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THE PENTATEUCH

GENESIS ---EXODUS--- LEVITICUS 1.1-7.38 --- 8.1-11.47 --- 12.1-16.34--- 17.1-27.34--- NUMBERS 1-10--- 11-19--- 20-36--- DEUTERONOMY 1.1-4.44 --- 4.45-11.32 --- 12.1-29.1--- 29.2-34.12 --- THE BOOK OF JOSHUA --- THE BOOK OF JUDGES --- PSALMS 1-17--- ECCLESIASTES --- ISAIAH 1-5 --- 6-12 --- 13-23 --- 24-27 --- 28-35 --- 36-39 --- 40-48 --- 49-55--- 56-66--- EZEKIEL --- DANIEL 1-7 ---DANIEL 8-12 ---

NAHUM--- HABAKKUK---ZEPHANIAH ---ZECHARIAH --- THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW ---THE GOSPEL OF MARK--- THE GOSPEL OF LUKE --- THE GOSPEL OF JOHN --- THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES --- 1 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-16 --- 2 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-13 -- -GALATIANS --- EPHESIANS --- COLOSSIANS --- 1 THESSALONIANS --- 2 THESSALONIANS --- 1 TIMOTHY --- 2 TIMOTHY --- TITUS --- HEBREWS 1-6 --- 7-10 --- 11-13 --- JAMES --- JOHN'S LETTERS --- REVELATION

--- THE GOSPELS

Chapter 10 The Right Shoes And Shield (Ephesians 6.15-16).

The next thing that we must ensure is that our feet are properly shod. Having the feet shod in good shoewear was a vital part of a soldier’s equipment. It affected all his movements, including his sense of comfort, his ability to travel long distances at speed, and his agility on the battlefield. It put him at peace with himself. And that is true for the Christian. Nothing will put him at greater ease than to know that he has peace with God because he is forgiven and counted as righteous, and peace from God because Christ is dwelling in his heart, two aspects of the same privilege. This is true for all of us. Confidence in this will bring continual comfort to our hearts. Then will we know that there is nothing that comes between us and God, and His peace will fill our souls. Then we will be ready to stand in the battle and be equipped for what we must face. Then will we be able to march forward in comfort and strength. And being at peace with one another we will fight as one whole. And we will be able to tread on the Evil One.

For in view of the context and Romans 16.20, this footwear may well have in mind the bruising of the Serpent’s head in Genesis 3.15. Having peace with God and peace from God, and a message of peace for others, will enable us to bruise Satan under our heel. It is the fact that we are confident that we have peace with God, and because of the cross through which we found that peace, that we will be enabled to tread down the Enemy without fear, because we have indwelling within us the One Who is ‘stronger than he’ (Luke 11.22).

The word for ‘preparation’ used in verse 15 is used of a ship’s tackle and can mean equipment, and can thus be translated ‘boots’. If we take it that way our boots must be ‘the good news of peace with God and peace from God’. If, however, we take the alternative and see it as ‘preparedness’ then we may see it as meaning that the Christian soldier must at all time be ready with the Good News of peace with God with which to combat the enemy and deliver the enslaved. But either way it is saying the same. We must enjoy the blessing of the Gospel of peace, and then we must march forward with it to take it to others.

The importance to Paul of peace from God cannot be over-exaggerated. The idea was always contained in his greetings, and regularly in his final salutations and in his prayers for God’s people. To him God is the God of peace (Romans 15.33; 16.20; 1 Thessalonians 5.23; 2 Thessalonians 3.16), and peace is His children’s birthright. And to him the Good News was therefore the good news of peace, from the One Who has made peace through the blood of His cross (Colossians 1.20). We need to have our controversies with God and with each other settled, before we have to face the enemy.

The next piece of armour is the shield of faith. This Paul describes as ‘above all’. It is through faith that we came to Christ for redemption through His blood (Romans 3.25) and received assurance in our hearts. It is through faith that we have received the Spirit (Galatians 3.5-6, 14) and experienced Christ dwelling in our hearts (Ephesians 3.17). And it is through faith that we must defend ourselves against the attacks of the Enemy by holding up the shield of God’s promises.

But we may ask, how can I get this faith? The answer is that we already have it. It is a matter of using it. Faith is simply believing what God has said and acting on it. When he attacks us every attack can be met by a promise of God, in the same way as Jesus thwarted him during His time of temptation (Luke 4.1-11). We must say, as Jesus did, ‘God has said’. For there Jesus showed us the way in which we must hold up our shield of faith in the promises of God. This was the weapon that Jesus used when tempted by Satan in the wilderness, and there is no better. To each attack He replied with a quotation from Scripture, confounding the Enemy. And we must do the same. Thus every Scripture verse that we take to our hearts is another weapon in our armoury. It will provide us with a ready answer to any attack that he makes in the future

For we can be sure that for every attack of Satan there is a reply in Scripture. It is there that we will find our means of combating his lies. It thus behoves us to study the Scriptures assiduously, and to hold them in our hearts, so as to be able to produce them at the opportune moment. Our faith in the God of the Scriptures will then act as a defensive shield on the basis of His promises. We will hurl back His promises as the missiles rain down upon us, exploding the missiles and rendering them harmless.

For Satan will certainly seek to attack us through ‘the fiery arrows of the Evil One.’ Fiery arrows, like temptation, may seem picturesque in the sky but when they land they only burn and destroy. His arrows never bode any good. In Psalm 120.4 the sharp arrows of the mighty are linked with lying lips and a deceitful tongue, and are characteristic of the enemies of peace, and we can compare how the false Messiah in Revelation 6 had a sneaky bow while the true Messiah in Revelation 19 had a sword, which was the word of God. But these arrows can always be turned away by the shield of faith in the promises of God. When he attacks we must be able to lift up out shield and say, ‘God has said’.