John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 7:28

"And thou shalt say unto them, This is the nation that hath not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah their God, nor received instruction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth." — Jeremiah 7:28 (ASV)

God shows now that He must act in a new way. The first duty of teachers is to set forth the will of God, to show what is right, and then to exhort, if plain teaching does not prove sufficient. But God intimates here that He found it necessary to change His approach, because they were wholly irreclaimable.

You shall then say this as the last thing; as though He had said, “I indeed wished to try whether they were capable of being improved, and have employed you for this purpose. After having long borne with them, knowing by a long trial that your labor is useless, you shall say to them, ‘I bid you adieu at last.’”

For what is the meaning of these words, This is a nation which heard not the voice of its God, except that the Prophet, after long trials, knew that he was neither to teach nor to exhort them?

Doubtless God referred to the Jews themselves, for it was His object to expose their impious perverseness. Yet He comforted His servant, for from this he knew that though he could do no good for his hearers, his labor was acceptable to God and not without its fruit. For the truth of God is not only fruitful in the salvation of men, but also in their perdition (2 Corinthians 2:15–16).

God then shows that His servant would suffer no loss, even though the Jews did not repent; for he would be their judge and denounce their destruction by the highest authority.

We now perceive the design of the Holy Spirit in saying, You shall at length say, This is a nation which has not hearkened to the voice of its God: for the Prophet is not commanded here to address the Jews, but to pronounce a sentence on them, so that the whole world might know how base and detestable their contumacy had been, and how abominable their impiety, for the whole nation had refused to hear.

The word nation seems here to be taken in a bad sense: it is indeed in many places to be taken for “people;” but in other places Scripture sets גוים, guim, in opposition to God’s chosen people. And perhaps this word has been used so that the Jews might know that they gloried in vain in their own dignity.

He shows that they did not excel other nations, for they were themselves of the same class—a nation. This is a nation, he says, which has not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah their God.

In saying this, he doubtless amplified their crime, for as God had made Himself plainly known to the Jews, they could not pretend ignorance nor plead any doubt respecting what the prophets taught. Since they had intentionally rejected their own God, they thus became more obviously guilty and abominable.

He afterwards adds, They have not received correction. He points out the very source of rebellion—they were unwilling to undertake the yoke.

Here then he excludes all those plausible pretenses by which the Jews might cloak their impiety, as hypocrites are always accustomed to do. Hence he declares that they had been unteachable, for they had refused correction.

The word מוסר, musar, often means chastisement; but generally signifies every kind of training. As the subject here is teaching, the Prophet means that they were willfully blind, because they would not be taught.

Now this is the height of wicked perverseness: when men become so degenerate that they willfully make themselves like brute beasts by rejecting the yoke of God.

He then adds that truth, or faith, had perished. The word אמונה, amune, may be taken in two senses. Some refer it to what belongs to God, meaning religion, faith, or piety. But the Prophet seems to take it in a broader sense, signifying what is sincere, for they acted perfidiously toward men as well as toward God.

The word, then, is to be taken simply as meaning integrity, as though he had said that nothing true or sincere remained in them, but that they were so corrupt that they mocked God and deceived men, and that nothing but dissimulation prevailed among them. This meaning is confirmed by what follows: that it is cut off from their mouth. Thus we learn that their perfidy is condemned because they acted falsely; and as their heart was full of duplicity, so also was their tongue.

He intimates, in short, that there was no hope for their repentance. For had they promised God a hundred times to be teachable and obedient, and showed any appearance of integrity before the world, their promises would have turned out to be mere fallacies and deceptions. He then adds—