John Calvin Commentary Lamentations 2:14

"Thy prophets have seen for thee false and foolish visions; And they have not uncovered thine iniquity, to bring back thy captivity, But have seen for thee false oracles and causes of banishment." — Lamentations 2:14 (ASV)

Here the Prophet condemns the Jews for that reckless abandon by which they had, so to speak, intentionally destroyed themselves, as though they had willfully drunk sweet poison. They had been intoxicated with those fallacies that we have seen, when impostors promised them a prosperous condition.

For we have seen that false prophets often boldly declared that whatever Jeremiah threatened was of no account. Since, then, the Jews were intoxicated with such flatteries, disregarded God’s judgment, and freely indulged in their vices, the result was that God’s wrath had been continually kindled by them.

Now, then, Jeremiah rebukes them for such reckless abandon, precisely because they willfully sought to be deceived and eagerly cast themselves into snares by seeking flatterers as their teachers. Micah also rebukes them for the same thing: that they sought prophets who promised them a fruitful vintage and an abundant harvest (Micah 2:10). The meaning of Jeremiah is the same.

He says that prophets had prophesied, or had seen vanity for them; but the verb refers to prophecies, as prophets are called seers. He then says that the prophets had seen vanity and insipidity. This did not serve to lessen the fault of the people; and Jeremiah does not flatter the people here, as though they had perished through the fault of others.

And yet this was a common excuse, for most, when they had been deceived, complained that they had fallen because they were led astray, and also that they had not been sufficiently cautious when cunning men were laying snares for them. But the Prophet here condemns the Jews because they had been deceived by false prophets, as it was a just reward for their vainglory and ambition.

For they had very delicate ears, and could not endure straightforward rebukes; in short, when they rejected all sound doctrine, the devil must necessarily have taken the place of God, as Paul also says:

that those were justly punished who were blinded by God so as to believe a lie, because they did not receive the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:11–12).

We now perceive the Prophet's design: he says that the Jews had indeed been deceived by the false prophets, but this had happened through their own fault: because they had not submitted to obey God, because they had rejected sound doctrine, and because they had been rebellious against all his counsels.

At the same time, not only does their crime seem to have been emphasized in this way, but their shame was also brought before them—because they had dared to set up these impostors against Jeremiah as well as other servants of God. For they had boasted greatly of these false prophets of theirs whenever they sought to triumph over God.

How great was this presumption! When the false prophets had promised them security, they immediately triumphed in an insolent manner over Jeremiah, as though they were victorious.

Since, then, their wickedness and arrogance against God had been so great, the Prophet justly retorts to them, “Look now at your false prophets; for when they recently promised you prosperity of every kind, I was inhumanly treated, and my calling was disdainfully rejected by you. Let your false prophets come forward now: learn wisdom at last from your calamities, and acknowledge what it means to have acted so arrogantly against God and against his servants.”

We now understand why the Prophet says, “They have seen for you vanity and insipidity.”

He adds, they have not opened, or revealed, etc. The preposition על, ol, is here redundant; the words are, “they have not revealed your iniquity.” There is, indeed, a suitability in the words in that language: that they had not applied their revelations to the iniquities of the people, for they would have thus been restored to the right way and would have thus averted the vengeance of God.

Now, this passage should be carefully noted: Jeremiah spoke of the fallacies of the false prophets, which he said were insipid. He now expresses how they had deceived the people: precisely because they did not disclose their iniquities. Let us then know that there is nothing more necessary than to be warned, so that, being conscious of our iniquities, we may repent.

And this was the chief benefit to be derived from the teaching of the prophets. For the other part—the foretelling of future things—would have had little effect if the prophets had not preached about the vengeance of God, if they had not exhorted the people to repentance, and if they had not called them by faith to embrace the mercy of God.

Then Jeremiah, in a way, exposes the false doctrines of those who had corrupted the prophetic teaching, by saying that they had not disclosed iniquities. Let us then learn by this mark how to distinguish between the faithful servants of God and impostors. For the Lord by his word summons us before his tribunal and desires our iniquities to be discovered, so that we may loathe ourselves and thus open an entrance for mercy.

But when what is brought before us only tickles our ears and feeds our curiosity, and, at the same time, buries all our iniquities, let us then know that the refined things that greatly please people are insipid and useless. Let, then, the doctrine of repentance be approved by us—the doctrine that leads us to God’s tribunal—so that, being cast down in ourselves, we may flee to his mercy.

He afterwards adds, that they might turn back your captivity; some prefer, “your defection”—and this meaning is not unsuitable. But the Prophet, I have no doubt, refers to punishment rather than to a crime. Then the captivity of the people would have been reversed if the people had repented in time.

For we avert God’s wrath by repentance. As Paul says, “If we judge ourselves, we shall not be judged” (1 Corinthians 11:31). So, then, as miserable people anticipate God’s judgment when they become judges of themselves, the Prophet does not without reason say that the false prophets had not disclosed their iniquities, so that they might remain undisturbed in their own country and never be driven into exile.

How so? Because God would have been pacified in this way, that is, if the people had willingly turned to him, as it is said in Isaiah,

And be converted, and I should heal them (Isaiah 6:10).

Conversion, then, is said there to lead to healing. For as fire is extinguished when fuel is withdrawn, so also when we cease to sin, fuel is not supplied to God’s wrath. We now, then, perceive the Prophet’s meaning. He, in short, implies that people had been destroyed because they sought falsehoods, while the false prophets vainly flattered them. For they would have escaped such great calamities in due time if the prophets had boldly exhorted the people to repentance.

He then adds, And they saw for you prophecies of vanity and expulsions.

Though the word משאת, meshat, is often taken in a negative sense for a burden—that is, a harsh prophecy that shows God’s vengeance is near—yet it is doubtful whether the Prophet takes it now in this sense, since he speaks of prophecies that gave hope of impunity to the people. And these were not משאות, meshaut; that is, they were not grievous and dreadful prophecies.

But when all things are carefully considered, it will be evident that Jeremiah did not adopt this word without reason, for he afterwards adds an explanation. The word משאה, meshae, is indeed sometimes taken as meaning any kind of prophecy, but it properly means what is threatening.

But now, what does Jeremiah say? They saw for you burdens which you have escaped. For to make the doctrine of the holy man hateful, they called whatever he taught, according to a proverbial saying, a burden.

Thus, then, they created a prejudice against the holy man by saying that all his prophecies contained nothing but terror and trouble. Now, by way of concession, the Prophet says, “They themselves have indeed been prophets to you, and they saw—but at length they saw burdens.”

While, then, the false prophets promised impunity to the people, they were flatterers, and no burden appeared—that is, no trouble. But these prophecies eventually became much more grievous than all the threats with which Jeremiah had terrified them; and corresponding with this view is what immediately follows: expulsions.

For the Prophet, I doubt not, shows here what fruit the vain flatteries by which the people had chosen to be deluded had produced: for thus it happened that they had been expelled from their country and driven into exile.

For if the reason were asked why the people had been deprived of their own inheritance, the obvious answer would have been this: because they had chosen to be deceived, because they had hardened themselves in obstinacy by means of falsehoods and vain promises.

Since, then, their exile was the fruit of false doctrine, Jeremiah now says that these impostors saw burdens of vanity, which eventually brought real burdens; and then they saw מדוחים, meduchim, expulsions—even those things that had been the causes of expulsion or exile.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that though You chastise us as we deserve, we may yet never have the light of truth extinguished among us, but may always see, even in darkness, at least some sparks, which may enable us to behold Your paternal goodness and mercy, so that we may especially be humbled under Your mighty hand, and that being truly prostrate through a deep feeling of repentance, we may raise our hopes to heaven, and never doubt that You will eventually be reconciled to us when we seek You in Your only-begotten Son. Amen.