John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 23:17-18

"They say continually unto them that despise me, Jehovah hath said, Ye shall have peace; and unto every one that walketh in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, No evil shall come upon you. For who hath stood in the council of Jehovah, that he should perceive and hear his word? who hath marked my word, and heard it?" — Jeremiah 23:17-18 (ASV)

Jeremiah introduces another mark by which the false prophets might be known as different from the true prophets—they flattered the ungodly and wicked despisers of God. He thus repeats what he had said before: that they strengthened the hands of the wicked, so that they became hardened in their impiety and threw aside all concern for repentance. Although he uses different words, the meaning is the same: that they promised peace, or prosperity, to the despisers of God, for the word שלום, shalum, means to live well or happily.

They say, then, to those who despise or reject me (for נאף, nats, means both). The doubling of the word for saying is also emphatic, אמרים אמור, amrim amur: for we know with how much haughtiness and confidence the false prophets dared to announce their dreams, as they were led by the spirit of pride, being the children of Satan.

This, then, was the source of their confidence, so that they made their declarations as if they had come down from heaven. They say, then, by saying; that is, they promise, and that with great effrontery, that peace would be to all the despisers of God. Not only so, but they also invoked God’s name, claiming, “Spoken, has Jehovah.” They wished to be considered the instruments or agents of the Holy Spirit, while they were vainly announcing, as has been said, their own imaginations.

And for this reason, Jeremiah applied to them, though improperly, the word vision: They speak the vision of their own heart. By using this word, he makes a concession, for he might have said only that they brought forward nothing but trifles, even the falsehoods they themselves had devised. Instead, he mentions the word חזון, chezun, which in itself ought to be considered of high importance.

And yet he means that they were only apes as prophets when they prattled about visions and confidently declared that they brought forward the revelations of the Spirit. He then concedes to them, though improperly, that they saw visions; but what did they see? Only that Jehovah had spoken, “Peace shall be to you.”

Then he says, “They promise to those who walk in the wickedness of their own heart that all things shall turn out well for them: No evil shall come upon you;” as if he had said, “They promise impunity to all the wicked.”

The verse that follows is usually explained in this way: Jeremiah condemns the false teachers for their carelessness, because they did not attend to the word of God and regarded what the Law contained as nothing. But interpreters, it seems to me, have certainly been very mistaken in this view.

For Jeremiah here shows throughout the passage how insolently and arrogantly the false teachers conducted themselves in audaciously opposing the true and faithful servants of God, asking, “Who has stood in the counsel of Jehovah?” They undoubtedly spoke this way, taunting the true prophets: “What! These men announce to you pestilence, war, and famine, as if they were angels sent by God from heaven! Have they stood in the counsel of God?” Thus I connect this verse with the previous one, for I am fully persuaded that he refers here to the arrogance that the false teachers manifested toward the true teachers.

Examples of this in our own time clearly explain this passage. For when the Papists feel themselves driven to an extremity, when they achieve nothing by clamor and falsehood, they resort to this sort of evasion: “Well! If we must determine everything in religion by the Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel, what certainty can be found? The Scripture is like a nose of wax, for it can be turned to anything, and no meaning can with certainty be elicited; thus all things will remain perplexed and doubtful if authority belongs to the Scripture alone.”

We then see that the enemies of truth today, when they cannot otherwise cover their depravity, labor to throw all things into confusion, to discredit God’s word, and to introduce such darkness that white cannot be distinguished from black, and light becomes mixed with darkness.

Similar to this was the perverse wickedness of the false teachers. For Jeremiah and his associates, when they came forward, declared that God’s vengeance could no longer be deferred, as the people continued to provoke it. They announced themselves as the heralds of God and witnesses to His hidden purpose. But these unprincipled men, so that they might lull to sleep and indeed stupefy the consciences of men, said, “Well! Who has stood in the counsel of Jehovah? Who has heard? Who has attended? Who has seen? All these things are uncertain. And though these men severely threaten you with pestilence, war, and famine, yet there is no reason why you ought to fear. Be easy, then, and quietly and cheerfully enjoy yourselves, for they do not understand the purpose of God.”

And this meaning we will soon see confirmed by what is said in verse 22, ואםעמדו בסודי, veam omdu besudi, “And if they had stood in my counsel.” There is then no doubt that he turns against them what they perversely boasted. But it now follows—