Isaiah

Isaiah 20: God exposes false hope

Begin in prayer

Before we read the sign Isaiah carried in his own life, let us pray for honest trust. Ask God to uncover our false refuges and show our family the salvation that stands secure in Christ.

It is better to take refuge in Yahweh, than to put confidence in princes.

Psalm 118:9

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Help us hear Your warning when the people we trust cannot save. Show us Christ and teach us to depend on Him for mercy. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Sargon king of Assyria sends Tartan against Ashdod, and the city is taken. At that time God commands Isaiah to remove his sackcloth and shoes. Isaiah walks naked and barefoot for three years as a sign concerning Egypt and Ethiopia. The king of Assyria will lead their young and old away captive, exposed and barefoot to Egypt’s shame. Those who hoped in these nations will be dismayed and ashamed. The coastland’s people will ask how they can escape when the powers they fled to for help have fallen.

As you read Isaiah 20, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God exposes Egypt and Ethiopia as helpless refuges by sending them into captivity.

Ashdod was a strong Philistine city, and Tartan, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, fought against it and took it (verse 1). The people of the coast land hoped that Egypt and Ethiopia would rescue them from Assyria (verse 6). So the LORD told Isaiah to take off his sackcloth and his shoes and walk naked and barefoot for three years. Prisoners of war were led away stripped and barefoot, so all who saw Isaiah saw what was coming. The king of Assyria would lead away the captives of Egypt and Ethiopia, young and old, to the shame of Egypt (verse 4). The nations people trusted to save them could not save themselves. Then those who had hoped in them would be left asking how they could escape (verse 6). The sign came before the trouble, and it showed that rescue does not come from Egypt or from any human power.

How does Isaiah 20 show us that God exposes Egypt and Ethiopia as helpless refuges by sending them into captivity?

God gives a visible warning before judgment.

Isaiah removes his sackcloth and shoes because the LORD commands him. His condition points forward to the coming captives’ humiliation. The three year sign concerns Egypt and Ethiopia, as God explains.

God brings trusted powers into shame.

Young and old are led away captive by the Assyrian king. Egypt’s exposed shame is the opposite of the glory its admirers expected. Those nations cannot deliver others when they cannot escape captivity themselves.

God exposes trust that has no power to save.

The coastland’s people had fled to these nations for deliverance from Assyria. Their allies’ fall brings fear to those who hoped for safety. The final question forces them to face where their confidence has led.

Memorise

They will be dismayed and confounded, because of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.

Isaiah 20:5

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, can anyone but Jesus rescue me from my sin?

The coastland’s people ask, “And we, how will we escape?” Egypt and Ethiopia had looked like a refuge. Isaiah’s sign announces that these trusted powers will themselves be carried away.

No human helper can deliver us from the guilt of our sin before God. Jesus died for His people, taking the punishment they deserved on the cross. He rose alive, having accomplished everything needed for His people’s acceptance with God. The strongest human refuge cannot complete or improve that rescue.

Turn from false confidence and entrust yourself to Jesus Christ. All who believe in Him are forgiven and received through His sacrifice. Seek the salvation He has accomplished, and leave the shelter that falls before God. The risen Savior is able to rescue those who come to Him.

Parent's note

Tell your children that Isaiah’s nakedness and the captives’ exposure show public humiliation. Explain verses 2 to 4 soberly in your own words, without graphic detail. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that His warning exposes human refuges before they fail, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

Everyone who hears these words of mine, and doesn’t do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand.

Matthew 7:26

Lord, thank You for speaking when false hopes seem secure. Please expose our misplaced trust and lead us to faith in Jesus. Give us hearts that receive Your warning. When powerful people impress us this week, help our family remember that salvation belongs to You. Amen.