John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 47:6

"I was wroth with my people, I profaned mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: thou didst show them no mercy; upon the aged hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke." — Isaiah 47:6 (ASV)

I was angry with my people. This is an anticipation, by which He forewarns the Jews, as He has often done previously, that the distressing condition of captivity was a scourge God had inflicted. If it had proceeded from any other source, there would have been no remedy in God's hand. Therefore, so that they might be convinced that He who had struck them would heal their wounds, He instructs them to attribute their terrible oppression to their sins. Yet He also exhorts them to cherish favorable expectations, because God intends to set a limit to the chastisement. He even mentions this as the reason the Babylonians will be destroyed: God, who is the just avenger of savagery and cruelty, will much more avenge the injuries done to His people.

You did not show compassion to them. In the former clause, He calls the Jews to repentance, because by their own crimes they brought so many calamities upon themselves. Next, He accuses the Babylonians of having seized this occasion to exercise cruelty, just as if one were to become the executioner of a child whom a father had placed in his hands to be chastised. Therefore, it follows that the Babylonians have no right to be proud, as if by their own power they had subdued the Jews and carried them into captivity. On the contrary, because they have wickedly abused the victory and cruelly treated the captives, He will justly punish them.

I profaned my heritage. When He says that He “was angry,” and that this was the reason He “profaned His heritage,” let us not imagine that He had changed His purpose, or was so offended as to cast aside the care of His people and the remembrance of His covenant. This is evident both from the event itself and from His deigning still to call them “His people,” though most of them were estranged from Him, and though He had the best reasons for “profaning” them. But He has regard for His covenant when He speaks in this manner, for He looks at their source and foundation, so that those who were the descendants of Abraham may be considered the people of God, even though very few of them actually belonged to Him, and almost all boasted of an empty title.

Thus, the word anger, in Scripture, should not be understood to refer to any emotion in God, who desires the salvation of His people, but rather to our own state, as we provoke Him by our transgressions. For He has just cause to be angry, though He does not cease to love us. Accordingly, while He “profanes” His Church—that is, abandons her and gives her up as a prey to her enemies—still the elect do not perish, and His eternal covenant is not broken.

And yet, in the midst of anger, the Lord remembers His mercy, softens the blows by which He punishes His people, and finally even inflicts punishment on those by whom His people have been cruelly treated. Consequently, if for a time the Lord “profanes” His Church, if she is cruelly oppressed by tyrants, let us not lose courage but rely on this promise: “He who avenged this barbarous cruelty of the Babylonians will no less avenge the savagery of those tyrants.”

It should also be carefully observed that no one should abuse victory by being cruel to captives, which we know is often done. For when people see that they are stronger, they often lay aside all humanity, are changed into wild beasts, spare neither age nor sex, and entirely forget their own shared humanity. After having abused their power, they shall finally not pass unpunished, for judgment without mercy shall be experienced by those who showed no mercy (James 2:13).

But it is asked, “How could the Babylonians go beyond the limit God had assigned to them, as if their lawless passions were unrestrained?” And what will become of that promise: Not a hair shall fall from your head without the appointment of your Father? (Luke 21:18)?

The answer is easy. Though it was not actually in their power to go beyond the limit, yet God regarded their cruelty, because they endeavored to utterly ruin miserable people who had surrendered unconditionally. Thus Zechariah complains of the unbridled rage of the Gentiles because, when He was angry with His people for a little, they rushed forward with violent fury to destroy them (Zechariah 1:15).

On the old man. He states an aggravation of their guilt: they did not spare even the old men, for whom age naturally commands reverence. From this, He infers how savage their cruelty was towards armed foes.