John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 27:16

"Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of Jehovah`s house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you." — Jeremiah 27:16 (ASV)

Jeremiah, as we have seen, did not deal privately with the king alone, for he did not separate him from the people. But as he had directed his words chiefly to him, he therefore now expresses what might have seemed obscure: that though he had begun with the king, he still included all the Jews.

It was indeed necessary to begin with the king, for we know that earthly kings think much of their own dignity and that the whole people are dependent on their will. Hence Hosea condemned them because they showed too willing obedience to royal edicts and worshipped God according to what pleased the king and his counselors to dictate (Hosea 5:11; Micah 6:16).

Since then the royal name served to dazzle the eyes of the simple, Jeremiah was instructed to address first the king himself; but he now shows that the priests and the people were included.

It was indeed monstrous that the priests, whom God had designed to be the interpreters of his Law, should have become so stupid as to thoughtlessly receive, along with the common people, what they had heard from the false prophets. This surely was in no way compatible with that high praise by which they are honored by Malachi: that the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and that from him the Law is to be sought, because he is the messenger of the God of hosts (Malachi 2:7). Since then they were the guardians of the Law and of knowledge, as they were messengers from God Himself to the people, how was it that their stupidity was so monstrous that they did not distinguish between truth and falsehood but were led astray, along with the most ignorant, by what the false prophets delivered!

This should be carefully noted, so that we may not today be too disturbed when we see the pastoral office assumed by ignorant asses, and that those who are called, and wish to be thought ministers, are so inexperienced in Scripture that they are deficient in the first elements of religion.

And we see the very thing happening today, especially under the Papacy, just as it existed among the ancient people. For the papal bishops are, for the most part, extremely stupid and presumptuous. Many farmers and artisans can be found who know nothing of learning but have only heard what is obscure and indistinct, and yet they can speak better on the general principles of faith than these haughty prelates in all their splendor.

How is this? It is because the just reward for their sloth is rendered to them. They are truly ignorant of what should qualify them to be bishops, and yet they glory in the name! Indeed, though they do not think that Episcopacy consists in anything but in revenues and also in vain symbols—such as wearing a miter, wearing an episcopal ring, and exhibiting other such worthless displays—they still suppose themselves to be a sort of half-gods.

This is why God exposes them to the utmost reproach. The same was the case with the priests under the Law, as Jeremiah now shows. For they were not ashamed of their ignorance but encouraged the people to believe the false prophets. So today the bishops do the same: they send out their monks and similar brawlers, who run here and there to deceive the ignorant people, and they secure a hearing for them.

And what is the burden of their message? To tell people to pay attention to the holy Catholic Church. And what is the Catholic Church? The Synod which the Pope assembles, where the mitered bishops sit. For what purpose? So that they may know what pleases these brawlers, to whom the office of disputing is committed.

Thus, we see that all things under the Papacy are today in great disorder; and yet this horrible disorder is no different from that of old. And this, as I have said, is what should be particularly noted, so that our faith may not fail when we see all things in confusion and hardly any order remaining.

Now a clearer explanation is also added: that the Jews were warned so that they would not receive the false prophecy respecting the restoration of the vessels of the Temple.

For to make the people feel secure about the future, the false prophets boasted in this manner: “The splendor of the Temple shall shortly be restored; for the vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar has taken away, shall return together with the captives, and everything decayed shall be repaired.”

But Jeremiah said that what they promised was false. “Believe them not,” he says, “when they say to you, Behold, the vessels of Jehovah’s house shall be brought back (or restored, that is, will return here); for the king of Babylon shall either be constrained to restore what he has taken away, or he will of his own accord restore it.”

They also added, Now soon, so that the short timeframe might be an additional chain to captivate the minds of the people. For had a long time been mentioned, the prophecy would have been less plausible and in no way acceptable to them. But they said, “Almost within a day the vessels of the Temple shall be brought back here.”

Jeremiah also, as we have already seen and will presently see again, did not deprive the people of all hope but had assigned seventy years for their exile. Now these prophets, to dissipate this fear, said: “The vessels shall shortly be restored.” But he declared that they prophesied falsely to them.