Word of Encouragement (05/04/2023)

And of Asher he said, "Most blessed of sons be Asher; let him be the favorite of his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil. ²⁵ Your bars shall be iron and bronze, and as your days, so shall your strength be. (Deut. 33:24-25)

Moses goes on to bless Asher with riches and strength: “and let him dip his foot in oil. Your bars shall be iron and bronze, and as your days, so shall your strength be.”

How wonderfully Moses describes the blessing of riches on Asher: “...let him dip his foot in oil”! He will have so much oil that he will wash his feet with oil, the dirtiest and lowliest part of his body! It’s like taking a bath with milk. Prov. 20:21 says, “Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.” Seeing that precious treasure and oil are mentioned side by side, we can guess that oil was very much valued in the Ancient Middle East. So, we see many instances of people having oil poured on their heads. But we rarely have a mention of one dipping one’s foot in oil. How copious must be the amount of oil in Asher’s possession! How abundant his riches must be! Can we say the same about us? While we may not have been blessed in this way in material wealth, we have certainly been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Moses also blesses Asher with strength, both in his protection and in his vigor. First, Moses says, “Your bars shall be iron and bronze....” Iron and bronze are symbols of strength. There is a world of difference between wooden bars and bars of iron and bronze. Of course, strong fortifications by themselves cannot provide true security: no fortification is invincible—think about Jericho. And many nations have fallen from within, not by an outside invasion. But this blessing on Asher is from the LORD, the sovereign Lord of all. It may not even be about literal bars of iron and bronze; they may be simply a metaphor for God’s protection, which is far better than a fortress of bronze and iron.

Then, Moses says, “...as your days, so shall your strength be.” This blessing says that Asher will be strong as long as he lives: strength will not depart from him all the days of his life. Elder Joel Norris gave a short devotion for our session meeting regarding Caleb’s testimony and request to Joshua. In it, Caleb said, “I am still as strong today [at the age of eighty-five] as I was in the day that Moses sent me [when he was forty]; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming” (Josh. 14:11). What a wonderful picture of the blessing Moses pronounced on Asher!

Of course, we don’t experience what Caleb experienced with regard to his physical strength. But Elder Joel insightfully pointed out that Caleb said this as a prelude to his request for the hill country so that he might drive out the Anakim there (Josh. 14:12). God had preserved Caleb’s strength so that he might take leadership in taking possession of the promised land. While this may not be physically true for most, it is spiritually true for all God’s people: God will provide us with everything we need to accomplish whatever God has called us to do—strength and vigor in our younger days, experience and wisdom and other assets in our older days.

Let us give thanks to God for His abundant spiritual blessings. Let us also give thanks for the security we have in the shadow of His mighty wings. Let us also thank God for the strength and ability God gives so that we might do the work of His triumphant and invincible kingdom. And let us go about doing what God has called us to do, trusting in His timely and sufficient provision for all that we need to do His work!

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