Commentary - Isaiah 22:15-25

Bird's-eye view

This passage in Isaiah is a sharp, personal prophecy that functions like a hinge in the book. Tucked within oracles against great nations, God zooms in on two individuals in Jerusalem's royal court. It is a tale of two stewards. The first is Shebna, a man drunk on his own importance, who is busy building a monument to himself. God promises to unceremoniously eject him from his high office. The second is Eliakim, whom God calls "My servant." God promises to depose the proud man and install the faithful one, giving him the symbols of true, delegated authority: the tunic, the sash, and most importantly, the key of the house of David. This historical account of covenantal succession is far more than a palace intrigue; it is a living parable. Shebna represents all self-serving authority, while Eliakim is a clear type of the Lord Jesus Christ, the ultimate faithful steward who holds the key to God's kingdom. The passage concludes with a startling warning that even the most secure human peg will one day fail, forcing us to look for our security in the one Peg who can never be removed.

In essence, God is demonstrating His absolute sovereignty over human affairs. Men scheme and build their little empires, carving out their legacies in stone, but God raises up and casts down according to His own pleasure. The pride of man is a fleeting thing, but the purposes of God, fulfilled in His chosen servant, are eternal. This is a story about the transfer of God's kingdom from the hands of the arrogant to the hands of the humble, a pattern that finds its ultimate expression in the gospel.

Outline

Context In Isaiah

Isaiah 22 is part of a larger section of prophecies (chapters 13-23) known as the "oracles against the nations." Isaiah pronounces judgment on Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, and so on. But chapter 22 is unique because the oracle is directed against "the valley of vision," which is Jerusalem itself. The first part of the chapter (vv. 1-14) condemns the city for its frivolous, faithless response to a military threat. Instead of repenting, they partied. It is in this context of internal corruption and covenantal unfaithfulness that God singles out Shebna, the royal steward. The problem is not just with the people, but with the leadership. This specific, personal prophecy against Shebna and for Eliakim serves as a concrete example of the principle that God will judge the unfaithful within His own house and replace them with those who will serve Him rightly. It grounds the grand, sweeping prophecies against nations in the nitty-gritty reality of individual accountability before God.

Key Issues

The Peg and the Key

At the heart of our fallen nature is the desire to secure our own legacy. We want to make a name for ourselves, to hew out a place in this world that will last, to be a peg that is driven into a firm place. Shebna is the poster child for this ambition. He is a high-ranking official, the steward of the king's house, which was the second most powerful position in the kingdom. But that is not enough for him. He is busy carving out a magnificent tomb for himself high on a cliff, a monument to his own greatness. He is trying to make himself a permanent fixture.

God's response to this is instructive. He does not just demote Shebna; He treats his pride with a kind of holy contempt. He is going to roll him up like a ball and throw him into another country. All his glorious chariots, the symbols of his status, will end up there with him as a disgrace. God resists the proud. But to the humble, He gives grace. God has His own man, Eliakim, whom He calls "My servant." And to this man, He gives true authority, symbolized by the key of the house of David. This isn't an authority that is seized, but one that is bestowed. This story is a microcosm of God's economy. Men try to establish their own glory and fail spectacularly. God establishes His chosen servants in His own time and in His own way, and their authority is real because it comes from Him.

Verse by Verse Commentary

15-16 Thus says Lord Yahweh of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, To Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household, ‘What right do you have here, And whom do you have here, That you have hewn a tomb for yourself here, You who hew a tomb on the height, You who carve a dwelling place for yourself in the cliff?

God sends Isaiah on a mission to confront a specific man, Shebna. He is the steward, the one in charge of the palace. The Lord's challenge is blunt and cuts to the heart of the matter: "What right do you have here?" This is not a question about his job title. It is a challenge to his entire posture of arrogant self-importance. "Whom do you have here?" In other words, who are your people? Are you from the royal line of David? No, you are a court functionary, and yet you are acting like a king, carving out a permanent monument for yourself as though you owned the place. This tomb, hewn on a height for maximum visibility, was an act of supreme pride. He was trying to secure his own name, his own legacy, in stone. This is the essence of godless ambition.

17-18 Behold, Yahweh is about to hurl you headlong, O man. And He is about to grasp you firmly And He will surely roll you tightly like a ball, To be cast into a vast country; There you will die, And there your glorious chariots will be, You disgrace of your master’s house.’

The judgment is as vivid as the sin was arrogant. God is going to violently eject him. The language is almost playful in its contempt. He will be grasped, rolled up tightly like a ball, and hurled into a big, empty land. The man who tried to carve out a permanent place for himself in the holy city will die as an exile in a foreign country. His glorious chariots, the very symbols of his power and prestige, will be there with him, not as a comfort, but as a reminder of his fall. They will be a monument to his disgrace. This is what happens when a man makes his name and his glory the center of his universe. God will not be mocked; He will turn a man's glory into his shame.

19 I will push you out of your office, And I will pull you down from your station.

The action is decisive and personal. "I will push you... I will pull you down." Shebna may think his position is secure, that he earned it through his own cleverness, but God reminds him who is actually in charge. All human authority is delegated authority. God is the one who sets up rulers and the one who deposes them. This is a direct statement of God's absolute sovereignty over the affairs of men, from the grandest empire down to a single office in the Jerusalem bureaucracy.

20-21 Then it will be in that day, That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, And I will clothe him with your tunic And tie your sash securely about him. I will give your authority into his hand, And he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

God does not just create a power vacuum. He has a replacement ready. Notice the contrast. Shebna is "this steward." Eliakim is "My servant." The transfer of power is symbolized by the official garments, the tunic and the sash. Shebna is stripped, and Eliakim is clothed. And with the office comes a different kind of character. Shebna was a self-promoter. Eliakim will be a father to the people. A father provides, protects, and guides for the good of the family, not for his own glory. This is the biblical model of leadership: servant-hearted, paternal care for the people of God.

22 Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, When he opens no one will shut, When he shuts no one will open.

This is the climax of the prophecy. The key was the ultimate symbol of the steward's authority. It granted access to the king's treasures and control over who could enter the king's presence. Placing it "on his shoulder" suggests a large, conspicuous key, a visible sign of his office. It also echoes the messianic prophecy in Isaiah 9:6, "and the government shall be upon his shoulder." Eliakim's authority is absolute and decisive: what he opens, stays open; what he shuts, stays shut. This language is picked up directly by the Lord Jesus in the New Testament. He gives the keys of the kingdom to Peter (Matt 16:19), and in Revelation, the risen Christ says of Himself, "He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens" (Rev 3:7). Eliakim is a historical person, but his role here is a magnificent type, a foreshadowing, of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who holds the ultimate authority in the house of God.

23-24 I will drive him like a peg in a firm place, And he will become a throne of glory to his father’s house. So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, offspring and issue, all the least of vessels, from bowls to all the jars.

The imagery shifts from a key to a peg. In ancient houses, large wooden pegs were driven into the stone walls to hang things on. A peg in a "firm place" is a picture of stability, security, and reliability. Eliakim will be that for his family and for the nation. He will be so secure that he becomes a "throne of glory" for his family. All their honor and well-being, from the most important members ("offspring") to the least ("all the least of vessels"), will hang securely on him. This is the blessing of godly leadership. A faithful man brings stability and honor to everyone connected to him.

25 In that day,” declares Yahweh of hosts, “the peg driven in a firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off, for Yahweh has spoken.”

This final verse is a stunning and necessary corrective. After building up Eliakim as this firm, reliable peg, the prophecy declares that even that peg will one day give way. Why? Because he is still just a man. All human institutions, all human leaders, no matter how godly or secure, are ultimately temporary. Eliakim was a type of Christ, but he was not Christ. This verse forces us to lift our eyes higher. If we hang all our hopes, all our security, all our glory on any human peg, that peg will eventually fail. Our trust must not be in the type, but in the antitype. Our only ultimate security is to be hung on the one Peg who is truly driven into a firm place by God Himself, the Lord Jesus, who can never be broken off and can never fall.

Application

The story of Shebna and Eliakim is our story. The temptation to be a Shebna is a constant for all of us. We want to build our own little kingdoms, to make a name for ourselves, to carve out a legacy that we think will last. We do this in our careers, in our families, even in our ministries. We are tempted to use the authority God gives us for our own ends, to build our own monuments. God's word to us is the same as it was to Shebna: "What right do you have here?" All that we have is a stewardship, a trust from God, and one day we will give an account.

The gospel is the only cure for the Shebna-syndrome. The gospel tells us that our attempts to secure our own glory are not only futile but damnable. Our only hope is to abandon our monument-building projects and trust in the one whom God has appointed. Jesus Christ is the true and better Eliakim. He is the ultimate servant who became a father to a new humanity. He holds the key of David. He is the one who opens the way to God, and no one can shut it. He is the peg, driven into the firm place of God's eternal purpose, and all the glory of God's house hangs on Him. He is the only one who can bear the weight. Our task is not to become a secure peg, but to hang all of our hopes, our identity, our future, and our paltry little glories onto Him. He will not give way. He will not break off. He will not fall.