Isaiah 22:20-23
20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:
21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.
22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.
23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house.
This prophetic word came to Isaiah during the reign of King Hezekiah, during the time in which Sennacherib & the Syrian army had begun to surround Jerusalem “laying siege” to the city. When an enemy would surround a city, they would build embankments of dirt & stone around the city up to the tops of the walls, essentially sealing the city, so that one day they would simply walk up and jump the walls and take over.
The people seemed to be ignoring the prophecies and the impending doom that was coming and Isaiah felt he was the only one left who was concerned with the coming captivity & annihilation of Jerusalem. It was almost like the people had the mindset, “if you ignore it long enough, maybe it will go away.”
Then in verse 15, the Lord narrows the Word down to deal with two persons: Shebna & Eliakim.
Shebna was a man who some writers believed could have been an Egyptian who had risen to prominence in the administration of King Hezekiah. Shebna represented those who wanted to depend on men’s ability to save & protect the city. He had built himself a reputation (as steward of the King’s house & treasuries) and wanted people to know long after his death he was an important man (this is evidenced in him building himself a giant sepulcher). It’s also very possible Shebna could have misused some of Hezekiah’s funds to build his tomb.
Shebna, in Hebrew, means “to grow strong, vigor” Or it could be said, he was a man who depended on his own ability and strength to gain success and notoriety.
Eliakim, in Hebrew means “a man whom GOD sets up, a set man” Eliakim, who represented those who wanted to repent and turn totally to the Lord, was a man completely sold out to God.
When reading scripture, we must remember three key points:
1.To keep this passage (and all scripture) in context. This is specifically a prophetic word for Jerusalem and for Israel in Hezekiah & Isaiah’s day. Remember to keep it in the time in which it is given. God is addressing needs and situations of that time.
2.This is also considered by many Bible scholars to be a Messianic passage foretelling of Jesus’ first coming; Him almost being installed as King in that day, being a nail in a sure place; but then being “cut off” representing His death.
3.Thirdly, is God speaking to us in this passage? How does it apply to us to the time in which we live?
Here is what I am sensing at this moment:
1.There will be an unusual increase in the “changing of the guard”. I know, some will say, that’s not a prophetic word! People are dying every day! But we have seen a rash of spiritual fathers & mothers go to heaven over the last few years that tell me, God is re-arranging leadership. This will increase. The most famous ones in 2021 being: Luis Palau, Carman, David Yonggi Cho, Marcus Lamb. In recent years, Billy Graham, Reinhard Bonkke, & Myles Monroe are just three that went to heaven who greatly impacted the Body of Christ world-wide.
Many younger ministers that I personally know who were not widely known in the last year have gone to heaven. Many it seems, before their time!
This changing of the guard signals the need for us to constantly check our motives and our hearts and make sure we are not trying to build something that will be a monument to our name. Are we truly building His Kingdom and a work that will remember HIM? Or are we attempting to build something that will live on longer than we do, just so our name won’t be forgotten when we are gone?
In verse 15, God, through Isaiah, brings to focus two men who represented two prevailing mindsets of that era; Shebna who represents those who want to ignore sin and desire to seek a place of prominence created in their own strength; and Eliakim, a man whose name means “set man, a man set in place by God.”
Just since last month, I personally know of several ministers who I personally know, or I am following their writings have gone to be with the Lord. The “changing of the guard” I spoke about in last month’s newsletter is continuing.
The second thing that stands out to me in this passage is, GOD is setting in place people for such a time as this. This DOES NOT mean that anyone who has died was doing something wrong; it just means their assignment on earth has been completed.
But when times of chaos, confusion and turmoil hits the earth, GOD always raises up a man…or a woman…for such a time as this!
I have been a student of leadership for many years, and I have become very concerned that leadership has simply become a title people clamor for instead of an action that truly leads people to righteousness. Just this morning I Googled the word “leadership” again and I found over four and one half billion “hits” (which means website pages) that has something to do with leadership online. And yet at this hour, we seem to have the weakest leaders in the history of the world at the helm. This doesn’t mean there are not strong leaders today; what it means is there has not been someone or a group of people with enough anointing to grab people’s attention to lead us all, including our country back to Jesus where we belong. And yes, I include myself in that category as well. But I am sincerely asking God to anoint me to be a leader that does not seize people’s attention with man-made charisma, but with an anointing that will turn the people I influence completely back to a full relationship with Jesus!
Shebna thought nothing about the confusion & turmoil that was surrounding Jerusalem.
Life was moving along, he was prospering, building, increasing, setting up a plan for people to remember him when he died; and yet Sennacherib was building the siege mounts for the purpose of annihilating Jerusalem. Friends, you cannot ignore something long enough and just expect it to go away.
Thirdly, GOD will take from those who have persecuted us, made fun of us, rejected us, and give us an opportunity to do it right in His eyes!! Vs 21a
“21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand:”
Preparation for an even is more important that the even itself. God has been preparing many of us in our lifetime for such a time as this. For the last twenty plus years, God has spoken over and over, telling us we have a purpose, He has a plan for our lives, not just to walk through life, work ourselves until our bodies are broken to pieces, then die and go to heaven. NO! From the foundation of the world, God purposed that you and I live in this hour, an hour filled with wars and rumor of wars, pestilence, pandemic, rejection of societal norms that have been established since the beginning of the world. Now is NOT the time to shrink back in fear or timidity, but to arise in the righteousness of God, with the righteousness of God and be salt & light in a very dark world.
Jesus did not come to this world to make us happy. He came to redeem us back to the Father and to use us to bring His Kingdom authority top the earth as it is in heaven.
Every generation has had a Noah, Abraham a Ruth. Where are the King David’s who will be a man or a woman after God’s own heart? Where are the Peters, James & John’s who will forsake everything and follow Jesus? We cannot just think we can ignore the condition of this world and expect it to go away or fix itself. What effects Ukraine affects us. What effects Kenya, or Guyana or Taiwan directly affects us.
May God make me a man for such a time as this.
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