John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 27:11

"But the nation that shall bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, that [nation] will I let remain in their own land, saith Jehovah; and they shall till it, and dwell therein." — Jeremiah 27:11 (ASV)

He seems indeed to speak here indiscriminately of all nations, but the admonition belongs to the Jews alone, as we have said and as it appears from the context. He seems, however, to mention the nations so that he might more sharply challenge the Jews, as though he had said, “Though God’s promises are not to be extended to heathen nations, yet God will spare the Tyrians and the Moabites if they submit quietly to the king of Babylon and take his yoke upon them. If God will spare heathen nations, although he has promised them nothing, what may his chosen people expect? But if he will punish nations who err in darkness, what will become of a people who knowingly and willfully resist God and his judgments?”

For the obstinacy of the Jews was mad impiety, as though they openly intended to wage war with God, because they knew that Nebuchadnezzar was the executioner of God’s vengeance. Therefore, when they ferociously attempted to exempt themselves from his power, it was to fight with God, as though they would not submit to his scourges.

We now perceive then why Jeremiah spoke what we read here, not only of the Jews, but also generally of all nations: The nation that brings its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serves him, I will leave it in its own land.

We must still bear in mind what I have said before: that the Jews were the people primarily addressed. If, then, they had yielded to God’s kindness, he would have graciously spared them, and they would have perpetually enjoyed their own inheritance; but it was their obstinacy that drove them far into exile. And so he adds, I will leave it in its land; and it shall cultivate it and dwell in it.

There is a striking allusion in the word עבד, obed, for it means to serve and also to cultivate; but a contrast is to be understood between cultivating the land and that subjection to which he exhorted the Jews, as though he had said: “Serve the king of Babylon, so that the land may serve you. It will be the reward of your obedience, if you will submit yourselves to the power of the king of Babylon, that the land will submit to you, and you will compel it to serve you, so that it will bring forth food for you.” Thus we see that God promised that the land would serve the people if they did not refuse to serve the king of Babylon.

And from this we may also gather useful instruction: that all the elements would be serviceable to us if we willingly obeyed God, but that, on the contrary, the heaven, the earth, and all the elements will be opposed to us if we stubbornly resist God.

But Jeremiah speaks here more specifically of the submission that men render to God when they calmly receive his correction and acknowledge, while he inflicts punishment, that they justly deserve it, and do not refuse to be chastised by his hand. When, therefore, men thus submit to God’s judgment, they obtain his favor, so that the earth, heaven, and all the elements will serve them.

But the more perversely men exalt themselves and raise their horns against God, the more bondage they will feel, for their own chains bind them more strongly than anything else when they thus struggle with God and do not humble themselves under his mighty hand. The Prophet confirms the same thing still more clearly when he says: