The Key of David
(week 15/08)
Olubi Johnson
Isaiah 22:20-25 (KJV): And in that day it shall be, even I will call to My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah. (21) And I will clothe him with your robe and will fasten your sash on him. And I will give your authority into his hand. And he shall be a father to the ones living in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah . (22) And the key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder, so that he opens, and no one shuts; and he shuts, and no one opens. (23) And I will drive him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a throne of glory to his father’s house. (24) And they shall hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the offshoots, all small vessels, from vessels of cups even to all vessels of jars. (25) In that day, says Jehovah of Hosts, the nail that is driven in the sure place shall be removed, and be cut down, and fall. And the burden that was on it shall be cut off. Jehovah has spoken.
Here, the scripture speaks to us prophetically of the fact that in the end-time or 3rd. day, God will be raising up a new leadership in His Kingdom: the church that will have the key of David.
What then is the key of David and why will God give it to this new leadership?
Keys in scripture symbolically speak of revelation knowledge (2 Corinthians 4.6) that when applied will give us access to the resources of the Kingdom of God :
Luke 11:52 (KJV): Woe to you, lawyers! Because you took the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you kept out the ones entering.
Matthew 16:17-19 (KJV): And answering, Jesus said to him, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but My Father in Heaven. (18) And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against her. (19) And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven . And whatever you bind on earth shall occur, having been bound in Heaven. And whatever you may loose on the earth shall be, having been loosed in Heaven.
So the key of David is the revelation of God that David had that enabled him to enforce the Kingdom and thus the will of God in his life and Kingdom.
There were 3 levels at which David had a revelation of God:
1. He had a revelation of God as Saviour: God saved him from the lion and the bear (1 Samuel 17.34-37).
2. He had a revelation of God as Lord and Master of his personal life so he consulted and obeyed God concerning where and when he should go. This was particularly true in his years of running from Saul who was seeking to kill him. In this situation consulting and obeying God as to where to go and when to go became a matter of life or death (1 Samuel 23.10-13).
3. He had a revelation of God as King over the whole earth: when God gave him victory and dominion over heathen nations (Psalms 18.43-44; 108.7-9).
We too must have revelation of God at these 3 levels for us to have the key of David.
Most Christians only have a limited knowledge of God as Saviour from the sin nature in their spirits and hell, from sickness and demonic oppression and from material and financial poverty.
Many do not yet have a revelation of God as Lord and Master, because they do not want the Lord to control their personal lives: they want to do what they like, when they like and how they like. This is especially true in issues like where they live, who they marry, what job or career they do: issues in which what they do or are doing may be lawful but not expedient (1 Corinthians 6.12, 10.23).
Furthermore even many more do not have a revelation of God as King over the whole earth: whose power can subdue the nations forcing them to acknowledge the supremacy of the Lord Jesus and Bible over all other so called ‘gods’ and religions.
An excellent example of this is Nebuchadnezzar a wicked, heathen king acknowledging the supremacy of the God of Israel over all other ‘gods’, by the supernatural deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo.
It is instructive here to observe that while Nebuchadnezzar acknowledge the supremacy of the God of Israel he had not acknowledge Him in his personal life until God humbled him in Daniel 4. Similarly today while all nations will acknowledge the supremacy of the Lord Jesus and the Bible by the force of spiritual arms, they will not all accept Him as personal Saviour to be born-again.
Daniel 3:28-30 (KJV): Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His Angel and has delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and have changed the king’s words, and have given their bodies that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own God. (29) And a decree is set out by me, that every people, nation, and language who speak anything amiss about the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, he will be made into mere members and his house shall be made an outhouse. Because there is no other God who is able to deliver like this. (30) Then the king made Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego prosper in the province of Babylon .
Daniel 4:37 (KJV): Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and honor the King of Heaven, for all His works are truth, and His ways are justice. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.
In this 3rd. day God is raising a leadership that will have and demonstrate in this kind of way, the key of David to fulfill the great commission of the discipleship of all tribes:
Matthew 28:18-20 (KJV): And coming up Jesus talked with them, saying, All authority in Heaven and on earth was given to Me. (19) Then having gone, disciple all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the completion of the age. Amen.
In our article next week, we will see how to get the key of David.
