In our lives as Christians, the Bible tells us that we will battle against principalities and powers. This passage in Ephesians 6, if you start at verse l0, is a powerful passage. It tells us that we can and must depend on God's strength. It tells us that He has provided us with spiritual armor that we need to "put on" daily. I want to focus today on the shield of faith.
In ancient warfare, it was common for armies to use a storm of arrows to terrify their enemies. The Roman army had a piece of armor that provided a solid defense against this kind of attack. It was the battle shield. This shield was not like the round metal disks that we see in movies. It was a large rectangular defense of metal that covered the entire length of a man's body. Roman soldiers would link up shoulder to shoulder with their shields held in front of them, and move across the battlefield like an armored tank. When the apostle Paul thought about our struggles, he realized that God has given us a weapon like the one the ancient Romans used. God has given us a shield of faith!
When Paul described our shield, he used the word for the Roman battle shield. The word thureos is used, and it means "a door shaped shield"..(the Greek word for door is thura). The thureos was a large rectangular shield about 5 feet high and 3 feet wide. It was also called a castle shield. In other words, it was a portable fortress.
The thureos was very large; therefore, if it had been made of wood or metal, it would have been difficult to carry. To construct a thureos, the Romans began with a wooden framework. Over that framework, they fastened seven layers of tough leather from the skin of a bull or calf, until the shield was about 4 - 5 inches thick, and then they nailed them securely in place. As the soldiers got ready to go into battle, they dipped the shield in a nearby river to saturate it with water, so it would not only stop an arrow, but it would also quench the fire of an arrow that was burning.
Now think for a moment, how this shield was constructed. The skin of a calf or bull was stretched out over a wooden frame. In the Old Testament, the animal required for a sin offering was a bull or a calf. That skin was a symbol of a sacrifice for sin. This sacrifice was stretched out and nailed to a wooden framework. It's purpose was to take upon itself all of the arrows intended for the soldier.
The shield represents what God has provided in Jesus Christ for us.. a perfect sacrifice. This perfect sacrifice was stretched out and nailed to a wooden cross. His purpose was to receive upon Himself all the sin that you and I have ever committed, past, present, and future. God wants us to know that He has given us a SHIELD, and His name is Jesus! He came to take upon Himself every arrow that Satan intended for us.
We need to realize that when an arrow of the enemy strikes, Jesus has come to be our Shield. How do we activate our shield of faith? We trigger it by standing on God's word. As believers, we should seek to do this in every area of our lives. As we learn to stand on the words of God, we will see that when battle comes, we are ready. We are ready to hold our Shield high. We are ready to stand on what we believe and know to be true. We are ready to believe God and the promises that He has given to us as His children.
Beloved, Jesus hung on the cross as your Shield. Because of that, you can claim His promise that "My God will meet ALL your needs, according to his riches in glory, in Christ Jesus" Take your stand in faith. Declare victory! Declare that every arrow is being quenched! Thank the Lord Jesus for hanging on the cross for you. The cross has become a door for you. It has opened the way for eternal life. Thank Him that His death on the cross has formed a shield on your behalf.
Taken from "Restoring Your Shield of Faith"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment