Isaiah 20 English Standard Version

A Sign Against Egypt and Cush

20 In the year that the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and captured it— 2 at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

3 Then the Lord said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,[Nubia] 4 so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. 5 Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. 6 And the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’”

This is the whole of chapter 20 in Isaiah’s book. It is a sign for the people of Egypt and Nubia.

It is in their history. It is an ancient artifact that can be traced to a time and a place and names of historical figures. 

This is not my history and it holds no meaning for me. It is not in my history. It is a sign for others.

What can we take from such a short message that was not even meant for us?

We are servants of the One True God. Isaiah walked naked and barefoot for three years at God’s direction for a people who were not even his people.

There is no doubt or anxiety expressed by Isaiah, just raw obedience.

I will think about this as I go about my day whining about my own place in history.

I am blessed that God has not called me to do something so radical as what Isaiah did.

But my life is not over, and my faith has only been lightly tested.

So far.

Psalm 25:5 English Standard Version (ESV) Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

We have begun a study on the Upside Down Kingdom. Here is a minor example of how God’s Way is not the way of the world.

How can anyone be led if they are waiting all day?

It begins with the fact that Jesus Christ is our God of Salvation. He is the Lord our God if we have accepted Him into our hearts by faith.

Now accept that the Holy Spirit is the third person of God and one of His names is the Spirit of Truth. It is His responsibility to share all that Jesus says to us. He does this according to the will of Father God.

There is no scripture that indicates we are to pray to anyone except Father God. When we pray to the Father and ask Him for truth, we are asking Him to have the Holy Spirit reveal truth to us according to His will in those things that our Lord Jesus Christ is speaking to us.

He can do that without us going anywhere.

Waiting all day long is an expression of patience. We are not patient people. We like to think of ourselves as active agents of a righteous God. We want to follow orders, but we have to be given orders before we can act.

Psalm 5:8 English Standard Version (ESV) Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.

We see things with these worldly eyes as obstacles in our way in which we pray to God to overcome our enemies. Obstacles are not enemies. In some cases they are opportunities to take a pause and check back in with our Lord to see if we are on the right path?

Our Lord spent quiet time with Father God every night before getting up to face the day. He knew what was coming because of the time He spent with the Father.

When we are called by God to serve we have a responsibility to Him to clarify the day’s activities to avoid obstacles to truth. We just might discover that some of those obstacles are created in our own minds because we are believing with eyes that are not of faith.

The world has a way of confronting us with a reality that is not by faith. Wait a minute.