Beautiful Feet

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

- Isaiah 52:7

Yes, I'm serious. This is a post about feet. The word "feet" (excluding variations) occurs 256 times in the King James Version of the Bible. It is used in all sorts of contexts. Quite often we hear of them being washed. They walk a lot. They wear shoes and bear hair.

"Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:" - Genesis 18:1

Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. - Luke 7:45

And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings. - 1 Kings 14:6

And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians. - 2 Chronicles 16:12

There are the more tender times, as when Jacob pulled his feet onto the bed and died. And there are violent moments when the necks of kings are crushed beneath feet. The land of Israel is defined as everywhere one man's foot touched on some journeys. Lame men are healed. Worshipers fall at the Lord's feet. His feet are pierced.

And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people. - Genesis 49:33

And she lay at his feet until the morning: and she rose up before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be known that a woman came into the floor. - Ruth 3:14

And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me. - 2 Kings 4:27

And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. - Luke 10:39

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: - Revelation 1:17

But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: - Luke 15:22

Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. - Luke 24:39

And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them. - Joshua 10:24

And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. - Exodus 3:5

And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. - Revelation 1:15

Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. - Revelation 3:9

Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words. - Deuteronomy 33:3

For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. - Psalm 22:16

Shoes represent readiness, and feet remind us we are on a journey. We are, as the Israelites on their way to the Promised Land, just passing through. The shoes of the Israelites did not wear out, nor did their feet swell as they wandered 40 years in the wilderness. When the Bible speaks of feet being led, or the way being widened, it is reminding us that God is intimately involved in our safety and direction. The Psalmist said his feet would not stray from the laws of God - to the right or to the left.

And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover. - Exodus 12:11

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; - Ephesians 6:15


Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet; - Deuteronomy 2:28

Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. - Deuteronomy 11:24


He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. - 1 Samuel 2:9

Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. - Psalm 122:2

Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him. - 2 Samuel 3:34

He maketh my feet like hinds' feet: and setteth me upon my high places. - 2 Samuel 22:34


Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip. - 2 Samuel 22:37





Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not. - Nehemiah 9:21



Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. - Psalm 74:3


I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. - Psalm 119:59

Then there are those strange passages. How do feet speak?

He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; - Proverbs 6:13

Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? - Proverbs 6:28


She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: - Proverbs 7:11


Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: - Isaiah 3:16


In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard. - Isaiah 7:20


For thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel; - Ezekiel 25:6


And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. - Matthew 10:14


And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: - Mark 9:45




So the lesson here is: feet are not to be forgotten!

And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. - 1 Corinthians 12:21

To God be all glory.