Bible Lesson: Keys.
Bible Text: Isaiah 22:1-25 NLT
A Message concerning Jerusalem
1 This message came to me concerning Jerusalem—the Valley of Vision: What is happening? Why is everyone running to the rooftops?
2 The whole city is in a terrible uproar. What do I see in this reveling city? Bodies are lying everywhere, killed not in battle but by famine and disease.
3 All your leaders have fled. They surrendered without resistance. The people tried to slip away, but they were captured, too.
4 That’s why I said, “Leave me alone to weep; do not try to comfort me. Let me cry for my people as I watch them being destroyed.”
5 Oh, what a day of crushing defeat! What a day of confusion and terror brought by the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,upon the Valley of Vision! The walls of Jerusalem have been broken, and cries of death echo from the mountainsides.
6 Elamites are the archers, with their chariots and charioteers. The men of Kir hold up the shields.
7 Chariots fill your beautiful valleys, and charioteers storm your gates.
8 Judah’s defenses have been stripped away. You run to the armory for your weapons.
9 You inspect the breaks in the walls of Jerusalem. You store up water in the lower pool.
10 You survey the houses and tear some down for stone to strengthen the walls.
11 Between the city walls, you build a reservoir for water from the old pool. But you never ask for help from the One who did all this. You never considered the One who planned this long ago.
12 At that time the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, called you to weep and mourn. He told you to shave your heads in sorrow for your sins and to wear clothes of burlap to show your remorse.
13 But instead, you dance and play; you slaughter cattle and kill sheep. You feast on meat and drink wine. You say, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
14 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.
God's Message to Shebna
15 This is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, said to me: “Confront Shebna, the palace administrator, and give him this message:
16 “Who do you think you are, and what are you doing here, building a beautiful tomb for yourself— a monument high up in the rock?
17 For the Lord is about to hurl you away, mighty man. He is going to grab you,
18 crumple you into a ball, and toss you away into a distant, barren land. There you will die, and your glorious chariots will be broken and useless. You are a disgrace to your master!
19 “Yes, I will drive you out of office,” says the Lord. “I will pull you down from your high position.
20 And then I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah to replace you.
21 I will dress him in your royal robes and will give him your title and your authority. And he will be a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah.
22 I will give him the key to the house of David—the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them.
23 He will bring honor to his family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall.
24 They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowliest members of his family.”
25 But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies also says: “The time will come when I will pull out the nail that seemed so firm. It will come out and fall to the ground. Everything it supports will fall with it. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
The sins of God's people had come up before Him.
Isaiah 22:13 KJV
And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.
This was their motto, as they lived in sin and lawlessness, without God.
When men or a country live without morals, they will act immorally.
Isaiah 22:14 NLT
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.
Death, eternal death, faces the sinner.
Ezekiel 18:4 KJV
"...the soul that sinneth, it shall die."
God, had a message for their Chief Counselor/ Minster of the Interior, Shebna, who had honored and built monuments to himself, and His message was that of judgment.
Isaiah 22:17-19 NLT
17 For the Lord is about to hurl you away, mighty man. He is going to grab you,
18 crumple you into a ball, and toss you away into a distant, barren land. There you will die, and your glorious chariots will be broken and useless. You are a disgrace to your master!
19 “Yes, I will drive you out of office,” says the Lord. “I will pull you down from your high position.
I Samuel 2:6-10 KJV
6 The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.
7 The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: He bringeth low, and lifteth up.
8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and He hath set the world upon them.
9 He will keep the feet of His saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall He thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and He shall give strength unto His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed.
God had another leader at hand, one that was righteous, Eliakim, son of Hilkiah.
Isaiah 22:21-24 NLT
21 I will dress him in your royal robes and will give him your title and your authority. And he will be a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah.
22 I will give him the key to the house of David—the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them.
23 He will bring honor to his family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall.
24 They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowliest members of his family.”
Isaiah 22:22 NLT
I will give him the key to the house of David...”
The Key of David, a symbol of power and authority, instituted by God.
But even Eliakim, was reminded...
Isaiah 22:25 NLT
But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies also says: “The time will come when I will pull out the nail that seemed so firm. It will come out and fall to the ground. Everything it supports will fall with it. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
How careful we must be as we walk before the Lord!
Galatians 5:16 KJV
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Ephesians 4:1 KJV
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
Ephesians 5:1 KJV
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
I John 1:7 KJV
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
I John 2:6 KJV
He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.
In ancient times locks and keys were rather large, and made of wood. Keys were so bent or made crooked as to, only, turn the lock.
A man wore a key, hanging down from his shoulder attached by a ring. A key was a symbol of authority, someone who had certain responsibility.
How wonderful to know we have someone today, who has the keys of “all,” authority!
Isaiah 22:22 NLT
I will give him the key to the house of David—the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them.
Revelation 3:7 KJV
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith He that is Holy, He that is True, He that hath the Key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
Revelation 1:10-18 KJV
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
14 His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire;
15 And His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters.
16 And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the First and the Last:
18 I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
God sees, men and nations:
Job 31:4 KJV
Doth not He see my ways, and count all my steps?
Job 34:21 KJV
For His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He seeth all his goings.
Psalm 147:5 KJV
Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is infinite.
Hebrews 4:13 KJV
Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
I John 3:20 KJV
For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
The answer:
II Chronicles 7:14 KJV
If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Jeremiah 3:22 NLT
“My wayward children,” says the Lord, “come back to Me, and I will heal your wayward hearts.”
Zechariah 1:3 KJV
Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of Hosts; Turn ye unto Me, saith the LORD of Hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of Hosts.
Isaiah 58:9 KJV
Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am..."
Hebrews 3:15 KJV
While it is said, To day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts..."
Psalm 19:14 KJV
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my Redeemer.
