The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 201: Keys to the Kingdom (2025)

Episode Date: July 20, 2025

Fr. Mike focuses on Isaiah 22 today and explains how the role of the pope in the Catholic Church goes all the way back to this important chapter in Isaiah. We learn that Jesus himself instituted the papacy by making Peter his 'al-habbayit, the one over the household who holds the keys to the kingdom when the king is away. Today's readings are Isaiah 21-22, Nahum 3, and Proverbs 10:29-32. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 201, 201 days. We are reading from Isaiah chapter 21 and 22,um or Nahum. I keep saying that. I don't know why I do it, but we do it. Nahum chapter three,

it's only three chapters long. So we read the entire book in two days. Also we're reading Proverbs chapter 10 verses 29 through 32. I said reading Proverbs, not eating Proverbs. Hopefully you caught that. As always the Bible translation that I am reading from, not eating from, is also the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible

in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. You can also subscribe in your podcast to receive daily episodes every day. That's how daily episodes work. But as I said, today is day 201, reading Isaiah 21 and 22, Nahum chapter 3, and Proverbs 10 verses 29 through 32. The Book of the Prophet Isaiah, chapter 21.

Oracles concerning Babylon, Edom, and Arabia. The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the Negev sweep on, it comes from the desert, from a terrible land. A stern vision is told to me, the plunderer plunders, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, O Elam, lay siege O Medea. All the sighing she has caused I bring to an end. Therefore, my loins are filled with anguish, pangs have seized me like the pengs of a woman with labor pains. I am bowed down so that I cannot hear. I am dismayed so that I cannot see.

My mind reels. Horror has appalled me. The twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling. They prepare the table. They spread the rugs. They eat. They drink. Arise, they eat, they drink. Arise, O princes, oil the shield.

For thus the Lord said to me, Go, set a watchman, let him announce what he sees. When he sees riders, horsemen, and pairs, Riders on donkeys, riders on camels, let him listen diligently, very diligently. Then he who saw cried, Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, And at my post I am stationed whole nights. And behold, here come riders, horsemen and pairs. And he answered, Fallen, fallen is Babylon,

And all the images of her gods he has shattered to the ground. O my threshed and widowed one, what I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you. The Oracle Concerning Dumah One is calling to me from Sair. Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman says, Morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire, come back again. The Oracle Concerning Arabia. In the thickets of Arabia you will lodge, O caravans of the Deatonites, to the thirsty bring water. Meet the fugitive

with bread, O inhabitants of the land of Tima, for they have fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the press of battle. For thus the Lord said to me, Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Kadar will come to an end, and the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kadar will be few. For the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken. Chapter 22 An Oracle Concerning the Valley of Vision. The Oracle Concerning the Valley of Vision. What do you mean that you have gone up,

all of you, to the housetops? You who are full of shoutings, tumultuous city, exultant town. Your slain are not slain with the sword or dead in battle. All your rulers have fled together. Without the bow they were captured. All of you who were found were captured, though they had fled far away. Therefore I said, Look away from me. Let me weep bitter tears. Do not labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people. For the Lord of Hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the valley of vision,

a battering down of walls and a shouting to the mountains. And Elam bore the quiver with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield. Your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen took their stand at the gates. He has taken away the covering of Judah. In that day you looked to the weapons of the house of the forest, and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many, and you collected the waters of the lower pool, and you counted the houses of Jerusalem,

and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool, but you did not look to him who did it, or have regard for him who planned it long ago. In that day the Lord God of hosts called to weeping and mourning, to baldness and putting on of sackcloth. And behold, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. The Lord of hosts has revealed himself in my ears.

Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you till you die, says the Lord God of hosts. Denunciation of self-seeking officials. Thus says the Lord God of hosts. Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him, What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have hewn here a tomb for yourself? You who hew a tomb on the height and carve a habitation for yourself in the rock.

Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you, and whirl you round and round, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die and there shall be your splendid chariots you shame of your master's house. I will thrust you from your office and you will be cast down from your station. In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah and I will clothe him with your robe and I will bind your belt on him, and will commit your authority to his hand, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants

of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut, and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a sure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father's house. And they will hang on him the whole weight of his father's house, the offspring, and issue every small vessel from the cups

to all the flagons. In that day, says the Lord of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a sure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the burden that was upon it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken. The Book of Nahum, Chapter 3 Woe to the bloody city! All full of lies and booty, no end to the plunder!

The crack of whip and rumble of wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot. Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear. Hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end, they stumble over the bodies. And all for the countless harlotries of the harlot, graceful and of deadly charms, who betrays nations with her harlotries and the harlot, graceful and of deadly charms, who betrays nations with her harlotries and peoples with her charms. Behold, I am against you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will lift up your skirts over your face.

I will let the nations look on your nakedness and kingdoms on your shame. I will throw filth at you and treat you with contempt and make you an object of scorn. And all who look on you will shrink from you, and say, Wasted is Nineveh! Who will mourn over her? From where shall I seek comforters for her? Are you better than Thebes, that sat by the Nile with water around her, her rampart a

sea, and water her wall? Ethiopia was her strength, Egypt too, and that without limit. Put and the Libyans were her helpers, yet she was carried away. She went into captivity, her little ones were dashed in pieces at the head of every street. For her honored men lots were cast, and all her great men were bound in chains. You also will be drunken, you will be dazed. You will seek a refuge from the enemy. All your fortresses are like fig trees with first ripe figs.

If shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater. Behold, your troops are women in your midst. The gates of your land are wide open to your foes. Fire has devoured your bars. Draw water for the siege. Strengthen your forts. Go into the clay, tread the mortar, take hold of the brick mold. There will the fire devour you.

The sword will cut you off. It will devour you like the locust. Multiply yourselves like the locust. Multiply like the grasshopper. You increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens. The locust spreads its wings and flies away. Your princes are like grasshoppers, your scribes like clouds of locusts settling on the fences in a day of cold.

When the sun rises, they fly away. No one knows where they are. Your shepherds are asleep, O King of Assyria. Your nobles slumber. Your people are scattered Assyria, your nobles slumber. Your people are scattered on the mountains, with none to gather them. There is no assuaging your hurt, your wound is grievous. All who hear the news of you clap their hands over you, for upon whom has not come your unceasing evil. The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 10, Verses 29-32.

The Lord is a stronghold to him whose way is upright, but destruction to evildoers. The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land. The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. We thank you so much for your faithfulness. We thank you for your goodness, your justice, and your righteousness. Help us to live in righteousness.

Help us to live in right relationship with each other and with you above all things. Lord God, help us to have right hearts in ourselves and not be our own enemies, our own worst enemies. But Lord God, help us to have that knowledge, that wisdom that we actually do speak what is true. We live what we know to be true, and we cling to you above everything else in this world.

We make this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, amen, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. So, okay, one of the things that's gonna happen, obviously, right, as we're talking about the prophets and reading, hearing the prophets, is we're gonna get a little bit confused because there's imagery that's used that we're thinking

okay I have no idea when you for example here is the beginning of Isaiah chapter 21 and it says the burden against the wilderness of the sea so basically it begins by talking about Isaiah 21 says an oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea the whirlwinds and the Negev sweep on comes from the desert comes from the terrible land talks about Ilam and Medea, all these other places, and we're wondering, okay, what is exactly happening here? That is a great question. What is happening in this particular chapter

is Isaiah's prophesying about how Persia will march against Babylon. Now this is a foretelling kind of a situation, right? Not a foretelling thing of a situation, right? Not a foretelling thing because at this point, Assyria has not yet come in. Remember Sennacherib, leader of the Syrian army, comes up against Hezekiah. Hezekiah prays, Assyria goes away.

And Babylon came next. And Babylon was the ones who brought all of the people of Israel, the people of Jerusalem, and at least a bunch of them, brought them into exile into Babylon. And now here is Isaiah and he's prophesying about those coming from Persia to make war on Babylon. So when he says go up Elam, besiege Omediah,

Elam and Mediah are the ancient names for peoples of Persia. So just kind of keep that in mind. Again, it can feel like it's all over the board, but if we have some sense of context, here is the prophecy in chapter 21 and chapter 22 today about here's Persia coming up against Babylon. And yet, it also prophesies the fall of Babylon and talks about the man on the watch tower.

It's easy for you to say, on the watch tower, the one who watches and declares what he sees and that's This is very powerful line go set a watchman Let him declare what he sees and this is the the role as Christians One of the our roles is to be those set on watchtowers, you know Oftentimes as Christians we can be pointed out as being making a big deal about little things, right? Or we're picking a lot of fights with our culture and yet one of the roles of a prophet

is to be that person on the watchtower. And we're not making stuff up, but we're called to declare what we see. If your role is to be the watchtower for your family, again, you're not causing problems to your family just by pointing out, here are the dangers in and around our family. If you're the pastor of a parish, then just by pointing out here are the dangers in and around our family. If you're the

pastor of a parish then just by pointing out here's the dangers in our parish, here's the dangers in our culture right now, you're not creating those dangers. You have to declare them because so many people have been overwhelmed and overrun and destroyed because there was not someone on the watchtower to point out and declare what they saw. And so that's just kind of a reminder for us. But it talks about, again, Babylon has fallen in this chapter 21. Now I wanna highlight chapter 22 because chapter 22 is really, really important

for many reasons. One is it's an oracle concerning the Valley of Vision. What's the Valley of Vision? Great question, camper. The Valley of Vision means Jerusalem itself. Jerusalem is built on a mountain. There's valleys that go around the city of vision. Great question, camper. The valley of vision means Jerusalem itself. Jerusalem is built on a mountain. There's valleys that go around the city of Jerusalem. So when Isaiah's prophesying concerning the valley of vision,

he's prophesying concerning Jerusalem itself. And so keep that in mind, Jerusalem's still there and it still exists. They have not yet been brought into exile. Keep that in mind, because all throughout Isaiah's lifetime, Israel will yet been brought into exile keep that in mind because all throughout Isaiah's lifetime Israel will not be brought into exile. Remember he's killed by Manasseh way before Babylon came into power

but in chapter 22 of Isaiah it talks about these two individuals one is Shebna and one is Eliakim Shebna is the one who's over the household, it says in chapter 22, verse 15. That term over the household actually is a Hebrew term that is the Al-Chaba'it. So Al is over, Ch, the, the article, and Ba'it, like bet, is house, right?

So Shebna is one over the house. This is a role, official, we've encountered Shebna already in Second Kings and in Second Chronicles. We also encountered Eliakim in Second Kings and Second Chronicles. And what his role is, Shebna's role is, as the Al-Khaba'it, is basically he's the prime minister of the kingdom.

So you have the king who's in charge, right? And you have the Al-Khaba'it, the one over the household. And he's the prime minister of the kingdom. So when the king is away, Shebna, or the one over the household, has all of the authority of the king. Now why is this incredibly important? Because what happens is Shebna uses his own power to exalt himself, right?

He goes and hews himself a tomb in Iraq, he makes himself his own tomb, his own sepulcher on his own, and because of this, the Lord God says, oh no, listen, you have misused your role, you've misused your authority, you've misused your power, so I will thrust you out of your station and bring in Eliakim the son of Hilkiah.

Now here's why it's so important, because if you have ever read Matthew chapter 16, you're very familiar with this, you're very familiar with this language. In Matthew chapter 16, Jesus asks his disciples, he goes to Caesarea Philippi, and he asks his disciples, who do people say the Son of Man is? And they, I don't know, Jeremiah, Isaiah, John the Baptist, one of the prophets, Elijah, they say, and he says, no, not all those answers are incorrect. Who do you say that I am? And

Simon stands up and he says, you are the Messiah, you're the Christ, you're the Holy One of God. And Jesus says to Simon and he says, you are the Messiah. You're the Christ, you're the Holy One of God. And Jesus says to Simon, he says, blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, my heavenly father did. Therefore, your name is now rock, right? Peter Petrus means rock. And upon this rock, I will build my church

and the gates of hell will not prevail against her. This is the time Jesus is saying very clearly, I will build my rock upon you, Peter. Again, your name is Peter, Petrus, and I will build my church upon this rock, Petrus. And the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And then he goes on to say, I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

What you open, no one shall shut. What you shut, no one shall open. Now, this is why Isaiah 22 is so incredibly important. In Matthew's gospel, one of Matthew's intentions, his preoccupations, is to let us know that Jesus is the King, and he's establishing the kingdom. Remember, Jesus is the fulfillment of the entire Old Testament, the people of God.

I mean, think about right now where we are in Isaiah, and where we are in Nahum, and this destruction, and the 10 tribes of the north are gone. Assyria'sum and this destruction and the ten tribes of the north are gone. Assyria has already destroyed them and the two tribes in the south are so small and so scattered everything is awful. But there's this promise that there will be a king and Matthew is making it so so clear that Jesus is that king. He's establishing a kingdom. The role of the king, right, is to establish the kingdom. It's not just about Jesus. It's about the kingdom he's establishing. And in that kingdom, there is the role called the Al-Habait,

just as there was in the kingdom of Judah. And the role of the Al-Habait says what? It says, I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall shut, he shall open and then shall shut, he shall shut and then shall open. So as you're at Caesarea Philippi in Matthew chapter 16, and Jesus asks the question, who do you say that I am? And Simon answers, and Jesus changes his name from Simon to Peter, to Cephas, right, in Aramaic,

changes his name to Simon to Cephas, to rock, and he says, I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, what you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. I'm telling you the keys to the kingdom of heaven what you bind on earth We bound in heaven loose on earth we loosed in heaven I'm telling you every one of those other Apostles all of them are thinking. Oh my gosh, Isaiah chapter 22 They didn't have chapters back then but they're thinking. Oh my gosh, Isaiah This is the role of the all habait here is Jesus who's established himself as the king in the kingdom And here is Peter who's made into the first Al-Habait He's made the first prime minister now the role the prime minister goes on in in verse 21

It says I will clothe him with your robe right? That's a and bind your belt on him gird him with your sash These are signs of a of an office is your signs of authority goes on to say I will commit your authority to his hand So this is a role that has authority the Al-Habait that Peter is now being given So this is a role that has authority, the Al-Habait, that Peter is now being given. But it goes on to say, he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

So it's not just this role of governing, it's a role of fathering. And we know that the successors of Peter have always been considered to be the Al-Habait. We know that Jesus is the one King of the kingdom he's established. But that when Jesus made Peter the Al-Habait. We know that Jesus is the one King of the kingdom he's established. But that when Jesus made Peter the Al-Habait in Matthew 16, that every one of the successors of Peter,

Peter died as a Bishop of Rome, we all know that the successors of Peter are the Al-Habaits. They are the ones over the house. They are the prime ministers. And we call them the Holy Father, right? We call them, in fact, think about this, we call over the house. They are the prime ministers and we call them we call them the Holy Father, right? We call them in fact think about this we call them the Pope why why do we call him the Pope because the Italian form of the word is that's the anglicized version of the Italian word Papa

Which means father? What does it say in Isaiah 22 verse 21? He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah to all those in the kingdom He's a father. He's not the king that the king is the actual he's the actual, you know kind of father to the the nation He's the actual but the Al-Habait serves and in this role of not just authority Not just governing not just guiding but also in this incredible spiritual way of being a father. And I think it's just incredible that here is Isaiah 22,

fulfilled in Matthew chapter 16. And that's something definitely, definitely worth praying about and it's challenging because sometimes you might have grown up thinking that the Pope, the papacy, right? Having a Pope is a medieval invention or is an event invented later on in the life of the church. And yet, nope, it came from Isaiah chapter 22 when there is this role of the Al-Habait and then Matthew 16 when Jesus made Simon into Peter

and then made Peter into the Al-Habait. You know, it's interesting because we have bad popes, right? We also have failures of popes. Peter himself was a failure as well, right? Peter denied knowing Jesus. And yet what does Jesus do with Peter at the end of the Gospel of John? He says, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?

Yes, Lord, you know I love you. Okay, feed my sheep. Simon, son of John, do you love me more than, do you love me? Yes, you Lord, you know I love you. Ten my lambs. Do you love me?, you Lord, you know I love you. Ten my lambs. Do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know I love you.

Okay, feed my sheep. That even though Simon, Peter, Kepha, had failed in his role, Jesus restored him to his role. And that's the thing, that's the thing we trust in so deeply is that Jesus can restore. And Jesus has chosen, he chose a bad pope, you know, right?

Peter ended up great, but he did not, he was not great all the way through. And yet he had the role of the Al-Khaba'it. And we have an unbroken line of his successors as bishops of Rome of Al-Khaba'it, of the prime minister, of the Holy Father, down until this day. So you might not like that interpretation,

you might not agree with that interpretation, but hopefully at least now you know, if you never knew, where do you Catholics get the idea of the pope in the first place? Well, again, we didn't just make it up in the 1500s, we didn't just make it up in the early church, it didn't make it up at all. In fact, it comes from the Old Testament,

it's fulfilled in Matthew 16, and we live it every day. And this is the thing, here's the great news. Once again, what does Isaiah say? He'll be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. If you are part of the church, right, you're in the kingdom of God, Jesus is the king. And Jesus gave you a Holy Father on this earth.

He gave you too, it's not like, this is just for Catholics. No, he gave this role of the al-hayat al-habait to all those who are part of the kingdom Which is a gift and his gift that I've been so grateful for and hopefully it's a gift that if you can you can receive That gift with gratitude as well Okay, might have been challenging might not have been challenging. Hopefully it's illuminating. And hopefully you realize that God has given, He keeps giving us gifts.

Even when we don't even realize it for all of our lives. We bring us here today, 201. We're praying for each other. I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name's Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.