John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 10:12

"Wherefore it shall come to pass, that, when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks." — Isaiah 10:12 (ASV)

But it shall come to pass. Until now the Prophet had explained what the pride of the Assyrian would be after he obtained a victory over Israel; but now he foretells what will happen to the Assyrian himself, and what God’s purpose against him will be. Wicked men do everything as if God were not in heaven and could not frustrate their designs. What else do those haughty words, My hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, mean, other than that he thought he would vanquish all the gods? But God opposes his designs and, after having made use of his agency, punishes him also.

This verse contains two clauses.

1. First, he declares that God will punish a wicked king.
2. Secondly, he suggests that the time has not yet come, in order to encourage believers to exercise patience.

He foretells that the time God regards as fit for doing it will be when He has chastised the sins of His Church, much like a master of a house settles disturbances within his own family.

The object he has in view is that believers may not give way to despondency when they behold a wicked tyrant in such exultation. They should not abandon the hope of salvation, as if it were impossible to restrain him.

I will visit upon the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria. In short, God promises that after having permitted the Assyrian to plume himself beyond measure, He will in His turn be an avenger. For it belongs to Him to repress the pride of the flesh, which is connected with sacrilege.

Accordingly, the preposition עַל (gnal) is emphatic, as if it declared that the Assyrian will not be protected by his loftiness from undergoing punishment. Fruit is here taken in a metaphorical sense, for wicked men think that they are happy and prosperous when they swell with pride, as if they gathered some fruit.

He places in the foreground the heart, which is the seat of pride, and which, when it swells with haughtiness, pours out fierceness and cruelty. Afterwards, he adds the eyes, by which the inward feelings of the heart are manifested, and which, by being lifted up, are the heralds of secret vice.

To whatever extent the Assyrian, in his pride, may elevate himself, God testifies that He has in His own power the means of suddenly changing his glory into dishonor and reproach. Accordingly, He includes contempt, scorn, disdain, and haughty looks, indicative of excessive confidence, which are usually seen in proud men.

I will visit. He introduces God as speaking, because what God utters with His own mouth is more impressive (ἐμφατικώτερον) than if He spoke by the mouth of the Prophet.

Hence, draw a general doctrine: God cannot endure the arrogance of proud men without suppressing it, for He wages incessant war with the haughty and disdainful (Proverbs 3:34; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).

When the Lord shall have finished his whole work. Observe how, to repress immoderate haste, the Prophet added this by way of limitation. For as soon as we see a proud man, we wonder that the Lord endures him.

Isaiah here shows that God endures that proud tyrant—whatever the insolence with which he boasts and exalts himself—because He chose to make use of his agency. He further explains that the opportune time for the Lord’s destruction of the wicked is not always near, and that we ought to wait patiently for it.

When He shall have chastised the kingdom of Judah, as if He were bringing the members of the family into a state of submission, He will not be slow or sluggish in punishing a foreign enemy, just as a father commonly throws away or breaks the rod with which he chastised his son.

His whole work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem. By a figure of speech in which a part is taken for the whole (synecdochically, συνεκδοχικῶς), Mount Zion here represents the Church, and Jerusalem is used in the same sense. In this way, using the Temple and the royal city as the head, he could describe the whole body, and using the most important part, he could describe the whole kingdom.

He calls it the whole work because, through our foolish haste, we would try to draw God away from His work, even if it had only begun.

Our wrath against wicked men, especially, rages so strongly that it is difficult to restrain our impatience if God does not instantly grant our wish by punishing them.

To mitigate this fervor, he bids them allow full and ample time for God’s fatherly chastisements.

The whole work denotes a proper measure. This is a useful and highly consoling doctrine.

For we see wicked men mocking God in a wonderfully arrogant and seemingly triumphant manner. They utter reproaches and slanders against His doctrine, so that hardly any words can express their insolence.

If the Lord were to comply with our wish, He would immediately hasten to subdue and destroy them. But He wishes first to humble His Church by means of them.

On Mount Zion and on Jerusalem. He does not now speak of Syrians or Egyptians, but of the Jews—of Zion, of the Temple, and the habitation which He was pleased to consecrate to Himself.

Thus, at the present day, there are various diseases of the Church which the Lord determines to heal and remove.

He has indeed begun to do so, but we are mistaken if we think that the work is finished. He will not cease until He has subdued us, so that we may be moved by the true fear of Him and may submit to His yoke with becoming modesty and gentleness.

We need not wonder, therefore, that He gives a loose rein to tyrants and until now permits them to rage against the Church. But the consolation is near.

When He shall have made use of their agency in chastising the Church, He will visit their pride and arrogance. And we need not wonder if God, by striking His elect first of all, expresses in this manner His peculiar regard for their salvation.

Judgment must therefore begin at the house of God, and must afterwards extend to those who are without, who will endure chastisements still more severe.