John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 59:20

"And a Redeemer will come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith Jehovah." — Isaiah 59:20 (ASV)

And a Redeemer shall come to Zion. He again confirms what he previously said, that the people will be delivered, and that God will be the author of this blessing. He tells the people, therefore, to take courage in their captivity, which will not be permanent; and he then exhorts them to place the hope of redemption in God alone, so that they may fix their minds solely on His promises. By the name Zion he denotes here, as in other passages, captives and exiles; for no matter how far they had been banished from their country, they still must have carried the temple in their hearts.

And to them who have turned away from iniquity. So that the spurious children of Abraham may not indiscriminately apply to themselves what he has just said, he proceeds to show to whom the redemption will come, namely, only to those who have been truly consecrated to the Lord. It is certain that many returned from Babylon who were not moved by any sense of repentance, and yet became partakers of the same blessing. But the Prophet speaks of the complete redemption which the elect alone enjoy; for, although the fruit of external redemption extends also to hypocrites, they have not embraced the blessing of God for salvation. The design of the Prophet is to show that the punishment of banishment will be advantageous, so that God may gather His Church, after purifying it from filth and pollution; for we must always remember what we saw elsewhere regarding the reduction of the people.

In this way the Prophet exhorts the elect to the fear of God, so that they may profit from His chastisements. Hence, we infer that we cannot be reconciled to God through the blood of Christ unless we first repent of our sins; not that salvation, which is founded on the pardon of sins, depends on our repentance, but repentance is joined to it in such a manner that it cannot be separated. Those whom the Lord receives into favor are renewed by His Spirit in such a way as to abhor their vices and change their way of life.

Papists overturn the whole doctrine of salvation by mingling and confounding pardon of sin with repentance; and not only them, but others also who wish to be thought more perceptive. They acknowledge that a person is justified by free grace through Christ, but add that it is because we are renewed by Him. Thus they make our justification depend partly on the pardon of sins and partly on repentance. But in this way our consciences will never be pacified, for we are very far from being perfectly renewed. These things must, therefore, be distinguished, so as to be neither separated nor confounded; and thus our salvation will rest on a solid foundation.

Paul quotes this passage (Romans 11:26) to show that there is still some remaining hope among the Jews, even though from their unconquerable obstinacy it might be inferred that they were altogether cast off and doomed to eternal death. But because God is continually mindful of His covenant, and His gifts and calling are without repentance (Romans 11:29), Paul justly concludes that it is impossible that there will not eventually be some remnant that comes to Christ and obtains the salvation which He has procured. Thus the Jews must eventually be gathered along with the Gentiles, so that out of both there may be one fold under Christ (John 10:16).

However, it is the deliverance from Babylon that the Prophet primarily discusses. This is undoubtedly true, but as we have said, he also includes the kingdom of Christ and spiritual redemption, to which this prediction relates. Hence, we have said that Paul infers that Christ could not be the Redeemer of the world unless His redemptive work also extended to some Jews, whose fathers He had chosen, and to whom this promise was directly addressed.

Saith Jehovah. By these words, at the end of the verse, he sets a seal to the excellent sentiment which he has expressed.