John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 5:25

"Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good from you." — Jeremiah 5:25 (ASV)

Since hypocrites, according to what has been said before, often reply to God and bring this and that objection, the Prophet here counters what they might have alleged. For he says that God’s beneficence had been restrained by them, and that it was indeed their fault that it did not flow to them. For they might have objected in this way: “You indeed preach well concerning God’s paternal bounty, because He supplies us with food; but at one time the heat burns our corn, and at another time unseasonable rains destroy our provisions. In a word, there is nothing certain, but all things are in a state of disorder.” Therefore, to counter this objection, he says that it was on account of their wickedness and depravity that God did not regulate every part of the year in such a way as to allow them to see His continued bounty with their own eyes.

This passage deserves special attention, for God’s paternal favor does not shine forth so continually in our daily sustenance that our view is not frequently obscured by many clouds. This is why ungodly people think that the years are sometimes barren and sometimes fruitful merely by chance. Indeed, we see nothing in the world so perfectly regulated in every respect that God’s goodness can be seen without clouds and obstructions; but we do not consider from where this confusion comes—namely, because we obstruct God’s access to us, so that His beneficence does not reach us.

We throw heaven and earth into confusion by our sins. For if we were rightly ordered in our obedience to God, doubtless all the elements would be in harmony, and we would then observe an angelic harmony in the world. But since our lusts rebel against God—indeed, as we stir up war daily and provoke Him by our pride, perverseness, and obstinacy—it must necessarily be that all things, above and below, are in disorder, so that the heavens at one time appear cloudy, continuous rains at another time destroy the produce of the earth, and nothing is unmixed and unstained in the world.

This confusion, then, in all the elements, is to be attributed to our sins; and this is what the Prophet means. Although the reproof was then addressed to the Jews, we may still gather from this a lesson of general instruction.

These two things, then, are both true: that God is not without a testimony to His beneficence (for He gives rain, He gives suitable seasons, He makes the earth fruitful to supply us with food); and also, that heaven and earth are often in great disorder, with many things happening unseasonably (as though God had no care for us), because we provoke Him by our sins and thus confound and subvert the order of nature. These two things, then, ought to be viewed as connected. For in the ordinary course of nature we can see God’s inconceivable bounty toward humankind; but concerning accidental evils, their cause ought to be considered—namely, that we do not allow God to govern the world in a regular and consistent order, but as much as we can, we disturb and confound His providence. We therefore see how suitably the Prophet has added this truth: that the iniquities of the people had turned away the beneficence of God.