Ephesians 6:10-20
The Armor of God
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
- Not a physical armor but a spiritual armor—evidence for spiritual warfare between spirits of good vs. evil
- Physical attack à bruises; spiritual attack w/o the Armor of God à Christians won’t be able to stand strong and will fall under attack
- “heavenly realms”: there are 3 heavens—1) sky, 2) sun/moon/stars (celestial being), 3) place where God resides; Satan’s dominion is the sky (Prince of the Sky), and we thus believe here, it is referring to the 1st heaven.
13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
- “day of evil”: end of days or day-in and day-out? End of days: the need to put on an armor suggests war, hence the end of days; day-in and day-out: suggested to have the armor on “in case”, hence able to use it whenever one is experiencing an external attacks of evil; also, there is no definite reference to the end of days, hence the context would suggest it is referring to day-in and day-out (these attacks are NOT temptations; temptations are internal, which is people are held responsible to keep these in check)
14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
- Armor of God: Truth (Proverbs 12); Righteousness; Peace (Philippians 4:4-7; the knowledge that we are saved and are under the protection of God—the relationship with God through Christ); Faith (Luke 17:1-10); Salvation; Spirit (Matthew 4:4—Jesus Christ was in the desert fighting the devil with the Word of God)
- Ideally, all Christians should already have the Armor of God; lacking any one of these things would lead to the fall of the Christian under the attack of the Satan—i.e., Christians must CHOOSE to PUT ON all these articles of the Armor of God to be protected from the evil attacks (e.g. every time we sin, we steer away from Righteousness and thus loose a bit of this article of the Armor; we must be vigilant and continuously check ourselves to ensure that we repair this loss of Armor via repent)
- What does it mean to “wear” these articles of the Armor? To always have it on our mind—as opposed to just knowing that we have it but not actually think about it or to use it
- Armor of God may thus be viewed as having 3 functions: 1) supportive structures (belt & shoes; Truth and Peace supports); 2) defensive (breastplate, shield, and helmet; Righteousness, faith, and salvation protects); 3) offensive (sword; the Word cuts)
- These articles of the Armor of God parallel the armor of Roman soldiers; just as these soldiers depended largely on their shields for protection, Christians depend greatly on their Faith for protection—the shield/Faith is the primary defense against the enemy/Satan. The Romans constructed their shoes with massive support (up to their knees), hence allowing them to walk longer (more support and more comfortable) and providing them with more mobility than their enemies; similarly, Peace provides comfort, mobility, and support. The belt supports the breastplate and the sword, as does Truth supports Righteousness and the Word. The helmet protects the head, just as Salvation protects the mind from the attacks of the devil. When a soldier loses an arm or a leg, he may still be able to survive; without his head, he is dead; without his heart, he is dead. Similarly, when we face the most desperate of times, we can still rely lastly on Salvation for the protection of our mind and Truth for the protection of our heart, protecting the precious body, mind, and soul—the essentials of a human being. The sword is the main attacking article of the armor, and the Roman sword is light and one-handed, which allows its soldier to hold a shield and the sword at the same time; i.e. a Christian fights with all of the Armor of God, able to shield himself from the devil’s attacks AND attack the devil at the same time. Prayer is integral to the sword (e.g. calling upon the Lord).
3 comments:
by Li
Ephesians 6:10-20
Spiritual Warfare (armor - not physical but spiritual):
between spirit of good and spirit of evil
Three heavens:
first heaven (the sky), second heaven (space, sun, moon), third heaven (where God resides)
Satan's dominion is over the sky (power of the sky).
So, should be talking about first heaven.
Have armor on at all times because don't know when you'll be going into war.
Each person might have a few battles and escalates to the end of time.
external attacks (not internal temptations)
end of time = the day of the Lord
the day of evil
Stars = celestial beings
Armor = truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, word of God (spirit)
And Pray / prayer
Armor does not protect you from the loss of things of the world.
Put on armor = wear the salvation, so when people see you, they know you're a Christian. And always have God on your mind.
The truth = The Bible, also in proverb 12 (honesty, no lies)
The truth will set you free. Repair by getting back to truth / honesty.
Repair all things right away (you need to fix the armor right away before next attack!)
Repairing armor for righteousness: Repent, forgive and make it right.
Greaves (shoes) of peace (knowing that you are saved by God)
Faith => Have faith and you will believe.
Luke 17 (praying for faith)
Salvation: Jesus died on the cross for our sins
Word of God: Holy Spirit and The Word (Bible), The Scriptures
Mathew 4:4
The order matters
supportive (belt - holds in the breastplate, sword and almost everything and shoes - mobility, readiness), defensive (shield, helmet, breastplate) , offensive (word of God - helps counterattack, there's a power actually of SPEAKING the word of God, not just thinking)
Supportive: truth, peace
Defensive: faith, righteousness (protects the heart), salvation (protects your mind from Satan). Core armor: breastplate and helmet (body, mind and soul)
Offensive: word of God
The armor spoken of is Roman Armor
Faith is the primary and first line of defense.
Roman sword were light. One-handed. The other hand holds the shield (faith).
So you can use your shield and sword at the same time (ie you don't drop your faith and use your sword...you use them simultaneously).
Prayer is part of your sword (pray for strength, call upon the name of the Lord).
prayer = spear
by Kiel
Ephesians 6:10-20
thoughts observations:
-noted- the idea of needing God, not relying on one's own power, strength, abilities
-noted- the war theme, imagery - armor, struggle, forces
-noted- biblical mention of another reality. Implies a physical world the one we readily know and knowingly interact with, however it also implies another reality, one that is apparently more complex than we typically acknowledge containing a heigherarchy of sorts
-question- what is the day of evil? is Paul referring to general temptations, day to day struggles (i'm inclined to think so)? or does he speak exclusively of end time days.
-question- what does he mean by the sentence "when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." what is the "everything" to which he refers?
The Armor of God:
Belt - truth
Breastplate - righteousness
greaves/sandals/shoes - peace
shield - faith
helmet - salvation
sword - the Spirit = the word of God
- question - Why these attributes to these specific pieces of gear? why not the "helmet of faith" and the "shield of salvation"?
-question- It is a vivid, image filled passage. A major question would be, what is the purpose of this imagery? is it literal? How exactly do we use this equipment day to day?
Paul has established that we do not war against flesh and blood in the physical realm, but in the spiritual and because of this we should ready our spiritual defenses and ability to retaliate in the spiritual/heavenly realm. To this end we use what is called the armor of God.
I've heard and read this pasage many times in the past and honestly havent previously given too much thought to what each piece means, here are some of my thoughts after current analysis:
One may divide up the equipment into 3 categories: support (foundational), defense, offense
Support
In the physical sense, support equipment or foundational equipment would include the belt and greaves (shoes). Both of these provide security in the sense of togetherness, your belt not just holds up your lower clothes but is also where you would hold your sword (shealth), and perhaps other tools. When I think of shoes I think durability and protection for feet, relatively easy to disregard, but undeniably important; mobility to key to winning any battle. In short, support equipment sets you up and enhances your ability to fight.
In spiritual warfare, the belt is likened to truth. Here I suppose for truth it would be to not just merely "tell the truth" but to be faithful, be true to the higher standard God has called us to.
by Kiel (continued)
Greaves are likened to peace. Do they mean peace as in be physically calm? Not quite. If we think of only the human physical calmness of peace I think we miss the major point. instead, I am reminded of God's peace, see Philipians 4 (4-7) which says:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
It is most noteworthy that the peace of God as described in Philipians is based on relationship with God through Christ.
how is this spiritual peace tied to physical mobility say in warfare? What if the greaves were greaves of shaking nervousness, anxiety, fear? What kind of battle would a soldier wearing such equipment be able to fight? Indeed the greaves of peace would be a proper foundation from which a soldier wearing them would be most able to protect them self and counterattack.
Defense
Breastplate - righteousness
shield - faith
helmet - salvation
Offense
Sword - spirit-the Word of God
So what are the devil's schemes that we must stand or fight against? At the very least I would say they would include but not be limited to individual temptations. Large overwhelming circumstances, anything really that disrupts, sets back your fellowship with God, and the purposes God has for you in furthering His kingdom on earth (i.e. being a witness to others, encouraging others)
Taken together we see a soldier which places their faith and hopes in God through christ, we can quite literally surrender our anxieties, fears, worries to God trusting Him to make a way out of no way (this is particularly useful in the case of trials and overwhelming circumstances). Such a soldier uses the shield of faith to continue pressing towards their ultimate goals (closer relationship with God, and helping to develop others as they pursue the same end) , despite the attempts of the enemy to set them back in these goals. The soldier BELIEVES not only in what they are doing, but that they have the help through Christ they need to achieve victory. This shield of faith is supplemented with other elements of defense, the breastplate or righteousness and helmet of salvation. Together we are protected from lethal damage the enemy may cause, by trusting (faith) in God ultimately for salvation in the end, and continuing to live according to his will (righteousness). We may also go on the offensive, speaking God's word, claiming victory in circumstances by remembering (and I believe also physically speaking aloud) God's promises to us, this is our spiritual weapon, and a very potent one at that, since God's word never returns to Him void. Note that Christ used God's word to drive away satan when he was tempted in the desert.
Other comments
Now that I have taken time to read through it and study it a bit, I am struck by how much depth there is even by deconstructing the nature of the imagery Paul uses. Typically people place emphasis on the shield and sword, but there is such an unexpected importance in the greaves and belt.
I am reminded of the passage which speaks of those who are "ever hearing but never percieving" I think its originally found in Isaiah but also in matthew and refers to those who hear God's word but essentially take it for face value, they do not understand its true meaning nor do they want to.
I don't think this passage initially applies to christians but its message should serve as a warning, not to be counted among those who are ever hearing sermons and seeing scripture writing but never receiving the benefit of their comfort, wisdom and guidance due to not spending time to understand them.
Post a Comment