A wonderful metaphoric language but we swould all do well to follw through. It is all there for us as we proceed. It is a call to hte faithful to contemplate the scriptures and to adhere as well as possible. and why not?
You will be amazed just how many of hte faithful there are. Most of humanity are in fact faithful even when they are in complete denial. The joke is on them. I am very generous in that.
Just how many really pursue evil for very long? I ask that because it is unnatural and those who did often become exemplatory. Not least because the cost of such behavior is way too much.
I may well be optimistic, but i thin that true evil is now fleeing from our lives and all will be called by their better selves to help build heaven on earth.
What does it mean to "Put On The Whole Armor of God"?
“Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with (1) truth, and having on the breastplate of (2) righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the (3) gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of (4) faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of (5) salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the (6) word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” (Eph 6:11-18)
Paul is word playing and contrasting the words “wiles” with “armor”.
In Aramaic, the word for wiles originates from a Hebrew word that refers to a hook or something that is barred (fishhook comes from this word), including any kind of trap. He is trying to snag or trap us and has many strategies, and methods to do so which involve trickery.
In Aramaic, the word Paul uses for armor refers to any kind of military equipment and not just armor (as the sword and shield are not armor). The passage refers to six types of military equipment.
Many people correlate the full armor of God with Roman armor, and this is not the case. The concept of the full armor of God does not originate from Paul seeing Roman soldiers, but he refers to the ancient Hebrew armor as described in the book of Isaiah. The four fixed items that are fixed (belt, breastplate, shoes, helmet) come from the book of Isaiah, and two that are mobile (shield, sword) came from King Solomon's writings.
Each of the four fixed armor items exactly opposes one of the strategies or traps of the devil.
The belt of truth (Isa 11:5) – combats Satan’s strategy of deception and lies
Gen 3 – Satan deceives Eve with a deception (half-truth)
Rev 12:9 – Satan deceives the whole world
John 8:44 – Satan is the father of lies
John 8:32 – The truth shall set you free – there is freedom in knowing the truth. An ancient Hebrew soldier wore a skirt and when they were getting ready for battle, they gathered up the skirt and tucked it in the belt, giving them the freedom to move and fight.
John 18:37-38 – Everyone who is of the truth hears Christ’s voice. Pilot asks, “What is Truth?” Ps 119:142, 151 defines truth as being the word (scriptures). Satan would therefore be teaching against the scriptures. In Matt 24:12 Jesus tells us that in these last days, “lawlessness” (ie, against the scripture) will abound. In 2 Thes 2, Paul refers to the antichrist as “the lawless one” (ie, against the scripture).
To put on the belt of truth, you must study and learn the scriptures and do not let anyone deceive you to believe that the scriptures are not an absolute guide and must be followed. Even the Bereans didn’t believe Paul but searched the scriptures to see if what he was saying was true.
The breastplate of righteousness (Isa 59:17) – God put on righteousness as a breastplate. If you enter into a blood covenant in ancient times, you exchange garments. We put on God’s garments or God’s breastplate. Righteousness is to combat Satan’s strategy of temptation.
1 Cron 21:1 – David is tempted to take a census of Israel
Matt 4:3 – Satan is called the tempter
1 Thes 3:5 – Satan used our pride to tempt us; pride and temptation go hand in hand. The scriptures never have anything good to say about pride. Pride is to be eliminated from our lives as we put on God’s righteousness (we have none of our own).
James 2:18 - A display of righteousness shows the fulfillment of faith
James 2:26 - faith without a display of righteousness (works by obeying God) is dead
Titus 3:5 – We are not saved by righteousness, which is the execution of obeying God’s leading in our lives, but according to His mercy through the washing and renewing through the Holy Spirit.
Rom 2:13 – It is those who obey the scriptures that are declared righteous. Therefore, to be righteous requires you to obey the scriptures and God’s leading
Luke 1:6 – They were righteous because they kept the scriptures and walked in them
To put on the breastplate of righteousness, you must obey the scriptures and always follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Have your feet shod with the good news of Peace (Isa 52:7) – “Peace” is far more reaching than our English word of peace but means to be whole, complete, healthy, to be at peace, and to “finish” something.
Book of Job - Peace with the Lord counters Satan’s strategy of Oppression. Job never turned away from God, not because he had patience, but because he had peace.
Acts 10:38 – Jesus healed those that were oppressed by the devil; the result was to give them peace.
The analogy of Peace to shoes makes sense in a battle. A soldier running into battle can’t be distracted by sharp rocks on his feet as he runs as he must focus on the battle instead. Having God’s Peace internally (it is the Armor of God – not of man), you can focus on the tasks at hand instead of being worried about the circumstances around you. Peace lets you focus on the big picture instead of all the minor distractions.
The shield of faith – The Hebrew word used here for faith has been assigned multiple English meanings including belief, faith, and trust. Of these three English meanings, faith here would mean to trust in the Lord. The shield of faith counteracts the adversary’s strategy of accusation.
Gen 15:1 – God is a shield to those that trust in Him
Prov 30:5 –He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him
Zach 3 – Satan accuses Zachariah of wearing a filthy garment.
Rev 12:10 – We know that Satan accuses us day and night
The shield of faith is a shield of trusting the Lord knowing that the Lord is pure and will always keep His Word. If we continuously and steadfastly follow Him, he will give us a crown of life and we will be His adopted heirs in Heaven. Through trusting in Him, we have no fear of the world nor of what man can do to us.
The helmet of salvation – The helmet protects your head or thoughts
1 Thes 5:8 – It is called the helmet of the hope of salvation
2 Cor 10:5 – Bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ
1 John 2:16 – The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world.
The assurance of your salvation is your helmet which you should equip to counter the adversary’s strategy to distract our thoughts away from following the Lord and redirect them to following the world. Satan will employ this strategy intensely during these last days. The helmet is to protect your thoughts and keep them on the Lord. The focus of all our thoughts must always be to serve and follow Him.
The sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God –
Luke 8:21 – Jesus family are those that hear the Word of God and do it
Luke 11:28 – Blessed are those that hear the Word of God and obey it
Deut 32:46 – Take to your heart the Word of God
Isa 2:3 – The “law” is being paralleled with the “Word of the Lord”
Jer 6:18,19 – “my law” is being paralleled with “my words”
Matt 4 – The adversary temps Jesus and Jesus quotes the scriptures correctly, and then the adversary quotes the scriptures incorrectly back to Jesus.
Gen 3 – Eve is tempted by the adversary, and she quotes it incorrectly. We are given this example as Eve is not able to defend her position correctly against Satan’s questioning since she did not know God’s Word correctly.
When we talk about the Word of God, we are talking about the written scriptures. We are also instructed not to change, delete, or add to it in any way. Many people go out with only a partial Word of God, and hence, part of the sword is missing which makes it rather useless in battle. When we quote the Word of God, in a spiritual warfare context, we must quote it exactly and we are not authorized to change it.
The problem is that there is no such thing as a perfect English translation that tells us exactly what God’s word is. There is always a discrepancy between the original Greek (NT in this case) to English. The best you can hope for is to find a translation that mirrors as closely as possible the original meanings of the scriptures.
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