John Calvin on Isaiah 17:14

14. And, behold, at evening tide trouble. The meaning is, “As when a storm has been raised in the evening, and soon afterwards allayed, no trace of it is found in the morning, so will cheerful prosperity suddenly arise, contrary to expectation.” The Prophet intended to state two things — first, that the attack of the enemy will be sudden; and secondly, that the ravages which they shall commit will not be of long duration. As the Assyrians rose suddenly against the Israelites, so their fall was sudden.

From this passage all the godly ought to draw wonderful consolation, whenever they see that everything is in disorder, and when dreadful changes are at hand; for what is it but a sudden storm which the Lord will allay? Tyrants rush upon us like storms and whirlwinds, but the Lord will easily dispel their rage. Let us therefore patiently wait for his assistance; for though he permit us to be tossed about, yet through the midst of the tempests he will at length conduct us “to the haven.” (Psalm 107:30.) And if the Prophet comforted a small remnant, who appeared to be almost none at all, this promise undoubtedly belongs to us also. True, we are almost none, and a wretched church is concealed in a few corners; but if we look at the condition of the kingdom of Israel, how few were the servants of God in it! And these hardly ventured to mutter, such was the universal hatred of religion and godliness. Although therefore the Lord destroy the multitude of the wicked, yet to the small number of the godly, who may be said to be tossed about in the same ship with them, he will hold out a plank to rescue them from shipwreck, and will guide them safely and comfortably into the harbour.

This is the portion. He addresses the believers who were concealed in the kingdom of Israel, and joins them with the Church, although, as is frequently the case with the children of God, the members were scattered in every direction. We see here what will be the end of the wicked who have persecuted us. Though we are exposed to their rage, so that they tear and plunder and trample upon us, and inflict on us every kind of insult, yet they will be like storms which are subdued by their own violence and quickly disappear. We ought to expect that this will be the lot of all the tyrants who at the present day wretchedly harass the Church, and treat cruelly the children of God. Let this consolation be engraved on our minds, that we may know that the same thing will happen to them.

CHAPTER 18

Isaiah Chapter 18:1-7

1. Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:

1. Heus terra inumbrans alis, quæ est trans flumina Æthiopiæ.

2. That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the water, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

2. Mittens per mare legatos, in vasis junceis super aquas. Ite nuntii celeres ad gentem distractam et expilatam, ad populum formidabilem ab eo et deinceps, gentem undique conculcatam, cujus terram flumina diripuerunt.

3. All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.

3. Omnes habitatores orbis, et incolæ terræ, cum signum sustulerit in montibus, videbitis; cum tuba clanxerit, audietis.

4. For so the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling-place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

4. Porro sic mihi dixit Iehova, Quiescam, et videbo in tabernaculo meo, sicut calor siccans pluviam, et sicut nubes roscida in calore messis.

5. For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning-hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.

5. Quia dum adfuerit messis, perfectum erit germen, et ex flore fructus erit maturescens; tum amputabit ipsos palmites falcibus, et propagines auferendo exscindet.

6. They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

6. Derelinquentur pariter volatili montium et animalibus terræ. Æstivabit super illud volatile, et omnia animalia terræ hyemabunt.

7. In that time shall the present be brought unto the Lord of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion.

7. Tempore illo adducetur Iehovæ exercituum munus, populus laceratus et expilatus, et de populo terribili, ex quo esse coepit et deinceps; gente undique conculcata, cujus terram flumina diripuerunt, ad locum nominis Iehovæ exercituum, ad montem Sion.