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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Isaiah 22:15 - 22:25
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The Oracle Against Shebna
v. 15. Thus saith the Lord God of hosts, beginning another oracle with the mention of His majestic title, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, the privy councilor, or minister of the interior, in the kingdom, 1Ki_4:6; 1Ki_18:3, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, the present incumbent of the office in the king's palace, and say,
v. 16. What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulcher here, up in the City of David, as he that heweth him out a sepulcher on high, namely, on the height of Zion, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock? The prophet should inquire what business Shebna had in taking an honor for himself which was highly coveted and accorded by the people only to a man like Jehoiada, 2Ch_14:15, for unusual services to the nation.
v. 17. Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, literally, "will whirl thee out with a whirl as a man," that is, with the force of a strong man, and will surely cover thee, taking hold of him, wrapping him up, rolling him together tightly.
v. 18. He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball, all wound together like a ball of string, into a large country, into a wide and open prairie; there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord's house, that is, the shame which the house of his master would suffer through his fault would be the only thing which would accompany him to the grave.
v. 19. And I will drive thee from thy station, depose him from his office, and from thy state, the high position which Shebna now held, shall he, the king who executes the will of the Lord, pull thee down.
v. 20. And it shall come to pass in that day, when Shebna would be deposed, that I will call My servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who may have been the same as Azariah, 1Ch_6:13;
v. 21. and I will clothe him with thy robe and strengthen him with thy girdle, investing him with the official dress, and I will commit thy government, all the authority of his office, into his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah, performing the duties of his office in such a way as to have the welfare of all the people in mind always.
v. 22. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder, as an emblem of his power and authority; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open, his decisions as to admission to the king's palace ordinarily being final.
v. 23. And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place, like a peg in the wall where one may hang things, so that they are secure; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house, an ornament to his family, just as a fine chair is for a room.
v. 24. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, he being the bearer of the honor for the whole family, the offspring and the issue, the offshoots of the family, high and low, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons, the humble and lowly in his relationship, as well as the honorable, receiving their share of the honor laid upon him. The prophecy here takes a contemptuous turn, as the Lord considers these hangers-on who want to share the glory of Eliakim.
v. 25. In that day, when the judgment would strike also this house, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place, this same Eliakim, be removed and be cut down and fall; and the burden that was upon it, the entire relationship, shall be cut off, losing rank and all its advantages; for the Lord hath spoken it, in an admonition which was intended to warn Eliakim, lest he permit such conditions to creep in and thus bring disaster upon himself as well as his relatives. The Lord at all times resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.