Women of the Bible Lesson 5 Jael: A Story of Courage Part 3 Armor of God

Today we will continue talking about the armor we have been provided through the Holy Spirit to protect us in our spiritual battles.   

Ephesians 6:14-18 gives us a list of the armor we have been provided by through the Holy Spirit. “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (NLT) 

Our next piece of armor is the Breastplate of Righteous. The purpose of the breastplate for the Roman soldier was to protect the soldier’s heart and vital organs from the piercing blows of the enemy. In Roman times there were different varieties of breastplate.  One type was the lorica segmentata, segmented breastplate.  

“The lorica segmentata was made from strips of iron put together with leather strips in an overlapping fashion. 

It's these leather strips that give the lorica segmentata its strength and flexibility, and thus is a great defense against enemy swords and stabbing weapons. 

With this flexibility the soldier could move freely and use his shield and sword without the armor getting in his way.”i 

The purpose of the breastplate of righteousness is to protect our hearts and minds (soul) from the enemy.  In Jeremiah 17:9 we read, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked.” (NLT) Isaiah 64:6a tells us, All of us are dirty with sin. All the right things we have done are like filthy pieces of cloth. (ICB) And in Romans 3:10, As it is written and forever remains written, “There is none righteous [none that meets God’s standard], not even one. (AMP)  

Here we see that human hearts (souls) are deceitful, that there is no one who is righteous, and all our attempts at righteousness are filthy rags in comparison to God’s righteous standard.   

Websters online dictionary defines righteousness as acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin.   

As believers we know that when we stand before God, it is not our righteousness He sees.  2 Corinthians 5:21, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (NIV) 1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (ESV) Thanks be to God, that Jesus’ sacrifice made us free from sin and guilt. 

Romans 10:4, For Christ is the end of the law [it leads to Him and its purpose is fulfilled in Him], for [granting] righteousness to everyone who believes [in Him as Savior]. (AMP) We no longer live under the law but under grace.  However, we know from 1 John that we cannot use God’s grace as an excuse to make a practice of sinning.  1 John 5:18, We know [with confidence] that anyone born of God does not habitually sin; but He (Jesus) who was born of God [carefully] keeps and protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. (AMP) 

We must work at living lives of righteousness.  Psalm 106:3 David writes, Blessed are those who observe justice [by honoring God’s precepts],Who practice righteousness at all times. (AMP)  

John MacArthur says, “The breastplate was usually a tough, sleeveless piece of leather or heavy material with animal horn or hoof pieces sewn on, covering the soldier’s full torso, protecting his heart and other vital organs. Because righteousness, or holiness, is such a distinctive characteristic of God himself, it is not hard to understand why that is the Christian’s chief protection against Satan and his schemes. As believers faithfully live in obedience to and communion with Jesus Christ, His own righteousness produces in them the practical, daily righteousness that becomes their spiritual breastplate. Lack of holiness, on the other hand, leaves them vulnerable to the great enemy of their souls (cf. Isaiah 59:17; 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:8).”ii 

Ephesians 6:11, Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. (NLT) The Greek word for “put on” here is enduo which is a verb that means to sink into (clothing), put on, clothe one's self.  Isaiah 61:10a, I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has covered me with a robe of righteousness...(AMP) Here we are told that God clothes us with a robe of righteousness.   

It was the job of each soldier to care for and maintain his breastplate. Daily he would polish the metal and replace any leather strips which had been damaged in battle. He was responsible for his armor and if he did not maintain it would become damaged and ineffective.  As we daily live in communion and obedience to God, we need to sink into the righteousness Jesus provided us through his death, burial, and resurrection.  As we live holy lives, we keep our breastplate maintained and intact and in so doing, as we read in 1 John 5:18, the evil one cannot harm us.  

However, if we chose to sin and walk according to the flesh, we allow our breastplate to become broken and ineffective.  If we allow areas of our lives to be tainted by sin, we then open the door that allows the enemy to harm us.  

Before I close this lesson, I want to address one final issue that can cause our breastplate to become broken and ineffective: complacency.  Complacency is defined in Websters online dictionary as self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies. For a Roman soldier, becoming complacent would be a death sentence for himself as well as for his fellow soldiers.  Complacency is one of the enemy’s favorite weapons against God’s people.  If he can get us to disengage from the battle through complacency, he knows he can gain a foothold in our lives and hinder us from walking in holiness, thus, rendering our breastplate ineffective.  

To be transparent here, while I don’t make a habit of sinning, I must confess that I do sometimes find myself walking in complacency.  I’ve made Bible reading and prayer a habit in my life for many years.  I may not always get long periods of time to sit and commune with the Father, however, I try to take time each day to pray and read the Word.  Nevertheless, if I am not careful, I can find myself just going through the motions out of habit and not even really paying attention to what I am doing. Let me say here, that having a habit of prayer and Bible reading is not a bad thing, in fact it is necessary to maintaining our relationship with God.  Yet, when we go through the motions, failing to engage our hearts and minds, we are not maintaining our armor properly.  

This inattentiveness opens the door for the enemy.  We, like Paul (see Philippians 3:8-9), must count everything else worthless when compared to the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.  We must daily ask Holy Spirit to help us to be constantly vigilant and actively engaged in this walk of righteousness. 

Works Cited:

i https://www.romanobritain.org/8-military/mil_roman_soldier_curiass.php 

ii https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-breastplate-of-righteousness.html