Chapter 22 opens with a reference to the “Valley of Vision.” Not a geographical place mind you, but a reference to the fact that what follows is a place in a vision, a vision that reaches far into the future to the destruction of Jerusalem.
The certainty of Jerusalem’s destruction is underscored by the fact that her dead will die before a battle is enjoined, her captives taken before the army arrives. How can it be? Because God has decreed it.
Judah’s crime?
Not trusting in God.
She trusts in her weapons and her preparations for war, but not to the Lord. Life goes on undisturbed despite the revealed vision of God. Shebna, Hezekiah’s “secretary (Chief of Staff), has made a name and a monument for himself, but he has not urged his master to submit to the Lord. Focusing on himself, he does not see what the Lord has planned, and does not realize that his efforts at self aggrandizement will only result in ignominy.
Furthermore, others who follow his example will have the same end. Eliakim is the palace administrator (2 Kings 19:2) and he too seeks his own interests. Many will depend on him, and he will enjoy his status as the “go to” guy. But one should only put his trust in God. The weight of dependents will break a mortal, as Isaiah says it will do to Eliakim.