Who was Eliakim son of Hilkiah?

Son of Hilkiah, and chief of the household of Hezekiah. 2 Kings 18:18, 26, 37; 2 Kings 19:2; Isa. 22:20; Isa. 36:3, 11, 22; Isa. 37:2. Eliakim must have held a high office; he is named before the scribe and the recorder. In Isa. 22 God calls him His servant: Shebna was to be set aside, and Eliakim was to be clothed and raised up as governor. He was to have the key of David, and be able effectually to open and shut. He is here a type of Christ when He comes to take His place over Israel.

Returning, however, to the chapter before us, we find the king of Assyria was not to be put off. He liked his three hundred talents of silver and his thirty talents of gold well enough, and he saw that the stripping of the temple, too, was only an encouragement to make greater demands. He therefore pushes his advantages. He found lowliness, for there never was a man that told his faults out so plainly as Hezekiah. "I have offended." It was a sort of encouragement for him to see whether he would not bear a little more pressure. "That which thou puttest on me will I bear." And so he determines to try. "And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rab-shakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host"; not now against the fenced cities, but against Jerusalem. "And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fullers' field. And when they had called to the king there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah." Rab-shakeh tells him to speak to the king. "Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? Thou sayest (but they are but vain words), I have counsel and strength for the war."

The king of Assyria, who had besieged and conquered Lachish, sends his servants, the Tartan or general at the head of his armies, the Rabsaris (chief chamberlain) whose functions are not too well-known, and the Rab-shakeh, the political head of the king's household and his mouthpiece on important occasions. They stand before Jerusalem, and Hezekiah's servants, Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah come out to them. Except for this moment, our account agrees almost word for word with that in Isaiah 36 and 37.

God's judgment on the pride and arrogance of Shebna would make way for a true servant of Jehovah, even as it is written, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah: and I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah" (Isa. 22:20-21). It is to be remarked that while Shebna is spoken of as being "over the house" in Isaiah 22:15, in Isaiah 36:3, 22, and Isaiah 37:2, Eliakim is presented as "over the house," and Shebna is mentioned after him as "the scribe." So that during the reign of Hezekiah, Eliakim was exalted. and Shebna was falling from his very high position.

Who can doubt that Eliakim is here a type of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One who shall be seen as "exalted, and extolled, and very high," after antichrist has been cast into the lake of fire? The robe and the girdle that truly belonged to God's Christ had been assumed by antichrist, the man of sin, the false king; but on his expulsion, and judgment, the true King will take up the robe and the girdle that are His by right, and He will be "over the house," as He is even now. "Son over God's house," and in that day "He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah."

In Isaiah 21 we learn that Shebna, who was of the lineage of David, was over the house of Hezekiah, but, because Jehovah was displeased with him, his office was to be given to another, even to Eliakim the son of Hilkiah. Regarding Eliakim the Lord said, "And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open" (Isa. 22:22). With the key of David upon his shoulder, the government of the royal house was committed into the hand of Eliakim, and he was to minister in his high position, as called of God, for the good of "the inhabitants of Jerusalem and … the house of Judah".

Eliakim in this is surely a type of the Lord Jesus Christ who, in the coming day, will order all in Jerusalem, in Judah, yea, in all Israel for the glory of God and the blessing of His people. This gives us in type what is proclaimed in the prophecy of Isaiah 9:6-7, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder … upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever".

Although the Lord will rule over all as Son of Man in the day of His glory, Eliakim typifies only that part of the Lord's rule connected with Israel. All the glory of Israel will hang upon Him, the Nail in the sure place, the One who was "removed, and … cut down" but who, in resurrection, fulfils all that has been foreshadowed and prophesied concerning Him in the Old Testament Scriptures.

The close of the chapter sets before us the setting aside of the unworthy Shebna who had crept into the place of chief minister, next to the throne, living only for self, and even seeking after death nothing but his own name and glory. "Thus says the Lord Jehovah of hosts, Go, get thee in to this treasurer, to Shebna who is over the house, [and say,] What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewn thee out here a sepulchre, [as] one hewing him out a sepulchre on high, graving a habitation for himself in the rock? Behold, Jehovah will hurl thee away violently as a strong man, and he will wrap thee up closely. He will surely roll and toss thee [like] a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there [shall be] the chariots of thy glory, O shame of thy lord's house. And I will thrust thee from thine office, and from thy station will He pull thee down" (vv. 15-19).

Thereon Jehovah's servant Eliakim is called to take the reins of office in his stead, a father to Jerusalem and Judah, with the key of David's house laid by Jehovah on his shoulder, with full authority and adequate power. "And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkijah; and I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him [as] a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a throne of glory to his father's house. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the vessels of cups even to all the vessels of flagons" (vv. 20-24). We cannot here fail to recognize the type of Christ displacing the Antichrist. The very fact of the past historical circumstances being put together without regard to mere date, as we have seen, and with personages introduced who officially were not the highest, yet described in terms which open out to a dominion and power beyond the highest, prepares one for the magnificent events of the latter day in the Holy Land as the only complete fulfilment of the scripture before us.

"In that day, says Jehovah of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in a sure place be removed, and be cut down and fall; and the burden that [was] upon it shall be cut off; for Jehovah has spoken" (v. 25). It was not the position, but the person that made the difference. Shebna had just the same place, but he utterly failed and wrought ruin. Not so Eliakim who followed, as we have seen, in the verses last before us. Rev. 3:7 warrants the application to Christ.

Eliakim carries the key of the house of David here. His name means “whom God will raise up,” and he plainly points on to our Lord Jesus Christ, whom God has raised up, to secure all “the sure mercies of David,” the promises connected with David’s Seed. He is robed and strengthened, and the government committed into his hand, and be becomes a father to the people (v. 21).

Shebna then was rejected and Eliakim, whose name appears to mean, "God is setting up," was to take his place. This transfer actually took place during the reign of Hezekiah, according to the word of the prophet, but we see in it a parable of what will take place at the end of the age, when the self-exalting "man of sin" will be violently turned and tossed to destruction, and the once rejected Christ shall be exalted and established. Of Him Eliakim, in this incident, was a faint type.

This is evident when we read Revelation 3:7, and note how our Lord claims for Himself the very things that are said of Eliakim in verse 22 of our chapter. He it is who is worthy to have the government laid upon His shoulder not only of Jerusalem and Israel but of the whole universe. He it is who will hold the key of David and will unlock and bring to light and establish "the sure mercies of David," of which we read in Isaiah 55. Eliakim doubtless had a place of much authority under Hezekiah, but the graphic and conclusive figures, we find here, go far beyond him.

"And Eliakim the son of Hilkijah, who [was] over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came to Hezekiah with clothes rent, and told him the words of Rab-shakeh" (vv. 3-22).

The entreaties of Eliakim and others that Aramean should be spoken rather than the Jewish tongue only drew out further and audacious insolence; for Rab-shakeh stood and cried in their own tongue to the people on the walls, warning them against their king and commending to them the hard terms of deportation to the east, in the face of the overthrow of the nations already broken by the Assyrian. Little did the blasphemer think that there listened to his taunting demand whether Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem, not Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah only, nor the men on the wall also, but Jehovah Himself. It was now His affair; and then at length begins to shine once more the faith of Hezekiah, whose commandment it was to answer him not.

His clothes rent, the king covered in sackcloth repairs to the house of Jehovah, and enquires of the prophet, who returns Jehovah's answer that they were not to fear the words of blasphemy; for Jehovah would undertake the matter and send back the Assyrian to perish in his own land. "And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard [it], that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Jehovah. And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. And they said to him, Thus says Hezekiah, This day [is] a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of contumely (or, rejection): for the children are come to the birth, and [there is] not strength to bring forth. It may be Jehovah thy God will hear the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which Jehovah thy God has heard. Therefore lift up [thy] prayer for the remnant that is left. And the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said to them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus says Jehovah, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will put a spirit into him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land" (vv. 1-7).

Moreover, Rabshakeh falsely asserted that the Lord had told the Assyrian king to destroy Jerusalem, and then he appealed against Hezekiah to the citizens within hearing, for he evidently had a shrewd knowledge of their idolatrous tendencies, so different to their King. Many of them were secretly trusting in false gods and not in the Lord, so the reminder of the fact, that the gods of many other cities had failed to deliver, was calculated to have weight in their minds. Still Hezekiah's command to the men to keep silence prevailed, and they answered him not a word.

Eliakim, of whom we read in Isaiah 22, with others brought news of all this to Hezekiah, and his reaction to it is found in the first five verses of Isaiah 37, God was first in his thoughts, for covered with sackcloth, indicating sorrow and humiliation, he "went into the house of the Lord."