John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 40:1

"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God." — Isaiah 40:1 (ASV)

Comfort ye. The Prophet introduces a new subject. For, leaving the people on whom no favorable impression was made either by threats or by admonitions due to their desperate wickedness, he turns to posterity.

He does this to declare that the people who will be humbled under the cross will experience no lack of consolation, even amid the severest distresses.

And it is probable that he wrote this prophecy when the time of the captivity was near, so that he might not, at his departure from life, leave the Church of God overwhelmed by very severe calamities without the hope of restoration.

Though he formerly mingled his predictions with threats and terrors for this purpose, yet he appears to have primarily contemplated the benefit of those who lived at that time.

What will follow later will relate to the future Church, the revival of which was brought about long after his death. For he will next set forth a perpetual doctrine, which must not be limited to a single period, especially when he discusses the commencement and progress of the reign of Christ.

And this prophecy must be of all the more importance to us because it addresses us in direct terms. For, although it may be a spiritual application of what came before, making it a doctrine common to both the Jews and to us, yet, as he leaves the Jews of that age and addresses future generations down to the end of the world, it appears to belong especially to us.

By this exhortation, therefore, the Lord intended to stir up the hearts of the godly, so that they would not lose heart amid heavy calamities. First, he addresses the Jews, who were soon to be carried into that hard captivity in which they would have neither sacrifices nor prophets, and would have been lacking all consolation, if the Lord had not relieved their miseries by these predictions.

Next, he addresses all the godly who would live later, or who are yet to live, to encourage their hearts, even when they appear to be brought very low and to be utterly ruined.

So that this discourse might have greater weight and more powerfully affect their minds, he represents God as raising up new prophets, whom he commands to soothe the sorrows of the people by friendly consolation.

The general meaning is that, when God seems to have forsaken the wretched captives for a time, the testimony of his grace will again burst forth from the darkness. And, when joyful prophecies have ceased, their proper time will come again.

To show more strongly the basis for joy, he uses the plural phrase, Comfort ye; thereby intimating that he will send not just one or two, but a vast multitude of prophets. This he actually accomplished, through which we see more clearly his infinite goodness and mercy.

Will say. First, it should be observed that the verb is in the future tense; and those commentators who translate it in the present or past tense both change the words and distort the meaning.

Indirectly, he points out an intermediate period during which the people would be severely afflicted, as if God had been silent.

Though even at that time God did not cease to offer the hope of salvation through some prophets, the consolation was less abundant because he had rejected them for a long period when they were miserably distressed and almost ruined.

This continued until it was clearly indicated, as if pointing with a finger, that they were free to return.

For this reason, the word comfort must be viewed as relating to a present favor. The repetition of the word not only confirms the certainty of the prediction but also praises its power and success, as if he had said that in this message there will be abundant, full, and unceasing cause for joy.

Above all, we must adhere to the future tense of this verb, because there is an implied contrast between that melancholy silence I have spoken of and the doctrine of consolation which later followed.

And with this prediction agrees the complaint of the Church:

We do not see our signs; there is no longer among us a prophet or any one that knows how long (Psalms 74:9).

We see how she laments that she has been deprived of the best kind of comfort, because no promise is brought forward to soothe her distresses.

It is as if the Prophet had said, “The Lord will not allow you to be deprived of prophets, to comfort you amid your severest distresses. At that time he will raise up men through whom he will send you the long-desired message, and at that time also he will show that he cares for you.”

I consider the future tense, will say, as relating not only to the captivity in Babylon but also to the whole period of deliverance, which includes the reign of Christ.

To the verb will say, we must supply the words “to the prophets,” whom he will appoint for that purpose. For they would have spoken in vain if the Lord had not told them and even put into their mouths what they should make known to others. Thus, there is a mutual relation between God and the prophets.

In short, the Lord promises that the hope of salvation will remain, even though human ingratitude deserves that this voice should be perpetually silenced and completely extinguished.

These words, I have said, should not be limited to the captivity in Babylon, for they have a very extensive meaning and include the doctrine of the gospel, in which the power of comforting chiefly lies.

It belongs to the gospel to comfort those who are distressed and cast down, to give life to those who are slain and actually dead, to cheer the mourners, and, in short, to bring all joy and gladness; and this is also the reason why it is called “the Gospel,” that is, good news.

Nor did it begin at the time when Christ appeared in the world, but long before, from the time when God’s favor was clearly revealed. Daniel might be said to have first raised his banner, so that believers might hold themselves in readiness for returning (Daniel 9:2).

Later, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Nehemiah, Ezra, and others, down to the coming of Christ, exhorted believers to cherish better and better hopes. Malachi, the last of them that wrote, knowing that there would be few prophets, directs the people to the law of Moses, to learn from it the will of God and its threats and promises (Malachi 4:4).

Your God. From this passage we learn what we should chiefly seek in the prophets: namely, to encourage the hopes of godly people by displaying the sweetness of divine grace, so that they may not lose heart under the weight of afflictions but may boldly persevere in calling on God.

But since this was difficult to believe, he reminds them of the covenant, as if he had said that it was impossible for God ever to forget what he previously promised to Abraham (Genesis 17:7).

Although, therefore, the Jews by their sins had fallen from grace, yet he affirms that he is their God, and that they are his peculiar people, both of which depended on election. But, as even in that nation there were many reprobates, the statement implies that this discourse is strictly directed only to believers, because he silently permits unbelievers, through constant decline, to be utterly wasted away and destroyed.

But to believers an invaluable comfort is offered: that, although for a time they are oppressed by grief and mourning, yet because they hope in God, who is the Father of consolation, they will know by experience that the promises of grace, like a hidden treasure, are stored up for them to cheer their hearts at the proper time.

This is also a very high commendation of the prophetic office: that it supports believers in adversity, so that they may not lose heart or be discouraged. On the other hand, this passage shows that it is a very terrible display of God’s vengeance when there are no faithful teachers from whose mouths the consolation suited to raise up those who are cast down and to strengthen the weak may be heard in the Church of God.