Weapons of Offence and Defence

UV 1354/10,000 Weapons of Defence and Offence
Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.
Deuteronomy 33 v 29

The word “happy” in scripture is used synonymous with “blessed.” There is no way a man can be truly happy except he be blessed by the Lord. Even though Abraham showed how blessed he was to be a Friend of God, his grandson Jacob just two generations from him tried to steal blessings. Jacob ran away from home and God. He then struggled with the angel of God and did not let go till he was blessed. As human beings we have certain common unique gifts like the ability to understand, the ability to communicate, the gift of faith or to be able to believe that which we cannot perceive, the ability to imagine. Besides these common gifts of humanity, we have some spiritual gifts that are unique: the gift to teach, the gift of healing, the gift of hospitality, the gift of administration. Then some of us have further unique gifts of seeing visions and dreams and to be able to interpret these, the gift of prophecy. But the uni-verse above states that our uniqueness like our happiness does not rest on our unique gifts and abilities but the saving hand of the Lord. We are not saved by our own hands or our own efforts but salvation is provided by the Lord. As we yield our hearts and souls to Him, He becomes our shield of help. He shields us as our Ebenezer. He helps us overcome our inner weaknesses as well as external threats, visible and invisible, known and unknown. Like a shield He surrounds us in 360 degrees and 24 hours x 365 days of all the years we live. But just as a shield is useless unless we maintain a tight grip on its handle, we need to hold on for dear life to the Lord and not let go anytime. The Lord has a responsibility to guard us even as we have a response to show. His help comes to us through the Holy Spirit, through His word and the fulfilment of His promises, through natural means like other people and circumstances, through supernatural means like angels and miracles.

In one hand we need to take hold of the shield of faith while in the other we need a firm grip on the sword of the Word, the sword of execution, the obedience to His commands. This will power us on the path of excellence, the pursuit of moral and all round perfection. The promises of God to defend and help us then are our shield of salvation while the commands to be strong, to be faithful, to be loving, to forgive, to be diligent, to be wise are our sword, the weapon of offence. There are times in all our lives when we like Jacob tried to steal blessings, tried to run away from God and struggle with Him. But now we know that we have salvation and blessing as we yield our hearts completely to Him. When we are availing the help of the Lord and also taking a stand of faith with the sword to resist the advances of the world, we will be credible witnesses, blessed of the Lord.

When we correctly and skilfully handle the shield and sword, the Lord will enable us to be victorious. The enemy of our souls and his agents on earth will be put to shame as liars. The Lord will fight the battle for us and put them to rout. Their accusations will found to be false. The Word combines in it defensive power for protection or defence as well as offensive power for victory. We need to discern which are the “shield” verses and which are the “sword” verses in scripture. When we avail the strength and power of God in this manner, we will prevail. Our struggle is not with God or with flesh and blood but with principalities and powers of darkness that want to rob, steal, kill, harm and destroy.

Prateep V Philip