The Equipment Safeties (Lesson 3) Series

d. Gospel of peace. The gospel is Christ's message, suffering, death, burial, and resurrection, which grants peace to the world, believers, and every soul.

1) The word “peace” in Gr., is eirene or i-ray'-nay, which means peace; by implication, prosperity:—one, peace, quietness, rest, set at one again.

2) The word peace has several meanings, i.e., to be at peace between individuals, God, and conscience; to find harmony and concord; to have peace for one’s soul, in obedience to the gospel of salvation, and knowledge of the truth; and to find comfort and assurance in one’s faithful service to Christ, in life, in death, and the redemption of the body, at the Lord’s second coming.

e. Letters of Paul. Nearly all Paul’s Letters to the saints: either began or ended with this word: peace. It is the message of the gospel and the promise of God that grants peace to the believers. Faith and obedience to Christ afford the Christian peace with God and the hope of eternal life. Amen, brothers and sisters in the Lord. Paul continues in his discussion of the saints BDE.

4. Accordingly, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked,” Ephesians 6:16. Paul now turns to the soldier’s shield: which he calls the “shield of faith.” He instructs them to: “Above all, taking the shield of faith.” The Roman shield — was the large oblong oval door-like shield of the Romans, four feet long by two and a half feet broad; not the small round buckler, carried by many other armies. Observe--

a. First, this piece of equipment affords protection from attacks on every side. It was wide and tall enough for the soldier to stand entirely behind it during an all-out dart assault by the enemy.

b. Further, it was their "shield of faith." For what purpose should it be used? He answered.

c. Next, “Wherewith you shall be able to quench.” The shield was able to quench – the fiery darts. Let's look at the word "quench" a little closer. Observe--

1) The word “quench” in Gr., is sbennymi or sben'-noo-mee, which means extinguish:—go out, quench, Matthew 25:8; Hebrews 11:34; 1 Thessalonians 5:19.

2) The shield was constructed so the arrows would break, glance, or be deflected after striking the shield.

d. Finally, “All the fiery darts of the wicked.” It was a custom of good battle strategies to light the arrow with fire. Some arrows shot at the Roman soldiers would have a flaming or burning tip. The shield provided another feature: the pitch on it would quench the fiery arrows, protecting the soldiers from burns. One commentator made this observation--

NOTE: “The shield of faith will certainly intercept, and so "quench, all the fiery darts" (an image from the ancient fire-darts, formed of cane, with tow and combustibles ignited on the head of the shaft, to set fire to woodwork, tents, etc.).” See Commentary by A. R. Fausset, BlueLetterBible.org, Reference 6, below.

e. Conclusion: Faith is the shield with which we must quench these fiery darts of the evil one. Faith will render them ineffectual, that they may not hit us, or at least that they may not hurt us. Confidence comes from the word of God. When applied to our stand against the fiery trials of the devil, it will permit us to quench the darts of our most fierce and vexing temptations and trials. For some temptation: