66. No More Sacrifice for Sins

Hymns: RHC 339 When I Fear My Faith Will Fail 324 Simply Trusting 325 A Shelter in the Time of Storm

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 LORD 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 LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for 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 their 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 is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?

No More Sacrifice for Sins

OUTLINE

Sinning Wilfully (v1-2)
Fearful Looking for of Judgment (v3-6)

INTRODUCTION

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. The sign by which this was foretold, which was the prophet’s going for some time barefoot and almost naked, like a poor captive (v1-2). The explication of that sign, with application to Egypt and Ethiopia (v3-5). 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 (v6).

Sinning Wilfully (v1-2)

The time when it was delivered is designated in (v1), and was in the reign of Hezekiah.

The Assyrian empire had extended its conquests over Syria, Damascus, and Ephraim or Samaria (2 Kings 18:9-12).

2 Kings 18:9-12 (KJV) And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes: Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.

The king of Assyria sent Tartan to take possession of Ashdod, or Azotus, the maritime key of Palestine, and there was an evident danger that the Assyrians would overthrow the government of Judah, and secure also the conquest of Egypt.

In these circumstances of danger, the main reliance of Judah was on the aid they hoped to derive from Egypt and Ethiopia (v5), as being alone able to repel the Assyrians. They relied rather on that aid than on God.

To “recall” them from this, and to show them the vanity of such a dependence, and to lead them to rely on God, Isaiah was sent to them to be a sign; or to indicate by a symbolic action what would be the fate of the Egyptians on whom they were placing their reliance (v4). By showing the Jews what would be the destiny of Egypt, he designed to withdraw them from resting on their assistance, and to turn them to God for protection and aid.

In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod – Tartan was one of the generals of Sennacherib. Ashdod, called by the Greeks Azotus, was a seaport on the Mediterranean, between Askelon and Ekron, and not far from Gaza (Reland’s “Palestine,” iii.)

It was one of the five cities of the Philistines, assigned to the tribe of Judah, but never conquered by them.

Joshua 15:46-47 (KJV) From Ekron even unto the sea, all that lay near Ashdod, with their villages: Ashdod with her towns and her villages, Gaza with her towns and her villages, unto the river of Egypt, and the great sea, and the border thereof:

The temple of Dagon stood here; and here the ark of God was brought after the fatal battle of Ebenezer (1 Samuel 5:1).

1 Samuel 5:1 (KJV) And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod.

It sustained many sieges, and was regarded as an important place in respect to Palestine, and also to Egypt. It was taken by Tartan, and remained in the possession of the Assyrians until it was besieged by Psammetichus, the Egyptian king, who took it after a siege of twenty-nine years (Herod. ii. 157).

It was about thirty miles from Gaza. It is now a small village, and is called “Esdud.” It was besieged and taken by Tartan as preparatory to the conquest of Egypt; and if the king who is here called “Sargon” was Sennacherib, it probable that it was taken before he threatened Jerusalem. [Barnes]

Fearful Looking For Of Judgment (v3-6)

³ And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;

In verse 3 there begins the divine explanation of Isaiah’s symbolic ac. For a period of three years, as Isaiah went about his prophetic task, he was a living embodiment of the fact that Egyptian kingdom would fall. Cush or Ethiopia is now mentioned, for Shabako reigned in Egypt from 714 to 700. In the prophecies which date from the reign Hezekiah, Egypt and Ethiopia are frequently mentioned in close connection. [Barnes]

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 (Matthew 11:8) than those that go on God’s errands.

Elijah wore hair-cloth (2 Kings 1:8), and John Baptist (Matthew 3:4) and those that pretended to be prophets supported their pretension by wearing rough garments (Zechariah 13:4); but Isaiah has orders given him to loose his sackcloth from his loins, 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 put off his shoes, and go barefoot; so that compared with the dress of others, and what he himself usually wore, he might be said to go naked.

⁴ So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

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, The prophet is indeed a fool, and the spiritual man is mad.

Hosea 9:7 (KJV) The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.

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. [Matthew Henry]

As Isaiah, God’s servant is faithfully discharging a symbolical action, had gone about naked and barefoot for three years, so the king of Assyria would carry off all the Egyptians naked and barefooted. Isaiah speaks of the king of Assyria as leading the Egyptians.

⁵ And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.

As a result of the disaster just mentioned the Judahites will be afraid of the countries which had been their expectation and boast. They will be confounded and filled with consternation at the fate of Ethiopia, the object to which they looked for help, their expectation. Ethiopia had been that object, and Egypt had been the glory in which they boasted. Now, in place of expectation and boasting there is shuddering and shame. It is Isaiah, not the Assyrians, who announces this prediction. The verbs are are indefinite and general, but there would seem to be no doubt that the people of Judah are to be taken as the subject. [EJ Young]

⁶ And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?

Judah wanted to forget her heavenly calling, to turn from trust in God and, like a profane nation, place her trust in a human power. She was willing to act like an inhabitant of the coast where a profane people dwelt.

Well and good, so she shall be called. Paul similarly wrote to the Corinthians that he could not write them but as unto carnal, “for ye are yet carnal” (1 Cor. 3:1, 3) Those who wanted to trust Egypt were no true people of God, no holy nation, but merely inhabitants of the coast.

This chapter closes with a note of despair, “We had trusted in Egypt,” so the argument runs, “and look what has become of her. How then can we possibly be delivered? What hope remains for us?” Those who trust in the arm of flesh can expect nothing but disillusionment. [EJ Young]

Hebrews 10:26-27 (KJV) For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

CONCLUSION

Let His people trust in Him come what may. He is faithful that calleth! Amen.

66. No More Sacrifice for Sins

Share this:

Related