As you’re reading this article, it’s likely that I’ve already started teaching on God’s Armor as part of our new year sermon series … “You’ll Need More Sonscreen In Twenty Thirteen.” We’re all becoming fully equipped to stamp out SINBURN! However, there are numerous concepts concerning armor presented in God’s Word that should be considered as one heeds the New Testament’s admonition to … “put on the full armor of God” in accordance with Ephesians 6:11.
Generally speaking, biblical references to “armor” in both the Old and New Testaments refer to military equipment designed for the protection of the body/person, and are clearly distinguished from arms or weapons. Heretofore, as offensive weapons developed and improved, combatants quickly learned that defensive counter-measures had to be taken in order to ensure a degree of security while engaged in battle. The types of defensive armaments employed depended on the offensive weapon of the attacker(s), on the weapon(s) that complemented the defensive protection, on the required mobility, and upon the nature of each individual battle (e.g., siege, open field, chariot, etc.)
The apostle Paul meticulously and systematically describes the “panoplía” (the New Testament Greek word for armor) and the various defensive armaments of the Roman soldier in Ephesians 6:14-17 (which we’ve been studying). In this context, the word armor is all inclusive, meaning the inclusion of every individual piece. However, it’s very interesting to note the occurrence of a seemingly purposeful overemphasis in the scriptural text, encouraging the absolute need and effectiveness of every piece, thus the “full (nothing excluded) armor (all inclusive) of God.” The superb English translation, “whole” of the Greek text that is found in the American Standard Version and Revised Standard Version — both predecessors of the NASB/NASV (New American Standard) — is excellent and admirably precise, equally in the sense of a literal translation and the idea or message being conveyed/communicated.
While the armor was intentionally designed as body protection, to shield vital parts of the warrior, it also required a fit that allowed full mobility of a soldier’s arms and legs. You may recall the situation in I Samuel 17:4-8. Goliath was six cubits and a span tall (9’9″), had a bronze helmet, and was clothed with scale-armor which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze (125 pounds). He also had bronze greaves on his legs, a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders, and the shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, with the head weighing in at six hundred shekels (15 lbs).
In addition, his shield-carrier walked in front of him. Not only was he huge, he was fully protected and fully armed … “the whole armor.” When young David (biblically speaking still in his youth — I Samuel 17:33) determined to take on Goliath, King Saul (I Samuel 17:38-40) clothed David with his armor, including his sword and bronze helmet (a whole or complete armament). However, David was totally immobilized by the armor … it didn’t fit and he couldn’t walk! Therefore, David said to Saul:
I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.
Subsequently, David took off the ill-fitting armor and proceeded against Goliath with the weapons he knew … a stick in his hand, five smooth stones (perhaps one for Goliath and each of his four brothers), and his trusted, proven sling.
As true believers, enlisted and called as good soldiers (see II Timothy 2:3-4) in our Lord’s army, how can one stand firm or plan to launch a victorious battle against the enemy, if God’s armor lies in a corner without familiarity, untested, not trusted and unproven?
He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
—David, Psalms 18:34
Can one proceed in the same confidence as David, so familiar with the weapons of our warfare that one would stand upon the irreversible, unalterable conviction that the one and only immutable, omnipotent God is with you? Is there such proficiency in/with God’s armor (not someone else’s, but that which Christ has designed and provided for you)? In other words, are your hands trained and ready for war? Unless one has spent time in God’s whole/full armor, one is obviously and undoubtedly unprepared for the conflicts and giants that lie ahead.
The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright, But ruin to the workers of iniquity.
— Solomon (David’s son), Proverbs 10:29
Unquestionably, we … every faithful follower of Jesus Christ, have a few Goliaths to face and slay! Some are 10′ tall and others, miniature in proportion. Nonetheless, we have a duty and calling — stand firm, having “put on the full armor of God.” Then, as you are trained and learn to be effective in His battle apparatus, mobilize your resources and cast a defeating blow into the forehead of your enemy (the darkness of this age), mercilessly severing its head. Certainly the time has come!
— Pastor Frank