John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 32:1-3

"The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. Now at that time the king of Babylon`s army was besieging Jerusalem; and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah`s house. For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;" — Jeremiah 32:1-3 (ASV)

The Prophet here declares that, though he was shut up in prison, the Word of God was not bound. He states that he himself was no less free in his confinement than if he roamed through the whole city and visited all the lanes and streets. He, then, did not desist from his office as a Prophet, though he was cast into prison.

And thus we see that the course of heavenly truth cannot be impeded, however much the world may rage against all its ministers and bind them to make them mute. We also see here that the Prophet's constancy was invincible, because he was not cast down with fear, though he was a captive and not beyond the reach of danger; for we find that even then he proceeded in the discharge of his office.

He then points out the circumstances of that time, and not without reason, when he says that he was then shut up in prison, and also mentions the year, even the tenth of Zedekiah and the eighteenth of King Nebuchadnezzar. It was about the end of the ninth year that the army of Nebuchadnezzar came up to Jerusalem; the city was besieged for two months in that year.

The tenth year followed, in which this vision was given to the Prophet. The siege continued for a year and a half, but there was some interruption, for the Egyptians came to its aid. Thus for a short time, while the Chaldeans went to meet them, the city had some liberty.

But the Egyptians, as we will see later, were forced to retire in disgrace and afterwards suffered punishment for their audacity and rashness. It was then about the middle of the siege that God, as we will also see, foretold to the Prophet the future return of the people.

But though God showed a regard for the miserable exiles, yet at the same time he confirmed what he had previously said of his future vengeance, for the people could not be restored before they had been driven into exile.

It was indeed a dreadful instance of hardness and obduracy that, having been so often scourged, they received no benefit. They had experienced the heavy judgment of God under Jehoiakim and also under Jeconiah, but the memory of these calamities had soon vanished. They lived as securely as though they had never heard a word from the mouth of Jeremiah.

And he was not the only one who had threatened them; before him were Isaiah and others, and contemporary with him was Ezekiel, who had been exiled into Chaldea. From the number of years, then, we conclude how great the people's obstinacy must have been.

At the same time, we must observe how timely this prophecy was for alleviating the minds of the godly, as they were not far from extreme calamity; for it was in the eleventh year of Zedekiah and in the fourth month that the city was taken and demolished, the people driven into exile, and the Temple burned.

So, perhaps not more than six or seven months remained before the time of their utter ruin. Indeed, no mention is made here of the month in which the Prophet received the vision, but the tenth year is only mentioned. Now, the city was taken at the beginning of the eleventh year, as we have stated.

From this, then, the extreme perverseness of the people comes more fully to light, for while the enemy surrounded the city, they held Jeremiah captive. He had already foretold many years before what experience then taught them to be true.

For forty years he had not ceased to cry out and to strive by warning, exhorting, and threatening them to lead them to repentance.

Since, then, nothing new happened to them, and since they found by the evils that came upon them that Jeremiah had been a true and faithful servant of God, what was their object in shutting him up in prison? Was this not to carry on war with God? For what did they have to do with Jeremiah?

He had clearly not acted for private reasons, nor had he only dreamed of what he had so often foretold them. So they did not fight with a mortal man, but, like the giants, they dared to raise up their horns against God Himself.

For the same reason also, he calls himself a Prophet. Indeed, he often did this, but there is no doubt that the indignity offered to him is pointed out by the fact that even at the time when the Chaldeans surrounded the city with their army, Jeremiah the Prophet was shut up in the court of the prison.

He might have only said that Jeremiah was shut up. But for the sake of honor, he assumed the title of a Prophet, so that the baseness of the people’s contumacy might appear more clearly from this: though they perceived that God was angry with them, they still did not cease from their presumption, for they then held the Prophet in prison as though they were fighting with God Himself.

We know that fools, according to the old proverb, become wise when chastised. If, then, the Jews had possessed even a particle or a spark of wisdom, they might have been so subdued by evils and calamities as to cast aside their haughtiness and obstinacy. But we see that they were untamable and, through a mad fury, persisted in their wickedness; for though besieged by their enemies, they still attempted to hold God, as it were, captive in the person of his servant.

As to the court of the prison, I do not doubt that it was a milder sort of imprisonment, for we will see later that the Prophet prayed that he might not be thrown from there into the dark prison where he had been. He sought it as no common favor to remain in some prison, and he was still exposed to the mockeries of all. However this may have been, we see that the people had, by then, become no better, though they had already been chastised and scourged by God.

We ought, at the same time, to bear in mind what I have already said: that though the ungodly sought in every way to completely extinguish the word of God, they still did not attain what they wished. For God broke through all hindrances and continued the course of his word notwithstanding all their attempts.

And this ought to be carefully noted, for we see today all sorts of contrivances made by the wicked to impede the course of celestial truth. Let this history, then, be remembered: that though Jeremiah was a captive, yet his word was free and his tongue at liberty, as Paul also boasts that, though he was bound with chains, yet God’s word was not bound (2 Timothy 2:9).

Then the reason is added why he was shut up in prison: he had dared to prophesy against the city and the king himself. It was no wonder that the king’s mind was exasperated when Jeremiah boldly said that he would come into the hands of his enemies, for he had not only spoken of the ruin of the city but also of the fall of the king. He had said that he would be brought before King Nebuchadnezzar, and be led to Babylon, and be there until God visited him.

We know how delicate the ears of kings are. It was, then, no wonder Zedekiah became incensed against Jeremiah. But he still ought to have been softened and humbled when he found that this oracle had come from God. That he then still kept Jeremiah a prisoner proves his madness and stupidity, for he had no regard for God. I will proceed with the subject tomorrow.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since we do not cease daily to provoke Your wrath against us, we may be warned by Your Word and repent, and so humble ourselves before You that we may anticipate the rigor of Your judgment. And that, being also chastised by Your hand, we may not become hardened, but be submissive to You and teachable, and so profit under Your discipline, that being at length wholly devoted to You, we may have no other object than to glorify Your holy name, until we become partakers of that glory which Your only-begotten Son has obtained for us. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

We began yesterday to speak of the presumption, and also of the madness, of King Zedekiah in keeping the Prophet in prison while he was still besieged by his enemies, as it had been foretold. He saw that Jeremiah had spoken as from the mouth of God, for the accomplishment of the prophecy proved that he had brought forward nothing rashly, but what had been committed to him from above; and yet he did not throw aside his own perverseness.

The words themselves show sufficiently that he was completely blinded, for he said, Wherefore do you prophesy to us, The Chaldeans will come and take this city? It was not, indeed, the design of this foolish and insane king to close the mouth of the Prophet and, at the same time, to confess that he had a command from God.

But this is common with the wicked: they assail, as it were blindly, the servants of God, without any judgment or discrimination. If anyone were to ask them whether they mean openly and professedly to resist God as their judge, they would deny it, but still they cannot bear to be warned and reproved.

Here then, as in a mirror, we see how madly all the wicked resist God and try as much as they can to extinguish his Spirit. In short, they may indeed concede some authority to God, provided they are allowed to live without having anything said against their lusts by his prophets.

Yet there is no doubt that the king was especially exasperated by the following words of the Prophet—