...Above all taking the
shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of
the wicked. Ephesians 6.16
Those of us who have a passion for history should not watch historical movies,
because we have a tendency to nit pick. One of my personal pet peeves concerns
movies set in the time of Ancient Rome. In the battle scenes you often see a
Roman Soldier wrapping an arrow with a cloth, setting the cloth on fire and
then shooting the arrow at the enemy. The arrow miraculously stays lit
traveling through the air at speeds up to 30 miles per hour and then with
amazing accuracy it happens to hit something flammable which then bursts into
flames.
Certainly Roman forces used flaming missiles to destroy their enemies, but
they were much more subtle appearing and more deadly. The "fiery darts" we
read about in this passage were made from a hollow reed (something like
bamboo). One end was stoppered then the reed was filled with a flammable
liquid, probably a mixture of alcohol and naphtha. A loosely fitting stopper
holding a wick was slipped into the other end of the tube and lit. It was then
shot like an arrow, not at a bundle of straw or some other flammable
substances, but at the soldier himself. Since the missile had it's own fuel
source and the wick was protected by the tube, the missile kept burning until
it hit something. When it hit a soldier, the wick popped out, the liquid
spilled over the soldier' s armor and ignited, cooking him in his own armor.
How appropriate that Paul should use this imagery concerning Satan's attack on
the people of God. These missiles were unspectacular. Fired during daylight
hours you could hardly see them coming, but when they strike the effects are
devastating. How like Satan's tactics. He sends something our way - a thought,
a doubt, an unholy idea - which seems very innocent at first, but when it
strikes it spreads its destruction throughout our spiritual man engulfing us
in his sulfuric flames.
In the field of psychology we talk about negative cognitions. These are
thoughts which cause a person to experience emotional distress. Thus, a person
suffering from depression can only think thoughts which see negative images of
the present or the future. Some of these thought patterns can be easily
explained in terms of family influences, life experiences or other
psychological factors. However, the researchers admit that many of these
thoughts seem to have no obvious origin.
Well, I can tell you that origin, and it's a very hot place! I believe Satan
himself will try to plant thoughts in our minds that will cause us pain, and
if possible, lead us to forsake God Himself.
What is our defense? Well, this scripture tells us that it is the shield of
faith. The Roman shield was as large as a door. It was made of wood the
surface of which was charred with a torch and then covered with leather. A
soldier could hide his whole body behind this shield. The missile would hit
and the liquid spread out, but the charred wood of the shield wouldn't catch
fire so the soldier was safe beneath his shield.
Sometimes we wonder why the flames of trial assail us. Well, the great
shieldmaker is simply giving us a defense against the fires of destruction by
letting us pass through his fire of purification. When you hold up that
shield, there is no missile of Satan that can harm your soul.