John Calvin Commentary Lamentations 2:9

"Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: Her king and her princes are among the nations where the law is not; Yea, her prophets find no vision from Jehovah." — Lamentations 2:9 (ASV)

He again relates in other words what he had said: that the walls of Jerusalem had fallen. He now speaks of the gates, saying that they had sunk into the ground or become fixed in the ground. This can be explained in two ways: it is as if he meant that the gates offered no hindrance to the enemies, preventing them from entering the city. He thus derides the foolish confidence of the people, who relied on their defenses and thought the city impregnable. He then says that the gates had sunk, or had become fixed in the ground.

He then says that God had destroyed and broken her bars, for no doubt the gates had firm and strong bars. He then says that neither the gates nor the bars were found sufficient when God stretched out his hand to the Chaldeans to lead them into the city. He afterwards adds that both the king and the princes had been driven into exile. For when he says, among the nations, or "to the nations," he intimates that there was no longer a king, because he, the royal descendants, and the princes had gone into banishment. The rest I will defer until tomorrow.

Grant, Almighty God, that since so many tokens of Your wrath meet us at this day, we may without delay return to You, and so submit to You in true repentance, as to strive at the same time to be reconciled to You. And as a Mediator has been given to us to lead us to You, O grant that we may by a true faith seek Him, and follow wherever He may call us, so that, having been purified from all pollutions, we may be glorified by You our Father, and may so call on You that we may find Your grace present in all our troubles. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

Among the calamities of Jerusalem which the Prophet deplores, he mentions this as one: that there was no law or doctrine. The Chaldee Paraphraser thought that the reference is to punishment, but he perverts the words of the Prophet. There follows afterwards an amplification: after having said, there is no law, he adds, her prophets also have not found a vision from Jehovah. There is then no doubt that the Prophet means that among the miseries of the people this was the greatest: that they were without doctrine or teaching, and without prophets.

The word תורה, ture, is indeed often used preeminently to designate the Law, but it also signifies doctrine or instruction. The meaning here is the same, as if the Prophet had said that the Jews had been so forsaken by God that they found no consolation in their afflictions. This may be better understood by a similar complaint in the Psalms:

Our signs we see not; there is not a Prophet any more; there is no more any one who understands (Psalms 74:9).

The faithful there say that they were in a hopeless state because God showed them no signs of his favor; and signs were given when God appeared propitious to them. Now, as God had testified that there would always be faithful teachers to guide the people, they therefore complained that there was no Prophet, that there was no one anymore who had a vision.

And so in this place the Prophet says that there was no law, and that the prophets were without a vision, because God, as if wearied, had given up the care of the people. For his paternal favor could not have been better known than by this evidence—that he sent them prophets; and it is certain that all prophecies ceased when the people were driven into exile.

A long time after, Daniel began to exhort the faithful to hope for a return; and on this account it is said by Isaiah:

Comfort you, comfort you my people, will our God say.
(Isaiah 40:1).

There Isaiah indicates that there would be a temporary silence, for all the prophets would be mute, so that the people might lie in a hopeless state. This happened because they had long abused God’s patience and had disregarded that unique blessing: God manifesting through his servants that he was concerned for their well-being and safety, just as he had often said that he rose up early and extended his hand to them by the prophets.

Therefore, since the gift of prophecy was a sure pledge to the people not only of God’s favor but also of the concern he had for them, when he withheld prophets from the people, he departed from them, having, as it were, forsaken his station among them.

We now understand, then, what the Prophet meant by saying that there was no doctrine anymore, and that the prophets of Jerusalem found no vision anymore from Jehovah. For God, after his word had long been profaned, became silent and did not deign for a time to open his sacred mouth, because he had seen that he had been treated with derision.

Now this passage teaches us that nothing is more desirable in times of affliction, and that there is no better remedy, than to have God’s promise that he will at last be merciful to us. For when any promise of God is set before us, it is like a small light kindled in darkness.

Therefore, even if our misery were like a thick darkness, yet when God shows some token of favor by his promises, that ought to be sufficient to give us hope and joy. On the other hand, when no promises of God come to us, it is a sure sign of reprobation—unless he sometimes tries us in this way, as we read here.

But the faithful themselves, when they perceive no evidence of God’s paternal favor in his promises, are, as it were, in a hopeless state and sunk in the lowest depths. Thus, it is only when God is pleased to speak to us that we arise from death to life and find support so as not to be overwhelmed by despair.