You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
20 And it
shall come to pass in that day [yowm], that I will call [qara'] my servant [`ebed] Eliakim ['Elyaqiym'] the son [ben] of Hilkiah [Chilqiyah]: KJV-Interlinear
20 In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
ESV
Eliakim means, God will raise up. Hilkiah means, portion of Jehovah. And so this father and son represent the work and provision of God, and specifically Jesus Christ.
This is in contrast to the work of Shebna, who was looking out only for himself and not only at the expense of others, but at the expense of the entire city of Jerusalem and country Israel.
Shebna represents the work of evil. Eliakim represents the work and plan of God.
I will call, means that it is God who controls history. It is God who promotes and demotes.
Shebna was demoted, fired and eventually destroyed. In chapter thirty-seven Shebna was identified as a chancellor, or a lofty position, and Eliakim was described as a steward, a lowly position.
Recall that David was but a shepherd boy and promoted to king.
Therefore, God is not limited in His ability to promote the low, or demote the high.
Man always looks to education or credentials, and before you try to write that off, it was God who provided for all of the ingredients of education in this country and in the world. So do not try to use this example to excuse yourself out of your schooling.
It is God who promotes in accordance with His will, not you. God promotes those who are prepared.
Eliakim was prepared both academically and spiritually. The two combine to make you extremely valuable and useful.
Nevertheless, unless God promotes, you are not promoted. And when God promotes, it is permanent.
In your life, you were promoted into the plan of God. You were promoted into life. And when you believed in Christ, you were promoted into eternal life. When you study and advance in your spiritual life, it is God still, who promotes your spiritual advancement.
And along the way, you may or may not be promoted into various occupations or activities of Gods choosing. Often times the only way you will know is through hindsight perhaps, but certainly if you have a dysfunctional spiritual life, then you can be certain that whatever your worldly successes may be, they are not spiritually driven, but only permitted.
Therefore, evil was fired and divine provision was promoted into its place. That is always the way that things work out.
To receive notice of each days Bible Study, please go to my twitter page and sign up.
