Isaiah 20:1-6--A Sign Against Egypt and Cush

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, 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?’”

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A short, but powerful passage today.  Also, let me say that I would not want to be Isaiah being told to be the object lesson for this prophecy for three years--I wouldn't even want this to be for three days or three hours.  At a very specific time that everyone would have remembered, the LORD told Isaiah to take off his sackcloth (a symbol of mourning that he had been wearing for quite some time) and to take off his sandals and to walk around naked for three years.  This would be a sign to the people of Judah about what was going to happen to the nations of Egypt and Cush, which Judah had relied on for protection from Assyria, when Assyria got their hands on them.  Those strong nations would be led away naked, exposed, and ashamed.  It would be a sign to Israel and all the other nations around them that those who were weaker and had trusted in these strong nations had no hope.  Yet, the LORD is mightier than the power of Egypt and Cush combined.