John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 49:12

"For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, they to whom it pertained not to drink of the cup shall assuredly drink; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink." — Jeremiah 49:12 (ASV)

He confirms the last verse, as I think—that God’s vengeance awaited the whole seed of Esau, because it would be unreasonable to deal more severely with God’s people than with foreigners, who had completely shaken off the yoke. For I explain what is said here of the Church: Those whose judgment was not to drink the cup will surely drink. Some apply this to neighboring nations who had not become as wicked as the Idumeans. But this interpretation is unconvincing, and we should always, as we have said elsewhere, consider the Prophet’s design. What then was his purpose but to show the faithful that there was no reason for them to despair, however severely God might afflict them, because the punishment He would inflict on the Idumeans would in no way be milder? For we know that we are greatly tempted by envy when we see that the state of the impious and the reprobate is better than that of God’s children. And it was for this purpose that Psalm 37 was composed:

“Do not envy the wicked, nor let their prosperity trouble you, because they will soon perish.”

And David also, in Psalm 73:2-3, confesses that he almost staggered when he saw the wicked luxuriating in their pleasures, while the children of God were miserably treated. Then our Prophet in this place, as often elsewhere, was concerned for the faithful and wished to sustain them, so that they would not succumb under their burden when God afflicted them as well as the Idumeans. Hence he says, when speaking of the Idumeans, Drinking, they will drink the cup—they whose judgment was not to drink—and will you be exempted? That is, “I will not spare my people; and should I spare foreigners? This cannot be.”

We then see that it was a fruitful source of consolation to the faithful when they heard that the wicked, who openly and unashamedly disregarded God, could not escape His judgment.

But it may now be asked, how could he say that it was not the judgment of the Church to drink of the cup of God’s wrath? He speaks comparatively, and this answer should suffice for us. It is certain that the Israelites deserved all the sufferings which they endured.

God then justly chastised them; He did not act without reason or through sudden wrath, but executed what He had previously decreed. It was then God’s judgment—namely, what He had determined and fixed; for judgment here is to be understood as God’s decree, by which He apportions to each his own lot.

It was not then the judgment for the Israelites to drink of the cup when comparing them to the Idumeans—how so? Here a new question arises, for the Israelites had been worse than all others. The Idumeans had departed completely from God; all light had become extinct among them; and then the law had not been given to them. Before Jacob went down to Egypt (who was to be delivered from there according to the appointed time made known to Abraham), they lived in mountains separated from the land of Canaan.

They therefore possessed no part of God’s law, except that they had the empty symbol of circumcision. But the Israelites, on whom the doctrine of the law had always shone, were altogether inexcusable. Why then does the Prophet say that there was no judgment for them? My answer is that the reference here is not to individuals, but on the contrary to the grace of God, through which He had been pleased to embrace the children of Israel.

Since God had chosen that nation, the point here is special adoption. For it is fitting for God to treat His children with special favor, and it is also fitting for Him to pardon them rather than outsiders. When anyone is offended by his own son, he will be reconciled to him; but an outsider will not find pardon.

So now we see that the Prophet does not consider what the people had deserved, nor how detestable their impiety had been, and of what severe punishment they were worthy; but on the contrary, he refers to that grace of God through which He had chosen the seed of Jacob.

He had indeed previously chosen the whole seed of Abraham, but the rejection of Esau followed, so that Jacob alone remained as the seed. Since God had shown Himself as a father to the children of Jacob, the Prophet says that it was not their proper sentence to drink the cup, because it was according to reason and common sense that God should forgive them rather than outsiders, whom He had already rejected and who were like putrid members. They then, whose judgment was not to drink the cup, will surely drink; and will you go unpunished?

The meaning is that if the green wood is burned, what will become of the dry? as Christ said (Luke 23:31). A similar consolation is mentioned in 1 Peter 4:17–18, where the afflictions to which the Church of God is now exposed are mentioned. Now, as we are tender and delicate, and the minds of many may be troubled, Peter says that if God is so severe towards His own, those of His own household, what will become of the wicked? What dreadful vengeance awaits them?

We therefore perceive the main point of the Prophet’s words, and what doctrine may be deduced from this: namely, that when we see God’s judgment beginning at God’s house, as the Prophet says elsewhere (Jeremiah 25:29) and as Peter also says—that is, when God chastises His own children and seems in the meantime to overlook the wicked—we should patiently wait for the previously mentioned visitation.

We should always remember this: “If this is done in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?” We should not then envy the wicked when God defers and does not immediately execute His judgment. For the punishments inflicted by God on His servants are only temporary and limited, and intended as medicine, since all we suffer are helps to our salvation, as Paul teaches us (Romans 8:28).

Since God chastises us in a fatherly way, let us not avoid His fatherly hand. Nor let us think that God deals more kindly with the wicked because He suspends His judgments, for eventually they will be hurried into their own ruin, as the Prophet says here.

In speaking of a cup, the Prophet uses a phrase common in Scripture, for Scripture metaphorically calls the punishment inflicted on people for their sins a cup, because God apportions to each his just measure. It is therefore accepted that calamities do not happen by chance but proceed from God’s hand, as though He were giving a cup to drink.

Now when He afflicts His own, they are forced to drink, so to speak, His wrath; it is therefore a sour and a bitter cup. But the wicked will hereafter drink poison. Even medicine, though displeasing to the taste because of its bitterness, is yet wholesome; but poison kills people, though its taste may be like medicine. This then is the comparison that is used here by Jeremiah: Drinking, they will drink the cup—even God’s servants, who yet should have been exempted through a unique privilege, because God had chosen them to be His special people. Will you, he says, be exempted from drinking? He addresses all outsiders.

We have previously seen another way of speaking, “They shall drink to the dregs,” as though he had said, “God will not only give you a bitter cup to drink, but its bitterness will kill and destroy you, for God will force you to drink the very dregs.” But still the meaning is the same, though the phrase is different. He then asserts that the Idumeans would not be exempt from God’s judgment. And why? Because God does not spare even His own children.

This then suggests to us the best consolation when God afflicts us in various ways: let us understand that it cannot be otherwise, but that it is a prelude to the final judgment, when salvation will surely be our portion. For God purifies us now by temporal punishments, so that we may then be free from final vengeance.

But when the ungodly are secure, let us understand that God’s judgment is indeed hidden, but yet certain, and will soon overtake them; for when they say:

“Peace and security, then sudden destruction
will come upon them” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

But the clock strikes.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as You have not only in Your eternal counsel adopted us as Your children, but have also inscribed on our hearts a sure sign and pledge of Your paternal favor towards us—O grant that we may accustom ourselves to bear Your scourges, and patiently to receive them without murmuring or complaining; and that we may always look forward to the blessed rest and inheritance above, and at the same time dread the punishment that awaits the wicked; and that we may thus courageously persevere in our warfare, until You finally gather us into that celestial kingdom which Your only-begotten Son has procured for us by His own blood.—Amen.