John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 30:22

"And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God." — Jeremiah 30:22 (ASV)

As this verse and what occurs in the first verse of the next chapter are essentially the same, they will both be explained here. God then says that the Jews would become a people to him, and that he would become a God to them. This way of speaking is what we encounter everywhere in the Prophets; and it is very expressive and includes the whole of true happiness. For when do we have life, except when we become the people of God? We should also keep in mind that saying of the Psalmist,

“Blessed are the people whose God is Jehovah.” (Psalms 144:15)

This confirms what I have just said: that a happy life is complete in all its parts when God promises to be a God to us and takes us as his people. The Prophets, therefore, do not without reason so often emphasize this truth. For though we might lack nothing else that could be expected, yet until we feel assured that God is a Father to us and that we are his people, whatever happiness we may have, it will only end in misery.

But the Prophet expresses himself more fully when he says, At that time, that is, when God restored his Church, will I be a God to all the families of Israel. They had been so scattered that they were not one body. But God promises the gathering of that Church, from which the ten tribes had broken away when they revolted from the family of David. I cannot proceed further now.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as you have manifested to us in your only-begotten Son all the paternal goodness of which the fathers formerly tasted, and have so really and fully exhibited it that nothing more can be desired by us — O grant, that we may remain fixed in our trust in you, and so cling by true faith and in sincerity of heart to our Redeemer, that we may expect from him all things necessary for our salvation; and may we know that whatever may happen to us, we are still blessed, provided we enjoy this singular privilege: to call on you as our Father through the name of the same your Son. — Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

We compared yesterday the two verses in which God promises that he would still be a God to his people. We stated what this promise means. But the latter verse specifies the time, so that the Israelites might wait for and expect this favor, though not yet evident; hence it is said, At that time. He afterwards adds, I will be a God to all the families of Israel, and for this reason: because they had been so dispersed that they did not appear as one people and were like different nations. Here, then, a promise is made that the people would be gathered together, so that they might be united and become one body, as they were before their dispersion.