John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 32

Behold, a King shall reign. He means that God will still be gracious to His Church, to restore her entirely; and the best method of restoring her is when good government is maintained, and when its whole administration is conducted with propriety and good order.

This prediction undoubtedly relates to Hezekiah and his reign, under which the Church was reformed and restored to its former splendor, for it was formerly in a wretched and ruinous condition. Ahaz, who was a wicked and disgraceful hypocrite, had corrupted everything according to his own wicked dispositions and had overturned the whole state of civil government and religion (2 Kings 16:2–3).

He therefore promises another king, namely, Hezekiah, whose power and righteousness shall restore the state of affairs which is thus wretched and desperate. In a word, he presents to us in this passage a lively picture of the prosperous condition of the Church; and as this cannot be attained without Christ, this description undoubtedly refers to Christ, of whom Hezekiah was a type, and whose kingdom he foreshadowed.

In righteousness and judgment. Here he follows the ordinary usage of Scripture, which employs these expressions to denote good government; for by righteousness is meant equity and good government, and by judgment is meant that part of equity which upholds good men and defends them from the assaults of the wicked. It is undoubtedly true that the duty of a good prince embraces a wider extent than righteousness and judgment; for his great aim ought to be to defend the honor of God and religion. But the ordinary usage of Scripture is to describe the whole observance of the law by the works of the second table; for, if we refrain from acts of injustice, if we aid, as far as it is in our power, those who are oppressed by others, and, in a word, if we maintain brotherly kindness, we give evidence of the fear of God, from which such fruits spring and grow. From a part, therefore, the Prophet has described the whole.

And princes shall rule. It is not without good reason that he likewise mentions nobles, for it would not be enough for a prince to be good if he were not supported by upright ministers and counselors. Frequently has the condition of the people under good princes been very bad; as we read of Nerva, under whose reign every kind of conduct was tolerated, so that many persons were far less favorably situated under his reign than under Nero, for the carelessness and indolence of a single individual gave freedom of action to many wicked men.

It is therefore necessary that a king should have good governors, who will supply the place of eyes and hands, and aid him in the righteous exercise of his authority. If this is not the case, a good king cannot advance a step without being more or less hindered by other men; and unless rulers move with a harmony resembling that found in musical instruments, the government of a state cannot be carried on with advantage.

On this subject, men ought to listen to the advice of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, to unite with him able men fearing God, men of truth, and hating covetousness, and to appoint such men to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens (Exodus 18:21).

But at the present day, those who aid or pander to their lusts, and who favor and flatter them, are promoted by kings to honors and high rank, which are bestowed on them as the just reward of their flattery or base servility. Nor should we wonder if we see, almost throughout the whole world, states thrown into confusion, ranks overturned, and all good government despised and set aside; for this is the just punishment of our iniquities, and we deserve to have such governors, since we do not allow God to rule over us. How shall this extraordinary kindness of God be enjoyed by men who are openly rebellious and profane, or by wicked hypocrites who cast God behind them and cannot bear the yoke of Christ, through whom this prosperity and restoration of a declining Church is promised?

And that man shall be. The Prophet shows plainly by these words how great the importance of well-regulated government is, when he calls that king a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the rain. For mankind can never be so happy as when everyone voluntarily abstains from every kind of violence and injustice, and when they conduct themselves peaceably and without restraint.

Since, therefore, most men are urged and driven by their furious passions to acts of injustice, they would be embroiled in incessant quarreling if a remedy were not provided in the laws and courts of justice. But as many rulers, by a tyrannical exercise of power, raise more troubles than they lessen, it is not without good reason that the good king is honored by this special commendation.

If this was truly said concerning Hezekiah, it may much more be said concerning Christ, in whom we have our best, or rather, our only refuge in those storms by which we must be tossed about as long as we dwell in this world. Whenever, therefore, we are scorched by oppressive heat, let us learn to retreat under his shadow. Whenever we are tossed about by tempests, and think that we are overwhelmed by the violence of the waves, let us learn to turn to him as our safest harbor. He will speedily bring every storm to a calm, and will completely restore what was ruined and decayed.

1. Then the eyes of them that see. Hence we see more clearly that, while the Prophet describes the reign of Hezekiah, he intends to lead us further; for here he discusses the restoration of the Church, which indeed was foreshadowed by Hezekiah, but has been actually fulfilled in Christ. We know that the Church is never in a healthy condition, unless she is internally ruled by righteous and wise governors. Now, this cannot be, unless Christ reigns; and here, therefore, Christ and his reign are specially recommended to us.

   This promise is contrasted with the dreadful threatening which he had uttered in a former chapter (Isaiah 29:10), that he would blind the Jews; for here, on the other hand, he promises the true light, that those who were formerly blind may be enlightened, that the deaf may begin to hear, that fools may understand, and that stammerers may speak.

   He calls them seeing and hearing who should have seen and heard when the word of God was presented to them; but they chose to be blind and deaf, and turned away their thoughts and hearts from doctrine. The Lord promises that he will restore to these people eyes, ears, a tongue, and understanding.

   Now, it is certain that nothing is here promised which does not proceed from the grace of God; for he does not merely declare what people will do, but what God himself will do in people. These are extraordinary gifts of God; as, on the contrary, when he blinds, when he takes away understanding and the right use of speech, when he allows ignorance and barbarism to prevail, these are dreadful punishments by which he takes vengeance on people for their ingratitude and for their contempt of the word.

   He promises that, eventually, in compassion toward his people, the Lord will restore what he had justly taken away from them; and it must have been through the kindness of Christ that a tongue to speak, a mind to understand, and ears to hear, are restored to us; for formerly we were dull of apprehension, and were struck with frightful stupidity.

   Let us therefore know that apart from Christ there is no spiritual life in the world, because here they are declared to be destitute of sight, hearing, sound understanding, and the proper use of speech, until they are united in one body, of which he is the head (Ephesians 4:15–16).

   Hence it follows that, when the kingdom of Christ is overthrown, these blessings are also taken away. It should also be noted, that the blessings which are here recommended are above all others excellent and desirable; for riches, and possessions, and everything else in which people commonly judge the happiness of life to consist, should be considered of no value in comparison with these blessings.

   Amid the abundance of all things we will be miserable, unless the Lord restores those spiritual blessings of which the Prophet speaks in this passage; and therefore, when they are taken away, let us know that Christ also is at a distance from us, and that we are strangers to him, seeing that it is from him alone, as Paul informs us, that all spiritual blessings flow (Ephesians 1:3).

   When we see that those blessings which had been taken away for a long period are now restored to us, let us be ashamed of our ingratitude in not rendering to Christ the glory which was due to him, and in not employing the understanding which he gave to us in spreading his kingdom and promoting his worship; for we plainly show that he has no dominion over us.

   And the heart of fools. As fools are commonly hasty and rash, so the Hebrew writers take the word haste as denoting folly; for wise people are usually cautious.

No longer shall the base person be called. The Prophet means that everything will be restored to good order, so that vices will not, as before, be considered virtues. For, when the public government is wicked, covetous persons are in power, and are honored and esteemed, because men judge of virtue by wealth and power. A poor man is everywhere despised, though he is truly upright and bountiful to the full extent of his ability; and, in a word, in such a state of things there is nothing but disorder and confusion.

But good government quickly detects such pretenses and masks, for where virtue is esteemed, vices are immediately exposed. Good men also have greater freedom allowed them in restraining the wantonness of those who formerly trod under their feet all that is just and lawful.

When the Prophet speaks here about the condition and reformation of the Church, which is a spiritual government, we should raise our minds somewhat higher to view all this as relating to Christ. To Him it especially and uniquely belongs to expose hidden vices and to remove those veils and coverings by which the appearance of vices is changed, so that they are praised as if they were virtues.

He does this through the gospel. By it, He drags into light the disgraceful actions which were formerly concealed and openly shows what they really are. Consequently, no one can be deceived by their outward appearance unless he chooses to be.

And this is the reason why the gospel is so much hated by the world, for no one can patiently endure to have his “hidden thoughts” and concealed baseness “revealed.” (Luke 2:35).

Philosophers indeed reason admirably about covetousness and liberality, and to some extent explain what is the difference between them; but they never penetrate into the hearts, so as to search them and actually distinguish between the covetous man and the bountiful.

This can only be done by Christ’s light, when He shines through the gospel. By exploring the deepest corners of the human heart, He brings us to spiritual and inward obedience.

In this passage, therefore, we are brought to the judgment-seat of Christ, who alone, by exposing hypocrisy, reveals whether we are covetous or bountiful.

For the vile person will speak vileness. We might also translate it, “The wicked man will speak wickedly,” for נבלה (nĕbālāh) denotes “baseness” or any wickedness, such as is meant by the French word lascheté, or by the English words “lewdness” or “baseness.” It might also be translated, “The fool will speak wickedly,” and thus there would be an allusion to the words נבל (nābāl) and נבלה (nĕbālāh), though the meaning would be considerably different. But since he used this word in the former verse when speaking of “vile” persons, I willingly adopt that interpretation.

And his heart will contrive iniquity. I consider און (āvĕn) to denote “wickedness,” for he speaks of them continually giving themselves up to sin and acting wickedly, as is plainly shown by what follows. His earnest remonstrances are directed against wicked men who abandon themselves to all that is vile, are not moved by any sense of conscience, and who laugh at all warnings, ridiculing God and his servants.

Christ also drags them into the light and exposes what lay concealed. For to him, as we have said, it uniquely belongs to pierce, by the sword of the gospel, the hidden feelings of the heart, that they may answer to the judgment of God (Hebrews 4:12).

Isaiah therefore continues the same subject which he had previously begun to explain.

Others explain it differently, but, in my opinion, in an unsuitable manner. They think that it is a kind of proverbial saying and translate it in the present tense: “The vile person speaks vileness.”

But I think that the Prophet means something more profound: namely, that Christ is the Judge of the world. Therefore, when he ascends the judgment-seat, he will show the disposition of every person.

For as long as he does not exercise the office of a judge, everything remains in confusion: the wicked are applauded because they appear pious, and the most excellent people are despised.

But Christ will openly display the life of every person, so that what previously, under some pretense, had a fair reputation will be revealed as wickedness. On this account he is said to have in his hand a sieve for separating the wheat from the chaff (Matthew 3:12).

Now, this sieve is the gospel, by which, as a Judge, he brings wrongdoers to trial and, despite their efforts, draws forth the exposure of their transgressions and crimes.

We experience this more and more every day, when that wickedness which was concealed under the mask of Popery and the intricate folds of superstitions is exposed.

Who, amidst that darkness, would ever have thought that such dreadful monsters as are revealed today were concealed in human hearts? The contempt of God has risen to such a height that many show themselves to be more like beasts than human beings.

Yet the Papists slander us, as if our doctrine gave free rein to people and exhorted them to despise God and pursue wickedness without fear or shame. But let them listen to Isaiah, who replies that when the truth of God is made known, vile persons will speak vileness, and wicked persons will speak baseness and wickedness. Indeed, Christ would not be a spiritual judge if he did not reveal the secret thoughts of the heart and bring every hidden thing to light (Luke 2:35).

To make empty the hungry soul. In addition to those mockeries which the reprobate direct against God, cruelty is next mentioned. The Prophet thus gives an exact list of those actions which are contrary to the second table of the Law.

Wicked people begin by despising God, then rush to outward crimes, and practice every sort of cruelty against their neighbors. Now, the worst and most flagrant of all cruelty is to “snatch food from the hungry soul and drink from the thirsty,” for mere natural feeling prompts us to mercy and (συμπάθειαν) compassion.

When people are so brutalized that they are not affected by the misery of others and abandon every feeling of humanity, they must be worse than the beasts themselves, which show some sort of pity for the needs of their own kind.