The Armor of God

This week in Come Follow Me we were reading the book of Ephesians.  In chapter 6 is the famous passage about putting on the "whole armor of God". The podcasters I listen to, of course, spent a lot of time on this, and we talked about in my junior Sunday school class as well. As I read it I thought about my discussion last year about what people in ancient Israel associate with different body parts and how that is different from our modern associations.  I went back to look at my earlier posts, and realized that, although I paid attention to the meanings of different body parts all through the Old Testament, I only blogged about knees and feet.  So here is a more complete anatomy and how it relates to the Armor of God mentioned in Ephesians.

Head: We think of the head as the source of thought and intellect.  In Hebrew it symbolizes that as well, but even more often it represent government and self-control.  So when the scriptures say that Jesus is the head of the church, it is suggesting that Jesus is the government or controlling power of the church. This is why rulers were anointed on their heads.  The head is the place from which you rule. In Ephesians Paul tells us to take on the helmet of salvation (6:17).  Remember that in Hebrew the name translated as Jesus, Jeshua, means Jehovah Saves.  The helmet of salvation shows us that our head, our leader, Jesus is the source of salvation.

Chest or Breast: We think of the chest, or heart, as the source of emotion.  We might say, I love you with all my heart.  Not so in Hebrew. In Hebrew, the heart is associated with wisdom and understanding. (see Prov 2:10) Paul tells us to take on the breastplate of righteousness (6:14).  In other words, righteousness should guide our understanding and is the source of true wisdom.  

Loins/bowls: We think of the loins as being the source of lust.  There is some of that in Hebrew, but more broadly it is the seat of all strong emotions. In Colossians, Paul tells them to "put on bowels...of mercy, kindness, humbleness..." John uses the term "bowels of compassion" (1 John 3:17).  Paul tells the Ephesians to have their "loins girt with truth" (v. 14).  The message is that strong emotions should be tempered with truth.  We might say, "don't let your emotions run away with you."

Feet: The reference here in Ephesians, that "your feet shod with the preparations of the gospel of peace." (v. 15) is clearly referencing the passage from Isaiah 52:7 "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace."  He is suggesting it is time to go forth and proclaim peace, so you better get your shoes on.

Shield of Faith: This doesn't really refer to a specific body part, but everyone knows what a shield is for.  It is to protect us from attack. There were basically two kinds of shields that were used in this time in Rome.  There was the smaller round shield called a "parma" used in hand-to-hand combat. It was made to be light and easy to wield to parry the blows of an opponent. There was also the long shields of the infantry called "scutum."  It was used in a group attack.  Each man would hold his shield in front of his neighbor, while he was, in turn, covered by his neighbor's shield. As a result, the army had a kind of group armor that was pretty impenetrable to an attack from arrows. Since Paul talks about the shield of faith quenching the "fiery darts of the wicked" it seems that he is referring to the scutum shield.  It suggests that our faith helps both our neighbors and ourselves resist evil. 

It could be said that the development of the phalanx warfare using the armor and the scutum shields was the reason that Greece and, afterward, Rome was able to conquer the Mediterranean world.  Likewise, over the next three centuries, is was the faith of the Christians that enabled them to resist the persecutions of the Roman empire and eventually supplant it as the dominant force in the region.  In our day, it will be our faith that helps us endure trials and eventually overcome.