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"Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist."
~Ephesians 6:14a
As Paul transitions from warning us of the existence of spiritual warfare and issuing a clarion call for us to stand firm against the enemy to now detailing exactly what pieces of armor we have with which to wage war, he begins by telling us to stand with truth like a belt around our waist.
This is no coincidence, friends.
Years ago I went through Priscilla Shirer's Armor of God Bible study with some friends (which I would highly recommend, by the way!), and Priscilla made a profound point about this piece of the armor which I have never forgotten. When studying ancient Roman armor in preparation for writing her study, she discovered that in Paul's day, the belt was, interestingly, the most foundational, most important piece of the entire armor! This may not make sense to our modern-day minds - after all, what is the big deal about a belt? In Paul's day, however, the belt was the most important part because every single one of the other pieces of armor all connected to the belt and were secured in place by the belt!
Now think about that for a moment. In Paul's brilliant symbolism, truth is referred to as being a belt - the belt of truth. And where do we find ultimate truth? In God's Word! So, Paul is saying here that the most foundational, most important, most crucial tool we have to fight back against the attacks of the enemy with is the Word of God - truth!
This makes perfect sense when we think about how Jesus fought back against the enemy's attacks in the wilderness in Matthew 4. While the enemy threw passages of Scripture misinterpreted at Him, He fought back by firing back passages of Scripture correctly interpreted! He fought the enemy not with earthly weapons, but with literal truth.
This likewise makes sense when we remember that the enemy is referred to by Jesus as being the "father of lies" (John 8:44). The enemy's MO is to lie - and has been since Genesis 3. It's all he knows. He lies, twists the truth, combines a little truth with a little error, and wreaks such havoc by doing so.
So, what Paul is telling us here at the very beginning of a talk on the pieces of the armor of God is that if we want to fight back against the dark spiritual forces coming at us, we must first fight back with the truth of God's Word. And in order to fight back with it well, we must first know it. Which explains why the enemy is so bent on getting us to drift away from time spent reading and meditating on the Word!
If we want to stand firm in the face of spiritual warfare, we must know and wield the truth. There is no other way.
Reflection Questions:
1) What stood out to you about today's study and this first piece of the armor?
2) Are you regularly in the Word? If not, why not? How can you make that more of a priority?
3) Why is being in the Word so important?
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