Ephesians 6:16, “In all circumstances take up the shield of
faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;”
The Roman’s shield, called a scutum, was around 2’x4’, with
multiple layers of wood, canvas, and leather with iron reinforcements in the
center and around the edges. This was
large enough to cover a soldier completely with extra overlap space to join
with others and the ability to hook it on to another soldier’s shield. When
soaked in water, it could extinguish burning arrows.
“A shield needed to be large enough to provide reasonable
defense, but it also needed to be usable in direct person-to-person combat or
to withstand the flight of arrows. Usually, shields also needed to be light
enough that carrying them would not immobilize soldiers in action.
Consequently, even when metal became available, shields were frequently still
made of leather strapped over a wooden frame and then studded with metal. Since
operating a bow required two hands, in some situations another person might
protect the archer with a shield. This type of shield could be significantly
larger than the one normally carried by the infantry.”
Our shield is faith.
What is faith? Hebrew 11:1 tells
us, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things
not seen.” (ESV) Faith is believing a
truth and then acting on that belief. Psalm
20:7 says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name
of the Lord our God.” (ESV) God is at
the core of our faith. It is who He is
and what He has promised that forms the base of where we put our trust. We feed our faith through reading God’s Word
to learn who God is, what He has accomplished for us, what He has promised, and
realizing that He is both powerful and loving. The more we know God, the more
our faith grows. The Bible also says God
is our shield. Our faith is not blind
faith, but faith in God.
“God himself is our shield; he is our refuge; he is our hiding place in the day of difficulty; his faithfulness will keep us safe when we are being shot at by arrows, flaming or otherwise.” (Duguid, 2019) Gen 15:1, Prov 30:5,
Psalm 3:3, Psalm 28:7, Psalm 119:114
“It is also asserted that faith is closely related to
understanding. Note, for instance, the words of Hebrews 11:3: ‘By faith we
understand that the world was created by the Word of God, so that what is seen
was made out of things which do not appear.’
“From the foregoing, it seems clear that Scripture takes for
granted that reason and faith are not two separate and unrelated abilities;
rather, they are both inescapably bound up in the structure of the total
person. In the final analysis, neither can safely stand alone. Reason without
faith may deteriorate into a mere gathering of facts—facts that are never
really put together. Faith without reason, on the other hand, can trail off
into vagueness and lack of meaning. (Lyon, 1988)
“If there is no solid foundation to faith, then faith itself
is worse than useless; it is false and misleading.” (Duguid, 2019) (1 Cor.15:14)
We need to know what or who we are trusting in. Faith is built on the God of the universe who
has proven to be trustworthy. It builds
strength on the promises found in His Word.
We are in a covenantal relationship with God based on His love for us.
“To experience faith as a shield, you need to know not only
that God is powerful but that this God is your friend. God’s sovereignty is not in the least
comforting unless you know that this sovereign God is on your side. … Your
belief in God won’t shield you if you don’t believe God is for you.” (Duguid,
2019) It amazes me to think that the
creator of the universe loves me and has a plan for my life. He is fighting for me and empowering me to
win the battle before me.
“Faith is the medium by which the power of God is made
visible. It moves mountains, heals the sick, and is the means of entrance into
the kingdom. It may be mingled with doubt, as with the father who sought
healing for his son (“I believe; help my unbelief!” [Mk 9:24]), or as with John
the Baptist in prison, who, even with his doubts, was confirmed by Jesus as the
greatest of the offspring of woman (Mt 11:2–15).” (Lyon, 1988) God’s power is available to us. We need to trust Him and His promises for the
miraculous to happen. It is not the
amount of faith that matters, but the object of our faith. Luke 17:5-6 tells us, “The apostles said to
the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ And the
Lord said, ‘If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to
this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey
you. ‘“(ESV)
“You don’t need more faith.
You need to know more truth. This
is because faith is the point of access, not the source of power.” (Evans,
2011) Faith grows as we use it. It is not the greatness of our faith that accomplishes
great things, but the greatness of our God.
We all deal with doubts. We have
faith if we act as God directs even though it is requiring us to step out into
fearful territory. “Our action or
inaction is a litmus test that gives us an accurate reading of what we believe
to be true about God.…So we can never detect our level of faith (or the faith
of another, for that matter) by how we feel, only by what we’re willing to do
in obedience to God.” (Shirer, 2018)
Abraham’s faith was revealed when he obeyed God and took Isaac,
the son of the promise, and was willing to sacrifice him in obedience. (Genesis
22:1-14) We can say we have faith in
God, but are we willing to follow His instructions to us? Sometimes the things God directs us to do don’t
make sense to us or takes us out of our comfort zone. Obedience is linked to faith.“… faith is acting
as if God is telling the truth. Another
way of saying it is that faith is acting as if something is so even when it
appears not to be so in order that it might be shown to be so simply because
God said so. Faith is directly tied to
an action done in response to a revealed truth.” (Evans, 2011) When we step out in faith, God is
glorified. People see Him acting on our
behalf and discover His power. Faith and
action tie together. If we truly have
faith in God, we will follow His leading.
“But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have
works.’ Show me your faith apart from
your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well.
Even the demons believe—and shudder!” James 2:18-19 You can believe something
is true without allowing it to change your life. I have heard people say they believe Jesus is
God’s Son, but they are unwilling to submit their lives to Him. Having head knowledge is not the same as
having life changing faith. If we have
true faith, it changes the way we live our lives.
“Faith is acting on the truth whether I feel the truth or
not. It’s acting on the truth whether I like the truth or not. It’s also acting on the truth whether I agree
with the truth or not. Simply put, faith
is a function of the mind that shows up in the feet.” (Evans, 2011) God’s Word reveals truth. It may not be something convenient, popular,
or easy. We may struggle with
understanding the why or want to change direction to be in line with the
culture. Faith submits to doing things
God’s way.
“faith protects us from Satan’s attacks because of what
faith enables us to take hold of, namely, the power and protection of God
himself.”
“The second resemblance between faith and a shield is this:
not only does the shield defend the whole body, but it defends the soldier’s
other armour also.”
Our lives are changed when we become a new creation in Christ. It is what Christ has done in the past that gives us faith for the future. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. “
“Faith reminds us that this war is not all there is. God has promised us a wonderful future in his
presence. We have a glorious inheritance
stored up in Christ in comparison to which our present difficulties will seem
like light and momentary afflictions.” (Duguid, 2019) The best is yet to come! Our focus is not on this world but what God
has promised for eternity.
The figurative use of shields
God is called a shield of his people Ge 15:1 See also 2Sa
22:3; Ps 7:10; 18:2; Pr 2:7
God acts as a shield Ex 14:19-20 See also Isa 52:12; 58:8
God protects his people Isa 31:5 See also Ps 3:3; 12:7;
32:10; 125:2; 140:7; Zec 2:5; 12:8
God is a refuge for his people Ps 144:2 See also Ps 18:30;
119:114; Pr 30:5
God is the help and strength of his people Ps 28:7 See also
Dt 33:29; Ps 33:20; 115:9-11
God gives victory to his people 2Sa 22:36 pp Ps 18:35
God’s favour is compared to a shield Ps 5:12 See also Ps 3:3;
32:10; 84:9-11
God’s faithfulness is compared to a shield Ps 91:4
Faith is given to the believer to act as a shield Eph 6:16
See also 1Pe 1:5 (Manser, 2009)
Works Cited
Corduan. (2016). War in the Ancient Near East. In D.
B. In J. D. Barry (Ed.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA:
Lexham Press.
Duguid, I. M. (2019). The Whole Armor of God.
Wheaton, IL: Crossway.
Evans, T. (2011). Victory in Spiritual Warfare.
Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers.
Gurnall, W. (2021). The Christian in Complete
Armour Volume 3. East Peoria, IL: Versa Press Inc.
Lyon, R. (1988). Faith. In Baker Encyclopedia of
teh Bible (Vol. 1, p. 762). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
Manser, M. (2009). Dictionary of Bible Themes: The
Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies. London: Martin
Manser.
Shirer, P. (2018). The Armor of God.
Nashville: LifeWay Press.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
