John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 4:13

"Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots [shall be] as the whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are ruined." — Jeremiah 4:13 (ASV)

The Prophet here concludes the prediction concerning the dreadful vengeance that was coming; and he mentions several comparisons here, such as might rouse the Jews and compel them to fear. He says that the chariots of God would come like clouds and like a whirlwind; and then that His horses would be swifter than eagles.

Regarding the clouds, the whirlwind, and the eagles (for the meaning of the three comparisons is the same), the Prophet no doubt intended by this to show the swiftness of God’s vengeance; but there is still some difference. We see how clouds suddenly arise and spread over the whole sky; and this is what happens when a whirlwind is in the air.

Therefore, when he compares God’s chariots to clouds and the whirlwind, it is as if he had said that the beginning of the calamity would be sudden, because God would unexpectedly arise after having been seemingly asleep for a long time. But when he says that God’s horses would be swifter than eagles, he means that it would be easy for God, once He had begun, to destroy the whole of Judea, as it were, in a moment, or at least in a very short time; for we know how swift the flight of the eagle is; but he says that the horses of God would be swifter than the eagles.

We now understand the Prophet’s meaning. For when the Jews derided the threats of the Prophets, they tauntingly used language like this: “Oh! We will, at least in the meantime, feast cheerfully and joyfully; these Prophets will not allow us a truce for one hour; but many years will still pass before the evil overtakes us.”

We find ungodly people in our day who similarly trifle with God: when they cannot completely despise what God threatens, they still delay the time and think that they gain something by postponing the day of vengeance. This, then, was the reason why the Prophet said that God’s chariots would ascend as clouds arise suddenly, then like a whirlwind in a clear sky, and lastly, in a manner swifter than eagles, even in their swiftest course.

Finally, the Prophet exclaims in the name of the whole people, Woe to us! for we are lost. He speaks here concisely, so that he might show that the false prophets, as well as the people, were going astray to their own ruin, while they were asleep in their sins and thought their insensitivity would escape punishment. He therefore exclaims that even though all were then seized with stupor, the people themselves were still lost.