20150708 Wednesday, July 8 2015
Isaiah 20: Prisoners Led Away Naked And Barefoot

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"And they stripped Him ... And they spit upon Him, and took the reed, and smote Him on the head"

There is a saying that "history repeats itself" - an inevitably true principle because human nature has not changed, yet, since the fall of humanity. The Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal became an infamous modern-day example of behavior that, as we will read, was known in ancient times - and recorded in the Holy Bible.

First, what happened at Abu Ghraib? An excerpt from a Wikipedia article of July 7 2015, entitled "Abu Ghraib Torture and Prisoner Abuse Scandal."

"During the war in Iraq that began in March 2003, personnel of the United States Army and the Central Intelligence Agency committed a series of human rights violations against detainees in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. These violations included physical and sexual abuse, torture, rape, sodomy, and murder. The abuses came to light with reports published in late 2003 by Amnesty International and the Associated Press. The incidents received widespread condemnation both within the United States and abroad, although the soldiers received support from some conservative media within the United States.

The administration of George W. Bush attempted to portray the abuses as isolated incidents, not indicative of general U.S. policy. This was contradicted by humanitarian organizations such as the Red Cross, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. After multiple investigations, they stated that the abuses at Abu Ghraib were not isolated but were part of a wider pattern of torture and brutal treatment at American overseas detention centers, including those in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. There was evidence that authorization for the torture had come from high up in the military hierarchy, with allegations being made that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had authorized some of the actions."

Was the manner of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib unique to human history? No. It was typical of how prisoners have been mistreated for thousands of years. That includes the Messiah - Who was stripped, beaten and abused while in military custody in exactly the same way i.e. "And they stripped Him ... And they spit upon Him, and took the reed, and smote Him on the head."

"27:26 Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

27:27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.

27:28 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. 27:29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!

27:30 And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. 27:31 And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him." (Matthew 27:26-31 KJV)

Centuries before, the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Israel and Judah) were both taken away into exile (ironically, to what is today Iraq; see also The Medes And Chaldees Prophecies) under the same sort of treatment.

Israel in 721 BC (see Israel In History and Prophecy: The Lost Ten Tribes and When Will The United Kingdom Be Restored?):

"17:20 And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. 17:21 For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin. 17:22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; 17:23 Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day." (2 Kings 17:20-23 KJV)

Judah in 586 BC (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Kingdom Of Judah and Israel In History and Prophecy: Back To Babylon):

"36:15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: 36:16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy. 36:17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand." (2 Chronicles 36:15-17 KJV)

Isaiah, like other prophets, was sometimes given to provide a real-life prophesies of what was going to happen to those who refused to repent and obey the LORD (see The LORD God Our Saviour). Along with other things, Isaiah was commanded to "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" as a shocking warning of what was going to happen to the nations of the LORD's wrath. The warnings were not just to Israel - they included, as in this incident, the nations around them.

"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; 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.

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; 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. 20:5 And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. 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?" (Isaiah 21:1-6 KJV)

Fact Finder: To whom was the promise of "Israel" made?
See vThe LORD's Seed Covenants With The Two Men Of Iraq