John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 26:17-19

"Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying, Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest. Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? did he not fear Jehovah, and entreat the favor of Jehovah, and Jehovah repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus should we commit great evil against our own souls." — Jeremiah 26:17-19 (ASV)

It is uncertain whether what is recounted here was spoken before Jeremiah's acquittal or not, for Scripture does not always exactly preserve order in narrating events. It is still probable that while they were still deliberating and the people's minds were not sufficiently pacified, the elders intervened to calm the multitude, soften their irritated minds, and reconcile to Jeremiah those who had previously become foolishly enraged at him. No doubt the priests and the false prophets had endeavored by every artifice to irritate the foolish people against the Prophet, and therefore more than one kind of remedy was necessary.

Therefore, when the elders saw that wrath was still burning in the people and that their minds were not disposed to show kindness, they delivered this speech. They took their argument from an example: Jeremiah was not the first witness and herald of dreadful vengeance, for God had previously been accustomed to speak through His other prophets against the city and the temple.

The priests and the prophets had indeed charged Jeremiah with novelty and further pretended that they so fiercely opposed him on the grounds of common justice. Jeremiah had said that God would spare neither the holy city nor the Temple. This was intolerable, for it had been said of the Temple, This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell (Psalms 132:14).

We therefore see that Jeremiah was overwhelmed, as it were, by this one expression, while the priests and the false prophets objected and said,

“You then make void God’s promises; you regard as nothing the sanctity of the Temple.”

And they further pretended that not one of the prophets had ever spoken this way. But what did the elders now answer? That there had been other prophets who had denounced ruin on the city and the Temple, and that Jeremiah was falsely charged with the disgrace of being the first to announce God’s judgment. We now understand the state of the case: Jeremiah is defended because he had not alone threatened the city and the Temple, but he had others as the originators, from whose mouths he had spoken—who were also the acknowledged servants of God, from whom credit could not be withheld, such as Micah.

Now, what is related here is found in Micah 3:12. The Prophet Micah had the same contest with the priests and prophets as Jeremiah had, for they said that it was impossible that God should pour His vengeance on the holy city and the Temple. They said,

Is not Jehovah in the midst of us?

And they also said, No evil shall come on us. They were intoxicated by such a sense of security that they thought themselves beyond the reach of danger, and they disregarded all the threats of the prophets because they imagined that God was bound to them.

We indeed know that hypocrites always relied on that promise, Here will I dwell; and they also took and borrowed words from God’s mouth and perverted them like cheats: “God resides in the midst of us; therefore nothing adverse can happen to us.” But the Prophet said (these are the same words we have just repeated),

For you Sion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of this house as the heights of a forest.

But let us now consider each clause. It is first said that the elders from the people of the land rose up. It is probable that they were called elders, not as in other places on account of their office, but of their age. It is indeed certain that they were men of authority; yet I do not doubt that they were far advanced in years, as they were able to relate to the people what had happened many years before.

As it is added that they spoke to the whole assembly of the people, we may from this deduce what I have already stated: that the people were so violent that a calm discourse was needed to mitigate their ardor. And certainly, once a commotion is raised and rages, it is not an easy matter to calm it immediately. Therefore, when the kind elders saw that the people’s minds were still exasperated, they employed a moderating language and said, Micah the Morasthite (they named his country) prophesied in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and so on.

We should note the time, for it might seem strange that when that holy king was anxiously engaged in promoting the true worship of God, things were in such a disordered state as to call for so severe a denunciation. If there ever was a king really and seriously devoted to the cause of religion, he was undoubtedly the first and chief example; he spared no labor and never seemed to shun any danger or trouble whenever religion required it. But we find that however strenuously he labored, he could not by his zeal and perseverance succeed in making the whole people follow him as their leader.

What then must happen when those who ought to show the right way to others are indifferent and slothful? In the meantime, good princes were confirmed by Hezekiah’s example, so that they did not lose heart or become discouraged when they saw that success, or any fruit, did not immediately follow his labors. For it is a grievous trial, and one that shakes even the most courageous, when they think that their efforts are vain, that their labors are useless, indeed, that they spend their time to no purpose; and thus it happens that many fall back.

But this example of Hezekiah should be remembered by them, so that they may still go on, though no hope of a successful outcome appears. For Hezekiah did not desist, though Satan in various ways put many hindrances in the way and even apparently upset all his labors, so that they produced no fruit. So much for the time that is mentioned.

The elders said that Micah had spoken to the whole people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, Sion, shall be plowed as a field. We have already seen on what occasion Micah spoke with such severity: it was when hypocrites set up their false confidence and falsely assumed the name of God, as though they held Him bound to themselves.

For you, he said, Sion shall be plowed as a field. He began with the temple, and then he added, and Jerusalem shall be in heaps, or a solitude; and lastly, he said, and the mountain of the house, that is, of the temple, and so on. He repeated what he had just said, for what else was the mountain of the temple but Sion?

But as this prediction could hardly have been believed by the Jews, the Prophet, for the sake of confirmation, said the same thing twice. We therefore conclude that it was not a superfluous repetition, but that he might shake with terror the hypocrites who had hardened themselves against God’s threats and thought themselves safe, even though the whole world were ruined.

Having now related what Micah had denounced, they added, Slaying, did Hezekiah the king of Judah and all Judah slay him? By the example of the pious King Hezekiah, they exhorted the people to show kindness and docility, and showed that it was an honor done both to God and to His prophets not to be enraged by His reproofs and threats, however sharply they might have been goaded or however deeply they might have been wounded.

But they further added, Did he not fear Jehovah? and supplicate the face of Jehovah? and did not Jehovah repent? They confirmed what Jeremiah had previously said: that there was no other remedy but to submit themselves calmly to prophetic instruction and at the same time to flee to the mercy of God. For by the fear of God here is meant true conversion; what else is God’s fear than that reverence by which we show that we are submissive to His will, because He is a Father and a Sovereign?

Whoever, then, acknowledges God as a Father and a Sovereign, cannot do otherwise than submit from the heart to His good pleasure. Therefore, the elders meant that Hezekiah and the whole people really turned to God. Now repentance, as it must be well known, contains two parts: the sinner becomes displeased with himself on account of his vices, and forsaking all the wicked lusts of the flesh, he desires to form his whole life and his actions according to the rule of God’s righteousness.

But they added that they supplicated the face of Jehovah. Though Jeremiah uses the singular number, he still includes both the people and the king; he seems, however, to have used the singular number intentionally to commend the king, whose piety was extraordinary and almost incomparable.

There is no doubt that Hezekiah pointed out the right way to others, that they might repent, and also that he humbly sought to avert that vengeance which justly filled their minds with terror. He indeed ascribed this especially to the pious king, but the same concern is also to be extended to the chief men and the whole body of the people, as we shall presently see: did he not then supplicate the face of Jehovah?

This second clause deserves special notice, for a sinner will never return to God unless he has the hope of pardon and salvation, as we shall always dread the presence of God unless the hope of reconciliation is offered to us. Therefore Scripture, whenever it speaks of repentance, at the same time adds faith.

They are indeed things wholly distinct, and yet not contrary, and should never be separated, as some inconsiderately do. For repentance is a change of the whole life, a renovation, as it were; and faith teaches the guilty to flee to the mercy of God. But still, we must observe that there is a difference between repentance and faith; and yet they so unite together that he who tears the one from the other entirely loses both.

This is the order which the Prophet now follows in saying that Hezekiah supplicated the face of Jehovah. For from where does the desire to pray come, if not from faith? It is not then enough for one to feel hatred and displeasure concerning his sins, and to desire to be conformed to God’s will, unless he also thinks of reconciliation and pardon.

The elders then pointed out the remedy and showed it, as it were, by pointing a finger. For if the people, after the example of Hezekiah and of others, repented, then they were to flee to God’s mercy and to testify their faith by praying to God to be favorable to them.

From this it follows that Jehovah repented of the evil which He had spoken against them. The Prophet now uses the plural number; we therefore conclude that under the name of King Hezekiah alone he previously included the whole people. God then repented of the evil. Regarding this way of speaking, I will not now speak at length.

We know that no change belongs to God. For from where does repentance come, except from this: that many things happen unexpectedly which compel us to change our purpose? A person had intended something, but he thought that something would happen which never came to pass; it is therefore necessary for him to revoke what he had determined.

Repentance, then, is the associate of ignorance. Now, as nothing is hidden from God, He can never repent. Why is this? Because He has never determined anything except according to His certain foreknowledge, for all things are before His eyes.

But this kind of speaking—that God repents, that is, does not execute what He has announced—refers to what appears to men. It is no wonder that God speaks so condescendingly to us; but, while this simplicity offends delicate and tender ears, we, on the contrary, wonder at God’s indulgence in thus coming down to us and speaking according to the understanding of our weak capacities. We now perceive how God may be said to repent, even when He does not execute what He had denounced. His purpose in the meantime remains fixed, and as James says,

There is in Him no shadow of turning (James 1:17).

But a question may again be raised: How then did God repent of the evil which He had threatened both to the king and to the people? It was because He deferred His vengeance; for God did not abrogate His decree or His proclamation but spared Hezekiah and the people then living. Thus, the deferring of God’s vengeance is called His repentance, for Hezekiah did not experience what he had feared, since he did not see the ruin of the city nor the sad and dreadful event which Micah had predicted.

Now this also should be noted: the pious king is here commended by the Holy Spirit because he allowed himself to be severely reproved, though, as I have already said, he was not himself guilty. He had, indeed, a burning zeal and was prepared to undergo any troubles in promoting the true worship of God; and yet he calmly and quietly bore with the Prophet when he spoke of the destruction of the city and Temple, for he saw that he needed such a helper.

For however wisely pious princes may exert themselves in promoting the glory of God, yet Satan resists them. Therefore, they always desire, as a matter of no small importance, to have true and faithful teachers to help, assist, and strengthen them, and also to oppose their adversaries.

For if teachers are silent or dissemble, greater ill-will is directed towards good princes and magistrates. When princes, with drawn sword, defend the glory of God and His worship while the teachers themselves are dumb dogs, all will cry out, “Oh! What does this severity mean? Our teachers spare our ears, but these rulers do not spare even our blood.” It is, therefore, always a desirable thing for good and pious kings to have bold and earnest teachers who cry aloud and confirm the efforts of their princes. Such was the feeling of pious Hezekiah, as we may conclude from this passage. I must defer the rest.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since You have been pleased to gather us as a people to Yourself, and to promise that we should be like a spiritual temple for You to dwell in—O grant that we may consecrate among us a perpetual habitation for You for all time, and so strive through the whole course of our life to devote ourselves to You, that Your grace and blessing may never depart from us, but that we may experience more and more that those are never destitute of Your protection who truly and sincerely rely on You, so that Your name may be more and more glorified in us through Your only-begotten Son. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

We saw yesterday the example which the elders had cited to deliver Jeremiah from death: that he was not the first who had threatened the city and the Temple with ruin, for Micah under the reign of Hezekiah had done the same and was not put to death. They therefore concluded that it would be a heinous crime if they slew Jeremiah, and that it would not remain unpunished. They then intimated that the people would commit a most grievous offense if they killed Jeremiah, and they also added that vengeance would follow, for the Lord would give them their due reward if they treated the holy Prophet so cruelly.