Sandals

Good morning! God is good all the time, all the time God is good. I will try to share some of the interesting tidbits from the Bible. This first one comes from Deut. 25:5-10, so pleas take time to read it so you will understand the following.

The countries of the Bible are warm and dry much of the year. Although shoes, covering the entire foot, are sometimes depicted in ancient pictures, sandals were the natural and more common foot covering for that climate. The simple act of removing a sandla carried symbolic meaning for ancient people.

Sandals were such personal items that they symbolically represented their owner in some legal transactions. In one type of business transaction, removal of the sandal confirmed an exchange of buying and selling. Such an exchange could even include the acquisition of a wife (Ruth 4:7-10). Yet a different legal transaction involved the breakdown of family and social obligations. A woman had a right to bear children to her deceased husband. If her brother in law refused her that right she could publicly humiliate him, indicating such by rmoving his sandal (Deut.25:7-10)

Sandals were also removed to symbolize the presence of holy ground. Because shoes tread through dust and dirt, they are symbolically dirty to Muslims; thus, they are taken off before entering holy places like mosques. This Muslim custom reflects the attitude that shoes, dirty as they are, should not desecrate holy places.

This same attitude appears in the Old Testament. Both Moses before the burning bush and Joshua before the "Commander of the LORD's army" were instructed to remove their sandals, for they stood on "holy ground."

Thank you for reading. Excerpts from, SO THAT'S WHY BIBLE. Love you all.

In Christ's Love and Grace
Johnny