John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 25:3-5

"From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even unto this day, these three and twenty years, the word of Jehovah hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising up early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. And Jehovah hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, (but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear,) saying, Return ye now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah hath given unto you and to your fathers, from of old and even for evermore;" — Jeremiah 25:3-5 (ASV)

Jeremiah now remonstrates with the Jews, because they had not only treacherously departed from the true worship of God and despised the whole teaching of His Law, but because they had shaken off the yoke, and intentionally and even obstinately rejected all warnings, being not moved by reproofs nor even by threats. He does not then simply charge them with impiety and ingratitude, but adds the sin of perverseness, that they were like untamable wild beasts and could by no means be corrected.

He says, that from the thirteenth year of Josiah king of Judah, to that year, which was the twenty-third year, he had not ceased faithfully to perform the office committed to him, but had effected nothing. From this it appears how incorrigible their wickedness was. We have seen, at the beginning of the book, that he was called by God to be a Prophet in the thirteenth year of King Josiah; and he had now been engaged in his calling, as he declares, for twenty-three years.

He had spent his time in vain; he had consumed much labor without any fruit. It is then no wonder that he now accuses them of perverseness, and that in the name of God; for he pleads not his own cause, but shows what the Jews deserved, considering how much God had labored in reclaiming them, and that they had rejected all His warnings and refused all His remedies. Then from the thirteenth year of Josiah, he says, to this day; and afterwards in a parenthesis he adds, that he had already discharged his office for twenty-three years.

We learn that the Prophet spoke thus seventeen years before the destruction of the City and Temple; for he had accomplished forty years before the people were driven into exile, and before those who thought themselves safe miserably perished. He continued to the death of Josiah; and afterwards about twenty-two years passed, for Jehoiakim reigned eleven years. Without reckoning the short time of Jeconiah, Mathaniah, called also Zedekiah, was in the eleventh year removed, and disgracefully and reproachfully put to death. Thus it appears that the Prophet constantly labored for forty years.

Hence, also, we learn how diabolical was the madness of that people in rejecting so many warnings. And if we connect another thing, to which I lately referred—that they had been taught by many examples—it will appear still more evident that the disease of impiety regarding that people was altogether incurable.

But this passage deserves special attention, for we learn here that we ought to return to God immediately when He invites us; for faith is known by its promptness. As soon, then, as God speaks, it is necessary for us to be attentive, so that we may follow Him immediately. But if God does not cease for a whole year to warn and exhort us, while at the same time His doctrine is despised, we become guilty of intolerable sin.

Let us then remember that days are mentioned here, in a way, as well as years, so that the Jews might consider how many days are in each year. Let us also know that years are mentioned by Jeremiah so that they might understand they had no excuse, since God had for so long a time not ceased to promote their welfare, while they, in the meantime, persisted in their impiety and continued obstinate to the end. This is why the Prophet relates again when he began to discharge his prophetic office, even from the thirteenth year of Josiah.

He then adds that it was their own fault that they had not repented; spoken, he says, has Jehovah to me, and I to you. By saying that the word of God was deposited with him, he no doubt intended to assert his authority against the unbelievers, who clamored that he presumptuously pretended God’s name, and that he had not been sent by God. For we have elsewhere seen that the Church was then miserably torn, having internal conflicts, and many were boasting that they were prophets; and we shall hereafter find the same thing in other places. Thus, then, Jeremiah was not received by the whole people, and his authority was disputed. Since then he had to contend with many ungodly men, he here testifies that he came not of himself, but that the prophetic office had been committed to him.

After having asserted the authority of his call, he adds that he had faithfully promoted the welfare of the whole people. He declares how faithful and diligent he had been when he says that he had spoken and rose up early; for to rise up early means that he had been assiduous in his work.

The Prophet then shows that he had not been tardy or idle, and that he had not spoken carelessly as many do, who seem to do what God commands but display no fervent zeal and no diligence. Therefore, after declaring he had been sent from above, the Prophet adds that he had exercised fidelity and diligence, and had strenuously served God and His Church. I have spoken to you, he says, as the Lord had spoken to me—how? Rising up early.

He then adds, I have spoken, and you did not hear. He complains here that his work had been useless, and at the same time shows that the whole fault was in the people. He confirms the same thing in other words: Jehovah has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising up early, etc.

He amplifies their sin—that they had not only rejected one Prophet but many; for God had not employed Jeremiah alone to teach them but had joined others with him, so that they were less excusable. From this we see that their sin is amplified in this verse; for the Jews had not only despised God in the person of one man but had also rejected all His servants.

He might, indeed, have simply said that God had sent His servants, but he adds the word prophets so that their ingratitude might appear more evident. It was, indeed, very wicked to neglect God’s servants; but as prophecy was an invaluable treasure, and a unique pledge and symbol of God’s favor, it was a double crime when they thus despised the prophets, whose very name ought to have been held sacred by them.

He afterwards applies to God what he had said of himself, rising up early. It is certain that God does not rise up, as He does not sleep in the night; but the language is much more expressive and forcible when God Himself is said to rise up early. And it was not without reason that the Prophet spoke so emphatically; for though the Jews were sufficiently convicted of ingratitude for having disregarded God’s servants, it was yet a monstrous impiety to show no regard for God.

But when the unbelieving are proved guilty, they always fix their eyes on men: “Ha! It is with a mortal that I am dealing; far be it from me to ever rise up against God! But why is this so much blamed, since I do not immediately perish? Since I am not suddenly cast down at the nod of man? What! Am I not free to inquire, and to discuss, and to examine every part of what is said? Why do the prophets so imperiously treat us, that it is not lawful to doubt any of their words?”

Thus, then, the ungodly spoke. But God, on the other hand, answered them and said that He was despised, as Christ also said, He who hears you hears me,
and he who despises you despises me (Luke 10:16).

So also the Prophet presents God Himself as rising up early, exhorting the people and manifesting every care for their well-being. This, then, is the purpose of the metaphor, when he says that God had sent to them and rose up early; He rose up early while sending His servants.

Now as God thunders against all despisers of His doctrine, so from these words we may gather no small consolation; for we certainly conclude that God watches over our safety whenever sound and faithful teachers go forth. It is the same as though He Himself descended from heaven, rose up early, and was intent on securing our salvation. This we learn from the very words of the Prophet, when he says that God rose up early. But as this testimony of God’s favor and paternal care towards us is delightful, so to the same extent dreadful is the vengeance that awaits those who neglect this favor, who sleep when God is watching, who hear not when He is speaking, who continue in their sloth and torpor when God of His own accord meets them, and kindly and gently invites them to Himself.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since You have been pleased to choose us from our infancy to be Your people, and that when we were wretched apostates, You have also been pleased to restore us to the right way, by stretching forth Your hand to lead us—O grant, that we may not be deaf nor idle; but may it please You, by Your Spirit, especially to correct all obstinacy in our hearts, so that we may make ourselves obedient and submissive to You. And as You have not ceased continually to call us, may we in our turn respond to You, and not only by our tongues, but also by our works, pursue the course which You have appointed for us, until we shall reach the goal, and enjoy that blessed state of glory which You have prepared for us in heaven, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

We began yesterday to explain God’s complaint against the Jews—that He had found them utterly rebellious. He says, in one word, that they did not hear Him; but he afterwards adds, that they did not incline their ear to hear Him. By this mode of speaking, their perverseness is shown more fully, as they closed their ears as if intentionally; for not to incline the ear is more than not to hear. Jeremiah then means that they had so hardened themselves against all that was taught by the prophets, that they intentionally rejected everything that was set before them by God’s authority.

He afterwards explains what God required them to do: Turn you, I pray, every one from his evil way and from the wickedness of your doings, and dwell in the land which Jehovah has given to you and your fathers from age even to age. What God required was undoubtedly most just; for He demanded nothing from the Jews but to repent.

There was also a promise added; God not only exhorted them to repent, but wished also to be reconciled to them, and having blotted out all memory of their sins, to show them kindness. If they had not been harder than stones, they must have been turned to His service by so kind a treatment.

God might have indeed sharply reproved them; He might have threatened them; He might, in short, have cut off every hope of pardon. But He only required them to repent, and at the same time added a promise of free forgiveness. As then they had despised so great a favor, it follows that they must have been men of reprobate minds and of irreclaimable habits.

When they were commanded to repent of their evil way and of the wickedness of their doings, it was done for the sake of amplification; for the Prophet wished to take away from them every excuse for evasion, lest they should ask what was the wickedness or what was the evil way. He then implies that they were fully proved guilty; and for this purpose he made the repetition. By way is designated a continued course of life; but as they had fully shown themselves perverse in many ways, he refers to their fruits, as though he had said that they in vain contended with God by inquiring what had been their evil way, for their whole life sufficiently testified that they were completely devoted to wickedness.

Now there is a striking alliteration in the verbs שבו and ושבו: the verb שבו, shebu, means sometimes to rebel, it means to return to the right way, and it means to rest or dwell in. He uses the same verb, though the sense is different when he says, “Return you,” and “you shall dwell.”

He also emphatically uses the word איש, aish, “every one:” it means properly “man;” but it is taken in Hebrew for every one or each one, “each one from his evil way.” The Prophet exempted no one, so that they would not think that their fault was diminished, had not the evil been universal. Therefore he says that every one was given to wickedness; as though he had said that impiety not only prevailed among the whole people, as is commonly the case, but that every one had become corrupt, so that there was not one sound or upright among the whole people.

And this is what should be noted; for we are accustomed, in a cold manner, to confess our sins and to pray to God when we are proved guilty, except when each one is touched with the sense of his own guilt and admits himself to be justly exposed to God’s judgment. For while every one mingles with the multitude, it so happens that no one acknowledges the heinousness of his own sins. Therefore, for true and sincere repentance this peculiar examination is necessary, so that every one may repent and not regard his friends.

When he says, Dwell you in the land, though it is in the imperative mood, yet it is a promise by which God declared that He was ready to receive the Jews into favor, provided they returned to Him from the heart. He proposed to them, as a symbol of His paternal favor, the possession of the land; for that land was, so to speak, the pledge of their adoption. And the Jews, while they dwelt there, might have felt assured that God was their Father.

He adds, From age even to age; as though he had said, “I am prepared to do you good not only for one day, or for a short time, but also to show you kindness from age to age. It will then be your fault if you are not happy, and if this happiness will not pass on from you to your children and grandchildren.” But the more delightful the invitation was, the more detestable became the impiety of the people, as will be stated later. He now adds—