Isaiah Walks Naked and Barefoot Is 20:1-6 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

This prophecy is against Egypt and Ethiopia – Judah was supposed to take heed to this prophecy so that they would not put their confidence in Egypt when they were attacked.  As a sign in this prophecy Isaiah walks naked and barefoot.

Tartan [v.1] is the spokesman for Assyria who came to Hezekiah to frighten him and the Jews in Jerusalem into submission to the King of Assyria – 2 Ki 18:17.  At this time he is in Ashdod, one of the major cities of the Philistines [1 Sam 5:1-2].

Sargon, king of Assyria, sent him.  This name of the king of Assyria caused Bible critics to claim that the Bible was wrong until 1842, when Botta discovered the ruins of Sargon’s palace in Khorsabad on the north edge of Nineveh [near the Tigris river in Iraq] – his treasures and inscriptions showed him to be one of Assyria’s greatest kings.

Naked and Barefoot is the way that Isaiah walked for three years as a sign to Egypt and Ethiopia that they were going to be taken captive and made to walk naked and barefoot by their captors.  When Pekah attacked Judah, this is what he did to his captives [2 Chr 28:6-8, 15].  This is what the king of Ammon did to David’s men to shame them [2 Sam 10:1-5].

Egyptians and Ethiopians would be made prisoners and captives by the king of Assyria and walk naked and barefoot.  This humiliation would cause Judah to be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia and Egypt, in whom they had been putting their confidence.

Such is our expectation is what Judah will say of Egypt and Ethiopia and then they will realize that they will not be able to escape by relying on these two nations.  When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, he left Gedaliah to oversee the city.  Gedaliah was assassinated by Ishmael, who intended to lead the remaining Jews to Ammon for protection [2 Ki 25:22-26; Jer 41:1-10].  However, Johanan defeated him and ended up taking them to Egypt [Jer 42, 43] only to find that he had led them to their death.

Application: Ahaz trusted the gods of other nations who were the ruin of him [2 Chr 28:23].  His son, Hezekiah, trusted the Lord God and was delivered [2 Chr 32:7-8, 22].  Today, Israel needs to trust the Lord God and not nations with whom she has made alliances.