Isaiah 42:22Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Surely it is the idols forged from metal. For the leaders of Judah, while feigning service to God and outwardly submitting to the statutes of the law, harbored the disease of rebellion in their hearts and minds, worshipping those who were no true deities, and concealing them within the storage of their own dwellings, offering them clandestine sacrifices. As it is recorded in Ezekiel, "Son of man, dig and unearth in the wall." And I saw, he declared, and behold, all kinds of creeping creatures and livestock, and all sorts of idols of the house of Israel inscribed on the wall all around. And he asked me, "Have you seen, O sons of men, how little the house of Judah consumes, for each individual acts in his hidden chamber" (Ezekiel 8:8, 10, 12, 17). Observe how each one, possessing an idol in his secret space—ensnared by idolatry—still displayed a semblance of reverence for the law. Hence, he states, a captive was taken, yet there was no plunder, nor did he plea for release. Truly, if God did not aid them, who could deliver them from such profound misfortune? And if He failed to reprimand the robbers, who could command, “Release them”? For God had ceased to regard them as His own inheritance, abandoning them as a people estranged from Him, having bowed down before those who are no gods. By these words, He seems to allude to the time of their captivity, when the Israelites were subjected to their foes, for up until the seventieth year, none seized them, nor was there anyone to confront the looters and ask them to yield. After addressing the calling of the Gentiles, it is remarkably illustrated why the Israelites were cast out of communion with God, demonstrating that His judgments are always just. It was right that those who cherished ungodliness should fall outside His mercy and love, becoming ensnared by sin through ignorance, subjected to the tempter’s power, and yet finding grace from the Creator as they were called into the understanding of Him and the illumination of truth. This notion is expressed through Moses, who stated: “They have provoked me to jealousy with what is not God; they have angered me with their idols; so I will provoke them to jealousy with those who are not a people” (Deuteronomy 32:21). The divine Psalmist also conveyed: “They angered Him with their high places, and moved Him to jealousy with their carved images” (Ps. 77:58). If we are to add a spiritual consideration, we must be wary of harboring within our minds and hearts the devil’s nets and allowing the evil idols of harmful thoughts to lead us astray into disgraceful pleasures, lest we become prey to Satan and the demons. For it is written: “If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post; for calmness will lay great offenses to rest” (Eccl. 10:4).