John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 9:13-15

"And Jehovah saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein, but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them; therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink." — Jeremiah 9:13-15 (ASV)

Jeremiah now confirms what I have stated and more fully explains it: that though no teacher or disciple was found in the land, yet there was sufficient power in God’s word alone, and that His judgment did not depend on the will or the perceptions of men. After then complaining that all were foolish and that there were no prophets to reprove their security and indifference, he adds, Thus says Jehovah. Here he sets God in opposition to all men, to the king and his courtiers, as well as to the common people.

Who then is a wise man? as though He looked around Him; and there was no one who considered. He was then in suspense; and afterwards he said, “There is no prophet to rouse them from their usual stupor.” He remained still in suspense; and then he turned to God and said, “But Jehovah has spoken;” that is, “So be it, that they are like brute beasts, though they arrogate to themselves great wisdom; nevertheless God speaks, and we ought to be satisfied.”

We ought then to be silent and to make no stir; though no one approves, though no one attends to God speaking, there is yet sufficient authority and power in His voice alone.” We now then more fully understand the Prophet’s design: He had said that all men were stupid and that there was no prophet; and now, on the other hand, he shows that God was not silent nor asleep.

Thus says Jehovah, Because this people have forsaken my law, etc. He shows that the cause of all evils was a departure from God’s law. No one was willing to confess this, and all the prophets were silent; yet Jeremiah says here, that the cause was to be asked of God why He so grievously afflicted the people. But he takes as granted what was most true, that God was not without reason displeased with the chosen people. It hence then follows, that they were apostates and had forsaken the law: God would not have otherwise so severely punished them. Though then no one perceived the cause of their evils, though no one showed it, yet God Himself ought to have been attended to, who said that they had forsaken the law.

He then adds, Which I have set before their face. Here he takes away every pretense for ignorance; for they might have objected and said that the doctrine of the law was obscure and that they were deceived through want of knowledge. The Prophet anticipates this objection by saying that the law was set before them; that is, that they were abundantly taught what was right, what pleased God; so that they now in vain and even falsely pleaded ignorance, for they went astray willfully by closing their eyes against clear light. For this is what he means by saying that the law was set before their face, and it is what Moses often repeats:

Behold, I have set before you, (Deuteronomy 11:32, and elsewhere).

And this he said, that the people might not seek for themselves vain excuses for ignorance, as they were accustomed to do.

But while we are not to overlook this circumstance, we may yet from this learn this general truth—that the law of God is not so obscure that we cannot learn from it what is right. When, therefore, Moses is quoted, and the prophets are added as interpreters, there is no ground for us to evade or to make the excuse that the truth is too hidden or profound; for the law is set before our face, that the will of God may be made known to us.

Whoever then can read and hear what God has revealed once to the world by Moses and the prophets is inexcusable; for we are taught here and in other places that it is mere perverseness in all who hear the law when they do not obey: I have set the law, he says, before their face.

And he adds, And they have not listened to my voice, and have not walked in it. He defines what it is not to listen to His voice: for even hypocrites pretend to hear and nod with their ears like asses; but as they do not obey God when He speaks, it is evident that they are deaf. Hence He says that they walked not in His voice, that is, that they did not obey His voice. He therefore concludes that they were deaf, for their life ought to have testified that they had heard the voice of God speaking to them.

He then adds, And they have walked after the hardiness, or obstinacy or imaginations, of their own heart. He opposes the imaginations, or hardness of the heart, to the voice of God, as we find in other places, where contrary things are stated, that is, what men’s minds devise, and what God shows by His word to be right; for there is no less contrariety between the rule of right living and the imaginations of men than there is between fire and water.

Let us therefore know that our life cannot be rightly formed unless we renounce our own imaginations and simply obey the voice of God: for as soon as we yield the least to our own imaginations, we necessarily turn aside from the right way, which God has made known to us in His word. This contrast, then, between the law of God and the imaginations or the obduracy of men ought to be carefully noticed.

He then more clearly explains how they had sinned: and after Baalim. The Prophet here adds nothing new; but by specifying one thing he shows how the Jews followed their own imaginations, by giving themselves up to profane superstitions. What indeed must happen to men when they forsake God and allow themselves to follow their own thoughts?

What but error and superstition, yes, the abyss of all errors? In short, the Prophet in this clause intended to cut off every occasion for subterfuges; for the Jews, like hypocrites, who sophistically deal with God, might have made this evasion, and said, “Why do you object to us our imaginations? What are these imaginations?” Baalim, he says, “You have devised idols for yourselves in addition to the only true God; it is therefore quite evident that having forsaken God’s word, you have followed your own imaginations.” He adds to Baalim, as their fathers have taught them: the relative אשר, asher, is to be taken for כ caph, as. I shall speak of this clause tomorrow.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as You have not only testified what is right by the Law and the Prophets, in order that we may form our life in obedience to Your will, but have also made more fully known to us by Your Gospel what is perfect righteousness—O grant, that being ruled by Your Spirit, we may surrender ourselves altogether to You, and so acquiesce in Your Word alone, that we may not deviate either to the right hand or to the left, but allow You alone to be wise, and that acknowledging our folly and vanity, we may suffer ourselves to be taught by Your Word, so that we may really prove that we are truly obedient to You, until having at length completed the course of this life, we shall reach that heavenly rest which has been obtained for us by the blood of Your only-begotten Son.—Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

We explained yesterday what the Prophet said respecting the Jews: that though no one considered the reason why God so severely afflicted them, yet they could not escape in this way, and that they in vain set up the shield of ignorance, for God had often declared that He abominated their superstitions. Though then they were all blind, and no prophet showed them the cause of their evils, yet Jeremiah said that this alone was sufficient—that God had spoken and would again speak to them.

He said that they were not submissive to God’s authority but walked after the hardness of their own heart and after Baalim. He added that they had been thus taught by their fathers. By this clause he exaggerated their sin, for they did not then begin for the first time to sin but became obstinate in their vices.

We may learn from this passage how foolishly the Papists now glory in imitating the fathers: for they think that examples stand for laws; indeed, they do not hesitate to oppose God’s authority by what has been done by men. But we see that such an excuse is not only frivolous, but that thereby the crime is doubled; for the ignorance of one year, or of a short time, is more excusable than when there is a long obstinate persistence in it, and when children, after having embraced abominations received from their fathers, hand them down to their posterity.

He at length concludes that God would take vengeance, but speaks in figurative language: I will feed them with bitterness. The word לענה lone, is rendered “wormwood;” but as this is a wholesome herb, I prefer to render it “bitterness.” It is never found in a good sense and therefore unsuitable to the nature of wormwood, which is often mentioned by Moses and the other prophets (Deuteronomy 19:18; Deuteronomy 32:32; Hebrews 2:15). Hence I am inclined to adopt a general term, “bitterness.”

He then adds, I will give them poisonous waters to drink; as though God had said that He would execute a dreadful vengeance, so that it would appear in the meat and drink given them, which yet were remarkable testimonies of His paternal kindness towards them: for we cannot eat a crumb of bread nor drink a drop of water, unless God’s goodness, and the care which He takes for our safety, shines upon us. Hence is that awful imprecation in Psalm 69:22-23:

Turned let their table be into an offense.

David also complained, when describing the barbarous cruelty of his enemies, that they gave him gall to drink: and we shall hereafter see what Jeremiah says; for in speaking of his enemies, he says that they had conspired to put him to death, and said:

Let us set wood for his bread (Jeremiah 11:19).

By these words then Jeremiah intended to express the dreadful vengeance of God; for He would not only deprive the Jews of His benefits, but also turn their bread into poison, and their water into bitterness.

We now then perceive the Prophet’s meaning; and at the same time we must observe the expression, the God of Israel. The foolish boasting, that they were the descendants of Abraham and that they were a holy people, chosen by God, always deluded the Jews. In order then to check their glorying, the Prophet says that the God who spoke to them was the God whose name they falsely professed, and that He was the God who had chosen the children of Abraham as His peculiar people.