I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. – Isaiah 22:22

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 25, 2013): Isaiah 22

Genghis Khan was born in 1162, the son of a tribal chief. When he was nine years old he was promised in marriage to the daughter of another tribe. His father delivered the boy to live with the tribe of his future bride until he had reached the marriageable age of 12, but on the way home, his father was murdered. The young Genghis immediately returned home to take the command of his tribe, but the leadership of the tribe refused to be led by young boy. Instead the tribe rejected the young boy, his mother and his brothers and sisters and ejected them from of the tribe; leaving them alone to fend for themselves with no protection. For the next several years Genghis Khan and his family lived in absolute poverty. The family survived on what wild fruits and ox carcasses they could gather and what small game the young Genghis and his brothers were able to kill. No one would have guessed that this boy would one day be recognized as the Great Khan, the one who was able to finally unite the tribes of Northeast Asia founding the Mongol Empire.

As a species we seem to have a fondness for Rags to Riches stories. And Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, was one of them. Eliakim’s origin is obscure. All we really know about him is that he was somehow connected with the household of King Hezekiah. But he was chosen to replace the corrupt Shebna as finance minister during the reign of Hezekiah. According to the Bible, Elakim was a servant of God, while Shebna had worked only for his own glory, Eliakim worked with his service to God and king in the forefront of his mind – and it was them and not his own ambitions that he was willing to follow. Eliakim was a true servant, and because of that Isaiah says that God would place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. It is an amazing level of trust that God places on the shoulders of this obscure man.

But the level of trust and responsibility that was given to Eliakim is magnified by Jesus. This verse has led scholars to examine this passage as a prediction of the Messianic because Jesus uses this description of Eliakim as a description of himself. In the Book of Revelation, John says that Jesus speaks these words “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open” (Revelation 3:7). The use of the words stresses the servant identity of Jesus – he came to serve with his eyes on his Father and not following a path to his own glory.

Which sets the stage for those that want to follow him. We are to be servants in our world, following the example of the one whose name we bear and the pattern of a finance minister who only wanted to please his God and his king.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 23