June 13
Reading: Isaiah 20
1 In the year that the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and captured it– 2 at that time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
3 Then the LORD said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush, 4 so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. 5 Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast. 6 And the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, ‘Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?'”
We discover in Isaiah 20 that the humbling of Egypt will come as the Lord uses Assyria to judge them. It will be so bad that Isaiah will do more than mourn. He will enact the abasement of the Egyptians. And here we discover that one of the lessons that the Lord is teaching Israel in this is the futility of trusting in alliances with Egypt for their salvation.
God is the only one who saves.
We are often tempted to trust other people or things rather than God. Or we trust other people or things and God. This means that we are really not trusting God. We are trusting our money or doctors or the government or parents because we can see them, they seem more present, more able to act. God can use all these things and people to help us, but it is God to whom we must appeal and in whom we must trust, or we are fools.
The most important thing that you can do when in trouble is to pray and obey God.
When we fail to trust God and things go badly, we know the lesson. When we are trusting God and things seem to go badly, we know that God has some good purpose in mind.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
In whom is your hope?