Commentary on Isaiah Volume 1 John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
the ruler and disposer of all countries, he directed them by lot, or held them as his own possessions. And yet I do not reject the other meaning, that he weakened the nations
13. Yet thou saidst in thy heart. These words must be connected with what goes before. To say means here, according to the custom of the Hebrew language, to resolve in one's own mind. The Prophet ridicules the pride of the Babylonian monarch, who, relying on his greatness, ventured to promise to himself uninterrupted success, as if he had the power of determining the events of his life. In him there is exhibited to us a mirror of the madness of pride with which ungodly men are swelled, and which sometimes they even vomit out. Nor ought we only to behold here the person of a single tyrant, but the blasphemous rage of all the ungodly, who form their resolutions as if they could dispose of everything according to their pleasure; as their plans are also beautifully described by James,
We shall go into that city, we shall transact business, we shall make gain, though at the same time they know not what to-morrow shall bring. (James 4:13.) They do not consider that they are in the hands of God, but believe that they will do everything by their own ability.
I will ascend into heaven. In these words, and those which immediately follow, the boasting is so absurd that it is impossible to believe that they proceeded from the lips of a mortal man; but as the Prophet did not intend to quote the very words which Nebuchadnezzar employed, let us be satisfied with examining the subject itself. Undoubtedly, all who claim for themselves more than human nature will allow, may be said to "attack heaven itself after the manner of the giants," as the proverb runs. 225 Hence it follows that whatever they undertake will be destructive to them; more especially every one who goes beyond the limits of his calling provokes the wrath of God against himself by his rashness. Let every one therefore be satisfied with his lot, and learn not to aim at anything higher, but, on the contrary, to remain in his own rank in which God has placed him. If God stretch out his hand, and lift us up higher, we ought to go forward; but no one ought to take it on himself, or to strive for it from his own choice. And even those who are raised to a higher rank of honor ought to conduct themselves humbly and submissively, not with any pretended modesty, but with minds so thoroughly depressed that nothing can lift them up.
I will sit on the mountain of the testimony, 226 on the sides of the north. This plainly shows the reason why the Prophet especially accuses the Babylonian tyrant of so great madness, and what the Prophet means by such figures. He desired to sit on the mountain of the testimony. By this effrontery he attempted to make himself equal to God. Though he reasoned, after the manner of men, that he could obtain a victory over the Jews, yet, reckoning
225Upon the mountain of the congregation. — Eng. Ver. 226"In the outer court, that is, in the part which was chosen for the north side; as it is said, (Leviticus 1:11,) on the side of the altar northward." — Jarchi