John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 46:10

"For that day is [a day] of the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates." — Jeremiah 46:10 (ASV)

The Prophet, having described the terrible forces of Pharaoh, in which he trusted so much that he dared to boast of a certain victory, now says that the outcome would be very different: But this day, he says, will be the day of Jehovah’s vengeance. This was as if he had said that Pharaoh would look only at his chariots and horsemen, his hired soldiers, their arms, and warlike preparations, and that he would not simultaneously look to God, who is not without reason called the God of hosts. Although Scripture in many places ascribes this title to God, here it has a special application.

For the Prophet derides Pharaoh's folly, because he thought the outcome of the war was in his own hand, as if the overruling of all things was not in God’s hand. He then says that victory depended on God alone; and further, he announces what was to come: This day, he says, will be the day of God’s vengeance.

By these words he intimates that God was incensed with the Egyptians. The cause, as we mentioned yesterday, was that Pharaoh Necho, in passing through, had slain the pious King Josiah. He therefore deserved that God should lay his arrogance prostrate, chastise his cruelty, and check his tyranny.

But when he calls the Egyptians God’s adversaries, this was said for the consolation of the chosen people, to show that God would undertake their cause. For why was He an enemy to the Egyptians? It was because He would not allow the pious king to be killed with impunity. We now therefore understand what these words mean: that this day would be a day of vengeance for the God of hosts. It was as if he had said that God would preside over and regulate that war, so that all Pharaoh’s forces would avail him nothing.

He afterwards expresses more clearly, for confirmation, what he had said: The sword, he says, shall devour, and shall be satiated and made drunk with their blood. But at the end of the verse he says that this would be the righteous judgment of God. For God so extols His own power that He yet would have Himself acknowledged to be just whenever He inflicts punishment on the ungodly. For since His severity often appears extreme, the Prophets, when they speak of acts of vengeance which God executes, at the same time add some testimony that His judgment is righteous, as in this place, when it is said that the God of hosts had a sacrifice.

By sacrifice the Prophet means that the slaughter would be free from every stain; for it is the same as if he had said, “God will be glorified in that slaughter, when all the Egyptians shall be destroyed.” For why do we offer sacrifices to God except that His glory may be proclaimed—that He is just as well as merciful, almighty, and the fountain of all wisdom and uprightness? We therefore see the purpose for which the word sacrifice is used: namely, that no one should dare to blame that slaughter, as if God were too rigid and exceeded the limits of justice in shedding that blood. He then says that all the slaughters would be like so many sacrifices, in which God’s justice as well as His power would shine forth. He again points out the place—the land of the north, near the Euphrates—so that more credit and certainty might be given to the prophecy.