John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 16

Send ye a lamb. Here the Prophet scoffs at the Moabites for not acknowledging God at the proper time, but recklessly waiting for the stroke of His hand, until they were completely destroyed. It is, therefore, a condemnation of late repentance, when people cannot be brought to obedience by any warnings, and continue in obstinate opposition to God. When the disease is incurable, an exhortation of this kind is appropriate; and this ought to be carefully observed, for both Jews and Christians misinterpret this passage.

Jerome explains it as referring to Christ, because He drew His birth from the Moabites (Ruth 1:4, Matthew 1:5), from whom Ruth was descended; and that opinion has been adopted by almost all Christians, as if the Prophet had said, “O Lord, though a judgment so severe as this awaits the Moabites, still You will not utterly destroy them; for they will send You a Lamb, the ruler of the world.” But that interpretation, being destitute of plausibility, need not be refuted.

On the other hand, the Jews think that these words were spoken because, while the Jews were in a depressed condition, the Moabites ceased to pay the tribute which they owed them. They believe that, after having prophesied about the restoration of the kingdom of Judah, Isaiah likewise added an exhortation to remind them to acknowledge their king. They even go so far as to say that it serves the purpose of a royal edict, taking them to task for their disloyalty: “Send the tribute which you owe.” But we nowhere read that the Moabites were subjects or tributaries to the Jews, and there is no probability in the conjecture. Nor does the passage which they quote (2 Kings 3:5–6) give them any support; for that passage relates to the king of Israel, and expressly mentions Ahab and Samaria, who cherished, as we are aware, the utmost hatred against the Jews.

I therefore adhere to the interpretation I first noticed as the true and natural one. The Prophet’s design is to condemn the Moabites for not having repented in due season, and to tell them that they will now in vain do what they might easily have done formerly, and with great advantage to themselves. We ought, therefore, to view it as spoken ironically (εἰρωνικῶς): Send; as if he had said that there is no hope of pardon, that they will send in vain. When the wicked are warned, they indolently disregard all exhortation. When they are punished, they gaze around them with distressful looks, seeking assistance in every direction, and trying every method of relief, but unsuccessfully, for they gain no advantage. Isaiah, therefore, reproaches them for obstinacy and rebellion, and shows that there will be no time for repentance when they meet with the destruction which they deserve.

To the ruler of the world. The opinion of the Jews, that this denotes Hezekiah, is at variance with all reason; for ארץ (eretz) does not here denote a particular country, but rather the whole world, of which he speaks in general terms. The appellation Ruler must therefore be viewed as referring to God Himself. By a lamb, he means what was to be offered in sacrifice; for even the Gentiles acknowledged that they worshipped God when they offered sacrifices.

From the rock of the desert. He gives the name of the rock of the desert to the city, which is supposed to have been the chief city of the Moabites; though it is possible that he intended to include the whole of the country, and thus a part will be taken for the whole.

To the mountain of the daughter of Zion; that is, to God’s authorized temple, in which sacrifices were offered according to the injunction of the Law (Deuteronomy 12:5–7, 2 Chronicles 7:12). This is a remarkable passage against obstinate people, who set aside all instruction, and fearlessly despise God, until they are visited by His judgments.

It shall be as a bird let loose. The Prophet now shows what he meant by the former mockery: that the Moabites should not at that time think of sending sacrifices, because they will not be able to provide for their safety in any other way than by leaving their native country. By the metaphor of birds, he describes the terror with which they will be struck, so that they will flee even at the rustling of a leaf. He threatens that the Moabites, who had abused their tranquillity, will have a trembling and wearisome flight.

Assemble a council. He proceeds with the same subject. For if we wish to understand this passage rightly, we must set before our minds the dreadful ruin of the Moabites. Their crimes are brought to remembrance, so that all may see more clearly how deservedly they are punished.

When everything was in their power, they freely indulged in licentiousness and would not listen to any reproofs. But now, when they are deprived of everything, they groan and seek remedies that are nowhere to be found.

The Lord deals with the reprobate in such a manner that, to leave them without excuse, He bestows upon them and places in their hands everything that they need. But when, through their wicked passion, they have abused and turned everything to a wicked purpose, He deprives them of all aid and support and utterly destroys them.

Execute judgment. While the Moabites enjoyed prosperity, they cared little about what was good and right. While it was in their power to rule and to have their kingdom established in a just manner, they abused their power for tyranny.

Now that they were stripped of all authority and were exiles and fugitives, Isaiah ironically advises them to assemble councils and execute judgments, which they had formerly overturned through fraud and injustice. Isaiah has in view that time when all power and authority was taken from the hands of the Moabites.

The upbraiding is similar to that with which the Lord addresses Adam (Genesis 3:22), Behold, Adam is become as one of us, ridiculing him with the biting taunt that he was not satisfied with his exalted attainments and wished to rival God Himself.

In like manner, the Moabites, not satisfied with their ornaments and wealth, wretchedly harassed and plundered the Israelites and Jews and formed wicked plans against them.

Having abused the excellent gift of God, they therefore deserved to have this reproof addressed to them. This reproof is equally applicable to all the reprobate, who proudly boast in prosperity and barbarously abuse it to harass the godly.

Since they basely pollute those things that the Lord had set apart for their proper use, it is right that they should be deprived of them and reduced to the lowest poverty. We have instances of this every day.

Why is it that those who were raised to the highest rank of honor fall headlong, if not because the Lord punishes their tyrannical rule and their crimes? The Lord also ridicules their upbraiding and reproachful language, their wailings, and even their complaints, as when they exclaim, “Oh, that I had the wealth that I once enjoyed! Oh, that I were restored to my former condition!” For then repentance will be too late.

Make thy shadow. The Moabites might, as I have already hinted, have given some relief to the wretched Jews when they were harassed by the Assyrians. Or, at least, if they had had a spark of humanity, they ought to have protected the fugitives.

But, on the contrary, they persecuted them and added to the weight of their afflictions, which were already oppressive. It was highly proper that the Moabites should be subjected to the cruelty that they had exercised towards others;

so that, when they had been driven from their dwellings and were exiles and wanderers, they should nowhere find any solace, any shadow to shelter them from the heat. For why should they enjoy the consolations that they had barbarously refused to others?

As the night in the midst of noon-day. By noon-day is meant here the most scorching heat. This metaphor is frequently employed in Scripture, that the Lord was like a cloud at noon, and like a pillar of fire by night, for He once was so in the wilderness (Exodus 13:21–22; Numbers 14:14; Deuteronomy 1:33). This mode of expression, being customary, was retained by the Prophets, though they did not relate the history.

Hide the banished. He means the Jews, whom the Assyrians persecuted and harassed, and whom the Moabites at the same time treated cruelly.

It was their duty to shelter and relieve the fugitives, especially those who fled to them for protection. But since they drove them out, it was proper that they should be driven out in the same manner and deprived of all assistance and support.

For it is a righteous sentence that the Lord pronounces, when He enjoins that the same measure which every one metes shall be measured to him again (Deuteronomy 19:19, 21; Matthew 7:2).

Now the Prophet calls on the Moabites to acknowledge their sins, so as to confess that they are justly punished for their cruelty. Yet he rather has the Jews in his eye, to inform them that God does not disregard their afflictions, for they are told that He will be their avenger.

Let my outcasts dwell with you, Moab. The Prophet addresses the Moabites, as if he were humbly beseeching them in the name of the people as a whole. “You are neighbors, related to us by blood; receive and assist those who are in distress: and if you do not choose to assist, at least do them no harm.” God, who usually undertakes the cause of His people, is represented by the Prophet as if He played the part of a supplicant. It is certain that the Moabites did not act in this manner toward the Jews at all; on the contrary, they joined their efforts with the enemies of the Jews to injure them. But, as I said a little earlier, the Prophet sets before our eyes the justice that even nature demands, so that its cruel violation may be the more abhorred.

This passage ought to be carefully observed, for God shows how great the care He takes for His people is, since the injuries done to them affect Him in the same manner as if they had been done to Himself. As He declares through Zechariah, whenever they are touched, the apple of His eye is touched (Zechariah 2:8). He hears the groaning (Psalms 102:20) and observes the tears of suffering people who call upon Him (Psalms 12:5; Psalms 38:9); and though this is not always visible to us, yet at the proper time He shows that He has heard them.

Let us therefore learn from this passage to be kind and helpful to fugitives and exiles, and especially to believers who are banished for their confession of the Word. No duty can be more pleasing or acceptable to God; and, on the other hand, nothing is more hateful or abominable in His sight than barbarity and cruelty. If we wish to obtain any relief from our calamities, let us be kind and compassionate, and not refuse assistance to the needy.

Blessed, he says, is he that judgeth wisely about the poor and needy; the Lord will deliver him in the evil day (Psalms 41:1).

On the other hand, he shall have judgment without mercy who hath showed no mercy (James 2:13).

When God calls them His banished, this may appropriately be viewed as referring to punishment, as if He said that by a just judgment they were banished from the land of Canaan (Deuteronomy 28:64), as He had so often threatened them. Yet undoubtedly He likewise means that they continue to be under His defense and protection, because, though they are banished and driven out of their native country, still He acknowledges them to be His people.

That calamity which the Jews endured might be regarded as evidence that they were cast off, but the Lord acknowledges them to be His children, though He chastises them severely. Hence we derive a doctrine full of consolation: that we are counted among His children, even though sharp and heavy strokes are inflicted upon us.

For the extortioner hath ceased. He now directs his discourse to the Jews and proceeds to comfort them, as he had done previously, by showing that when their enemies are removed from their midst, the banishment or ruin of their enemies will also relieve their own calamities and distresses.

Yet the former statements related chiefly to the Jews, though the Prophet expressly addressed the Moabites. But at that time he only threatened vengeance on enemies, while here he more clearly promises consolation to His people, as if he had said, “You thought, O Moab, that my people were utterly ruined; but I will restrain the enemies and put an end to that affliction. You shall therefore perish, but my people shall at last be delivered from those dreadful calamities.”

Perhaps it will rather be thought that there is a change of tenses; and thus the particle כִּי (ki), which we have rendered For, will signify Until; and this clause will be read in immediate connection with the former part of the sentence: Let my banished dwell with you, Moab; be you a place of concealment from the face of the destroyer, until the extortioner shall have ceased. But as that might be considered a forced interpretation, I have chosen to abide by the natural meaning.

And the throne shall be prepared in mercy. The Jews explain the whole of this verse as referring to Hezekiah, but this is altogether inappropriate. The Prophet speaks of a more important restoration of the Church. The Moabites had not been punished during the flourishing condition of Hezekiah’s reign, and the blessing of God again began to burst forth on the Jews. It is as if it had been said, “All the enemies of the chosen people maliciously contrive the ruin of that kingdom, which God promised should be established for ever (2 Samuel 7:13).” So that the godly may not give way to despondency amidst the unhappy confusion, they are reminded of the perpetuity of the kingdom, of which they had been assured by a well-known prediction.

It cannot therefore be explained as referring to any other than to Christ, though I acknowledge that Hezekiah was a type of Christ, as David and the rest of his successors also were. But they lead us to Christ, who alone is the protector and leader of his people (John 10:16), and who has gathered the remnant that was scattered abroad (John 11:52).

For this reason he sends the godly back to Christ, as if he had said, “You know what God you worship. He has declared that he will watch over your safety, so that under his protection you will always continue to be safe and uninjured. If you at any time meet with reverses, he has promised you a Redeemer, under whom you will enjoy renewed and steadfast prosperity.”

“Though for a time you may weep, yet the protector of the Church will come, and will restore you to a flourishing state of freedom. You ought, therefore, with your whole heart, to rely on the expectation of him, even when you see the Church to be in a confused and wretched condition.”

This ought to be carefully observed, for all other consolations are transitory and fading if we do not refer all of them to Christ. Let our eyes therefore be fixed on him, if we wish to be happy and prosperous; for he has promised that we will be happy even amidst the cross (Matthew 5:10, 11), that agony and torments will open up the way to a blessed life (2 Corinthians 4:17), and that all the afflictions which we will suffer will add to the amount of our happiness (Romans 8:28).

In mercy. Isaiah shows that this does not take place through the agency of men, but by the kindness of God, who is the builder of this throne. Therefore, we ought to acknowledge that it is owing to his undeserved goodness that this sacred throne is established among us. The Prophet expressly confirms this by saying that its cause must not be sought anywhere else than in the absolute mercy of God. Nor can any other cause be found. For God could not be induced by any excellence of character, or by merits (of which there certainly were none), to set up again the throne which had fallen down through the fault and through the crimes of the people. But when he saw that those whom he had adopted were ruined, he wished to give a proof of his infinite goodness. Now, if God builds this throne, by whom will it be overturned? Will wicked men be stronger than he?

And he will sit upon it in the tabernacle of David. Almost every word here is emphatic, so that this verse deserves to be continually pondered. I do not object to the opinion that the word tabernacle contains an allusion to this effect: that he was but an ordinary man before he was called to sit on a throne (1 Samuel 16:11, 12; 2 Samuel 7:8).

The Prophet intended to draw a picture of the Church, which has no resemblance to the thrones of kings and princes, and does not shine with gold or precious stones. Though he has held out the spiritual kingdom of Christ under a mean and despicable shape, yet at the same time he shows that that kingdom will be seen on earth and among men.

If he had only said that the throne of Christ will be erected, we might have asked, “Will his throne be in heaven, or also on earth?” But now when he says, in the tabernacle of David, he shows that Christ reigns not only among angels but also among men, lest we should think that, in order to seek him, we must enter into heaven.

Wicked men ridicule what we preach about the kingdom of Christ, as if it were some phantom of our own imagination. They wish to see it with their eyes, and to have the evidence of their senses; but we ought not to conceive of it as at all carnal, but to be satisfied with his arm and with his power.

In steadfastness. אמת (emeth) denotes not only truth but every kind of certainty. The Prophet means that the kingdom of Christ will be firm and steadfast, as Daniel also declared (Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:14). The Evangelist also says, Of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:33).

In this respect it is distinguished from the ordinary condition of kingdoms, which, even when they are founded on great and enormous wealth, crumble down or even fall by their own weight, so that they have no more permanency than vanishing pictures.

But Isaiah declares that the kingdom of Christ, though it frequently totters, will be supported by the hand of God, and therefore will last forever.

These proofs ought to fortify us against temptations which arise whenever the kingdom of Christ is attacked by enemies so numerous and powerful that we might be ready to think that it will quickly be destroyed. Whatever weapons the world may employ, and though hell itself should vomit out flames of fire, we must abide by this promise.

Who shall judge. I understand שפת (shophet) to mean Governor, as if he had said, “There will be one who shall govern.” Often do we see a magnificent throne when there is no one to sit on it, and it frequently happens that kings are either idols or cattle, without judgment or skill or wisdom. But here he says that one will sit who will discharge the office of a good governor; and this is added in order to assure us that Christ will be our protector.

And seek judgment and hasten righteousness. The judgment and the righteousness which are ascribed to him are nothing else than the protection under which he receives us, and which he will not allow to be infringed. For he will not allow wicked men who injure us to pass unpunished, while we patiently and calmly commit ourselves to his protection.

By the word hasten he shows that he will quickly and speedily avenge our cause. This must be viewed as a rebuke to our impatience, for we never think that his assistance comes soon enough.

But when we are hurried along by the violence of passion, let us remember that this arises from not submitting to his providence. For although according to the judgment of our flesh he delays, still he regulates his judgment in the best manner by the seasons which are well known to him. Let us therefore submit to his will.