Do You Wear Badgers' Shoes?

Read This:

Exodus 26:14: “And thou shalt make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins died red, and a covering of badgers’ skins”

Ezekiel 16:10a: “I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin…”

Deuteronomy 29:5: “And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.”

Think About This: Upon the Exodus from Egypt, the Tabernacle became the center of all worship for the children of Israel. In essence, anything that had to do with God (i.e. worship, sacrifice, forgiveness of sins, etc.) was directly related to the Tabernacle. God Himself orchestrated all this, all the way down to the smallest detail. In the selected passage above, we find one of those minute details was what the outermost covering of the Tabernacle was to be: badgers’ skins. These skins were not at all beautiful. As a matter of fact, they were rather dull and gray, as they were to weather all the elements of the desert. The word “badger” in the original language is not what we think of in our 21st century English. Rather, the word was not even Hebrew, but was derived from some foreign language, leaving the exact type of animal that this skin belonged to open to interpretation. Without getting to deeply into the etymology of the word, many scholars believed this animal was actually a seal, as these were in abundance on the Sinai Peninsula. Regardless of the exact animal, we know that these “badgers’ skins” had two distinct purposes for the children of Israel. God commanded Israel to use the skins as the outermost covering of the Tabernacle, and Ezekiel 16:10, sheds light on the fact that this resilient leather was also used to make shoes. So then how can this help us today in our 21st century Christianity?

In order to do this, you have to think like someone on a journey into an unknown future (kind of sounds like life, huh?). Remember that the children of Israel used these badgers’ (seals’) skins to make shoes out of the leather? Now these seals were in abundance while the children of Israel were in Egypt. But as they travelled further inland through the blistering desert, these skins became unobtainable. It thus becomes evident that the children of Israel had stocked up on these badgers’ skins, and rightfully so. They had some serious walking ahead of them! But as they begin to construct this tabernacle, in essence, what their relationship with God relied upon, God commanded them to use these precious skins for a covering of the tabernacle. Now again, as an outsider looking in, this seems like a foolish command. They are travelling through rough, rocky desert. The elements of this world will no doubt wear their shoes out. When they do, they will no longer have any skins to make more leather shoes, and thus become stranded in the wilderness. But God seemed to have a solution. Deuteronomy 29:5 says that they had 40-year-old shoes that were still brand new! If they stepped (literally) out by faith, He was going to see to it that the elements of this world had no effect on their shoes! In essence, if they were to follow the path of God’s ordaining, then every step of the way He would protect them against this world! They didn’t have Nike Air Jordan’s or Zoom Kobe V’s, Adidas, or even Reeboks. Rather, they gave up what this world said they would have needed most to make their journey, and God provided! Let me ask you, Christian, are you letting God provide? Or are you trusting in your own ability and fulfilling the requirements of this world to determine the path you will travel? If you want to reach the promised land of victorious Christian living, you have to be willing to give up whatever it is that God wants in your life. Why not decide today to wear some faith-based, badgers’ skins shoes through this journey we call life?