Shoes

Kaatje

My soul waits for the Lord, and in His Word I hope
I am studying on the topic shoes in the Bible. It started when I read that Moses had to take of his shoes in the Presence of the Lord by the burning bush. And I wondered: Why was that?
Was is because on shoes you are “higher”, or because the shoes are made of leather (an animal had to die for it), or maybe some other motive?
I was intrigued so Now I am working through all the Scripture where shoes (and bare feet) are mentioned.

And then I thought, maybe there are already some answers out there.
So if you don’t think the subject to akward, let me know your input, please.

(Btw, I am not a shoe fetish or anything...)
 

Tall Timbers

Imperfect but forgiven
Kaatje, I "googled" the question and was surprised at the number of opinions out there. I'm no great theologian by any stretch of the imagination, so please just take my thoughts as those of one fella out of billions...

I always figured that the reason was probably similar to the reason for making altars of uncut stone.

And if you make for Me an altar of stones, do not build it of hewn stones; for by wielding your tool upon them you have profaned them.—Exodus 20:22

Just as the shoes would have been fashioned by man, hewn stones would have been fashioned by man. So I figure the man made shoes would be a profanity upon holy ground. There are pastors who've written multi-part long winded sermons on the topic... I just took what seemed obvious to me. Why would the work of man be profane on holy ground? I would imagine that it has something to do with departing from the physical and into the spiritual as the person interacts with God.

I expect there will be other posters with much more indepth thoughts on the topic. I think it is a good question, by the way.
 

Kaatje

My soul waits for the Lord, and in His Word I hope
Kaatje, I "googled" the question and was surprised at the number of opinions out there. I'm no great theologian by any stretch of the imagination, so please just take my thoughts as those of one fella out of billions...

I always figured that the reason was probably similar to the reason for making altars of uncut stone.

And if you make for Me an altar of stones, do not build it of hewn stones; for by wielding your tool upon them you have profaned them.—Exodus 20:22

Just as the shoes would have been fashioned by man, hewn stones would have been fashioned by man. So I figure the man made shoes would be a profanity upon holy ground. There are pastors who've written multi-part long winded sermons on the topic... I just took what seemed obvious to me. Why would the work of man be profane on holy ground? I would imagine that it has something to do with departing from the physical and into the spiritual as the person interacts with God.

I expect there will be other posters with much more indepth thoughts on the topic. I think it is a good question, by the way.
Thanks for the reply, do you have some links too?

Of course it is because it is Holy gound, but the “man-madeness” doesn’t convince me.
Because that would also go for Moses’ clothes, and he did not have to take those off.
Btw, Isaiah did take both his shoes and clothes off. (Isa. 20:2)

I did found texts in which the shoe is used to settle matters of the Levirate marriage.
Texts in the Psalms where God throws His shoe to Edom, Israels’ foe. (Ps. 60:8, 108:9)
And Ezekiel was forbidden to mourn an put his shoes upon his feet. (Ezek. 24:17, 23)
I also found a text without shoes, which seems very significant.
in Rev. 1:24 Jesus Christ is described very explicitly, with feet of brass, but no shoes.

All those texts make me think there is something special with shoes, but I don’t know what.
 

Andy C

Well-Known Member
As usual, Jack has a good answer:

Question: I just wanted to ask, in such places as Joshua 5:15 where one must remove footwear for being on Holy Ground, what is the significance? I guess shoes are a covering …. is there something that relates to only relying upon God as our covering? Why would it evidently have been wrong to remain shod in the Presence of God?

Answer: The practice of removing one’s shoes in the presence of God first appeared in Scripture in Exodus 3:5 with Moses at the Burning Bush.

But it apparently began much earlier. Ancient Rabbis taught that at the fall of man when sin entered into the world, the ground was cursed (made unclean). In Jewish law touching an unclean thing makes a person unclean, so God provided Adam and Eve with foot coverings along with their other clothing as a way to avoid contact with the unclean ground.

The presence of God in a location made that location clean, and by telling Moses to take off his shoes at the burning bush, God was authenticating Himself, saying that it was safe to stand before Him barefoot because He had made the ground holy. Same thing with Joshua when he encountered the Angel of the Lord (Jesus) outside the camp in Joshua 5:15.

So, far from being a commandment to humble man, it was God’s promise to mankind that whenever we’re in His presence, we’re on Holy Ground. The fact that it appears twice in Scripture makes it true, because two is the number of witness (Genesis 41:32& Deut. 19:15).

https://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/barefoot-before-god/
 

Kaatje

My soul waits for the Lord, and in His Word I hope
Ancient Rabbis taught that at the fall of man when sin entered into the world, the ground was cursed (made unclean). In Jewish law touching an unclean thing makes a person unclean, so God provided Adam and Eve with foot coverings along with their other clothing as a way to avoid contact with the unclean ground.

The presence of God in a location made that location clean, and by telling Moses to take off his shoes at the burning bush, God was authenticating Himself, saying that it was safe to stand before Him barefoot because He had made the ground holy. Same thing with Joshua when he encountered the Angel of the Lord (Jesus) outside the camp in Joshua 5:15.

So, far from being a commandment to humble man, it was God’s promise to mankind that whenever we’re in His presence, we’re on Holy Ground. The fact that it appears twice in Scripture makes it true, because two is the number of witness (Genesis 41:32& Deut. 19:15).

YES! That’s it. Thank you so much, Andy C!

It explains also why our Lord Jesus doesn’t wear anything on His feet in Rev. 1:24.

And neither will we, when we arrive in heaven. New, white clothes, and no shoes.
Because there will be no dust, no stinging nettle, nor broken glass, only holiness.
 

mattfivefour

Well-Known Member
There was a shoe deal in RUTH 4 where Boaz became RUTHS kindsman redeamer
You are correct, Billy. The account is found in Ruth 4:1–12. The closest kinsman (who therefore had the first right to redeem the land of Naomi's dead husband Elimelech) refused to do so when he learned that he would have to take on the responsibility of Ruth as a wife in order to produce an heir for her and therefore keep the land in the family of Elimelech. At this point Boaz who was next in line had the opportunity to do so . When he agreed, a shoe (Hebrew na'al - literally a sandal) was exchanged to seal the deal.

In his commentary on the Book of Ruth, Dr. André Lacocque, one of the world's leading experts on ancient Hebrew life and customs explains why a shoe (sandal):
"The word sandal...in question here derives from the Hebrew root (na'al)...which means “locked” (closed with a strap), as in Song of Solomon 4:12."​
Hence it symbolized a sealed deal.
 

Kaatje

My soul waits for the Lord, and in His Word I hope
All About the Feet

Why washing the feet?

Because God told us through Moses, “Take off your sandals for you are on Holy Ground.” (Exodus 3.5)

Because a contractual sign of redeeming a person in the Hebrew Scriptures was taking off one’s sandal and giving it to the other. (Ruth 4.8)

Because Ruth, having been married to a Jewish man, knew this so this is why she slept at Boaz’s feet. She was asking in that act "Will you redeem me?”

Because, if a family didn’t do this act of holy honour and care for a woman, they were called by the elders and community of Israel “the family of the unsandaled” (Deuteronomy 25.10). This was a term of great dishonour, because they had rejected someone of whom they should have taken care. Can a religious congregation be given the title of “the family of the unsandaled” by the LORD? I sadly believe it is sometimes so. Can a nation be given this title, in how it treats God's treasured possession, the Jewish people? If it can, I wouldn't want to live in it.

Because, when the prodigal son returned, the Father put sandals on his feet. (Luke 15.22) This is a Hebraic sign, a Jewish act, of the Father redeeming one who was lost.

Because when Yeshua gave His early Passover (Pesach), He did a strange thing. In the Passover there is only a section to wash our hands (called Rachtzah). But when Yeshua got to this point, He instead washed the disciples feet! This was because He was showing them that He was redeeming the lost, making them His Beloved, making them holy and seeing them as future citizens of Heaven; all that "feet" represent in the Old Testament/Tanakh. That is why Peter/Kefa, as a Jew, said “Do not wash my feet” meaning: “Don’t treat me as heavenly because I’m not.” It is why Peter/Kefa said, “Then wash my hands as well” ie: do what you SHOULD do in this part of the Passover. And it is why Yeshua said “Unless I wash your feet you have no part in Me” i.e.: “Unless I redeem you from your 'lostness', unless I make you holy and unless I see you as a citizen of heaven, you have no part in Me.” No wonder He said to Peter/Kefa, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." (John 13.7)

Because God uses the passage of the sinful woman anointing Yeshua’s feet to prophesy who Jesus/Yeshua was. She could see He was from Heaven, so she washed His feet, just like her Jewish Old Testament ancestors did to the LORD when He visited Abraham (Genesis 18).

The clue, that she was seeing her beloved Messiah, is she used spikenard. The only other place in Scripture where spikenard is used is in the Song of Songs; the poetry Biblical book symbolising Messiah and His beloved. It was an act of passionate love and marital preparation. Far from acting like a prostitute, as a Jew, she was treating Jesus/Yeshua as her Beloved and her Betrothed. This was a Biblically-sound move according to Hebrew Scriptures on her part, which, as a Jewish woman, she would have known. In the Jewish betrothal the man is the one who sets out how he is going to look after his bride-to-be (in a Ketubah). The woman doesn't. It's the incredibly masculine act of protecting and taking care of her. She, the sinful woman, could see who He was and yet endured rejection from others for it. They were so focused on her social label that they missed the entire Heavenly message. But she didn't care. She could see who her groom-to-be was and focused her mind and actions on Him alone. Smart! Smart to spend a year's wages on the spikenard but gain an eternity of protection, provision and love with Her Groom-King.

All this Jewish Hebraic symbolism from the Old Testament adds new meaning to the New Testament phrase: “Feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace". This is what the LORD Jesus/Yeshua means when He says, “Wash one another’s feet.” (John 13.14)

He is saying as a Jew, "I am redeeming you from your 'lostness', I am treating you with honour, you are, through Me, becoming my family, I am treating you as a citizen of heaven, I am treating you as holy". This is because of what "feet" mean, when He shows us through His prophetic and Hebraic mind, through the Holy Spirit.

http://jerusalemofgold.org.uk/hebraic-and-prophetic-teaching/all-about-the-feet.html
 

sherryh

Well-Known Member
a pediatrist told my husband and I that the feet are the temperature regulator and sensitive , if your feet are cold your are cold if hot ect. He also said that our feet were made for dirt, not concrete, pavement or shoes. That's what keeps him in business. Love this conversation
 
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