Isaiah 22:20
20 And it shall come to pass in that day [yowm], that I will call [qara']
my servant [`ebed] Eliakim ['Elyaqiym'] the son [ben] of Hilkiah [Chilqiyah]: KJV-Interlinear
20 In that day I will call my servant
Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, ESV
Eliakim means,
God will raise up. Hilkiah means, portion
of Jehovah. And so this father and son represent the work and provision of God,
and specifically Jesus Christ.
This is in contrast
to the work of Shebna, who was looking out only for himself and not only at the
expense of others, but at the expense of the entire city of Jerusalem and
country Israel.
Shebna
represents the work of evil. Eliakim
represents the work and plan of God.
I will call,
means that it is God who controls history.
It is God who promotes and demotes.
Shebna was
demoted, fired and eventually destroyed. In chapter thirty-seven Shebna was identified
as a chancellor, or a lofty position, and Eliakim was described as a steward, a
lowly position.
Recall that
David was but a shepherd boy and promoted to king.
Therefore, God is
not limited in His ability to promote the low, or demote the high.
Man always looks
to education or credentials, and before you try to write that off, it was God
who provided for all of the ingredients of education in this country and in the
world. So do not try to use this example
to excuse yourself out of your schooling.
It is God who
promotes in accordance with His will, not you.
God promotes those who are prepared.
Eliakim was
prepared both academically and spiritually. The two combine to make you
extremely valuable and useful.
Nevertheless,
unless God promotes, you are not promoted.
And when God promotes, it is permanent.
In your life,
you were promoted into the plan of God.
You were promoted into life. And
when you believed in Christ, you were promoted into eternal life. When you study and advance in your spiritual life,
it is God still, who promotes your spiritual advancement.
And along the
way, you may or may not be promoted into various occupations or activities of
Gods choosing. Often times the only way
you will know is through hindsight perhaps, but certainly if you have a
dysfunctional spiritual life, then you can be certain that whatever your worldly
successes may be, they are not spiritually driven, but only permitted.
Therefore, evil
was fired and divine provision was promoted into its place. That is always the way that things work out.
