Calvin's Institutes: March 21

The saints of the Old Testament were not chasing earthly comfort—they were looking beyond it. In this reading, John Calvin argues that the patriarchs understood the promises of God as pointing past the present world to a heavenly country. Abraham lived in tents because he was waiting for a city built by God (Hebrews 11:9–10). Jacob, dying, still waited for God’s salvation (Genesis 49:18). Even Balaam sensed that the righteous had a better end than the wicked (Numbers 23:10). Calvin presses the point further through the Psalms and the Prophets: if we judge by present appearances alone, the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer (Psalm 73:2–3). Yet faith lifts its eyes to God’s sanctuary, where the final judgment will reveal the true outcome. The faithful therefore endured the hardships of this life because they trusted that God’s promises would ultimately be fulfilled in the eternal kingdom, where the righteous will behold God’s face and be satisfied (Psalm 17:15).

Readings:

John Calvin — Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 2, Chapter 10, Sections 13–17

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