October 22, 2023 – Isaiah in the New Testament – The Key to Heaven

The Key to Heaven

Isaiah 22:20-25 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ “In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. ²¹ 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. ²² 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. ²³ I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat of honor for the house of his father. ²⁴ All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

²⁵ “In that day,” declares the Lord Almighty, “the peg driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The Lord has spoken.

How is “Eliakim son of Hilkiah” described (verse 20)?

What will Eliakim be handed (verse 21?

Who will Eliakim “be a father to” (verse 21)?

What will be placed on Eliakim’s shoulder (verse 22)?

In your opinion, why will “what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open” (verse 22)?

Where will he be driven “like a peg” (verse 23)?

What will hang from Eliakim (verse 24)?

What will happen to the peg (verse 25)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about the One who gives the key and the one who receives it?

Revelation 3:7-13 - New International Version (NIV)

⁷ “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ⁸ I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹ I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ¹² The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. ¹³ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

How is the One who wrote to “angel of the church in Philadelphia” described (verse 7)?

Who can shut what He opens (verse 7)?

What has He placed before the church in Philadelphia (verse 8)?

In your opinion, how can a church with little strength be able to keep Jesus’s word and not deny His name (verse 8)?

What do the members of the “synagogue of Satan” claim to be (verse 9)?

How will the church of Philadelphia be rewarded for keeping Jesus’s “command to endure patiently” (verse 10)?

When is Jesus coming (verse 11)?

How will “the one who is victorious” be rewarded (verse 12)?

Who is to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about the One who gives the key and the one who receives it?

In your opinion, how is the one who holds the key of David in Isaiah 22:20-25 different from the One who holds the key in Revelation 3:7-13?

Matthew 16:13-20 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Where were Jesus and the disciples (verse 13)?

What did Jesus ask the disciples (verse 13)?

How did the disciples answer (verse 14)?

What did Jesus next ask the disciples (verse 15)?

How did Simon Peter answer (verse 16)?

Who revealed the answer to Peter (verse 17)?

What will the rock that Jesus will build His church on not be overcome by (verse 18)?

What will Peter be given (verse 19)?

What order did Jesus the disciples (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about the One who gives the key and the one who receives it?

In your opinion, how is the Key of David in Isaiah 22:20-25 more limited than the keys Peter received in Matthew 16:13-20?

In your opinion, how does knowing that the “keys of the kingdom of heaven” that were given to Peter in Matthew 16:13-20 were given to him by the One who Revelation 3:7-13 says has placed an “open door that no one can shut” add significance to the keys?

John 20:19-29 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Why were the doors locked when the disciples gathered (verse 19)?

What did Jesus say when He “stood among them” (verse 19)?

How did the disciples react when they saw “his hands and side” (verse 20)?

How did Jesus say He was sending the disciples (verse 21)?

What did Jesus say after “he breathed on them” (verse 22)?

What would happen to anyone’s sins if the disciples forgave them (verse 23)?

Who was not with the “disciples when Jesus came” (verse 24)?

How did he respond when the disciples told him “we have seen the Lord” (verse 25)?

When did Jesus come and stand among them again (verse 26)?

What did Jesus tell Thomas (verse 27)?

How did Thomas respond (verse 28)?

Who did Jesus say is blessed (verse 29)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about the One who gives the key and the one who receives it?

In your opinion, how is Eliakim receiving the key of David and authority to open and shut in Isaiah 22:20-25 different from Jesus blessing the disciples with the Holy Spirit and giving them authority to forgive sins?

In your opinion, how is the promise of Jesus that those the disciples forgive will be forgiven in John 20:19-23 realized by the open door that will not be shut of Revelation 3:7-13?

In your opinion, how the promise of Jesus to give Peter “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” in Matthew 16:13-20 fulfilled by Jesus in John 20:19-23? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Revelation, Matthew, and John teach us about the Key to heaven?

In your opinion, how can we share with others the invitation to walk through the open door with others today?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

May 31, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Doors and the Key of David

  

Matthew 28:18-20 – New International Version (NIV) – The Great Commission

¹⁸ “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Doors and the Key of David

Matthew 23:13 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

Who does Jesus say “woe” to (verse 13)?

How does He describe them (verse 13)?

Where do they shut the “door of the kingdom of heaven” (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why do you think that they do not enter the kingdom of heaven (verse 13)?

In your opinion, how do you think they keep “those who are trying to” enter the kingdom of heaven out (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 23:13 show us about the Great Commission?

Isaiah 22:20-25 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ “In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. ²¹ 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. ²² 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. ²³ I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat of honor for the house of his father. ²⁴ All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

²⁵ “In that day,” declares the Lord Almighty, “the peg driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The Lord has spoken.”

How is Eliakim son of Hilkiah described (verse 20)?

What will be handed to him (verse 21)?

Who will he be the father to (verse 21)?

What will be placed on his shoulder (verse 22)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to say “what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open” (verse 22)?

What will he be driven like a peg into (verse 23)?

What will hang on him (verse 24)?

When will the “peg driven into the firm place” be sheared off and fall (verses 24 and 25)?

In your opinion, why are the teachers of the law and the Pharisees that Jesus is speaking to in Matthew 23:13 only able to “shut the door” but the holder of the “key to the house of David” from Isaiah 22:20-25 is prophesied the much greater promise that “what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open”?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Isaiah 22 show us about the Great Commission?

Acts 5:17-32 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ “Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. ¹⁸ They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. ¹⁹ But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. ²⁰ “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”

²¹ At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.

When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. ²² But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, ²³ “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” ²⁴ On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.

²⁵ Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” ²⁶ At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.

²⁷ The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. ²⁸ “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! ³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. ³¹ God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. ³² We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

What filled the high priest and all his associates (verse 17)?

Who was arrested and put into the public jail (verse 18)?

When did the angel of the Lord open the doors and bring them out (verse 19)?

Where did the angel tell them to stand and “tell the people about this new life” (verse 20)?

When did they enter the temple courts and begin to teach the people (verse 21)?

In your opinion, why did the high priest and his associates call the Sanhedrin together (verse 21)?

What did the officers find when they got to the jail (verse 23)?

How did the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests respond to the news (verse 24)?

Where were the “men you put in jail” (verse 25)?

Why did the captain and his officers not use force to bring the apostles (verse 26)?

Why were the apostles brought before the Sanhedrin (verse 27)?

In your opinion, what caused the high priest to think the apostles were “determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood” (verse 28)?

Who did Peter and the apostles say they must obey (verse 29)?

Who “raised Jesus from the dead” (verse 30)?

Why had God “exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior” (verse 31)?

Who are the “witnesses of these things” (verse 32)?

In your opinion, what is the difference between the high priest and all his associates who have the apostles arrested and put into jail in Acts 5:17-32 and Eliakim son of Hilkiah in Isaiah 22:20-25?

In your opinion, what does it mean that some of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees who Jesus said “shut the door of the kingdom of heaven” in Matthew 23:13 were probably part of the Sanhedrin in Acts 5:17-32 who Peter told “the God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead”?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Acts 5 show us about the Great Commission?

Revelation 3:7-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ⁸ I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹ I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ¹² The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. ¹³ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Who is John instructed to write to (verse 7)?

How does Jesus describe Himself (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that Jesus “holds the key of David” (verse 7)?

What has Jesus placed before the church in Philadelphia (verse 8)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus link the fact that the church in Philadelphia had “little strength” with the fact that “you have kept my word and have not denied my name” (verse 8)?

What will “those who are of the synagogue of Satan” do (verse 9)?

Why will Jesus keep the church of Philadelphia from the “hour of trail that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth” (verse 10)?

When is Jesus coming (verse 11)?

How will the “one who is victorious” be rewarded (verse 12)?

Who will speak to the churches (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the comparison of the angel of the Lord opening the door to the jail and bringing out the apostles in Acts 5:17-22 and the promise to the church of Philadelphia that an open door that no one can shut has been placed before them in Revelation 3:7-13?

In your opinion, how does knowing that the “key of David” once held by the Eliakim son of Hilkiah in Isaiah 22:20-25 is now held by “him who is holy and true” in Revelation 3:7-13 bring perfection to the idea that “what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open”?

In your opinion, how are the limited actions of the “teachers of the law and Pharisees” in Matthew 23:13 in shutting the door to the kingdom of heaven and not letting people enter similar to those of the synagogue of Satan in Revelation 3:7-13 and how is the promise of “an open door that no one can shut” the perfect response by God in this situation?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Revelation show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 23:14 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)