Isaiah 22

Wesley: The valley—of Judah; and especially of Jerusalem, called a valley, because great part of it stood in a valley; and the valley of vision, because of the many and clear visions or Revelations of God’s mind, in that place. House-tops—as they used to do in times of great consternation, that they might look to and cry to heaven for help. Neither side disputes this: housetops in the valley of vision.

Jerusalem, not a twenty-first-century roof.

Calvin: the burden of the valley of vision. Isaiah prophesies against Judea, which he calls the valley of vision; he includes the whole of Judea in the preface. A valley, surrounded on all sides by mountains. Of vision: the Lord enlightened Judea by his word; they were called seers. He beats down the foolish confidence that visions would shield the disobedient. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the house-tops?

Light of the word does not annul the stroke. On this both agree: valley of vision; housetops.

Wesley: Noises—of joyful shouts. Tumultuous—through revelling and jollity. Battle—but either by famine or pestilence in the siege, or in their flight. Slain, yet not by the sword.

Reveling city, then death without battle.

Calvin: thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city. Thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle. The tumult is empty joy; the dead fall by siege-miseries rather than by honorable fight.

Held in common: not dead in battle.

Wesley: Rulers—Zedekiah and his chief commanders, whose flight he foretells. Found—that remain there with Zedekiah in the siege; for those who had fled to the Chaldeans saved their lives and liberties. Bound—in fetters, Jer. Lii, 11. Fled—who fled from Jerusalem, but were pursued and overtaken. Leaders fled and were caught.

Zedekiah’s flight is Judah’s.

Calvin: all thy rulers are fled together; they are bound by the archers. I cannot be persuaded to expound this as Sennacherib’s siege, for he speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem; when Sennacherib came, the Lord immediately delivered it, none were taken. These events happened long after the death of the Prophet; sacred history informs us that even the rulers betook themselves to flight, and derived no advantage from it.

Flight does not save. Both traditions agree: leaders captured.

Wesley: Look away—take off your eyes and thoughts from me, and leave me alone. Bitter tears for the daughter of my people.

Pity can be honest.

Calvin: look away from me; I will weep bitterly; labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people. The prophet refuses comfort; he takes the mourner’s part, as the prophets shudder at the judgments of God even against their own people. This is office, not a gap in the decree.

The tears are the seer’s, not process-theism. Do not comfort me.

Wesley: Treading down—in which my people are trodden under foot by their enemies. By the Lord—not only men, but God himself fought against them. Walls—of the strong cities of Judah. Mountains—with such loud and dismal outcries as should reach to the neighbouring mountains. Both readings: the LORD’s day in the valley of vision.

God fights against his vision-valley when they will not look to him.

Calvin: for it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains. The day is the Lord’s; vision does not cancel trampling. Walls fall because he fights.

Agreed: shouting to the mountains.

Wesley: Elam—the Persians, who now, and for a long time after, were subject to the Assyrian and Chaldean emperors. Quiver—being expert bowmen. Horsemen—as some fought on foot, so others fought from chariots and horses. Kir—the Medes, so called from Kir, an eminent city and region of Media. Uncovered—prepared it and themselves for the battle. Elam’s quiver, Kir’s shield.

Persians and Medes in that empire’s host, not a modern coalition.

Calvin: and Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield. Elam and Kir are named as serving in the assault on the valley of vision. The uncovered shield is readiness for the day of v. 5.

Elam and Kir join the siege.

Wesley: Valleys—valleys were the most proper places for the use of chariots. Gate—to assist the footmen while they made their assault, and to prevent those who endeavoured to escape. On this both agree: chariots in the best valleys; horsemen at the gates.

Choicest valleys of Judah, not a twenty-first-century plain.

Calvin: and it shall come to pass that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate. The best ground is occupied by the enemy; the gate is watched so that flight of v. 3 fails.

Both traditions see Jerusalem’s choicest valleys filled with chariots.

Wesley: He—the enemy. Covering—he took those fenced cities, which were a covering or safe-guard both to the people of Judah, and to Jerusalem. The armour—thy trust was placed in the arm of flesh. The forest—more fully called the house of the forest of Lebanon, 1 Kings vii, 2, not because it was built in Lebanon, for it was in Jerusalem; but because it was built of the trees of Lebanon. Neither side disputes this: covering gone; eyes on stored weapons.

The armory is Solomon’s house in Jerusalem.

Calvin: he discovered the covering of Judah. The Lord, or the enemy as his rod, strips the defenses. In that day thou didst look to the armour in the house of the forest: they turn to stored weapons, not to the Maker named in v. 11.

The look is still to flesh. Both readings: covering of Judah taken; House of the Forest.

Wesley: Seen—that is, observed in order to the reparation of them. The waters—that you might both deprive the enemy of water, and supply the city with it. Many breaches; waters collected.

The city of David’s walls are a count in that siege. Do not turn the lower pool into a modern water story.

Calvin: ye have seen also the breaches of David’s city, that they, that they are many; ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool. They notice what is broken and store water—prudent as far as it goes, and still not the look of v. 11.

Held in common: lower pool collected.

Wesley: Numbered—that they might exactly know their own strength. The houses—which stood upon or without the walls, and so gave their enemies advantage, and hindered the fortifying the city. Common to both: houses counted, then pulled for the wall.

Census of houses is Jerusalem’s emergency. Do not preach demolished homes as a culture-war speech.

Calvin: and ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall. They sacrifice dwellings to the rampart. Industry without looking to the Maker is still unbelief.

Agreed on both sides: counted, then pulled down.

Wesley: Thereof—of Jerusalem, expressed in the foregoing verse. Him—God, who made it a city, and the place of his special presence and worship. Long ago—which may be added to aggravate their sin, in distrusting that God, who had now for a long time given proof of his care and kindness in defending this city. On this both agree: reservoir made; Maker not looked to.

The old pool is Hezekiah’s works in Jerusalem.

Calvin: ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool; but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago. All the water-works are named so that the omitted look may sting. He who planned the city long ago is the one they would not see.

The unseen planner is still the LORD of the valley of vision. They built the reservoir, but they did not look to the one who made it.

Wesley: Call—by his providence, and by his precepts requiring these things in such times. Baldness—by plucking or shaving off the hair of their heads, as was usual in great sorrows. A call to weep, not to feast.

God summoned Jerusalem to sackcloth, and the next verse shows the city feasting instead. The Arminian point is that the call was a summons refused, not a script they could not have answered.

Calvin: in that day did the Lord, GOD of Armies call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth. The day of v. 5 had a prescribed response. Providence and precept agree: weep.

Held in common: weeping and sackcloth.

Wesley: Let us, &c.—a most perverse and desperate conclusion. Shared: feast instead of sackcloth.

Tomorrow we die is despair, not a joke. Do not copy the sentence.

Calvin: and behold, there is joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: Let’s eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die. They invert the call of v. 12. The proverb of despair is not courage; it is refusal of repentance.

Eat and drink, tomorrow we die.

Wesley: 'Till ye die—you shall feel the sad effects of this, as long as you live. Both hear: this iniquity not atoned until death.

The LORD himself confirms the verdict: Jerusalem’s careless feasting in the face of his call to repentance will not be atoned for in their lifetime.

Calvin: and it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die. The Lord himself seals what the prophet heard. The desperate feast will not be atoned by more walls or more wine. Death is the term named.

Both see: revealed in my ears; until you die.