mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 20.xml

<div2 id="Is.xxi" n="xxi" next="Is.xxii" prev="Is.xx" progress="7.73%" title="Chapter XX">
<h2 id="Is.xxi-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.xxi-p0.2">CHAP. XX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.xxi-p1" shownumber="no">This chapter is a prediction of the carrying away
of multitudes both of the Egyptians and the Ethiopians into
captivity by the king of Assyria. Here is, I. The sign by which
this was foretold, which was the prophet's going for some time
barefoot and almost naked, like a poor captive, <scripRef id="Is.xxi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.20.1-Isa.20.2" parsed="|Isa|20|1|20|2" passage="Isa 20:1,2">ver. 1-2</scripRef>. II. The explication of that sign,
with application to Egypt and Ethiopia, <scripRef id="Is.xxi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.20.3-Isa.20.5" parsed="|Isa|20|3|20|5" passage="Isa 20:3-5">ver. 3-5</scripRef>. III. The good use which the
people of God should make of this, which is never to trust in an
arm of flesh, because thus it will deceive them, <scripRef id="Is.xxi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.20.6" parsed="|Isa|20|6|0|0" passage="Isa 20:6">ver. 6</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Is.xxi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.20" parsed="|Isa|20|0|0|0" passage="Isa 20" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.xxi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.20.1-Isa.20.6" parsed="|Isa|20|1|20|6" passage="Isa 20:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xxi-p1.6">
<h4 id="Is.xxi-p1.7">Threatenings against Egypt. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxi-p1.8">b. c.</span> 713.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xxi-p2" shownumber="no">1 In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod,
(when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against
Ashdod, and took it;   2 At the same time spake the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxi-p2.1">Lord</span> by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go
and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe
from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.   3
And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxi-p2.2">Lord</span> said, Like as my
servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years
<i>for</i> a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;   4
So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and
the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even
with <i>their</i> buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.  
5 And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their
expectation, and of Egypt their glory.   6 And the inhabitant
of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such <i>is</i> our
expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king
of Assyria: and how shall we escape?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxi-p3" shownumber="no">God here, as King of nations, brings a sore
calamity upon Egypt and Ethiopia, but, as King of saints, brings
good to his people out of it. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxi-p4" shownumber="no">I. The date of this prophecy. It was in the
year that Ashdod, a strong city of the Philistines (but which some
think was lately recovered from them by Hezekiah, when he smote the
Philistines even unto Gaza, <scripRef id="Is.xxi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.18.8" parsed="|2Kgs|18|8|0|0" passage="2Ki 18:8">2 Kings
xviii. 8</scripRef>), was besieged and taken by an army of the
Assyrians. It is uncertain what year of Hezekiah that was, but the
event was so remarkable that those who lived then could by that
token fix the time to a year. He that was now king of Assyria is
called <i>Sargon,</i> which some take to be the same with
Sennacherib; others think he was his immediate predecessor, and
succeeded Shalmaneser. Tartan, who was general, or
commander-in-chief, in this expedition, was one of Sennacherib's
officers, sent by him to bid defiance to Hezekiah, in concurrence
with Rabshakeh, <scripRef id="Is.xxi-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.18.17" parsed="|2Kgs|18|17|0|0" passage="2Ki 18:17">2 Kings xviii.
17</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxi-p5" shownumber="no">II. The making of Isaiah a sign, by his
unusual dress when he walked abroad. He had been a sign to his own
people of the melancholy times that had come and were coming upon
them, by the sackcloth which for some time he had worn, of which he
had a gown made, which he girt about him. Some think he put himself
into that habit of a mourner upon occasion of the captivity of the
ten tribes. Others think sackcloth was what he commonly wore as a
prophet, to show himself mortified to the world, and that he might
learn to endure hardness; soft clothing better becomes those that
attend in king's palaces (<scripRef id="Is.xxi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.11.8" parsed="|Matt|11|8|0|0" passage="Mt 11:8">Matt. xi.
8</scripRef>) than those that go on God's errands. Elijah wore
hair-cloth (<scripRef id="Is.xxi-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.1.8" parsed="|2Kgs|1|8|0|0" passage="2Ki 1:8">2 Kings i. 8</scripRef>),
and John Baptist (<scripRef id="Is.xxi-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.3.4" parsed="|Matt|3|4|0|0" passage="Mt 3:4">Matt. iii.
4</scripRef>) and those that pretended to be prophets supported
their pretension by wearing rough garments (<scripRef id="Is.xxi-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Zech.13.4" parsed="|Zech|13|4|0|0" passage="Zec 13:4">Zech. xiii. 4</scripRef>); but Isaiah has orders given
him to <i>loose his sackcloth from his loins,</i> not to exchange
it for better clothing, but for none at all—no upper garment, no
mantle, cloak, or coat, but only that which was next to him, we may
suppose his shirt, waistcoat, and drawers; and he must <i>put off
his shoes,</i> and go barefoot; so that compared with the dress of
others, and what he himself usually wore, he might be said to go
<i>naked.</i> This was a great hardship upon the prophet; it was a
blemish to his reputation, and would expose him to contempt and
ridicule; the boys in the streets would hoot at him, and those who
sought occasion against him would say, <i>The prophet is</i> indeed
<i>a fool, and the spiritual man is mad,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxi-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.9.7" parsed="|Hos|9|7|0|0" passage="Ho 9:7">Hosea ix. 7</scripRef>. It might likewise be a prejudice
to his health; he was in danger of catching a cold, which might
throw him into a fever, and cost him his life; but God bade him do
it, that he might give a proof of his obedience to God in a most
difficult command, and so shame the disobedience of his people to
the most easy and reasonable precepts. When we are in the way of
our duty we may trust God both with our credit and with our safety.
The hearts of that people were strangely stupid, and would not be
affected with what they only heard, but must be taught by signs,
and therefore Isaiah must do this for their edification. If the
dress was scandalous, yet the design was glorious, and what a
prophet of the Lord needed not to be ashamed of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxi-p6" shownumber="no">III. The exposition of this sign, <scripRef id="Is.xxi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.20.3-Isa.20.4" parsed="|Isa|20|3|20|4" passage="Isa 20:3,4"><i>v.</i> 3, 4</scripRef>. It was intended to
signify that the Egyptians and the Ethiopians should be led away
captive by the king of Assyria, thus stripped, or in rags, and very
shabby clothing, as Isaiah was. God calls him his <i>servant
Isaiah,</i> because in this matter particularly he had approved
himself God's willing, faithful, obedient servant; and for this
very thing, which perhaps others laughed at him for, God gloried in
him. To obey is better than sacrifice; it pleases God and praises
him more, and shall be more praised by him. Isaiah is said to have
<i>walked naked and barefoot three years,</i> whenever in that time
he appeared as a prophet. But some refer the three years, not to
the sign, but to the thing signified: <i>He has walked naked and
barefoot;</i> there is a stop in the original; provided he did so
once that was enough to give occasion to all about him to enquire
what was the meaning of his doing so; or, as some think, he did it
three days, a day for a year; and this for a three years' sign and
wonder, for a sign of that which should be done three years
afterwards or which should be three years in the doing. Three
campaigns successively shall the Assyrian army make, in spoiling
the Egyptians and Ethiopians, and carrying them away captive in
this barbarous manner, not only the soldiers taken in the field of
battle, but the inhabitants, young and old; and it being a very
piteous sight, and such as must needs move compassion in those that
had the least degree of tenderness left them to see those who had
gone all their days well dressed now stripped, and scarcely having
rags to cover their nakedness, that circumstance of their captivity
is particularly taken notice of, and foretold, the more to affect
those to whom this prophecy was delivered. It is particularly said
to be <i>to the shame of Egypt</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xxi-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.20.4" parsed="|Isa|20|4|0|0" passage="Isa 20:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), because the Egyptians were a
proud people, and therefore when they did fall into disgrace it was
the more shameful to them; and the higher they had lifted up
themselves the lower was their fall, both in their own eyes and in
the eyes of others.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxi-p7" shownumber="no">IV. The use and application of this,
<scripRef id="Is.xxi-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.20.5-Isa.20.6" parsed="|Isa|20|5|20|6" passage="Isa 20:5,6"><i>v.</i> 5, 6</scripRef>. 1. All
that had any dependence upon, or correspondence with, Egypt and
Ethiopia, should now be ashamed of them, and afraid of having any
thing to do with them. Those countries that were in danger of being
overrun by the Assyrians expected that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia,
with his numerous forces, would put a stop to the progress of their
victorious arms, and be a barrier to his neighbours; and with yet
more assurance they gloried that Egypt, a kingdom so famous for
policy and prowess, would do their business, would oblige them to
raise the siege of Ashdod and retire with precipitation. But,
instead of this, by attempting to oppose the king of Assyria they
did but expose themselves and make their country a prey to him.
Hereupon all about them were ashamed that ever they promised
themselves any advantage from two such weak and cowardly nations,
and were more afraid now than ever they were of the growing
greatness of the king of Assyria, before whom Egypt and Ethiopia
proved but as briers and thorns put to stop a consuming fire, which
do but make it burn the more strongly. Note, Those who make any
creature their expectation and glory, and so put it in the place of
God, will sooner or later be ashamed of it, and their
disappointment in it will but increase their fear. See <scripRef id="Is.xxi-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.29.6-Ezek.29.7" parsed="|Ezek|29|6|29|7" passage="Eze 29:6,7">Ezek. xxix. 6, 7</scripRef>. 2. The Jews in
particular should be convinced of their folly in resting upon such
broken reeds, and should despair of any relief from them (<scripRef id="Is.xxi-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.20.6" parsed="|Isa|20|6|0|0" passage="Isa 20:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>The inhabitants of
this isle</i> (the land of Judah, situated upon the sea, though not
surrounded by it), of this country (so the margin); every one shall
now have his eyes opened, and shall say, "<i>Behold, such is our
expectation,</i> so vain, so foolish, and this is that which it
will come to. We have fled for help to the Egyptians and
Ethiopians, and have hoped by them to be delivered from the king of
Assyria; but, now that they are broken thus, how shall we escape,
that are not able to bring such armies into the field as they did?"
Note, (1.) Those that confide in creatures will be disappointed,
and will be made ashamed of their confidence; <i>for vain is the
help of man, and in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills or
the height and multitude of the mountains.</i> (2.) Disappointment
in creature confidences, instead of driving us to despair, as here
(<i>how shall we escape?</i>), should drive us to God; for, if we
flee to him for help, our expectation shall not be frustrated.</p>
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