John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 51:24

"And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith Jehovah." — Jeremiah 51:24 (ASV)

The Prophet, after having reminded the Jews that all they had suffered from the Babylonians had been justly inflicted on account of their sins, and that God had been the author of all their calamities, now adds, I will render to Babylon and to the Chaldeans what they have deserved. It may, however, appear strange at first glance, that God should here threaten the Babylonians; for if their services depended on his command, they seemed doubtless to have deserved praise rather than punishment; indeed, we know what the Holy Spirit declares elsewhere,

I gave Egypt as a reward to my servant Nebuchadnezzar, because he has faithfully performed my work (Ezekiel 29:20).

For Nebuchadnezzar had afflicted the Jews; therefore, he obtained this, says Ezekiel, as his reward. It then seems inconsistent that God declares that the Chaldeans deserved punishment because they had afflicted the Jews. But both declarations agree well together, for when God declared by Ezekiel that he gave Egypt as a reward to his servant Nebuchadnezzar, he took into account the Jews and their perverseness, because they had not yet been sufficiently humbled; indeed, they thought that it was by chance that they had been subdued by the Babylonians.

God then declares that he had executed his judgment on them by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. It was afterward necessary that the faithful should be encouraged in their extreme distress; and this is what our Prophet addressed when he said: Behold, I will render to Babylon and to the Chaldeans all their evils. They then obtained Egypt for a short time, but afterward all the evils they had brought on other nations recoiled on their own heads.

But this promise was given in a special way to the Church. For though the vengeance executed on the Chaldeans was just, because they exercised extreme cruelty towards all nations, yet God, caring for his own Church, thus undertook its cause. Therefore, he does not speak here generally of the punishment inflicted on the Chaldeans for their cruelty; but God, as I have said, paid special attention to his own Church.

Hence, he says, I will render to the Babylonians and to all the Chaldeans, all the evil which they had done in Zion. We now see that this punishment had a special reference to the chosen people.

This was so that the faithful might know that, although they had been so chastised by God, the memory of his covenant had nevertheless not failed. Thus, in the midst of death, they might have some hope of salvation and feel assured that God would eventually be merciful.

This did not mean that God would ever restore the whole body of the people; rather, this promise, as has been stated elsewhere, is addressed only to the remnant.

Yet the truth remains fixed: that God, after having broken in pieces the Jews and other nations through one nation, would still be the avenger of his Church, because he could never forget his covenant. He adds, before your eyes, so that the faithful might wait with calmer minds for the vengeance of which they themselves would be eyewitnesses.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since You have favored us with the light of Your Gospel, in which we see Your glory, and into which we may also be transformed, unless prevented by our unbelief—O grant, that with fixed eyes we may ever study that knowledge which once for all has been made known to us, until at last, having followed the way set before us, we shall come to the fullness of that celestial glory which has been obtained for us by the blood of Your only-begotten Son.—Amen.