Today we are looking at the 4th Old Testament name and title for Jesus- Key of David.
O Key of David and scepter of the house of Israel, you open and no one can close, you close and no one can open: Come and rescue the prisoners who are in darkness and the shadow of death.
Keys are authority, access and power. The one who has the keys has can do things that no one else can do. So when Jesus is described as the Key of David, we need to understand the context if we are going to see the meaning of the title.
This name for Jesus is used twice in the Bible. Once in the Old Testament and once in the New. Let’s look at the passage in Revelation where Jesus describes Himself this way, and then we will go back and see where it is prophesied in Isaiah.
Revelation 3:7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:”
In this verse, Jesus describes Himself as the key of David. But without context, that title is almost meaningless to us. So we go to Isaiah to see the original context and discover the meaning of this-
Shebna was King Hezekiah’s chief-of-staff. As such, he held the keys to the palace and with those keys, authority and great power. He misused his authority by having his tomb carved where the kings were buried and to enrich himself at the king’s expense. Shebna wanted to be king and misused his power for personal gain. And so he was stripped of his office, and Eliakim was called to replace him. God used this little bit of palace politics to prophesy something much greater:
Isaiah 22:19-22 “I will depose you from your office, And I will pull you down from your station. “Then it will come about in that day, That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, And I will clothe him with your tunic And tie your sash securely about him. I will entrust him with your authority, And he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. “Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, When he opens no one will shut, When he shuts no one will open.
These very same words refer to Jesus in Revelation. He is the one who has the key of David, who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens.
The question that you are probably asking right now is “what is this key?” In one sense, Jesus is the key. But in this passage, I think the key refers to salvation. Since salvation comes through Jesus alone, He holds the key that unlocks the prison door of sin and death. Sin is the prison and it locks us in a cell of shame, anxiety, lust, greed, envy, bitterness and even impatience. The final end of all of these is death.
No matter how much we struggle against the chains and rattle the bars, we cannot break out of the prison by ourself. Only Jesus- the One who opens and no one can shut and shuts and no one can open, can unlock the chains and deliver us from sin and death.
Christ has come and entered the prison. He took on the Law’s death sentence. He stormed the gates of hell with His death. He opens our prison cell. He is the key- the key that sets us free from the Law and breaks the chains of death that bind us in fear. He sets us free to live as adopted sons in His Kingdom instead of prisoners in the dungeon awaiting execution.
Just as Eliakim was given the keys to all the wealth and power of the king in Isaiah 22, Jesus has the keys to all the wealth and power in God’s Kingdom. In Matthew 28:18 Jesus says “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” He has the keys to everything- He is the key.
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