John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 57:11

"And of whom hast thou been afraid and in fear, that thou liest, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held my peace even of long time, and thou fearest me not?" — Isaiah 57:11 (ASV)

And whom have you worshipped and feared? Here he breaks out more vehemently against the Jews, because they were destitute of the fear of God, though they boasted of their holiness and sheltered themselves under an empty title of religion.

Not only do hypocrites flatter themselves in their superstitions, but they are also regarded by the common people as holy and pious; and, therefore, they act haughtily and insolently toward God and men.

But the Prophet declares that true fear of God cannot exist where worship is not pure and agreeable to His word.

All the opinions held by people regarding the plausible forms of worship observed by superstitious persons are absolute wickedness and folly; he declares, therefore, that there is no fear of Him and no religion among them, although they are greatly delighted with their masks.

Furthermore, by their religious ceremonies, as manifest proofs, they show that they have no reverence or fear of God.

For God testifies, through Moses, that He tests whether or not they love Him with all their heart when He permits superstition and idolatry to be introduced by false prophets (Deuteronomy 13:3).

All who resort to them, therefore, show that they are entirely destitute of the fear of God; for, if they considered that they must one day give an account to Him, they would not so daringly trample His commandments underfoot.

And you have not remembered Me. When He complains of having been forgotten, He shows that it was through obstinate wickedness that they fought against God, and not through ignorance that they wandered from Him.

Because, having a sure rule for leading a holy life, they willingly revolted from Him and broke the promise which they had made to Him.

We ought to consider diligently how dreadful is the thunder launched against hypocrites, who mock all threats and cover themselves with vain disguises, when He declares that they are destitute of the fear of God, and that they are liars and have forgotten Him.

Is it not because I held My peace? Here I have thought it right to insert the word “because,” which needs to be supplied to bring out more fully the Prophet’s meaning.

For those who do not supply some word subject themselves to a great deal of trouble in developing an exposition; and we know how frequently this mode of expression is used by the Hebrew writers.

He reproaches the Jews for having abused God’s forbearance and patience, by which their hearts should rather have been softened.

But such is the wickedness of people, that it makes them bolder in transgression and leads them to think that they may do whatever they please without being punished.

Accordingly, in the last clause of the verse I consider the particle ו (vau) to mean therefore.

“And therefore you do not fear Me, because I held My peace, whereas you ought rather to have been melted by My goodness.”

Hence we infer that the Jews could not complain of God’s excessive severity, since He bore patiently with them for a long time, and they grew worse and worse as a consequence of being exempted from punishment.

It was therefore necessary that He should assume a totally different character and punish them more severely for their iniquities.