John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 2:6-7

"Neither said they, Where is Jehovah that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that none passed through, and where no man dwelt? And I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination." — Jeremiah 2:6-7 (ASV)

The Prophet continues with the same subject, for God brings no small charge against His people here, as they had buried His favors in oblivion. Indeed, such a wonderful redemption was worthy of being celebrated in all ages, not only by one nation but by all the nations of the earth. Since the Jews had thus buried the memory of such a remarkable and valuable favor, their base impiety appeared evident. Had they not experienced the power and kindness of God, or had they only witnessed them in an ordinary way, their guilt might have been lessened. But God had made an unusual display of His power from heaven, and His majesty had been manifested before the eyes of the people. How great, therefore, was their foolishness in afterwards forgetting their God, who had openly and with such proofs made Himself known to them!

So now we understand what the Prophet means by saying, they have not said: for God here sharply reproves the dullness of the Jews—that they did not consider that they were under perpetual obligations to Him for His great kindness in delivering them so wonderfully from the land of Egypt.

By saying that they did not say, Where is the LORD, the Prophet intimates that God was present with them and near them, but that they were blind. Therefore, they were without an excuse for their ignorance, as God was not to be sought as one at a distance, or by tedious and difficult means.

If, then, only this had come to their mind, “Did not God once redeem us?” they could not have departed after their worthless idols. How then did it happen that their error, or rather their madness, was so great that they followed idols? It was because they did not choose to make any effort, or to apply their minds to seek or to inquire about God.

Here, then, the Prophet meets the objection of the hypocrites, who might have said that they had been deceived and had relapsed through ignorance; for they always have some evasions ready when they are called to account for their sins. But lest the Jews should make any pretense of this kind, the Prophet here shows that they had not been deceived through a mistake, but that they had followed falsehood through a wicked disposition, for they had willfully despised God and refused to inquire concerning Him, though He was sufficiently near them.

This passage deserves to be especially noticed, for there is nothing more common than for the ungodly, when they are proven guilty, to resort to this subterfuge—that they acted with good intention when they gave themselves up to their own superstitions. The Prophet then removes this mask and shows that where God is once known, His name and His glory cannot be obliterated, except through the depravity of men, as they knowingly and willfully depart from Him. Hence all apostates are condemned by this one clause, so that they may no longer dare to make evasions, as though they have been deceived through mere simplicity. For when the matter is examined, their malignity and ingratitude are discovered, because they do not see fit to inquire, Where is the LORD?

And he afterwards adds what explains this sentence. I have said that other nations are not condemned here, but the Jews, who had known by clear experience that God was their Father. Since God had, by many testimonies, made Himself known to them, they had no pretext for their ignorance.

Hence the Prophet says that they did not consider where God was who brought them from the land of Egypt, and made them to pass through the desert. He could not have stated this indiscriminately of all nations. But, as has been said, the words are addressed particularly to the Jews, who had clearly witnessed the power of God. Consequently, they could not have sinned except willfully, even by extinguishing, through their own malignity, the light presented to them, which shone before their eyes.

And here, also, the Prophet amplifies their guilt by various circumstances. For he says not simply that they had been brought out of Egypt, but intimates that God had been their constant guide for forty years, as this time is suggested by the word “desert.” The history was well known; therefore, a brief allusion was sufficient. At the same time, by mentioning the desert, he greatly extols the glory of God.

But the first thing to be observed is that the Jews were inexcusable, who had not considered that their fathers had been wonderfully and unusually preserved by God's hand for forty years; for they had no bread to eat, nor water to drink. God drew water for them from a rock and satisfied them with heavenly bread, and their garments did not wear out during the whole time.

We see then that all those circumstances enhanced their guilt. Then follows what I have referred to: the Prophet calls the desert a dry or waste land, a dreary land, a horrible land, a land of deadly gloom. It is as though he had said that the people had been preserved in the midst of death, indeed, in the midst of many deaths, for no one was accustomed to pass through that land, nor did anyone dwell in it.

“From where, then,” he says, “did salvation come to you? From what condition? Even from death itself! For what else was the desert but a horrible place, where you were surrounded not only by one kind of death but by a hundred? Since God brought you out of Egypt by His incredible power and fed you in a supernatural manner for forty years, what excuse can there be for such great madness in now alienating yourselves from Him?”

Now this passage teaches us that the more favors God confers on us, the more heinous our guilt is if we forsake Him, and the less excusable our wickedness and ingratitude will be, especially when He has manifested His kindness to us for a long time and in various ways.

God afterwards adds, And I brought you in, etc. Here Jeremiah introduces God as the speaker; for God had, as with His hand stretched forth, brought the children of Abraham into the possession of the promised land, which they did not get, as it is said in Psalm 44:3, by their own power and by their own sword. For though they had to fight with many enemies, yet it was God who made them victorious.

God could then truly say that they did not enter the land otherwise than under His guidance, inasmuch as He had opened a way and passage for them, and subdued and put to flight their enemies, so that they might possess the heritage promised to them. I brought you in, He says, into the land, into Carmel.

Some consider Carmel to be the name of a place, and no doubt there was Mount Carmel, so-called on account of its great fertility. Since its name was given to it because it was so fertile, it is not strange that Jeremiah compares the land of Israel to Carmel. Some would have the preposition kaph (כ) understood, as in “I have brought you into a land like Carmel.” But there is no need to laboriously turn the Prophet’s words in all directions. It is, as I think, a common noun, meaning fruitful, and used here to show that the Israelites had been brought by God's hand into a fertile land, for its fertility is everywhere celebrated, both in the Law and in the Prophets.

That you might eat its fruit and its abundance; that is, “I wished you to enjoy the large and rich produce of the land.” By these words God intimates that the Israelites ought to have been induced by such allurements cordially to serve Him; for by such liberal treatment He kindly invited them to Himself. The greater, then, the bounty of God towards the people, the greater was the indignity offered by their defection, when they despised the various and abounding blessings of God.

Hence God adds, And you have polluted My land, and My heritage you have made an abomination. It is as though He had said, “This is the reward by which My bounty towards you has been compensated. I indeed gave you this land, but on this condition, that you serve Me faithfully in it; but you have polluted it.” God calls it His own land, as though He had said that He had so given the land to the Israelites that He Himself remained still the Lord of it as a proprietor, though He granted the occupation of it to them.

He therefore shows that they impiously abused His bounty by polluting that land which was sacred to His name. For the same purpose, He calls it His heritage, as if He said that they possessed the land by an hereditary right, and yet the heritage belonged to their Father. They ought, therefore, to have considered that they had entered into the land because it had been given to Abraham and to his children for an heritage—by whom? By God, who was the fountain of this bounty. The more detestable, then, was their ingratitude when they made the heritage of God an abomination.