Isaiah 20:1 says, In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it; This prophesy happened during the year that the city of Ashdod was taken captive by the army of Assyria. Matthew Henry says this is a prophesy of the carrying away as captives of the people of Egypt and Ethiopia by Assyria. We have been warned of the carrying away to everlasting punishment of all people everywhere who do not put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and this should motivate us to reach out to them with the gospel and not just look forward to their punishment because we think they deserve it. We have to acknowledge that we all deserve it but are only saved from that punishment by putting our faith in Jesus Christ.
Verse two adds, At the same time spake the Lord by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. God told Isaiah to go without the sackcloth he had worn but with nothing to replace it and to go naked and barefooted while he was sharing this prophesy. Matthew Henry said Isaiah was wearing sackcloth as a sign of mourning for Judah and that he still had on some undergarments, but that really is not what the Bible tells us. I believe we can say that God wants us to put off everything that would come between Him and us as we share the gospel, but I am not sure how long we would last while witnessing if we were doing so naked. I am also not sure how many of us would do that even if we thought God was telling us to, but Isaiah did.
Verse three adds, And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; Isaiah had been doing this for three years when God’s word came about what it meant. I am certainly not sure how many of us would walk around naked since we thought God had us to do so for three years with no further explanation as to why. Still, God may call us to do something today without our immediately knowing why, and if He does, we like Isaiah need to be obedient to Him if we are followers of Christ.
Verse four states, So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. Isaiah said just as he had been walking around naked, or unprotected from the elements, that the king of Assyria would carry the people of Egypt and Ethiopia away captive in shame with nothing to cover themselves. Those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord are spiritually naked and to their shame, they will one day be taken away captive to everlasting punishment.
Verse five adds, And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. When they were carried away captive, the people of Judah would be ashamed of putting their faith in the power of Egypt and Ethiopia. Those who put their faith in anyone or anything other than Jesus Christ will one day find out how wrong they were to do so.
Verse six continues, And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape? Matthew Henry says this refers to the people of Judah realizing that they had put their faith in the wrong thing, the power of these two nations, and then they would ask how they would now escape. Whatever we put our faith in to save us spiritually from everlasting punishment will fail, and those who find themselves in this position will ask who could deliver them. The answer for the people of Judah that day and for all lost people today is that only God can by the sacrifice that His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, made possible. For many, this knowledge will come too late, just as it did for the people of Judah at that time. We need to respond to the call of the Holy Spirit to come to Jesus Christ for forgiveness of our sins and for restoration to a right relationship with God before it is too late. Anything else that we put our faith in will fail.
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