(The Word for Today) Isaiah 22:16 - Part 2 — Chuck Smith

To the word for today. The word for today is a continuous study of the Bible taught by Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa California. Pastor Chuck is currently teaching from the Old Testament and for those of you following along in your Bibles we'll be continuing today in Isaiah chapter 22 beginning with verse 16 as we continue with an in-depth message entitled the prophecies against Babylon.

Now with today's study. Here's Pastor Chuck.

Shebna’s Pride and Coming Judgment

Now at this point the Lord gives him a message for this fellow Shebna. Now Shebna is not a Jewish name and thus he was a foreigner and there he was in the position of the treasurer in Jerusalem. Thus saith the Lord God of hosts go and get thee unto this treasurer even to Shebna which is over the house that is the house of the treasury and say to him what hast thou here.

And whom hast thou here. That thou hast hewed thee out a sepulcher here as he that heweth him out a sepulcher on high and that graveth a habitation for himself in the rock. Now the prominent families in Jerusalem would carve out these monuments for sepulchers for the family.

They were sort of like the mausoleums today. And quite often the sepulcher carved right out of the rocks right in the cliffs would be quite ornate as they are today down in the Kidron Valley. As you drive along the wall eastern wall of Jerusalem looking down into the Kidron Valley you can see what is called the tomb of Absalom and the tomb of Zacharias and they are carved out of rock.

And they were. They're very interesting and large and ornate rock carvings sort of like our Mount Rushmore kind of a thing carved right out of the rock. You see these tombs down there. Now going into these sepulchers they had several little niches and when a person would die they'd just put them in the niche and then seal up the niche and so the families they were made for families and so they would be the family burial place.

The prominent families the wealthy families all had their own sepulchers. Now Shemna was not a Jew he was a foreigner and he probably did not have any real family there and yet he was making for himself this very ornate sepulcher.

He was hewing out the sepulcher for himself there in Jerusalem. And so Isaiah is rebuking him. For this he said behold the Lord will carry you away with a mighty captivity and will surely cover thee. You won't be covered in that sepulcher but the Lord will cover you for he will surely violently turn and toss you like a ball into a large country.

And there you're going to die. And there the chariots of your glory shall be the shame of thy Lord's house. And so this fellow with the treasure a prominent man building a sepulcher for himself probably leading the people in this party time as the destruction is coming easing the interest rates and all.

So everybody has lots of money and just you know. So what if they don't pay it back. We're gonna die anyhow. So let it go. And uh riding around in his glorious chariots and so Isaiah rebukes him. He will drive you from your station your position and from your state shall he pull thee down.

God’s Appointment of Eliakim

It shall come to pass in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah. He'll call his servant Eliakim. Now Eliakim means whom God appoints. The idea is that Shebna was not appointed by God but God will appoint a man to take his place.

This man Eliakim whom God appoints now when Shennekereb did finally arrive at Jerusalem with his troops and the Rabakshak came to the wall and began to call up their demands for capitulation. It was Eliakim this Eliakim who already had replaced Shebna who responded to the Rabakshak from the Assyrian army.

Immediate Prophecy and Future Fulfillment

Now at this point however we have one of those interesting places which there are many in the scriptures where the prophecy moves away from the immediate to the future fulfillment so that you have a double fulfillment.

In other words it is speaking of things that will happen immediately. But these things that are happening immediately are a foreshadowing of things that are going to happen in the future. As Paul the apostle tells us in Colossians chapter 2 that the holy days the new moons the sabbath days these things were all a shadow of the things that were going to come.

They were foreshadowing things of the future. The Passover feast the slaying of the lamb the blood of the lamb the sparing of the first born in the in the house that was all a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who would be slain for our sins whose blood covering our lives will free us from the curse of death.

And these things are all a shadow of things to come. He said the substance is of Jesus. And throughout the whole Old Testament you find so many so many things that foreshadow Jesus Christ though they were dealing with a present current situation but it had its future fulfillment in Christ and so they became the types of what Jesus would be.

And so in seminary we had a class types and shadows in which you study all of these types of Christ in the Old Testament and the foreshadowings of Christ in the Old Testament. And so here Eliakim becomes a foreshadowing of the Messiah Shabna the foreshadowing of the Antichrist and his being put down in order that Eliakim that one whom God appointed might rule.

Eliakim as a Foreshadowing of the Messiah

And so as he begins to describe now Eliakim we can see here that he is definitely a foreshadowing of the Messiah. I will clothe him with your robe. I will strengthen him with your girdle. I will commit thy government into his hands.

Isaiah has already told us concerning Christ that the government will be upon his shoulder as his name will be called wonderful counselor and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

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. And herein we find then the proof text that this is indeed a foreshadowing of Christ because when Christ is addressing himself to the church of Philadelphia in Revelation 3 7 he said to John and unto the angel of the church of Philadelphia write these things saith he who hath the key of David who openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth.

And so Jesus uses these very words to describe himself in the book of Revelation as he is addressing the church of Philadelphia. And then later on he said I have set before you an open door which no man can shut.

And from a historic standpoint as you look at the seven churches of Asia as the seven periods of church history the church of Philadelphia is the Lord's true church that is holding to his word. In the last days we hopefully identify ourselves with the church of Philadelphia to which the Lord said I have set before you an open door.

And I am amazed at how the Lord is opening doors in these days in which we live absolutely astounded at the opening of the doors that God is is providing. A fellow just returned from Russia he's in the church here.

He has a lot of business in Russia. He just returned from six weeks over there and he was is in this area. And he said that in this one city in Russia there used to be this large church. They tore the church down and put this huge statue of Lenin where the church once stood.

He said at the present time they are dismantling the statue of Lenin and they're going to rebuild the church on that spot. In several areas in Russia they are now teaching the Bible in the public schools.

It seems rather incongruous that there is greater religious liberty in Russia today than there is in the United States now. That's that's rather sad. They have greater freedom of religion in Russia than we do here in the United States.

As far as the public schools are concerned in one of the cities in Russia they have the Baptist minister come in and teach the Bible class in the public school and in the south in the areas of Armenia and all that the public schools now have the Bible as a part of their curriculum.

Open door. I've set you before you the Lord said an open door. And so this definitely is a foreshadowing. Eliakim is a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ the key to the house of David and I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place.

Christ’s Glorious Throne and Exaltation

Now he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. Jesus in writing to the church of Laodicea verse 21 of Revelation 3 said to him that overcometh will I grant that he might sit with me upon my throne even as I have overcome and have sat down on my father's throne.

God has a place for him a place of glory and honor. Now we are told in Philippians that he was in the form of God. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. And yet he humbled himself came in the likeness of man as a servant.

He was obedient unto death even the death of the cross. Wherefore God has also highly exalted him. He's given him a name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Now Jesus in his prayer in John 17 prayed that God would glorify him with the glory that he had with him. And the father. Of course in another place Jesus said father glorify thy name. And he said I have glorified and I will glorify it again.

But I would that those that are with me might see me. He said in the glory that I have with thee. In the beginning with God thought it not robbery or something to be grasped to be equal with God. There he was the center of glory in heaven.

God is again going to give him that position and place of glory and honor in the heavenly realm. And so here is the nail that is fastened in a sure place he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.

They will hang upon him the glory of his father's house which we were just referring to. And the offspring and the issue all vessels of small quantity from the vessels of cups even all the vessels of flagons.

The Messiah Cut Down and Crucified

Now an interesting twist to the prophecy in that day saith the lord of host shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed and be cut down and fall. This is no doubt a reference to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

The old testament prophets told the people that the messiah was coming that he was to have a place of glory and honor. He was to rule over the worlds. Ask of me and i will give you the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

We recognize that as a messianic song he's going to reign over the earth in righteousness. And in truth he will sit upon the throne of david to order it and to establish it in righteousness and in justice.

From henceforth even forever the zeal of the lord of hosts will perform this. And yet this glorious messiah this wonderful lord who is to reign and to rule over the earth is going to be cut down removed the crucifixion.

Isaiah tells us more about the crucifixion in chapters 52 and 53 he tells us that he is going to be cut off from the land of the living. He'll be numbered with the transgressors in his death. We did esteem him as stricken smitten of god.

But he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. And so this seeming contradiction concerning the messiah. The nail was going to be established in a solid place and the glory of the lord's house would be hanging on it.

But yet this nail was going to be cut down. It was to be removed and fall. And the burden that was on it shall be cut off. That is the jews. And the glory of the house of israel that was to be upon the messiah will be cut off.

So we find in the scriptures that jesus indeed was cut off. He was crucified. Psalm 22. The messianic psalm describes his death by crucifixion. Daniel in chapter 9 told the time that the messiah would come.

But then he said. But the messiah will be cut off. And so jesus was cut off. Daniel also then predicted that the jews would be dispersed. That's what isaiah is predicting here. The glory of the house of israel that was hanging on the nail shall fall and be cut off.

Israel’s Dispersion and Restoration

And thus the jews were cut off. And for almost two thousand years they were cut off as they were dispersed throughout the whole world. Now miracle of all miracles after the two thousand years of dispersion according to the promise of god he is bringing them back and planting them in the land again.

And so we see this modern day miracle. And if ever anybody needed any proof that the bible was the word of god surely the jew becomes the proof. The fact that these people maintained a national identity for two thousand years without a homeland.

The fact that after two thousand years of dispersion they gathered back and became a nation again according to the prophecies of the scriptures surely therein is a miracle that is unparalleled in the history of mankind.

The maintaining of the national identity to the extent that they could come back and a nation that was dead for almost two thousand years being reborn. Nowhere in history has there been any kind of a sequel to that.

And yet here it is promised and predicted their fall. And then the lord sort of puts the finishing touch on it. He said for the lord hath spoken it. That's it. What can you say. God has said it. Now this last verse in that day saith the lord of hosts.

The Certainty of Prophetic Fulfillment

And then so you have the double confirmation that this is god's word. The lord hath spoken it. As we go through isaiah several more times we're going to find this phrase the lord hath spoken it. And you'll find that it is always used in reference to prophecy as isaiah is speaking about things yet future he says.

And the lord hath spoken it. Which sort of affirms the fact you can be sure it's going to happen. Now in this case it's already happened. We can look and see that it did take place. The nail was cut down and removed.

And the jewish nation was destroyed cut off.

Pastor chuck smith will return with a few closing comments but first i'd like to remind you that today's message is available in its unedited form on cassette or cd. Simply write or call and ask for ordering details on tape or cd number c 3251.

Again that's tape or cd number c 3251. As we come to a close in today's program we'd like to introduce a new book by pastor chuck smith written especially for today's young generation. Do you have what it takes to abstain from the immorality of our culture.

Would you stand up for jesus christ in a group of complete strangers. What about in a group of your closest friends. It definitely takes a commitment to follow jesus christ. The word for today presents pastor chuck smith's new book standing up in a fallen world a bible study based on the book of daniel a young man who took a stand for righteousness in a time when he could have lost his life.

Filled with encouragement and application pastor chuck teaches a powerful message for today's young adults between the ages of 12 and 20 urging them to stand up against the compromise in the world today and get ready for the lord's coming.

And now for the first time the word for today is made available clothing t-shirts beanies and hats for a limited time only equipping young adults to witness and revive their generation. Also available is a study guide especially designed for students and family devotions.

To order your copy of pastor chuck's new book standing up in a fallen world the clothing apparel and study guide. You can call the word for today at 1 -800 -272-WORD or write to us at P .O. Box 8000 Costa Mesa California 92628.

Once again that number to call is 1 -800 -272 -9673. And for those of you that would like to visit our website you can do so at www .twft .com. Or if you'd like to email us you can do so at info at twft .com.

Well coming up next time on the word for today. Pastor chuck will be continuing his fascinating study through the book of isaiah. That's coming up next time on the word for today and now with a few closing comments.

Here's pastor chuck.

Hearing God’s Voice with a Soft and Pure Heart

Father we thank you tonight for the warnings over and over and over that you gave to the people. We thank you lord that you are patient that you are so long suffering. But lord we can see that when man rejects your law when man turns a deaf ear to your voice when he becomes stubborn and obdurate in his sin that your judgment your righteous judgment does ultimately come and they are destroyed.

Lord help us that our ears might be ever open to hear your voice our hearts ever soft and pliable to you lord and to the things of the spirit that we lord might not be as reprobate silver but as gold that has been tried in the fire and comes forth pure god burn out from our lives that dross those impurities that we might become pure even as you are pure.

In jesus name we pray. This program is sponsored by the word.

For today the radio ministry of calvary chapel costa mesa california.