John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 57:16

"For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls that I have made." — Isaiah 57:16 (ASV)

Because not for ever will I strive. He continues the same doctrine. It was difficult to persuade them of this, since during that painful captivity they perceived that God was their enemy and could scarcely experience any taste of the grace of God, by which their hearts might be encouraged or relieved.

The Prophet therefore addresses this doubt, showing that the punishments they will endure will be for a short time, and that God will not always be angry with them. God indeed has very good reason to be angry, but He will relinquish His right and lessen what He might have demanded.

Thus he connects the wrath of God with that moderation by which He soothes believers, so that they may not be discouraged. For, although he draws an argument from the nature of God, this promise is especially directed to the Church.

This sentence, therefore, we should always remember in our most severe afflictions, lest we think that God is our enemy, or that He will always contend with us. When he says that God is angry, he speaks as if he made an admission, and according to our human feelings; for during our afflictions, we cannot conceive of God in any other way than as being angry with us. It is even profitable to be moved by this feeling, so that it may lead us to repentance. Therefore, this expression must be understood as referring exclusively to our human understanding, and not to God.

For the spirit shall be clothed, (or, shall be concealed, or, shall fail.) He assigns the reason why He will not always strive. There are various interpretations of this passage. Among others, this one seems to me the most appropriate: that “the spirit is clothed” with the body, as with a garment.

Hence also the body is called the tabernacle and, as it were, the dwelling place of the spirit. If we adopt this meaning of the word, there will be two ways of interpreting this clause. Some explain it as referring to the last resurrection: “the spirit shall be clothed”—that is, after leaving the body, it will return to it again as its dwelling place. Thus there will be an argument from the greater to the less: “I will raise up dead bodies; why then shall I not restore you, though half-dead, to a better life?”

Another meaning, also adopted by some, will be simpler and better, for the interpretation of the clause as referring to the last resurrection is too remote from the context. This meaning is, “I surrounded the spirit with a body,” as if God had said, “I created humans, and therefore I will take care of them.”

But I myself think that the Prophet rises higher, for he shows that the Lord deals so gently and kindly with us because He perceives how weak and feeble we are. This is also pointed out in other passages of Scripture, such as Psalm 103:13-14: Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. He knoweth our condition, remembering that we are dust. The age of man is like grass, and flourisheth as a flower in the field.

The same thing is said in Psalm 78:38-39: Yet being inclined to mercy, he was gracious to their iniquity, and did not destroy them, and often recalled his anger, and did not stir up all his indignation, remembering that they were flesh, and a wind that passeth away and returneth not again.

Here the Prophet appears to me to mean the same thing, as if the Lord had said, “I am unwilling to try My strength with breath or wind, which would be like trying it with grass or a leaf that will suddenly vanish when it has felt the heat of the sun.”

The word יעטוף (yagnatoph) is explained by some to mean “shall fail,” which agrees very well with this passage, for our spirit will fail when the Lord exerts His power against us.

Leaving the meaning of the words as somewhat doubtful, we sufficiently understand the Prophet’s design. He shows that God deals gently with us and acts with little severity in correcting our sins, because He takes into account our weakness and wishes to support and relieve it.