John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 28:7

"And even these reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they stagger with strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment." — Isaiah 28:7 (ASV)

But they also have erred through wine. He returns to the irreligious despisers of God, who were Jews in name only, and proves their ingratitude to be highly aggravated. This was because, although they had a striking proof of God's anger before their eyes when they saw their brethren severely chastised, and nevertheless experienced God’s forbearance towards themselves, neither that example of severity nor the conviction of divine goodness could bring them back to the right path or make them in any respect better, even though the Lord spared them.

Here he speaks of “wine and strong drink” metaphorically, for I do not understand it to relate to ordinary drunkenness, against which he remonstrated at the beginning of the chapter. On the contrary, he says that they were like drunk men because they lacked knowledge and sound understanding. If the word as is supplied before the words “through wine and through strong drink,” the meaning will be more easily understood.

I acknowledge that by continued drunkenness men become, as it were, brutalized, and I have no doubt that drunkenness and excessive eating and drinking also contributed to stupefy the minds of the Jews. However, if we examine the whole of the context, it will be easy to see that the madness which he condemns is metaphorical.

The priest and the prophet have erred. He proceeds further still to show their aggravated guilt, saying that not only were the common people drunk, but the priests themselves, who ought to have held out the light and pointed out the path to others. For, as Christ declares, they may be regarded as “the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). If they are mad, what will the common people be? “If the eye is blind,” what will become of the other parts of the body? (Matthew 6:23).

They have erred in vision. The most grievous thing of all is when he says that they err not only in the more flagrant transgressions of life, but in vision and judgment. From this we should infer how desperate the condition of the Jewish Church was, and here, as in a mirror, we may behold our own transgressions.

It is indeed something monstrous that, after so many chastisements which God has employed for cleansing it, the Church is so deeply corrupted. But such is our wickedness that we fight against his strokes, and though he continually restrains us and uses unceasing efforts to purify us from our sins, we not only render all his remedies useless but also bring new diseases upon ourselves.

Therefore, we should not wonder that in the present day, after the numerous scourges and afflictions with which the Church has been chastised, people appear to be obstinate and even become worse, when Isaiah testifies that the same thing took place in the ancient Church.

Indeed, the Lord's goodness rose above the base and shameful wickedness of that nation and still preserved the Church. But this was accomplished by his secret power, contrary to everyone's expectation, for it would be of no advantage to us if he employed ordinary remedies.

From this it is also evident how silly and childish the boasting of the Papists is. They always have “The Church” in their mouths and use the names of priests, bishops, and pontiffs as a pretext, wishing to fortify themselves by their authority against the word of God, as if that order could never err or make mistakes.

They think that they have the Holy Spirit confined within their brains and that they represent the Church, which God never forsakes. But we see what the Prophet declares concerning the priests, whose order was more splendid and illustrious. If ever there was a Church, there certainly was one at that time among the Jews; and that order derived support from the word of God—support to which these others have no claim.

And yet he shows that not only were they corrupt in morals, but they also erred “in vision and judgment.” He also shows that the prophets—whom we know God added to the priests, outside the ordinary course, on account of the priests' carelessness—were nevertheless blind in that sacred office of teaching and in revelations.

Therefore, nothing is more futile than, under the pretext of an office that bears a splendid title, to present as exempt from the danger of erring those who, having forsaken God, and not only cast away all regard for religion but even trodden shame under their feet, defend their tyranny by every means in their power.