The Sword of Judgement over the Church

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32IJrV73zVo

"For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God." (1 Peter 4:17)

For many years now the Lord has been speaking to me about His dealings with the church (also corresponding to His dealings with me!). I’m talking shaking and fault lines, fire and judgement. This word is another layer of an arc of revelation that the Lord has been weaving together over a number of years.

In January 2021 the Lord gave me a prophetic word that I wrote up in 2023 called ‘I am Raising up Eliakim’.

(You can read the earlier post here - https://www.sallydavidson.life/post/i-am-raising-up-eliakim)

In this prophecy I share the revelation God gave me from Isaiah 22. First the scripture then I’ll recap:

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 chiselling your resting place in the rock? “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. “In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. Isaiah 22:15-24

Isaiah 22 is unusual because instead of prophesying over nations, (his usual MO) Isaiah prophesies over two men—Shebna and Eliakim.

——————-

Shebna was the palace administrator serving under King Hezekiah (a good King!) This was an extremely influential position -  second only to the King.

Yet the Lord confronts him with an unusual accusation - building himself a tomb on the heights!

In Isaiah's day this was far more than arranging for somewhere to be buried. It was a public declaration of greatness. By carving an elaborate tomb high into the rock, Shebna was creating a monument to himself. Long after he had died, future generations would look upon it and conclude that this must have been a man of extraordinary importance.

The name Shebna means ‘growth’ or ‘vigour’. Isaiah refers to him as ‘a mighty man’ which was true both in terms of his elevated position but also in terms of his elevated opinion of himself.

According to Strongs concordance - The Lord judged Shebna because:

• He misused public authority for private grandeur

• He trusted in prestigious monuments and foreign alliances instead of the covenant LORD

• He usurped a place rightly belonging to the faithful servant whom God will raise up

As I sat with this passage back in 2021, the Holy Spirit began to quicken to my spirit that Shebna was not simply a historic biblical figure - he was also a prophetic picture of a type of leadership in the church that was also about to come under judgement - for the same reasons!

Shebna is a type of church leadership that is building more for personal glory than the glory of God.

Remember Shebna was a ‘mighty man’ and his names means vigorous growth.

It is easy to assume that blessing can be measured by numbers, influence, wealth, favour and visibility. We instinctively look at large ministries, impressive buildings and expanding platforms and conclude that God must surely be pleased.

Years ago I heard someone say of a particular church, "Well, it's growing, so it must be healthy.”Well … The porn industry is growing - the sex-trafficking industry is growing! So growth certainly is a sign of health - BUT not everything that grows is healthy!

——————-

We see ‘Shebna’ - and the spirit that sits on him represented time and again in scripture. We see it in Saul - who continually positioned himself according to the opinions of people. He feared losing public approval more than he feared grieving God. His leadership became increasingly driven by image rather than obedience.

We see it in the Pharisees!

Jesus reserved some of His strongest words for these religious leaders.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Matthew 23:27

Notice the similarity between Shebna and The Pharisees!

• Shebna was literally building himself a tomb on the heights—a prestigious and expensive monument designed to advertise his greatness.

• The Pharisees had become living tombs, whited sepulchres - beautifully decorated on the outside while inwardly filled with spiritual death.

Jesus speaks 7 damning woes over the Pharisees and John records this devastating assessment:

"They loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.”John 12:43

I believe that sentence communicates exactly what the Lord is confronting today. This is not primarily about ministry size or church growth - it is about motive! God has never been impressed by what impresses man. You can fool man but you can’t fool God! God knows whether we are building for the glory of Jesus Christ or ‘building sepulchres’ for our own glory.

——————-

Over the last 8 years, the Lord has also been speaking to me about seismic activity and shaking! Everything will be shaken that can be shaken and ONLY that which cannot be shaken will stand!

(You can read this post here: https://www.sallydavidson.life/post/don-t-be-swept-away-in-the-earthquake1)

The church as been shaken and will continue to be shaken - sins have been judged - leaders have fallen, scandals have emerged and things long concealed have been exposed.

The Lord showed me a fault line running through the Church and I could see it had been inert for a long time, but the shaking was agitating the fault line and tectonic plates were being forced apart.

The word "tectonic" comes from a root meaning "to build” and God was saying that through the shaking that was coming He was going to begin to reveal the foundation material the church had been built on - whether on the rock of the revelation of Jesus or on the sand of the foolishness of the things of this world.

Before I go any further - This word is not an invitation to point fingers.

Whenever God begins speaking about judgment, our first response should never be to respond with self-righteousness and judgement about all the people who are less perfect than us - it should always be, "Lord, is there anything in me?"

David prayed,

"Search me, O God, and know my heart... See if there is any wicked way in me."

That must become our prayer too. Once we truly receive revelation about the immense love of the Father for each one of us and the extent of the grace we have been granted over our own sin we will never point fingers again… we will know that the verse ‘where sin abounded, grace did much more abound’ was written for US!

Mercy triumphs over judgment!

God's desire has never been public humiliation - His desire is purification unto holiness!

He will have a pure church!

——————-

Fast forward to now - only a few weeks ago I woke in the middle of the night with these words ringing loudly in my spirit:

"The Sword of Damocles."

Damocles was a courtier serving in the court of King Dionysius (named after the god of wine, revelry, fertility and theatre). Damocles envied the king's wealth, influence and honour.

The story tells us that the king exchanged places with Damocles for a day - setting the crown on his head, sitting him at his place at the banqueting table and extending to him the immense privilege of being king, but as Damocles sat there - he noticed that above his head hung a sharp sword suspended by a single horsehair.

I had always understood ‘The Sword of Damocles’ to be an idiom meaning ‘impending doom’ - the fuller context of the meaning is - that with great wealth and privilege comes great peril, which immediately took me to James -

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. (James 3:1)

NB. Now I know this isn’t a biblical story(!) - but as I unpacked this with Holy Spirit the prophetic significance was astonishing!

Damocles' name means ‘glory of the people or fame of the people’! (Didn’t we just read this about the Pharisees?)

"They loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God."

Again this speaks to the leaders in the church who covet and desire more the treasure, glory and influence of the false god Dionysius (god of revelry, wine, fertility and theatre!) than they desire the treasure, glory and influence of King Jesus.

Like Damocles they have coveted the things of this world and worldly measures of success and they are sitting in a throne that is not theirs to sit in - and as ‘leaders’ in the church they have placed themselves in great peril.

God is NOW judging these leaders. The Lord is sending His Word! Which is living and active and sharper than a two edged sword - penetrating even to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

The word of God is Living, and active and sharper than a double edged sword - it penetrates even to dividing between soul and spirit, joints and marrow - it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrew 4:12

When God's sword falls, it will separates what is genuine from what is counterfeit, it will separate what is holy from what is profane and what is of the soul from what is of the spirit - it will reveal mixture and motive and it will bring purity!

And in the place of Shebna, God raises up Eliakim! Eliakim is a type of Christ - his name literally means ‘whom God raises up’.

Know that many are being raised up in this day who have been formed and forged secretly in wilderness and fire. They are being raised up into positions of authority as Shebna is deposed and hurled away. And the Key of David is being placed on their shoulders. This is the key of government! It Represents Jesus Christ’s absolute, sovereign authority to grant or deny access to God’s spiritual kingdom, salvation, and eternal life.

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. Revelation 3:7

Rise up Eliakims you are being put in place and the key of David is being placed on YOUR shoulder.