SHIELD OF FAITH

The spiritual meaning of Shield is Faith. There are many types of shields. One of the Shields used by Roman soldiers is Pavise (wall) shield and it will be so big equals to the height of a man. There is also another shield which is called Round Shield and it will be having a decoration on one side and handle on the other side. Assuming around 50 enemies are shooting their arrows against you in a split second, where will you hold this shield? You will try to cover yourself from all the different direction, somehow you will get hurt. So this round shield is only used for parade, just for showing purpose. 

Today everyone can say you have faith in Jesus. This is the round shield. There is beauty when you say you have faith in Jesus and this is called round shield. But in battlefield this shield will not work, because the arrows will be shot at very high speed and you cannot handle those with the small shield. That’s why when they go to battle; they will have a shield that is called Pavise shield which is not less than 4 feet in height. When the enemies are shooting around 50 arrows at the same, they will just place the shield which is 4 feet in height and they will hide themselves or sit behind it. This is the Shield of Faith. 

There are two important things concerning about this Shield.

The front part of the shield will be covered with a layer of leather or thick cloth. And when they come to battle they will dip that shield in water. And when the arrows are shot, they will sit behind the shield. Do you know why they have to dip the shield in water? Because the enemies will place a ball of cloth in the tip of arrow and put fire on it before shooting it. It is called the fiery darts. The shield is made of wood so when the fiery darts fall on this shield, it will burn. The spiritual meaning is we will lose our faith. Elijah was such a strong man in faith that he challenged a great multitude of people. One side the people of Israelites and the side prophets of Baal, and he challenged them saying he will prove who is God. And such a man when Jezebel threatened him, he got afraid. The words of jezebel came like fiery darts and burnt up his faith, which means he lost his faith. So in order to quench the fire, they dip the shield in water. When the fiery darts come and hit the leather which is wet, it will immediately be quenched off.

Secondly, this shield will not have a flat front phase rather it will be curved, why? In one way, the person hiding behind will also be protected from sides. Another reason is because it will hit and deviate or refract from the direction. Instead of hitting or making hole it will slip away. Likewise faith is our shield. Our Faith should be wet, only then Satan sends fiery darts we can quench the fire. And our Faith should be curved, only then we can deviate the arrows and slip them away. 

In order to condemn you or discourage you, Satan might send many fiery darts. He will try to take you in a direction opposite to your calling. But you should strengthen your faith with the Word of God to resist all the fiery darts of Devil.

“Above all, take the shield of Faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” – Ephesians 6.16