John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 30

This and the next chapter contain, as we will see, a most profitable truth; and so that the people might be more attentive, God introduced these prophecies with a preface. Jeremiah spoke many things which afterwards, as has appeared elsewhere, had been collected and inserted into one volume by the priests and Levites; but God reminds us in these words that the prophecies which are to follow concerning the liberation of the people were especially to be remembered.

There is, however, another circumstance to be noticed. We have seen that the stubbornness of the people was such that Jeremiah spent his labor among them in vain, for he addressed the deaf, or rather stocks and stones, because they were so possessed by stupor that they understood nothing, for God had even blinded them—a judgment they fully deserved.

Such was the condition of the people. We must also bear in mind the comparison between Jeremiah's doctrine and the fables of those who fed the miserable people with flatteries by giving them the hope of a return after two years. God knew what the outcome would be; but the people did not cease to entertain hope and to boast of a return at the end of two years.

Thus they despised God’s favor, because seventy years was a long period: “What! God indeed promises a return, but after seventy years who of us will be alive? Hardly one of us will be found remaining then; therefore, so cold a promise is nothing to us.” At the same time, as I have said, they were filled with a false confidence, as with wind, and behaved insolently toward God and his prophets, as though they were to return sound and safe in a short time.

But profane men always run to extremes. At one time they are inflated with pride—that is, when things go prosperously, or when a hope of prosperity appears—and they carry themselves proudly against God, as though nothing adverse could happen to them. Then, when hope and false confidence disappoint them, they are completely disheartened, so that they receive no comfort but plunge into the abyss of despair.

God saw that this would be the case with the people unless He came to their aid. Therefore, He proposes here the best and most fitting remedy: that the Prophet, as he had achieved nothing by speaking, should write and, as it were, convert into formal records what he had spoken. This was intended so that after two years had passed, they might gather courage. They could then acknowledge that they had been deceived by unprincipled men and had thus justly suffered for their recklessness; in this way, they might finally begin to look to God, embrace the promised liberation, and not completely lose hope.

This, then, is the reason why the Prophet was commanded to write the words which he had previously spoken.

Now, as we understand God's design, let us learn that when we happen to go astray and wander after false imaginations, we are not for that reason to cast away the hope of salvation. For we see that God here stretches forth His hand to those who had erred and who had even willfully cast themselves into ruin, because they had been more than sufficiently admonished and warned by true and faithful prophets. They had stopped their ears; they had hardened their hearts. And yet, when they had, as it were, intentionally sought to ruin themselves, we see how God still recalled them to Himself.

He says that God had commanded him to write in a book all the words which he had heard; and the reason follows, For, behold, come shall the days, saith Jehovah, in which I will restore the captivity of my people Israel and Judah. A contrast is to be understood between the restoration mentioned here and that about which the false prophets had prattled when they animated the people with the hope of a return in a short time. For, as I have said, that false expectation—when the Jews unseasonably sought to return to their own country—was a kind of mental intoxication.

But when they found that they had been deceived, only despair remained for them. Therefore, the Prophet recalls them here to a quietness of mind, so that they might know that God would prove faithful after they found out that they had rashly embraced what impostors had of themselves proclaimed. We then see that there is an implied comparison here between the sure and certain deliverance God had promised and the false and foolish hope with which the people had been intoxicated: come, then, shall the days. Now it appears that two years had taken away every expectation, for they believed the false prophets who said that God would restore them in two years; after the end of that time, all the hope of the people failed.

Therefore, the Prophet here removes that erroneous impression which had been made on their minds, and he says that the days would come in which God would redeem His people. Thus he indirectly derides the people's folly and condemns the impiety of those who had dared to promise so quick a return.

We now see, then, why he says, come shall the days; for every hope after two years would have been extinguished if God had not intervened. Come, then, shall the days in which I will restore the captivity of Israel and Judah. The ten tribes, we know, had already been led into exile; only the tribe of Judah and the half-tribe of Benjamin remained. Therefore, the ten tribes, the whole kingdom of Israel, are mentioned first. The exile of Israel was much longer than that of Judah.

Both Jews and Christians distort this passage, for they apply it to the time of the Messiah. When they scarcely agree on any other part of Scripture, they are remarkably united here; but, as I have said, they depart very far from the true meaning of the Prophet.

They all consider this a prophecy referring to the time of the Messiah. However, if anyone were to wisely examine the whole context, he would readily agree with me that the Prophet includes here the substance of the doctrine which the people had previously heard from him. In the first clause, he shows that he had spoken of God’s vengeance, which rested on the people.

However, this clause touches on that point only briefly, because the main object was to alleviate the sorrow of the afflicted people. For the reason should always be kept in mind why the Prophet had been ordered to write down the substance of what he had taught: it was to provide some comfort to the exiles when they had discovered through experience that they had been extremely perverse, having for so long neither changed nor turned to repentance.

The Prophet had previously spoken at length about the vices of the people, and many times condemned their obstinacy, and also pointed out the grievous and dreadful punishment that awaited them. The Prophet, then, had in many a discourse reproved the people, and had been commanded daily to repeat the same thing, though not for his own sake, nor mainly for the sake of those of his own age, or of the elderly.

But after God had destroyed the Temple and the city, his object was to sustain their distressed minds, which must otherwise have been overwhelmed with despair. This, then, is the reason why the Prophet here touches only slightly on the vengeance that awaited the people. There is, however, as we shall see, great force in this brevity. But he is much more detailed regarding the second part, so that the people might not succumb to their calamities, but hope in the midst of death, and even begin to hope while suffering the punishment they deserved.

Now he says, Thus saith Jehovah, A cry, or, the voice of trembling, or of fear, have we heard. The word חרדה, cherede, is generally understood to mean that dread which makes the whole body tremble, and is therefore translated as “trembling.” God speaks, yet He does so in the person of the people.

Why? To expose their insensibility. For as they were obstinate in their wickedness, they were not terrified by threats, however many and dreadful. God dictated words for them, for they were completely devoid of feeling. We now see why God spoke as if He were those who felt secure, though Jeremiah daily portrayed God’s vengeance to them as being near.

The meaning is that though the people were asleep in their sins and thought themselves beyond the reach of danger, even when God was displeased with them, yet the threats by which God sought to lead them to repentance would not be in vain. Hence God says, We have heard the voice of fear; that is, “Deride and scoff as you wish, or remain unfeeling in your delusions, disregarding what is said like a drunken person, lacking feeling, reason, and memory, yet God will extort from you this confession, this voice of trembling and fear.”

He then adds, and not of peace. This is emphatically added so that the Prophet might shake the people free from those foolish delusions with which the false prophets had imbued them. He then says that they hoped in vain for peace, for they could not flee from terror and fear.

He enhances this fear by saying, Inquire and see whether a man is in labor? Someone translates this absurdly, “Whether a man begets?”—a mistake by which he has revealed a lack of judgment as well as ignorance. He was indeed learned in Hebrew, but ignorant of Latin, and also lacked judgment.

For the Prophet here speaks of something monstrous; but it is natural for a man to beget. He asks here ironically, “Can a man be in labor?” because God would put all men in such pains and agonies, as though they were women laboring in childbirth. Just as women, then, exert every nerve and writhe in anguish when childbirth draws near, so also men, all of them, would have their hands on their loins, on account of their terror and dread. Then he says, and all faces are turned into paleness; that is, God would terrify them all.

We now understand the Prophet’s meaning. For as the Jews did not believe God’s judgment, it was necessary for the Prophet, as he does here, to storm their hardness. If he had spoken in an ordinary way, they would not have been moved. Therefore, he took into account their perverseness, and for this reason he was so vehement.

Inquire, then, he says, and see whether a man is in labor? God would reduce all men to an unmanly condition, like that of a woman in labor, when she is in her final effort to give birth, when her pain is most intense and bitter. Men would then be driven into a most unbecoming, strange, and monstrous state.

It follows:

The Prophet continues in this verse to describe the severity of that punishment for which the people felt no concern, because they disregarded all threats, as I have already said. They had for many years hardened themselves to such an extent that they considered so many dreadful things as nothing. This, then, was the reason why he emphasized this denunciation so much and exclaimed, Alas! great is that day: The word “great” is to be taken as dreadful, and he adds, so that there is none like it.

It was a dreadful spectacle to see the city destroyed, and the Temple partly pulled down and partly consumed by fire. The king, with all the nobility, was driven into exile, his eyes were put out, and his children were slain. He was afterwards led away in a manner so degraded that to die a hundred times would have been more desirable than to endure such indignity.

Therefore, the Prophet does not say without reason that that day would be great, so that none would be like it; and he said this to shake off the lethargy of the people, for they thought that the holy city, which God had chosen for His dwelling place, could not fall, nor the Temple perish. He further says that it would be a time of distress for the people. But at the end of the verse, he gives them a hope of God’s mercy—even deliverance from this distress. We now see, then, the Prophet’s design in these verses.

There will be no lecture tomorrow on account of the Consistory.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as we do not cease in various ways perversely to provoke Your wrath against us, O grant that we may at last be turned to obedience by Your kind admonitions, and at the same time submit also to Your just severity, and know that whenever You severely chastise us, we are dealt with as we deserve. May we still never despair, but flee to Your mercy, not doubting that You, in the midst of wrath, remember Your paternal love, provided we rely on that favor which You have promised to us through Your only-begotten Son. — Amen.

Jeremiah proceeds with what he touched upon in the last verse, namely, that the Lord, after having chastised His people, would eventually show mercy to them, so as to receive them into favor. He says, in short, that their captivity would not be perpetual.

But we must remember what we have previously stated: that deliverance is only promised to the faithful, who would patiently and resignedly submit to God and not disregard His paternal correction. If, then, we desire God to be propitious to us, we must allow ourselves to be paternally chastised by Him; for if we resist when goaded, no pardon can by any means be expected, because we then, as it were, willfully provoke God by our hardness.

He therefore says, in that day, that is, when the appointed time was completed. The false prophets inflamed the people with false expectation, as though their deliverance was to take place after two years. God instructed the faithful to wait, and not to be in such a hurry; He had assigned a day for them, and that was, as we have seen, the seventieth year.

He then mentions the yoke, that is, of the king of Babylon, and taking another view, the chains. The yoke was what Nebuchadnezzar laid on the Jews, and the chains of the people were those by which Nebuchadnezzar had bound them. At last he adds, And rule over them shall no more strangers.

The verb עבד, obed, is to be taken here in a causative sense; even the form of the sentence shows this, and those who render the words, “and strangers shall not serve them,” distort the meaning. For it could not be a promise, and this is inconsistent with the context and requires no refutation, as it is evidently unsuitable. If the verb is taken in the sense of serving, then “strangers” must be in the dative case.

We have seen before a similar phrase in Jeremiah 25:14, where the Prophet says that neither kings nor strong nations would any longer rule over the Jews. The same verb is used, and the same form of expression. Strangers, then, shall make them serve no more; that is, they shall not rule over them so as to oppress them with servitude.

We now perceive the design of the Prophet; he exhorts the Jews to patience and shows that though their exile would be long, yet their deliverance was certain.

The former promise would have been defective if this clause had not been added; for it would not be enough for people to live as they please, and to have liberty promised them, unless a regular order is established. It would, indeed, be better for us to be wild beasts, and to wander in forests, than to live without government and laws; for we know how furious are human passions.

Unless, therefore, there is some restraint, the condition of wild beasts would be better and more desirable than ours. Liberty, then, would always bring ruin with it, if it were not bridled and connected with regular government.

I therefore said that this verse was added so that the Jews might know that God cared for their welfare, for He promises that nothing would be lacking for them. It is then true and real happiness when not only is liberty granted to us, but also when God prescribes a certain rule for us and establishes good order, so that there may be no confusion.

Hence Jeremiah, after having promised the people a return to their own country, and also promised that the yoke would be shaken off their neck, makes this addition: that after having served strangers, they would now be under the government of God and of their own king. Now this subjection is better than all the ruling powers of the world; that is, when God is pleased to rule over us, undertakes the care of our safety, and performs the office of a Governor.

We therefore see that the Prophet's design was to comfort the faithful, not only with the promise of liberty, but also with this addition: that so that nothing might be lacking for their complete happiness, God Himself would rule over them. Serve, then, they shall their God. The word 'king' is added because God designed that His people should be governed by a king—not that the king would sit in the place of God, but he was added as God's minister. Now this was said a long time after the death of David, for David had been dead for many years before Jeremiah was born; nor did he live again in order to rule over the people. Instead, the name of David is to be taken here for anyone who might succeed him.

Now, since God had made a covenant with David and promised that one of his descendants would always sit on his throne, the Prophet here, in mentioning David, refers to all the kings until Christ. Yet no one succeeded David after that time, for the kingdom was abolished before the death of Jeremiah. When the people returned to their own country, there was no regal power; Zerubbabel obtained only a precarious dignity, and gradually that royal progeny vanished. And though seventy were chosen from the seed of David, there was still no scepter, no crown, no throne.

It is therefore necessary to apply this prophecy to Christ, for the crown was broken and trodden under foot, as Ezekiel says, until the lawful king came. He intimated that there was to be no king for a long time when he said,

Cast down, cast down, cast down the crown.
(Ezekiel 21:27)

He therefore commanded the name of a king to be abolished, together with all its symbols, not for a short time but for ages, even until He came forth who had a just right to the crown or the royal diadem. We therefore see that this passage cannot be otherwise explained than by referring to Christ, and that He is called David, as the Jews were always accustomed to call Him before Christ appeared in the world; for they called the Messiah, whom they expected, the Son of David. We now understand the Prophet's meaning.

But from this we may gather a very useful doctrine: that nothing is better for us than to be in subjection to God. For our liberty would become like that of wild beasts if God were to allow us to live according to our own whims and inclinations. Liberty, then, will always be destructive to us, until God undertakes our care, and prepares and forms us so that we may bear His yoke.

Hence, when we obey God, we possess true and real happiness. When, therefore, we pray, let us learn not to separate these two things which ought necessarily to be joined together: that God would deliver us from the tyranny of the ungodly, and also that He Himself would rule over us.

And this doctrine is suitable for our time. For if God were now only to break down the tyranny of the Pope, deliver His own people, and then allow them to wander here and there—permitting everyone to follow his own will as his law—how dreadful the confusion would be!

It is better that the devil should rule people under any sort of government than that they should be set free without any law, without any restraint. Our time, indeed, sufficiently proves that these two things have not, without reason, been joined together: that God would become the liberator of His people, so as to shake off the yoke of miserable bondage and break their chains, and also that He would be a king to govern His people.

But we ought also to carefully notice what follows: that God would not govern His Church otherwise than by a king. He designed to give an instance, or a prelude, of this very thing under the Law when He chose David and his posterity. But this promise especially belongs to us. For the Jews, through their ingratitude, did not taste the fruit of this promise; God deprived them of this invaluable benefit, which they might justly and with certainty have expected.

Since the favor which they have lost has now been transferred to us, what Jeremiah teaches here, as I have said, properly belongs to us: that is, that God is not our king unless we obey Christ, whom He has set over us, and by whom He would have us to be governed. Whoever, then, boasts that they willingly bear the yoke of God, and at the same time reject the yoke of Christ, is condemned by this very prophecy. For it is not God’s will to rule His Church directly, so to speak; but His will is that Christ, called here David, should be king. Unless, indeed, we accuse Jeremiah of stating an untruth, we must apply the word 'David' to the person of Christ. Since this is so, God then will not rule over us otherwise than by Christ, even to the end of the world; we must obey Him and render Him service.

He adds, Whom I will raise up. It was also the office and work of God to raise up Christ, according to what is said in the second Psalm:

I have anointed my King.

We must always come to the fountain of God’s mercy if we would enjoy the blessings of Christ, according to what is said:

God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.

We shall, indeed, find in Christ whatever is necessary for our salvation. But from where do we have Christ, except from the infinite goodness of God? When He pitied us, He designed to save us by His only begotten Son. Salvation then is laid up for us in Christ, and is not to be sought anywhere else. But we ought always to remember that this salvation flows from the mercy of God, so that Christ is to be viewed as a testimony and a pledge of God’s paternal favor towards us. This is the reason why the Prophet expressly adds that God would raise up a king to rule over His people.