John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 54:9

"For this is [as] the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee." — Isaiah 54:9 (ASV)

For the waters of Noah, or, As the days of Noah. There are two readings of this passage; for if we read it כי מי (ki me), כי (ki) must be translated for; and if we read it כימי (kime), כ (caph) must be translated As, and ימי (yeme) must be translated Days. As to the general meaning, it makes little difference; and therefore we ought chiefly to consider what the Prophet meant, for commentators do not appear to me to have caught his meaning. They explain it generally, that the Lord promised to Noah by an oath, that there would never be a deluge, and that this oath would perpetually remain in force (Genesis 9:10). But for this, the good man might have trembled, and, at the approach of rain, might have dreaded a similar calamity, if the Lord had not sworn that this should never again happen. In the same way, when afflictions are near, we might dread that we would be ruined, if the Lord did not promise that the Church would be safe.

But I think that this ought to be limited to the period of the Babylonian captivity. He compares that captivity to a deluge, which destroyed the face of the earth; for it appeared as if the Church was utterly ruined. The people had almost entirely passed over to another nation, and had no kingdom and no civil government of their own; they underwent very hard bondage, and thought that their name was wholly extinguished. And at that time was actually fulfilled what the Prophet formerly declared, If the Lord had not left to us a seed, we should have been like Sodom and Gomorrah (Isaiah 1:9).

Justly, therefore, does he compare that calamity to “the waters of Noah,” that is, to the deluge. On this account, I rather agree with those who read כי מי (ki me), that is, “For the waters;” for I consider that reading to rest on better evidence than the other, and it is generally adopted by Jewish writers.

This is to me. I think that we ought carefully to inquire into the meaning of these words, which are slightly passed over by commentators. He means that this calamity will resemble the deluge; so that, as He was satisfied with a single deluge, and would never again send another, so He is satisfied with this one destruction, so to speak, of the Church, and will never again permit its face to be destroyed.

Therefore, this is the way I think we ought to explain this passage and apply the metaphor: that the desolation of Judea will be to God like the deluge which happened in “the days of Noah.” For as He swore at that time that He would never afterwards inflict such punishment for the crimes which stripped the earth of its inhabitants, so He will not again destroy the Church, as He did in the Babylonian captivity.

And indeed, whatever confused state of affairs might have followed afterwards, the Church still retained some name and preserved some form, until, at the manifestation of Christ in the flesh, the seed of the Gospel was scattered everywhere, that it might bring sons to God out of all nations.

In a word, the Lord promises that from now on He will restrain His wrath, and will not punish His people with such great severity.

It will be objected that since that time the Church has sustained very grievous calamities, from which it might be concluded either that this oath was not fulfilled, or that this is not the Prophet’s meaning.

I reply, the Church did not sustain such a grievous calamity as to have its face altogether destroyed, which happened when the people were carried away into Babylon.

For although Antiochus and other tyrants brought dreadful calamities upon it, and although those apostasies which Paul foretold also happened afterwards (2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:1), and everything was defiled by innumerable superstitions, so that the Christian name was nearly buried; yet some form of a Church still remained, however disfigured. The building was not in such a ruinous condition that there were not some remnants of Christianity above the deluge, so that this oath was in full force.

That I will not be wroth with thee. This must not be taken in an absolute, but in a comparative sense. He contrasts this clause with the preceding one, for He promises that He will never chastise His people so severely as not to mitigate the severity of the punishment. Therefore, although tyrants indulge in wanton and unbridled rage, and Satan employs his utmost efforts in attacking the Church, and the Lord gives him a loose rein in order to punish our ingratitude, yet He will never allow the Church to be ruined.