How Shall We Escape?

Our Bible passage, introduction to Sunday 14th May service and hymns are below.

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Our verses are:

Isa 20:1  In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;

Isa 20:2  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.

Isa 20:3  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;

Isa 20:4  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.

Isa 20:5  And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.

Isa 20:6  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?

 How Shall We Escape?

 Today’s passage is short but sweet for all who have been led to find God’s great salvation by Jesus Christ in the steps of the ancient people of God. A great part of true faith is necessity. Many adopt Christianity as a lifestyle choice and embrace its principles as an act of freewill. God’s elect, however, are driven into the arms of Jesus not because it seems like a good idea but because every other refuge has been stripped away. This is what Isaiah is speaking about.

A shocking message

Isaiah has been faithfully speaking the prophecies of divine revelation to the people of his age. Now, however, Isaiah himself is commanded of God to testify by his actions and conduct. He is to remove his clothes! However, there is method in this madness. His appearance at first strange, even eccentric, becomes a sign and a wonder as the meaning of his behaviour becomes clear. The messenger has become the message.

An object lesson in nakedness

We might question how suitable it was for a prophet of God to go naked. Isaiah’s actions would certainly gain him notoriety to the point of dishonour and offence. Whether or not Isaiah was completely naked, or merely shed his outer garments down to a loincloth, it soon became clear what he was portraying by his action. Egypt and Ethiopia, two proud and powerful neighbour-nations to whom the Jews had leaned for help, would within three years, be stripped, shamed and deported from their lands.

A nation stripped and peeled

A few chapters ago we learned how Judah itself would be peeled as a nation and stripped of its wealth, power and people. Here another lesson is being taught. Judah’s trial is aggravated by disappointment. The saviours to whom it looked would be themselves defeated, shamed and carried away captive. Judah would learn it is foolish to rely on man’s strength or form alliances with worldly powers to accomplish salvation. These are spiritual lessons.

An isolated people

The defeat of these two Cushite nations by Assyria would send shock waves through Judah. The fear and shame of Egypt and Ethiopia would be contagious. It would spread to those who sought protection under their wings or cherished hope the opposing armies might break themselves upon each other. Judah and Jerusalem, here called an isle or island because of their isolation in a tempestuous region, would be left without hope in the world.

A friend of the world …

The spiritual lesson is clear. James tells us ‘a friend of the world is the enemy of God’. It is futile to lean on human strength and human ability in spiritual matters. The Egypt of self-righteousness, the Ethiopia of freewill, may appear to offer comfort and a way of escape from the enemies of our soul but in a short time these refuges must be torn down, stripped away and exposed as the lies they are. Any and all hope we have in the flesh is vain and empty. God’s people will find no comfort in Cush.

To whom shall we go?

Isaiah walked stripped and bare among the people to show there was no covering to be had in earthly hiding places. The portion of God’s people throughout their pilgrim walk is to experience the peeling away of our refuges until we have no one to flee to but Christ Himself. It is the hungry and thirsty, the labouring, heavy ladened, sick and sore, the dead and dying who confess they have neither resources within to please God, nor deliverers without. Sinners come to God for grace when they come to an end of themselves.

A sign and wonder

Isaiah’s message was a sign and a wonder. Some build their faith on charismatic ‘signs and wonders’ and draw hope from fleshy excitement. True believers find the gospel to be our sign and wonder. It signposts to Jesus Christ and reveals the wonder of His great salvation. The Jews saw Egypt fall and asked ‘how shall we escape?’ The book of Hebrews picks up this theme asking, ‘how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?’ It is the Lord Jesus Christ alone who gives comfort to sinners.

The Way, the Truth and the Life

In our study tomorrow we shall consider first, the folly of trusting in the strength of man, second, God’s wisdom in stripping us of earthly sanctuaries, and third, the spiritual meaning of God calling His elect an island. May the Lord lift up our matchless Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and show us clearly the uniqueness of the way of salvation.

Amen

Our hymns are below.

Hymn 1

Gadsby selection 238

Repentance.  Ps. 25. 11;  Acts 16. 30; 2 Cor. 7. 10

J. Fawcett                            L.M.

1
With melting heart and weeping eyes,
My guilty soul for mercy cries;
What shall I do, or whither flee,
To escape the vengeance due to me?

2
Till late, I saw no danger nigh;
I lived at ease, nor feared to die;
Wrapped up in self-conceit and pride,
“I shall have peace at last,” I cried.

3
But when, great God, thy light divine
Had shone on this dark soul of mine,
Then I beheld, with trembling awe,
The terrors of thy holy law.

4
How dreadful now my guilt appears,
In childhood, youth, and growing years;
Before thy pure discerning eye,
Lord, what a filthy wretch am I!

5
Should vengeance still my soul pursue,
Death and destruction are my due;
Yet mercy can my guilt forgive,
And bid a dying sinner live.

6
Does not thy sacred word proclaim
Salvation free in Jesus’ name?
To him I look, and humbly cry,
“O save a wretch condemned to die!”

Hymn 2

Gadsby selection 1052

“God forbid that I should glory.” Gal. 6. 14

A. M. Toplady  112th

1
Redeemer! whither should I flee,
Or how escape the wrath to come?
The weary sinner flies to thee
For shelter from impending doom;
Smile on me, gracious Lord, and show
Thyself the Friend of sinners now.

2
Beneath the shadow of thy cross
The heavy-laden soul finds rest;
I would esteem the world but dross,
So I might be of Christ possessed.
I’d seek my every joy in thee,
Be thou both life and light to me.

3
Close to the ignominious tree,
Jesus, my humbled soul would cleave;
Despised and crucified with thee,
With thee resolved to die and live;
This prayer and this ambition mine,
Living and dying to be thine.

4
There, fastened to the rugged wood
By holy love’s resistless chain,
And life deriving from thy blood,
Never to wander wide again,
There may I bow my suppliant knee,
And own no other Lord but thee.

The Lord Jesus Christ has provided a way of escape for sinners like us. Isaiah warned his age not to rely upon the strength of flesh and spiritually all believers must learn the same lesson both for salvation and in their pilgrim journey. The Lord teaches us to trust not in our own abilities but in Him.

14 May 2023