John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 27:13

"Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Jehovah hath spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?" — Jeremiah 27:13 (ASV)

Here is a threatening added; for all means were used not only to invite the Jews, but also to stimulate them to repent. The Prophet offered them pardon if they quietly submitted to be chastised by God. It was to be their life, he said, when the Lord punished them according to his will. As they could not be sufficiently moved by this kindness, he now adds, "See to it, for unless you receive the life offered to you, you must inevitably perish. Therefore you, Zedekiah, will precipitate yourself with all your people into eternal destruction if you continue to be perverse and obstinate against God."

We therefore see that nothing was left undone by the Prophet to bend the Jews to obedience and to lead them to repentance. By speaking of the sword, famine, and pestilence, he intimates that there would be no end until they were consumed by God’s vengeance, unless they allowed themselves, as we have said, to be thus chastised by his paternal kindness, for this would be salutary to them.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as we do not cease often and continually to provoke Your wrath against us, we may of our own accord anticipate Your judgment, and not harden ourselves in our sins, having been especially warned by Your word, but in due time repent, and so submit ourselves to You, that whatever You may appoint for us, we may not doubt that You will be propitious to us; and while fleeing to Your mercy, may we not refuse the punishment You deem expedient to bring us to the right way, until at last, having put off all our corruptions, we shall enjoy that eternal inheritance, which is laid up for us in heaven, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

We said yesterday that, as the Prophet saw great insensibility in the Jews, so that they disregarded all God’s promises, he added terror to the hope of mercy. Hence he said, "You shall perish, you and your people." He was, no doubt, constrained by necessity to speak in this severe way, for the kind exhortation which he had used availed nothing. And yet God showed at the same time by his threatening how much he loved the people. For he had sympathy for them, and as it is said elsewhere, he willed not the death of the sinner, but sought to induce those who were not wholly irreclaimable to repent so that they might live. The same thing we know from these words of the Prophet; for God assumes the character of a man ready to give help and sympathizes with the miseries of a people whom he saw rushing headlong into destruction.