John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 28:22

"Now therefore be ye not scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong; for a decree of destruction have I heard from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, upon the whole earth." — Isaiah 28:22 (ASV)

Now therefore. He again reminds those wicked men, whom he had formerly called “scorners” (Isaiah 28:14), that their cunning, contempt, jeers, and mockery will be of no use to them, because all their ingenuity will be thwarted. He also exhorts them to repentance, if any of them are still capable of being healed. For this reason, he repeats the same threats in order to arouse them.

Lest your chains be more firmly fastened. He says that all they will gain by resistance is to draw themselves more firmly into their nets. Instead of “chains,” there are some who render מוסרים (mōsĕrīm) as “chastisements,” but this does not agree with the context. The metaphor of “chains” is highly appropriate in this passage. For, just as a fox that has fallen into a snare tightens the knot more firmly by its attempts to free itself and escape, so wicked men, by their disobedience, entangle and bind themselves more and more. They desire to escape the hand of God and kick against the spur, like an unruly horse that uses all its strength to shake off its rider; but all they accomplish by their obstinacy and stubbornness is to receive heavier and more severe blows.

Be ye not mockers. This shows us how we ought to deal with wicked men when we see that they are completely lacking the fear of God. All that remains for us to do is to warn them that their jeers and scorn will have no success in resisting the vengeance of God that hangs over them. We are also reminded that we ought not to trifle with God, since we see, as in a mirror, what has been the end of those who despised the warnings and threats of the prophets since the beginning of the world.

For I have heard a consumption. So that his prediction may be firmly believed, he declares that he presents nothing that God did not reveal. The word כלה (chālāh) sometimes signifies “perfection” and sometimes “consumption,” as we formerly stated (Isaiah 10:23). Here it must denote “consumption,” for the Prophet means nothing less than that God has determined to destroy the whole earth speedily by a general slaughter.

This includes two things: first, that dreadful and grievous destruction is about to overtake the world (unless it is thought better to limit the word “earth” to Judea, to which I do not object), and secondly, that the day is fixed and is not far off. The word hearing is here used to denote Revelation. The Prophet says that this was made known to him; for, as the Lord determined to make use of the ministry of the prophets, so He revealed His secrets to them, so that they might be, so to speak, their interpreters.

Upon the whole earth. It is as if he had said, “The whole world abounds with shocking impiety; reprobate men have grown unrestrained in their wickedness, as if there will be no judgment from God. But throughout the whole world, or in every part of Judea, God will show that He is judge and avenger, and not a corner of the earth will be exempt from troubles and calamities, because they have despised the word.” Now, although these things were revealed in Isaiah’s time, they belong no less to other times, in which God shows that He is always the same and is accustomed to execute His judgments by the same method and rule.