Isaiah 20:1-6

Isaiah 20:1-6 NIV

In the year that the supreme commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it— at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz.

He said to him, “Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet.” And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot. Then the Lord said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared—to Egypt’s shame.

Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be dismayed and put to shame. In that day the people who live on this coast will say, ‘See what has happened to those we relied on, those we fled to for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?’ ”

Isaiah 21:1-4, 6-7, 9 NIV

A prophecy against the Desert by the Sea:

Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror. A dire vision has been shown to me: The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot. Elam, attack! Media, lay siege! I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused.

At this my body is racked with pain, pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor; I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see. My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me.

This is what the Lord says to me: “Go, post a lookout and have him report what he sees. When he sees chariots with teams of horses, riders on donkeys or riders on camels, let him be alert, fully alert.” Look, here comes a man in a chariot with a team of horses. And he gives back the answer: ‘Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground!’ ”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I read Isaiah 20 and 21 I'm aware of the toll his ministry takes from him. It can't be easy to deliver the kind of confrontational messages God gave him to speak to the Israel's kings and people. It's hard enough to deliver a tough message filled with prophecies of doom, but to be asked to walk around naked and barefoot in public had to have been terribly humiliating.

Isaiah named two of his sons what God told him to name them as a witness to the people. One son's name means a remnant shall return. The other son had a name that means go quickly to the spoils and gather plunder. Can you imagine giving your children such names?

My respect for Isaiah is profound today as I consider the sacrifices be made to be obedient to God's claim on his life as a prophet. Having a normal quiet life was not possible for him. He could not retire peacefully after serving with distinction either. Tradition has it that Isaiah died a horrible death, being sawn in two while hiding from king Manasseh in a hollowed out tree trunk.

Why did Isaiah do it? What made him choose to obey such extreme demands on his life and family? I can only guess. He must love God more than his own life. He must love his country more than his family. How much choice did he really have? Did his visions come because he meditated, fervently seeking a word from the Lord, or were these sudden happenings beyond his will to invite or stop? I think perhaps the latter is true. Isaiah trembled with fear at the sight of the Lord in his vision at the temple when God called him to prophesy. And when he saw visions of desolation of the Babylonians here in Isaiah 21, the prophet describes how it affected him.

Isaiah 21:3-4 NIV

At this my body is racked with pain, pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor; I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see. My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me.

Isaiah was faithful to deliver the messages and visions God gave him to share with Israel and Judah. It cost him everything, but look how we've been blessed because he was obedient to his call? His poetry, his unforgettable imagery, and the hope his writings bring, has blessed people of faith for over 2700 years. His barefoot, naked, and painful ministry led people to repentance, gave hope to hopeless, and warned the wayward. His naked spectacle was a three year ordeal. This odd behavior was a sign from God communicating that Egypt and Ethiopia will be taken away naked and barefoot in chains by the Assyrians. The intended effect is that Judah would realize how foolish it is to think that Egypt can save them. Isaiah's vision of the destruction of Babylon at the hands of the Medes and Elamites, while greatly disturbing to him personally, must have been a comfort to Judah at a time when they were threatened by Babylonian tyranny.

The world has benefited from many martyrs and prophetic madmen in the service of God. Those who give their lives for a holy calling are one of God's blessings to the world. Those who give their lives for God have a special honor. Jesus spoke of such reward to His apostles.

Matthew 19:27-30 NIV

Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first."

What does it profit a person to gain the whole world but lose his soul? Jesus once asked this rhetorical question. It's one worth considering. What are you hoping to gain with your life? What are you hoping to give? Have you considered God's claim on your life? How is God calling you to serve His mission to bless the world through the knowledge of God? We may not like the answer, so we don't really give such questions a hard look.

Today I thank God for people like Isaiah who gave everything that we might be blessed with godly knowledge. I'm sure you can name a few yourself.