July 16
Isaiah 20:2
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.
Sometimes we are interrupted by something that God wants us to do that seems irrational or illogical. Our peaceful comfort and serenity is disturbed by God’s directive. It might come through a sermon that we hear or a lyric of a song or something that the Lord reveals to us in His word. Regardless of the method, He asks us to do something that seems at the time unnerving and unacceptable. It might be to go to someone who you’ve offended and asking for forgiveness or go to someone you are odds with and seek reconciliation. It could be to remove yourself from a group of friends that are leading you into sinful behavior. It might also be that the Lord is directing you to share the gospel with a friend or family member. Sometimes it is Him calling you to go on mission or to get involved in a specific ministry. In any case, whatever the Lord is saying is not what you were wanting to do. When you understand what it is He wants you to do you either say, “Do What ?” Or “I’ll do it”.
Isaiah had a similar experience. He was a prophet that faithfully serve God. He was someone who if the Lord asked him to do something, he would willingly obey. He is an example of a completely devoted disciple.
During his tenure as a prophet the children of Israel had strayed. They had turned away from the Lord. They had made an alliance with other nations like Egypt and Ethiopia to help them ward off the invasion by the powerful Assyrians. But by doing this, it caused a giant rift between God and His people. They were to trust the Lord to take care of them, but they forsake Him when they turned to and trusted the nations for help. So God used Isaiah to present a strikingly visible expression to His people of what would happen to those who would not rely upon Him to help them. He would remove the help they had hoped for.
It was already assume that Isaiah had exchanged his prophetic garments for a sackcloth to bemoan the condition and plight of God’s people. But now God was asking for more. He requested that Isaiah remove his clothing and sandals and walk “naked and barefoot” among the people. Now this sounds somewhat outrageous and outlandish to us, but it wasn’t to Isaiah. This was God’s clear word to him. He knew it was the Lord clearly speaking to him. There was no doubt and no question that God was telling him to “loose the sackcloth” from his waist and “takeoff the sandals” from his feet. There was no question as to who said it, only the question as to whether or not Isaiah would do it.
If this was you and I, we would have a multitude of follow up questions for God. We would probably have a debate with Him about the legitimacy of what He was requesting us to do or the reasonability of such an absurd request. We would’ve said, “Do what?”, and then unload a myriad of reasons as to why we couldn’t comply.
But Isaiah didn’t debate God‘s directive. Instead, our text simply records his response with three simple words, “he did so”. He didn’t care about what others thought, only what the Almighty thought. He wasn’t concerned about how it might affect his reputation or the ridicule that he might face, he was only concerned about a right response to the Lord’s request. He obeyed without objection, “he did so”. God honored Isaiah, because Isaiah honored Him.
It is strange how we call ourselves followers of Jesus, but we often don't follow Him. Oh we follow if it’s convenient and comfortable, but not if it's demanding or disruptive. We say that we will do whatever He says, but when He clearly identifies what we are to do we balk at it and don’t do it. Oh that we could find even a small band of believers that would be like Isaiah and regardless of how ridiculous the Lord‘s request might sound, it would be said of them, “they did so”.
God was trying to make a point to His people through the actions of His prophet. He walked about barefoot for three years as a sign against those whom the Israelites trusted to protect them in the place of their Lord. The text gives us the reason for the request. Isaiah went “naked and barefoot” to demonstrate that God would eventually lead the Egyptians, whom the people looked to for protection, ironically into Assyrian captivity embarrassed and disgraced “naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered”. This clearly demonstrates that God has reasons that we may not know of for the request that He asks of us, so rather than debate Him about them, we should simply “do so”. Isaiah did so, so should we!
Today thank God that Isaiah was a faithful servant. Praise God for Isaiah's example that when asked by God to do something that seemed outlandish, "he did so". Ask the Lord to help you be a person of obedience rather than one of objections. Thank Him that He has reason for the requests that He asks of you, even it you don't see them. Ask Him to help it be said of you , "he did so"
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