Frameworks:
Isaiah 22: Against
Jerusalem
Context:
1.2.2
Second wave Ch.21-23
Ch.21
– Against
Babylon, against Edom & against Arabia
Ch.22
– Against
Jerusalem
Ch.23
– Against Tyre
This
Chapter:
v.1-4
Anguish in the city
v.5-14
God is bringing destruction to this city that disregards God
v.15-19
The Lord will remove Shebna
v.20-25
He will replace him with Eliakim
[Introductory
Comment: The
Valley of Vision is Jerusalem, a town [v.2] with walls [v.5],
the city of David [v.9], named [v.10], a place that is in anguish
and turmoil [v.1-4] because fear had made their leaders flee,
dying In the process [v.3]. That seems to have been past history
but from v.5 the Lord warns of a day of destruction that is coming
on this city that had disregarded him [v.5-14] in their complacent
revelry [v.13].
Typical
of this self-serving people was Shebna the court administrator,
concerned for himself [v.16] relishing his position with the king
[v.18] and caring little about the ordinary people implied by
what follows. The Lord is about to remove him and send him into
exile and will replace him by Eliakim, who will take his place
and will care for the people [v.20,21] and be given God's authority
to lead [v.22-24] and become one who others turn to for support.
Nevertheless, he will be insufficient to be their complete provision
for only the Lord can be that [v.25]. A chapter of challenge.]
v.1
-4 Anguish in the city
v.1
(The city is Jerusalem
that is troubled) A
prophecy against the Valley of Vision:
What
troubles you now,
that you have all gone up on the roofs,
v.2 (There
is upset because there is death) you
town so full of commotion,
you city of tumult and revelry?
Your slain were not killed by the sword,
nor did they die in battle.
v.3 (Their
leaders are taken without a fight) All
your leaders have fled together;
they have been captured without using
the bow.
All you who were caught were taken prisoner together,
having fled while the enemy was still
far away.
v.4 (Therefor
Isaiah is in anguish over his people) Therefore
I said, ‘Turn away from me;
let me weep bitterly.
Do not try to console me
over the destruction of my people.'
v.5-14
God is bringing destruction to this city that disregards God
v.5
(God is bringing destruction
to Jerusalem) The
Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day
of tumult and trampling and terror
in the Valley of Vision,
a day of battering down walls
and of crying out to the mountains.
v.6 (Enemies
for the north east come) Elam
[east of Babylon] takes
up the quiver,
with her charioteers and horses;
Kir uncovers the shield.
v.7 (they
fill the land) Your
choicest valleys are full of chariots,
and horsemen are posted at the city gates.
v.8
(God allows them access
to the Land) The
Lord stripped away the defences of Judah,
and you looked in that day
to the weapons in the Palace of the Forest.
v.9 (This
Jerusalem's walls are breached) You
saw that the walls of the City of David
were broken through in many places;
you stored up water
in the Lower Pool.
v.10
(Houses are used as rubble
to fill the breaches) You
counted the buildings in Jerusalem
and tore down houses to strengthen the
wall.
v.11
(They made your own resources
not relying on the Lord) You
built a reservoir between the two walls
for the water of the Old Pool,
but you did not look to the One who made it,
or have regard for the One who planned
it long ago.
v.12
(Thus the Lord brought
anguish) The
Lord, the Lord Almighty,
called you on that day
to weep and to wail,
to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth.
v.13
(But they seem oblivious
to this in their revelry) But
see, there is joy and revelry,
slaughtering of cattle and killing of
sheep,
eating of meat and drinking of wine!
‘Let us eat and drink,' you say,
‘for tomorrow we die!'
v.14
(This sin is so serious
it cannot be atoned for) The
Lord Almighty has revealed this in my hearing: ‘Till your dying
day this sin will not be atoned for,' says the Lord, the Lord
Almighty.
v.15-19
The Lord will remove Shebna
v.15
(God speaks against the
palace administrator) This
is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:
‘Go,
say to this steward,
to Shebna the palace administrator:
v.16
(In his pride he created
a tomb to ensure his is remembered) what
are you doing here and who gave you permission
to cut out a grave for yourself here,
hewing your grave on the height
and chiselling your resting-place in the
rock?
v.17
(But the Lord is going
to remove him) ‘Beware,
the Lord is about to take firm hold of you
and hurl you away, you mighty man.
v.18
(He will be taken to
a foreign country where he will die, despite his appearances of
grandeur) He
will roll you up tightly like a ball
and throw you into a large country.
There you will die
and there the chariots you were so proud
of
will become a disgrace to your master's
house.
v.19
(God WILL remove him)
I will
depose you from your office,
and you will be ousted from your position.
v.20-25
He will replace him with Eliakim
v.20
(Eliakim is to be his
replacement) ‘In
that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son
of Hilkiah.
v.21
(he will be given his
role but he will care for the people) I
will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him
and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those
who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah.
v.22
(To him will be given
David's authority before the Lord) I
will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what
he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
v.23
(He will be firmly established)
I will
drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat
of honour for the house of his father.
v.24
(All will depend on him)
All the
glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots –
all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.
v.25
(Yet even he will be
insufficient to be the lone resource for God's people, only He
Himself [implied]) ‘In
that day,' declares the Lord Almighty, ‘the peg driven into the
firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall,
and the load hanging on it will be cut down.' The Lord has spoken.
CONTINUE
TO CHAPTER 23