 |  |
B | The HELMET. Salvation.
C | The SWORD. The Word of God.
Let us notice some features that come into prominence by this twofold arrangement.
The breastplate and the helmet (heart and head).--There is no more vital connection
in either law or gospel than that of righteousness and salvation. A salvation that had not
righteousness as its basis would be useless in the conflict with the evil one. This is why
in II Cor. 6: 7 Paul calls the whole armour "the armour of righteousness". The
breastplate and the helmet are brought together in I Thess. 5: 8, where the breastplate is
"faith and love", and the helmet "the hope of salvation".
The shoes and the sword (feet and hands).--Both speak of a message. Once the
gospel of peace, the other word of war. The idea conveyed by the word "preparation"
seems to be that of a firm footing, the word being sometimes used for a "base" in the
70: We must fully understand peace if we would succeed in war. The peace here
appears to refer back to Eph. 4: 3 and 2: 15. Anything that breaks the unity of the
spirit, or that introduces the first element of faction, will trip us up in the conflict, and
well the evil one knows it.
The girdle and the shield (under and over all).--To an Eastern whose garments were
loose and flowing, the girding of the loins was the initial act of preparation for service.
We preserve the figure in our saying "buckle to" when we would urge anyone to
diligence. The wiles of the devil can be met only by absolute sincerity. A secret doubt, a
double heart, anything outside the single eye entertains a traitor within the camp who will
betray us to the enemy. This feature has been brought forward in Eph. 4: 14, 15. The
"wiles (methodeia) of the devil", "whereby they lie in wait to deceive", are met by
"speaking the truth", or as the margin reads, "being sincere". The reference in Isa. 11: 5
speaks of righteousness and faithfulness in connection with the girdle, and we have
observed before that practically every word translated faith and faithful in the O.T. is
derived from the Hebrew amen, which also means truth. We have already alluded to the
LXX translation, and there is no doubt that truth, sincerity and faithfulness are absolutely
essential to the soldier of Christ.
The shield of faith.--Is this our faith or the Lord's faithfulness? The reference to
Psa. 91: not only indicates that our shield and buckler is the Lord's faithfulness, but
describes some of the "fiery darts":--
"Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror by night; nor of the arrow that flieth by day."
Proved armour.
We are exhorted to "put on" the armour of God, to "take" the armour, the shield, the
helmet and the sword. Like the foolish virgins, it will be too late to start looking for
armour in the evil day. How ridiculous young David must have looked with the armour
of Saul upon his youthful limbs. David "assayed to go" for he had not proved them, and