Ephesians 6:16 – the shield of faith

… with all taking up the large shield of faith, by which you will be able to extinguish all the fiery arrows of the wicked one.

The previous three elements were about putting on clothing (6:14), the next elements should be taken like weapons. The first one is the shield. Literally a word is used that is derived from ‘door’. This is because of the rectangular shape and the man-sized dimension. A soldier could hide completely behind it.

Of course, this shield is purely defensive. But very necessary. For what use is a girdle, a cuirass and good sandals in circumstances where perilous, fiery arrows are shot to you? Only “the large shield” gives protection.

The shield in the shape of a door, behind which one is completely safe, is “faith”, i.e. trust in GOD and saying amen to what He says. Hebrews 11: 1 explains that faith is the assumption (hypostasis) of what is expected. In the spiritual war that is ongoing, we have to deal with wicked attacks of “fiery projectiles”. Those are all reasonings or accusations, which can easily eliminate us. Only behind the “shield in the shape of a door, faith” we find a shelter.

Delen: