Isaiah 22:17
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.
