All right, let's look at Isaiah
chapter 22. Now, I want you to understand,
first of all, that this chapter is a continuation of Isaiah's
pronouncements of the judgments of God against the nations, the
nations who stood in opposition to God. That sermon, this is
really just one long sermon that Isaiah delivered in Judah, in
Jerusalem, concerning these nations. We've heard about Babylon, we've
heard about Moab, we've heard about Assyria, we've heard about
several nations here. And that carries on all the way
through chapter 23 when the last burden that he pronounces upon
Tyre, the city of Tyre. Remember, Christ mentioned the
city of Tyre and Sidon in Matthew chapter 11 because he had gone
to that place and preached the gospel. The difference in Matthew
chapter 22, and look at it in verse 1, it says, the burden
of the valley of vision. Now, what is the valley of vision?
Well, this is a little different because this pronouncement of
judgment is upon Judah and Jerusalem. The burden against Judah and
Jerusalem. And it may seem strange to find
a prophecy against Judah and Jerusalem. You see, Jerusalem,
that's the city of God, the city of David. Judah, the city of
the nation that God chose, His people. And so it might seem
strange that God would pronounce a prophecy against Judah and
Jerusalem in a section of a sermon that deals with the judgment
of God upon the nations. But why would this be? Well,
here's the problem. If Judah and Jerusalem, if they
as a nation had chosen to behave like her neighbors and to desert
the Lord and turn from him, what did she deserve? She deserved
to be judged. And that's why this prophecy
is right smack dab down in the middle. of this prophecy against
the nations. In other words, Judah and Jerusalem,
for some reason here in this particular time in their history,
they weren't distinguishing themselves from the nations as the people
of God. Now, Ezekiel had a lot to say
about that in his prophecies, and that was during the Babylonian
captivity. And he continually complained,
and when I say complained, I don't mean complained in the way of
murmur. What I mean by that is he continually, Ezekiel the prophet,
brought God's complaint against the nation. It's almost like
in some of the minor prophets you'll read that God has a matter
against you. This is God's problem with you. Not his problem, it's your problem,
but it's the problem he has with you. And what Ezekiel would continually
say this, he said, you have profaned the name of God among the heathens. And what that means is here they
are, the people of God, the chosen nation who had been so privileged
and so blessed, but instead of lifting up and praising God and
being living examples of God's grace and God's love and God's
holiness and God's mercy, they just acted like everybody else
around them. To the point that the heathen would say, well,
you're all no different than us. You're no different than
the rest of this bunch around here who worship Moloch and who
worship Chemosh and who worship all these other gods. And you
say you have such a great God. Well, looking at you, he doesn't
look so great. That's the way the heathen would complain or
would come against it when they would do that. And so that was
what was happening here. This prophecy is meant to call
them to repentance. Now, you see, all the prophecy
of the destruction of these nations hadn't been delivered to the
nations. They were delivered to Judah and Jerusalem, showing
that God was going to have vengeance. Vengeance is mine, saith the
Lord, against those who stood against him. God will punish
sin. God is a just God. He is a just
God. He is a righteous judge. And
he must punish sin, and though it may seem like the heathen,
the nations prosper for a time, you see. David asked that question
in Psalm 2. Why do the heathen, why do they
prosper? Why do the nations? Though they
may seem to prosper for a time, judgment is coming against those
who stand against God. So that was given to them to
show them God's justice. But now this prophecy in Isaiah
22 is given against Judah and Jerusalem. And what's it for?
It's to call them to repentance, the people of God under the Old
Covenant. Now, the first half of this chapter, verses 1 through
14, I believe speaks mainly of the future, where Isaiah is prophesying
of a time that's to come. when Judah was going to be utterly
destroyed. They had suffered some, what
you might say, small pains and sorrow from the Assyrian Empire
coming down against them. But they were never totally conquered
by the Assyrian Empire. Now, the northern kingdom was.
It was totally obliterated. They were scattered and obliterated. But now the southern kingdom,
they were bothered and at times they even became what you might
call a vassal of Assyria, but they were never fully conquered.
But later on, about 120 years after this, the Babylonian Empire
under Nebuchadnezzar come out. Do you remember I said that before?
Come down upon them and totally wiped them out and took them
away captive. And I believe that's what this
is referring to in the first 14 verses. So it's a future judgment
that's coming. But the last half of this chapter
is real interesting. Now, it talks about a man named
Shebna in the court of King Hezekiah. And it talks about that God's
going to remove him and replace him with somebody better, a fellow
named Eliakim. And why would this prophecy be
connected with that? Well, here's what I believe is
happening here. The first half is the destruction of Judah because
of their sin. The second half is the problem
of Judah personified. And it's in the present day,
the second half. This is in Isaiah's day. This
Shebna and this Eliakim, this was in Isaiah's day. You can
read about them in other parts of the scripture that I'll show
you in just a moment. But what he's showing here is this. He
is illustrating the problem of the whole nation by showing a
problem with one individual. And the problem this one individual
has, for which God is going to remove him and judge him and
replace him, is the problem that the whole nation has. And it's
meant to call them to repentance. Now, I haven't given you the
title yet of the message, have I? But I'm going to give it to
you right now. Here's the lesson. The lesson
is this. God alone shall be glorified. Now that's the point. Doesn't
matter who you are, or what you are, or what office you hold,
or what privileges you have, doesn't matter how blessed you
are, temporally, spiritually, I'm going to tell you something,
doesn't matter who you are, God alone will be glorified. He will not share His glory.
He will not share His glory with the nation of His choice. And
he will not share his glory with a man who's put in a high office
and given great responsibility. Now, there's your lesson of Isaiah
22. So, he says, repent. Repent, Judah. Repent, Jerusalem. Let's look at it now. Here's
the destruction of Judah because of their sin. He starts out.
The burden against the Valley of Vision. Why is it called the
Valley of Vision? Because it was a place of the
vision of God. These were the people of God.
They had the Word of God. They had the prophets of God.
They had the covenant that God had made with Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. They had the covenant that was
made on Mount Sinai. There was a vision here. Now,
I hear these preachers today talk about, we must have a vision. My friend, here is our vision
right here. This book is our vision today.
But Israel didn't have this book, you see. Now, they had some of
the writings of Moses. by this time. So they had the
scriptures in that sense. But God was still revealing himself
individually to these prophets and to his people, giving his
word out as he saw fit to give it. And Israel, Judah, Jerusalem
was a place of vision. It was the place of the Shekinah
glory of God. This is where the temple of God
was, the temple of worship. All the types and the pictures.
of the coming Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, and how God would
save sinners by His grace. This is the Valley of Vision.
All other places were darkness. Now, literally, the city of Jerusalem
was on a hill, and it was surrounded by a higher hill and in the midst
of three valleys. So many times it was a place
that you could stand upon and see out things that you couldn't
normally see. Isn't that the way it is with
the Word of God? Doesn't He make us see? things
that we do not naturally see or even want to see? He sure
does. And that's the picture there.
So here comes the burden or the heavy message of the valley of
vision. And here's what he says. What
aileth thee now that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops? In times of great confusion and
trouble, this was common, that they would go up on their housetops
to mourn and to look, and to pray, and to cry for help." Now,
you've got to understand, at this time, King Hezekiah, he
was considered to be one of the kings of Judah who led the people
right, who tried to guide the people in the ways of the Lord.
The problem was that the people would not hear him. They wouldn't
listen to him. They wouldn't follow him. The
nation as a whole was in rebellion. And if you want to read about
it, remember Isaiah chapter 1. Remember context, context, context? Go back to Isaiah 1. If you want
to find out what their problem was religiously, go back to Isaiah
1. Remember when he talked about their hypocrisy? How they brought
all the oblations and all the sacrifices, but it meant nothing
to them. Well, Hezekiah tried to lead them right, but the nation
wouldn't listen. So now he's saying this. Well,
you wouldn't turn to the Lord. You wouldn't worship God aright.
You had the forms of religion, the forms of worship, but your
heart was not right with God. Now you're all confused. You're
all afraid. You're up on the housetop. Now
you're praying. What ails you? That's what he's
asking. What's wrong? And he goes on,
verse 2. He says, thou that are full of stirs, that's noise.
You're full of noise. You're making a lot of noise.
And he says a tumultuous city, that's in trouble. And a joyous
city. You know, this is what man's
false religion is all about. They're sad, they're happy, they're
sad, they're happy, they're up, they're down. Like a merry-go-round,
you see. There's no stability here. It's
like a double-minded person. And he says, Thy slain men are
not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle. What he's saying
here is when Jerusalem was conquered later on by the Babylonians,
the men of Judah did not stand firmly and die bravely in battle. Do you know how they died? They
died either being starved to death while the city was in siege
and surrounded, or they were fleeing like a bunch of cowards.
That's the prophecy here. Not dead in battle, not dead
with the sword, not trying to defend themselves. But just like
a whip, irrelevant, sad people. And he says in verse 3, all thy
rulers are fled together, they are bound by archers. All that
are found in thee are bound together which have fled from afar. In
other words, all of this that goes on, their rulers were captured
without resistance. And then in verse 4, Isaiah,
he expresses his own sorrow. Therefore said I, look away from
me. Don't look at me in my sorrow. That's what he's saying. I'll
weep bitterly. Labor not to comfort me because of the spoiling of
the daughter of my people. There is no comfort, you see,
in them. There is no comfort in that judgment.
Verse 5, he says, it's a day of trouble, treading down, perplexity. That's confusion. We don't know
what's going on. Why? Why? Why? Why me? Why me? That's it, you see. That kind
of confusion. And it's a perplexity by the
Lord God of hosts. This is a perplexity that God
sent. Now, God's not the author of confusion. But He will allow
those to be confused who will not turn to Him. You remember
many times in Scripture it speaks of those who come to judgment
without Christ, that in that day they will be ashamed or confounded. That means confused. Why? And then it says here, the Lord
God of host in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls
and of crying to the mountains, all this destruction. And Elam
bear the quiver with chariots of men and the horsemen and Kerr
uncovered the ship. Now, Elam and Kerr are places
that refer to the allies of the Babylonians. And then he says
in verse 7, and it shall come to pass that thy choicest valleys
shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves
in array at the gate. You see there, it's going to
be total destruction. And what are they going to do?
Well, verse 8 through 14 shows this. Whatever they do, they're
going to make the wrong preparation. Now, what should they have done?
Well, the only way that they were going to survive and be
saved is to turn to the Lord. Here's a great picture of how
salvation is of the Lord and not of man. That's the way it
is with salvation eternally, isn't it? We get in confusion,
we get perplexed, we make our preparations, we do our thing,
and what happens? We go into destruction. You see,
the only hope of salvation eternally, just like the only hope of Judah
and Jerusalem physically, was to turn to the Lord, repent,
Throw yourself at the mercy of God and say, God, I've sinned
against Thee. I don't deserve anything but
wrath and judgment. Have mercy upon me, O God. Have mercy upon me. Send me a
Redeemer. Send me a daisman. Send me a
victor, a conqueror, a Savior. That's what we need to do. That's
what Jerusalem should have done. But rather than do that, look
what they did. Verse 8. It starts out this way, it says,
and he discovered the covering of Judah. Now what that means
is that God, when it says discovered, it means he removed the covering
of Judah. In other words, what they were
trying to cover themselves with, he removed it. What they were
trying to protect themselves with, he removed it. Just like
when Adam and Eve covered their nakedness with fig leaf aprons,
what did God do? He removed them. And he exposed
their nakedness, like he does when we're convicted under the
Holy Spirit in the new birth. He removes our covering, exposes
our shame and our sin. But see, in salvation he does
that for a purpose, to glorify himself in providing the right
and proper covering. Their covering was their own
works, their own wisdom. And he says, he discovered the
covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armor
of the house of the force. The house of the force is a way
of referring to Jerusalem that was surrounded by what they call
the cedars of Lebanon. And the people had in their mind
that that was protection. We're protected. We're okay. But they weren't. They were speaking
peace to themselves when there was no peace. And during this
time, right up until the time of the Babylonian captivity,
If you'll read the book of Jeremiah, you'll see that one of the main
messages of the many, many false prophets that came and stood
against God's true prophet, Jeremiah, one of their main messages was
peace, peace, peace, when there was no peace. Read Jeremiah chapter
6 and chapter 8. You'll see what I'm saying is
true. Peace when there's no peace. And that's what we tell people
when we preach the gospel of God's grace in Christ. There's
no peace with God outside of the true peacemaker, the one
peacemaker, the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no true peace with God
without His blood. Cain, don't come bringing your
works. There's no peace with God without
the blood of the Lamb. His blood is the blood of peace.
The Bible says in Colossians chapter 1 that He made peace
by the blood of His cross, and there's no other way. There's
no peace wrapping yourself up in a robe of religion and works
and deeds. There's only peace in the righteous
robe that the bridegroom has made and provides by his obedience
unto death. You see, that's the issue. Verse 9, you've seen also the
breaches of the city of David, that there are many. You gather
together the waters of the lower pool, you've numbered the houses
of Jerusalem. And the houses have you broken down to fortify
the wall. They're trying to fortify themselves against attack. You
made also, verse 11, a ditch between the two walls for the
water of the old pool. What they were trying to do is
while they were surrounded, they were trying to make sure they
had enough water in the city. And he says, but you have not
looked, now look at verse 11, underscore this in your Bible,
but you have not looked unto the maker thereof. You're counting
houses, you're fortifying walls, you're digging ditches, trying
to make sure there's enough water. Here's what you've not done.
You've not looked unto the creator, the maker of all these things,
the source. You've been lifted up in pride.
Isn't that the problem with people today in religion? They take
the things that God has made and they turn them into idols.
Romans chapter 1 speaks of that. But they have not looked unto
the maker. They have not sought the true
and living God as he reveals himself in his word. Who is the
living God? He says in verse 11, neither
had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago. You didn't worship
God. You didn't depend upon God. You
didn't trust him. You didn't fear him. Verse 12,
And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping,
and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth.
In other words, all that language there, the sackcloth, the shaving
that he's talking about, that was all forms of sorrow, forms
of despair that they would go through physically. In verse
13, And behold, joy and gladness. slaying oxen, killing sheep,
eating flesh, drinking wine, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow
we shall die." Many of them went through business as usual. Many
of them just threw up their arms and said, well, let's eat, drink,
and be merry. Tomorrow we die. Isn't that the way man is by
nature? That's the way we are by nature,
isn't it? Verse 14, and it was revealed
in mine ears by the Lord of Hosts. Surely this iniquity shall not
be purged from you till you die, saith the Lord God of Hosts.
The point of that verse, in verse 14, is to say this, there is
no redemption without a Redeemer. You turn away from the Redeemer,
what have you got? No redemption. There is no salvation
without a Savior. There is no forgiveness without
a forgiver. One who can forgive justly as
well as in mercy. God who is just and safe. That's
what He's teaching. There's no atonement without
the blood. There's no purging away of sin
without the fire of God's wrath falling down upon His appointed,
willing, and able substitute. And if you turn from the God
who saves by grace and mercy, there is no grace and mercy.
Now, here's the illustration. Here's the problem of Judah personified. Now, listen to this. Now, think
about it this way. Why did God bring judgment upon
Judah? Weren't they His chosen people?
Doesn't that seem strange? Well, they were His chosen people.
But they'd been lifted up in their own pride and their own
self-righteousness. Again, go back and read it in
Isaiah 1, and we've read it in other chapters, too. They had
been lifted up in pride and self-righteousness, and they had refused to turn
in repentance unto the Lord God of heaven and earth. And God's
judgment upon them that is prophesied here in these first verses of
this chapter is the chastisement of his covenant people. And this
problem is illustrated in one man, a man named Shebna. Look at verse 15, Thus saith
the Lord God of hosts, Get thee unto this treasurer, get the
treasurer in the court of King Hezekiah. Now, that was a very,
very, very important position. Get thee unto this treasurer.
In other verses, in 2 Kings 18, you can read about Shebna, a
little bit about him. In 2 Kings 19, he also is mentioned
in Isaiah chapter 36 and 37. But here's what we know about
Shebna from God's Word. He was a treasurer. He was also
a scribe. Now, you know what a scribe was.
He was an interpreter of the law. He was like a theologian. That's what a scribe was. He
would be like the doctor so-and-so. If you wanted to know anything
about the writings of Moses, you'd go to the scribe. because
he was the interpreter of the law, and he was also a steward,
a minister, under King Hezekiah. This was this man Shebna. And
he says, get thee unto this treasure, even unto Shebna, which is over
the house. Some say he was even a governor,
and he may have been, but he was over the house. He had charge
of the house. Now, some say that was the temple.
I don't believe he's talking about the temple there. I believe
he's talking about the government. But he had charge over the house
of God in that sense. The priest had charge over the
temple. And, of course, some say that
Shebna was a priest. Well, he's never mentioned as
a priest. But either way, he was in charge. He was put as
an under-shepherd, you might say, under King Hezekiah, under
the king. Now, in the next verses, here's
what happens. Isaiah, God's prophet, denounces
Shebna. the king's chief steward. And here's what he says. Now
look at verse 16. Now he says, What hast thou here,
and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulcher
here, as he that heweth him out a sepulcher on high, and that
graveth an habitation for himself in a rock? Now, what's the problem? Here it is. Shevna had a high
and honorable office, but he used it to glorify himself and
not God. That's the problem. Just like
Judah and Jerusalem, Israel, they had a high and honorable
station as a nation in God's kingdom. But instead of glorifying
God, they used it to glorify themselves. That's what Shedner
was doing. You see, when God, now listen
to me, when God places a man in a high office and gives him
the gifts of that office, there also comes with that a high responsibility
to glorify God and lead the people in the way of God, not his own
way. His responsibility is to glorify
the Lord God of heaven, to lift up Christ and not himself. And this Shabna, here's what's
happening. Look back there at verse 16.
What hast thou here and whom hast thou here? What he's saying
is, what are you doing here? And who do you think you are?
That's what the questions would be if we would filter it down
into modern day language. What are you doing here? And
who do you think you are? Now, you know something? Those
two questions can never be asked of God. King Nebuchadnezzar learned
that. None can stay his hand or say
unto him, what doest thou? What do you think you're doing?
I'll tell you what God's doing. He's doing that which is right. And he's never done anything
wrong. What is God doing right now? He's doing that which is
right. He's doing that which is good.
He's doing that which glorifies Himself. He's doing that which
is good for His people. We may not see it, we may be
in tears, but He's doing that which is good for His people.
And He's doing that which He has a right to do. That's one
thing you can bank it all on God. But now, when any man Takes
that upon himself. You can justly and rightly, I
don't care who he is, I don't care if he has PhD, THD, or MDiv
on the end of his name, and I don't care if he's been here or there
50 years, you have every right to ask who do you think you are
and what are you doing here? When any man takes that position,
I don't care who they are. Even Shevna. What was he doing? What was he doing? He was building
himself a tomb, a sepulcher, and he was using his high position
of honor and authority to build that tomb as a monument to himself. That's what he was doing. He
wanted to be remembered. He wanted his name to live on. He wanted to make a name for
himself. And he did not believe God or God's prophet. Isaiah
had prophesied that the people of Judah and Jerusalem would
be carried away into exile. Shadna didn't believe it. I'll be here forever, that's
what he's saying. See that? He said, I'm going to make that
Graveth, verse 16, an habitation for himself in a rock. Now let
me tell you something, the only rock that we can inhabit and
live forever Not to get a name for ourselves, but to glorify
Him as the Rock Christ Jesus. Get into the cleft of the rock
and hide and hope that nobody even mentions your name. Just
mention His name. How about that? Don't put my
name on the outside. They might find me. Just His
name alone is all I need. His name alone. But you see,
we by nature, we just want to make a name for ourselves, and
we want to live on forever in the memories of our constituency. And here's what old Shabnev was
saying. He said, I'm going to build this
elaborate tomb for myself in Jerusalem. And I'm going to build
it in a rock, and I'm going to make it so elaborate, and I'll
never be carried away into exile. I'm so certain that I'll die
here, that I'll build my tomb here, and this is where I'll
be forever, for men to come and admire and talk about me." Well, look at verse 17. He says,
"...behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity,
and will surely cover thee." What he's saying is he's showing
how the Lord would do what the Lord would do to Shevna. Shevna
sought honor and glory, but he's not going to find it. God's going
to cover him up. That covering there doesn't mean
an atonement there. That means he's going to he's
going to snuff you out, basically. In fact, I never even heard of
Shevna until I read Isaiah 22. How about you? Now, I know I've
read the name because I've read Isaiah 22 before. And I've read
these other passages that I've got marked, 2 Kings 18, and I've
read them. But I'll tell you what, having
read that, I sure didn't remember Shebna. Have you ever read them? If I'd have said, now, anybody
here know who Shebna was before we opened this Bible, you probably
wouldn't have known, would you? That's what God meant. I'm going to
cover you up. You're not going to get your desire, see? It says in verse 18, He says,
He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into
a large country. He's going to roll you up, literally
what He's saying, He's going to roll you up like a ball and
throw you out into large spaces where you will be so insignificant
that nobody will notice you. You won't stand out in a crowd
out there. Be rolled up like a little ball. And he says, There
thou shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall
be the shame of thy Lord's house. In other words, your glory will
be your shame. Boy, what a picture of a sinner
without Christ. What a picture of a sinner coming
to God, pleading his own works, his own righteousness, his glory
is going to be a shame. Verse 19, I'll drive thee from
thy station. In other words, that office I
gave you, I'm going to drive you away from it. And from thy state
shall he pull thee down. You're going to come off that
pedestal. Now, look at verse 20. Now comes Eliakim. Here he shows what the Lord is
going to do to Shabna and what he is going to do. Instead, the
Lord would make certain that he was never seen, even buried
in his prestigious, expensive tomb, but he would die in exile.
And now here in verse 20, the Lord lifts up another man, Eliakim,
instead of Shabna. Now here is what I want you to
do in these verses. Look at Shabna as a type of Israel and its leaders. lifted up in their pride, not
turning to the Lord. Or look at him as an individual
who will not seek the true and living God, who will not bow
to Christ in God's way of salvation. But look at Eliakim. Here's another
man, Eliakim. Look at him as a type of Christ,
because that's what I believe he is. You know what his name
means? God will raise him up. That's what Eliakim means. God
raises him up. Lifts him up. Look at it. Here's
what it says about Eliakim. And it shall come to pass, verse
20, in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of
Hilkiah. And Eliakim was God's servant.
And what a glorious title for Eliakim. He was a called servant.
And that's what our Lord is. He's the servant of Jehovah.
He's the servant of the covenant. He's the angel of the covenant.
I mean servant. That's the messenger. He is the,
capital T, capital H, capital E, Servant. Both Shebna and Eliakim were
servants of Hezekiah, but Shebna's heart was directed towards selfishness
and ambition and glory. But Eliakim's heart was turned
towards the Lord. Look at verse 21. He says, And
I will clothe him with thy robe. Shebna's robe. What he's talking
about is that robe of authority and honor. Now, some people say
this is why they believe Shebna might have been a priest, because
he's talking about the priestly garment. And that could be so.
But he's talking about, too, he's talking about the robe that
one would wear of the authority of the king. And so, what God
is saying, I'm going to take that garment off of you, Shebna,
I'm going to put it on Eliakim. And that's a picture of the authority
and honor that our Savior was invested with as our High Priest
and as our King. He has the authority, crowned
with glory and honor, and who is seen among his churches clothed
with a garment down to his feet. Remember in the book of Revelation,
clothed with a garment down to his feet. Remember when he hanged
on that cross, they stripped him naked. He had probably just
a loincloth on because there he was on that cross bearing
the wrath of his father for the sins of his people. So to the
point, he said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? But
he's naked no longer. He finished the work. He made
an end to sin and brought in everlasting righteousness. He
died, was buried, and He was raised again the third day. And
He's seated at the right hand of the Father. He lives ever
as our high priest, our intercessor, our advocate. He wears the high
priestly robe, and He wears the robe of the King of kings and
the Lord of lords. And it's a beautiful robe down
to His feet. He's vested with that garment
of salvation which He worked out for His people. in his obedience
unto death. And that robe will never be taken
off of him like it was Shetland. He said in verse 21, and strengthen
him with thy girdle or thy sash. The girdle was a symbol of power
and strength in the administration of the office. Well, Christ had
the power and the strength to do what the Father sent him to
do. He was faithful to fulfill all righteousness for his people.
He finished the work in full. He loved his own unto the end.
And he is the end of the law, the finishing of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believeth. He says, I will commit,
listen to this language. He said, I will commit thy government
into his hand, the government was committed unto Eliakim's
hand." In other words, Hezekiah gave him the responsibility,
God gave it to him. And he had the responsibility
of overseeing the government of King Hezekiah. Isn't that the way it is with
our sovereign Savior? How the whole responsibility
of the government and the well-being and the salvation of the kingdom
and government of God's grace was placed into his hands and
his hands alone. That's right. And boy, would
you rather, would you, doesn't that make you just want to shout? I mean, would you want it to
be in anybody else's hands? Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6
said it, the government shall be upon his shoulders. And boy,
those are shoulders I want them to be on. Those shoulders can
bear the burden. Just like that righteousness
shall be the girdle of his loins, faithfulness the girdle of his
reins, and it's all committed unto his hands. And look here,
he says, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
and to the house of Judah. Christ, in Isaiah 9-6, he's called
the everlasting Father in the sense that he is the representative
of his family. He's the head of the church.
He's the founder of the church. He gives life to his offspring
spiritually and eternally. He exercises the office of a
father towards his people. He provides for us. He protects
us. He chastises us. He keeps us. And he's not ashamed to give
us his name. What a Savior. Look at verse
22. Listen to this. And the key of the house of David
will I lay upon his shoulder." That key of the house of David,
that's the throne of David in Jerusalem. And that earthly throne
was a picture of the heavenly throne whereupon Christ, the
King of Kings, the Son of David, is seated. And my friend, that's
his mediatorial kingship. The house of David is his church,
the kingdom of God. And he has the key. And I'll
tell you something about that. That means he's the only way
in. He's the only door. He's the only way of access into
this kingdom. And he said it, no man cometh
unto the Father but by me. And that's it. He's got the key.
If you want to find the key to heaven, look to Christ. If you
want to find the key to salvation, look to Christ. If you want to
find the key to blessedness, eternal blessedness, look to
Christ. And not only that, it says here
in verse 22, it says, so He shall open and none shall shut. If
He opens the door to the kingdom and you come in, no man can shut
that door against you. That's why I tell people, sinner,
come to Christ. Nobody can stop you. Nobody can. Because if you come to Him, He's
bringing you in. Isn't that right? If you come
to Him, He's bringing His sheep in. And I don't care what any
preacher does, or what mama and daddy do, or what some church
member does, they cannot stop you. Because if He opens the
door, nobody can shut it. And if He shuts it, none shall
open. You remember the parable of the
of the virgins, the ten virgins, the foolish virgins, the wise
virgins. Now, when the bridegroom came
and the foolish virgins who didn't see that their lamps were lit
came to knock on the door and it was shut. They couldn't get
in. You see, there's going to come a time when men and women
who continually reject Christ is the only way when it will
be too late. The day of salvation will be
over. And I'll tell you what, this is it. Look at verse 23.
He says, And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place. Talking
about Eliakim, physically. And he shall be for a glorious
throne to his father's house. This speaks in type of Christ
our surety and Christ our glory. The picture here given is of
a large, strong nail fastened as a bracket or an anchor in
a wall or a post upon which you might with confidence hang anything. You hang it on that nail and
it's a nail in a sure place. It will not come down. Well,
my friend, that's our Savior. You hang all your hopes on Him,
that's a nail in a sure place and it won't come down. You won't
be ashamed, you won't be perplexed, you won't be confused, you won't
be confounded. If you hang it on Him now, you
hang it on yourself, you're a goner, as the old boy said. Hang it on your profession, hang
it on your religion, hang it on your baptism, hang it on your
tithing, hang it on your deeds, it's all for nothing. But you
hang it on Christ. All your hopes, all your salvation,
all your blessedness, all your reward hanging on Him, that's
a nail in a sure place. And it cannot come down. Just like the Lord God of Heaven
who set Him up from everlasting to be our surety. And He's going
to be a for glorious throne to His Father's house. That's all
the glory. In other words, what He's talking
about in Eliakim there, He, like him, is going to perform the
duties of the office that he was put in, not like Shebna and
use it for his own glory, see, but for the glory of the King.
He's going to do the King's bidding. And that's the way our Savior
was. He's the glory of His Father's throne, for in Him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. The Bible speaks of the revelation
of God that He gives us in the new birth. He describes it this
way, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. You want
to see the glory of God? Look to Christ, who did all His
Father's bidding. He said, I do all that my Father
commanded me. He said, it's my meat, my food
to do the will of Him that sent me. Oh my, so it's something,
isn't it? Like Him was the glory of His
Father's house, so Christ is all the glory of His Father's
house. And then look at verse 24, it
says, And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his Father's
house, the offspring, and the issue, all vessels of small quantity,
and from the vessels of cups even to all the vessels of flagons.
What he's saying there is this, all the vessels of the Father's
house hang upon this one nail, Christ alone. It doesn't matter
if it's a little vessel, if it's a big vessel. If it's one in
a prominent place, one in an insignificant place, whatever,
Jew or Gentile, male, female, bond-free, black, white, it doesn't
matter who you are, rich, poor. If you're a vessel in the house
of the King, you're hanging up on this nail alone, and that's
Christ. Christ and Him crucified. Now look at verse 25. He says,
In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the nail that is
fastened in the sure place be removed. Now that's speaking
of Shepnah. And be cut down in false, and the burden that was
upon it shall be cut off, for the Lord has spoken it. Well,
what he's talking about, God will not share his glory. And
those who are put in the position of responsibility, who seek their
own glory, someday they'll be cut down, just like Shepnah.
That's the way it is. God alone shall be glorified. That's what Eliakim did when
God put him in that position. But more importantly for us,
that's exactly what our Lord did. He glorified His Father
in the salvation of His people by all that He accomplished.
Let's sing hymn number 449. For our closing hymn, To God
Be the Glory, 449.