Isaiah 20:1-6
Isa 20:1
In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon
the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;
Chapter 20 is a prophecy about the destruction of the
Egyptians and Ethiopians by the Assyrians.
This is the only place in the Scriptures where Sargon II is mentioned, he
reigned from 721-705 B.C. Tartan
was a chief commander in the army of Assyria and besieged the city of Ashdod
about 713 B.C. when Azuri who was king of the Philistine city refused to pay
tribute to Assyria. Ashdod was
located 33 miles (53 KM) west of Jerusalem.
Isa 20:2
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.
Isaiah had worn sackcloth as a sign that he was in
mourning for the sins of the people.
God was now giving a visible sign which he sometimes did with the
warnings of the prophets. Isaiah
was to remove his shoes from his feet and to remove his sackcloth from his body.
Having no shoes on was a sign of mourning.
And David went up by the ascent of
mount Olivet, and wept as he
went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that
was with him covered every man
his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up. 2 Samuel 15:30)
Isaiah was also not fully naked because that would have violated the law
found in Leviticus 18:6-19 but he was naked from the waist up.
Isa 20:3
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;
The sign of Isaiah walking like that was a warning to
Egypt and Cush (Ethiopia) that the Assyrians would come against their alliance
and defeat them. They would be
defeated and then taken to Assyria.
They would be stripped naked and go barefoot as a sign of humiliation and being
subjugated by their conquerors.
This sign that Isaiah gave them was also to the Jews of Judah who would now
realize that dependence upon these two nations was futile.
Isa 20:4
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.
Egypt which was a proud and powerful nation that would
now be reduced to total humiliation by the Assyrians who would take the captives
of both Egypt and Ethiopia barefoot and would have their buttocks and genitals
exposed as a sign of total disgrace before the rest of the world at that time.
By causing them to walk naked, the prisoners could also not hide any
weapons on them as they could if they were wearing clothes, so there would have
been a protection along with the humiliation.
Isa 20:5
And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their
expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
Then the Philistines who had hoped that Egypt and
Ethiopia would ally with them would be ashamed and fearful because they had
hoped this alliance would be strong enough to withstand the Assyrian onslaught.
The same would hold true for those in Judah who held out that they could
get be delivered from the threats of Assyria if Egypt and Ethiopia could defeat
the Assyrians.
1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the
LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not
of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: 2 That walk to go down
into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the
strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! (Isaiah 30:1-2)
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we
will remember the name of the LORD our God. (Psalm 20:7)
Isa 20:6
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?