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all right Isaiah chapter 20 it's kind of a short passage here it's just six verses and before I dig into we're gonna go verse by verse and before we even get into that I'm just gonna start giving the the high-level overview because we're gonna really get we're gonna really dig deep into a couple things that this passage brings up and kind of go off and look at a lot of other supporting passages teaching well I want to teach this evening for the majority of sermon but just to get the the you know what this passage is talking about from just a high level in these six verses we see here that the Lord is is actually giving Isaiah a very interesting command here to give a sign unto Israel and Judah right so this this passage chapter 20 is directed at the children of Israel it's directed for God's people but it's talking about judgment coming upon Egypt and Ethiopia right so it's it's it's talking about Egypt and Ethiopia being conquered by the Assyrians even though it's directed specifically for the Jews essentially right that's the target audience and the whole purpose for this is because Egypt and Ethiopia at the time were these powerhouses right these were mighty nations nations that other nations would flee unto and seek help and seek refuge and if they wanted you know if someone else was coming in to evade them they're gonna go and look to look to Egypt and look to Ethiopia as their as their help in their stay and what's what's happening here as is in many other passages in Scripture around this time frame you know the Lord is warning the children of Israel hey don't go and seek Egypt for your help don't go to Ethiopia for your help to be your defender you know he wants them come seek me right come to me come to the Lord put your trust in me get rid of your false gods serve me seek me I'll defend you right but you can't put your trust in man you can't put your trust in the arm of man and the reason why is because you know what they're gonna be defeated too they're gonna be brought to shame they're gonna be brought low in fact they're gonna be brought so low it's basically they're gonna be led away captive right the Egyptians who at one point you know had the the Hebrews captive they had the children of Israel captive they had them in bondage they were this great mighty nation now they're gonna be turned on their heads when the Assyrians come in and Egypt is gonna be brought into slavery to the point to where they're gonna be bound and led away the Bible says here naked and barefoot right so that's how extreme is going to be that there I mean they are so conquered that the people could be leaving and walking away being brought into captivity just with nothing with nothing and not only with nothing but in shame and that's one of the main things that we're gonna cover tonight is the shame associated with the nakedness but just understanding this passage from the high level we see Isaiah sent and he's you know he told to preach basically for three years and we'll get into that a little bit to naked and barefoot to show what's going to happen to the Egyptians and the Ethiopians that that's going to happen to them and it says in the last verse there and the inhabitant of this aisle shall say in that day behold such as our expectation wither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria and how shall we escape so that's the whole point is going if this is what's going to happen to Egypt and this is what's gonna happen Ethiopia who are you gonna turn to to help you right if they're your stay if they're if they're your defense then then who do you turn to and that's the whole point that that's being brought across in this chapter but we're gonna go through like I said we'll go through this verse by verse I want to bring light first of all to tying other passages of Scripture together historically in context so you can see okay what's happening at this point in Isaiah also takes place in the book of 2nd Kings and we're going to look at some of the kings of Assyria that have rained and in the timeframe that that spans in the book of 2nd Kings so you could tie together later on when you're reading like oh yeah okay I remember these stories this happens at this point in Scripture if you don't learn something tonight hopefully I'll help you learn something later when you're reading and going oh yeah I remember that's you know and to make it all make more sense and and make you know the big Bible a little bit smaller in your mind in the sense that you're understanding how more of it fits together and obviously the Word of God's infinite I'm not trying to downplay the Bible but but in the sense of what what I mean is that when you start off reading the Bible it's it's massive it could seem like enormous right and you're going man how could anyone in the world know where things are I mean I remember having that feeling going I don't know where anything is in the Bible you know it's good well you don't read it when you're not reading it you're not studying it of course we're not gonna know where anything is you get people going like the people that comment on our church you know where our church passage is Nahum 1 7 I got people going Nahum isn't even a book of the Bible like what these guys Nahum like what's that like you haven't even opened the Bible not in the Bible but the more you read and study right that the more familiar you're gonna be just in general with with all the Bible so when you when you're reading things and you'd be able to learn more and be like oh yeah this happened here here here and the more you understand and what so what's what I mean by making it smaller it's not so monumental of a task of thinking back to know oh yeah you know the Bible talks about this in Exodus 20 you know Ten Commandments yeah it's in Exodus 20 you know where things are and you start piecing more and more together and you learn what that's what that's what I mean by that so it's no you know disrespect to the Word of God it's it's a matter of your level of understanding and being able to tie all the passages together so one of the ways that we're gonna do that tonight is we're gonna focus in on a little bit of some context from other from the book of second Kings specifically look down to verse number one here in Isaiah chapter 20 Bible says in the year that tartan came unto Ashdod when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and fought against Ashdod and took it so this is it's giving us a time frame and this is a time when tartan tartan would be like a captain of the host he's a general he's he's he's a military leader so whatever title he has I don't know what title he had but he's definitely a military leader that's being sent out to to conquer for the king right so he's going out in the battle and doing the conquering and it came on to Ashdod which is the in the Philistines land so this is on the on the west side by the Mediterranean Sea west of Jerusalem and this is when he came to Ashdod it says here that Sargon was the king the king of Assyria sent him fought against Ashdod and took it so they they overtook a major city of the Philistines verse number two says at the same time spake the Lord by Isaiah the son of Amos so this is at the same time now that is a is receiving this prophecy from the Lord and is preaching the Word of God to the children of Israel this is what's happening so keep your place here let's flip back to 2nd Kings chapter 16 and we're gonna go 16 17 18 just a few verses in each to give you a little bit of an understanding normally we're used to looking at the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel because that's what the Bible is focused on and first and second Kings versus second Chronicles right we're learning the whole history of the various kings of the northern and southern kingdom of Israel in those chapters we also see references to kings of other nations and the king that the Assyrian Kingdom was a significant power at one point in in the history especially in biblical history here that we're looking at so we're gonna look at the order of Kings that Assyria had and how then they line up in Scripture and the reason why is because you're only gonna find this reference to Sargon once in Scripture now I went and researched what you know the secular history is going to say about the order of Kings and and you know when these events took place which match up with what the Bible says anyways but you always want to be careful going to just extra biblical sources because especially the further back you go in history the less evidence or documentation there even exists to know exactly what happens and honestly a lot of a lot of history even in the secular world comes from the Bible in a lot of these ancient you know civilizations and stuff so this is a very a very significant source of historical fact is found in Scripture which obviously we know and believe this is the truth but even historians will look at the Bible as as an evident source of what took place in various times and stuff now obviously there's other records that came out of Assyria that match up here but to put this in the context using some other historical data just to put this in the right frame you can still get this from Scripture but because like I said Sargon is only mentioned one time here in Scripture and we're gonna see where his reign falls in place historically in from the book of second Kings perspective okay and one thing just to make note of and I'll point this out when we get to chapter 18 but this goes to the to speak to also when we're just looking at kings of Israel and Judah what was a somewhat common practice with kings and kingdoms is you'd have what's known as co-regency which means that you can have a kid one King that's like in charge that's ruling and raining it has a power but the person who's going to succeed them is also like there's kind of like a transitionary period where they're also in in position and when you're looking at how long someone was raining those dates can be taken from whatever perspective the person who's writing it wants to look at it right so it doesn't make it incorrect so at the time where the successor might be taken over especially in a family dynasty right or when the person when it when it's not a quick transition of like well someone just got killed so now this person is taking over that you know maybe even took the authority right that we're a king family lineage or whatever is like changed because you're like Omri comes in or Zimri comes in and kills the the reigning king and it's like okay well yeah that's a clear-cut this kingdom ended this one started but oftentimes you're gonna have people sons children you know these roses coming in and they're gonna be sort of co-ruling in a sense it's like okay well when they first started ruling so at very end could be a longer reign versus when this previous King dies then that could be considered the actual start of the rain so this is this is sort of historical practicing and it's not always consistent on when you're looking at that the reason I'm going in so much detail talking about this I know it seems kind of boring is because people will try to get you to doubt the Word of God based on how some of these dates work out in in the lengths of the rain and things like that and even if there's a so-called discrepancy between the Book of the Kings and the Book of the Chronicles oh well this says he reigned for this long it's like there are good reasons for that and I'm not going into any specifics tonight but keep that in mind that if someone ever brings up some supposed contradiction that that is a possibility that may offer a very reasonable very plausible very real and true explanation to a supposed contradiction and I've seen that specifically I know for a factor specific examples is because I've looked it up and researched it and said okay yeah when you read this you got to understand that this this is very well the case and it's not it's not grasping at straws it's not going well you just want to try to do anything to make that fit no this actually is historical fact we look at that's that's a very common thing this concept of co-regency and like you'll even see this in you know secular books that have nothing to do with trying to prove or disprove the Bible that this is something that happened and and it's something you have to deal with when you're looking at records and records of kings and they're in the reins and stuff like that so I just want to point that out now in second Kings 16 verse 10 we're gonna see this King reference Tiglath-Pileser okay I may or may not be pronouncing that right but that's the way I pronounce it Tiglath-Pileser okay verse 10 the Bible says in King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria and saw an altar that was at Damascus and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar and the pattern of it according to all the workmen show this is a story where Ahaz defeats Tiglath-Pileser right God delivers him into his hand and then he sees this altar to a false god and he goes hey that looks really cool make me this altar and of course he gets rebuked and he dies going you know why are you choosing to follow a god that couldn't deliver the people who worship that God and now you're like taking this God to be your God like what in the world is wrong with you right and God that make God really angry and and he ended up dying but that's that story here and that's that King Tiglath-Pileser was a king of Assyria and that's when they were defeated he was defeated by by Israel Shalmaneser was the next king of Assyria after Tiglath-Pileser and this is in chapter 17 this is gonna follow 16 17 18 for the secession of Assyrian king and this also will help us hopefully understand that when you're reading chapters of the Bible many years can be spanned over these few words and you know ultimately so so we're reading a lot of highlights and you know exciting things that happen but they can take decades just in between paragraphs right so just you know remember that verse verse 1 of chapter 17 the Bible reads in the 12th year of a as king of Judah began Hoshia the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years and he did that which was evil in sight of the Lord but not as the kings of Israel that were before him against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria and Hoshia became his servant and gave him presence and the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshia for he had sent messengers to sow king of Egypt and brought no present to the king of Assyria as he had done year by year therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison so here what we're starting to see and again the context is important because it's it's giving us more insight into why the message is being preached in chapter 20 Shalmaneser is the king immediately preceding Sargon which is where these events are taking place in chapter 20 okay and what we see here in chapter 17 excuse me I might have said 16 chapter 17 of 2nd Kings is the king of Israel decided to stop paying tribute to the king of Assyria so they were under they were under their rule and he had to pay money every year whatever and give gifts just because hey you're paying your taxes or whatever you got you got to pay it forward it's extortion money ultimately so they don't come in and and judge you it's that was the whole point it conquered a kingdom okay you guys got to give me your spoils right and they're saying you know what we're not gonna do this why did they have the bravery and the boldness not to do it was it because they're trusting in God God's saying no God's gonna deliver us from your hand no that's not why he did that he did that because he was relying on Egypt they were lying and trusting in the king of Egypt so you know what Egypt will protect me Egypt isn't friends with Assyria Assyria doesn't have control of Egypt you know we're gonna we're gonna say no we're not gonna pay you we're not gonna pay you know under your authority we're gonna rebel we're gonna revolt because we're trusting in Egypt this is what happened under the reign of Shalmaneser okay so then so you see how the the children of Israel already had this idea of just wanting to trust in Egypt or Ethiopia to be their defense by the time Sargon comes into rule and Sargon at this point he's not going after the children of Israel yet he's going after the Philistines and he conquers Ashdod so that's what happens when Isaiah chapter 20 takes place and then after Sargon is Sennacherib and we read a lot about Sennacherib if you want to flip over to chapter 18 in 2nd Kings so between chapter 17 and 18 in 2nd Kings is when the reign of Argon or Sargon would be taking place that's about that time frame now the reason why I pointed out the co-regency thing is if you're looking at the years look at verse number 9 of 2nd Kings 18 the Bible says 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 so this is the fourth year of Hezekiah right that Shalmaneser comes up Shalmaneser preceded Sargon still so he's still before the king Argon and then it says let's keep reading here says 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 Hela and in Hebor 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 and look at verse 13 it says now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah and took them so the order of the Assyrian kings is Tiglath-Pileser, Shalmaneser, Sargon and then Sennacherib so in chapter 18 we're seeing no reference to Sargon but we do see Shalmaneser and Sennacherib with Sargon being somewhere in between and what we see is that in the fourth year of Hezekiah was Shalmaneser and then in the fourteenth so ten years later we're seeing a reference to Sennacherib a couple things the point I say well that's only a ten year period right and supposedly according to secular history Sargon reigned for 25 years I think is what is if I remember correctly it was 25 years so you're going well that doesn't make any sense here's how that here's one reason among many that reason that could make sense one could be a co-regency thing two and I think is probably more applicable here you're seeing people being referenced as the king it may not have been them literally raining as king during that time and here's what I mean by that this is you know these historical records of the king of the Kings weren't being written as it happened like immediately like right that day or the next day like right like in there okay this happened like it's a newspaper it's a record going back of years going okay here's what happened like this year or that you know and giving you more of a broader time period because it's written after the fact considerably after the fact not day to day right and if you think about even rulers in the United States when people refer to former presidents or governors of the United in United States of America don't they like don't people still say President Trump or President Clinton or President Bush and like are they president right now no but don't they still refer to them as president you know whoever because you know we're talking about or governor now sometimes they'll say former but sometimes they don't I mean that's just common use of language that people will say so if you know that someone like Shalmaneser is ultimately becomes king of Assyria oftentimes military leaders get promoted also or can be you know the the the people in the family even in a dynasty will have high positions of maybe military positions and things like that I mean even look at Joab was David's nephew or cuz I forget exactly the his cousin right thank you because it was his sister his sister's son anyhow his whole family I mean King David's whole family ultimately was you know the Amnon and Absalom and you know they all had various positions and in a kingdom it's it's not that much of a stretch also to think that you can have tartan going off and fighting a battle one place and potentially another captain somewhere else potentially I'm not saying that that's exactly what happened but my point is when you're looking at these years and you're going oh man that doesn't exactly fit there must be a problem or an error that doesn't mean that there's a problem or an error it's just what reference point and why are they calling him that you know this can be Shalmaneser prior to him even becoming king he's referring to him as king because he know he's gonna become the king he ultimately does and maybe he's not yet right or he's co-regent with someone else and you know again just wanted to point that out and you might never have known that and you're like you know passive versions why you bring this up because even if this one you didn't know there's plenty of other examples that's similar to this but it shouldn't shake your faith when you when you start understanding yeah there's plenty of reasons how this can be 100% true and accurate because it is because it's the Word of God and not have to worry about what's going on okay but the other reason for me you know that wasn't the main purpose of going through this history the main purpose is so that we can see the events that's transpiring to get more into why something that that ultimately even as oh it's only six verses it's pretty extreme but God's having Isaiah do okay that's a big deal to preach naked for three years I mean imagine a preacher preaching naked for one sermon that's significant he did it for three years God's trying to get through to these to the children of Israel he's using this as a sign and a wonder so people are just going have you heard about that guy is it you know like preaching naked he's been doing it for the past couple years man talk about a guy that just won't get off this this negativity this doom and gloom preaching I don't know man I mean come on get over it already look we're fine nothing's happened it's been two years he's trying to get through to the people why cuz God cares about sending that warning that message and this should also show us how much God is willing to to put people in you know a position to be able to get through and yet people still don't listen because what we know what happens we know that the children of Israel still go and try to rely on Egypt even after the captivity right even after Babylon comes and they take him captive and then they're still have a remnant there's still people left that they didn't take everybody away and then what they do they form a faction they defect and they go into Egypt during that you know during the time of Jeremiah that's like you guys doing stop trusting and these you know these people that can't save so but this is what God's willing to go through to bring people around and then let's keep reading in second Kings 18 because I you know I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself there but we're gonna see another reference here to tartan so again just you just kind of bringing it all together in the same in the same place verse 14 about says in Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lakish saying I have offended returned from me that which thou puttest on me will I bear and the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold and Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king's house now this is a whole nother sermon of itself Hezekiah going to the house of the Lord to pay off this wicked king instead of trusting in the Lord which he had done previously now he's going into the house of God and is paying off this wicked king so he won't hurt him anymore stealing from God to give to the wicked just so that oh you know please don't don't hurt me I'm not gonna go that that's like I said so another sermon for another day like verse 16 but again into the mindset of where the children of Israel where their hearts are even where their leadership is at this point and King Hezekiah was a you know went down as a good king as someone who was a righteous King ultimately obviously this is a huge failure but he was someone that's recognized in the big picture in the grand scheme as someone who who served the Lord someone who is a righteous King but this also shows you where I think somewhat of a reflection of where the people are at to to be so so persuaded but let's let's keep reading here verse number 16 about says at that time that Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria and the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabasuerus and Rabshiqui from Lakish to King Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem and they went up and came to Jerusalem and when they were come up they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool which is in the highway of the Fuller's Field and when they had called to the king there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hezekiah which was over the household and Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph the recorder and Rabshiqui said unto them speak ye now to Hezekiah thus said the great king the king of Assyria what confidence is this wherein thou trustest thou sayest but there but vain words I have counsel and strength for the war now on whom dost thou trust that thou rebellest against me now behold thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed even upon Egypt on which if a man lean it will go into his hand and pierce it so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him so now we see even here Sennacherib is saying you know you're trusting in Egypt don't trust in Egypt now they're gonna end up trusting in the Lord right because and if you remember the story this is also found else we're gonna see this in in other places we see it come up in Isaiah too but go back if you would to actually go turn if you would Ezekiel chapter 4 because we read through Isaiah 20 I'm going to read through a couple more verses here anyhow I wanted to give that context in second Kings so you understand okay Isaiah 20 is occurring in this second Kings 18 time frame right around there these things that are happening it makes sense we see them trying you know trusting in Egypt continually and God continually telling them not to trust in Egypt we see and we see the warnings the woe to Egypt what you know we saw that in chapter 19 we see in chapter 18 and you know a lot of the previous verses of chapters in Isaiah with this destruction yet the children Israel just did not listen this weren't listening Isaiah 20 verse 2 says your attorney Ezekiel chapter 4 at the same time spake the Lord by Isaiah the son of Amos saying go and lose the sackcloth from off thy loins and put off thy shoe from my foot and he did so walking naked and barefoot 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 now again I've already mentioned out you know this is a very significant event to do this for three years this isn't the only time that's something that we might consider wow that's crazy I can't believe that that God would even have someone to do this well you're in Ezekiel chapter 4 we're gonna see another time that God used a man of God to do something way outside of the ordinary to get through to a people and again this is gonna highlight how much I believe that God cares to shake people up and to make an impact and to use preachers to reach through to the people and what I want you to pay attention to is how in both instances the man of God being used by God has to be extremely humble in order to do this the amount of humility it takes to you know to suffer the shame of standing before people naked is incredible right but I think in one sense that can picture the shame that Jesus Christ was one day going to endure for the lost trying to reach people right as he's mocked and ridiculed and beaten and hung up as a curse on the cross and he was stripped of his clothing too naked in front of everyone so we see a little bit of a picture here I believe a foreshadowing a picture of Christ to come a little bit here with with that suffering but this is what the heart of a servant in someone's minister and someone who's gonna put other people above themselves does Isaiah willing to yield himself to the use of the Lord to the point to where hey everybody can mock and you think people weren't making fun of him as he's preaching in the nude I guarantee you probably the vast majority of people were mocking and ridiculing and making fun and talking down on him and wagging their heads and and whatever as he's preaching and they're hearing about it going oh man that guy but what did they do to Jesus same thing and what did Jesus try to do he tried to warn him Oh Jerusalem Jerusalem you know how often you say I would have you know I would have gathered you under my wing but you refused right you don't have anything to do with it and God is sending prophet after prophet preacher after preacher what else can I do okay how about we do this maybe this will get through to the people as the Bible says in Corinthians God's using the foolishness of preaching to confound the wise he's trying to get through to people here using various methods to shake people about look at Ezekiel chapter 4 we're gonna see Ezekiel is also asked to do something that's way out of the ordinary and also lasts a significant amount of time as well I mean three years for Isaiah that's that's a long time day in day out think about this okay our church just celebrated a three-year anniversary yeah I know what's going on here my yeah yeah pastor Burroughs was preaching naked the whole time that this church has been around that's a long time I'm sorry if I put a bad thought but seriously now and let me just mention this to you we're gonna get this a little bit more when I get into the shame of nakedness I don't believe that God was having Isaiah in front of a mixed crowd when he was doing this preaching I don't believe that for a second because that would be sinful I'm gonna cover that in just a minute but that's why I'll put that out there so obviously it's not the same as preaching in church because we have mixed audience here we got men and women and children everything that would never happen God would not have a person do that but when God was sending as they had to do this preaching I guarantee you is in front of men because other he wouldn't he's not gonna command someone to do something sinful God never command somebody to do something that is sinful we'll get in that minute I want I want to just look real quickly at Ezekiel chapter 4 and let's read a little bit here verse number one the Bible reads thou also son of man take thee a tile and lay it before thee and portray upon it the city even Jerusalem and lay siege against it and build a fort against it and cast a mount against it set the camp also against it and set battering rams against it round about moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city and set thy face against it and it shall be besieged and thou shalt lay siege against it this shall be a sign of the house of Israel so basically he's setting up this little model of the city and he's telling them okay do this set up this metal pan here do you know build it like this so people are gonna understand that you know it's gonna be like a steel wall when you're besieged nothing's going in and coming out and he's trying to paint this picture give a visual aid to represent say hey look this is what's going to happen to Jerusalem but you guys need to wake up and understand this is what's happening but this goes on for like if it was just that model you're saying well that's not that big of a deal right visual aids people do that all the time I might bring in a visual aid or bring in a board and write on it and draw a picture or something to help people understand something but let's see what he says here now for the siege he's like he's gonna be acting this out verse 4 lie thou also upon thy left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity for I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity according to the number of the days 390 days so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel he has to lay on his side for over a year it's a lay on his side on the ground for 390 days and he's not allowed to get up and take a break and go to the bathroom and go get a drink and go eat some food he has to lay on the ground on his left side for 390 days and Lewis in verse 6 and when now has accomplished them lie again on thy right side and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah 40 days I have appointed thee each day for a year therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem and thine arm shall be uncovered and thou shalt prophesy against it and behold I will lay bands upon the bands are like chains he's bound right I lay bands upon me and thou shalt not turn the loose thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another till thou has ended the days of thy siege he had to lay on his side he said you can't you can't be turning over now it's easy to read this and go oh well it's you know like and just keep reading but people get bed sores from laying in a soft comfortable bed if they're just in one position for too long he's laying on the ground in front of this model of the city and has to lay on his side and can't turn for over a year and then when he flips over the other side then he's there for over a month 40 days that's a long time I mean the length and the depth of which you know God is using these people to just to get this sign across look and look either things everyone's talking about this there's no way this is going unnoticed and that's I think that's one of the cool things that got you know God wants us to be now both of these specifically God is telling them and instructing them to do this and I want to make this point this isn't because modern day people like to think well God told me to do it because they have a thought because they have a feeling right and I just want to say well God told me to do that hmm I don't know about that I don't want to see any preachers getting up naked saying well God told me to do Isaiah and Ezekiel God told them to do these things there's communication that they were able to receive as prophets that is not the same as you having a feeling about going and doing something now I do believe that the Holy Spirit can guide us and lead us right and and and prompt us maybe especially in like giving the gospel and things and kind of help in that way but it's not the same as God telling you like to lay on your side for 390 days and don't turn over you know like these specific details of doing this this wasn't just hey I've got this idea and it must be from God this is that's different than God telling you to do these things okay the Lord instructed him these things that's what the word of the Lord when these prophets are used that's why you're feeling or something that's not the word of God this is the word of God this is the word of the Lord being coming through these prophets not just I think God's telling me to do this did you see the difference because people today want to want to continue to think that like they're so special God's using them and talking to them and and that the word of the Lord is like they're getting these new prophecies and new revelations given to them and that when they speak this is what God told me and you hear it all the time among many different types of pastors even Baptists say well God told me this and then they're gonna say something and it's like well if that's not found in Scripture God didn't I don't think God told you that because we have the complete word of God here for us today there's we don't believe in another revelation of Jesus Christ we're not Mormons this isn't the new New Testament now we're you know Joseph Smith is getting all this revelation from God we don't believe that and be careful with your language you know I mean it obviously not everyone means that but you kind of say things and it just sounds really spiritual but you know let's let let let all your words be be sure so he's telling them here to land aside and not to go back and forth but then he says here verse number 9 thou take thou also unto the wheat and barley and beans and lentils and millet and pitches and put them in one vessel and make thee bread thereof according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side 390 days shall thou eat thereof so that first stretch 390 days he's saying you need to have that food that you're gonna eat for 390 days they're with you and he did not bring a huge like you know storehouse for his bread because the point of the illustration is that he was gonna survive for 390 days as if he was being besieged showing what it's gonna be like for the children of Israel when the siege comes with his bread okay that he's gonna have here to last him 390 days so he doesn't die he's this isn't some big storehouse he's like oh I've got all my food rationed out for all his time and I'm gonna be just fine it specifically says what he had and then he has to continue to sustain himself and we're gonna read how he's gonna do that how God instructs him he has to do that verse 10 and I meet which thou shalt eat shall be by weight 20 shekels a day from time to time shalt thou eat it so that's that's how much he gets to eat that's his that is his ration that's his portion 20 shekels is not that much food okay but then he says this in verse 11 thou shalt drink also water by measure the sixth part of an hen from time to time shalt thou drink it so he's just able to get a little bit of food and a little bit of water to keep him through over a year being sustained laying on his side verse 12 and thou shalt eat it as barley cakes and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man in their sight so as he's laying on his side he's gonna cook up this food with dung and God instructs him first basically like his own dung that's what you're gonna eat with your food and verse 13 says and Lord said even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles whether I will drive them so the whole point is to show this is coming to you right this is this is what you have to look forward to and it's a warning verse 14 says then said I our Lord God behold my soul has not been polluted for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself or is torn to pieces neither came their abominable flesh into my mouth then he said unto me lo I have given the cows dung for man's dung and thou shalt prepare that thou shall prepare thy bread therewith more resetting me son of man behold I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem and they shall eat bread by weight and with care and they shall drink water by measure and with astonishment that they may want bread and water then be astonished with one another and consume away in their iniquity that's pretty extreme too I don't know which one I'd rather do because one only lasts you know 390 plus 40 days right 430 days about a little less than half the time of the three years that Isaiah spent neither one sounds appealing to me both of them require a lot of humility to go through with that but again you have to you have to understand the reason why people go through these things is because you should love other people and care about them enough to say okay if this has to happen to me I want you to hear and understand and pay attention and wake up and and and and realize what's going on here it's that serious destruction is coming I mean that's why Jesus did what he did he went through the most shame and the most pain and you know everything for you for the lost for sinners and this is the mindset that we want to strive to have now I'm going to switch gears to just preaching on the the nakedness aspect here in Isaiah because that's what most of the chapters is about anyways is Isaiah preaching or at least the most verses that we see here when it says in verse 2 of Isaiah 20 says at the same time it's make the Lord by Isaiah son of Emma saying go and loose the sackcloth from off by loins and put off thy shoe from my foot and he did so walking naked and barefoot so we says loose the sackcloth from off my loins he was already mourning which is why he was in sackcloth you know when people would fast and pray and be in mourning and try to get God's attention they would already humble themselves by being in sackcloth and God seldom here loose the sackcloth from off by loins and you know the area of your loins is gonna be the area that you're covered generally to not be completely naked I don't believe that Isaiah was covered at all and we're gonna see I'm gonna get into different areas of the Bible that talk about you know what God thinks is nakedness and we're gonna see some other passages that when you have certain parts of your body exposed that is considered nakedness but the reason why I think that Isaiah was completely nude is because I mean you think about this think about people in general you might have seen this in movies or whatever where people are taken captive and they'll try to portray people being taken away captive in movies and they'll wear a like a loincloth right and it's like I said here your buttocks is exposed and I get you guys maybe have this image of people like walking through the desert and their bare butts exposed but they have like this loin cloth on that's kind of covering them in the front and you know I'm sure that happened and that's probably realistic or whatever but that's also found in a movie and what the Bible saying here is take off that loincloth right because he has sackcloth on his loins sackcloth that's covering his loins literally they take that off and then also his buttocks is supposed so if you're if you're behind is exposed and you're taking the cloth from off your loins it sounds to me like he's nude right now I don't see how you can I don't see how you can see that another way and then he takes his shoes off his feet too I mean just completely barefoot nude just just this is this is what he's being told to do and as in the Lord said like as my servant Isaiah walk naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia now the concept of someone preaching naked actually you know we saw Ezekiel doing something else that was that was also very extreme there's one other time this happened in Scripture this isn't actually the first time and maybe some of you remember this maybe not but in first Samuel 19 this happened to Saul first Samuel 19 verse 23 the Bible says and he went there to nail in Rhema and the Spirit of God was upon him also and he went on and prophesied until he came to Nyath and Rhema and he stripped off his clothes also and prophesied before Samuel in like manner and laid down naked all that day and all that night wherefore they say as Saul also among the prophets so way early on in Saul's career you could say he ends up preaching prophesying naked but that's only for like a day right but again I think part of what we're gonna see is that the shame and humility but still being there to preach all of that will foreshadow the shame and suffering that the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that's that's to me that's that's why I understand the purpose for that right is to show that the Savior is gonna come for other people and bear that shame now the Bible is very clear though that being naked in front of people is a shame and people ought to be ashamed or ought to be embarrassed about being naked in front of other people and we live in a culture today that's trying to normalize and make nudity not shameful but it is and it's something that God I think instills in us that's something that that should come naturally at least at a certain age and we'll get into that a little bit too but the one time where you don't have to be ashamed when you're naked according to scripture is when it's in front of your spouse when you're with your spouse there is no shame in nakedness in front of each other when it's your spouse the Bible says in Genesis 2 24 therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh and they were both naked the man and his wife and were not ashamed and this is after the fall of man after they ate of the fruit and even knew about nakedness and we're gonna get into that at the very end of the sermon but when they're married then they can be naked from each other and not ashamed right there's nothing wrong with that it's completely normal it's natural just like the Bible says that that the bed is undefiled but Hormag or the filter as God will judge and for some reason the beginning of the verse is escaping me but forgive me my wrongs but this is gonna be the only place you're gonna find where people are not ashamed and being naked in front of anybody right I'm gonna read off some some passages for you that just just briefly and this isn't all of them I'm trying because I'm trying to cram a lot into one sermon tonight Ezekiel 20 32 25 about says and when Moses saw that the people were naked for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies so that's what you know when he came down from the mount and they people sat down to eat and rose up to play in when they made the golden calf that says Aaron made them naked unto their shame so it's a shame for them to be made naked nam 3 5 says behold I am against thee said the Lord of hosts and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face basically saying you I'm gonna lift up your clothing and I will show the nation's thy nakedness in thy kingdoms thy shame shame and nakedness going hand in hand there in that verse revelation 318 says I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich in white raiment thou mayest be clothed and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear and anoint thine eyes with eyes have that thou may see all throughout Scripture okay and these are only a few examples of the shame of nakedness going hand in hand turn if you would to Isaiah 47 because we're gonna see what does God consider to be nakedness like I said before you know these days and especially during this time of year in the summertime people walk around naked and have no shame and it's completely inappropriate and I don't care how hot it is outside but when people are exposing different parts of their body it is considered nakedness whether or not they're 100% completely nude okay they can still be considered naked according to the Bible because they're showing their nakedness by exposing too much of their skin too much of their flesh in front of people and you know what they ought to be ashamed one area it's very clear like we saw with with Isaiah is the buttocks being exposed and and you know these women that want to wear next to nothing because they're going to a pool they're going to a beach and they want to wear a piece of dental floss on their rear end and call that being clothed ought to be ashamed of themselves and it's wicked and wrong and and shameful and just show your being able to go out in public like that shows that these people have no shame you know what tells me they're probably a whore because if you don't have enough sense to know that that going out and exposing your buttocks to people as nakedness then how low have you fallen into thinking that that's acceptable and okay you were probably willing to do all manner of wicked things and think that there's no problem with that either with something so basic as just leaving that uncovered I mean that's that's pretty extreme it really is extreme I mean there's there's laws against that still to this day thank God against that nakedness that people aren't supposed to be doing that but people still do it and it's getting more and more tolerated and accepted anyways the Bible says Isaiah 47 we're gonna see what God considers to be nakedness verse number two take the millstones and grind meal uncover thy locks make bear the leg so obviously they're uncovering the letter making it bear uncover the thigh pass over the river so it's just talking about someone who's who's getting ready to pass the river and pulling up their their clothing so you're making bear the leg and continuing to go up and making your thighs exposed and this is verse three that nakedness shall be uncovered so when you're bringing up past the thighs guess what your nakedness is exposed says thy nakedness shall be uncovered yea thy shame shall be seen again another reference that having your nakedness exposed is a shame and you ought to be ashamed of that it says I will take vengeance I will not meet thee as man turn over to Exodus chapter 28 we'll see another example here of what the Bible is referring to of clothing covering nakedness we want to know what God thinks about what what makes someone naked and what doesn't not what man makes a definition for man's definition is never going to match up with God's wisdom and definition of things I mean it's just the best that man can do isn't even as good as the worst that God can do right and there is no bad with God but it's a you know there's this not even close and so if man's gonna tell you oh no this is nudity or that's new you know like that you know they rate the movies and everything else and let's say oh it's like basically someone has to be completely nude to say there's nudity in a in a in a movie or show or whatever it's like no actually there's a lot of nudity going on on the TV screen and people are not to be looking at that either by the way and in consuming that in your eyes and and voluntarily putting that in front of your face why would you think about this you want to look on other people's shame there's a shame for them to do it I think it's a shame for you to be to be gazing your eyes and staring upon it too don't don't take pleasure in other people's shame Exodus 28 verse 41 we're gonna see the garments that the priests would wear verse number 41 about says and thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother and his sons with him and shalt anoint them and consecrate them and sanctify them that they may minister unto me in the priests office and thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness now breeches sounds awful lot like britches for good reason because that's where the that word would come from we know britches are pants right so these breeches were made for the priests and what was the purpose was to cover their nakedness that was the purpose of making them linen breeches right now how long are these linen breeches well from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach now when it says unto the thighs it doesn't mean it's excluding the thighs it's not like a belt okay that no one is gonna think that wearing a belt is covering your nakedness we know the loin area right so when it's covering your loins even unto your thighs it's basically gonna be like a pair of shorts it's gonna go from about your waist down past the knee because you know what your thighs start where your knee stops this is thigh right the inner portion here it's just you this is your thighs and this is talking about men by the way also we you know it's common that we're talking more about women you know don't don't expose your nakedness don't expose your thighs if you're wearing skirts they need to go down past the knee why pass the knee because that's what the Bible says is naked when it's not past the knee because that's nakedness man it's the same thing don't think because oh I'm a man it's okay and you come in wearing your little 80s style shorts with the with the two stripes on the side right and they're crawling up and you've got this exposure going on all the way down here that's your nakedness okay God made design clothing for the priest not to be naked because it's shame for them to be naked and he doesn't want you being naked either man or woman okay and we're gonna go look the biblical example works for men and women that's your nakedness don't expose it men don't expose it women I don't care how hot it is outside you're going out in public now I mean you want to spend time with your wife or with your husband whatever you know there's no shame in that when you're going outside cover yourself cover your nakedness don't expose your shame show your shame to the whole world verse 43 says and they shall be upon Aaron upon sons when they come in under the tabernacle the congregation or when they come near on the altar of minister in the holy place that they bear not iniquity and die you're in a way the clothing that covers your shame or else you're gonna die when you come into God's house God says you know what in my house these are my rules and you come in improperly clothed you're gonna die isn't that what it say I mean look I know it's my version of it but is it really that far off from the literal words that says on the page you're coming into my house and if you don't wear these britches man put on your britches so you don't bear iniquity and die it shall be a statute forever unto him in his seat after him go backwards of Genesis chapter 3 it's the last point I want to cover I'm almost done here we're gonna we're gonna wrap it up here in Genesis one last point I want to make in regards to to you know the the shame of nakedness just as three verse six about says and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and it was pleasant for to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also under her husband with her and he did eat and the eyes of them both were and they knew that they were naked so prior to this point of eating of the knowledge of the tree of good and evil they didn't know they were naked they didn't they didn't have a concept of being naked that God had made them that way they didn't have any reason for clothing they were in the Garden of Eden and and God knew that they didn't know that being naked was a shame so they had no idea right but then when they take of that fruit they've been enlightened they understand more they understand good and evil now they come to this realization that oh we're naked we need to do something about it so it says here and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons so we need to do and and what part are they covering the loins right as far as they can I don't think that they probably didn't cover down it but who knows who knows all I mean but were they trying to cover they're trying to cover their nakedness around their loins they understood that nakedness that area of the body is nakedness consistent throughout Scripture this is nakedness and one thing I'll say also is that the Bible doesn't say anything about the upper part of the body being nakedness in Scripture for men or women now do I think that it's okay for women to just go around exposing that area just input I don't think so I don't think that's right okay I don't I don't believe us that that is right I think women are supposed to be modest right with shame facedness and sobriety the Bible says so it's not something that you should just be because I'll tell you what if you walk around topless as a woman it's gonna draw a lot of attention to you that's not modesty at all if you're gonna start getting a bunch you know a bunch of men's eyes on you you know walking around you say well I'm not completely topless well well you start exposing that skin in that area you can say well the Bible doesn't consider nakedness okay maybe it doesn't but it's still very immodest and it's still sinful and wicked and wrong now obviously there's times when women need to feed their children and nurse and whatever and there's a there's appropriate way to do that I believe it's not nakedness so that's not not a sin and it's not shameful right to feed your child when your child needs to be fed but again you know let's let's consider all things try to be modest try to do things in that way so that you're you're you're covering all of your bases when it comes to how we ought to live and be now I'm not gonna get off into that that's kind of a separate issue out well there's another point I want to make here in Genesis chapter 3 they sell their fig leaves verse number 8 says and they heard the voice of the Lord God walking the garden in the cool today and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden and the Lord God called unto a Adam excuse me and said unto him where art thou and he said I heard that voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself so he hears God he knows he's naked he knows he should be ashamed of his nakedness because of that knowledge they received and now he's gonna hide himself from God and notice it says that he was afraid because he was naked and in Isaiah 20 verse 5 it says and they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation of Egypt their glory why are they afraid and ashamed because they're gonna be walking with their buttocks uncovered naked and barefoot being led away captive and then in verse 11 he says and he said who told thee that thou was naked hast thou eaten of the tree whereby commanded he that thou shouldest not eat so God of course God knows that the reason they even know they're naked is because now they've come to this knowledge now just real briefly I could go a lot longer on this but we've already gone enough time tonight I just want to make mention of this point and you might disagree with this but this is this is I'm I'm pretty firm on this you know people we believe in what's known as an age of accountability right so the first age that children can get to to where God's gonna hold them responsible for their sins right where people need to get saved so there's definitely at young ages where they don't know good and evil right children are innocent we don't believe in original sin in the sense that you are automatically a sinner deserving hell because of something that Adam did a creation that all of a sudden now just by virtue of being born you're just going to go to hell from the womb because of something that Adam did God doesn't hold you responsible for Adam sin but because of Adam sin we were born with a sinful nature we have this flesh that will drive us and and steer us to sin yet we still make the decisions of what we do and what we don't do now little children babies don't know right from wrong just as soon as they're born or as soon as they're conceived yeah they know right from wrong they know what they should they don't we know this we know from Scripture I'm not gonna go through I've done in the past improved it how the Bible even teaches you know children babies when they die they automatically go to be with the Lord okay because you know like the Bible says I was alive once without the law but I was alive once but when the law came sin revived and I died right so so there's a point where everyone's alive right and that's why babies you know when they when they pass away they didn't know sin because they didn't know right from wrong they didn't know any that they're innocent so they don't you know they're already in the book of life they're you know they're not their names not blotted out they're they're going to heaven but at what age do people become accountable for their sins and this is something that I don't believe anyone can put a specific age on it well it's three it's four it's five it's six it's seven I don't think there's a specific number because people mature and develop and understand differently okay so one God knows when that point is for every single individual and God is a just judge and we could know that whatever it is that God is righteous and true and just and all that he does so he's not going to let some little baby go to hell when it doesn't even know right from wrong but I think one of the keys that I think something that we see when we see all this this this references to nakedness and shame and especially the innocence of Adam and Eve being lost through their eating of the fruit and what's the first thing that we see happen is they understand oh I'm naked I need to cover myself and hide myself with little kids one of the things you know is especially parents you know little kids like to run around naked they don't care who's around they don't care if people are over you have this you always have to some put your clothes on you know you have guests come over you have relatives like what are you doing get your clothes like why you get dressed because they don't care it doesn't matter to them they could go streaking through the church building and whatever right they want to go play in the hose strip off all their clothes and run around when they're at that age I consider that I think that the Bible is giving us an understanding here that they're innocent they don't know any better because everybody grows to a point even when they're if they're not just told that's wrong you know like you're gonna come to a point we're going you know I need to be clothed and I've seen it all my kids were they want to stop being you know nude in front of other people and they're gonna do things properly and not just want other people to see them naked and that could be a different age for everybody and it is a different age okay but to me that's one of the indicators that someone has gotten potentially to a point of being accountable when they start to understand these things and which is also why it's important hey that could happen with that's why when you're about people oh man I was saved when I was five or when I was you know whatever I think that's possible of course I do I mean I'm not gonna doubt someone else's salvation they know that they got saved at that age then amen that's great but that's all the more reason that we need to be aware of that especially with our own children and don't put off giving them the gospel and and put off you know the importance of teaching that to the children because we don't know exactly when that day is but that day comes for everybody and you don't want your children unprepared in some horrible event that some tragedy might befall them and they weren't ready and they were accountable and you didn't preach the gospel to them and share the good news that day comes for everybody right but there there is definitely a day in every single person's life where they've crossed the threshold to where God says okay now you you are you are gonna be responsible from this from this day forward or whatever because you you understand you have understanding now and sin the law came and then you realize sin and your soul your spirit dies you need to be born again so that's why I wanted to point that out since we're covering you know this whole thing with with the shame of nakedness you know it's a shame of sin right and in this understanding when you're enlightened oh that's wrong oh I'm you know I shouldn't be like this well now you need a Savior now you know better now you know right from wrong let's borrow as our board of prayer dear Heavenly Father Lord we thank you so much for your words thank you for the truth it's that's taught in your word I praise you please help us all to when when we want to know about any subject Lord that we can turn to your words and even if something isn't specifically directly about that one thing like we read right in Isaiah 20 with Isaiah prophesying with just just naked and it wasn't in itself its own definition of what we should consider to be naked but when we look through your word dear Lord help us to put all of these truths together in these concepts to be able to form solid understanding of what you consider to be right to be wrong Lord and everything that we would accept what your word says and not just what the culture says or what society says is deemed as acceptable or appropriate but that we would just rely on your word for that and if people look at as funny because we wear more clothing when we go swimming than other people might then so be it Lord we're a peculiar people but we're trying to do our best to please you and to not make you angry and that we wouldn't be ashamed dear Lord we love you in Jesus name we pray amen