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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
I S A I A H.
CHAP. XXII.
We have now come nearer home, for this chapter is “the burden of the
valley of vision,” Jerusalem; other places had their burden for the
sake of their being concerned in some way or other with Jerusalem, and
were reckoned with either as spiteful enemies or deceitful friends to
the people of God; but now let Jerusalem hear her own doom. This
chapter concerns,
I. The city of Jerusalem itself and the neighbourhood depending upon
it. Here is,
1. A prophecy of the grievous distress they should shortly be brought
into by Sennacherib’s invasion of the country and laying siege to the
city,
2. A reproof given them for their misconduct in that distress, in two
things:–
(1.) Not having an eye to God in the use of the means of their
preservation,
(2.) Not humbling themselves under his mighty hand,
II. The court of Hezekiah, and the officers of that court.
1. The displacing of Shebna, a bad man, and turning him out of the
treasury,
2. The preferring of Eliakim, who should do his country better service,
to his place,
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1 The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now,
that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?
2 Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous
city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in
battle.
3 All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the
archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which
have fled from far.
4 Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly,
labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter
of my people.
5 For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of
perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision,
breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.
6 And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen,
and Kir uncovered the shield.
7 And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall
be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in
array at the gate.
The title of this prophecy is very observable. It is the burden of
the valley of vision, of Judah and Jerusalem; so all agree. Fitly
enough is Jerusalem called a valley, for the mountains were round about
it, and the land of Judah abounded with fruitful valleys; and by the
judgments of God, though they had been as a towering mountain, they
should be brought low, sunk and depressed, and become dark and dirty,
as a valley. But most emphatically is it called a valley of
vision because there God was known and his name was great, there
the prophets were made acquainted with his mind by visions, and there
the people saw the goings of their God and King in his sanctuary.
Babylon, being a stranger to God, though rich and great, was called
the desert of the sea; but Jerusalem, being entrusted with his
oracles, is a valley of vision. Blessed are their eyes, for they
see, and they have seers by office among them. Where Bibles and
ministers are there is a valley of vision, from which is expected fruit
accordingly; but here is a burden of the valley of vision, and a
heavy burden it is. Note, Church privileges, if they be not improved,
will not secure men from the judgments of God. You only have I known
of all the families of the earth; therefore will I punish you. The
valley of vision has a particular burden. Thou Capernaum,
Matt. xi. 23.
The higher any are lifted up in means and mercies the heavier will
their doom be if they abuse them.
Now the burden of the valley of vision here is that which will
not quite ruin it, but only frighten it; for it refers not to the
destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, but to the attempt made
upon it by Sennacherib, which we had the prophecy of,
and shall meet with the history of,
It is here again prophesied of, because the desolations of many of the
neighbouring countries, which were foretold in the foregoing chapters,
were to be brought to pass by the Assyrian army. Now let Jerusalem know
that when the cup is going round it will be put into her hand; and,
although it will not be to her a fatal cup, yet it will be a cup of
trembling. Here is foretold,
I. The consternation that the city should be in upon the approach of
Sennacherib’s army. It used to be full of stirs, a city of great trade,
people hurrying to and fro about their business, a tumultuous city,
populous and noisy. Where there is great trade there is great tumult.
It used to be a joyous revelling city. What with the busy part and what
with the merry part of mankind, places of concourse are places of
noise. “But what ails thee now, that the shops are quitted, and there
is no more walking in the streets and exchange, but thou hast wholly
gone up to the house-tops
(v. 1),
to bemoan thyself in silence and solitude, or to secure thyself from
the enemy, or to look abroad and see if any succours come to thy
relief, or which way the enemies’ motions are.” Let both men of
business and sportsmen rejoice as though they rejoiced not, for
something may happen quickly, which they little think of, that will be
a damp to their mirth and a stop to their business, and send them to
watch as a sparrow alone upon the house-top,
Ps. cii. 7.
But why is Jerusalem in such a fright? Her slain men are not slain
with the sword
(v. 2),
but,
1. Slain with famine (so some); for Sennacherib’s army having laid the
country waste, and destroyed the fruits of the earth, provisions must
needs be very scarce and dear in the city, which would be the death of
many of the poorer sort of people, who would be constrained to feed on
that which was unwholesome.
2. Slain with fear. They were put into this fright though they had not
a man killed, but so disheartened themselves that they seemed as
effectually stabbed with fear as if they had been run through with a
sword.
II. The inglorious flight of the rulers of Judah, who fled from far,
from all parts of the country, to Jerusalem
(v. 3),
fled together, as it were by consent, and were found in Jerusalem,
having left their respective cities, which they should have taken care
of, to be a prey to the Assyrian army, which, meeting with no
opposition, when it came up against all the defenced cities of
Judah easily took them,
ch. xxxvi. 1.
These rulers were bound from the bow (so the word is); they not
only quitted their own cities like cowards, but, when they came to
Jerusalem, were of no service there, but were as if their hands were
tied from the use of the bow, by the extreme distraction and confusion
they were in; they trembled, so that they could not draw a bow. See how
easily God can dispirit men, and how certainly fear will dispirit them,
when the tyranny of it is yielded to.
III. The great grief which this should occasion to all serious sensible
people among them, which is represented by the prophet’s laying the
thing to heart himself; he lived to see it, and was resolved to share
with the children of his people in their sorrows,
He is not willing to proclaim his sorrow, and therefore bids those
about him to look away from him; he will abandon himself to grief, and
indulge himself in it, will weep secretly, but weep bitterly, and will
have none go about to comfort him, for his grief is obstinate and he is
pleased with his pain. But what is the occasion of his grief? A poor
prophet had little to lose, and had been inured to hardship, when he
walked naked and barefoot; but it is for the spoiling of the
daughter of his people. It is a day of trouble, and of treading
down, and of perplexity. Our enemies trouble us and tread us down,
and our friends are perplexed and know not what course to take to do us
a kindness. The Lord God of hosts is now contending with the valley of
vision; the enemies with their battering rams are breaking down the
walls, and we are in vain crying to the mountains (to keep off the
enemy, or to fall on us and cover us) or looking for help to come to us
over the mountains, or appealing, as God does, to the mountains, to
hear our controversy
and to judge between us and our injurious neighbours.
IV. The great numbers and strength of the enemy, that should invade
their country and besiege their city,
Elam (that is, the Persians) come with their quiver full of arrows, and
with chariots of fighting men, and horsemen. Kir (that is, the Medes)
muster up their arms, unsheath the sword, and uncover the shield, and
get every thing ready for battle, every thing ready for the besieging
of Jerusalem. Then the choice valleys about Jerusalem, that used to be
clothed with flocks and covered over with corn, shall be full of
chariots of war, and at the gate of the city the horsemen shall set
themselves in array, to cut off all provisions from going in, and
to force their way in. What a condition must the city be in that was
beset on all sides with such an army!
| Contempt of Divine Goodness; Contempt of Divine Judgments. | B. C. 718. |
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8 And he discovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look
in that day to the armour of the house of the forest.
9 Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that
they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower
pool.
10 And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses
have ye broken down to fortify the wall.
11 Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of
the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof,
neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago.
12 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping,
and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing
sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for
to morrow we shall die.
14 And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts,
Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die,
saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
What is meant by the covering of Judah, which in the beginning
of this paragraph is said to be discovered, is not agreed. The
fenced cities of Judah were a covering to the country; but these, being
taken by the army of the Assyrians, ceased to be a shelter, so that the
whole country lay exposed to be plundered. The weakness of Judah, its
nakedness, and inability to keep itself, now appeared more than ever;
and thus the covering of Judah was discovered. Its magazines and
stores, which had been locked up, were now laid open for the public
use. Dr. Lightfoot gives another sense of it, that by this distress
into which Judah should be brought God would discover their covering
(that is, uncloak their hypocrisy), would show all that was in their
heart, as is said of Hezekiah upon another occasion,
Thus, by one means or other, the iniquity of Ephraim will be
discovered and the sin of Samaria,
Hos. vii. 1.
They were now in a great fright, and in this fright they manifested two
things much amiss:–
I. A great contempt of God’s goodness, and his power to help them. They
made use of all the means they could think of for their own
preservation; and it is not for doing this that they are blamed, but,
in doing this, they did not acknowledge God. Observe,
1. How careful they were to improve all advantages that might
contribute to their safety. When Sennacherib had made himself master of
all the defenced cities of Judah, and Jerusalem was left as a cottage
in a vineyard, they thought it was time to look about them. A council
was immediately called, a council of war; and it was resolved to stand
upon their defence, and not tamely to surrender. Pursuant to this
resolve, they took all the prudent measures they could for their own
security. We tempt God if, in times of danger, we do not the best we
can for ourselves.
(1.) They inspected the magazines and stores, to see if they were well
stocked with arms and ammunition: They looked to the armour of the
house of the forest, which Solomon built in Jerusalem for an
armoury
and thence they delivered out what they had occasion for. It is the
wisdom of princes, in time of peace, to provide for war, that they may
not have arms to seek when they should use them, and perhaps upon a
sudden emergency.
(2.) They viewed the fortifications, the breaches of the city of
David; they walked round the walls, and observed where they had
gone to decay for want of seasonable repairs, or were broken by some
former attempts made upon them. These breaches were many; the more
shame for the house of David that they suffered the city of David to
lie neglected. They had probably often seen those breaches; but now
they saw them to consider what course to take about them. This good we
should get by public distresses, we should be awakened by them to
repair our breaches, and amend what is amiss.
(3.) They made sure of water for the city, and did what they could to
deprive the besiegers of it: You gathered together the water of the
lower pool, of which there was probably no great store, and of
which therefore they were the more concerned to be good husbands. See
what a mercy it is that, as nothing is more necessary to the support of
human life than water, so nothing is more cheap and common; but it is
bad indeed when that, as here, is a scarce commodity.
(4.) They numbered the houses of Jerusalem, that every house
might send in its quota of men for the public service, or contribute in
money to it, which they raised by a poll, so much a head or so much a
house.
(5.) Because private property ought to give way to the public safety,
those houses that stood in their way, when the wall was to be
fortified, were broken down, which, in such a case of necessity, is no
more an injury to the owner than blowing up houses in case of fire.
(6.) They made a ditch between the outer and inner wall, for the
greater security of the city; and they contrived to draw the water of
the old pool to it, that they might have plenty of water themselves and
might deprive the besiegers of it; for it seems that was the project,
lest the Assyrian army should come and find much water
and so should be the better able to prolong the siege. If it be lawful
to destroy the forage of a country, much more to divert the streams of
its waters, for the straitening and starving of an enemy.
2. How regardless they were of God in all these preparations: But
you have not looked unto the Maker thereof (that is, of Jerusalem,
the city you are so solicitous for the defence of) and of all the
advantages which nature has furnished it with for its defence–the
mountains round about it
(Ps. cxxv. 2),
and the rivers, which were such as the inhabitants might turn which way
soever they pleased for their convenience. Note,
(1.) It is God that made his Jerusalem, and fashioned it long ago, in
his counsels. The Jewish writers, upon this place, say, There were
seven things which God made before the world (meaning which he had in
his eye when he made the world): the garden of Eden, the law, the
just ones, Israel, the throne of glory, Jerusalem, and Messiah the
Prince. The gospel church has God for its Maker.
(2.) Whatever service we do, or endeavour to do, at any time to God’s
Jerusalem, must be done with an eye to him as the Maker of it; and he
takes it ill if it be done otherwise. It is here charged upon them that
they did not look to God.
[1.] They did not design his glory in what they did. They fortified
Jerusalem because it was a rich city and their own houses were in it,
not because it was the holy city and God’s house was in it. In all our
cares for the defence of the church we must look more at God’s interest
in it than at our own.
[2.] They did not depend upon him for a blessing upon their endeavours,
saw no need of it, and therefore sought not to him for it, but thought
their own powers and policies sufficient for them. Of Hezekiah himself
it is said that he trusted in God
and particularly upon this occasion
but there were those about him, it seems, who were great statesmen and
soldiers, but had little religion in them.
[3.] They did not give him thanks for the advantages they had, in
fortifying their city, from the waters of the old pool, which
were fashioned long ago, as Kishon is called an ancient river,
Judg. v. 21.
Whatever in nature is at any time serviceable to us, we must therein
acknowledge the goodness of the God of nature, who, when he fashioned
it long ago, fitted it to be so, and according to whose ordinance it
continues to this day. Every creature is that to us which God makes
it to be; and therefore, whatever use it is of to us, we must look
at him that fashioned it, bless him for it, and use it for him.
II. A great contempt of God’s wrath and justice in contending with
them,
Here observe,
1. What was God’s design in bringing this calamity upon them: it was to
humble them, bring them to repentance, and make them serious. In that
day of trouble, and treading down, and perplexity, the Lord did thereby
call to weeping and mourning, and all the expressions of sorrow,
even to baldness and girding with sackcloth; and all this to
lament their sins (by which they had brought those judgments upon their
land), to enforce their prayers (by which they might hope to avert the
judgments that were breaking in), and to dispose themselves to a
reformation of their lives by a holy seriousness and a tenderness of
heart under the word of God. To this God called them by his prophet’s
explaining his providences, and by his providences awakening them to
regard what his prophets said. Note, When God threatens us with his
judgments he expects and requires that we humble ourselves under his
mighty hand, that we tremble when the lion roars, and in a day of
adversity consider.
2. How contrary they walked to this design of God
(v. 13):
Behold, joy and gladness, mirth and feasting, all the gaiety and
all the jollity imaginable. They were as secure and cheerful as they
used to be, as if they had had no enemy in their borders or were in no
danger of falling into his hands. When they had taken the necessary
precautions for their security, then they set all deaths and dangers at
defiance, and resolved to be merry, let come on them what would. Those
that should have been among the mourners were among the
wine-bibbers, the riotous eaters of flesh; and observe what they
said, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die. This may
refer either to the particular danger they were now in, and the fair
warning which the prophet gave them of it, or to the general shortness
and uncertainty of human life, and the nearness of death at all times.
This was the language of the profane scoffers who mocked the
messengers of the Lord and misused his prophets.
(1.) They made a jest of dying. “The prophet tells us we must die
shortly, perhaps to-morrow, and therefore we should mourn and repent
to-day; no, rather let us eat and drink, that we may be fattened
for the slaughter, and may be in good heart to meet our doom; if we
must have a short life, let it be a merry one.”
(2.) They ridiculed the doctrine of a future state on the other side
death; for, if there were no such state, the apostle grants there would
be something of reason in what they said,
If, when we die, there were an end of us, it were good to make
ourselves as easy and merry as we could while we live; but, if for
all these things God shall bring us into judgment, it is at our
peril if we walk in the way of our heart and the sight of our
eyes,
Eccl. xi. 9.
Note, A practical disbelief of another life after this is at the bottom
of the carnal security and brutish sensuality which are the sin, and
shame, and ruin of so great a part of mankind, as of the old world, who
were eating and drinking till the flood came.
3. How much God was displeased at it. He signified his resentment of it
to the prophet, revealed it in his ears, to be by him proclaimed
upon the house-top: Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from
you till you die,
v. 14.
It shall never be expiated with sacrifice and offering, any more than
the iniquity of the house of Eli,
It is a sin against the remedy, a baffling of the utmost means of
conviction and rendering them ineffectual; and therefore it is not
likely they should ever repent of it or have it pardoned. The Chaldee
reads it, It shall not be forgiven you till you die the second
death. Those that walk contrary to them; with the froward he will
show himself froward.
| The Downfall of Shebna; The Advancement of Eliakim. | B. C. 714. |
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15 Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get thee unto this
treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and
say,
16 What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast
hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a
sepulchre on high, and that graveth a habitation for himself
in a rock?
17 Behold, the LORD will carry thee away with a mighty
captivity, and will surely cover thee.
18 He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball
into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the
chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord’s house.
19 And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state
shall he pull thee down.
20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my
servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:
21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with
thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and
he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the
house of Judah.
22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his
shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall
shut, and none shall open.
23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he
shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house.
24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s
house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small
quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of
flagons.
25 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is
fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall;
and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD
hath spoken it.
We have here a prophecy concerning the displacing of Shebna, a great
officer at court, and the preferring of Eliakim to the post of honour
and trust that he was in. Such changes are common in the courts of
princes; it is therefore strange that so much notice should be taken of
it by the prophet here; but by the accomplishment of what was foretold
concerning these particular persons God designed to confirm his word in
the mouth of Isaiah concerning other and greater events; and it is
likewise to show that, as God has burdens in store for those nations
and kingdoms abroad that are open enemies to his church and people, so
he has for those particular persons at home that are false friends to
them and betray them. It is likewise a confirmation in general of the
hand of divine Providence in all events of this kind, which to us seem
contingent and to depend upon the wills and fancies of princes.
Promotion comes not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the
south; but God is the Judge,
Ps. xxv. 6, 7.
It is probable that this prophecy was delivered at the same time with
that in the former part of the chapter, and began to be fulfilled
before Sennacherib’s invasion; for now Shebna was over the
house, but then Eliakim was
(ch. xxxvi. 3);
and Shebna, coming down gradually, was only scribe. Here is,
I. The prophecy of Shebna’s disgrace. He is called this
treasurer, being entrusted with the management of the revenue; and
he is likewise said to be over the house, for such was his
boundless ambition and covetousness that less than two places, and
those two of the greatest importance at court, would not satisfy him.
It is common for self-seeking men thus to grasp at more than they can
manage, and so the business of their places is neglected, while the
pomp and profit of them wholly engage the mind. It does not appear what
were the particular instances of Shebna’s mal-administration, for which
Isaiah is here sent to prophesy against him; but the Jews say, “He kept
up a traitorous correspondence with the king of Assyria, and was in
treaty with him to deliver the city into his hands.” However this was,
it should seem that he was a foreigner (for we never read of the name
of his father) and that he was an enemy to the true interests of Judah
and Jerusalem: it is probable that he was first preferred by Ahaz.
Hezekiah was himself an excellent prince; but the best masters cannot
always be sure of good servants. We have need to pray for princes, that
they may be wise and happy in the choice of those they trust. These
were times of reformation, yet Shebna, a bad man, complied so far as to
keep his places at court; and it is probable that many others did like
him, for which reason Sennacherib is said to have been sent against
a hypocritical nation,
ch. x. 6.
In this message to Shebna we have,
1. A reproof of his pride, vanity, and security
(v. 16):
“What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here? What a mighty
noise and bustle dost thou make! What estate has thou here, that thou
was born to? Whom hast thou here, what relations, that thou art
allied to? Art thou not of mean and obscure original, filius
populi–a mere plebeian, that comest we know not whence? What is
the meaning of this then, that thou hast built thyself a fine house,
hast graved thyself a habitation?” So very nice and curious was
it that it seemed rather to be the work of an engraver than of a mason
or carpenter; and it seemed engraven in a rock, so firmly was it
founded and so impregnable was it. “Nay, thou hast hewed thee out a
sepulchre,” as if he designed that his pomp should survive his
funeral. Though Jerusalem was not the place of his father’s
sepulchres (as Nehemiah called it with a great deal of tenderness,
he designed it should be the place of his own, and therefore set up a
monument for himself in his life-time, set it up on high. Those that
make stately monuments for their pride forget that, how beautiful
soever they appear outwardly, within they are full of dead men’s
bones. But it is a pity that the grave-stone should forget the
grave.
2. A prophecy of his fall and the sullying of his glory.
(1.) That he should not quickly be displaced and degraded
(v. 19):
I will drive thee from thy station. High places are slippery
places; and those are justly deprived of their honour that are proud of
it and puffed up with it, and deprived of their power that do hurt with
it. God will do it, who shows himself to be God by looking upon
proud men and abasing them,
Job xl. 11, 12.
To this
refers. “The nail that is now fastened in the sure place (that
is, Shebna, who thinks himself immovably fixed in his office) shall
be removed, and cut down, and fall.” Those are mistaken who think
any place in this world a sure place, or themselves as nails fastened
in it; for there is nothing here but uncertainty. When the nail falls
the burden that was upon it is cut off; when Shebna was disgraced all
that had a dependence upon him fell into contempt too. Those that are
in high places will have many hanging upon them as favourites whom they
are proud of and trust to; but they are burdens upon them, and perhaps
with their weight break the nail, and both fall together, and by
deceiving ruin one another–the common fate of great men and their
flatterers, who expect more from each other than either performs.
(2.) That after a while he should not only be driven from his station,
but driven from his country: The Lord will carry thee away with the
captivity of a mighty man,
v. 17, 18.
Some think the Assyrians seized him, and took him away, because he had
promised to assist them and did not, but appeared against them: or
perhaps Hezekiah, finding out his treachery, banished him, and forbade
him ever to return; or he himself, finding that he had become obnoxious
to the people, withdrew into some other country, and there spent the
rest of his days in meanness and obscurity. Grotius thinks he was
stricken with a leprosy, which was a disease commonly supposed to come
from the immediate hand of God’s displeasure, particularly for the
punishment of the proud, as in the case of Miriam and Uzziah; and by
reason of this disease he was tossed like a ball out of
Jerusalem. Those who, when they are in power, turn and toss others,
will be justly turned and tossed themselves when their day shall come
to fall. Many who have thought themselves fastened like a nail may come
to be tossed like a ball; for here have we no continuing city.
Shebna thought his place too strait for him, he had no room to thrive;
God will therefore send him into a large country, where he shall
have room to wander, but never find the way back again; for there he
shall die, and lay his bones there, and not in the sepulchre he had
hewn out for himself. And there the chariots which had been the
chariots of his glory, in which he had rattled about the streets of
Jerusalem, and which he took into banishment with him, should but serve
to upbraid him with his former grandeur, to the shame of his lord’s
house, of the court of Ahaz, who had advanced him.
II. The prophecy of Eliakim’s advancement,
&c. He is God’s servant, has approved himself faithfully so in other
employments, and therefore God will call him to this high station.
Those that are diligent in doing the duty of a low sphere stand fairest
for preferment in God’s books. Eliakim does not undermine Shebna, nor
make an interest against him, nor does he intrude into his office; but
God calls him to it: and what God calls us to we may expect he will own
us in. It is here foretold,
1. That Eliakim should be put into Shebna’s place of lord-chamberlain
of the household, lord-treasurer, and prime-minister of state. The
prophet must tell Shebna this,
“He shall have thy robe, the badge of honour, and thy
girdle, the badge of power; for he shall have thy
government.” To hear of it would be a great mortification to
Shebna, much more to see it. Great men, especially if proud men, cannot
endure their successors. God undertakes the doing of it, not only
because he would put it into the heart of Hezekiah to do it, and his
hand must be acknowledged guiding the hearts of princes in placing and
displacing men
(Prov. xxi. 1),
but because the powers that are, subordinate as well as supreme, are
ordained of God. It is God that clothes princes with their robes, and
therefore we must submit ourselves to them for the Lord’s sake and with
an eye to him,
And, since it is he that commits the government into their hand,
they must administer it according to his will, for his glory; they must
judge for him by whom they judge and decree justice,
Prov. viii. 15.
And they may depend upon him to furnish them for what he calls them to,
according to this promise: I will clothe him; and then it
follows, I will strengthen him. Those that are called to places
of trust and power should seek unto God for grace to enable them to do
the duty of their places; for that ought to be their chief care.
Eliakim’s advancement is further described by the laying of the key
of the house of David upon his shoulders,
v. 22.
Probably he carried a golden key upon his shoulder as a badge of his
office, or had one embroidered upon his cloak or robe, to which this
alludes. Being over the house, and having the key delivered to him, as
the seals are to the lord-keeper, he shall open and none shall shut,
shut and none shall open. He had access to the house of the
precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices; and to
the house of the armour and the treasures
(ch. xxxix. 2),
and disposed of the stores there as he thought fit for the public
service. He put whom he pleased into the inferior offices and turned
out whom he pleased. Our Lord Jesus describes his own power as Mediator
by an allusion to this
(Rev. iii. 7),
that he has the key of David, wherewith he opens and no man
shuts, he shuts and no man opens. His power in the kingdom
of heaven, and in the ordering of all the affairs of that kingdom, is
absolute, irresistible, and uncontrollable.
2. That he should be fixed and confirmed in that office. He shall have
it for life, and not durante bene placito–during pleasure
(v. 23):
I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place, not to be removed
or cut down. Thus lasting shall the honour be that comes from God to
all those who use it for him. Our Lord Jesus is as a nail in a sure
place: his kingdom cannot be shaken, and he himself is still the
same.
3. That he should be a great blessing in his office; and it is this
that crowns the favours here conferred upon him. God makes his name
great, for he shall be a blessing,
(1.) He shall be a blessing to his country
(v. 21):
He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the
house of Judah. he shall take care not only of the affairs of the
king’s household, but of all the public interests in Jerusalem and
Judah. Note, Rulers should be fathers to those that are under their
government, to teach them with wisdom, rule them with love, and correct
what is amiss with tenderness, to protect them and provide for them,
and be solicitous about them as a man is for his own children and
family. It is happy with a people when the court, the city, and the
country, have no separate interests, but all centre in the same, so
that the courtiers are true patriots, and whom the court blesses the
country has reason to bless too; and when those who are fathers to
Jerusalem, the royal city, are no less so to the house of Judah.
(2.) He shall be a blessing to his family
(v. 23, 24):
He shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house. The
consummate wisdom and virtue which recommended him to this great trust
made him the honour of his family, which probably was very considerable
before, but now became much more so. Children should aim to be a credit
to their parents and relations. The honour men reflect upon their
families by their piety and usefulness is more to be valued than that
which they derive from their families by their names and titles.
Eliakim being preferred, all the glory of his father’s house was
hung upon him; they all made their court to him, and his brethren’s
sheaves bowed to his. Observe, The glory of this world gives a man no
intrinsic worth or excellency; it is but hung upon him as an
appurtenance, and it will soon drop from him. Eliakim was compared to
a nail in a sure place, in pursuance of which comparison all the
relations of his family (which, it is likely, were numerous, and that
was the glory of it) are said to have a dependence upon him, as in a
house the vessels that have handles to them are hung up upon nails and
pins. It intimates likewise that he shall generously take care of them
all, and bear the weight of that care: All the vessels, not only
the flagons, but the cups, the vessels of small quantity,
the meanest that belong to his family, shall be provided for by him.
See what a burden those bring upon themselves that undertake great
trusts; they little think how many and how much will hand upon them if
they resolve to be faithful in the discharge of their trust. Our Lord
Jesus, having the key of the house of David, is as a nail in a sure
place, and all the glory of his father’s house hangs upon
him, is derived from him, and depends upon him; even the meanest that
belong to his church are welcome to him, and he is able to bear the
stress of them all. That soul cannot perish, nor that concern fall to
the ground, though ever so weighty, that is by faith hung upon
Christ.
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