Isaiah 8:13

13 Make the LORD of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble.

Isaiah 8:13 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 8:13

Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself
Christ, Immanuel, God with us, the Lord of the armies above and below, of angels and of men, God over all, the true Jehovah, who is sanctified by his people, when they declare him to be so; as the Targum paraphrases it,

``the Lord of hosts, him shall ye say is holy;''

for they cannot make him so, nor can he receive any holiness from them, nor does he need any; but they celebrate the perfection of his holiness, and ascribe it to him; yea, they sanctify him, by ascribing their holiness to him; by looking to him as their sanctification, and by deriving and expecting every degree and measure of holiness from him, to complete theirs; by exercising faith upon him, and showing a regard to his commands and ordinances: and [let] him [be] your fear, and [let] him [be] your dread;
that is, the object of fear and dread; not of a servile fear and dread, but of a holy reverence and godly fear; such a fear as is the grace of the covenant, which flows from the goodness of God, and has that for its object, and is influenced by it; see ( Hosea 3:5 ) where the same Lord, Messiah, David the king, is meant, as here. See ( 1 Peter 3:15 ) .

Isaiah 8:13 In-Context

11 The LORD has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said,

12 “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them.

13 Make the LORD of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble.

14 He will keep you safe. But to Israel and Judah he will be a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.

15 Many will stumble and fall, never to rise again. They will be snared and captured.”