“In the year that the commander came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it, at that time the LORD spoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, ‘Go and loosen the sackcloth from your hips and take your shoes off your feet.’ And he did so, going naked and barefoot. And the LORD said, ‘Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years as a sign and token against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. Then they will be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their boast. So the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day, “Behold, such is our hope, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and we, how shall we escape?”‘” (Isa 20:1–6).
No doubt, God’s command to Isaiah to go naked and barefoot for three years as a sign against Egypt is surprising. Even more shocking, however, is the juxtaposition of this harsh oracle against Egypt immediately following God’s glorious promise to save them (Isa 19:18–22) and His unique use of the phrase “my people” (Isa 19:25) to refer to a nation other than Israel.
What’s going on here? One verse from Proverbs continues echoing in my mind: “For whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights” (Prov 3:12). The placement of these passages side by side serves as an important reminder that God’s unmerited grace, poured out through the fulfillment of His unconditional promises, never gives us license to sin. For the Holy One of Israel is committed not only to our redemption, but also to our sanctification. And for this reason, He must, out of His great love, discipline His wayward children.
“It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness” (Heb 12:7–10).
The post Loved Enough to Be Corrected first appeared on ONE FOR ISRAEL Ministry.
The post Loved Enough to Be Corrected appeared first on ONE FOR ISRAEL Ministry.