Heritage

A break from my armor blogs. Family heritage can be a good or bad thing depending on what is in your "family tree". One of my aunts, on my dad's side has been gathering family info for our tree. She sent us a letter with current family info to make sure it was correct before adding it to her documents. Some of the extra info she sent involves my grandpa's (Minor Langford) mom, my great grandmother. Her maiden name was Sara Ella O'Bannon. Following the family trail back four generations her great-great grandfather was Brian O'Bannon. This is where it gets pretty cool. He was born c. 1740 at Fauquier County, Virginia. During the American Revolution he lived in the Saliabury District (Surry County), North Carolina. As a resident of this district he was part of the North Carolina effort in the war, as a soldier. By the info sent by my aunt his "serial#" was A085505, and was on paid military duty. Later in life he moved to the Salistoney District (Washington County) Georgia where he died in 1805

Wearing the "Right" thing.

The next piece of armor that the Roman legionnaire wore as listed in Eph. chapter 6 is a breastplate or "Lorica Segmentata". Verse 14b tells us to wear "...righteousness like armor on your chest".

Breastplate armor and the helmet, other than offensive weapons, were the most important parts of a soldiers array. The breastplate covered the torso protecting the vital organs. Lorica Segmentata is actually a medieval term used to describe the armor that in Latin is "lamina" (metal) and "lames" (segments}. As shown in the picture this armor covered the torso and shoulders of the soldier. It was constructed of metal strips tied together and attached to a leather vest, coming into use during 1st century. Some legionaries wore a early type of chain mail under the breastplate. This armor was designed not only to protect the torso from weapons, but to allow freedom of movement. While a Roman soldier could be wounded on his extremities, survive and possible even keep on fighting, a wound to the torso would be fatal in most cases.

Righteousness is defined by Webster as "acting in accord with divine or moral law : free from guilt or sin". By Christ's blood we have been deemed righteous, and living a righteous life allows us not only to be "free from guilt", it helps keep us from sin. We are told "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; by His wounding you have been healed." I Peter 2:24. While we cannot, due to our fallen nature, remain sinless living a righteous life through Christ we have the protection of God's armor. Like armor righteousness deflects the weapons of Satan temptation, guilt and accusations. The breastplate protects our spiritual "torso" as we fight, deflecting spiritual weapons just as it protected the Roman from real weapons. With proper "maintenance"(bible study and prayer) righteousness as armor will help shield us from sin.

Isaiah 59:16-18 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
16 He saw that there was no man—
He was amazed that there was no one interceding; (A)
so His own arm brought salvation,
and His own righteousness supported Him.

17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on His head; (B)
He put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and He wrapped Himself in zeal as in a cloak. (C)

18 Thus He will repay according to [their] deeds: (D)
fury to His enemies,
retribution to His foes,
and He will repay the coastlands.

Photo from http://www.legionxxiv.org/loricapage/

Holding it Together

Verse 14a, chapter 6 in Eph. states "Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist". The legionnaire wore a belt called the "Balteus" also know as a "Cingulum". A Roman soldier would begin fitting out for battle with his tunic, which was red or white. This tunic was either sleeveless or sleeved depending on climate, and reached below the knee when unbelted. Once the balteus was put on it brought the tunic in close to the body at the waist and above the knees.


These belts were valuable possessions for the soldier, and was as ornate as one could afford. Belteus' were made of leather with metal medallions attached and often with a strap that went over the shoulder. The front had a apron, called the "sporran", was made of leather with medallions hanging over the groin, but these were more for decoration than protection. On the left side the soldier wore a dagger, with the right side holding the sheath for the "gladius" or short combat sword. Once the belteus was on,not only did the legionnaire have a platform to hang weapons from but it bound up the tunic. This allowed the soldier to maneuver freely, whether marching, running or in combat. The Belteus held the uniform together!

For Christians the "Belteus" is truth. God's Truth! It is unswerving, unmovable and more reliable than ANYTHING we can lean on. It is what holds the Holy Bible together from Genesis to The Revelations, and it is what holds us together. Just as in Roman armor, truth binds our "armor" together. It binds our "tunic"(our salvation) together and provides the "ornamental sporran" that draws the world's attention to our witness. Without God's truth nothing else in our uniform matters. God is God and He is truth. In John 1:14 we see that "The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." and John 1:17 "for although the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." We must believe in and trust in God's truth if we are going to dress for battle with the rest of His armor. Truth holds it together.

Photo's from http://www.legionxxiv.org/equipment/

Putting on Armor

The last several days I have had the passage concerning spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6:10-19, on my mind. With events happening daily around us, I see this conflict becoming more "out in the open". With all the natural and man made disasters occurring with greater frequency, events leading us to the Lord's return are more evident than ever. Are we as Christians ready for what lies before us? Are we ready for war?

While this warfare is spiritual, this history inclined writer deals with concepts much better when putting the text into historical context. Paul and the other writers of the New Testament wrote in way that reflected their world, not ours. So as I have meditated over these verses, I wanted to look at the words from the point of view a 1st century believer would have seen it.

The early church, or for that matter anyone in the 1st century AD, would have seen many Roman soldiers, and what he wore into battle. The known world during this time period knew what the Romans were capable of and equipped to do. Paul used this knowledge to show the church how to step into the spiritual fray and survive.

The Roman soldier of the first century was trained and equipped like no other warrior in their world. Highly disciplined they were both feared and respected as combatants. As you can see from the diagram a legionnaire was outfitted for battle. First there is the belt, or "Balteus". It binds the tunic close to the body and provides a place to put the dagger and "gladius" or short sword. Next in the passage is the armor on your chest(breastplate in some verses)which was called the "Lorica Segmentata". Verse 15 tells us to sandal our feet with readiness, which were "caligae" the military style boot worn by legionnaires. Next we have the shield called the "scutum". Verse 17 rounds out the list of armor with the helmet of salvation, the "coolus" and the sword of the spirit, as mentioned earlier, the "gladius".

In following blogs I will go into each piece of armor and how it was used by the Roman soldier and more importantly how it applies to us as we fight our war.

New to the blog scene

Every one in my family are starting up blogs. I thought I would set one up and see what it is like. Hope you find it enjoyable and entertaining.