2634AFC082126 – Rock Solid!

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Isaiah 9:6 – ⁶ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)) Used by permission.

Isaiah 22:22-23 – ²² I will place on his* shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open. ²³ I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his ancestral house.

*=Eliakim (God has raised up) son of Hilkiah (My Portion is Jehovah) and he alone has power to open and shut which is historically symbolic of his absolute authority as the king's representative called by such titles as Chamberlain, or Steward, or Treasurer. (Isaiah 22:22).

Revelation 3:7 – ⁷ And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens:

Matthew 16:18-19 – ¹⁸ And I tell you, you are Peter [Petros] and on this rock [petra] I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

0Psalm 138:1 – NABRE [1]
¹ Of David.

Part I

I thank you, Lord, with all my heart;
    in the presence of the angels to you I sing.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! I pray that those of you who have seen, or are soon facing, violent weather in the last week you will experience minimal side-effects. It is patently apparent here on our tiny little rock in the middle of the Big Pacific that our weather patterns are shifting. What used to be a remarkably stable pattern has gotten to be remarkably unstable. We know that that's the way it is with most of the temporal things that make up our lives. That is why it is useful and important to ensure that our lives are well-connected to the stable things in life. And what are those stable things? They are the things that are Eternal, the things that are established by, in, and for God. They are the persons, places, things, and ideas that endure because they are fixed solid like a nail, a peg in the wall, established on a solid foundation, or protected as a bird in the cleft of the rock.

The Symbol of Authority – The Key of David

In this passage from Isaiah, the prophet declares that the Head Steward of King Hezekiah, a man named Shebna, will be replaced because he is a self-seeking corrupt official whose corruption betrays the purpose of his office. Isaiah tells Shebna that he will be "hurled away violently" and whirled round and round, and then thrown like a ball into a wide, empty space. His fancy chariots will be wrecked, and – stripped of the official powers of his office – he will die disgraced. God tells the prophet Isaiah to establish Eliakim, the person he has chosen to replace Shebna, and to place on Eliakim's shoulder the badge of office: The Key of David. Eliakim's authority – which comes from God – will be placed firmly in the kingdom so that Eliakim's actions all carry the authority of Hezekiah. If Eliakim speaks, it is as if the King himself is speaking. Whatever he opens, no one can shut; whatever he prohibits, no one can permit; whatever he permits, no one can disallow. As declared by God, he has full authority in the kingdom. This will resonate with the Disciples many years later, and with us many more years after them.

This image would have also resonated with the Israelites at that time. In their houses, rows of large, thick nails or wooden pegs were placed into the walls and used to hang various household necessities. In the messianic prophecy about Jesus in Isaiah 9, Jesus is described as having "the government upon his shoulder." The Hebrew word used here is misrah {mis-raw'} and it means rule, dominion, government. We see this concept similarly in Isaiah 22:20-21 – ²⁰ On that day I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah, ²¹ and will clothe him with your robe and bind your sash on him. I will commit your authority* to his hand, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. * memshalah {mem-shaw-law'}

Jesus is also as a "a peg in a secure place." All things, all souls, all prayers which we hang on that secure peg of Christ in sincere faith cannot be lost, or fall to destruction. Whatever door is opened by Christ is the door in which the believer can place unquestionable trust, and a door through which the believer can pass safely. Whatever door is closed by Christ cannot be opened by anyone for any reason. Jesus opens to us the door of Eternal Salvation for soul and body, but for those who refuse to enter by that door, the door will be shut as surely as God closed the door on the Ark (See Genesis 7:16) Christ has this authority from God. It is his to use, or to share, as pleases him. He himself stated this unequivocally.

Jesus described his own authority

You can see several passages such as these that show how he described his own authority: Matthew 11:27, Matthew 28:18-20, John 3:35, John 17, Daniel 7:13-14. I want to give you the text of Matthew 28:18 as it represents the other passages well. It says, ¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." This is part of "The Great Commission" where Jesus gave his authority to all Disciples (including us) to spread the Gospel. It is Scripture that is the framework for the Church, and the foundation of the Church is the teaching of the Apostles, especially Peter.

Why do we say, "especially Peter?" We say that because Peter – who received the "badge of authority" the Keys of the Kingdom – received also the authority over the very Kingdom that God promised through David. Only Jesus had the power to elevate Peter to this position of authority, and that designation was made "in accordance with the Scriptures." In this illustration we see Hezekiah bestowing the Key of David on Eliakim. It was a “badge of authority” that was easy to see and difficult to bear. Just as Eliakim was given authority over the high standing vacated by Shebna, in the same way that Isaiah prophesied that the government would be on the shoulders of the coming Messiah, in the same way that Christ himself addresses the Church in Philadelphia, and in the same way as in Daniel 7, the Kingdom of the Son of Man, who is the Messiah, is an Everlasting Kingdom with authority over all of Creation because he is the "God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great God mighty and awesome," (See Deuteronomy 10:17-18) who reigns forever and ever (See Exodus 15:18).

Our God is or Rock of Safety

That is our God! He is indeed an Awesome God (← Music Link sung by the composer Rich Mullins!) in Three Persons who reign from Heaven above  and it is that Awesome God that gives us the Rock of Ages (← Music Link) called The Church which is built upon the Rock of the Apostle Peter. Our Holy Triune God – who is the Rock of our Salvation – has used his authority to commission a sure and safe place in the tradition of the Psalms. You perhaps will recall this gem in Psalm 18:2 – ² The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. That is such an inspiring image!

When we think of inspirations, we often think of images like this one. For those of us who have music constantly playing in our heads, we might hear certain tunes going off: Here's a great tune by Stewart Townend and Keith Getty and performed by Mercy Me: .In Christ Alone (← Music Link) And here is an old Gospel standard called On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand. (← Music Link)

Belovéd, in every aspect of life we have a safe place to stand and be sheltered from everything that can harm us. We stand in the cleft of the rock, and as God passes by, (← Click Link) we feel the Glory of the Lord around us and know that our foundation is rock solid! Christ has passed the badge of authority to The Church, and through that foundation, all who live in Christ are standing on solid ground.

Singing with the Angels!

Now, I can’t really finish this without commenting about my favorite Psalm – #138. I even wrote a song about it. Quoting from there – “I just love the idea of standing with the angels and lifting up my hands to praise God. That’s quite a picture!” So, enough of that. Here are the lyrics. If you go to 740AFC100507 – A Glorious Angel Song, you’ll see a way to estimate how many Angels will be singing along with us. I am so eager to sit at the doorstep of the Throne Room and to listen to “myriads upon myriads” of Angels singing!! Whenever we start the Sanctus in the Mass – “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord. God of Hosts.” – I invite my Guardian Angel to sing along with us because in the Preface from the Eucharistic Prayer the Priest prays:

And so, with Angels and Archangels,
with Thrones and Dominions,
and with all the hosts and Powers of heaven,
we sing the hymn of your glory,
as without end we acclaim:

“Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord. God of Hosts.”
and right there, ALL the Angels – myriads, and myriads, and many, many, many more sing with us. WOW! ISN’T IT GREAT TO BE CATHOLIC!

That’s truly ROCK SOLID!

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd!

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

†      Share-A-Prayer
Pray for our nation, its leaders, and its citizens

†      Pray for leaders throughout the world and all of those in authority (your supervisor, the Police and Military, the School Principal, your Pastor – you get the idea?) that they might govern with morality, compassion, integrity, fidelity, wisdom, and justice so that we can all live together in peace.

• †      Pray for the sick
• †      Pray for the dying
• †      Pray for the souls in Purgatory
• †      Pray for the suffering souls in all places of oppression, disease, and famine
• †      Pray for the souls tormented by addiction
• †      Pray for those suffering religious or social persecution
• †      Pray for each other in Constancy.
• †      Pray for me as I pray for you.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

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