Commentary on Jeremiah 6.50

[50] "Behold, I will gather them from all the lands to which I drove them in my fury and my wrath and great indignation, and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell securely; and they will be my people and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me all their days, and that it may be well with them and with their children after them. And I will make with them an everlasting covenant (or: arrange an eternal testament), and I will not cease to do them good, and I will put my fear in their heart, so that they do not depart from me. And I will rejoice over them when I do them good (or: and I will visit them to do them good), and I will plant them in this land in truth (or: in faith), with all my heart and all my soul." Many think this was fulfilled in the time of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, when Haggai and Zechariah prophesied, under Ezra the priest, when the temple was built and under Nehemiah the walls were built all around; so that those whom he had first driven out of Jerusalem in fury and wrath and great indignation and scattered through the whole world, he afterwards brought back and made dwell securely, and they were the people of God and the Lord was their God, and the rest that Scripture has joined together. But how this can be fitted to that time, "I will make them dwell securely, and I will make with them an everlasting covenant (or: arrange for them an eternal testament)," cannot be proved at all, since we read, and sacred history relates, that they were often captured not only by neighboring nations but also by the Persians, Macedonians, Egyptians, and Romans, and are in servitude to this day. Everything, then, is to be referred to the coming of the Savior, which we see fulfilled in our time and that of faith; and the election of the remnant, according to the apostle, has been saved and dwells securely in Christ, and has been given one heart, according to what is written: "And the multitude of those who believed had one heart and soul." "And one way," he says (him who says, "I am the way and the life and the truth"), "that they may fear me all their days"; for "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." "All," he says, "their days": if this does not fit the Jews, it is to be taken of our people, for whom it has been and is and will be well, not only for themselves but also for their children after them; for with us he has made an everlasting covenant, and he will not cease to do us good hereafter. And what follows, "and I will put my fear in their heart, so that they do not depart from me," grants free choice in such a way that the very fear that is given remains the grace of the giver. "And when I do them good," he says, "I will rejoice and be glad," namely that his creation has been saved; hence there is joy among the angels in heaven over one sinner who repents. "And I will plant them," he says, "in this land in truth," or, as the Seventy translated, "in faith," so as properly to signify the Christian people, whose religion is faith, "with all my heart and all my soul": if these are the words of the Lord the Savior, the heart and soul are rightly believed to be his, who says in the Gospel, "I have power to lay down my soul and I have power to take it up again"; but if we take it as from the person of God the Father, it is to be understood according to the saying, "Your new moons and sabbaths and feast days my soul hates." [51] "For thus says the Lord: As I have brought upon this people all this great evil, so I will bring upon them all the good that I speak to them. And fields will be possessed in this land, of which you say that it is desolate, because no man or beast remains, and it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans; fields will be bought for money and written in a deed, a seal will be pressed and witnesses called, in the land of Benjamin and around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah and in the hill cities and in the cities of the plain (or: sephela) and in the cities of the negeb" (that is, which are toward the south), "for I will restore their captivity, says the Lord." Although these things went before as a type according to the letter after the return from the Chaldeans, when at the command of King Cyrus the people returned to Judea, yet spiritually they are fulfilled more truly and fully in Christ and the apostles. Then both men and beasts were brought back into the church, according to what is written, "Men and beasts you will save, Lord," all the rational and the simple. Then fields were bought for money, so that we might make friends for ourselves with the mammon of iniquity, who would receive us into eternal dwellings. And they were written in the book (doubtless of the living), and the sign of the banner of the Lord's cross and victory was pressed on them, and witnesses were called, the martyrs and the whole choir of saints; "in the land of Benjamin," where is the Lord's "strength"; "and around Jerusalem," in which is the "vision of peace" and eternal security; "in the cities of Judah," in which is the true "confession" of Christ; "and in the hill cities," of which there is one of which he says, "A city set on a hill cannot be hidden"; "and in the cities of the plain" (which in Hebrew are called sephela), so that from the depths and low places we may advance through the level of the plains to the heights; "and in the cities that are toward the south" (which the Seventy rendered negeb), where is "noon" and the full light of truth. And when all these things are done, what is written will be fulfilled: "I will restore their captivity, says the Lord," of whom it is written: "Ascending on high, he led captivity captive; he received" or, as the apostle says, "gave gifts to men."