Isaiah 5:16

16 But the LORD who rules over all will be honored because he judges fairly. The holy God will show that he is holy by doing what is right.

Isaiah 5:16 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 5:16

But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment
By the "Lord of hosts" is meant Christ, the Lord of the armies, and of the inhabitants of the earth, of angels, and of men; who, though in our nature, in his state of humiliation, was brought very low, yet is now highly exalted; and which exaltation of his is seen and known, as it is here foretold it should be, by his judgments inflicted on the Jewish nation, for their contempt and rejection of him; see ( Psalms 9:16 ) so Kimchi interprets judgment of the judgment which the Lord would inflict on the ungodly of Israel: thus Christ's exaltation is seen in their humiliation, and his kingdom and power in their destruction: and God that is holy;
Christ is truly and properly God, God over all, blessed for ever; and he is holy, both as God and man; as God he is essentially and perfectly holy; and, as man, without sin original or actual; he is the Holy One of God, and the Holy One of Israel; and of him it is said, he shall be sanctified in righteousness,
or be declared to be holy; by the obedience and righteousness of his life, wrought out for his people, whereby he becomes their sanctification and righteousness; and by his justice, in punishing his and his people's enemies. Were all this to be understood of Jehovah the Father, it might very well be interpreted, as it is by Cocceius, of his being exalted and honoured by the condemnation of sin in the flesh of Christ; and of his being "glorified", as the Arabic version renders it, by the obedience and righteousness of his son, whereby his justice is satisfied, and his law magnified, and made honourable; and by the faith of his people, laying hold on that righteousness, and receiving it to the glory of God; in all which the purity, holiness, and justice of God appears.

Isaiah 5:16 In-Context

14 So the grave is hungry to receive them. Its mouth is open wide to swallow them up. Their nobles and the rest of the people will go down into it. They will go there together with all those who have wild parties.
15 So man will be brought low. People will be put to shame. Those who brag will be brought down.
16 But the LORD who rules over all will be honored because he judges fairly. The holy God will show that he is holy by doing what is right.
17 Then sheep will graze as if they were in their own grasslands. Lambs will eat grass among the destroyed buildings where rich people used to live.
18 How terrible it will be for those who continue to sin and lie about it! How terrible for those who keep on doing what is evil as if they were tied to it!
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