Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Isaiah 22:17

Copyright Ó 2014 J. Neely
Isaiah 22:17ues

17 Behold, the LORD [Yahovah] will carry thee away [tuwl] with a mighty [geber] captivity [taltelah], and will surely [`atah] cover [`atah] thee.  KJV-Interlinear

17 Behold, the LORD will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you   ESV

The reprimand of Shebna, continues.  He is a traitor.  He is self-centered.  He cares nothing for anyone but himself.  He does not pursue his spiritual life, but only cares for the conveniences and purposes of the moment.

And that is a very good description of anyone who rejects God, Christ, truth and doctrine.  In rejecting all that is good, they embrace all that is bad.  And bad only leads to more bad.

God will carry him away, but not in a gentle manner.  God carries evil away in a violent manner and that is what awaits Shebna.

He will not settle down in the place where he is comfortable.  No one can be comfortable in evil and expect to remain there.

He will not be laid to rest in a fancy tomb and expect to experience the perks of the tomb.  That in itself is a ridiculous consideration, anyway.

Evil, in all of its forms, is eventually carried away by other evil, and that is what will happen to Shebna.  Back in Isaiah’s day, the Assyrians will come and carry away many captives.

In the future, in the Tribulation, those who are evil, will be carried away by others that are evil.  The Tribulation will be a whirlwind of confusion and chaos.

And as very little is known about Shebna or his life, or even what actually happened to him, so too, in that future time there will be many whose names we do not know and never will know.  They will be carried away, but not as captives, but as dead bodies, unidentified, priorities in tow, and tossed into some unidentified pit or place to be forever forgotten.

Today life is nowhere near what it is going to be in the Tribulation.  Granted there are many problems for people these days, but by comparison to the Tribulation population, we are really well off.  Nowhere, near the stresses and terrors that will exist then.  And yet most people ignore their spiritual opportunities, when they have every means to have the greatest life imaginable.

Shebna represents all who have the very wrong priorities in life, focusing on things, even on the hereafter in so far as the tomb represents.  But to focus on the resting place of the dead, rather than on the preparation of the soul for the living, is way off track.

Today people focus on the things of the world, and ignore the things of the soul.

When you procrastinate as far as your spiritual life advancement is concerned, then you become comfortable and indifferent, then your mild indifference turns to apathy, then your apathy turns to a rigid resistance.  And the way back to truth becomes more and more difficult.


If you do not recognize your wayward error, then your destination will be very similar to that of Shebna.  And we do not know precisely what happened to him, only that, it was not what he planned and it was not pretty.