Isaiah 20 PREDICTIONS FULFILLED The prophecy regarding Egypt in chapter nineteen ends with a look into the future to a time of peace in the Middle East when our Lord reigns in righteousness. The predictions earlier in the chapter as to the Assyrian invasion happened forty years later. Judah had not entered into the alliance to which they were inclined because of the warning from Isaiah regarding alliances with idolatrous nations. In chapter twenty the prophecy against Egypt picks up again but is looking back at what happened. Those events should have been a wake-up call to Judah regarding making alliances with those nations and people who have not time or interest in God.
When self-will enters into a matter, it seems that people will never learn that there are some things to which there no exceptions. An unequal yoke is always an unequal yoke. It doesn’t change with the passing of time. What does usually change is the one party in the yoke who has experienced the grace of God in their life, will gradually acquiesce to the pressure applied to conform to the ways of the world. “In order to see him/her saved, I do what he/she wants, not because I want to.” But the outcome is the same. The believer gets farther away from God, and the unbeliever gets no closer to God. One may think the inevitable will never happen to them, but it always does.
In the sovereign will of God, Isaiah himself was to be the sign of the coming overthrow of Egypt and Ethiopia. The prophecy of the defeat and disgrace of those nations, happened. Isaiah foretold what it would be like after the invasion of Assyria by visible example, when he was told by God to remove his outer clothing and go barefoot in public. Whether he had to do that for three full years, or for three years did that for periods of time, is not the point. The objective of the visible prophecy was to remind the Lord’s people in Judah of the wrong of unholy alliances, and that God’s people should not put their trust in foreign governments. The humiliation of Isaiah kept before the people of Judah what was going to happen to Egypt and Cush who had wanted to form an alliance with Judah. But it would also remind them of what happens to those people who ignore God, and put their confidence in man and false gods.
Human plans, human arrangements and human governments should never take the place of God in human affairs. God is not at a distance from all that is going on around us, with us and in us. A conscious awareness of the presence of God will keep us from putting our trust in the wrong people and things. There are times in our lives when we are responsible to do something that seems to defy logic. We do not want to do it or even associate with others who also may be involved because it would be humiliating to us. When we know it is what God wants, we must act in faith and go forward even if our natural bent and desire is to not do such a thing. Our only recourse at such times is to turn to the Lord in faith, and trust Him to do through us, that which we cannot understand.
In the life of faith of a believer, we don’t have to have the answers to a matter before we start. We don’t need to know the result before we take the first step of faith. In fact, we may never know the reason for things we do, but we know God. We know our Lord will never ask us or expect us to do what is wrong. We know He knows the desired outcome of each matter and/or event. We know He has the right to expect us to obey Him and trust Him. So, it is incumbent on us to trust in God, be obedient to His word and will, and step into the unknown, placing all confidence in Him.
Sargon was the king of Assyria, and for a short time had great power in the Middle East. He sent Sennacherib, who in turn sent his general, Tartan to Philistia, and the Philistines found out that neither Egypt nor Ethiopia would come to their aid. When Sennacherib became king of Assyria, the invasion of Egypt and Ethiopia took place. Both of these countries learned that their alliance could not protect them from the righteous justice and judgments of God against those who deny His existence, belittle His power and authority, ignore His provision for the very life and survival of mankind. False gods and idols deceive people into thinking that they are in control of their own destiny.
Believers in our Lord Jesus Christ should remember that “vain is man that trusts in man.” It is most unwise for us to put any confidence in the schemes and plans of men as the way to fulfillment of life or the way to deal with disasters over which we have no control. We trust in our God to give us the capacity to fulfill any work or calling we have been given by Him. It is our responsibility and wisdom to do what we do in God’s way with all our might, and then leave the results of the matter to Him.