obstinately resisted true doctrine were reprobate and irreclaimable. As all these things do not fall to our lot, we should not indiscriminately imitate Jeremiah in this prayer, for that would then apply to us which Christ said to his disciples:

You know not what spirit governs you (Luke 9:55).

And doubtless it should fill us with dread when we hear, Do not be propitious to them, nor blot out their sin. God testifies in many places that he is gracious and inclined to mercy, and that when he is angry it is only for a moment (Numbers 14:18; Psalms 103:8; Psalms 30:5). There seems then a great difference between the words of the Prophet and these testimonies by which God makes known his own nature.

But we have said already that the destruction of the people against whom the Prophet thus prayed had been made evident to him. We must also bear in mind what we have stated: that he did not include the people without exception, for he knew that there was a seed remaining among them. He then confined his imprecation to the reprobate and irreclaimable, as he knew that they were already doomed to ruin, even by the eternal purpose of God; and as they had over and over again destroyed themselves, he boldly declares that God would never be propitious to them.

To the same purpose is what follows: Let them ever stumble before your face. He mentions face here for manifest judgment, for the wicked exult as long as God spares them. The Prophet then would have God sit on his throne, that he might appear as a Judge and thus check the wantonness of those who despised his judgment, being constrained to know that they could not escape.

A contrast is also to be understood here between the presence and the absence of God. For hypocrites think that God is absent as long as he is indulgent to them and does not take vengeance; hence they grow wanton, as though they had permission to deceive him. But when God constrains them to acknowledge what they are unwilling to do, they are said to stand in his presence. For they are pressed too near to make it possible for them to evade, and willing or unwilling, they are held fast as the Lord proves that he is their Judge. We hence see the meaning of the expression when the Prophet says, Let them stumble before your face.

He in the last place adds, In the time of your wrath deal thus with them. The manner of his presence is set forth. There is, however, no doubt that the Prophet here checks both himself and all the godly, that they may not be hasty, for we are often too precipitant in our wishes; for we would that God would fulminate every moment from heaven. This hastiness should be moderated; and the Prophet here prescribes to us the rule of moderation by saying, In the time of your wrath; as though he had said, “Even though you defer and seem now to connive at these great crimes, yet the time will eventually come in which you will take vengeance on the reprobate.”

Whenever, then, the Scripture speaks of the time of God’s wrath, let us know that under this form of speaking there is an exhortation to patience, so that excessive ardor may not lead us beyond the limits of moderation, but that we may wait with resigned minds until the due time of judgment comes. This is one thing; but at the same time the Prophet expresses also something more: for he would have the reprobate of whom he speaks to be so involved in endless judgment as never to be able to extricate themselves. It is said in Psalm 106:4:

Remember me, O Lord, with the favor of your people,

that is, “O Lord, this only I ask, to be joined to your people; for even when your Church is afflicted and deemed miserable, it will still be enough for me to be of the number of those whom you honor with your paternal favor.” The favor then of God’s people is that paternal regard which he entertains for his Church. So, on the other hand, the time of wrath is that judgment by which God devotes the reprobate to eternal perdition, so that there is no hope of salvation remaining for them. Deal with them, but when? Even in the time of your wrath; that is, deal with them as you are accustomed to deal with your irreclaimable enemies, to whom you will never be reconcilable. This is the meaning. Now another discourse follows.