Tag Archives: helmet of salvation

Putting On or Spandex Tight

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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 of what Paul is telling us to do when we put on the “armor of God” and important other things in the rome_soldierEpistles.

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 into it and you could barely move.  It conformed to your body and held tight even when you could get free.  That is what I thought of as I read the definitions for enduo.  So 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 it 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 an other 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

Examples of Putting 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 

God’s Will, Has Made Your Will

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Ok, this study will not make much sense if you do not have a NIV (mine is copyrighted 1990) or even a Holman Study Bible, mine is a 2006 copyright.  King James and several other popular versions use the word “shall” instead of the word “will.”

From Isaiah 59:15 to 62:12 the word “will” is used 86 times. (All scriptures are NIV.) The majority of the “wills” however is God stating what will happen for us or at least to our “enemies.”  When you see the word “will,” you think of inheritance; this is found in 61:7 it talks of the “double portion” which is the part that belongs to the first-born son of the family.  I will give an example form 60:10 of the promises that are found in this section of scripture – Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. 

The section addresses these promises to two different things, the first is Zion and the second His people.  Zion refers to the hills that Jerusalem is built on but it has become synonymous with Jerusalem.  The way the promises are worded it seems that God is concerned about the physical land/city but they also apply to Jerusalem the “people of the city.”

Inside of these verses are some very popular scriptures; Isaiah 61:1-3 is a great example.  I can image the Apostle Paul reading/thinking about 59:17 when he wrote Ephesians 6:14 – the breastplate of righteousness, helmet of salvation, garments of vengeance, and the cloak of zeal.  Isaiah 59: 21 is a great promise – “This is my covenant with them”, says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth.”  Have you ever prayed for guidance and wondered how you would know what to follow look at 60:17 – I will make peace your governor and righteousness your ruler.  The first part of verse 17 is another example of the will of God making your will – Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron.  (See my blogs on metals – bronze, gold, silver, iron, these go to separate blogs.)

Another theme in these verses is “righteousness,” it is mentioned nine times. According to my concordance righteousness carries with it the idea of prosperity, this is from the concordance that has Vine’s Dictionary incorporated into it. (OK, it is a small part but it is there.)

Two verse that connect are 60:21b and 61:3b – (21b) They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor.  (3b) They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. 

God has a lot of “wills” for you in this couple of pages; take a look and find His will for you. I want to leave with 60: 22b – I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly.