And of Asher he said, Asher shall be blessed with sons; Let him be acceptable to his brethren, And let him dip his foot in oil.
Moses' final words over the tribes end with Asher, and the blessing asks for three things: a family, the goodwill of his brothers, and a foot dipped in oil. Commentators read it two ways: as a picture of Israel's future gladness, and as a picture of how any believer walks.
Asher comes last in the list of tribes, and the meaning of his name sets the tone.
Asher, meaning "happy," is a fitting close to this interesting list. "Most blessed of sons be Asher; let him be the favorite of his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil" (v. 24). Again, all Israel is represented in the lasting joy that Asher speaks of. "They shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (Isa. 35:10). Dipping his foot in oil speaks of the Holy Spirit (the oil) shaping his walk from this time onward.
One writer sets this happiness against the hard road Israel had travelled:
The wilderness is not all desert; there are oases, sweet springs like Elim as well as bitter waters like Marah: "out of Asher his bread shall be fat." "Happiness" comes now, and fruitfulness. "Let him be acceptable to his brothers": they no longer look at him sideways and with suspicion.
These words first meant something plain for a tribe settling in the land. One writer says they hold even more for us:
The promise occurs in the blessing of Asher, so it holds for him — that is, for the tribe — what it could not hold for us. But, like the endless fullness of the word of God, it holds for us what it could not give to Asher. It runs, "Let Asher be blessed with children" — that is, have a fruitful family. "Let him be acceptable to his brothers" — be in their favour or esteem. "And let him dip his foot in oil" — a wish, no doubt, for his wealth from the olive crop. The truth for Christians lies exactly in this connection, between the last clause of verse 24 and verse 25.
Commentators differ over who the "brothers" are. One reading widens the circle far beyond the other eleven tribes:
Asher completes the blessing of Israel. It declares Israel's supremacy over everyone else. Yet no one envies them; their brothers — the nations of the earth — accept them. Their feet are dipped in the flowing oil, which speaks of the richness of the generous land.
Oil stands for the Holy Spirit, and the foot is what touches the ground. So the picture is about the way a person walks.
Let the believer walk (dip his foot) in the power of the Holy Spirit. Then it can be said to him, "Your shoes shall be iron and bronze; and as your days, so shall your strength be." Understood this way, the promise is beautiful. It shows that the only power for the walk is the Holy Spirit. His strength will never fail, however much our natural powers decline. As your days — long or short — so shall your strength be, if you only dip your foot in oil.
One writer applies the same picture to a woman named Anna:
Deuteronomy 33 says of Asher, "let him dip his foot in oil". A foot dipped in oil leaves an impression as it walks. That is what Anna did. She "spoke of Him", and left an impression of Christ wherever she went.
Israel's history after Moses ended in ruin, yet the blessing still held. One old woman of Asher's tribe was living in its power when Christ came.
The blessing of Asher in Deuteronomy 33:24-25 ends with these lovely words: "as your days, so shall your strength be." And everything went to ruin, as the history of Israel unfolds. Yet at the first coming of Christ, the godly faithful few among the people were "waiting for the consolation of Israel." Among them we find one of that same tribe: "Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher... a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day." She was living in the enjoyment and power of that blessing of Moses: "so shall your strength be."
- Happy — Asher's name means "happy." His blessing closes the twelve tribes on the note of lasting joy that all Israel will know.
- Favoured — the asked-for goodwill of his brothers ends the suspicious sideways look. Commentators differ on who these brothers are: the other tribes, or the nations of the earth.
- Oiled — the foot dipped in oil pictures a walk carried by the Holy Spirit. It also pointed to the wealth of the olive country Asher received.
- Marked — a foot wet with oil leaves a print, so this walk leaves an impression of Christ behind it, as Anna's did.
- Sustained — the only power for the walk is the Holy Spirit. His strength never fails, even as natural strength declines. Anna proved it at eighty-four, long after the nation had gone to ruin.
Iron and brass shall be thy bolts; And thy rest as thy days.
Moses blesses each tribe in turn, and Asher's blessing ends with one of the best-loved lines in the Old Testament. Older translations read "shoes" where the ESV reads "bars." Two questions follow: what is the iron and bronze for, and who gets the strength?
The promise does not begin at verse 25. It grows out of the line just before it, where Asher dips his foot in oil.
People probably quote this scripture more often than any other. They use it most of all to comfort the weak and the old. But they often ask whether it applies to believers in this present age. Its place and context give the answer... The truth for Christians lies exactly here, in the link between the last clause of verse 24 and verse 25. Oil is a well-known picture of the Holy Spirit. Read it that way, and all is plain. Let the believer walk (dip his foot) in the power of the Holy Spirit. Then this word applies to him: "Your shoes shall be iron and bronze; and as your days, so shall your strength be."
The two metals are not decoration. Each one says something about the walk.
"Shoes iron" — whatever belongs to his walk shall be in strength; "and bronze," able to bear judgment.
The promise ties strength to days, not to reserves. That rules out the habit of bracing ourselves in advance for trouble we can see coming.
People try to fortify themselves when they see trouble coming. They study the supposed trouble, they measure it, and they try to get ready. You can never do it! ... He gives fresh strength for the need when it arises, according to His riches in glory. He never gives you anything in store. He gives everything as you want it.
Because the strength is His and not ours, weakness stops being a disqualification.
So we do not have to measure our strength for the evil day, for it is not our strength. He has guaranteed that "as your days, so shall your strength be." This is the promise to Asher — the happy one. The man who realises it is happy indeed. As the apostle says, what we really need to know about ourselves is weakness, for "when I am weak, then I am strong."
Notice what the verse does not offer. It never promises easier days to match small strength.
We would often prefer this promise reversed: as your strength is little, so shall your days be easy. We want the difficulties smoothed out and fitted to our weakness... God does not usually soften the wind for the shorn lamb, putting the whole world out of gear to suit it. He does something much simpler, more natural and wiser: He strengthens the lamb to bear it... If the road is too rough, we may stumble; it might be too smooth, and then we may slip: people stumble forwards; they slip backwards.
The familiar reading is not the only one. Some translate the opening word as "bolts" or "bars" rather than "shoes," and the closing word as "rest" rather than "strength." On that reading, the promise looks at old age.
This verse should read, "Iron and bronze shall be your bolts (or, bars); and your rest (or, old age) as your days." That means something very different from a supply of resources matching the need of each day, which is how people so often apply it.
Some also read the whole chapter as looking ahead to Israel's future, not to present trial. One writer records a child's remark and agrees with it:
He was clearly referring to Deuteronomy 33:25; and I thought his comment was very just. People usually apply the promise to Asher to present spiritual strength under trial. But that is a mistake. Like the whole chapter, it plainly looks ahead to millennial days, as our dear child understood it.
Whatever its final scope, the promise still worked long after Israel's order had collapsed. It held up a widow of Asher's tribe when Christ first came.
The blessing of Asher ends with those lovely words — "As your days, so shall your strength be"... and all went to ruin, as Israel's history unfolds. Yet at the first coming of Christ, when the godly remnant of His people were "waiting for the consolation of Israel," we find one of that same tribe. She was "Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher," a widow of about eighty-four years, "who did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day." She was living in the enjoyment and power of that blessing of Moses.
- Oil first. The promise hangs on the clause before it: a foot dipped in oil, a walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Then shoes. Iron speaks of strength for the walk; bronze of a foot that can bear judgment underneath it.
- Then days. God gives strength as each day comes, never in advance — so weakness is no obstacle.
- Not the road. God does not smooth the wilderness to fit our weakness; He strengthens the walker to cross it.
- To the end. Asher's blessing still held up an eighty-four-year-old widow of that tribe long after the nation's order had failed.