John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 7:25-26

"Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day, I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff: they did worse than their fathers." — Jeremiah 7:25-26 (ASV)

God complains of the perverse wickedness of the people—that He had lost all His labor in endeavoring to lead them to repentance, not only in one age, but that the children followed their fathers in their corruptions, and so this imitation had become perpetual. This might indeed appear as an extenuation of their fault; they might have pleaded, as the Papists do today, who have no pretext more specious than when they bring against us the Fathers and antiquity. But God shows in this place and elsewhere that the children are not excused by the examples of their fathers. On the contrary, it is an aggravation of the crime when people thus harden themselves and think that a continued indulgence in vices serves them as a precedent, for God does not allow Himself to be deprived of His own right in this way. This passage, then, deserves particular notice, for God not only condemned those who were then living and whom Jeremiah addressed, but also connected with them the dead, in order to prove their greater obstinacy, as impiety had, as it were, been handed down from one age to another.

From the day, he says, in which your fathers came forth from the land of Egypt until this day, have I sent to you, etc. We know how intractable the people had been from the beginning, for they did all they could to reject Moses, the minister of such a remarkable and invaluable favor.

And after their deliverance, they were continually either clamoring against God, or openly contending with Moses and Aaron, or running into gross idolatry, or giving free rein to their lusts. In short, there was no end to their course of sinning; and yet, Moses daily endeavored to restore them to obedience.

It was this great contumacy that God now refers to. He says that the Israelites did not then begin to be disobedient, but that they had always been of such a disposition that they could not bear to be corrected, as He will tell us later. It was not necessary here to adduce examples to show that the people had been indomitable, for this was evident from sacred history.

It was enough to remind them that the hardness and obstinacy of the fathers had descended to their children, so that they might know that they were twofold and threefold guilty before God. For they had imitated the perverseness which God had previously severely punished; nor was it unknown to them how God had brought judgments on their fathers.

It was, therefore, to provoke God most wantonly when they overlooked and disregarded such dreadful acts of vengeance as He had executed on their forefathers. We shall see similar declarations later; indeed, this way of speaking occurs everywhere in the Prophets: that is, that their race had been perverse and rebellious from the beginning, and that they had also in all ages despised the favor of God and obstinately resisted the prophets.

But God reminds them here that from the day they came forth from the land of Egypt, He had never ceased to speak to them, even to the time of Jeremiah; His perseverance in this greatly aggravated the sin of the people. If God had spoken only once, it would have been sufficient for their condemnation. But since He had borne with their perverse conduct and never ceased from day to day kindly to call them to Himself, to promise them pardon, and to offer salvation to them—since God, then, had thus persevered, the irreclaimable impiety of the people was more fully revealed. Indeed, we know what a dreadful punishment must await those who dare to abuse God's forbearance in this way and openly scorn His word, when He invites them a hundred or a thousand times to repentance.

He afterwards adds that He had sent all His servants, etc. In the same sense, the universal particle כל (cal), “all,” is to be understood. If God had sent only one prophet, the Israelites would have had no excuse. But since He had continually sent one after another, to deploy them like an army, how great was their madness to despise so large a number!

Indeed, we know that prophets were never lacking among the people, as Moses had promised in Deuteronomy 18. Since God, then, had dealt bountifully with the people, so that prophets had never ceased but continually followed one another, surely, then, the baseness of their impious obstinacy became more evident. For they had not despised God for only one day, nor disregarded one, two, or three prophets, but had resisted all the prophets, though they had been sent in great numbers. I sent, he says, all my servants.

Then He adds the word daily. This is mentioned for the same purpose: to show that God had never grown weary and that they had, as it were, deliberately resisted His goodness, while He was unceasing in kindly exhorting them to repentance. He says, by rising early and sending. As we have said elsewhere, the verb שכם (shecam) properly means 'to rise early.'

God here commends the authority of prophetic instruction by attributing to Himself what is done by men. With Him, indeed, as we all know, there is no change; hence the expression to rise up, as applied to Him, is not strictly true. But what He commanded His servants to do, He transfers, as we have said, to Himself, so that He might more sharply reprove the ingratitude of the people. It is as though He had said that He had been most carefully attentive to secure their salvation, but that they had been sluggish and wholly indifferent.

From this we may learn a useful doctrine—that God rises to invite us, and also to receive us, whenever His word is proclaimed among us, by which He testifies to us His paternal love. God then not only employs men to lead us to Himself, but He Himself, in a manner, comes forth to meet us and rises early as one concerned for our salvation. This commendation of divine truth can be of great benefit to the faithful and induce them to rely confidently and with tranquil minds on God’s promises, for they are the same as though God Himself had spoken them to us. But here also the impiety of those who slumber and sleep is reproved, while God thus watches to promote their salvation, and who do not lend an ear when He rises early to come to them in order to draw them to Himself.

He afterwards adds, And they hearkened not. There is a change of person here, for He said in the last verse, “your fathers,” and “I sent to you”; but now He says, They hearkened not, nor inclined their ear. It is true, indeed, that the reference is to the fathers; but in the next verse, God includes the people who were then living.

There is no doubt, then, that His changing the person was an evidence of indignation, and that He was weary of addressing them, for He saw that He spoke in vain to a dull people; and this will become evident from the next verse. They hearkened not, he says, nor inclined their ear. We have already explained these words: the Jews are here prevented from having any excuse on the grounds of error or ignorance, for they had refused to be taught; they would not pay attention, but on the contrary, made their ears deaf.

And He also says that they hardened their neck; by which their perverseness is even more fully expressed: they, as it were, deliberately despised God and waged war even against His favor and kindness. And He concludes by saying that they had done worse than their fathers. He had said, “your fathers,” but now, “their fathers.” We see from this that the reference is changed, for God knew that He could produce no effect on them, as we find from what follows next.