Armor of God
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The Bible clearly states that we don't relate to God in a vacuum. Scripture reveals that Earth and all of humanity's been swept into a cosmic spiritual battle spanning eternity and raging across Three Heavens. Satan, a rebellious Archangel and the original sinner, along with a mighty host of fallen angels and demons has tempted and deceived mankind for millennia. From the Old Testament's account of Adam and Eve's expulsion from paradise to Christ's dire waring to the last day Church in His terrible parable of the Ten Virgins, the Devil's success at deceiving even God's anointed is well documented.
For this and other reason the Apostle Paul, the most prolific author of the New Testament and great champion of the faith explains the necessity that all believers everywhere and at all times be clad in the full armor of God:
"A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Ephesians 6:10-17
A not so funny bumper sticker declares, "Lead me not into temptation I can find it myself." Unfortunate as this may be, from start to finish scripture declares we're constantly being shoved about by sin. As God warned Cain, the soon to be first biblically recorded murderer, "Why this tantrum? Why the sulking? If you do well, won't you be accepted? And if you don't do well, sin is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce; it's out to get you, you've got to master it."
Further complicating matters is the third front against which we battle temptation and sin. Within. As the great king, psalmist and prophet David exclaimed:
"Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. For I was born a sinner, yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there. Purify me from my sins,[c] and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me." Psalm 51:1-11
Certainly, the warrior king David knew the value of being clad in physical and spiritual armor. Yet more than once David met the Devil unprepared and suffered disaster. Even this giant killing icon of faith, whom God called "a man after My own heart" fell into adultery with Bathsheba. What few realize is the full extent of his horrifying betrayal. Though he could have married any and as many Israelite virgins he chose, instead he was moved to pick a woman who was far more than just the wife of some unknown soldier. According to 1 Chronicles 11, this same "Uriah the Hittite" was one of David's mighty men and elite personal guard. Furthermore, we are told Bathsheba was the daughter of Eliam, another decorated soldier. Worse, she was also the granddaughter of Ahithophel, perhaps David's wisest counselor, of whom scripture says his advice was like listening to "the oracle of God." The reason David could see Bathsheba bathing from his rooftop was because of the honored positions held by her faithful and loyal husband, father and grandfather! God's punishment for such treason was the death the illegitimate child, rebellion among his legitimate family and the eventual tearing apart of the kingdom of Israel David has spent a lifetime developing. Later, having failed to learn such a costly lesson, his braking of God's commandment not to number the nation of Israel cost the lives of 70,000 of his people.
A high price cautionary tale, it's easy to see that even for a great conqueror and seasoned soldier, the battle against sin from above against spiritual beings, around against society and within requires constant vigilance and the best armor God can provide.
Know the Order?
Both scripture and experience strongly suggest that faith requires a certain amount of guesswork. Hebrews explains that like medical professionals are licensed to "practice medicine" so Christians "by reason of practice learn to discern good from evil." The key is to make the most educated guess possible given the tools at hand. This accounts for one of the many reason we are told study the Bible, our text book, "that you might show yourself approved of God, a workman who needn't be ashamed, rightly interpreting the word of truth."
Such a vital principal has many applications. One is the importance of learning to listen and speak to God. Given the challenges presented by the physical distance and silence of God, clearly prayer is an act of faith. Like all subjective experience, scripture plays a key role in guiding and interpreting our attempts at approaching Omnity and relating with our Creator and Savior.
With this disclaimer in mind, let me share a personal experience I had years ago concerning the subject of the armor of God. Ordained a decade before, I was attending a small Bible study where I was asked at the last minute to teach on the armor of God. Happily agreeing, in route it seemed as is the Spirit asked if I felt adequately prepared to the speak on the topic. Assured I was, I felt challenged to identify all the pieces discussed in Ephesians 6 without cheating by looking them up. Finding I could, a more interesting question presented itself. Could I recount the scriptural order of appearance of each of the five pieces?
For fun and insight, I suggest trying answering both questions before proceeding. For the sake of this experiment I've skipped an inch or two down this page...
How'd you do? If you're like me you were able to name all five pieces of the armor of God but were far from numbering them accurately. This raised a third question. Was their sequence in this passage random or willful? When Omniscience inspires a list of something important should we look for meaning in the arrangement? In this case there were three choices. While the pieces of God's armor are vital, the order of their appearance in scripture is not. If the arrangement's significance it must be in one of two ways. Either the order reflects how first century soldiers dressed or a deeper message had been embedded in the passage.
Determining Paul's full intent requires careful study of the passage. Turning to the chapter I was amazed to find that the progression of the appearance of the armor of God was nothing like I had guessed. In fact is was almost the opposite! What was also immediately apparent was this was not the way ancient soldiers dressed, meaning either there was no significance to the sequence or one billions had overlooked.
Over thirty years of both studying and being studied by the Bible has led me to believe that, like creation itself, the Creator's Handbook is full of much greater substance than immediately meets the eye. In many if not all cases, such as when dealing with typology, the meat of the word of God must be chewed to release it's full flavor and potential. This is one of the guiding principals of Quantum Christianity. As is the fact that a little scriptural archeology and Biblical forensics can provide amazingly helpful insights.
Over thirty years of both studying and being studied by the Bible has led me to believe that, like creation itself, the Creator's Handbook is full of much greater substance than immediately meets the eye. In many if not all cases, such as when dealing with typology, the meat of the word of God must be chewed to release it's full flavor and potential. This is one of the guiding principals of Quantum Christianity. As is the fact that a little scriptural archeology and Biblical forensics can provide amazingly helpful insights.