John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 31

Woe to them that go down to Egypt. He again returns to the subject which he had handled at the beginning of the previous chapter; for he still cries loudly against the Jews, whose ordinary custom it was, in times of danger, to resort not to the Lord, but to the Egyptians. We have previously explained why this was so highly displeasing to God. To state the matter briefly, there are two reasons why the Prophet reproves this crime so severely. The first is, because it is impossible for us to place our confidence for salvation in creatures and, at the same time, in God; for our eyes must be withdrawn from Him as soon as they are directed to them. The second reason is, God had expressly forbidden them to enter into an alliance with the Egyptians (Deuteronomy 17:16). To sinful confidence was added rebelliousness, as if they had resolved to provide for their safety by despising God and by disobeying His will.

Therefore, we must look at the source of this evil if we wish to fully understand the Prophet’s meaning. There was also a specific reason, as we have previously remarked, why the Lord wanted the Jews to have no dealings with the Egyptians. It was so that this wicked alliance would not erase the memory of the redemption from Egypt, and so that they would not be corrupted by the superstitions and sinful idolatry of the Egyptians.

Yet these arguments were regarded by them as of no weight; and, though God had forbidden it, this did not stop them from continually applying to them for assistance, and imagining that their assistance was a shield which defended them against the arm of God. Consequently, there are good reasons why the Prophet exclaims so earnestly against such madness.

Even on the ground that God had forbidden it, their “going down into Egypt” deserved to be severely blamed; but it was still more intolerably criminal that, through false confidence, they gave to mortal men the glory due to God. To make it even clearer that in this way they defraud God of His right, he not only accuses them of having relied on the Egyptians but also, on the other hand, charges them that

They have not looked to the Holy One of Israel. Here the reason appears more clearly why this treachery of the Jews is so sharply reproved by Isaiah.

For in other respects God does not disapprove of our using lawful remedies, just as we eat bread and other kinds of food intended for our use. Thus, if any person in danger employs means that were not forbidden but are customary and lawful, provided that he does not at all deny the power of God, he certainly ought not to be blamed.

But if we are so strongly attached to external means that we do not at the same time seek God, and if, through distrust of His promises, we resort to unlawful methods, this deserves condemnation and abhorrence.

The word look is frequently used in Scripture to denote this confidence, for we commonly turn our eyes toward the direction from which we expect assistance. In short, we are taught here that we ought to place our trust for salvation in no one else but God alone, so that, relying on His promises, we may boldly ask from Him whatever is desirable. He undoubtedly permits us to use all things He intended for our use, but in such a way that our minds must be entirely fixed on Him.

When he calls God “the Holy One of Israel,” he highlights the wickedness and ingratitude of the people, who, after being taken under God’s protection and care, despised such a protector and guardian of their salvation and ran eagerly after their own lusts. By immediately adding, neither have they sought Jehovah, he shows that neither the power, nor the goodness, nor the fatherly kindness of God could keep them in performing their duty.

Today, since He invites us no less kindly to come to Him, we offer a grievous insult to Him if we look to any other and do not resolve to trust in Him alone; and everything that turns away and withdraws our minds from God will be to us like “Egypt.”

Yet he also is wise. By calling God “wise,” he does not merely attribute to Him the honor of an attribute that always belongs to Him, but censures the craftiness of those who he saw were too delighted with their own wisdom. He said a little before (Isaiah 29:15) that they “dug caves for themselves” when they thought that, by hidden plans and secret contrivances, they avoided and deceived the eyes of God. He now pours witty ridicule on this madness by affirming that, on the other hand, wisdom also belongs to God, indirectly charging them with believing that they could shut God’s mouth, as if He did not know their affairs. As if he had said, “What will become of your wisdom? Will its effect be that God will cease to be ‘wise’?” On the contrary, by reproving your vanity, He will give a practical demonstration that He taketh the wise in their own craftiness (Job 5:13; 1 Corinthians 3:19).

We may draw from this a general doctrine: those who shelter themselves under craftiness and secret contrivances gain nothing but to provoke God’s wrath even more. A bad conscience always flees from God’s judgment and seeks hiding places to conceal itself. Wicked men contrive various methods of guarding and fortifying themselves against God and think that they are wise and circumspect, even though they are covered only with empty masks; while others, blinded by their elevated rank, despise God and His threatenings. Thus, by declaring that “God is also wise,” the Prophet wounds them painfully and sharply, so that they may not claim such great craftiness as to be capable of deceiving God with their delusions.

He will arise against the house of the evil-doers. Since they did not deserve for Him to reason with them, He threatens that they will feel that God has His arguments at His command to ensnare transgressors. First, they did not think that God has sufficient foresight, because He did not, according to the ordinary practice of the world, provide for their safety amidst such great dangers, and because they considered all threatenings to be empty bugbears, as if they had it in their power by some means to guard against them. Hence arises their eagerness to make every exertion and their boldness to plot contrivances. He therefore threatens that God will take revenge for such a gross insult, and that He has at His command the means of executing what He has promised, and that no schemes, inventions, or craftiness can overthrow the word of God.

Of the workers of vanity. He gives them this name because they wished to fortify themselves against God’s hand by a useless defense—that is, by the unlawful aid of the Egyptians. Previously, it might be thought that he silently admitted their claim to the name “wise men” by contrasting them with God’s wisdom; but now he scatters the smoke and openly displays their shame and disgrace. This teaches us that there is nothing better than to renounce our own judgment and submit entirely to God, because all that earnest caution by which wicked men torture themselves has no solidity but, on the contrary, as if on purpose, provokes God’s wrath by the deceitful contrivances of the flesh.

And surely the Egyptian is a man, and not God. It may be thought that Isaiah here presents nothing that is common and beyond all doubt; for who ever imagined that the Egyptians were not “men,” and must be put in the place of “God?” There is indeed no debate on this point, and it is openly acknowledged. However, when it becomes necessary to put it into practice, people are altogether slow to understand, or remain uncertain about what they formerly appeared to know and firmly to believe.

They exalt themselves so highly, and claim so much for themselves, as if they did not believe that they are men, and did not think that they should obey God. This is the reason why Scripture so frequently warns:

not to trust in men, than whom nothing can be more vain (Psalms 146:3);

Cursed is he who trusteth in man, and relieth on an arm of flesh (Jeremiah 17:5).

Yet we see both princes and people of ordinary rank devise and resolve matters as if they could establish for a hundred years all that they planned, and could subject heaven, sea, and earth, and could regulate and arrange everything according to their will.

When we perceive such pride and arrogance in people, we need not wonder that the Prophet exclaims that the Egyptians are men, and not God. For the Jews ascribed to them what should be ascribed to God: the defense and preservation of the Church, which God claims for himself alone and does not allow it to be given to another. Isaiah therefore indirectly censures that contempt of God and wicked confidence by which they are swelled with pride.

Here we see how great a difference there is between God and men. Men have no power in themselves except what God has granted to them. If we were reasoning about the nature and excellence of man, we might bring forward the unique gifts which he has received from God. But when man is contrasted with God, he must be reduced to nothing, for nothing can be ascribed to man without taking it from God.

This is the reason why we cannot agree with the Papists when we argue about the cause of salvation, free will, the value of works, and merits. For since on this subject God is contrasted with man, we must take from God whatever is attributed to man.

But they make a division between man and God, assigning one part to God and another part to man, while we maintain that the whole and undivided cause of salvation must be ascribed to God, and that no part of it can be attributed to another without detestable sacrilege. In a word, let us learn that in such a contrast, nothing worthy of praise can be left for man.

And their horses are flesh and not spirit. By the word “flesh” he means weakness and frailty; for what is there in “flesh” but corruption? He speaks of “horses,” but a weakness of the same or a similar nature also belongs to the Egyptians. It is as if he had said that they, and all their forces, have nothing that is solid or permanent.

Although the Egyptians had a soul as well as a body, yet, insofar as they were creatures and lived in a frail tabernacle, they must hold an inferior rank. It is as if he had said that they do not possess heavenly or spiritual power, as it is also said in the Psalm:

Do not trust in princes;
for their breath shall go out, and they shall return to their earth (Psalms 146:3).

Concerning “horses,” the word “flesh” applies to them with greater aptness; but it is not surprising that people are taught by decay how frail they are.

As soon as Jehovah shall stretch out his arm. From this threat we may draw a universal doctrine: this wickedness will not go unpunished. For the Lord will not allow people to give to creatures with impunity the honor due to him, or to rely on the help of other people with that confidence which should be placed on him alone.

He therefore threatens those who offer help and give rise to false confidence, as well as those who use that help and rely on it for their safety.

And if the Lord cannot endure this wicked confidence where nothing more than temporal safety is concerned, how much less will he endure those who, to obtain eternal salvation, devise various aids according to their own imagination, and thus elevate the power of humans, thereby ascribing to it the place and authority of God?

For so has Jehovah said to me. The Prophet adds this verse so that it may not be thought that the Lord leaves us lacking necessary means; for if, while he forbids us to place our confidence in creatures, he did not promise us any assistance, we might complain that he gave reason for despair and not for consolation; as we saw previously, that people are more careful and attentive than they ought to be, because they think that they will be lacking in foresight if they rest satisfied with God alone and abstain from forbidden means.

He therefore takes away every excuse when he promises that he will be a faithful guardian to us; for what pretext can be left if we despise the salvation which he offers to us freely? It is therefore as if he had said, “The Lord assists, and will assist; he forbids you to ask assistance from the Egyptians.” By comparing himself to a lion, a very powerful animal and intensely focused on prey, he employs a very appropriate comparison to show that he is to the highest degree both able and willing to defend us.

In the second part of the comparison, the Prophet elaborates extensively on the great eagerness with which the Lord takes hold of his people, keeps them near himself, preserves them from being carried off, and defends them against all dangers; while he also points out that strength and power which no arms and no forces can resist. Now, it is impossible that comparisons should apply in every detail, nor is that necessary, but they ought to be suitable to the subject being discussed. Since therefore we know that the Lord loves us so much and takes such care of us, must we not be worse than mad if we despise him, and seek other aids, which will not only be useless but destructive to us?

As birds that fly. This is the second comparison, by which the Prophet shows how great care the Lord takes of us, and how earnestly He is determined to make us happy. It is taken from birds, which are prompted by astonishing eagerness to preserve their young; for they almost kill themselves with hunger and shrink from no danger, so that they may defend and preserve their young. Moses makes use of the same comparison when, reproaching the people for their ingratitude, He compares the Lord to an eagle

laying her nest, spreading her wings, and fluttering over her young (Deuteronomy 32:11).

Christ also remonstrates with Jerusalem:

How often would I have gathered your children together, as a hen gathers her chickens, and you would not! (Matthew 23:37).

The sum of this passage is that the Lord will be sufficiently powerful to defend His people, for whom He has a special love and a peculiar care. What Moses relates that God did, Isaiah promises that He will always do; for He will never forsake those whom He has once received into His favor.

So that no one, therefore, should imagine that this statement related only to the people of a single age, He expressly declares that God will spread His wings to defend Jerusalem. Nor is it without reason that He mentions not only Mount Zion but its hill; for on that hill was built the temple in which God desired that people should call upon Him.

Wherever, therefore, the worship of God is pure, let us know that salvation will be certain; for people cannot call upon Him in vain.

Let us be His people, and, on the other hand, He will be our God. (Leviticus 26:12).