Our Defending Faith!
"Above all, taking the shield of faith with
which you will be able to quench all
the
fiery darts of the wicked
one."
Ephesians 6: 16
The more movies that depict battle scenes between ancient
armies,
the more we see defensive tactics whereby hundreds of shields are
overlapped together to prevent the incursion of arrows.
It’s an impressive site and illustrates the value of a shield.
(See 1 Kings 22:34-36 where the lack of a shield resulted
in death.)
No wonder Paul used a Roman shield to illustrate the power of faith
to
defend us against the “fiery darts of the wicked one” (Ephesians
6:16).
Why “fiery” darts? Because often arrow points would be dipped in
pitch
and set alight before shooting to set fire to whatever they
struck. Roman
soldiers would soak their leather shields in water to extinguish the
fiery
missiles when they landed.
And why “faith”? How does faith extinguish Satan’s hellish
attacks?
Because Satan’s attacks are against the character of God—His
words
and works. When we have faith in God and His promises, as Jesus did
when tempted by Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11), we
can
extinguish Satan’s attacks.
How is your faith today? The stronger it is,
the quicker Satan’s fiery attacks are extinguished.
"Faith is the gaze of a
soul upon a saving God."
A. W. Tozer
