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Flaming Arrows


In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish
all the flaming arrows of the evil one. (Ephesians 6:16) 

         The shield is the first piece of the armor of God that is active. The belt, the breastplate and the boots  all get put on, and they do their job. The shield can be shifted around as it is needed. That means that it is more versatile than the other pieces of armor, but it also takes more skill. You have to learn to put a breastplate on, but you have to learn how to anticipate your enemy and keep your shield between his weapons and your body. You can even learn to use your shield to so deflect your enemy's attack that they are more open to counter attack. The other thing about shields is that they are the first line of defense, but not the only defense.  
       Our shield is faith. Faith is taking God at His Word, which  is rather difficult if you don't have His Word. Like a shield, our faith must be active. It is faith in God, but it can be directed with respect to specific circumstances.  This is the first time that Paul has mentioned our enemy's means of attack: flaming arrows. They pierce and burn. Perhaps more importantly, while an arrow can be used at close range, the whole idea of an arrow is to injure from a distance.  Since there's no person and they are comparatively small, it is harder to defend against them. They can come from any direction. 
       In fact, one of the two types of shields used by Roman soldiers in Paul's day was a large rectangle. The soldiers would line up shoulder to shoulder and hold the shields together to form a wall all the way around their group, then the soldiers on the inside would hold their shields over their heads. This ceiling prevent them from being injured by arrows show into the air to rain down on their victims.  It was a tactic named after the turtle or tortoise. This suggests to me that my shield of faith may not only involve my faith, but the faith of those around me. Their shield of faith may depend on mine. This is the first piece of armor with which we can protect someone else.

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Four Chaplains Day
Birthday of...
     Elizabeth Blackwell - first woman to receive a medical degree in America 
   
        "Our school education ignores, in a thousand ways,
the rules of healthy development"
- Elizabeth Blackwell

       

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