I followed the news about the chaos and trouble in Bangkok and glad to know that the Red Shirt leaders have surrendered already and their followers have been dispersed (though there were still violence and vandalism that went on). But whether in Bangkok or in our country it’s simply a mirror of a troubled world we live in. In every nation in and every country it is marked by troubles – socially, economically and politically. And people are looking for answers…in the wrong places – even in man.

And people are looking for answers...in the wrong places.

There’s a man in the Bible whose name is Eliakim (Isaiah 22:22-25Isaiah 22:22-25
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
22 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. ²³ And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. ²⁴ And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons. vessels of flagons: or, instruments of viols ²⁵ In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken it.  

WP-Bible plugin). He was a godly man. Dedicated and faithful. He was given the key of the house of David. The key represent position and authority to make decisions. God called him to be the Prime Minister of the nation Judah. God said that Eliakim will be like a peg set firmly in a wall, able to bear enormous weight without apparent strain. Though the administration of his office was weighty, by God’s enabling he was able to bear it. But, as much as Eliakim was God’s man and a faithful, he was insufficient in delivering the nation. Ultimately the accumulated weight of the nation’s rebellion pulled God’s leader down with it. The sin of the nation, its blindness, was such that a capable leader was inadequate to turn the nation from its downward direction.

As a result, too much was demanded of too few Eliakims and they all fell.

Here’s the lesson: Despite his ability and faithfulness and lofty hopes, Eliakim was doomed to fail. Eliakim was merely human and if a nation placed all its hopes in him, those hopes would certainly be dashed. The nation’s true hope was in God and in the kind of repentance which would enable whole-hearted commitment.  As a result, too much was demanded of too few Eliakims and they all fell. Modern nations have done the same. We adulate good leaders as demi-gods and then, when they fail, as they must, we spit on them. Like Judah, we refuse to trust God and instead deify human leaders in the hope that they can save us. Inevitably, we must be disappointed, as Judah was.

But, there is only One God-man on whom we can hang all ourhopes and rest assured that He will not fail us – the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus is the One who has the keys who opens and no one can shut. Who shuts and no one can open. He and He alone opens the way to our Father’s House and to all eternity for us.   He is God’s peg in a sure place, and all the glory of His Father’s house hangs upon Him, is derived from Him, and depends upon Him. Even the least that belong to His Church are welcome to Him, and He is able to bear the stress of them all. That soul cannot perish, nor that concern fall to the ground, though ever so weighty, that is by faith hung upon Christ.

Jesus is God’s peg in a sure place...

The lesson: Put your trust in Christ alone not in man. Entrust every area of your life to Him…for whoever trusts in Him will never be put to shame!