John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 18:7

"In that time shall a present be brought unto Jehovah of hosts [from] a people tall and smooth, even from a people terrible from their beginning onward, a nation that meteth out and treadeth down, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of Jehovah of hosts, the mount Zion." — Isaiah 18:7 (ASV)

In that time. The Prophet again shows why he threatened the destruction of a heathen nation. For when almost all the nations had leagued together against the Church, it appeared as if the Church were utterly ruined; therefore, Jehovah declares that in due time he will render assistance.

If he had not opposed such designs and seasonably restrained the attacks of enemies, the Jews would have despaired. For this reason, he shows that he takes care of the Church. Though he determines to chastise it, he still comes forward at the proper season to hinder it from perishing.

He displays his power against tyrants and other enemies, so that they may not overthrow it or succeed in accomplishing what they imagined they could do. Therefore, to encourage them to patience, he not only distinguishes them from the Ethiopians but also reminds them that God mitigates his judgments for their preservation.

A present shall be brought. He alludes to the second verse of this chapter (Isaiah 18:2), where we have seen the same names and descriptions applied to the Jewish nation. He uses the word brought because they would first of all be led into captivity, so that it would be no more practicable for them than for foreign nations to go up to the temple.

From a people. This expression deserves notice, for מעם (mĕgnăm) means that it will not be an entire nation. It is as if he had said, though you must be reduced to a small number, becoming a feeble remnant, yet those few who are left will be offered in sacrifice to God.

From this we ought to learn a doctrine highly useful and exceedingly adapted to our times. For at the present day the Church is not far from despair, being plundered, scattered, and everywhere crushed and trodden underfoot.

What must be done in such numerous and distressing difficulties? We ought to lay hold of these promises, believing that God will still preserve the Church. To whatever extent the body may be torn, shattered into fragments, and scattered, still by his Spirit he will easily unite the members and will never allow the remembrance of his name and the calling upon him to perish.

From those fragments which are now broken and scattered, the Lord will unite and assemble the people. Those whom he joins together in one spirit, though widely separated from each other, he can easily gather into one body. Therefore, although we see the nation diminished in numbers and some of its members cut off, yet a present will be offered by it to the Lord.

To the place of the name. This way of speaking is customary with the prophets. When they speak of the worship of God, they describe it by outward acts, such as altars, sacrifices, washings, and the like. Indeed, since the worship of God is within the soul, it can only be described by outward signs, by which people declare that they worship and adore God.

But he chiefly calls it Mount Zion, because that place was consecrated to God, and God commanded that sacrifices should be offered there. The chief honor he bestowed upon it was when he caused the doctrine of his word (Isaiah 2:3) to go forth from it, as we have previously seen, so that the name Mount Zion may be properly understood to denote the pure and uncorrupted worship of God.

In short, the prophets do not describe the worship of God as it would be after the coming of Christ, but as it was in their own time, because they found it necessary to accommodate themselves to the people to whom they ministered. From this it ought to be inferred that there is no other way we can belong to the Church than by being offered to God in sacrifice. Therefore, let everyone who wishes to belong to God present himself for such an offering, and let him no longer live for himself, but be wholly dedicated to God (Romans 12:1; 2 Corinthians 5:15). Now we know that it is by this sword of the word—that is, by the gospel—that Paul boasts of offering and sacrificing people to God (Romans 15:16).

By the place of the name of the Lord, he does not mean that his essence—of which we ought not to form any crude or earthly conception—is confined to it, as if God were limited to a place. Rather, it was a place where the Lord commanded that his power should be acknowledged, and that people should worship and call upon him—where he manifested his presence by his benefits and by his power. This was on account of the ignorance of the people, who could not otherwise comprehend his majesty.

Yet it ought to be observed that we cannot become acceptable to God without being united in one and the same faith—that is, without being members of the Church. For it is not necessary for us to run to Jerusalem or to Mount Zion, because in the present day Zion is as wide and extensive as the whole world, which is entirely devoted to God. Therefore, all that is necessary is that the same faith dwell in us and that we be joined together by the bond of love. If this is lacking, everything about us is heathen, and we have nothing that is sacred or holy.