Isaiah 22:1-25
Q.1. How did Jerusalem celebrate its victory over the enemy? What was wrong with the nation’s attitude? Why did Isaiah weep for his people? – (Isa.22:1-14)
God had given Isaiah a vision that was hard to deliver (Isa.22:1). After Josiah’s righteous rule, the nation’s leaders had become complacent. They should have repented, but – Instead, there is gaiety and gladness, killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat, and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.” (Isa.22:13). Destruction was coming, because … you did not depend on Him who made Jerusalem, nor did you take into consideration Him who planned it long ago (Isa.22:11). What Isaiah foresaw broke his heart. He responded – … Turn your eyes away from me, let me weep bitterly. Do not try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people (Isa.22:4). Nothing would save the nation, for – the Lord of hosts revealed Himself to me, “Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you until you die,” says the Lord God of hosts (Isa.22:14). What a message to deliver. Do we grieve over the plight of the unsaved, as Isaiah did?
Q.2. What would happen to the proud steward and the faithful servant? Did the prophet see any hope for the future of the nation? – (Isa.22:15-25)
The remainder of the chapter speaks of two leaders of the royal household, during King Hezekiah’s reign. Shebna was an influential scribe, and Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, was a faithful servant in the administration (2 Kgs.18:18; Isa.22:15, 20; 36:3; 37:2). God discerned a massive difference between these two men. Through the prophet, God asked – 15 Thus says the Lord God of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household. 16 `What right do you have here, and whom do you have here, that you have hewn a tomb for yourself here. You who hew a tomb on the height, you who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock? (Isa.22:15-16). God had a message for Shebna, for abusing his leadership, – and through Isaiah delivered a stinging prophecy of his exile and death in a foreign place (Isa.22:17-19). Isaiah predicted – In that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “the peg driven in a firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”(Isa.22:25). However, He promised Eliakim – 21 And I will clothe him with your tunic and tie your sash securely about him. I will entrust him with your authority. And he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. 22 “Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder. When he opens no one will shut when he shuts no one will open. 23 “I will drive him like a peg in a firm place, and he will become a throne of glory to his father’s house (Isa.22:21-23). The prophecy also prefigured the reign of a future worthy Ruler. The risen Christ stated that this applied to Himself – 7“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this: 8‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name (Rev.3:7-8). This One is the Head of the Church.