The whole armour of God comprises six pieces. Why six? One would have thought

that such perfection would have been given a sevenfold presentation. The reason seems

to be that warfare belongs to the "evil day", and it is not carried over into "the rest that

remaineth to the people of God". There are six, not seven, references to the "mystery" in

Ephesians. The mystery deals with the present interval of Israel's rejection. Both the

armour and the present dispensation are perfect in themselves, but they imply an

imperfect period. It has been said that the proximity of the Roman soldiers during the

writing of Ephesians suggested the description of the armour to Paul the prisoner. Most

if not all of what Paul has said is found in the prophecy of Isaiah and in the Psalms:--

The LXX translates faithfulness by aletheia, "truth", and reins by pleuras, "the sides"

or loins. Here is the girdle of truth.

Here is the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation.

Here are the feet shod with preparation of the good tidings of peace.

Here is the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

"Truth" in the O.T. often stands for God's faithfulness. Here is the shield of faith.

Satan did not commence operations in Eph. 6:, neither did God wait until Eph. 6:

before providing His people with the panoply of God. Eve must have laid aside the

armour when attacked by the Devil. She tampered with truth; she entertained doubts of

God's faithfulness; she failed to quench the fiery darts of the wicked, and she handled

the sword of the Spirit deceitfully.