John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 5:12

"They have denied Jehovah, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:" — Jeremiah 5:12 (ASV)

He expresses more clearly and fully what he had previously said. Their treachery was that they had denied God. I do not wholly reject what others have said—that they lied to God. But since ב is used here after כחש, I cannot see that it means "to lie." It ought to have been, in that case, כחשו, ליהוה cacheshu La-Jeve: but as it is ביהוה, Be-Jeve, I do not doubt that he simply declares that they denied God; and the context seems to require this meaning, for he immediately adds that they said there was no God. This certainly was not to lie to God, but to reject Him as one who did not exist. Since, then, the meaning would be less significant if we were to say that they lied to God, I am inclined to take the other meaning, that they denied God; that is, that they wholly disregarded Him or sought to erase the remembrance of Him.

The reason which follows requires special notice: They have said, He is not. To make this clearer, he says that they boasted of impunity. It seemed, no doubt, to strain credulity when the Prophet said that God was denied by the Jews. But so that they might not evade the charge, he reiterated it: they have said, He is not. We must further consider why he brought against them such a grievous and atrocious charge: it was because they boasted that they would be free from the punishments which the prophets had threatened.

We then see what Jeremiah alleges against them: their contempt and also their perverseness. They felt themselves safe notwithstanding the prophetic threats. The Prophet says this is nothing less than wholly denying God. Were we judges, this declaration might appear too severe: but let us pause and acquiesce in what the Holy Spirit has pronounced.

And this is a remarkable passage, from which we may learn how abhorrent to God is the indifference of those who harden themselves against His threats and wholly disregard His judgment. For if we acknowledge Him as God, His power as a judge ought not to be taken away. What does God’s name mean?

Doubtless, those who imagine that God remains quiet in heaven and enjoys His leisure and rest, though they may not in words deny God, yet treat Him with mockery: there is in them at the same time no religion and no thought of a divine being. Let us then carefully note this passage, in which the Prophet testifies that God is denied by us unless we are moved by His threats. For the spiritual apathy in which we indulge ourselves when God denounces His judgment on us is the same as denying Him. Nor is there anything by which those who thus despise the vengeance of God can lessen their sin.

For the Holy Spirit has declared once for all that all who trifle with the prophets say in their hearts that there is no God, inasmuch as they deprive Him of His power and His office, and leave Him only a naked essence; indeed, they make Him only a creature of the imagination or a mere phantom.

We now understand, then, the meaning of the Prophet: he more fully explains the treachery with which he had charged the Jews, for he says that they denied God, and said, He is not; and they proved that they did all this, because they did not believe the evil to be near which the prophets had announced.