John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 54:8

"In overflowing wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting lovingkindness will I have mercy on thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer." — Isaiah 54:8 (ASV)

In a moment of wrath. He again repeats and enforces this statement to impress it more deeply on the hearts of believers, so that they may not be at all discouraged by adversity, and with good reason; for, amidst that frightful darkness, it was not easy for the captives to behold God’s smiling face.

And although the literal sense in which “wrath” is here said to last but for “a moment” is that God, in due time, brought back the captives to their native country, yet we draw from it a general doctrine: that the afflictions of the Church are always momentary when we raise our eyes to its eternal happiness.

We ought to remember what Paul has taught us (2 Corinthians 4:17): that all the afflictions of believers are light and easy to endure, and are justly considered momentary, while they look at the eternal weight of glory. For if we do not attend to this comparison, every day will seem to us like a year.

There would be no propriety in comparing the seventy years of the captivity of the Jews to “a moment” if it were not contrasted with the uninterrupted progress of the grace of God.