John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 25:8-9

"Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Because ye have not heard my words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith Jehovah, and [I will send] unto Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations." — Jeremiah 25:8-9 (ASV)

What follows is a denunciation of punishment; the Prophet says that God would no longer deal with them merely in words, because their iniquity had ripened, according to what is said in Genesis:

My Spirit shall not contend (or strive) any more with man. (Genesis 6:3)

When God prepares to execute vengeance on the wickedness of men, He says that there is no more time for contending. A sudden execution of judgment is therefore what is intended here; but He mentions at the same time the punishment. After having explained the cause of so much severity, namely, because they would not hear the words of God, He adds, Behold, I will send for and take all the families of the north, etc.

I have no doubt that the Prophet alludes to the edicts of kings, for when they wish to raise an army, they publish their edicts and order those everywhere to meet who have either given their names or been enlisted as soldiers. So God now by these words intimates that the Chaldeans were under His power, so that they were ready as soon as He gave them a signal. This is according to other modes of speaking He uses in other places, but in the same sense: I will hiss, and also, I will send an alarm.

The Scripture is full of expressions of this kind, which show that all mortals are prepared to obey God whenever He intends to employ their services. This is not because it is their purpose to serve God, but because He, by a secret influence, so rules them and their tongues, their minds and hearts, their hands and their feet, that they are constrained, willing or unwilling, to do His will. And in the same sense, He calls Nebuchadnezzar His servant, for that cruel tyrant never meant to offer his service to God; but God employed him as His instrument, as though he had been hired by Him. And we shall see also elsewhere that he is called God’s servant.

And it should be noted, for from this we learn that many are God’s servants who are nevertheless wholly unworthy of so honorable a title; but they are not so called with respect to themselves. Nebuchadnezzar thought that he was making war with the God of Israel when he invaded Judea; and only ambition, avarice, and cruelty impelled him to undertake so many wars.

When, therefore, we think of him, of his designs and his projects, we cannot say that he was God’s servant. But this is to be referred to God only, who governs by His hidden and incomprehensible power both the devil and the ungodly, so that they execute, though unwittingly, whatever He determines. There is a great difference between these and God’s servants, who, when anything is commanded them, seek to render the obedience they owe—all such are faithful servants. They are, then, justly called God’s servants, for there is a mutual concord between God and them: God commands, and they obey. But it is a mutilated and a half service when the ungodly are led beyond the purpose of their own minds, and God uses them as instruments when they are thinking of and designing something else.

It must at the same time be noted that this name of servant is given to Nebuchadnezzar, though in an inferior sense, partly for the honor of the title itself, so that the Jews might be made ashamed. For it was a great reproach to them that a heathen had been chosen by God and had obtained the title of a servant, when they themselves had become aliens. The Prophet, then, no doubt intended to cast reproach on them by raising the king of Babylon to this dignity.

There was also another reason: namely, that the Jews might know that whatever they were to suffer would be inflicted by God’s hand. They were not to think of Nebuchadnezzar otherwise than as God’s scourge, so that they might thus be led to confess their sins and be truly humbled. We now perceive the meaning of the words.

He says afterwards, I will bring them on this land and on all its inhabitants, etc. By these words He confirms what I have just referred to: that God had His vengeance ready as soon as He purposed to treat the Jews as they deserved. As He had then said that Nebuchadnezzar and all the people of the north were prepared by Him as hired soldiers, so He now adds that victory was in His power—I will bring them, He says, over the land and over all the neighboring nations which are around.

Why the Prophet denounces punishment here on other nations we shall see elsewhere. The Jews, in addition to other vain confidences, were accustomed to flatter themselves with this: that if Nebuchadnezzar should invade the territories of others, all would unite together against him, and that by such a confederacy they could easily overcome him.

Since, then, the Jews looked to all parts, and knew that the Egyptians were in alliance with them, and were also persuaded that the Moabites, the Tyrians, the Syrians, and all the rest would become confederates, they became confident and indulged in the security by which they deceived themselves. This, therefore, is the reason why the Prophet expressly threatens the nations by which they were surrounded—not for the sake of these nations, but so that the Jews might cease to entertain their vain confidence.

God says that He would make all nations, as well as the Jews, an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. He intimates that it would be a dreadful calamity, such as would astonish all who heard of it.

As it is said elsewhere, The report alone will excite alarm; so in this place, I will make them for an astonishment. When a moderate calamity is related to us, we are indeed moved to pity; but when the greatness of the evil exceeds belief, we then stand amazed, and all our senses are stunned.

The Prophet then means that the calamity which God would bring on the Jews would be, as it were, monstrous, such as would stupefy all who would hear of it.

At last He adds, that they would be for perpetual desolations. He does afterwards, indeed, mitigate the severity of these words, for He confines God’s vengeance to seventy years. But this mode of speaking is common in Scripture; for עולם (oulam) stands opposed to a short time.

It is to be taken in different senses, according to the circumstances of the passage. It sometimes designates perpetuity, as when the Prophet says, from age to age, that is, through continued ages, or through a course of years, which shall last perpetually.

But 'age,' or עולם (oulam), is often to be taken for the time allotted to the people until the coming of Christ; and sometimes it means simply a long time, as here and in many other places.