John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 25:32

"Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest shall be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth." — Jeremiah 25:32 (ASV)

Jeremiah continues with the subject we began to explain in the last lecture. He had previously prophesied God’s judgments, which were near many nations and referred to almost all the countries near and known to the Jews, and to some that were far off. The substance of what has been said is this: God, who had long spared the wickedness of humanity, would now become an avenger. This would make it openly appear that, though He had deferred punishment, He would not allow the ungodly to escape, for they would in proper time and season be called to give an account.

To the same purpose is what he adds here: go forth shall evil from nation to nation. Some explain this to mean that one nation would make war on another, and that they would thus destroy themselves by mutual conflicts; this meaning can be admitted.

It seems to me, however, that the Prophet meant something else: that God’s vengeance would advance like a contagion through all lands. According to this view, he adds a metaphor, or the simile of a storm, a tempest, or a whirlwind. For when a tempest arises, it does not confine itself to one region but spreads far and wide.

So the Prophet now shows that though God would not punish all the nations at one time, He would yet eventually be the judge of all, for He would pass far and wide like a storm. Thus, then, I interpret the passage: not that the nations would make war with one another, but that when God had executed His judgment on one nation, He would afterward advance to another, so that He would make no end until He had completed what Jeremiah had foretold.

This view appears even more evident from the second clause of the verse, for this cannot be explained as internal wars: raised shall be a tempest from the sides of the earth. From this we see that the meaning is that God would not grow weary after having begun to summon people to judgment, but would include the most remote, who thought themselves beyond the reach of danger.

Just as when a tempest rises, it seems only to threaten a small portion of the country, but it soon spreads and covers the whole heavens, so also God says that His vengeance would come from the sides of the earth—that is, from the remotest places—so that no distance would prevent the completion of what He had foretold by His servant.

But this can also be applied to our own case. Whenever we see that this or that nation is afflicted by any calamity, we should remember this truth: God timely warns us so that we do not abuse His patience, but anticipate Him before His scourge passes from some side of the earth to us.

In short, as soon as God manifests any sign of His wrath, it should instantly occur to us that it may spread in a moment through all the extremities of the earth, so that no corner would be exempt.

For if He makes known His power in the whirlwind or the storm, how will it be when He makes a fuller and nearer manifestation of His judgment, by stretching forth His hand, as it were, in a visible manner? This, then, is the meaning of this verse.