Isaiah 20 Devotional

Hope Borrowed and Lost

“Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed.”Isaiah 20:5 (BSB)

For three years the LORD has Isaiah walk barefoot and stripped, a strange and humiliating sign (20:2-3). It is a living picture of what Assyria will do to Egypt and Cush, leading their captives away barefoot and exposed, young and old alike (20:4). People who pinned their hopes on Cush and took pride in Egypt will be dismayed, and the coastland will ask how anyone can escape now (20:5-6).

God is patient enough to warn long before disaster arrives, and he goes to great lengths to make the warning hard to ignore. It also shows how fragile borrowed hope is. Strong allies, powerful armies, and impressive resources all look secure until they are carried off. The psalmist says the same: mortal rulers cannot save, but the person whose help is the God of Jacob is blessed (Psalm 146:3-5). God exposes false hopes not to shame people but to turn them toward the only help that holds. The real question is where you run for help.

To think about: When trouble comes, where do you run first for help, and what would it look like to run to God instead?