Devotional: 10/28/2019 - FAITHFUL SHIELD

“In addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Ephesians 6:16

Towards the end of 2018 I made up this Bible plan where every month I would read and study out a different body armour of God and the aspect that went along with it. I got the inspiration from one of my pastors when he studied out the Holy Spirit for a month. Each day he studied out a different aspect of the Holy Spirit and then prayed in the that aspect. Another thing he did and taught us was the story of the Good Samaritan. One of the things he taught about this parable is the importance of realizing all the different aspects of and characters that are involved. Steve challenged us to each day take the story from a different perspective and view point; so one day you would read the parable from the perspective of the Samaritan, the next in the perspective of Jesus, the next in the perspective of the audience, the next in the perspective of the inn keeper, and so on until you exhausted all perspectives.

-       I thought it was a cool idea, so during 2019 for the first 6 months I challenged myself to do this with the Armour of God at the end of Ephesians 6.

Today is the combination of faith and the the shield (of faith) that Paul talks about in Ephesians 6. This devotional is the sister of the podcast I do called The_VertedIntro which is now available on all the major platforms (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, and more).

Point 1: Scutum (Proverbs 30:5)

“Every word of God is flawless;

he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”

During the time that Paul wrote his letter to the church of Ephesus, there was two types of shield used during war. One of them was a small round one. It was about the size of a trash can lid. This shield left most the soldiers exposed and uncovered. The other one, the one that Paul references here, is bigger. They were called scutum.

-       The scutum was usually two feet wide and four feet long. It was shaped like a door. It was covered in a canvas, then layered in leather. Around the edge of the shield and in the center it was forged in iron.

-       It was capable of covering an entire body when crouched down.

We have a scutum-sized refuge. That refuge is in God. The proverb compares God to a shield and tells us that we are to take refuge in him. God is mighty and bigger than we can ever imagine. There is nothing bigger than him and nothing mightier than him.

-       Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

-       He is big and mighty; he has already won the war.

Every day that we live we participate in the war of life. The war between good and evil. The war that is not between flesh and blood. The war that is in constant motion behind the scenes of our lives. There are no days off.

-       Every day is a different battle and we need to treat it as such.

On the Roman shields (scutum) there was strategically placed hooks in the sides of the shields. They would allow them to be “linked together”. Two-thirds of the scutum could cover one whole soldier and the other third of another.

-       When the shields interlocked there were no gaps in the formation. This was called, “turtle formation”.

We need to use all we can in our battle. We need to use God and the people we are fighting with.

-       Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

Point 2: Plumbatae (Ephesian 6:16)

“In addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

Roman soldiers faced flaming missiles. They were called plumbatae. They were similar to javelins, referred to as darts. This is why the scutum were covered in canvas and leather. They were soaked in water in order to put out the arrows.

The flaming arrows of the enemies of the Roman army were not meant to harm but were meant to distract. The same is with the devil. The devil shoots flaming arrows in our directions to distract us, diverse us, and cause chaos.

The belt, breastplate, and shoes are part of our daily spiritual uniform. This is the stuff we have to wear daily.

-       These are all attributes of Jesus.

The shield, sword, and helmet are all things we need at specific times in order to compete in the spiritual warfare.

Taking up the shield of faith is like writing a check of trust to God. It is proof that we trust him.

-       Faith involves sacrifice.

-       Truth allows us to hand our shield.

#LetsBeAMovement