A Welcome Change In Government Series

A change in government is always a big deal: there are new cabinet members to choose, new policies to begin implementing, new office spaces to move into. The old is quickly shuffled to one side, and the new is put into the spotlight.

In our text today, we see something similar. Isaiah 22 describes a change in leadership, one that had big consequences for the people of Judah. No, there hadn’t been an election. And this was not a change that was going to make headlines at the Babylonian Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). But all the same, this change was significant for God’s people.

God was removing one man from office, Shebna, and He was replacing him with another, Eliakim. The Lord has always shown care for his covenant people through the men and women He calls to service. Our text is another instance of that, as Eliakim is given a position of leadership in Judah, and he is commanded to govern diligently and faithfully.

Now, these few verses are about a very specific moment in history, a particular situation of concern in the days of Judah. Throughout his prophecies, Isaiah has been telling us much about ‘the big picture,’ sketching out God’s grand plan of judgment and salvation. He’s been prophesying events that would be unfolding over the next hundred years, the next five hundred years—even spectacular events that wouldn’t take place until the end of time. But now we zoom in on this passing moment in Judah’s history, a change of leadership that few outside of Israel would’ve noticed, as Shebna is shuffled aside and Eliakim is installed.

What does this matter for our lives today? How are we meant to be instructed and equipped for every good work by this small portion of God’s Word? Stay with me as we explore Isaiah 22, and we’ll see. I preach the gospel from Isaiah 22:20-23 on this theme,

God lifts up Eliakim–and Christ–as the faithful ruler:

1) He will be God’s chosen servant

2) He will govern his people well

3) He will be secure on his throne

1) He will be God’s chosen servant: We can’t really appreciate what God is saying about Eliakim in our text until we go back a few verses and consider what God has first said about Shebna. Look at verse 15; there Isaiah is told, “Go, proceed to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the house.” There is the office or task that’s under question today: ‘steward.’

Most of us are familiar with the word ‘steward.’ We often use it when we’re speaking about the earthly responsibilities that God gives us, like the calling to manage his many gifts and blessings. In our life we aim to be ‘faithful stewards.’

In the time of Isaiah, the position of steward was also a position of management, but quite an elevated position. The steward was a man who held great power, for it was one of the highest offices in the land. Notice how verse 15 says that he was “over the house” (or perhaps, over the palace). The king was ultimately in charge of all the land, of course, but a king always had so much to do. So his chief steward helped him to exercise his rule, like a deputy prime minister. He decided who was allowed to go in to see the king. He collected revenue and paid out expenses. He made decisions about building projects at home, and diplomacy abroad.

The king was on the throne, we said, called to rule God’s people as the LORD’s own representative on earth. And the kings in David’s line were expected to display the justice and righteousness of God through all their character and conduct. So a steward, if he was faithful, could serve that great cause. Or by his wickedness, he could hinder it.

Shebna has been the steward for a while in Judah. Now, we don’t know anything about Shebna, not even who his father was. What we do know is that he’d been failing to use his position wisely. Starting in verse 15, Isaiah describes how Shebna had been out for his own glory instead of serving for the good of the country. He’d been spending lots of money on himself, driving around Jerusalem on his “glorious chariots” (v 18), and thinking about how he’d be remembered in future generations. He’d even been building himself a sepulchre (v 16), a fine tomb cut out of rock, so that when he was dead, people would still be impressed by him.

In short, Shebna was faithless. He was the kind of politician who ends up in scandal for some scheme to enrich himself, corrupted by power and fame. Self-serving, unstable, a disgrace to his office—Shebna was typical, actually, of the people he was supposed to govern. Judah was a lot like him, being self-interested and forgetful of the Lord’s commands.