John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 50:5

"They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces thitherward, [saying], Come ye, and join yourselves to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten." — Jeremiah 50:5 (ASV)

He explains himself more fully: that they would ask those they met the way, that their faces would be towards Zion, and that they would also exhort one another to seek God and join themselves to him by a perpetual covenant. The Prophet includes here all the tribes, and says that the Jews and the Israelites would not only return to their own country to partake of the produce of that rich and fruitful land, but that they would also render to God the worship due to him. He adds that then nothing would be so troublesome to them that they would not be able to overcome all difficulties and all obstacles.

He says first, that they would ask the way—a proof of perseverance; that they would ask the way to Zion, that is, ask how they were to proceed so that they might come to Zion. By these words, the Prophet, as I have just said, denotes their constancy and indefatigable resolution, as though he had said that even if they journeyed through unknown lands, indeed, through many devious places, they would still in no way be so disheartened as to fail to inquire of those they met until they came to Zion.

This is one thing. Then he adds to the same purpose, Thither their faces. We indeed know that plans are often changed when adverse events impede us; for someone who undertakes an expedition, when he sees his course is very difficult, turns back again. But the Prophet declares here that there would be no change of mind that would cause the Jews to give up their purpose of returning, because their faces would be towards Zion; that is, they would turn their eyes there, so that nothing would be able to turn them elsewhere.

There is added, in the third place, an exhortation: Come ye; and they shall join themselves to Jehovah their God, by a perpetual covenant. Here the Prophet first shows that the Jews would be so encouraged as to urge one another on; and thus it is said, Come ye. Secondly, he adds, they shall cleave (there is here a change of person) to Jehovah by a perpetual covenant which shall not be blotted out by oblivion.

He again repeats what he had said: that the exiles would not return to their own country merely to indulge themselves there, but he mentions another purpose, namely, that they might join themselves to God. He means, in short, that God would do for them something better and more excellent than to allure them with earthly pleasures.

But we must notice the words, they shall cleave (so it is literally) to Jehovah by a perpetual covenant; for there is an implied contrast between the covenant they had made void and the new covenant which God would make with them, of which Jeremiah spoke in Jeremiah 31. God’s covenant was, indeed, always inviolable; for God did not promise to be the God of Abraham for a specific number of years, but the adoption, as Paul testifies, remains fixed and can never be changed (Romans 11:29). Therefore, on God’s part it is eternal. But as the Jews had become covenant-breakers, that covenant is, on this account, called weak and fleeting; and for this reason the Prophet said:

In the last days I will make a covenant with you, not such as I made with your fathers, for they have broken, he said, that covenant (Jeremiah 31:31–32).

Jeremiah now repeats the same thing, though more briefly: that the Jews would return to favor with God, not only for a moment, but that his covenant might continue and remain valid. The way by which this would be done is expressed in Jeremiah 21, namely, because God would inscribe his law on their inward parts and engrave it on their hearts. For it is not in man’s power to continue so constant that God’s covenant should never fail. But what the Prophet omits here must be supplied from the former passage: that when the Jews returned, God’s covenant would again become so valid and fixed that it would never fail, precisely because their hearts would be renewed, so that they would be faithful to God and never become apostates any longer like their fathers.

He then adds, This covenant shall not be forgotten. We therefore conclude that the perpetuity of which he speaks was founded on the mere benevolence of God rather than on the virtue of the people. He then calls the covenant which God would never forget, perpetual, because he would remember his mercy towards the chosen people. And though they were unworthy to receive such a favor, yet he would perpetually continue his mercy towards them until the coming of Christ; for the passage clearly shows that this prophecy can only be explained in reference to Christ’s spiritual kingdom.

The Jews indeed returned to their own country, but it was only a small number; and besides, they were harassed by many troubles. God also visited their land with sterility, and they were diminished by various slaughters in wars. Why then did the prophets extol so highly the favor of God, which, however, did not appear among the people? It was because they included the kingdom of Christ; for whenever they spoke of the return of the people, they ascended, as we have said, to the ultimate deliverance.

I do not, however, follow our interpreters who explain these prophecies concerning the spiritual kingdom of Christ allegorically. For these words ought to be taken simply, or as they say, literally—that God would never forget his covenant, in the sense of retaining the Jews in the possession of the land.

But this would have been a very small thing, if Christ had not come, in whom the real perpetuity of the covenant is founded. This is because God’s covenant cannot be separated from a state of happiness; for, as the Psalmist says, blessed are the people to whom God shows himself to be their God (Psalms 144:15).

Now, then, since the Jews were so miserable, it follows that God’s covenant did not openly appear or was not conspicuous. We must therefore necessarily come to Christ, as we have elsewhere seen that this was commonly done by the Prophets. The Prophet now enters on a new argument—