John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 30:9

"but they shall serve Jehovah their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them." — Jeremiah 30:9 (ASV)

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.