John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 66:8

"Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? shall a nation be brought forth at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children." — Isaiah 66:8 (ASV)

Who hath heard such a thing? He extols the greatness of the thing of which he has spoken, for he means that there will be a wonderful and unheard of restoration of the Church, so that believers will not judge it from the order of nature, but from the grace of God. For when people reflect upon it, they think that it is like a dream, as the Psalmist says (Psalms 126:1).

He does not mean that the Church will be restored perfectly and in a moment; for the advancement of this restoration is great and long-continued, and is even slow in the estimation of the flesh. But he shows that even the beginning of it exceeds all the capacity of the human understanding.

And yet he does not speak hyperbolically, for we often see that the Church brings forth, which previously did not appear to be pregnant. Indeed, when she is thought to be barren, she is rendered fruitful by the preaching of the gospel, so that we greatly admire the event when it has happened, which formerly we considered to be altogether incredible.

These things were fulfilled in some measure, when the people returned from Babylon; but a far brighter testimony was given in the gospel, by the publication of which a diversified and numerous offspring was immediately brought forth. In our own times, have we not seen the fulfillment of this prophecy? How many children has the Church brought forth during the last thirty years in which the gospel has been preached? Does not the Lord have his people, at the present day, in vast numbers, throughout the whole world? Nothing, therefore, has been foretold here that is not clearly seen.

Shall a nation be born at once? He illustrates the glory of the miracle by a metaphor. No nation ever came into the world in an instant, for it is by degrees that people assemble, grow in number, and spread their nation. But the case is very different with the Church, which all at once, and in more than one place, brings forth a vast number of children. It amounts to this, that God, in a wonderful manner, will cause innumerable children of the Church, in an extraordinary manner, to be born all at once and suddenly.

Shall a land be brought forth in one day? The word ארץ (eretz), 'a land,' may be taken either for any country or for its inhabitants.