Eliakim –
Key of David Rapture Study
The Key of David is promised in Revelation to
the Philadelphian Church.
This is a pillar verse in the Rapture theology. I believe it is a
promise for a first fruits remnant of believer’s God has set aside
for Administration of the Kingdom. You notice the David, Daniel, Joseph,
Moses, Abraham, etc. are all good at going to God and taking instruction
directly from him. It leaves, even great Kings, as stewards of what God
has given them. In fact that is what makes them great. There
is freedom through submission vs. freedom through rebellion. Satan
may have been a steward of the highest rank at one time. The problem…Pride.
He questioned these two things: 1. God’s Sovereignty and
his Love. I believe as teenager’s most of us have our own little
“mini-model” of what Satan has done in his rebellion against
God. Teen-agers two main arguments against parents are: 1.
You don’t have a right to tell me what to do – and – 2.
You don’t love me. So, to undo what has been done we must realize
that God is Sovereign, meaning he has a right and the power to rule.
Second, he is Love at its very definition. Take away any of those
things and we have a God that falls short. It’s worth reading
through, as we reference it as we study:
Revelation 3
7And to
the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that
is holy, he that is true, he that hath the
key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth,
and no man openeth;
8I know thy works:
behold, I have set before thee an open
door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength,
and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
9Behold, I will
make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not,
but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet,
and to know that I have loved thee.
10Because thou hast
kept the word of my patience, I also
will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the
world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
11Behold, I come
quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
12Him that overcometh
will I make a pillar in the temple
of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write
upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is
new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write
upon him my new name.
Now, there is another reference by Isaiah to the
“Key of David”, but it is really helpful to have a baseline
for this story and we can learn along the way. We can start in 2 Kings.
You can read the passage for yourself, but the quick is that King Hezekiah
is a good King (King of Judah). Israel
has already been defeated and taken captive. Hezekiah is under attack by
the Assyrians. The Assyrians have been laying siege and destroying
all Kings who stand in their way. Hezekiah has sent to the Assyrian
Kings a heavy payment for peace. One that strips the Lord’s
temple of gold. However, they are now at his door and he has sent
his Field Commander to talk to Hezekiah. Hezekiah sends has Palace
Administrator – Eliakim, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph
the recorder. Eliakim and Shebna are of special note here.
2 Kings 18
17And the
king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish
to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came
and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the
fuller's field.
18And when they
had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of
Asaph the recorder.
19And Rabshakeh
said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the
king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou
trustest?
20Thou sayest, (but
they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on
whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
21Now, behold, thou
trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which
if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king
of Egypt unto all that trust on him.
22But if ye say
unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: is not that he, whose high places
and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall
worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
23Now therefore,
I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria,
and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part
to set riders upon them.
24How then wilt
thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants,
and put thy trust on Egypt
for chariots and for horsemen?
25Am I now come
up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me,
Go up against this land, and destroy it.
26Then said Eliakim
the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray
thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and
talk not with us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that are
on the wall.
27But Rabshakeh
said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak
these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that
they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
28Then Rabshakeh
stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying,
Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria:
29Thus saith the
king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver
you out of his hand:
30Neither let Hezekiah
make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and
this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
31Hearken not to
Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me
by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine,
and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his
cistern:
32Until I come and
take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land
of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live,
and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying,
The LORD will deliver us.
33Hath any of the
gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king
of Assyria?
34Where are the
gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and
Ivah? have they delivered Samaria
out of mine hand?
35Who are they among
all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of
mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem
out of mine hand?
36But the people
held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment
was, saying, Answer him not.
37Then came Eliakim
the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe,
and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent,
and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
After this, Hezekiah sends Eliakim and Shebna
to see Isaiah for direction and a word from the Lord on what to do.
2 Kings 19
5So the
servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6And Isaiah said
unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not
afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the
king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7Behold, I will
send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his
own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
The Syrian field commander says again to Hezekiah
that there is no help coming for him including his God. Hezekiah takes
the physical paper with the threat written on it and lays it out before
God and prays. Isaiah then gives him this message from the Lord:
20Then Isaiah the
son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against
Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
21This is the word
that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of
Jerusalem hath shaken her head
at thee.
22Whom hast thou
reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice,
and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
…then here is what happened:
32Therefore
thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria,
He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before
it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.
33By the way that
he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city,
saith the LORD.
34For I will defend
this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
35And it came to
pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp
of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose
early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
36So Sennacherib
king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
37And it came to
pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech
and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the
land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
Now that we have the backdrop on the story we
can move into Isaiah where there is a significant prophecy of the “Key
of David”. It concerns Eliakim and Shebna. If you remember,
Eliakim is the Palace Administrator and Shebna is the Palace Treasurer.
Now the passage from Isaiah portrays Shebna as a “satan” type
and Eliakim (who’s name means God rises and his father’s name
means my portion is Jehovah). From the 2 Kings passage we see nothing
that would lead us to this. I am sure Isaiah had lots of insight into
the Palace politics and that surrounding King Hezekiah. Here’s
the passage followed by my commentary:
Isaiah 22
15Thus saith the
Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which
is over the house, and say,
16What 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 an
habitation for himself in a rock?
(NIV of verse 16: What are you doing here
and who gave you permission to cut out a grave for yourself here, hewing
your grave on the height and chiseling your resting place in the rock?)
17Behold, the LORD
will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee.
18He 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.
19And I will drive
thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down.
20And it shall come
to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:
21And 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.
22And 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.
23And I will fasten
him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to
his father's house.
24And 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.
25In 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.
Shebna is the Palace Treasurer, while Eliakim
is the Palace Administrator. They surely advised the King in important
matters and indeed it was these two coupled with the recorder to go out
and present to the General. If you go back and read the 2 Kings passage
there is something that does not seem to fit. At the beginning it
says that Hezekiah serves the Lord and takes down the high places.
Also, it says the below:
2 Kings 18
7And the LORD was
with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled
against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
Then in verse 14 he strips the gold and silver
from the Temple to appease the Assyrian King, only to stand up to him and
turn everything over to the Lord which leads to victory. Now that
seems like it goes 1. Strong in the Lord 2. weak 3. Strong in the Lord once
again. Now Shebna was the Treasurer, so this decision surely would
have gone through him. This is speculation, but trusting Isaiah’s
judgment of character (and knowing Bible is the inspired word of God), I
think it’s possible that Shebna caught Hezekiah at a moment of fear
and convinced him that a “Treasure for peace deal” might work.
I believe that Eliakim must have been a positive influence on Hezekiah.
I’m not an expert in this area, but when the three administrator’s
of Hezekiah are listed Eliakim is listed first.
Isaiah says this about Shebna, which I believe
shows him to be a Satan archetype and Eliakim is his replacement and would
be a Jesus-seed archetype. I believe that the spots vacated by Satan
and those ranking positions that followed him into the rebellion, God will
fill with a portion of the first fruits rapture elect. Why?
Well, the original problem with Satan was his accusations against God was
that he was not love and that he did not have a right to rule. By
sanctification and God’s grace these accusations have been undone.
These “replacements” would be the opposite in that they would
be reminded of their redemption and therefore would have the foundation
of humility which is the opposite of pride. These elect would also
have proactively chosen Jesus as is every bride model in God’s word.
This leads us to a discussion of what the “Key
of David” is. Remember that the original problem is Pride.
The law is good, it is how we should be living. But the law is not
the point, other than we can’t fulfill it. At the end of the
day we are not righteous, we are self destructive, whether we want to be
or not (ask Paul – “I do what I don’t want to do).
Since it is the “Key of David” let’s
look to David. Ask this? What is the key difference between
King Saul and King David? Saul lost his leadership when he did not
wait for Samuel to perform the sacrifice, and then he did not kill the enemy
king, his people and livestock when he was told to. Saul took things
into his own hands. He operated from fear. Pride and fear are
close brothers. Pride produces a false position which must be constantly
protected by fear. David twice had a chance to take Saul’s life
and thus the kingship in which he was anointed for. Yet when he had
the chance, he left it to God’s Sovereignty to carry it out.
He could have worried for his life – Saul was hunting him down.
He could have simply taken the kingship – he had been anointed by
the Lord and no one would have blamed him. David in every battle and
even when Nathan approached him with his sin, bowed in his heart to the
King of Kings in Heaven. This is the “Key of David” bowing
in our hearts to God’s Sovereignty and acceptance and the passing
on of his love. If we truly have this in abundance then God can utilize
us as vessels of love and mercy. He has power and riches, but he needs
Palace Administrators, such as Eliakim who look to the Lord in dire circumstances.
I believe that Eliakim must have been a “key” influence with
Hezekiah for Isaiah and thus the word of God to prophesy about his name
in this way. Truly, the first shall be last, and the last shall be
first. No wonder Satan hates us – he lost his position to lowly
humans, who he had tricked into original sin in the garden.
Blessings,
Tony