God Seeks Others-Centered Leadership

Isaiah 22:15–16 (ESV) Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: 16 What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock?

God is going to judge the king's "chief of staff" here. Why? Because he put himself and his own interests before the welfare of the people. Such self-serving leaders are a stench to God. For leadership pertains to one's responsibilities, not just some measure of glory. For self-serving leadership, there is only judgment to come. 

For as large as Shebna saw himself in the land, God said He would toss him away like a rock. 

Isaiah 22:17–18 (ESV) Behold, the LORD will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you 18 and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master’s house.

The historians suggest that Shebna was carried off by Sennacherib, king of Assyria. The final statement concerning this is found in verse 19:

Isaiah 22:19 (ESV) I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your station.

You must realize that such judgment on Israel's leadership would have been shocking to hear among the citizens. What would they do without the man who supports the king? God has a replacement for every person we account as imperative to the cause. 

Isaiah 22:20–21 (ESV) In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, 21 and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

Eliakim's name is significant here. It means, "God will raise up; God does establish." True leaders are people who understand that God has given them that place by His grace and for His purpose. And they lead from that sense instead of their own importance. 

Ask about your own leaders. Are they more like Shebna or Eliakim? Sometimes they can start like an Eliakim and end up like a Shebna. God not only places Eliakim in the office, God gives Eliakim the gifts, honor and power he will need to lead. Verses 20-21 speak of the robe, sash and fatherliness God gives him. Then in verse 22:

Isaiah 22:22 (ESV) And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

God gives powerful authority to Eliakim. I'm sure people were at a loss with new leadership but God is never without resources for those He raises to power. And their purpose is always to bring fatherly care to the people of God. 

Isaiah 22:23 (ESV) And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house.

Now the next verse seems contradictory. For Eliakim, (God's peg), will also be cut off eventually. 

Isaiah 22:24–25 (ESV) And they will hang on him the whole honor of his father’s house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. 25 In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken.”

What are we to make of the eventual end of Eliakim from the very position God gave him? Simply this. God alone is the everlasting Father who rules and reigns and cares and maintains His people. Godly leaders are hard to find but there is One who will never lose us.

Godly leadership remembers that it is the Lord who makes them who they are. Should they forget this and make leadership about their own glory, God can easily move on to some unknown unheard-of nobody and do greater things than we can imagine. He who leads does well to contemplate Isaiah 22 with these truths in mind.