Ephesians 6: 10-18 Study

Bernard Pyron

EPHESIANS 6: 10-18: The Whole Armor of God:

Isaiah 59: 17 is the Old Testament source for Paul's metaphor on
putting on the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6: l0-18. But there is
a great deal more to Isaiah 59: 10-18 than the statement that "...he
put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon
his head." Who is "he?"

"We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no
eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night: we are in desolate places
as dead men...For our transgressions are with us: and as for our
iniquities, we know them: in transgressing and lying against the Lord,
and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And
judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for
truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth
faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey...And
he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no
intercessor; therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his
righteousness, it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a
breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on
the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a
cloak."

Now do you see who "he" is that puts on the breastplate of
righteousness and the helmet of salvation?

First, Isaiah 59: 9-16 describes the very bad spiritual condition of
the people. Isaiah is writing about the condition of the people of
Israel but he might as well be describing the state of Americans
today.

Sin completely prevails. And the few who turn away from sin are made a
prey by the people, that is, those who repent from sin are ridiculed
and looked down upon by the sinners. The people have no understanding;
they are dumbed down. . Telling lies is the standard operating
procedure in the land, since lying is so common. An advanced stage of
the age of deception has taken over the people. There is no justice in
the courts and "judgment is turned away backward."

The people do not know the truth, and when they hear it they reject
it, "...for truth is fallen in the street."

God saw this wretched spiritual condition and wondered why no one
would stand up in the midst of all this sin, lying, injustice and
false doctrine to intercede for the people to God, to perhaps turn
away his wrath upon the people. All this is the background against
which "he" is said to put on righteousness as a breastplate and the
helmet of salvation. He also puts on the clothing of vengeance against
his enemies and is clad with zeal. "He" is Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 59: 9-16 may not at first glance appear to be related to
spiritual warfare. But it is related, because the bad spiritual state
of people is the starting point of this teaching that God the Father
is to send his Son as the redeemer who himself puts on the breastplate
of righteousness and the helmet of salvation. We must be saved in
order for us to receive the strength of Christ, and his righteousness
to prepare us to do spiritual battle with the enemy, though we war in
the power of Christ and not in our own power.

For Paul in Ephesians 6: l7 makes salvation the helmet of the whole
armor of God. The helmet protects the head, and salvation is the head
of our preparations for being able, in Christ, to fight Satan. We will
see that some amount of purification from sin and some degree of
knowledge of the truth - and love of the truth - goes with salvation.

It would seem that to become an effective spiritual warrior in Christ
a Christian should have grown some in regeneration. I do not see how a
baby Christian who can only take milk and not the meat of the whole
counsel of God (Acts 20: 27) would be as formidable a warrior against
the enemy as a Christian who is farther along in sanctification,
knowledge and humility before God. But with God anything is possible,
though it would be rare to find a baby Christian putting the enemy to
flight.

God did not establish salvation for us because we deserve it. He
created salvation for his name's sake and for his glory as God.

In Isaiah 59: 10-18 there were none who clearly discerned the
spiritual condition of the people, and no one had the courage to stand
against that evil condition, lying and false doctrine. There were no
intercessors praying to God to turn away his wrath and to ask his help
to lead many to repent, to overcome their sin and errors. There was no
real opposition to the widespread wickedness of the time, or to the
injustice being done to many individuals. No one cried for truth and
justice.

No one prayed to God to re-establish truth and justice. Had God found
a strong remnant who held to his truth and who had substantially
overcome their sin, and prayed God would help them become stronger.
God might well have been glad to do so.

The people had no spiritual strength of their own, and Isaiah 59:
10-18 does not mention that a remnant existed who had truth No one
prayed to redress the grievances of widespread sin and false
doctrines. Because no one would stand up against evil and ask God for
help in defeating the wickedness, God put on his own righteousness as
a breastplate and he offered salvation to the people in spite of their
sin, cowardice and spiritual apathy.

The people were not able to engage in spiritual warfare against Satan.
Since the people had no righteousness to cause them to deserve God's
grace, therefore God put on his own righteousness. He also put on
clothing of vengeance and a cloak of zeal, to work his own justice
against his enemies.

God the Father put forth righteousness by the merit of his Son Jesus
Christ. Paul in Philippians 3: 9 says he wanted to be found in Christ
"...not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith..." Therefore, God put on his own righteousness, and he
took salvation as his helmet.

By taking on the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of
salvation God is preparing also for spiritual warfare against the
forces of evil, in opposition to the devil and his pride. God is
working this way to carry out his plan of defeating Satan "...to
finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make
reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting
righteousness...(Daniel 9: 24)"

God puts on the clothing of vengeance and zeal to fight a spiritual
battle against the enemy. From time to time God will give something of
that righteousness of his and clothing of vengeance and zeal to those
who fully yield to him, and are growing in spiritual valor, have a
love of God's truth and are increasing in knowledge and
sanctification.

He will give his strength to those who are humble before him, God wore
his armor of righteousness, helmet of salvation and a garment of
vengeance and zeal before he offered them to us.

We have little or no courage and zeal to fight the enemy on our own.
But God will help us fight our battles. If we do not have the courage
to oppose sin in society and in government, God will in vengeance
fight sin by his judgments, though to us these judgments seem a long
time coming. God's people are weak and mostly helpless and can lift up
no standard against the powerful enemy and his human minions. God will
give his banner to those who submit to him in humility and draw nearer
to him. Christ is the banner we are to fly as we go to war.

The Lord is seen in Isaiah 59: 17-19 as a warrior, In Revelation 19:
11-13 John writes "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse;
and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness he doth judge and make war...And he was clothed with a
vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called the Word of God." As a
warrior, Christ will - when he appears - right eh wrongs done against
his people by destroying our enemies. The helmet on Christ's head in
Isaiah 59: 17 may be one of the many crowns he is said in Revelation
19: 12 to have upon his head. At the very end, Christ will be clothed
with zeal for his own glory and to avenge himself and

his people against the antichrist, and all those who have followed the
antichrist spirit (I John 4: 3), in persecuting Christians. And the
dragon who inspires all this evil will be taken to the lake of fire.

When Satan comes into the world and into the minds of unbelievers,
enemies of God and the 501c(3) church members - and into the minds of
the remnant if we allow it - like a flood toward the end, the Holy
Spirit will raise up a standard against him. This standard is the Lion
of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5).

Right before and during the Great tribulation, the devil will, like a
flood, being in massive, widespread and prevailing wickedness,
torture, murder, perversions, worship of fallen angels, persecution,
lying, war, false doctrines and the occult. Most people will be
deceived and will not recognize that wickedness has increased.

Isaiah 11: 10 says "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse,
which shall stand up for an ensign of the people; to it shall the
Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious." Isaiah 59: 20
concludes in saying "And the Redeemer shall come to Zion...My Spirit
that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall
not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out
of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and
for ever."

The Holy Spirit will come to many in the remnant to sanctify them. As
promised by Christ in John 16: 12-14 the Holy Spirit will guide us
into the truth of the Scriptures and open them up to us. This Spirit
was first in Christ (Matthew 3: l6). The Holy Spirit works by the
Bible and if someone claims to have received a message from the Holy
Spirit, that message must be tested by the Scriptures. "Prove all
things; hold fast to that which is good (I Thessalonians 5: 21)."

Yet Daniel 12: 4 seems to imply that all end time prophecy will be
opened at the end, at least to some, and this opening of prophecy may
come from the Holy Spirit. Whether the Spirit or Christ will speak to
some of the remnant as Paul or John received revelation or whether the
Spirit will work quietly in the background to gently guide some to a
new understanding of prophecy we do not know at present. In fact, the
Holy Spirit has been working already to open up the understanding to
some extent for members the remnant.

Some dreams during sleep can reveal things of God that do not go
against Scripture, but most dreams do not do so. We should be cautious
about claiming that God told us something, and those who hear
Christians say they got a word from God should be careful with that
message.

On Ephesians 6: 10-18:

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his
might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able
to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having your loins grit about with truth, and having
on the breastplate of righteousness;

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace:

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to
quench all the firey darts of the wicked.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God:

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and
watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all
saints (Ephesians 6: 10-18)."

As soldiers of Jesus Christ we should be spiritually strong, not
overcome with fear, or wanting to hide from and avoid confrontation
with the enemy. Paul starts this teaching by saying "...be strong in
the Lord." Christ is our strength to fight the enemy, because we are
weak and the enemy will do everything he can to defeat us at every
point in our journey to Christ and heaven. The devil would like to
make it our "jornada del muerto," which the Spanish called the trail
into New Mexico north of El Paso, the "journey of death." In the
strength of Christ we fight the enemy, with humility before him, and
go on to greater humility, strength, knowledge of the truth and
sanctification.

Here on earth we have to fight many human followers of Satan. The
devil has many iron men and iron women, as Texe Marrs has pointed out,
to oppose us. Some of the iron men of Satan - many in their seventies
and eighties - make up the few who are the oligarchy or the small
ruling elite. The oligarchy is the present day Money Power, "The Money
Beast of Babylon (Revelation 18)." Historically, in fact, the
oligarchy as the Beast seems to go back to ancient Babylon and even to
Nimrod. That concept of oligarchy as Satan's mechanism for rule on
earth was transferred to Rome and later perhaps to the ruling elite of
the city state of Venice. From Venice it moved to England, where, in
coordination with the American oligarchy, plus U.S. military and
economic might, it still holds world power, and is sometimes called
the New World Order. But this is another topic.

Other human servants of the devil we have to fight are in the larger
ruling class, under the oligarchy. The ruling class includes high
level bureaucrats, many politicians, heads of large corporations,
doctors, psychiatrists, clinical shrinks, lawyers, many university
professors, and even some Christian ministers. The oligarchy and the
ruling class have become increasingly hierarchical, or top-down, so
that an increasing degree of control of all aspects of our lives can
be exercised by a few people on top. Those on top got there by use of
their money power and by their bloodlines.

The millions in the ruling class and those they control such as police
officers, etc make up what Mark Koernke would call "the other side" -
if he were out of prison. The oligarchy and their ruling class are the
Establishment, and the Establishment is becoming more and more evil
with individuals who are outright satanic included within its ranks.
Satan makes use of the Establishment in his counterfeit government
over earth. Ol Scratch has many iron men at the top and iron men and
iron women scattered within his system of government. Satan's
establishment carries out many of his attacks upon Christians. Not all
the human servants of Satan are in the oligarchy and ruling class,
since many are common folk.

In addition, it seems that the vast majority of people are really
serving the devil by not opposing the evil of the oligarchy, and many
will not acknowledge the ruling elite exists, or that it is evil. A
majority of the people also promote in part the goals, plans, and
policies of the oligarchy. They appear to be willingly deceived by the
oligarchy and ruling class. Not rejecting the democrat-republican scam
is one example of the willingness to be deceived. So is support for
the Bush wars an example of the willingness of the public to be
deceived.

Christ, in contrast to the devil's satanic oligarchy, has few iron men
and iron women on his side as his warriors.

But in Ephesians 6: 10-18 Paul makes it clear that our main battle is
not against humans or flesh and blood. No, we war against the devil
and his fallen angels who are organized and exercise their government
over the world. They are the principalities, powers and rulers of the
darkness of this world.

The devil and his fallen angels are experts at the use of deception
and strategy, which they use continually to cause people to reject and
resist God, to become uninterested in their own salvation, or to go
off into false doctrines. They lure people into obsession with worldly
things, success, image and wealth, and Satan's Money Power within the
oligarchy tries to drive us into preoccupation with money. Or, Satan
may lead us into a preoccupation with problems that arise because of
our strong desire and impatience for worldly things. The worldly
things, like computers, often do not work right and we become
preoccupied with these problems. "Diabolus ex Machina" (computers) is
one of our problems, and is another distraction to take our attention
away from Christ and his truth.

Paul opens his teaching on spiritual warfare by saying "...be strong
in the lord, and in the power of his might (Ephesiams 6:0)."

We cannot fight and defeat the devil in our own strength because he is
too clever and powerful. Christ has to come and help us oppose Satan,
sin and the world. He gives some of his strength, at times, to us.
Usually, Christ gives his strength to an individual for a short period
of time. Then he or she has to pray to him to give strength to him
again when he is faced with problems or temptations. We pray to God
for strength and then wait for him to give it to us.

Those who come to Christ in humility, having overcome much of their
sin, and who have a love of the truth, may find Christ more willing to
give them strength to oppose Satan.

"Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against
the wiles of the devil"

Followers of Christ here on earth have to be in a warrior state,
prepared and willing to fight. As spiritual soldiers we must have the
armor of God to help us defeat the enemy, using the offensive weapons
of the sword of the Spirit and the Word. And we need the breastplate
of righteousness and the helmet of salvation to protect us from the
devil..

Often what is an attack by the devil does not look like an attack or a
temptation. And so discernment is necessary to identify the wiles of
the devil. The whole armor of God can defeat the super cunning of the
enemy. Here our knowledge of the truth of the Word becomes important,
for the Word of God can be used to give us insight into the deceptive
tricks of the enemy and it can be used to fight him off.

In Matthew 4: 2-11 when Satan tempted Christ, Jesus quoted Scripture
to the devil and finally drove him off. When Satan took Jesus up on a
high mountain and promised him all the kingdoms on earth, Christ
answered, "Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." This is from
Deuteronomy 6: 13.

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood."

Paul says in Galatians 1: 15 that early in his ministry when God
revealed to him that he should preach Christ to the gentiles
"...immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood...but I went into
Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus." Just as Paul talked with
God, who is not flesh and blood, so we as regenerate persons have to
wrestle against the devil and his angels, who are not flesh and blood.

"Against principalities, against powers"

Principalities is from the Greek word archas, princes, or rulers in
the spiritual world. Satan is a spiritual prince or ruler. So are his
angels, and apparently some fallen angels are more powerful than
others. In Daniel 10: 13 the prince of Persia, a fallen angel,
probably fairly high up in the devil's hierarchy of government, was
able to hold off for twenty one days God's angel sent to give prophecy
to Daniel. But in John 12: 31 Jesus says "Now is the judgment of this
world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out." Again, prince
is from archon.

Paul explains in II Corinthians 4: 4 that "...the god of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of
the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine
unto them."

"Against the rulers of the darkness of this world"

Here the Greek says "pros tous kosmokratoras tou skotous tau aionos."
The word processor I am using has Greek fonts, but they won't come
through the E Mail process, unless as an attachment. Kosmokratoras is
plural and means world rulers Skotous is darkness and aionos is age.
The Greek phrase could be translated as "against ("pros") the world
rulers of the darkness of this age." The King James translation has
shortened world rulers to rulers and translated aionos as world rather
than age.

Paul is describing Satan as a ruler over darkness, and since
kosmokratoras is plural he must be including the fallen angels who
follow Satan, or at least those who are higher in the hierarchy of
darkness are the world rulers.

John Gill (1697-1771), in his commentary on Galatians 6: 12 tells us
that the Jews have or had a Hebrew phrase similar to "world rulers of
the darkness of this world" which they apply to human monarchs (From:
John Gill's Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, Ten Volumes,
published 1746-1766). The John Gill Exposition of the Entire Bible can
be downloaded at www.searchgodsword.org, but another download which is
easier to open after it is on your computer is at
www.e-sword.net/commentaries.html. But Paul is using the phrase
"rulers of the darkness of this world" to refer to the devil and his
fallen angels.

"Against spiritual wickedness in high places"

Satan and his angels are evil, proud, deceptive and they have
spiritual power. They watch us constantly, trying to find an opening
to attack or tempt us in order to cause us to sin and move away from
Christ. In Ephesians 2: 2 Paul says that before Christians were
quickened by Christ, we "...walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience." The devils are in
the air.

"That ye may be able to withstand in the evil day"

Christ wants his people to be able to stand against the spiritual
power of the devil, to be able to see into and oppose his tricks and
deceptions. The "evil day" might appear to refer only to the very end
times when Satan becomes even more powerful. But the evil day can
refer to any period when sin was rampant and was encouraged by
government, other institutions such as the media and education, and by
false Christian doctrines and pagan or satanic religions. In an evil
day, the above ground or institutionalized "Christian" preachers and
congregations fail to effectively oppose sin and false teachings.

In the evil day of the end times putting on the whole armor of God is
necessary for Christians to fight a stronger enemy.

"And having done all to stand"

We can stand in the spiritual strength of Christ; and although we may
be battered on many fronts, we can defeat the enemy. His human minions
may cause us much harm and may kill us. .

"Stand therefore"

Keep your ground spiritually, don't run from the enemy, do not desert
the army of Jesus Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Keep your
watch, stay focused and in your place in the trenches.

"Having your loins grit about with truth"

The Gospel of Christ is truth, and so is his prophecy. He is truth.
Knowing and fully believing the Gospel and prophecy of Christ is a way
of keeping closer to God so that he will from time to time give you
his grace and provide you with his spiritual armor to defeat the
devil, or, as James 4: 7, says to chase off Satan. Knowing and
believing the truth of God's word is a fundamental necessity for
spiritual warfare, especially as the end comes closer.

"And having on the breastplate of righteousness"

Christ is our breastplate of righteousness, our protection against the
power of the enemy with his attacks through other people and his
temptations. The devil is also an accuser of believers. He accuses us
of all kinds of sin, even after we have repented of it and stopped
sinning.

In Revelation l2: 10-11 John writes "Now is come salvation, and
strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for
the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before
our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of their testimony: and they loved not their lives
unto the death."

"And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace"

In the time when soldiers fought with swords, the enemy forces might
place sharp objects on the battlefield where their enemy was expected
to march. Without the protection of metal shoes, the soldiers could be
injured and put out of action by the sharp objects. This may be where
Paul got the metaphor about having your feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel, since a soldier cannot move well and fight if his feet
are injured.

There is that statement in Isaiah 52: 7, "How beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that
publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth..." Paul
applies Isaiah 52: 7 to all the disciples who preach the gospel of
Christ. He tells us in Romans 10: 15 "How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace..."

The gospel of peace is an important part of our armor to protect us
from the sharp objects the devil puts in our path to injure us. With
the gospel we can increase our determination to stand against Satan,
and fight him no matter what problems and threats he sends our way.

All of these metaphors - your loins grit with truth, the breastplate
of righteousness, feet shod with the gospel of peace, the shield of
faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit and the
Word - are gifts from God which put us into the spiritual condition to
be able to do effective battle with the enemy.

"Taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all
the firey darts of the wicked"

Faith is believing the Word of God, the gospel and the prophecies.
Faith involves an active interest in and application of the Word. It
is also an assurance that the promises of God will be kept. A
correlate of faith is a yielding of one's own will to the will of
Christ as stated in the Bible, and it is a willingness to follow
Christ in all things. As such, faith is a shield against the attacks
of Satan through humans and his tempting of us to sin and fall away
from Christ.

Hebrews 11: 1 says "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen." We accept on faith that the
statements of God in the Bible are reality, even though in many cases
we do not see physical evidence that they are reality.

Then in Hebrews 11: 6, "But without faith it is impossible to please
him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is
a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." God is displeased with
those who are not absolutely sure that he exists, or that Scripture is
from God.

By faith as our assurance that the statements in the Bible are true,
we know something of the nature of spiritual reality. This knowing at
least something of spiritual reality helps us fight our war against
the enemy, who understands much more of spiritual reality.

"And take the helmet of salvation"

Salvation is our spiritual helmet. if we are saved, we know that we
belong to Christ. The helmet protects the head, and salvation is
pictured as the head by Paul. If we know that we are saved and this
knowledge is based upon the kind of evidence that Scripture calls for
in us - then we have protection from being troubled by Satan. The
devil will try to lead us into feeling despair about not knowing for
sure we are saved. But, for some, doubt over salvation can arouse him
or her to get out of spiritual laziness and seek salvation by the
strait gate, by Christ's terms.