Commentary on Jeremiah Volume 1 John Calvin
JOHN CALVIN
cold, heat, disgrace, and things of this kind, are called afflictions or adversities. Now, the Prophet says, that the idols of the Gentiles, or their fictitious gods, do no evil, that is, they have no power to inflict punishment on men. And this is taken from Isaiah. God uses there a twofold argument, while claiming divinity to himself alone: he says, ``I alone am he who foresees and predicts future things;'' and hence I am God alone; and then he says, ``I alone am he who do good and evil;'' hence I alone am God. (Isaiah 45:22; Isaiah 48:3, 5.) He says, that he doeth evil, because he is the Judge of the world. We hence see that this expression is not to be taken in a bad sense, but, as I have said, it is to be taken in a sense used by men; for we consider and call those punishments, with which God visits us, evils. It follows ---
Jeremiah 10:6
6. Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
6. A non 263 (vel, ab eo quod non, hoc est, ab ultimis temporibus non) sicut tu
Jehova reperietur; magnus tu, et magnum nomen tuum in fortitudine.
As the truth respecting the gods of the heathens, that they are mere figments, would be useless and of no moment, were not the knowledge of the, true God added, the Prophet now introduces God himself. And there is another reason; for no one could know that these wooden and stony gods are of no account, were not the truth respecting the true God to shine forth. Whosoever does not understand that there is a God, and does not know who or what he is, can never be really influenced by this truth, that the gods of the heathens are demons, and that all their superstitions are sacrilegious.
We now then perceive why the Prophet turns to the true God: it was, that the brightness of God's glory might dissipate the darkness in which the Gentiles were involved, and also, that true religion might really influence the hearts of men, so that by acknowledging the one true God, to whose power we ought to submit, they might not only despise and repudiate all idols, but also hate and abhor them. The rest to-morrow.
PRAYER
Grant, Almighty God, that since thou hast made heaven and earth for our sake, and hast testified by thy servant Moses, that the sun, as well as the moon, to which foolish heathens ascribe divinity, are to be serviceable to us, and that we are to use them as though they were our servants, --- O grant that we may, by thy so many blessings, have our minds raised upwards and contemplate thy true glory, so that we may faithfully worship thee only, and surrender ourselves so entirely to thee, that while we enjoy the benefits derived from all the stars, and also from the earth, we may know that we are bound to thee by so many favors, in order that we may be more and more roused to attend to what is just and right, and thus endeavor to glorify on earth thy name, that we may at length enjoy that blessed glory which has 263The word is, {:{מאיןthe {}מhere is not a preposition, but a formative, and the word means none. So all the versions and the Targum render it. The proper rendering of the verse is --- None is like thee, Jehovah; Great art thou, And great is thy name, in strength. --- Ed.