Commentary on Isaiah Volume 2 John Calvin (continued)
COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH
and does not, like men, undergo change or alter his counsel. (Romans 3:3, 4; 11:29.) On this account he says that he is the first and the last. 236
But here it ought also to be observed, that Isaiah does not speak of God's eternal essence, but applies this doctrine to our use, that we may know that he will be to us the same that he has always been, and next, that we may remember to distinguish him from idols, lest our understandings, led away by extravagant inventions, should fall off from the fear of him.
13. Surely my hand hath founded the earth. Here the Prophet explains more clearly what he meant in the preceding verse. After having spoken of God's constant and unvarying will toward us, he likewise praises God's power as manifested by the works which we daily behold. In these works the Lord may be said to present himself to our view; and, coming forth from his sanctuary, he approaches to us by means of them.
And my right hand hath measured, or, hath upheld the heavens. Whether we translate {( }טפחהtippechah,) "Hath measured," or, "Hath upheld," the meaning will be the same; and we need not give ourselves much trouble about the interpretation of the word. By the word "measure" is denoted God's amazing wisdom in having adjusted on all sides, with such exact proportion, the vast extent of the heavens, so that it is neither nearer to the earth nor farther from it than is advantageous for preserving order, and that in this prodigious expanse there is nothing jarring or unseemly. If we prefer the word "uphold," this also is an extraordinary commendation of the wisdom and power of God, in "upholding" the huge mass of the heavens in continual motion, so that it neither totters nor leans more to one side than to another.
When I call them, they stand up, or, shall stand up together. This latter clause, in which he says that all things are ready at, his command, is attended by some greater difficulty; for it may refer either to the first creation or to the continual government of the world. If we refer it to the first creation, the future {( }יעמדוyagnamdu,) they shall stand, will be put for a preterite. "As soon as the Lord commanded them to appear, they instantly obeyed;" as the Psalmist says, "He spake, and they were done." (Psalm 33:9.) But if we adopt this meaning, the word equally, which he adds, may appear not to agree well with the history of the creation as related by Moses; for heaven and earth were not created and beautified at one moment, but at first everything was shapeless and confused, and afterwards the Lord reduced them to order. (Genesis 1:2-6.) The answer is easy; for the Prophet means nothing more than that the Lord, by the mere expression of his will, created all things, and gave to heaven and earth their form, so that they immediately obeyed his command.
Yet I willingly extend it to the continual government of the world; as if he
236"When God the Redeemer says here that he 'teacheth his people, {{( להועילlehognil) to profit,' and that he provides for their true interests, there can be no doubt that he makes this declaration concerning himself, {κατ᾿}
{ἀντίθεσιν} by way of contrast with Idols, false gods, the worship of which not only did no good, but even did harm, and brought great hurt and damage to their worshippers. (Compare Isaiah 44:10, and 45:19.) Hence also God says by, Jeremiah 2:11, 'Is there any nation that changeth its gods, though they are not gods? But my people have changed their glory {( }יועיל{ }בלאbelo yognil) for that from which they derive no advantage;' or rather, from which they suffer the greatest loss and damage." — Vitringa.