Then the Lord said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia, Isaiah 20:3
Prophecy: Assyria to Conquer Egypt and Ethiopia
This dated prophecy foretells the imminent defeat of Egypt and Cush. Isaiah the prophet has acted out their fate, walking “stripped and barefoot” in Judah. Now God announces that the Egyptians will be led away in just his condition by Assyria. Thus the hopes of all those who rely on Egyptian alliance will be crushed. Nothing can substitute for trust in God!
20:1 Tartan was one of the three chief officers of the Assyria Empire.
20:4 Esarhadden, king of Assyria, conquered Egypt and fulfilled this prophecy in 671 B.C.
20:5, 6 They and this territory probably refer to the nations bordering the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, who looked to Egypt to save them from Assyria. This would include Judah.
⇒ God gave them a warning in the form of Isaiah as a walking prophecy. God must have cared about them. Receiving a warning is always a good thing. Even if we disregard it, we would have a chance to reconsider and accept it after it is fulfilled.
20 1 In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it, 2 at the same time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and remove the sackcloth from your body, and take your sandals off your feet.” And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. 3 Then the Lord said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia, 4 so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians as prisoners and the Ethiopians as captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. 5 Then they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation and Egypt their glory. 6 And the inhabitant of this territory will say in that day, ‘Surely such is our expectation, wherever we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and how shall we escape?’ ”
