John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 6:20

"To what purpose cometh there to me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing unto me." — Jeremiah 6:20 (ASV)

The Prophet here replies to those hypocrites who thought that they made an expiation when they had offered incense and sacrifices, as if that were all that was necessary in serving God. Thus, we will see later that the Temple had become the den of thieves, for when they diligently offered incense every day and performed other ceremonies, they thought that God was pacified. In this way, hypocrites always mock God with their frivolous displays and regard God as extremely cruel when He is not satisfied with external display. This was a constant evil with which the prophets had to contend, and thus, this idea is often mentioned by our Prophet,

“I desired not sacrifices; I commanded not your fathers, when I stretched forth my hand to bring them out of Egypt, to offer burnt offerings to me, but only to obey my voice” (Jeremiah 7:21, 22).

So we find in other prophets: the Psalmist says,

“If I hunger, I will not tell thee” (Psalms 50:12).

It is said also by Micah,

“What does God require of thee, but to humble thyself before him? He seeks not thousands of rams nor thousands of oxen from thy herds” (Micah 6:7).

And we see today that people cannot be rightly taught unless we contend against that external splendor with which they expect God to be satisfied. Since people deceive themselves with such trifles, it is necessary to show that all those things which hypocrites impose upon God, without sincerity of heart, are frivolous trifles. This is the meaning of what is taught here.

There is, then, no doubt that the Jews meticulously offered their sacrifices and observed the legal rites. All this might have appeared very commendable, but God gives this answer: To what purpose does frankincense come to me from the Sabeans, and a sweet cane (that is, odoriferous) from a far country? Thus the Prophet here anticipates hypocrites, so that he might counter their potential objections. For while they spent a large sum of money on their forms of worship, they thought that God was, as it were, bound to them; and when they also expended much labor, they supposed that their toil could not be unnecessary or useless.

And under the Papacy we observe the same thing: when anyone builds a splendid church, adorns it with gold and silver, supplies it with rich furniture, and then provides revenue for saying masses, he thinks that he holds in his hands all the keys of the kingdom of heaven, so that he can force his way in, even against the will of God.

Similar is the madness of the Papists when they undertake pilgrimages. When they labor and toil, they think that every step they take must be numbered before God, and that God would be unjust if He were not to approve of what is offered to Him with so much trouble. Such was also the arrogance of the Jews.

Since their incense, brought from the Sabeans (that is, from the east, even from Persia) was precious and cost a considerable sum of money, they wished that this should be deemed a satisfaction for all their sins. They looked for the same benefit from the cane; as the most odoriferous cane was bought at a high price, they expected that it would be of value before God and that it would serve to compensate for their punishment.

This is the folly that God here treats with contempt. He says, “What are your expenses to me? I indeed count as nothing all that you spend in buying incense and sweet cane.” And then he speaks of the Sabeans and of a far country.

He afterwards adds, Please me do not your burnt — offerings, and your sacrifices are not acceptable. Under this one category, Jeremiah includes the whole worship according to the law. And yet it had been divinely appointed; this is indeed true, but for another purpose.

Fasting does not of itself displease God, but it becomes an abomination to him when it is thought to be a meritorious work, or when some holiness is connected with it. The same is true regarding sacrifices. For those who sought to pacify God by victims robbed Christ of his honor; it was to transfer the favor, which comes from Christ, to a calf or to a goat. And what a sacrilege this was, and how abominable!

Therefore, when the Jews set such a high value on their sacrifices, they sought first, childishly to trifle with God, as if these were expiations to pacify him. Then, their offering of burnt offerings—slaying an animal to pacify God—amounted to changing his very nature. And lastly, as I have said, it was to rob Christ of his honor.

For expiation is to be sought by no other means than through his blood, by which we are cleansed from every stain through the Holy Spirit, who sprinkles it on our hearts. But when this was attributed to sacrifices, they substituted the victim, or the ram, for Christ, as has been stated.

Now, there should have been in sacrifices the practice of repentance. But when they became more and more hardened, and thought that by their ceremonies they obtained a greater license to sin and that God required no more from them, as if they had settled matters with him, they completely nullified God's purpose. For sacrifices, as has already been said, had been commanded for this end: that they might practice penitence.

So we now see that this answer given by Jeremiah was not in vain—that their sacrifices did not please God. Severer language is used elsewhere—that God nauseated them, that he was wearied in bearing them, that he was forced to be troubled by them, while they thus profaned his name (Isaiah 1:14). The meaning here is the same—that God never required sacrifices for their own sake, but for another purpose; and also, that all external rites are of themselves mere empty displays and mockeries, indeed, a profanation of God’s name, so that they could not pacify him but, on the contrary, provoked his wrath.