THEREFORE,
TAKE UP THE FULL
ARMOR OF GOD: dia touto analabete (2PAAM) ten panoplian tou theou: (11-17;
2 Corinthians 10:4)
Therefore (1223)
(dia) in this case serves as a marker of of something
constituting cause thus indicating a reason -- on account of,
because of, for the sake of .
Fight, though thy
foes increase; fight, till the dawn of peace;
Fight, till the war shall cease, then shout and sing.
Shout, then triumphantly, shout, shout the victory;
Shout, “Glory be to Thee, O Lord, our King! (Play)
Take up (353)
(analambano
from ana = up + lambano = take) means literally to take up,
to assume.
Depending on the context analambano can mean to cause to go up, to lift
up and carry away as in the Ascension of Christ (Acts 1:2, 11, 22), to
take up in order to carry (Acts 7:43, Eph 6:13, 16), to pick up (someone
to take along on a journey - 2Ti 4:11), to take aboard a ship (Acts
20:13, 14).
Paul like a
military general to his troops commands the believers to take up
their armor. The
aorist imperative
conveys a sense of urgency and demands that one take decisive action. Do this now! Don't delay! So when the
battle is the most fierce, the soldier of Christ may still be able to
hold his or her position even against the most determined attacks.
Wuest adds
that analambano means to...
“to take up” in order to use,
“to take to one’s self,” thus, “take up” as one takes up armor to put it
on. The verb is
aorist imperative,
which construction issues a command given with military snap and
curtness, a command to be obeyed at once and once for all. Thus, the
Christian is to take up and put on all the armor of God as a
once-for-all act and keep that armor on during the entire course of his
life, not relaxing the discipline necessary for the constant use of such
protection.
(Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans)
Analambano
is used 69 times in the
Septuagint (LXX)
(Gen. 24:61; 45:19, 27;
46:5f; 48:1; 50:13; Exod. 4:20; 10:13, 19; 12:32, 34; 19:4; 28:12; Num.
14:1; 23:7, 18; 24:3, 15, 20f, 23; Deut. 1:41; 32:11; 2 Ki. 2:9ff; 2
Chr. 25:28; Est. 5:1; Job 13:14; 17:9; 21:12; 22:22; 27:21; 36:3; 40:10;
Ps. 50:16; 72:3; 78:70; 139:9; 146:9; 147:6; Isa. 40:24; 46:4; 63:9;
Jer. 4:6; 7:29; 13:20; 46:3; Lam. 3:41; 5:13; Ezek. 2:2; 3:12, 14; 8:3;
10:19; 11:1, 24; 12:6f; 16:61; 43:5; Dan. 2:5; 4:34; Hos. 11:3; Amos
5:26; 7:15; Zech. 5:9)
TDNT notes
that analambano in the
LXX
has such senses as
“to load,” “to set on the feet,” “to raise” (a song), “to lift up” (in
prayer), “to receive” (instruction), and “to keep upright.” It can also
become a term for rapture. (Kittel,
G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament. Eerdmans)
Analambano
is used 13 times in the NT...
Mark 16:19
So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received
up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
Acts 1:2
until the day when He was taken up, after He had by the
Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen....11 and
they also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky?
This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven,
will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into
heaven."...22 beginning with the baptism of John, until the day that He
was taken up from us-- one of these should become a
witness with us of His resurrection."
Acts 7:43
'You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star
of the god Rompha, the images which you made to worship them. I also
will remove you beyond Babylon.'
Acts 10:16
And this happened three times; and immediately the object was taken
up into the sky.
Acts 20:13
But we, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending from
there to take Paul on board; for thus he had arranged it,
intending himself to go by land 14 And when he met us at Assos, we
took him on board and came to Mitylene.
Acts 23:31
So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and
brought him by night to Antipatris.
Ephesians 6:13
Therefore, take up
the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day,
and having done everything, to stand firm.
Ephesians 6:16
in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with
which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the
evil one.
1 Timothy 3:16
And by common confession great is the mystery of godliness: He who was
revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Beheld by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken
up in glory.
2 Timothy 4:11
Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you,
for he is useful to me for service.
Ray Stedman
illustrates the importance of full armor in warfare...
BRITISH ADMIRAL LORD DAVID BEATTY
commanded a flotilla at the Battle of Jutland during World War I. As the
battle began, British and German ships engaged each other in a
long-range artillery battle. It quickly became apparent that there was a
major flaw in the British ships. First, a heavy cruiser, the Lion, was
hit by an artillery barrage and quickly sunk. Next the Indefatigable was
hit in the powder magazine, and was blown to pieces. Then the Queen Mary
was sunk, taking a crew of 1,200 sailors straight to the bottom.
Watching this destruction among the proud ships of his fleet, Admiral
Beatty turned to his bridge officer and said with characteristic British
restraint,
"There seems to be something wrong
with our ships today, Chatfield."
Though the British ships eventually
turned back the German fleet, it was later discovered that there was a
fatal flaw in the design of the British ships. Though they had heavily
armored hulls, their wooden decks offered almost no protection against
enemy long-range artillery shells that dropped almost straight down out
of the sky. Only after the British began to armor their ships on top as
well as on the sides did they stop losing ships to German long-range
artillery. Effective armor is a crucial element of victory in any
war including spiritual warfare...If you leave anything unprotected, the
enemy will find a way to exploit that chink in your armor and he will
destroy you. In Ephesians 6, Paul calls us to "be strong in the Lord and
in his mighty power." How do we do this? How do we become strong in the
Lord as Paul exhorts us to? By putting on "the full armor of God so that
you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." And note that word
full. We cannot merely put on this or that piece of God's armor
in some random or incomplete fashion. We cannot leave any part of
ourselves uncovered and unprotected. We cannot give our enemy any little
opening, or he will exploit that opening to his advantage. (Ray
Stedman. Spiritual Warfare
- Available online and highly recommended!) (Bolding added)
Full armor
(3833)(panoplia
from pás = all, every + hoplon = weapon, originally any
tool or implement for preparing a thing, became used in the plural for
weapons of warfare) is literally
wholly armed and refers to the complete
set of instruments used in offensive and defensive war. The literal
meaning referred to the full preparation of a foot soldier for offense
and defense - the complete suit of armor. Certainly Paul could claim
knowledge of the Roman soldier’s armor, being chained to one for some
three years.
Don't miss the
qualifying phrase "of God". It is His armor, not ours. He
provides the full armor, but believers must recognize the battle
and implement God’s sufficient provision by faith and obedience. Trust
and obey...there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and
obey!
Vincent
commenting on full armor writes that there is...
An interesting parallel passage,
evidently founded upon this, in Ignatius’ Epistle to Polycarp, vi.
“Please the captain under whom ye
serve, from whom also ye shall receive your wages. Let no one of you be
found a deserter. Let your baptism abide as your shield; your faith as
your helmets; your love as your spear; your patience as your whole
armor. Let your good works be your savings (the deposita), that you may
receive what is justly to your credit.”
Gibbon relates how the relaxation of
discipline and the disuse of exercise rendered the (Roman) soldiers less
willing and less able to support the fatigues of the service. They
complained of the weight of their armor, and successively obtained
permission to lay aside their cuirasses and helmets (Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire - chapter 27). (Vincent, M. R. Word Studies in the New
Testament)
God has supplied
the complete armor, but He expects the Christian to put it on. We need
the divine equipment in its completeness, without the lack of any single
part. God has not sent us out into battle without everything we need at
our disposal. However, there is no armor for the back -- we are expected
to face our foe!
This Greek word
gives us our English word, panoply, which refers to a full suit
of armor; ceremonial attire; something forming a protective covering; a
magnificent or impressive array; display of all appropriate
appurtenances.
TDNT writes
that...
The soldier's equipment remains much
the same for centuries but with minor variations, e.g., in the size of
shields or the weight of armor. The Roman legionary carries a lance or
spear, a shield, javelins, helmet, and breastplate of coat of mail. In
the OT we read of shields, helmets, armor, shoes, spears, bows and
arrows, and slings... The word is used only figuratively in the NT. (Kittel,
G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament. Eerdmans)
Puritan Thomas Brooks alluded to the full armor when he wrote
that...
Christ, the Scripture, your own hearts, and Satan’s devices, are the
four prime things that should be first and most studied and searched. If
any cast off the study of these, they cannot be safe here, nor happy
hereafter. It is my work as a Christian, but much more as I am a
Watchman, to do my best to discover the fullness of Christ, the
emptiness of the creature, and the snares of the great deceiver....
SO THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO
RESIST: hina dunethete (2PAPS) antistenai (AAN): (Eph
5:6,16;
Ecclesiastes 12:1;
Amos 6:3;
Luke 8:13;
Revelation 3:10)
So that
(2443)
(hina) introduces a purpose clause, the reason we are to take up
the full armor is now explained.
Will be able
(1410)
(dunamai - see study of related word
dunamis) means to have power by virtue
of inherent ability and resources. Note the
passive voice
which indicates that this is an internal enablement provided by an
outside source, the Spirit of God. The tense is
aorist
so Paul is saying that we will be enabled to effectively resist.
Notice that Paul
uses dunamai three times in this short treatise on spiritual
warfare and each time it is in the
passive voice
indicating an external source of enablement to which the believer must
be willing to yield and receive from the Holy Spirit! (See
notes
Ephesians 6:11,
6:13;
6:16)
In other words, attitudes such as self confidence, self sufficiency and
self assurance, etc, have to be cast off like filthy garments of
unrighteousness if we are to receive the necessary divine empowerment
God graciously makes available.
Evil (4190)
(poneros from pónos = labor, sorrow, pain) refers to evil
and means active evil in opposition to good. When Satan is referred to
as the "Evil One", the NT writers chose poneros rather
than kakos, this latter word basically denoting a lack of
something (it is not as it ought to be and thus is bad) but also used to
refer evil in a moral sense.
Day (2250)
(hemera) is literally the time space between dawn and dark or the
whole 24 hours. In the present context, day refers more to a
point or period of time.
Wuest
writes that...
The definite article before “day,”
marks it out as a particular day, probably, as Expositors says, “the day
of violent temptation and assault, whenever that may come to us during
the present time.”
(Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans)
Resist
(436)
(anthistemi from anti = against +
histemi = stand) means literally to stand or set against. It
means to arrange in battle against and so pictures a face to face
confrontation. It means to set one's self against, to stand firm against
someone else's onset, to oppose (place opposite or against), to resist
by actively opposing pressure or power, to withstand (oppose with firm
determination). It involves not only a psychological attitude but also a
corresponding behavior. It was used to refer to an army arranging in
battle against the enemy force and so to array against.
Anthistemi suggests vigorously opposing, bravely resisting, standing
face-to-face against an adversary, holding your ground. As a medical
student I learned that antihistamines (derived from "anthistemi")
block or antagonize histamine, and in the same way anthistemi
tells us that with the authority and spiritual weapons granted to us we
can stand against all evil forces. Note carefully that Paul does not say
for us to hunt down or to actively pursue our spiritual enemies (don't
worry...they will find us!), but to remain steadfast and immovable
girded in the full armor of God in the face of persistent attack.
Wuest writes that anthistemi
means
"means “to withstand, to be
firm against someone else’s onset” rather than “to strive against that
one.” The Christian would do well to remember that he cannot fight the
devil. The latter was originally the most powerful and wise angel God
created. He still retains much of that power and wisdom as a glance down
the pages of history and a look about one today will easily show. While
the Christian cannot take the offensive against Satan, yet he can stand
his ground in the face of his attacks. Cowardice never wins against
Satan, only courage."
(Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans)
Grant Richison
makes the important observation that anthistemi...
"is a term of defense, not offense.
The Christian must build fortifications against the Devil. The Christian
is at war. We should establish bulwarks of faith against our enemy. We
resist by obeying the commands of verse eight. We would do well to
remember that we cannot fight the Devil in ourselves." (Richison,
G: Today's Word)
The Net Bible
note states that
"the term anthistemi carries
the idea of resisting or opposing something or someone. In Eph 6:13,
when used in combination with stēnai ("stand firm") and in a
context of battle imagery, it seems to have the idea of resisting,
standing firm, and being able to stand your ground." (The NET Bible
Notes. Biblical Studies Press)
A Roman
centurion, according to Polybius, had to be the kind of man who could be
relied upon to resist or stand fast and not give way, even when
hard-pressed. So too for the Christian soldier who is called to
resist the devil, to forsake the world, and to deny
the lusts of the flesh. As discussed elsewhere in these notes, the alert
believer must constantly remember that Satan’s desire is to tempt
believers to doubt, to deny, to disregard, and to disobey God. So
strengthened by the Spirit and clothed with God's full armor, resist
him!
Remember also that in spiritual warfare,
there is no middle ground and no neutrality (Satan, unlike
Hitler, recognizes no "spiritual Switzerland"). To stand with the Lord is
to stand against everything sinful and worldly that formerly was
appealing, corrupting, and enslaving.
Matthew Henry
writes that
"We must not yield to the devil’s
allurements and assaults, but oppose them. Satan is said to stand up
against us,
1 Chr. 21:1. If he stand up against
us, we must stand against him; set up, and keep up, an
interest in opposition to the devil. Satan is the wicked one, and his
kingdom is the kingdom of sin: to stand against Satan is to strive
against sin. That you may be able to withstand in the evil day, in the
day of temptation, or of any sore affliction." (Matthew Henry's
Commentary on the Whole Bible) (Bolding added)
Believers are not to fight with one another but stand against
their true enemy. Believers also need to guard against an unhealthy,
arrogant attitude which says "we're going to whip the devil!"
Paul's call to resist could be paraphrased "hold your ground".
The idea of not giving ground in spiritual battle certainly has its
counterpart in literal warfare where the opposing sides are dug in,
hunkered down and striving not to give an inch. This same idea of
not giving ground was alluded to in Ephesians 4 where Paul
wrote...
BE
ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN;
do not let
the sun
go down
on your anger, and do not
give the devil an
opportunity (topos - see discussion below). (In these two
passages, Paul, like a commanding general in the fierceness of battle,
barks out 4 commands
all in the
present imperative
and three of these commands are with the negative, a Greek construction
which forbids the continuance of an action which was already going on!)
(See notes
Ephesians 4:26;
4:27)
Paul
commands the Ephesian believers to stop sinning (getting angry for the
wrong reason, wrong time, wrong attitude, etc), to stop letting the sun
go down on their anger and to stop giving the devil an opportunity.
Remember that opportunity (topos)
was used in Greek to refer to a territory, land, a defined place, an
area (“District,” “town,” “dwelling-place”). In short topos can
refer to an area of any size depending on the context. As used
figuratively here topos refers to a place, opportunity or
occasion. Paul is saying for these believers to stop giving the devil a
foothold or base for operations which parallels his instruction here in
Ephesians 6:13 to hold their ground and not give an inch of territory to
the devil or his minions! Don't make a "spot" for the devil to
come sit in your life or between you and another individual, especially
your mate! He specializes in driving a wedge between husband and wife
(cf Genesis 3:1, 12, 13) and anger is one of his primary vehicles. It is
interesting that topos is used in another passage on anger...
Never take your own revenge, beloved,
but leave room (topos) for the wrath of God, for it is
written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord. (See note
Romans 12:19)
(Comment: the divine wrath - leave room for it to work. Do not
get in its way, as you will do by taking vengeance into your own hands.)
Even the
best motivated anger can sour, and we are therefore to put it aside at
the end of the day. Taken to bed, it is likely to give the devil an
opportunity to use it for his purposes. Saying this all another way "hold
your ground"!
Anthistemi is used 45 times in the
Septuagint (LXX).
After Moses died Jehovah Himself spoke to Moses' successor, Joshua,
encouraging him with the declaration that
"No man will be able to stand
before (LXX
= anthistemi = stand
against) you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses,
I will be with you; I will not fail
