The Whole Armor of God
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
-Ephesians 6:10-20, NKJV
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Previously we discussed the absolute foundational purpose of the belt and the significance of it being identified with truth. I mentioned in that post how even the ballistic armor I had worn on deployments could be mounted onto the belt so that even the weight of the vest and plates could be carried on that truth.
In modern warfare, the service members that wear body armor wear an excessive amount of it. They are protected against all sorts of small arms and shrapnel, which is good, because that ridiculous amount of weight and bulk makes them extremely easy targets. Unfortunately, the decision-makers who weighed them down with most of that ridiculousness also put them into huge armored vehicles and the majority of the casualties end up being seriously injured anyway, because a bomb big enough to take out one of those vehicles doesn’t get deflected by the puny individual armor.
Still, the majority of the protection in modern body armor is in the same spot as the historical breastplate. It is built to carry the plates on your front and back. When engaged in combat, more advanced troops are taught to face directly at their enemy. This not only allows them to more accurately engage them with their weapons, but it faces the most robust aspect of the armor at the location where the harm is mostly likely going to come from. The intention of the plate on the back is to protect you from that which you cannot see and therefore cannot react to. Modern armor also includes a bunch of shrapnel guards and side plates, but they serve mostly the purpose of making you an easier target.
In essence, the breastplate allowed the combatant to boldly face their opponent in the field of battle. Most of the critical organs are located behind the breastplate and in combat, the torso is also the least mobile of your body. So protecting it allows a combatant to more boldly face an enemy and accurately engage that enemy.
What does scripture identify as the protection that allows us to be bold?
Righteousness.
Being founded on the truth, we are called to align ourselves with God and live our lives in accordance with his will. Our willingness to do this based on the truth of the gospel, equips us to boldly stare down the spiritual opponents we are guaranteed to face. Facing the enemy allows us to better interpret our surroundings and the threat. This means that we can move to receive or deflect attacks and better assess the vulnerabilities that are exposed to us.
A meek or frightened combatant will not be able to determine the type of threat or deflect blows they cannot even see coming. In modern combat, troops are taught to call out distance, direction and a brief description of the enemy to their fellow combatants. This allows everyone to have an idea of the threat they are dealing with and determine the best course of action to take. A cowardly troop won’t be able to see that if they are unwilling to boldly take a risk and look.
Our righteousness allows us the boldness and courage do look, and we cannot be righteous without God and our firm foundation on the truth.
Reminders of how we are to engage with the outside world are valuable, and this desk or table decoration might be just what you need to remind you how to approach conflict.
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