John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 17:14

"At eventide, behold, terror; [and] before the morning they are not. This is the portion of them that despoil us, and the lot of them that rob us." — Isaiah 17:14 (ASV)

And, behold, at evening tide trouble. The meaning is, “As when a storm has been raised in the evening, and soon afterwards subsides, no trace of it is found in the morning, so cheerful prosperity will suddenly arise, contrary to expectation.”

The Prophet intended to state two things:

1. that the attack of the enemy will be sudden.
2. that the ravages they will commit will not be of long duration.

As the Assyrians rose suddenly against the Israelites, so their fall was sudden.

From this passage, all the godly should draw wonderful consolation whenever they see that everything is in disorder and dreadful changes are near.

For what is this but a sudden storm that the Lord will subdue? Tyrants rush upon us like storms and whirlwinds, but the Lord will easily dispel their rage.

Let us therefore patiently wait for His assistance. For though He allows us to be tossed about, yet through the midst of the tempests He will finally conduct us to the haven (Psalms 107:30). And if the Prophet comforted a small remnant, who appeared to be almost no one at all, this promise undoubtedly belongs to us also.

True, we are very few, and a wretched church is concealed in a few corners. But if we look at the condition of the kingdom of Israel, how few were the servants of God in it! And they hardly dared to mutter, so great was the universal hatred of religion and godliness.

Therefore, although the Lord destroys the multitude of the wicked, yet to the small number of the godly—who, one might say, are tossed about in the same ship with them—He will hold out a plank to rescue them from shipwreck, and will guide them safely and comfortably into the harbor.

This is the portion. He addresses the believers who were concealed in the kingdom of Israel and joins them with the Church, although, as is frequently the case with the children of God, the members were scattered in every direction.

We see here what will be the end of the wicked who have persecuted us. Though we are exposed to their rage, so that they tear, plunder, and trample upon us, and inflict on us every kind of insult, yet they will be like storms that are subdued by their own violence and quickly disappear.

We should expect that this will be the lot of all the tyrants who today wretchedly harass the Church and cruelly treat the children of God. Let this consolation be engraved on our minds, so that we may know that the same thing will happen to them.