Ephesians (W12D3) Flaming Arrows
Week 12. Wednesday: Flaming Arrows
PRAY: Ask God to speak to you from His Word.
READ: Ephesians 6:15-16
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
UNDERSTAND: get a deeper understanding of the key words
Feet Fitted with the Readiness (Greek: hypodeō pous en hetoimasia):
Refers to the binding or covering of the feet with the Gospel.
We should be prepared to take the Gospel wherever we go.
This is offensive rather than defensive. We’re going with the Gospel, which is the power of God (Romans 1:16), straight into Satan’s territory.
Gospel of Peace (Greek: euaggelion eirēnē): the good news of peace with God
The Gospel not only gives us forgiveness from our sin.
The Gospel also gives us peace with God (Romans 5:1).
Shield of Faith (Greek: thyreos pistis): the protection of trusting God
A Roman shield was as big as a door and would cover the soldier completely.
Faith is trusting God no matter what. Trusting God gives us the protection we need when life gets tough. Learning to trust God in every circumstance is the key to spiritual growth.
Extinguish (Greek: sbennymi): to quench, to suppress, to stifle
Flaming Arrows (Greek: pyroō belos): the attacks and temptations of Satan
It is interesting that Paul refers to Satan’s arrows as flaming.
A flaming arrow spreads fire to every part of the soldier. So when we think about temptation we should understand it as a fire that can consume us.
Evil One (Greek: ponēros): Satan, the very essence of wickedness and hatred for God
APPLY: What is this passage calling me to do?
In what ways do you take the Gospel to those around you?
In what areas of your life do you need to trust God more?
What “flaming arrows” is Satan using in your life right now? And how can you extinguish them?
PRAY: Ask God to help you trust Him more in every area of your life.
