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Isaiah / Chapter 20
Isaiah 20 pairs a startling public sign with a terse report of its meaning to show how Assyria will shame Egypt and Ethiopia, and how those who rely on them for deliverance will find their plans stripped away.
In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it;
at that time Yahweh spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and loose the sackcloth from off your loins, and put your shoe from off your foot. He did so, walking naked and barefoot.
Yahweh said, Like as my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia;
so shall the king of Assyria lead away the captives of Egypt, and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
They shall be dismayed and confounded, because of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
The inhabitant of this coast-land shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and we, how shall we escape?
Isaiah journey · Isaiah 20
Full passage context
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Holiness, judgment, servant hope, and new creation unfold across kingly crisis and exile.
Movement
Holy judgment and restoration
Artifact
Prophetic vision and servant hope
Biblical Timeline
Kingdom
Isaiah context: 1000 BC - 586 BC
Isaiah context
Kingdom / 1000 BC - 586 BC
Isaiah context is set in the kingdom period, where Israel's monarchy from David and Solomon to exile.
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Context snapshot
Date
Prophetic ministry in Judah, c. 740-700 BC
Genre
Prophetic vision and oracles
Setting
Judah/Jerusalem
Audience
Judah and Jerusalem
World Stage
Assyrian kings including Tiglath-pileser III and Sennacherib 8th-7th century BC
Isaiah ministers in Judah as Assyria dominates the region and Jerusalem faces political fear. The book sets judgment, holiness, messianic hope, and future restoration against the pressure of empire and failed trust.
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