Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 54:15

"Behold, they may gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall because of thee." — Isaiah 54:15 (ASV)

Behold, they shall surely gather together - The idea in this verse is that the enemies of the people of God would indeed form alliances and compacts against them, but it would not be under the divine direction, and they would not be able to prevail against the church. The word rendered here ‘gather together’ (גור gûr) properly means ‘to turn aside from the way’; then to sojourn for a time; then to assemble against anyone. It seems here to refer to the gathering together of hostile forces to form an alliance or to wage war.

Great variety, however, has prevailed in the interpretation of the passage, but this seems to be its sense. Jerome renders it, ‘Look, a foreigner will come who was not with me; the stranger will later be joined to you,’ and seems to understand it as referring to the proselytes that would be made. This sense is found expressly in the Septuagint: ‘Look, proselytes will come to you through me, and they will sojourn with you, and fly to you.’ The Chaldee renders it, ‘Look, the captivity of your people will be surely gathered to you, and in the end the kings of the people who were assembled to afflict you, O Jerusalem, will fall in your midst.’

But the above seems to be the correct sense. Alliances would be formed, compacts would be entered into, and leagues would be made by the enemies of the people of God, and they would be assembled to destroy the church. This has often been done. Formidable confederations have been entered into for this purpose, and deep-laid plans have been devised to destroy the friends of the Most High.

See Psalm 2:2: ‘The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against his Anointed.’ No small part of history is a record of the combinations and alliances that have been entered into for the purpose of driving the true religion from the world.

But not by me - Not under my direction or by my command.

Shall fall for thy sake - Hebrew, עליך ‛âlaı̂yk - ‘Shall fall to you.’ Lowth says, ‘Shall come over to your side.’ The phrase seems to mean that they should ‘fall to them,’ that is, that they should lay aside their opposition, break up their alliances against the church, and come over to it. In proof of this interpretation, Rosenmuller appeals to the following passages: 1 Chronicles 12:19–20; 2 Chronicles 15:9; Jeremiah 21:9; and Jeremiah 39:9.

The passage, therefore, looks to the future conversion of the enemies of the church to the true faith. It has, doubtless, been partially fulfilled in the conversion of nations that have been leagued against the gospel of the Redeemer. There was a striking fulfillment in the times that succeeded the persecutions of Christians in the Roman Empire.

After all the power of the Empire had been enlisted in ten successive persecutions to destroy the church, the very Empire that had thus opposed the church was converted to the Christian faith. In a still more remarkable manner this will be fulfilled when all the powers of the earth now leagued against the gospel will be brought under the influences of the true religion.