Revived by His Word - MARCH 16 - ISAIAH CH.20

Isaiah 20 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Sign Against Egypt and Ethiopia

20 In the year that Tartan^[a] came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it, ² at the same time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and remove the sackcloth from your body, and take your sandals off your feet.” And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

³ Then the Lord said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia, ⁴ so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians as prisoners and the Ethiopians as captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. ⁵ Then they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation and Egypt their glory. ⁶ And the inhabitant of this territory will say in that day, ‘Surely such is our expectation, wherever we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and how shall we escape?’”

In his days, Isaiah had the Ethiopians and the Egyptians as power nations nearby, in spite of their ups and downs. In those days, Hezekiah became King of Judah. Then the Lord gave a message to Isaiah: “Go loosen your sackcloth from your hips and take off the shoes from your feet” (v. 2). We know that Isaiah undressed to almost nothing, called “naked” and walked like this for three years.
The Lord spoke again (v. 3), and said that Isaiah did this “undressing” as a “sign against Egypt and Cush” (at that time the ruler of Egypt was the Ethiopian or Cushite king Shabako). Whether Isaiah had to walk like this all the way to Egypt and back as an illustration to them, is not certain. The main thing is that Isaiah was a symbol of what was to happen to them when Assyria would come and lead many Egyptians away as captives. Assyria would take away “the young and old, naked and barefoot with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt” (v. 4).
Many faithful people had migrated to areas out of harms-way. They had relied on the safety and security of the Ethiopians in Egypt (v. 5). “Then they shall be dismayed because of Cush (Ethiopia) their hope and Egypt their boast.” The faithful people fled there but according to Isaiah’s vivid illustration from the Lord, Egypt will not provide them the security they needed and they will say: “this is where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria.” With the bad news of Assyria taking over, they asked, “how shall we escape?” (v. 6).
Isaiah and the Lord’s message is clear: Do not build your hope on worldly powers. Built your hope on the Lord. In the previous chapter we learned that the Egyptians will be divided and fight among themselves as a power in the end-time shortly before the Coming of the Lord. And in this chapter they learned about Assyrian power when its commander came and reduced the power of Egypt.
Thus, between the disaster of Isaiah’s day and the end-time troubles of political powers, one thing is clear: the worldly powers cannot offer any human security and lasting peace. This must come totally from the Lord.

Prayer:
Dear God,
We know that at times it is so easy to rely on our own safety systems to protect us. Lord, we need to be reminded of the necessary link with You.  You are our safety, the shadow from the heat of the last days.  We need You, Lord. Help us.  Amen.