Shield of Faith

The shield in a Roman soldier’s attire, made of wood, was about 2 1/2’ wide and 4’ long. It was overlaid with linen and leather and often dipped in water before battle to absorb fiery arrows. Thus it also protected the other pieces of the armor. 

We can know that the shield consists of faith. Once again, the faith mentioned here is not the faith of justification. It is living faith… faith that trusts in the power & promises of God! The idea, then, is that a Christian’s resolute faith in the Lord can stop and extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one aimed at him. Satan shoots “fiery darts” at our hearts and minds: lies, blasphemous thoughts, hateful thoughts about others, doubts, and burning desires for sin. If we do not by faith quench these darts, they will light a fire within and we will disobey God. We never know when Satan will shoot a dart at us, so we must always walk by faith and use the shield of faith.^[1]

I think it’s so amazing to learn that a soldier’s shield had interlocking sides. This is so that soldiers could stand in line with each other and form a long barrier or wall with their shields. This shows us and teaches us that we cannot walk this Christian life alone. We are not in battle alone! In Esther 8, she told us that it was “along with” Mordecai that she saved the Jews. Mordecai couldn’t have saved the Jews without Esther and Esther couldn’t have saved the Jews without Mordecai. We have to have our “along withs” in life. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”  We must remain together, standing strong with our shields before us in battle, so that we can remain strong.

We can also know the other glorious side of this is that the Holy Spirit is with us. We are never alone, because we have Him with us at all times. 2 Timothy 1:13-14 says to “Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who lives in us, that good thing entrusted to you.” So we can know, we are not ever alone in this walk. No matter what fiery arrows satan determines to throw our way, then we can trust that we have our “along withs”: we have the church, and we have the Holy Spirit as our guide.

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Or go directly to the next verse:
17 Take the helmet of salvation,and the sword of the Spirit,which is God’s word.

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^[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 58). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.