Isaiah 22:22














The "key on the shoulder" is no mere badge of the steward's office; it represents delegated authority. Large wooden locks and keys were used in the East, and these keys were heavy enough to need carrying on the shoulder. But the expression is best regarded as a recognized figure of speech. The figure may receive four illustrations.

I. THE KEY OF COURT OFFICE. As in case of Eliakim.

II. THE KEY OF RABBIS, AS TEACHERS. Remember the expression, "The key of knowledge."

III. THE KEY OF CHRIST, AS HEAD OF THE CHURCH. (Revelation 3:7.)

IV. THE KEYS AS COMMITTED TO PETER. (Matthew 16:19.) - R.T.

My servant Eliakim.
Who was he? Nobody can tell. Where else is he referred to in Holy Writ? Probably nowhere. Was he then a man without renown? That depends upon what you mean by renown, for he is indicated in the text by terms which imply infinite fame, Say "Eliakim," and nobody knows him; say "My servant Eliakim," and obscurity rises up into eminence unrivalled and never to be surpassed.

(J. Parker, D. D.)

Renown, then, may be nominal, or it may be moral. Nominal renown is a thing that comes and goes, a coloured cloud, a bubble on the river, a noise in the air, nothing that is substantial, nothing that is beneficent in itself; but moral renown, the renown of goodness, the fame of character, the reputation associated with deeds of sacrifice or valour — that is a renown which lives in heaven.

(J. Parker, D. D.)

The language here used about Eliakim finds its perfect fulfilment only in Him whose supreme prerogative it is so to open that no man can shut, even Jesus Christ.

(B. Blake, B. D.)

(ver. 22) consists not merely in supervision of the royal chambers, but also in the decision as to who was and who was not to be received into the king's service.

(F. Delitzsch.)

A nation's rulers (Zechariah 10:4) stand in the same relation to the community as a tent peg to the tent which it holds firmly and keeps up. As the tent peg is driven into the ground in such a way that a person can, if necessary, sit on it, so by development of the metaphor the peg is changed into a seat of honour. As a splendid chair adorns a room, so Eliakim graces his hitherto undistinguished family. The closely connected thought, that the members of his family in order to attain to honours would sit on this chair, is expressed by a different figure. Eliakim is once more presented to us as a "nail," now, however, as a high one, somewhat like a pole on which coats are hung up, or as a peg driven into the wall at a distance from the ground. On this pole or peg they hang — i.e., one hangs or there hangs — the whole heavy lot (as in chap. 8:7) of the family of Eliakim. The prophet proceeds to split up this family into its male and female components, as the juxtaposition of masculine and feminine nouns shows.

(F. Delitzsch.)

I. ELIAKIM'S CALL unto his honourable employment, whereby is represented Christ's call unto His mediatory work and office (ver. 20). Christ did not run unsent.

II. THE BADGES OF HONOUR bestowed upon Him in consequence of His call (vers. 21, 22).

1. He is clothed with a royal robe. So Christ is clothed (Revelation 1) with a garment down to the foot, that serves to cover and adorn Himself and all His members.

2. He is strengthened with a girdle, a girdle of truth and faithfulness; He is always ready girded for the execution of His work.

3. He hath the keys of the house committed to Him, and the sole government; He opens, and none shuts, etc. The keys of the heart, and the keys of hell and death are in His hand.

III. HIS CONFIRMATION IN HIS HONOURABLE OFFICE AND STATION. He is "fastened as a nail in a sure place." Christ is nailed in His mediatory work and office by an eternal decree (Psalm 2:7), and by the oath of God (Psalm 110:4); and all the powers of hell and earth shall never loose this nail.

IV. We are here told TO WHAT ADVANTAGE HE SHOULD DISCHARGE HIS TRUST. "He shall be for a glorious throne to His Father's house." God manifested in the flesh is the throne of grace to which we are called to come with boldness; and this may well be called a glorious throne," because there is, in this dispensation of grace, the brightest display of the glory of God. Christ is the ornament of His Father's house, the brightness of His glory, and the brightest crown that ever adorned the human nature.

V. CHRIST'S PREEMINENCE IN GOD'S FAMILY, and the dependence of all the domestics upon Him (ver. 24).

1. The designation given unto the Church of God; "the house of the God and Father of Christ."

2. The nature and quality of the house; there is "glory" in it.

3. The high and honourable station that Christ hath in His Father's house; He is the great Master household, and the whole family is committed to Him, and is said to "hang upon Him as a nail fastened in a sure place."

4. The common consent of the whole family unto His management; they shall hang upon Him all the glory, etc.; i.e., the Father of the family, and the whole offspring of the house, concur amicably that He should have the sole management.

5. Some account of the furniture of the house, committed to the management of the great New Testament Eliakim.

(1)The glory.

(2)The offspring and issue.

(3)The vessels of small quantity, from vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.By which we are to understand believers, for they are the children of God, and the seed of Christ by regeneration; and likewise called "vessels," because they are the recipient subjects of Divine grace, which is the wine, milk, and honey of the house.

(E. Erskine.)

People
Aram, David, Elam, Eliakim, Hilkiah, Isaiah, Shebna
Places
Elam, House of the Forest, Jerusalem, Kedar, Kir
Topics
Care, David, Family, Keeps, Key, Lay, None, Open, Opened, Opening, Opens, Placed, Shoulder, Shut, Shuts, Shutting
Outline
1. The prophet laments the invasion of Jerusalem
8. He reproves their human wisdom and worldly joy
15. He prophesies Shebna's deprivation
20. And the substitution of Eliakim, prefiguring the kingdom of Christ.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 22:22

     5364   key

Library
Prevailing Prayer.
Text.--The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.--James v. 16. THE last lecture referred principally to the confession of sin. To-night my remarks will be chiefly confined to the subject of intercession, or prayer. There are two kinds of means requisite to promote a revival; one to influence men, the other to influence God. The truth is employed to influence men, and prayer to move God. When I speak of moving God, I do not mean that God's mind is changed by prayer, or that his
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion

Sundry Sharp Reproofs
This doctrine draws up a charge against several sorts: 1 Those that think themselves good Christians, yet have not learned this art of holy mourning. Luther calls mourning a rare herb'. Men have tears to shed for other things, but have none to spare for their sins. There are many murmurers, but few mourners. Most are like the stony ground which lacked moisture' (Luke 8:6). We have many cry out of hard times, but they are not sensible of hard hearts. Hot and dry is the worst temper of the body. Sure
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Gihon, the Same with the Fountain of Siloam.
I. In 1 Kings 1:33,38, that which is, in the Hebrew, "Bring ye Solomon to Gihon: and they brought him to Gihon"; is rendered by the Chaldee, "Bring ye him to Siloam: and they brought him to Siloam." Where Kimchi thus; "Gihon is Siloam, and it is called by a double name. And David commanded, that they should anoint Solomon at Gihon for a good omen, to wit, that, as the waters of the fountain are everlasting, so might his kingdom be." So also the Jerusalem writers; "They do not anoint the king, but
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Sennacherib (705-681 B. C. )
The struggle of Sennacherib with Judaea and Egypt--Destruction of Babylon. Sennacherib either failed to inherit his father's good fortune, or lacked his ability.* He was not deficient in military genius, nor in the energy necessary to withstand the various enemies who rose against him at widely removed points of his frontier, but he had neither the adaptability of character nor the delicate tact required to manage successfully the heterogeneous elements combined under his sway. * The two principal
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8

The Call of Matthew - the Saviour's Welcome to Sinners - Rabbinic Theology as Regards the Doctrine of Forgiveness in Contrast to the Gospel of Christ
In two things chiefly does the fundamental difference appear between Christianity and all other religious systems, notably Rabbinism. And in these two things, therefore, lies the main characteristic of Christ's work; or, taking a wider view, the fundamental idea of all religions. Subjectively, they concern sin and the sinner; or, to put it objectively, the forgiveness of sin and the welcome to the sinner. But Rabbinism, and every other system down to modern humanitarianism - if it rises so high in
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Third Withdrawal from Herod's Territory.
Subdivision B. The Great Confession Made by Peter. (Near Cæsarea Philippi, Summer, a.d. 29.) ^A Matt. XVI. 13-20; ^B Mark VIII. 27-30; ^C Luke IX. 18-21. ^b 27 And Jesus went forth, and his disciples, into the villages of Cæsarea Philippi [The city of Paneas was enlarged by Herod Philip I., and named in honor of Tiberias Cæsar. It also bore the name Philippi because of the name of its builder, and to distinguish it from Cæsarea Palestinæ or Cæsarea Strotonis, a
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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