Tues.'s Devo - The Keys to the Kingdom

Read Isa. 22:15-25
Shebna was a scribe who was second in command to the king. God is rebuking him for building a fancy grave to be buried in when he won't even be in Jerusalem when he dies. If you go to Jerusalem you will see that they built huge stone above ground graves to bury their dead. The kings had huge stones that they had hewn to be buried in. They spent years to build just to be buried in. Instead of spending the time to prepare their spiritual lives to die, they were spending their efforts in a monument to memorialize themselves. Shebna was guilty of this and God replaced him with Eliakim who would lead the people with God's heart. This is a picture of the spiritual state of Israel one day coming back to the heart of God. Eliakim's name means "god of raising". He was the man God raised up to take the place of man's raising up. This new wave of people who come back to God will realize who they are in Christ and the authority they have in Him. They will have the means to unlock the heart of God and walk in kingly authority like David did. He will get back what the devil stole from him and more.
As Christians we can do that now. We have been given the keys to the kingdom and it is our responsibility and mandate to use them. Lord, teach us how to turn the key and use it affectively.