Isaiah 20:1 - Meaning and Application

God, as King over the nations, brings a heavy judgment on Egypt and Ethiopia. Yet, as King of his people, he turns that judgment to good for them. We should notice, first, when this prophecy was given. It was in the year when Ashdod, a strong Philistine city, was besieged and taken by the Assyrians. Some think Hezekiah, king of Judah, had recently taken it back from the Philistines (2 Kings 18:8).

The Assyrian king here is called Sargon. Some think this was another name for Sennacherib, while others think he was Sennacherib’s predecessor. Tartan was the chief commander in this campaign, and later he was one of Sennacherib’s officers, sent to challenge Hezekiah along with Rabshakeh (2 Kings 18:17). In this way, the prophecy has a clear historical setting.

Second, Isaiah was made a sign by the strange way he dressed in public. He had already been a sign to his own people of coming trouble by wearing sackcloth, a rough garment of mourning. Some think he wore it because of the captivity of the ten tribes. Others think sackcloth was his usual clothing as a prophet, showing that he was set apart from the world and ready to endure hardship. Soft clothing suits those in kings’ palaces (Matthew 11:8), but not those who carry God’s messages.

Elijah wore a hairy garment (2 Kings 1:8), and John the Baptist wore camel’s hair clothing (Matthew 3:4). False prophets sometimes tried to support their claims by wearing rough garments (Zechariah 13:4). But Isaiah was told to take off his sackcloth, not to put on better clothes, but to wear no outer garment at all. He was also to remove his shoes and go barefoot, so that he would appear nearly naked compared with others. He would likely face shame, mockery, and even some risk to his health, but God required it.

This was a hard command, but it showed Isaiah’s obedience in the face of difficulty. In that way, he shamed the people’s disobedience, since they would not obey even God’s easier and more reasonable commands. When we are doing our duty, we can trust God with both our reputation and our safety. The people were so dull that they would not be moved by words alone, so God taught them by signs. The dress may have looked disgraceful, but the purpose was glorious, and Isaiah did not need to be ashamed of serving the Lord this way.

Third, the meaning of the sign is explained in Isaiah 20:3-4. It showed that the Egyptians and Ethiopians would be carried away captive by the king of Assyria, stripped and made to wear shameful, ragged clothing like Isaiah’s. God calls him “my servant Isaiah” because in this matter he had shown himself willing, faithful, and obedient. What others may have laughed at, God honored. To obey is better than sacrifice. Obedience pleases God, gives him honor, and will receive honor from him.

Isaiah is said to have walked naked and barefoot for three years whenever he appeared publicly as a prophet. Some take the three years to describe the length of the sign. Others understand it as the length of the warning between the sign and the event it pointed to. In either case, the message was clear: for a long time, the Assyrians would spoil the Egyptians and Ethiopians and carry them off. That would include not only soldiers taken in battle, but also young and old people from the land. Because the sight would be so pitiful, the prophecy highlights how the captives would be stripped and humiliated. This is especially called the shame of Egypt, because Egypt was proud, and its fall would be all the more disgraceful.

Fourth, the prophecy had a practical lesson for the people around Judah. Anyone who depended on Egypt or Ethiopia would now be ashamed and afraid to trust them. The nations that were in danger of being overrun by Assyria had hoped Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, with his many troops, would stop Assyria’s advance. Even more confidently, they thought Egypt, so famous for wisdom and military strength, would force the Assyrians to lift the siege of Ashdod and flee. Instead, by resisting Assyria, Egypt and Ethiopia only exposed themselves and became its prey.

So all around them were ashamed of ever expecting help from two such weak and unreliable powers, and they feared the king of Assyria even more than before. Egypt and Ethiopia had been like thorns and briars trying to stop a consuming fire, but they only made it burn more fiercely. Those who make any creature their hope and glory, and place it where God should be, will sooner or later be ashamed of it. Their disappointment will only deepen their fear (Ezekiel 29:6-7).

The Jews in particular should have seen how foolish it was to lean on such broken reeds and should have given up expecting help from them. The inhabitants of this coastland, that is, Judah, would finally have their eyes opened and admit the truth: “See what our hope was like, so empty and foolish, and see what it has come to.”

“We have run to the Egyptians and Ethiopians for help, and we hoped they would rescue us from the king of Assyria. But now that they have been defeated like this, how can we escape, when we cannot bring such large armies into the field as they did?” Those who trust in human strength will be disappointed and put to shame for that trust. The help of man is empty, and hope placed in armies, power, or human resources will fail.

When human support fails, it should not push us into despair, as it does here, “How shall we escape?” Instead, it should turn us to God. If we go to him for help, our hope will not be disappointed.