“Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be afraid and put to shame.”
~ Isaiah 20:5
Hi James and Ellen,
Have you ever seen a bum? Have you ever seen a bag lady? Have you ever seen a street kid? What would you do if you saw a guy, gal or kid on a city street begging for food? What would you do if a guy, gal or kid came to the door of your house asking for a handout? What would you do if you saw a guy or gal walking around wearing no clothes? In large cities on planet Earth, bums can be found sleeping on park benches in city squares, bag ladies can be seen pushing shopping carts on streets and street kids can be spotted stealing food from open markets. Beggars, panhandlers and derelicts make up a dehumanized subculture that exists in most large cities on planet Earth. Abuse of alcohol may result in a guy or gal resorting to living a nomadic, hostile life. Abuse of pills may result in a guy or gal ending up living a resigned, defeated life. Abuse from guardians may result in a kid being relegated to living an animalist, survivalist life. Psychological abuse, physiological damage and a physical handicap are key contributors that are causing guys, gals and kids to be demoralized, demeaned and/or degraded leading these guys, gals and kids to marginally exist in a society. When your grandpaa was in Santa Cruz, Bolivia on the South America Mission field missionary team, he would sometimes go to the central plaza in Santa Cruz to get his shoes shined. The central plaza in Santa Cruz is located less than a block from the one post office that was in Santa Cruz. Your grandpaa sometimes would go to the post office to pick up the mail for the South America Mission field team missionaries. When your grandpaa had his shoes shined at the Santa Cruz central plaza, he would go to the same guy each time to shine his shoes. Your grandpaa finds it very relaxing to sit in a shoe shine chair while having his shoes shined. While your grandpaa is having his shoes shined, he will sometimes flip through the newspaper that the guy who is shining his shoes has. When your grandpaa is not reading a newspaper while he is sitting in a shoe shine chair, your grandpaa likes to watch what different guys, gals and kids do when they are walking by him or sitting near him. Sometimes when your grandpaa was at the Santa Cruz central plaza, your grandpaa would see a large dirty, bearded guy sitting or lying on one of the plaza benches. Per what was told your grandpaa, this bum who frequented the Santa Cruz central plaza had been a professor. Your grandpaa does not know why this guy – who was always wearing several layers of torn, dirty clothes, chose to use the Santa Cruz central plaza as his home; it was just sad to your grandpaa that a guy – who may have been a real help as a teacher to kids, could end up almost like a piece of trash. A couple of times in cities here in the United States, your grandmaa and grandpaa have seen a bag lady pushing a shopping cart that she has filled with her life belongings. When your grandpaa was in Guatemala as a field team missionary on OC International’s Equip SEPAL field missionary team, he would sometimes drive to the center of Guatemala City where he would sometimes see young street kids sprawled out or sleeping on sidewalks.
What do you think that life was like about 2700 years ago for kids like you who lived in Canaan’s land area? The land area of Canaan is the land area that God gave to His specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group of guys and gals, to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . God’s specially chosen guys and gals about 2700 years ago were in a real crisis. Led by Sargon II – who was the king over the guys and gals who lived in the land area of Assyria, the Assyrian people group’s army was doing a land grab. By the time that Isaiah scribed Isaiah 20, Sargon II and his army had already captured the city of Ashdod. The city of Ashdod was one of the five key cities in the land area where the Philistine people group guys and gals lived. About ten years earlier, the Assyrian people group’s army overran the Israelite people group tribal clans who had been allotted land areas that had become Israel’s northern kingdom of guys and gals. Kids whose dads and mas were Israelite people group tribal clans’ guys and gals who had been allotted land area that became Israel’s southern kingdom of guys and gals very probably at this time had very apprehensive dads and mas about the very real probability of Sargon II and his army overrunning them next. Instead of marching into the land area of Judah – which was the name of Israel’s southern kingdom of guys and gals and which included the city of Jerusalem – which was Judah’s key city, Sargon II and his army were divinely led by God to have the countries of Egypt and Cush be their next victims. God used Isaiah as His prophet spokesman to foretell what was going to happen in the countries of Egypt and Cush. God had a message that He wanted to have other countries and people groups to internalize. Verse 5 says, “Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be afraid and put to shame.”
To get His message across in a way that no guy, gal or kid who saw Isaiah – who was His prophet spokesman, would ever forget, God told Isaiah to take off his sackcloth and sandals – which may have been all that Isaiah ever wore, and to go wherever he went stripped and barefooted. God told His prophet spokesman – Isaiah, that he was not to wear anything for three years to show the guys and gals who were living in the countries of Egypt and Cush what He is going to do to them – that He is going to have Assyrian’s army take them away stripped and barefooted as exiles. God also told Isaiah that he was to be like a misfit to indelibly get His message across to the guys and gals who were living in Egypt and Cush. What is God asking you to do? Are you doing what God is asking you to do?
Isaiah 20 (915)