Epistles.November 30, 2013 12:38 pm
Have you ever thought about putting on clothing as “sinking into a garment” or that you wrap or encircle yourself in your clothes? Those are the visuals Paul is telling us to do when we put on the “armor of God” and important other things in the Epistles.
If you have ever sunk into something, other than water, that picture presented by the Greek word enduo (#1746, Strong’s) becomes very vivid. As a boy I played in an abandoned sand quarry where the pits filled with silt/mud. We tried to run across them and found ourselves waist deep in mud standing on a sandy bottom. The mud wrapped around us as we sunk, and you could barely move. It conformed to your body and held tight even when you did get free. That is what I thought of as I read the definitions for enduo. Now imagine all of those New Testament references in the graphic and that is how tight Jesus, or the armor of God, and all of those other things are to be attached to us. Imagine having compassion and kindness Spandex tight so that they it could not be distinguished from you.
Saint Paul in Ephesians 6:10 – 17 uses two different words for what we are to do with the armor, in verse 13 the Greek word is analambano (#353, Strong’s) and enduo in verse 11. So, Paul tells us to sink into the armor and then he tells us to “receive” the individual parts like the belt, shoes, and shield. The Strong’s Concordance uses Mark 16:19 as an example for receiving; this is where Jesus was received into Heaven. Even though it is not stated I have to think that Jesus was welcomed (received) with joy, excitement, and a celebration and that the Father purposely took Jesus to Himself. So, when Paul teaches us about the armor in Ephesians, he wants to purposely receive it and sink into it so completely that it surrounds us.
Where did Paul get such an idea as to equate salvation as a helmet or righteousness as a chest protector? As I have stated in another post called (God’s Will Has Made Your Will) Paul read them in Isaiah 59:17 where he is describing what the Lord put on when there was no justice and no one intervening.
Example of Things We Are to Put On
The verses are from:
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide
Clipart from: http://rome.phillipmartin.info/rome_soldier.htm
Posted by Mark
Categories: Bible Study, Christian character, Ephesians, Isaiah, logos, Study Helps
Tags: armor of God, breastplate of righteousness, clothe in the Bible, Colossians 3: 10, Ephesians 6:10 -17, First Thessalonians 5:8, helmet of salvation, Isaiah 59:17, put on in the Bible
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