John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 33:16

"In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is [the name] whereby she shall be called: Jehovah our righteousness." — Jeremiah 33:16 (ASV)

Here the Prophet extends the benefits of the kingdom to all the Jews and shows how much was to be expected from that kingdom which he had promised; for in it would be found perfect happiness and safety. If this had not been added, what we have heard of the righteous king would have appeared cold and uninteresting; for it sometimes happens that however much the king may exercise justice and judgment, the people still continue miserable.

But the Prophet testifies here that the people would be in every way blessed and happy when governed by the King promised to come. Hence he says, In those days Judah shall be saved. He promises salvation to the Jews, though under that name, as is often the case, the ten tribes are also included.

He adds Jerusalem, but in a similar sense, Jerusalem shall dwell safely, that is, it will be in a peaceful state. This mode of speaking is taken from Moses; for the Prophets, whenever they spoke of God’s blessings, are accustomed to borrow their doctrine from that fountain. He then says that the people would be saved, and then that they would be in peace and quietness.

It may now be proper to repeat what I have already touched upon — that the salvation mentioned here belongs to the kingdom of Christ. If he had been speaking of some earthly or temporal government, the salvation must also have been temporal. But as the spiritual and celestial kingdom of Christ is the object of the promise, the salvation mentioned must reach to the heavens themselves. Hence its limits are far wider than the whole world.

In short, the salvation of which Jeremiah now prophesies is not to be confined to the boundaries of a fading life, nor is it to be sought in this world, where it has no firm footing. If we wish to know what it is, we must learn to raise our thoughts upward, above the world and everything that exists here. It is an eternal salvation. In the meantime, Christ gives us some foretaste of this salvation in this life, according to what is said:

godliness has the promises of the present as well
as of the future life. (1 Timothy 4:8).

But as this promise ought to be applied to the kingdom of Christ, there is no doubt that it is perpetual and ought to raise our thoughts to heaven itself.

To salvation is added safety; for if the faithful were ever to fear and tremble, where would their salvation be? And we know that the happiness brought to us by Christ can only be received through peace, according to what Scripture so often teaches us:

Having been justified, says Paul, we have peace with God.
(Romans 5:1).

And then when he speaks in the fourteenth chapter of the same Epistle of the kingdom of God, he says that it consists in joy and peace; and in another place he says,

May the peace of God, which surpasses all conception, obtain the victory in your hearts. (Philippians 4:7).

Hence these things are connected together, salvation and peace — not that we enjoy this joyful and peaceful state in the world, for those who dream of such a quiet state here greatly deceive themselves, as we must engage in a perpetual warfare until God at last gathers us to the enjoyment of a blessed rest.

We must, therefore, contend and fight in this world. Thus the faithful will always be exposed to many troubles. And hence Christ reminds his disciples, In me ye have peace; but in the world — what? Sorrows and troubles. (John 16:33).

So now we see why the Prophet joined safety or security to salvation, because we cannot otherwise know that we will be saved, unless we are fully persuaded that God so cares for our salvation that he protects us by his power, and that his aid will always be ready whenever it is needed.

Finally, he adds, And this is the name by which they shall call her, Jehovah our righteousness. In Jeremiah 23 this name is given to Christ, and it properly belongs to him alone; but here it is transferred to the Church, because whatever belongs to the head is made common to all the members. For we indeed know that Christ has nothing that is his alone, for since he is made righteousness for us, this righteousness also belongs to us, according to what Paul says:

He is made to us righteousness, and redemption, and sanctification, and wisdom.
(1 Corinthians 1:30).

Since, then, the Father conferred righteousness on his Son for our sake, it is no wonder that what is Christ's is transferred to us. What, then, we found in Jeremiah 23 was rightly declared, for it belongs uniquely to Christ that he is God our righteousness.

But as we partake of this righteousness, when he admits us to share in all the blessings with which he is adorned and enriched by the Father, it therefore follows that this also belongs to the whole Church: that God is its righteousness.

Hence it is wisely said by the Prophet that this would be the name of the whole Church, which could not be unless it had put on Christ, so that God might reign there in righteousness. For the righteousness of Christ extends to all the faithful, and Christ also dwells in them, so that they are not only the temples of Christ but are, so to speak, a part of him. And even the Church itself is by Paul called Christ:

As there are, he says, many members in the human body, so is Christ.
(1 Corinthians 12:12).

This cannot be applied to Christ personally, but Paul thus calls the Church by metonymy, on account of that participation I have mentioned.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since you have been pleased to perform for the Jews what you did promise, by sending the Savior, and have also designed, by pulling down the middle wall of partition, to make us partakers of the same invaluable blessing — O grant that we may embrace him with true faith, constantly abide in him, and so know you as our Father, that, being renewed by the Spirit of your Son, we may wholly devote ourselves to you and consecrate ourselves to your service, until at last what has begun in us is completed, and we are filled with that glory to which your Son, our Lord, daily invites us. — Amen.