When I hike in the mountains, over many miles of rough, rocky terrain, I wear either hiking boots or trail runners that are up to the challenge. They are expensive, but they are designed for heavy duty, no mercy use in the backcountry.
In Deuteronomy 33:25, as Moses blesses the children of Israel for the final time before sending them on the way, he blesses them with some unusual words:
“Your sandals shall be iron and bronze; as your days, so shall your strength be.”
What is the message here?
Moses, in the most poetic way, is preparing them for the tough trip that lay ahead of them. It will not be easy, it will not get easy, but their shoes will last; and as hard, uncomfortable, and unyielding as these sandals of “iron and bronze” may be, for the journey ahead, they provide exactly what is needed.
The journey in faith is not easy.
All too often, the messianic life is depicted as easy, pleasant, lacking challenge; but, it’s not, never has been, and never will be. If it’s easy, check your shoes: are they the more comfortable and preferred house slippers? or, “sandals of iron and bronze?”
Still, Moses attached a promise for the hard journey ahead, “as your days, so shall your strength be.”
As exhausting as the day is, the Lord promises to provide His strength in direct proportion to the need of the day. You will have strength to make it to the resting place for that day, you will not run out.
Slippers would be nicer, speaking to the pleasantness of the walk; but we are on the way in faith, through tough country, and need hard shoes for hard ground.
As we look to the apostles, they all traveled this way, and wore the same shoes. Thankfully, we are assured of our final destination, and in that assurance, we recognize that we are not on this journey for ourselves, but for those who are in the most brutal of lands, injured, and without hope, waiting for us to run to them, in iron and bronze shoes, to deliver good news.
Be well. Shalom.
the mountain mensch 