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".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.
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.
I wanted to let you know that I have linked this page to my blog. We are reading about the Roman's right now and this information fits in nicely with our studies. Thanks for posting it.
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