Isaiah's message from the Lord regarding Shebna is not good. "This is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says: 'Go, say to this steward, to Shebna the palace administrator: 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?'" (Isaiah 22:15-16)
A large portion of Isaiah's ministry took place during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah. In 2 Kings 18 we were told that Shebna was one of King Hezekiah's top officials and that Shebna was among the men King Hezekiah sent to the gates of Jerusalem to speak to the field commander of the Assyrian army. (We will be taking a fresh look at that incident later in the book of Isaiah.) Although Shebna must have been a man the king trusted and held in high esteem, it appears from Isaiah's words above that Shebna enjoyed making a big deal of himself. He was hewing out a tomb in the rock---a tomb fit for a king---in which to someday be buried in the land of Judah. It also appears as if Shebna was either performing this work without the permission of the king or that he was in the habit of going ahead and doing whatever he pleased, taking advantage of the kindness of the godly king Hezekiah who did not reprove him for his audacity.
Shebna's dreams of grandeur are not to be realized. He thinks he and his descendants will be entombed in their native land but this is not what will happen. Shebna lacks upright character; if this were not the case, the Lord would not have spoken such harsh words against him. Shebna may have been able to fool Hezekiah into thinking he's a godly man but the Lord sees right into his heart. This is why the Lord says to him through Isaiah: "Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you and hurl you away, you mighty man. He will roll you up tightly like a ball and throw you into a large country. There you will die and there the chariots you were so proud of will become a disgrace to your master's house. I will depose you from your office, and you will be ousted from your position." (Isaiah 22:17-19)
The words above indicate that Shebna was in the habit of maintaining a fine fleet of chariots for himself. It was common for kings and for crown princes to travel with an entourage and it may be that chariots always went ahead of Shebna, announcing his approach, and that chariots always followed behind him. All of this pomp will soon be no more. The glory with which Shebna surrounded himself will be taken from him.
Shebna is never mentioned anywhere else except in the book of 2 Kings and later in the book of Isaiah when Isaiah; both these incidents tell the story of the Assyrian army approaching the gates of Jerusalem. We have no idea what happened to Shebna after that event but there can be no doubt that the Lord did exactly what He said He would do. Shebna did not die on his native soil but in a foreign land, perhaps captured somehow by the forces of Assyria and transported to Assyrian-held territory. However his exile from Judah came about, we know that it did come about, because no word ever spoken by the Lord will ever fail to come true.
As we conclude Chapter 22 in our next study session, we find a message of good news being spoken about a different man.
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