Isaiah 20

Chapter Overview

What happens in Isaiah 20

God tells Isaiah to walk around barefoot and stripped of his outer clothing for three years as a living sign that Egypt and Cush will be captured and led away by Assyria in the same shameful condition. This dramatic action warns Judah not to rely on these nations for protection.

Scripture

Isaiah's Dramatic Warning

Study note

In about 711 BC, the Assyrian king Sargon II sent his commander to capture the Philistine city of Ashdod. At this same time, God told Isaiah to remove his outer clothing and sandals and walk around in this state for three years. This was an extremely unusual and humiliating act for a prophet, but it served as a powerful visual warning. In the ancient world, prisoners of war were often stripped and marched away in shame. Isaiah's appearance was meant to show what would happen to Egypt and Cush if Judah tried to form an alliance with them against Assyria.

1 King Sargon of Assyria sent his army chief to Ashdod. That year, the chief struck the city and took it. In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;

2 Around that same time, the Lord spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz. He told him, "Take the rough cloth off your waist and the sandals off your feet." Isaiah did what God said and walked around stripped down and barefoot. 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.

3 Then the Lord said, "My servant Isaiah has walked around stripped and barefoot for three years. This was a warning about Egypt and Cush." 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 Warning Applied

Study note

God explains the meaning of Isaiah's sign: just as Isaiah walked stripped and barefoot, the king of Assyria will lead away Egyptian and Cushite prisoners, young and old, stripped and barefoot to their shame. The people of Judah who had been hoping Egypt and Cush would save them from Assyria will be terrified and ashamed. They will realize that if these great powers could not save themselves, how could they possibly save Judah? The lesson is clear: trust in God, not in human alliances.

4 "That is exactly how the king of Assyria will lead away the prisoners of Egypt and the captives of Cush. He will take young and old alike. They will be stripped and barefoot, with their bodies uncovered — to Egypt's total shame." 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.

5 "Everyone who was counting on Cush and bragging about Egypt will be shocked and ashamed." And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.

6 The people living along the coast will say when that day comes, "Look at the people we depended on! We ran to them for protection from the king of Assyria. Now how will we ever get away?" 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?

Key Themes

Themes in Isaiah 20

Prophetic sign-acts as divine messagesThe shame of trusting in human alliancesEgypt and cush unable to save themselvesThe cost of faithful prophetic ministry

Apply This Today

Living Isaiah 20

God sometimes asks His servants to do uncomfortable, even humiliating things to communicate His message. Isaiah's three-year sign-act was a dramatic warning against misplaced trust. When the powerful nations we depend on cannot even save themselves, how foolish it is to trust them instead of God.

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