Isaiah 22:20-25: a reflection

20It will happen in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21and I will clothe him with your robe, and strengthen him with your belt. I will commit your government into his hand; and he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. 22I will lay the key of David’s house on his shoulder. He will open, and no one will shut. He will shut, and no one will open. 23I will fasten him like a nail in a sure place. He will be for a throne of glory to his father’s house. 24They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the cups even to all the pitchers. 25“In that day,” says the LORD of Armies, “the nail that was fastened in a sure place will give way. It will be cut down and fall. The burden that was on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken it.”

In this passage, God promises to raise up a faithful official named Eliakim, giving him great authority in Jerusalem, the key of the house of David laid on his shoulder. Eliakim would be like a peg fastened in a sure place, on whom all the honor and weight of his family would hang, a support everyone could lean on. But the passage ends with a warning: in that day, the peg fastened in a sure place will give way; it will be cut down and fall, and the burden that hung on it will be cut off.

Notice the striking turn at the end. Eliakim was made a sure peg, seemingly secure, on whom everyone hung their hopes and burdens; and yet even that sure peg would eventually give way and fall. However dependable a human support seems, however much weight is hung on it, it is not finally secure; in time, it gives way. To hang all one's hopes on any human, however reliable, is to hang them on a peg that will not hold forever.

That is a caution against putting our ultimate trust in any human support. We are prone to lean the full weight of our hopes and security on people, a leader, a provider, a strong figure who seems dependable; but every such peg, however sure it seems, eventually gives way. People fail, weaken, and pass away; they cannot bear the whole weight of our trust forever. Do not hang all your hopes on any human peg, however reliable. There is one who holds the key of David and never gives way, Christ, of whom Eliakim was only a faint and passing picture. Hang the full weight of your hope on him, the one sure support who will never fall, rather than on any human peg that must in time give way.

Lord, you promised to make Eliakim a peg fastened in a sure place, on whom the honor and weight of his family would hang; yet you warned that even that sure peg would give way and fall. Caution me by that against putting my ultimate trust in any human support. I am prone to lean the full weight of my hopes and security on people, a leader, a provider, a strong figure who seems dependable; but every such peg, however sure it seems, eventually gives way. People fail, weaken, and pass away; they cannot bear the whole weight of my trust forever. Keep me from hanging all my hopes on any human peg, however reliable. Thank you that there is one who holds the key of David and never gives way, Christ, of whom Eliakim was only a faint picture. Help me hang the full weight of my hope on him, the one sure support who will never fall, rather than on any human peg that must in time give way. Be my sure foundation, Lord.