John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 31:7

"For thus saith Jehovah, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Jehovah, save thy people, the remnant of Israel." — Jeremiah 31:7 (ASV)

The Prophet confirms the contents of the verse we have explained, and it was necessary to make this addition because what he had said was almost incredible. He therefore elaborated on it. Thus saith Jehovah; he made this preface, as I have often reminded you, so that his doctrine might have more weight. Jeremiah, indeed, presented nothing but what he had learned from God and by the revelation of His Spirit; but it was necessary sometimes to testify to this expressly for the sake of his hearers.

He now bids them to exult with joy and to shout for joy. It must be observed that this prophecy was announced when the utter destruction of the people, the city, and the temple was not far away; but it was the Prophet’s object to comfort, so to speak, the dead in their graves, so that they might patiently wait for their promised deliverance, and that they might feel assured that it was not more difficult for God to raise the dead than to heal the sick.

Therefore, the prophecy had its use when the Jews were driven into exile and miserably scattered, so as to have no hope of deliverance. But so that his doctrine might more effectively enter into their hearts, he exhorts them to rejoice, to shout for joy, and to sing; and not only them, but also strangers.

For though it will soon appear that their joy was not in common with the unbelieving, the Prophet yet seems to address his words intentionally to foreigners, so that the Jews themselves might become ashamed for not embracing the promise offered to them. For what does the Prophet say? “You alien nations, shout for joy, for Jacob.” What should Jacob himself do in the meantime?

We now see, then, the design of the Prophet’s vehemence in bidding all to rejoice for the redemption of the people: that this prophecy might not only bring some comfort to the miserable exiles, but that they might also know that, while in the midst of death, they would live before God, provided they did not despair.

In short, he not only intended to mitigate their sorrow but also to fill them with spiritual joy, so that they might not cease to entertain hope and to take courage, and not only patiently but cheerfully to bear their calamities, because God promised to be favorable to them. This is the reason why he bids them to exult with joy and to shout for joy.

He adds, among the chief of the nations. This may be understood as though the Prophet had said that the nations would be so contemptible that the children of God would not be disposed to insult them. However, I understand the words in a simpler way: that the Prophet bids them to exult at the head of nations, as though he had said, “openly, so that your joy may be observed by all.”

For though the Jews entertained the hope of a return, they hardly dared to give any sign of their confidence, because they might have thus exasperated the minds of their enemies. They were, therefore, under the necessity of being wholly silent and, as it were, without life.

Now the Prophet sets this manifest joy in opposition to that fear which constrained the Jews to be almost wholly mute, so that they dared not by gesture or by words to make known what they had learned from the holy servants of God. In short, the Prophet intimates that the liberation of the Jews would be so glorious that they would dread no danger in proclaiming openly the kindness of God. This seems to be denoted by the head of the nations.

He then adds, Proclaim ye, praise and say, Save, etc. This refers properly to the faithful, for we know that God is not really invoked by the unbelieving. Faith alone opens a door of access to us, and there cannot be any right praying except what proceeds from faith. The Prophet then addresses here the children of God when he says, “Proclaim ye, praise and say,” etc.

And though all the ungodly were by evident experience convinced of the wonderful power of God, yet there was not among them any herald of God’s grace. It is then enjoined on the faithful, as their own proper office, to celebrate the favor of God. And to this is added thanksgiving, as though the Prophet had said that God’s grace cannot be rightly proclaimed unless His goodness is acknowledged and the sacrifice of praise is offered to Him.

We learn from this that we are to be so animated by His promises to trust in God as not to grow inactive. For many cheer themselves up when they hear some joyful news, but this joy produces in them complacency. Thus it happens that faith is choked and does not produce its proper fruits, for the chief work of faith is prayer to God.

Now, those who feel secure because they think of no danger do not flee to God, and thus omit that work of religion in which they ought primarily to practice. Therefore, the Prophet reminds the faithful here that they are so to praise God as not to neglect prayer.

The meaning is that when God promises He will be favorable to us, He gives us a sufficient reason for joy. We ought then to be satisfied with the naked word of God, when He declares that He will be a Father to us and when He promises that our salvation will be the object of His care.

Yet, as I have already said, joy ought not to make us complacent, so as to make faith inactive, but it ought rather to stimulate us to prayer. True and spiritual joy we then have, derived from God’s word, when we are diligent in prayer; and coldness and complacency are no signs of faith, but of unresponsiveness. And the promises of God produce no real effects in us, as must certainly be the case, unless our minds are kindled into a desire for prayer, even into a fervor in prayer.

This, then, is the reason why the Prophet, after having commanded the faithful to praise and exalt the favor of God, adds this prayer: “Say ye, Save thou, Jehovah, thy people.” It then behooved them so to rejoice as to feel concerned for the restoration of the Church. And it behooves us, also, at this time, whenever God shines on us with the testimony of His favor, so to rejoice as not to omit that primary exercise of faith, even prayer.

He further adds, the remnant of Israel, because it was necessary that what Isaiah had predicted should be fulfilled:

“Though thy people were as sand of the sea, a remnant only shall be delivered.”
(Isaiah 10:22)

So, although the Prophet has been speaking generally of all the posterity of Abraham and included the ten tribes, yet here he qualifies that statement by mentioning the remnant or residue of Israel. This was so that the faithful might not lose heart on seeing hardly one in ten or in fifty returning from exile, for we know that in comparison to their great number, a few only returned from exile.

He has then mentioned here “the remnant of Israel,” so that the faithful at a future time might not be shaken in their hope, though God did not immediately restore the whole Church. It was also necessary to deprive the hypocrites of that vain confidence with which they were filled, for they were accustomed to seize on everything which God promised by His servants.

Therefore, Jeremiah excluded them, so that they might know that this promise did not belong to them, according to what Paul, while handling this subject, explains to us at length (Romans 9:27; Romans 11:5, 7). Paul is a correct interpreter of this passage and similar ones when he says that God was never so bound to the people of Israel that He was unable to freely do what He pleased, so that a remnant only should be saved. And he calls them the “remnant of grace,” because they are saved in no other way than through the free and gratuitous goodness of God.

And this doctrine may also be justly applied to our time. For we are by no means to expect that God will so restore His Church in the world that all shall be renewed by His Spirit and unite in true religion; but He gathers His Church on all sides, and yet in such a way that His gratuitous mercy is always evident, because there will be remnants only.