John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 30:22

"And ye shall defile the overlaying of thy graven images of silver, and the plating of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as an unclean thing; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence." — Isaiah 30:22 (ASV)

Then shall you profane the covering. This shows that the heavenly direction will not be without effect, for they will abandon their errors and devote their minds to the pure worship of God. The Prophet expressly mentions the outward profession of true godliness, by which they will openly proclaim that they have renounced idolatry.

For, since statues and images are instruments of idolatry and superstition, those who are truly converted to God detest and abhor them and, as far as it is in their power, profane them, as we read that Jehu did, who profaned the altars of Baal and turned his temple into a common sewer (2 Kings 10:27).

The example given by him and by others of the same class ought to be followed by godly princes and magistrates if they wish to give a genuine proof of their repentance. For, although repentance is seated in the heart and has God for a witness, it is shown by its fruits.

Isaiah has mentioned one class of them instead of the whole, for in general he shows that the proof of true repentance is when people make it appear that they abhor everything that is opposed to the worship of God.

When he says that the idols are profaned, he does not mean that they were formerly sacred—for how could anything be sacred that dishonors God and defiles people by its pollution? But, as people falsely imagine that they possess some sacredness, that is why he says that they are profaned, and that they ought to be despised and rejected as things of no value and altogether unclean.

The covering of the graven images of thy silver. When he speaks of the silver and gold of the graven images, he means that no loss or damage prevents believers from abhorring the worship of idols. Such considerations restrain many from casting away idols altogether, because they see that gold or silver or something else is lost, and they choose to keep their idols rather than sustain the smallest loss.

Covetousness holds them in its net, so that they are more willing to sin willingly and to pollute themselves with these abominations than to lose this or that. But we ought to prefer the worship of God to everything else, to set little value on gold, to cast away pearls, and to loathe everything that is considered precious, rather than defile ourselves with such crimes.

In short, nothing can be so valuable that it ought not to be despised and considered worthless by us when it comes into competition with overturning the kingdom of Satan and restoring the worship of God. In this way, we actually show whether the love of God and of religion dwells in our hearts, when a sincere abhorrence of our wicked ignorance drives us to throw away all that is polluted.