A Battle Plan (Pt. 6)

3. Three Points Regarding the Christian’s Armour.

            A. Our Armour is God’s Armour: The first thing to note is that we are clothed in God’s armour. This is not an illusion to the text, but it is an illusion to the text. Confused? Paul tells us to put on the “armour of God”. What we must understand is that this metaphorical usage is not just a metaphor that Paul has dreamt up and applied based on seeing Roman soldiers. Rather, it is a borrowed metaphor and as such has actual Biblical substance.  “Borrowed from Whom?” you may ask. Borrowed from none other than God Himself! Most of the references to the individual pieces of armour are taken from Isaiah 59:17, where Yahweh is pictured as going to war:

Now the Lord saw, and it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. And He saw that there was no man, and was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him; And His righteousness upheld Him. And He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense. So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west and His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream, Which the wind of the Lord drives. “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord. (Isaiah 59:15a-20)

We are also told in Isaiah 11:5 that the Branch will exhibit some of these attributes:

Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.¹

As a consequence, we need to understand that Paul is not inventing a new metaphor, rather he is picking up and applying previously used metaphoric language. This is important for our understanding of this passage:

• First, it reinforces a point made earlier about the unity of Scripture and the warfare portrayed therein. It is not a mosaic. It is panoramic.
• Second, we are forced to look to Scripture for understanding and meaning as to what each piece of armour means. Note this point well. Paul only explains two pieces of armour in his list. These are pieces that Paul introduces under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us of the shield and the sword. The former is for the extinguishing of flaming arrows; the latter is identified as the Word of God. Conversely, Paul does not explain or define any of the pieces that are listed directly from Scripture. Interesting? Yes?! Why is this? It is because Paul expects us to know and understand the passages from which he quotes. In using these metaphors, Paul encapsulates wonderful Biblical truths which are pregnant with meaning. Thus, we should not guess or look to the esoteric to understand their significance. We should study God’s word.
• Third, this is Yahweh’s armour. Really! When Paul urges us to be clothed in this armour he is pointing to something tangible. God in the fullness of the Trinity is said to be clothed in this panoply. Should we doubt that which is acceptable to our God? Think here of young David. He ventures into the camp of Israel. He finds them afraid of a giant named Goliath. Under God’s hand he goes to fight the giant. What does the king do? Saul clothes David in his armour (1 Samuel 17:38-40). In this instance, the things offered to David were ill fitting and a hindrance to his ability to fight. Question. Did David go into battle without armour? No, he did not! He may not have had sword or helmet, but he was far from exposed. David possessed something far better —  Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. “This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands (1 Samuel 17:45-47). David did not have armour; he had ARMOUR! Consequently, we should have great confidence. We are not left exposed by the ill fitting garments of an earthly king, which need to be discarded. Rather, we are sheathed in the perfect Armour of the Great King of Heaven. Perfect fit. Perfect in power. Perfect for every occasion.

Footnotes:

1. There is also allusion to Isaiah 52:7.