John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 28:4

"and the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as the first-ripe fig before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up." — Isaiah 28:4 (ASV)

And the excellence of its glory. He repeats nearly the same words; for we know how difficult it is to terrify and humble those who have been blinded by prosperity, and whose eyes success covers in the same way that fatness does. As Dionysius the Second, as a result of gorging himself at unseasonable banquets, became so blind that he constantly stumbled, so pleasures and luxuries blind the minds of men so that they no longer know either God or themselves. The Prophet therefore frequently instills the same truth in the minds of men who were dull and bewildered, so that they might understand what would otherwise have appeared incredible to them.

As the hasty fruit before the summer. He now illustrates the subject with another metaphor, exceedingly beautiful and appropriate; for the first-ripe fruits are indeed highly commended because they ripen before others and arouse the expectation for the rest of the produce; but they last only a short time and cannot be preserved, for they are quickly eaten up either by pregnant women, or by children, or by men who do not make a proper selection of their food. He says that the happiness of the Israelites will be of that kind, because their flourishing prosperity will not last long but will be swallowed up in a moment. What Isaiah declared about the kingdom of Israel applies also to the whole world. By their ingratitude, men prevent all the goodness which the Lord has bestowed upon them from reaching maturity; for we abuse His blessings and corrupt them by our wickedness. The consequence is that hasty and short-lived fruits are produced, which cannot yield us continual nourishment.