John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 65:21

"And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them." — Isaiah 65:21 (ASV)

And 22. They shall build houses and inhabit them. In these verses he mentions what is written in the Law; for these are the blessings of the Law, that those who have obeyed God will dwell in the houses which they have built, and will gather fruit from the trees which they have planted (Leviticus 26:10).

On the other hand, the disobedient will be expelled from the houses which they built, and will give place to foreigners, and will be deprived of the fruits of the trees which they planted. The Lord, says Isaiah, shall protect you from that curse, so as to enjoy your property. Now the Prophets hold out those things which relate to the present life, and borrow metaphors from them; but it is so that they may teach us to rise higher and to embrace eternal and blessed life.

We must not fix our whole attention on these transitory blessings, but must make use of them as ladders, so that, being raised to heaven, we may enjoy eternal and immortal blessings. To the Church, which has been renewed, and which rests on nothing but God’s good pleasure and undeserved favor, is justly promised the enjoyment of those blessings of which unbelievers had deprived themselves.

According to the days of a tree. Some think that this is a promise of eternal life, as if people had the tree of life; but that is forged ingenuity, and far removed from the Prophet’s meaning.

I do wonder that commentators give themselves so much trouble in explaining this passage, for the Prophet speaks not only of life, but of a peaceful condition of life. It is as if he had said, “You will plant vineyards and eat their fruit; and you will not be removed from this life before receiving the fruit, which will be enjoyed not only by yourselves but also by your children and posterity.”

He employs the metaphor of a tree because he had formerly spoken of planting vineyards. Accordingly, he promises that the people will peacefully enjoy both their houses and their vineyards, will not be molested by enemies or robbers, and this peaceful condition will last as long as the life of a tree.

And my elect shall perpetually enjoy the work of their hands. A work is said to be continued or perpetuated when its result is prosperous; for otherwise people would subject themselves to long and severe toil, all to no purpose, if God did not grant success.

Enemies will either take away or destroy what we have begun, and its completion will be out of our power. Therefore, a work is strictly said to be continued, not when merely some progress is made, but when it is brought to a close.

Here it should be observed that we cannot possess our wealth and have the peaceful and lawful enjoyment of it in any other way than by dwelling in the kingdom of Christ, who is the only heir of the world, and by being ingrafted into His body.

Wicked people may indeed enjoy, for many years, the good things of this life; but they will continually be uneasy and will wretchedly devour themselves, so that even possession will be destructive and deadly. For it is only by faith that we obtain all that belongs to a blessed life, and those who do not have faith cannot be members of Christ.