Soaking our Leather

“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one…and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” Eph 6:16.

I just adore the brilliant commentaries of our scholars who are dedicated to give wisdom and knowledge to the Word. In the time that Paul wrote this, he was referring to a Roman shield which was covered in leather. This shield would be soaked in water and used to put out flame-tipped arrows. ‘The shield was a large, oblong piece the Roman soldier used as a protective weapon that consisted of two layers of wood glued together, covered with linen and hide, bound with iron.’ Duty or Delight? p. 143.

This imagery is saturated with symbolism for me in picturing this shield and how it relates to our faith. First and foremost, its foundation and supporting structure was wood glued together. The work done at Calvary is the foundation of our faith. The body of Jesus Christ was layered and attached to the wood of the cross creating the inner structure of our faith. All else builds from this foundation, and layers of power, strength and protection are built on top.

In the Bible, linen always represented righteous acts of the saints. Linen strips were layered upon Jesus after His death. They covered the body of the One who was the foundation of our faith just as the linen covered the wood in the shield. We move on to the leather which was layered on top of the linen. This leather was only effective when drenched in water, and the same is with our shield of faith as we become drenched in His word. Atop the leather was the iron. The definition for iron is strong, robust and unyielding. Through our prayers and the work of the Holy Spirit our faith is bonded with Christ giving us the power to ask for all things in all circumstances according to God’s will.

We cannot battle against evil unless we continuously drench ourselves in the Living Water through the binding of the Holy Spirit. It is when our faith is drenched with truth, promises and wisdom from God that we are equipped to fight the battle. We cannot beat Satan with our leather dried out and cracked. When Satan shoots those fiery arrows at our lives we must raise our water-drenched shields rooted in Christ and bound by the work of the Holy Spirit.

Raise that shield and fight the battle that is already won in Christ!