Do you know people who became so filled with their own importance that they used their position and authority for their own benefit rather than for the benefit of others?
Shebna was that kind of person. His story is found in Isaiah 22:15–25. One could change the name and think his tale was a modern-day news story.
Shebna was a steward to Hezekiah, king of Judah. In the Bible, a steward was one who handled the property or administered the affairs of another. Remember Joseph was made a steward of the Egyptian Pharaoh after interpreting the Pharaoh’s dreams. In Genesis 45:8, Joseph described himself as “lord of his (the Pharaoh’s) entire household and ruler of all Egypt.” Obviously the king’s steward was a position of great authority and power.
The account of Isaiah 22 is set during a time of great danger. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was threatening Jerusalem. Hezekiah rallied the nation to seal off the water supply from the invaders and channel it into the city. He strengthened the walls, fortified the towers and made weapons for the people (2 Chron. 32).
As the steward of Hezekiah, Shebna was supposed to be leading the efforts to prepare the city against the enemy. Instead he ordered workers to cut out a tomb for him. Evidently the tomb was in a prestigious location. Isaiah the prophet asks Shebna, “Who gave you permission to cut out a tomb for yourself here?” (vs. 16).
More importantly, the prophet asks, “What are you doing here?” Shebna had his workers outside the walls of the city. They were not working on the water supply. They were not working on the walls. They were not making weapons. They were where they were not supposed to be doing what they were not supposed to be doing. No wonder Isaiah asked, “What are you doing here?”
Evidently Shebna’s position had gone to his head. He felt entitled to ignore the commands of his king. He felt warranted to ignore the needs of the people. His view of himself placed his desires above all else, even above society’s norms about who could be buried among the kings.
Shebna’s ego must have been as massive as some modern-day politicians who assume the privileges of office allow them to do whatever they want. How contemporary are the stories of embezzlement and corruption by so-called public servants who turn opportunity for service into an occasion of private gain.
How many like Shebna are those who trade heavy responsibilities for public good for the chance to advance a personal scheme? Here is another story where trust is trampled underfoot in pursuit of a secret agenda.
Fill in the names — governors, county commissioners, legislators, school board members, businessmen, even preachers. The names are different. The stories are the same.
Isaiah told Shebna that God was going to take hold of him, roll him up in a ball and throw him away because he was “a disgrace to his master’s household” (vs. 18).
Eliakim was to replace him. Notice that Eliakim was to be “a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah” (vs. 21). Eliakim would reclaim the proper role of a steward. He would be concerned about the affairs of the king he served and the people whom the king served.
Again it sounds like today’s speeches by newly elected officials after a purge of corruption and abuse by public officials.
As tempting as it is to point fingers at others, Shebna’s story speaks to every Christian today because every Christian is a steward of the King of Kings. Each one of us has been given the opportunity to handle the property and administer the affairs of God related to that entrusted to us.
The Psalmist declares, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Ps 24:1). In Psalm 95:4–5 the writer affirms, “In His hands are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. The sea is His, for He made it and His hands formed the dry land.”
Humankind has been made stewards of God’s creation, accountable to Him for personal stewardship of individual property and collectively for what humanity does to creation as a whole. Whether one considers the individual or collective responsibility, all must be done remembering one’s responsibility to God. As stewards of God, there is no room for private agendas or personal schemes, no room for avarice and greed.
Part of one’s stewardship is returning to God through tithes and offerings what God has entrusted to us. Tithes were brought to the “storehouse” — the temple and the tabernacle before that. All of the tithes were given to the temple for use in various ways. One was not free to determine how he would use what rightfully belonged to his master — to God. To do so would be to commit the sin of Shebna. The privilege of being a steward would be corrupted into a false sense of entitlement to use the property of the master according to one’s own whims and imagination.
When one succumbs to such temptation, one acts like Shebna. And like Shebna, one can expect the same outcome. One will be rejected and thrown away because one has already thrown away loving God with heart and soul, mind and strength, which is evidenced in obedience. Instead one has chosen to love self and one’s selfish schemes more than living in faithful trust as a steward of all God has entrusted to one’s keeping.
One’s salvation may not be in question but one’s usefulness as a steward certainly is.
Despite his days of prominence, Shebna was a pitiful character. Resolve not to follow his path and be a faithful steward doing the will of God with all He entrusts to us.
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