Daily Bread - 06/01/07

1 Thessalonians 5:8 - But we being of the day should be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

The Bible uses a breastplate (coat of mail) as a metaphor for both faith and righteousness (Ephesians 6:14). The metaphor of putting righteousness on as a breastplate was first use by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 59:17). When Isaiah described the armor that God would put on when He came to bring salvation he said, "For he put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation upon his head (Isaiah 59:17a). Paul draws on this same military might that God has given to us to successfully stand against all of the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6:10-18). He tells us to be strong in the strength of the Lord and the power of his might and then turns our attention to the armor that God wears.

God's armor that Paul describes in Ephesians likens faith to a shield instead of a breastplate (Ephesians 6:19). The first time that a shield is mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis 15:1 when God told Abraham, "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield!" Moses also used a similar metaphor to describe God's protections for His people calling God "the shield of your help, and the sword of your Excellency" (Deuteronomy 33:29 b). Those who have faith do not need to put on a protective coat of armor that runs from the neck all the way to the thighs on both the front and back. Faith is far superior for protection than a literal coat of mail. When David went out against Goliath he had nothing in his hand but a sling and a few stones. Goliath on the other hand had weapons as well as all of the protective armor which included a coat of mail that weight 5000 shekels of 60 kg (1 Samuel 17:15). Goliath's breastplate was no doubt magnificent but it was useless against David's faith. Perhaps in recollection of this event David sang in worship to the Lord, "But you, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the lifter of my head; You have given me the shield of your salvation: and your right hand has held me up, and your gentleness has made me great; The Lord is my strength and my shield." David described God as a shield to his people 17 times in the Psalms (Psalms 3:3; 5:12; 18:35; 28:7; 33:20; 35:2; 47:9; 59:11; 76:3; 84:9, 11; 91:4; 115:9, 10, 11; 119:114).

Faith and righteousness both flow out from God to us through the relationship that we have been given in Christ Jesus . God describes His love for us in His word and then further reveals that love to us in a very personal way by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). We must recognize that every word of God is pure and respond to those things that He says concerning the way that He wants us to live. If we will simply believe what God says in His word then we will discover that he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him (Proverbs 30:5). In this love relationship with God we will discover that nothing is impossible for us. As we abide in His love we find ourselves both empowered for greatness and protected against all of the snares of our enemy (1 John 4:16; Galatians 5:6).

Be blessed!

Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
abidingplace.org