And Isaiah Did So

Good morning. Today we are in Isaiah 19 and 20.

I know I've been sort of moving through some of these Scriptures in bigger chunks lately, but sometimes I feel like we've been—or I have been—in them, and I sort of just, I'm like, "Okay, we've talked about this," and nothing has really popped up for me.

However, that may not be the same case for you.

You may get stuck with a different verse somewhere along the way than I did, and I hope you'll pause and wander down wherever that takes you to see what God has for you out of the Scriptures.

And as I was going through this and thinking about, again, you know, Ethiopia and Egypt and all these things that are going to happen to them, and again the reminder that these people that Israel was trying to trust to save them were also going to fall.

And so that really sticks with the theme that Isaiah has had since the beginning of: Who are we trusting?

So there's definitely that.

But I got paused on Isaiah 20:1 through 4.

And I apologize now. As I've been processing this, it's sort of making me emotional.

I'm trying not to be overly emotional on these, but this really—it's really got to me.

So Isaiah 20:1 through 4:

"In the year that the commander came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it, at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, 'Go and loosen the sackcloth from your hips and take your sandals off your feet.' And he did so, going naked and barefoot."

And I'm gonna pause here for a minute.

There's any number of ways that people wonder if it was truly naked or if it was, you know, just with private things covered. There's a lot of different ways of viewing that.

But what we do know it means is that he was definitely in a state of humiliation, with the sense of being without clothes and without sandals.

Then the Lord said in verse 3:

"Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years"—yes, three years. Not five minutes. Not a few days, but three years—"as a sign and symbol against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt."

That stopped me in my tracks.

So first, there's a very strong tradition, according to the Babylonian Talmud and records of Rabbi Levi, that Isaiah's dad, Amoz, was the brother of King Amaziah.

So Isaiah, from this tradition—and it seems to be a pretty strong one—is a member of the royal family and had access to the circles.

And in verse 2, it says to loosen the sackcloth.

And there's another tradition saying that he traditionally wore sackcloth versus other clothing.

And I don't know.

I had to stop and think about this.

Isaiah has access to royal courts and to very high people, and he walks in in sackcloth while all of the people there are dressed to the nines of their time, whatever that would be for them.

I mean, in our day and age, we think of very nice dresses and very nice suits.

And, you know, there was definitely something there in this man Isaiah walks in in sackcloth and sandals.

I can't imagine that they loved seeing him coming in anyway.

Total sidetrack there for things.

But it's really made me pause and think back to chapter 6, verse 8:

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?' Then I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'"

And now, in chapter 20, verse 2, it says:

"And he did so, going naked and barefoot."

Gosh.

This is where I get emotional.

Because there's no indication in what we're given about Isaiah that he ever wavers from his following of God.

You know, there are other places in Scripture, there are other things where it says, "And they walked away from the Lord," or they fell away from the Lord.

And we never see that in Isaiah.

We have several decades of his prophetic ministry documented in the Bible.

And there is a tradition that he was sawn in half while inside a tree hiding place—a horrible way to die.

But anyway, you have a man who, way back in chapter 6, had his lips cleansed.

And God asked who would go for Him.

And way back then, young Isaiah said, "Here I am, Lord. Send me."

And God said, "Great. I'm gonna have you talk to a people who will not listen."

For how long?

Well, until they're destroyed.

Great.

And now, in chapter 20, we're discovering that this man has very likely lived in sackcloth this entire time.

And then when God says, "I need you to go naked and barefoot," he does so for three years.

And I, for one, cannot imagine that level of obedience.

I struggle when His obedience takes me just a little bit outside of my comfort zone.

When He asks me to do something that I'm like, "Oh, I'm not so sure about."

And yet Isaiah served God without seemingly blinking an eye for decades.

Wore sackcloth around royalty.

And then when God said, "Go around naked and barefoot," he did so for three years.

To me, that is radical obedience.

And I want to be able to be like Isaiah.

And that terrifies me.

I think that is a very scary prayer, and one to only pray if you truly want that.

I don't know yet if I'm ready for that.

I can tell you, though, if Isaiah can be obedient even unto walking around naked and barefoot for three years, I wanna be obedient in the things God is calling me to do now, no matter the cost.

And that's what I got from today.

Am I willing to even be a smidge as obedient as Isaiah was to the Lord?

So there was a lot to cover there in chapters 19 and 20.

So I wonder what stuck out to you.

I certainly know what stuck out to me.

Oh, dear Heavenly Father, Lord, I thank You for today.

Thank You for the opportunity to read about Isaiah and his obedience.

Lord, I don't know if I'm ready to say, "Yes, I will serve You," even to something as dramatic as that.

But I do know I want to be obedient to You.

I do know I want to be obedient to You.

Oh Lord, I just pray that You be with us as we go out and do the things that You've laid out in front of us.

That we minister to the people around us.

That we will love on people and share Your light wherever we go.

Oh, it is in the precious name of Oh, it is in the precious name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Thank you for joining me as we wander through God's Word with wonder.