This post came about while studying for the He Is post for the book of Ephesians. While this post is not a part of the He Is collection, it was an intermission post that had to be written before continuing on with the journey of He Is.
[10] Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. [11] Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. [12] For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. [13] Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. [14] Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; [15] And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; [16] Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, [17] And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God Ephesians 6:10-17
These verses are some of the most well known in the Bible. They are taught in our churches, broken down into Bible studies, and featured on posters of a Roman solider highlighting each piece of armor. This is because of how powerful these scriptures are and provide an amazing visual as to how we can apply them to our lives. I remember when I was younger standing in my bathroom, looking in the mirror, and laying my hands on each part of my body that correlated with each piece of armor, speaking these scriptures over myself as I did so.
When I started the He Is blog collection and got to the post “Our High Priest”, I found an article by a Messianic Rabbi that showed the armor from a different slant. Being Jewish, he didn’t visualize the armor as that of a Roman solider, but rather as the garments of the High Priest.
[6] And Moshe brought Aharon and his sons, washed them with water [7] put the tunic on him, wrapped the sash around him, clothed him with the robe, put the ritual vest on him, wrapped around him the decorated belt and fastened the vest to him with it. [8] He put the breastplate on him, and into the breastplate he put the urim and tumim. [9] He set the turban on his head, and on the front of the turban he affixed the gold plate, the holy ornament, as Adonai had ordered Moshe. [10] Then Moshe took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it thus consecrating them. Leviticus 8:6-10
Loins girt with truth – The decorated belt that fastened the vest to him.
Breastplate of righteousness – The breastplate of the High Priest contained a pouch in which the sacred name of God, YHVH, was placed, as well as the Urim and Tumim which were the source of revelation, that only worked on the principle of righteousness.
The helmet of salvation – Engraved on the priest’s crown or turban were the words “Holy to YHVH”. The Hebrew word for salvation is Yeshua which in English is Jesus.
I was intrigued by this visualization of the armor of God, but it wasn’t until I was reading the book of Ephesians for the He Is post “Our Glorious Treasure”, which will be written after this one, that I saw the armor in an entirely new light. Most of my reading is no longer with the King James, but the Complete Jewish Study Bible. This doesn’t mean that I no longer read the King James, on the contrary, I cross reference with both versions as I study. What I love about the CJSB is that it is written from the Jewish perspective with Hebrew language, while still in modern English. For example, you will always see Jesus written as Yeshua, John as Yochanan, etc. One of the things that I love with this Bible is its use of footnotes, tying to other scripture, bringing more context. It was in looking at the footnotes tied to the armor scriptures that I discovered another huge revelation that made me start jumping up and down in my spirit.
[10] Finally, grow powerful in union with the Lord, in union with his mighty strength! [11] Use all the armor and weaponry that God provides, so that you will be able to stand against the deceptive tactics of the Adversary. [12] For we are not struggling against human beings, but against the rulers, authorities and cosmic powers governing this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. [13] So take up every piece of war equipment God provides; so that when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist; and when the battle is won, you will be standing. [14] Therefore, stand! Have the blet of truth buckled around your waist, put on righteousness for a breastplate, [15] and wear on your feet the readiness that comes with the Good News of shalom. [16] Always carry the shield of trust, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the Evil One. [17] And take the helmet of deliverance; along with the sword given by the Spirit that is, the Word of God; Ephesians 6:10-17 CJSB
In looking at the footnotes, here is what we find:
Truth buckled around your waist - Justice will be the belt around his waist, faithfulness the sash around his hips. Isaiah 11:5
Put on righteousness for a breastplate – He put on righteousness as his breastplate Isaiah 59:17
Feet the readiness that comes from the Good News of shalom. – How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, proclaiming shalom, bringing good news of good things, announcing salvation, and saying to Tziyon, “Your God is King!” Isaiah 52:7
The helmet of deliverance – salvation as a helmet on his head; he clothed himself with garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in a mantle of zeal. Isaiah 59:17
Wait, are we really seeing the armor of God given in the Messianic prophesies of Isaiah? YES! WE ARE! When we put this into that context, we see this:
Jesus wears the belt of justice around His waist and a sash of faithfulness around His hips. He put on the breastplate of righteousness and salvation as a helmet, and He walks in shalom bringing good news. How beautiful on the mountains are His feet.
The armor is not just promises of God that we clothe ourselves in. Jesus IS the armor of God. When we are covered in His blood, He covers us and protects us. We can do nothing in our own power, but we can do all things through the power of HIS might! Our faith in Him is our shield, but how do we tie that into the Old Testament and the Hebrew?
Throughout the book of Psalms, David referred to God as his shield, take Psalm 28:7 for example: Adonai is my strength and shield; in him my heart trusted, and I have been helped. Therefore, my heart is filled with joy, and I will sing praises to him.
The scripture from Ephesians reads: Always carry the shield of trust, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the Evil One.
We can see how David took up his shield of faith, of trust in the very first line of that verse in Psalms. Adonai is my strength and shield, in Him my heart trusted, and I have been helped.
While the way these scriptures tied together excited me, it drove me to dig further into the word shield. Shield in Hebrew is magen, made up of the letters mem, gimel, and nun.
Mem = water, mighty, massive and has a value of 40
Gimel = a camel, something lifted-up and has a value of 3
Nun = a fish, to sprout, heir to the throne, faithfulness, and has a value of 50
When I pieced this together, this is what I saw shield means. Mighty and lifted-up by the heir to the throne, with faithfulness. A shield is mighty and is lifted-up to protect us, just as Yeshua, the heir to the throne was lifted-up to bring us salvation. It is by faith we are saved.
When we look at the numeric value, shield has a value of 93. As I love words and how they connect together, I am always excited to see what other words have the same value as the one I am studying and as always, my brain explodes and my excitement and passion for Him grows exponentially. The words that equal 93 was no different.
93
God understands
To be white, to shine, to be conspicuous
To enclose or shut up, to hand over or surrender, a shield
To cover, veil, covering, protection, canopy, curtain, bridal couch, bridal chamber
I put the last grouping of words valuing 93in bold because something massive jumped out to me. My husband is my shield and my protector here in the physical. I am thankful that I am married to a man that will always by reflex pull me out of harms way. If he has to slam on the breaks while driving, his right hand and arm flies out creating a barrier between me and the dashboard. If we are hiking and he sees something out of the ordinary, he will pull me behind him. For example, while hiking in Florida we heard loud rustling coming towards us. It was too quick to be an alligator, but we had no idea what it could be. It was a coyote that came bounding out of the palms right towards us. Within seconds, I was behind him as he placed himself between me and the coyote. Thankfully, the coyote was just as surprised to see us as we were it and it took off to get away from us.
It is like this with Yeshua. He is the bridegroom and we are the bride. He is our covering, our protection, and our shield.
Now, let’s talk about the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. His word is our sword! Take a look at that last statement again. His WORD is our (s)word! You can not spell sword without the WORD! In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. John 1:1 We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us! (Philippians 4:13) Because HE is our armor of protection, and He is our shield, He is our sword.
When I looked at these scriptures through this lens, it has done what the Word promises it will do. The more we are in the Word the more we are transformed by the renewing of our mind. (Romans 12:2) I will never see the armor the same again. I am clothed in the precious, saving, powerful blood of the Lamb and it is why I can stand, and when having done all, to really stand in Him.
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