Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations Volume 2 John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
unprincipled men, that they might lull to sleep, yea, and stupify the consciences of men, said, ``Eh! who has stood in the counsel of Jehovah? who has heard? who has attended? who has seen? all these things are uncertain; and though these severely threaten you with pestilence, war, and famine, yet there is no reason why ye ought to fear. Be then easy, and quietly and cheerfully enjoy yourselves, for they do not understand the purpose of God.'' And this meaning we shall presently see confirmed by what is said in verse 22, {,}ואםעמדו{ }בסודיveam omdu besudi, ``And if they had stood in my counsel.'' There is then no doubt but that he turns against them what they perversely boasted. But it now follows, ---
Jeremiah 23:19
19. Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
19. Ecce turbo (vel, tempestas) Jehovae cum furore (vel, cum iracundia) egreditur, et turbo impendens super caput impiorum cadet (vel, turbo cadens cadet; est participium {,}מתחוללet postea est simplex verbum, sed eadem est radix utriusque.)
I shall defer the consideration of this to the next Lecture. Tomorrow there will be no Lecture, for, as you know, the conferring of honors will engage us.
PRAYER
Grant, Almighty God, that as we are ever inclined to be led away by ensnaring flatteries, and thus seek death and final ruin for ourselves, --- O grant that we may learn to tremble at those denunciations announced by the prophets, by which thou shewest to us thy wrath, so that we may be roused to true repentance, and not harden ourselves through thy forbearance in what is evil, but pursue our heavenly course, until having at length put off all our vices, we shall be restored to that perfect form in which thy holy image fully shines forth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. ---
Amen.
Lecture Eighty-Eighth
The verse which I read at the end of my last Lecture must be now repeated to you, Behold, the tempest (or whirlwind) of Jehovah! it shall go forth with fury; even the impending whirlwind! on the head of the ungodly shall it abide, or fall; for {,}יחול ichul, means both. The Prophet now assails with more vehemence the false teachers, for they were almost stupid. None, indeed, can betray so much audacity as to oppose
God, except when wholly blinded by Satan. Hence our Prophet deals with the false teachers as with fanatics or those wholly stupified: he tells them that God would come like a whirlwind Whether we render it a whirlwind or a storm, there is not much difference. 99 And he adds, that they could not escape, for the wrath of God was impending over them, and would at length remain on them.
Now, it is usual in Scripture to deal very sharply with hypocrites, and especially with false teachers, because Satan rules in them to an awful extent. And doubtless, as I have already said, except a person be fascinated with illusions, he could not dare
99"Storm," or tempest, is the most suitable here. The word {,{חמהafter Jehovah, seems to belong to it --- ``hot tempest;'' the reference is to the burning winds of the south. See Jeremiah 4:11, 12. The verse may be thus rendered, --- Behold the burning tempest of Jehovah! It shall go forth, yea, a pregnant tempest; On the head of the wicked shall it burst.
The tempest or storm would be ``burning,'' and also ``pregnant,'' or in travail, as the word means; and being as it were in labor, it would ``burst,'' or literally bring forth on the head of the wicked. The verb is not from ,{}יחלbut from ,{}חולwhich means not only to be in labor but also to bring forth. ``It shall come,'' is the Sept. and the Vulg.; our version is the Targum. --- Ed