John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 42:5-6

"Then they said to Jeremiah, Jehovah be a true and faithful witness amongst us, if we do not according to all the word wherewith Jehovah thy God shall send thee to us. Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Jehovah our God." — Jeremiah 42:5-6 (ASV)

It therefore appears that the people understood why Jeremiah, before consulting God, assured them of his faithfulness and sincerity.

For they did not promise without reason to be obedient to God. Since they saw that Jeremiah suspected them of insincerity, and since he had promised to be a true and faithful teacher, they, in turn, declared that they would be sincere disciples and would receive whatever God might command them.

But they soon betrayed their perfidy. For when they heard that what they had resolved to do did not please God, they not only rejected the counsel of God and the Prophet but also treated him insolently and even heaped reproaches on the holy man, as if he had told them something false.

Their hypocrisy should also be a lesson to us, so that when God is pleased, as a special favor, to show us the right way to act through faithful instructors and competent teachers, we might not be like them. Instead, we should be teachable and ready to obey, proving this not only with our words but also by our deeds.

The Prophet then says that they spoke as follows: Let God be a faithful and true witness between us. Not content with a simple affirmation, they dared to invoke God's name; and so we see how blind hypocrisy is.

For if people truly consider what it means to profane God’s name, they would surely dread and detest all perjury. Since they rushed so boldly into swearing an oath, it is evident that they were, as it were, stupefied. Indeed, no intoxication confuses the minds and senses of people as much as hypocrisy does.

They then added, According to whatever word which Jehovah thy God shall send to us, so will we do; that is, whatever Jehovah shall command us through you. For God is said to send to people when He sends a messenger in His name to bring His commands. Jeremiah then was, so to speak, an intermediary addressing the people in God’s name, as if he had been sent from heaven.

They therefore said that they would do whatever God commanded. A stronger expression follows: Whether good or evil, we will obey the voice of Jehovah our God.

Here, they did not accuse God’s word of being wrong, as if it contained anything unjust. Instead, they used good in the sense of joyful, and evil as meaning what is sad or grievous. It was as if they had said that they asked for nothing other than for God to declare what pleased Him, and that they were so submissive that they would refuse nothing, even if it were contrary to the flesh.

If this declaration had proceeded from the heart, it would have been a testimony of true piety. For the minds of the godly ought to be so formed as to obey God without making any exception, whether He commands what is contrary to their purpose or leads them where they do not wish to go. For those who wish to make a pact with God, stipulating that He should require nothing but what is agreeable to them, show that they do not know what it is to serve God.

Therefore, the obedience of faith especially requires this: that one should renounce one's own desires, that one should not set up one's own counsels and wishes against the word of God, nor object and say, "This is hard," or "That is not quite agreeable."

Whether then it is good or evil—that is, though it may be contrary to the feelings of the flesh—we ought still to embrace what God requires and commands. This is the rule of true religion.

Since the Jews spoke deceitfully by assuming a character not their own, they profaned God’s name.

But if we desire to prove our fidelity to God, the only way to act is to regard His word as binding, whether it is agreeable or not, and never to murmur, as the ungodly do. For when God would lay a yoke on them, they complain that His doctrine is too hard and burdensome.

Away, then, with all those things that can render God’s word unacceptable to us, if we desire to give sure proof of our fidelity! Hence they said, Whether it is good or evil, whatever God will lay down, we will obey His voice.

They afterward added, For which we send thee to him. Here they further ensnared themselves.

Jeremiah did not expressly require them to make an oath, yet they did make an oath; and then in various ways bound themselves even more to punishment if they became perjurers.

They now show that it would be a twofold crime if they disobeyed God. How so? If the Prophet had been sent to them, they might have made excuses; though vain, they might still have had something to allege.

But when they of their own accord asked God, when they themselves offered to do this and promised to be obedient in all things, it is evident that if they did not afterward act according to their pledged faith, they would be more inexcusable, because they tempted God. For who induced them to come to the Prophet?

We therefore see that God extorted from them what doubled their crime. But the more hypocrites attempt with disguises to conceal their impiety, the faster they bind themselves, and the more they kindle God’s wrath against themselves.

They then added, That it may be well with us when we obey the voice of Jehovah. By this circumstance, they also aggravated their crime.

For if the Prophet had promised them a prosperous outcome, they might not have believed. In that case, they would have indeed sinned, but their wickedness would have been more tolerable than it was when they themselves had spoken as if they were the organs of the Holy Spirit.

They themselves said, "It shall be well with us; it will be our chief happiness to follow the voice of God and to obey Him."

Since, then, they protested in this way to God and the Prophet, so that they might appear to be God’s faithful servants, they brought greater condemnation on themselves.

For if they believed that nothing would turn out well except according to God’s command, how was it that they did not submit to God? Why did they despise what was afterward said by the Prophet?

But as we have already said, since they deceived themselves by dealing falsely with God and profaning His holy name, let us learn and know that we can expect a happy outcome in all that we do in no other way than by obeying the voice of God. For whatever people may attempt on their own, it will be accursed before God.

This, then, is our only sure hope: that when we attempt nothing but what is according to God’s word, there will be a good and happy outcome, though many things may happen otherwise than we hope or think.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God—as we are here tossed to and fro, uncertain, doubtful, and blind in thick darkness unless ruled by Your word—O grant that while You shine on us by Your Law and Your Gospel, we may be illuminated in our minds by Your Holy Spirit. May we then wholly surrender ourselves to You, never deviate from the right way which You have made known to us, and so pursue our course through life that at last we may come to that blessed life, which has been prepared for us in heaven by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.