John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 36:17

"until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards." — Isaiah 36:17 (ASV)

Till I come and take you away. He now adds another condition far harder than the former, for he declares that peace cannot be made with Sennacherib in any other way than by the people going into banishment. This was nothing else than to abandon the worship of God, degenerate into superstition, and voluntarily quit the inheritance which God had given them. But because he addresses a people whose distressed condition and extreme danger had struck them with terror, he insolently commands them to save their lives.

Into a land of corn and wine. Here we see more clearly that Rabshakeh’s speech is nothing else than an image of the temptations by which Satan daily attacks our faith. For there is nothing Satan more constantly attempts than to withdraw us from confidence in God by the allurements and pleasures of this world, suggesting that we ought to enjoy peace and quietness, purchasing them at any price, and that happiness consists in a plentiful abundance of good things.

But most of all, he makes a wicked use of adversity to press upon us and more eagerly urge us to shake off the yoke of God. He does indeed insinuate himself gently and by secret and unseen methods. But after he has once inveigled and caught us in his net, leading us to value present advantages more highly than future ones, he adds this condition: that he will hold us entirely bound and devoted to him. We certainly cannot avoid this when he holds us entangled by his plausible hopes and by the relish of present objects.

Into a land like your own land. Because the word “banishment” was harsh and disagreeable, and it was not easy for the people to part with the delightfulness of their native country, he sought to show that they would sustain no loss by leaving it. Therefore, he says that the country to which they were about to be conveyed is equally fertile and productive.

Thus he draws a veil over their eyes, so that they might not think they were losing anything. Yet he cunningly passes over what ought to be valued by them above all other things: the worship of God, the temple, the kingdom, the order of holy government, and everything else that belonged to the heavenly inheritance.

Without these, what happiness can there be? Let everyone, therefore, learn diligently to apply his mind to spiritual blessings. For to dwell in the house of God is justly pronounced to be a far more valuable blessing than all the luxuries and prosperity of the world (Psalms 84:4, 10). Thus, we shall guard against being led away by the hope of present objects and deprived of true happiness. For this is a dreadful punishment by which the Lord takes vengeance on human unbelief—a punishment that all godly persons ought to dread, so that they may not faint or give way under any distresses and calamities.