Isaiah chapter 22
A heavy message about Jerusalem. Shebna the politician is judged. Eliakim the palace administrator is applauded.
A HEAVY MESSAGE ABOUT JERUSALEM
VERSE 1. The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?
the valley. Jerusalem is often referred to as a mountain. For example, it is called Mount Zion.
But in this verse, it is called a valley.
the valley of vision. The people of Jerusalem were living in wanton revelry.
But in that same city, Isaiah was experiencing amazing visions from the LORD God.
VERSE 2. You that are full of shouting, a tumultuous city, a joyous town; your slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle.
VERSE 3. All your rulers fled away together. They were bound by the archers. All who were found by you were bound together. They fled far away.
VERSE 4. Therefore I said, “Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Don’t labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Don’t labor to comfort me. Isaiah is grieving the ruin of his people. He does not want people to comfort him.
VERSE 5. For it is a day of confusion, and of treading down, and of perplexity, from the Lord, the LORD of Hosts, in the valley of vision, a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the mountains.”
VERSE 6. Elam carried his quiver, with chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir uncovered the shield.
VERSE 7. Your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate.
VERSE 8. He took away the covering of Judah; and you looked in that day to the armor in the house of the forest.
took away the covering of Judah. That is, stripped away Judah’s defenses. Her boundaries were violated.
armor in the house of the forest. That was an armory. It was built by slaves under Solomon.
Solomon was a slave-owner.
The people of Jerusalem went to the armory to get weapons.
They armed themselves instead of trusting in the LORD God to protect them.
VERSE 9. You saw the breaches of David’s city, that they were many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
VERSE 10. You counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall.
VERSE 11. You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you didn’t look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who planed it long ago.
BBE translation. And you made a place between the two walls for storing the waters of the old pool: but you gave no thought to him who had done this, and were not looking to him by whom it had been purposed long before.
you gave no thought to him who had done this. The message of the prophets is simple: turn back to the One God.
Rather than condemn people or nations for a moral issue, the message of a prophet is much simpler: believe in the One God!
In our day, some denominations rail against a political issues.
They try to disguise their denunciations as moral issues. But really they are political. It is an abuse of their spiritual authority
VERSE 12. In that day, the Lord, the LORD of Hosts, called to weeping, to mourning, to baldness, and to dressing in sackcloth;
VERSE 13. and behold, joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.”
VERSE 14. The LORD of Hosts revealed himself in my ears, “Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,” says the Lord, the LORD of Hosts.
NLT translation. The LORD of Heaven’s Armies has revealed this to me: “Till the day you die, you will never be forgiven for this sin.” That is the judgment of the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
you will never be forgiven for this sin. The Lord Jesus says whoever commits blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. What is this Unforgivable Sin, and how can we avoid doing it? Read more »
SHEBNA THE POLITICIAN IS JUDGED
VERSE 15. The Lord, the LORD of Hosts says, “Go, get yourself to this treasurer, even to Shebna, who is over the house, and say,
Shebna. He was a a high court official. He was probably second only to the king. In essence, he was a leader of the nation.
VERSE 16. ‘What are you doing here? Who has you here, that you have dug out a tomb here?’ Cutting himself out a tomb on high, chiseling a habitation for himself in the rock!”
The body of Jesus was placed in a donated tomb. It had been carved into a rock. Essentially it was a cave. Some other people in the Bible were buried like that. Read more »
VERSE 17. Behold, the LORD will overcome you and hurl you away violently. Yes, he will grasp you firmly.
NLT translation. For the LORD is about to hurl you away, mighty man. He is going to grab you,
the LORD is about to hurl you away. Even the mightiest of people are not immune to their own moment before God. Everyone will reap what they have sown.
There is a law of “sowing and reaping” throughout the Bible. How shall we reconcile it with grace and mercy? Here are the verses we’ve found »
VERSE 18. He will surely wind you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a large country. There you will die, and there the chariots of your glory will be, you shame of your lord’s house.
a large country. Shebna will die in a large foreign country (probably Assyria).
VERSE 19. I will thrust you from your office. You will be pulled down from your station.
ELIAKIM THE PALACE ADMINISTRATOR IS APPLAUDED
VERSE 20. It will happen in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
my servant Eliakim. Eliakim was the administrator of the palace. He was loyal to the LORD God.
VERSE 21. and I will clothe him with your robe, and strengthen him with your belt. I will commit your government into his hand; and he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.
clothe him with your robe. That is like the prodigal son.
VERSE 22. I will lay the key of David’s house on his shoulder. He will open, and no one will shut. He will shut, and no one will open.
the key of David’s house. The “key” is a symbol of authority.
VERSE 23. I will fasten him like a nail in a sure place. He will be for a throne of glory to his father’s house.
NAB translation. I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot, to be a place of honor for his family.
fix him like a peg in a sure spot. God can give us strength and stability.
VERSE 24. They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the cups even to all the pitchers.
NLT translation. They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowliest members of his family.
even the lowliest members of his family. When we are firm in our faith, the blessings from the LORD God can overflow to the people around us.
That phenomenon is sometimes called the “Overflow” blessings.
VERSE 25. “In that day,” says the LORD of Hosts, “the nail that was fastened in a sure place will give way. It will be cut down and fall. The burden that was on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken it.”
ISAIAH
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, True Fasting
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.