|
CHAPTER
23
CHAPTER
TWENTY THREE
THE
SHIELD
THE
SHIELD
I
prefer the KJV translation here:
After
these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in
a vision, saying, “Fear not, Abram; I am thy shield,
and thy exceeding great reward.”
(Genesis
chapter 15, verse 1).
A
shield is a piece of armour which is used to protect
the one holding it from the blows of the enemy. It does
this by being placed before the attacks of the enemy
and taking the blows upon it rather than allowing them
to reach the one behind it. It can also be used to ward
off or deflect attacks, thereby allowing the shield’s
user to then make a counter attack and slay his opponent.
An obvious use of the shield was to hide behind it if
the arrows, spears, stones or other missiles flew too
thickly.
In
the above passage of Scripture, Abram, whose name would
later become Abraham, had, some time before, been involved
in fighting in order to rescue his nephew Lot, who had
been taken captive in a previous set of battles. Five
kings had gone to war against four kings, and, for a
time, fighting must have raged all around Abram. He
understood the purpose and the benefits of a shield
in warfare. How comforting for him when the Lord God
spoke these words, ‘Fear not, Abram; I am thy shield’.
This
all happened long before the birth of Jesus, so can
this same title or attribute be applied to Christ on
behalf of His followers? Is Jesus a shield to those
who belong to Him? To those who know Him, I think the
answer is obvious. Of course believers suffer many attacks
from the enemies of God, and , throughout history, a
great number of Christ’s followers have been slaughtered.
Around the world, Christians are still dying for their
faith. Despite this, Jesus is still a very real Shield
to His people. I do not believe any Christian dies before
his or her God-ordained time, and, whatever the circumstances,
we are shielded by God until that time. Even, and especially,
in death, we are shielded from the terrible power of
death. Because of our perfect Shield death cannot harm
us in the least bit. God undoubtedly shields us in a
physical sense also, even before we come to faith in
Him. Remember, ‘He knows those who are His’, even before
the earth’s creation. And, how great the number of Christians
who can look back over their lives before they believed,
and, along with John Newton, gratefully proclaim:
Through
many dangers, toils and snares,
I
have already come;
‘Tis
grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And
grace will lead me home.
I
include myself among them. We know our Jesus is our
Shield. In the New Testament we are told to put on the
full armour of God. If it was not possible, He would
not tell us to do so.
Finally,
be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on
the full armour of God so that you can take your stand
against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against
the authorities, against the powers of this dark world
and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms.
(Ephesians
chapter 6, verses 10-12).
The
world has re-inforced concrete bunkers, bomb-proof shelters
and battle tanks with amazingly robust armour plating.
However, science and military ingenuity has not developed
one single piece of armour or protection against the
main enemy of mankind---the ‘spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms’. There are demonic heavenly
realms beneath God’s perfect heaven, and earth
is attacked on a daily basis. These spiritual attacks
are very successful in working to promote every kind
of evil, ungodliness, unbelief, false belief, delusion
and deception among the inhabitants of this world, and
they carry away millions upon millions of unsuspecting
victims. But, remember, as we learned earlier, all such
victims are guilty of refusing to love the truth as
found in Christ Jesus; so God, knowing they will not
turn in repentance, gives them over to their delusions
and lies. It is impossible for those who love lies to
defeat the devil. Thankfully, for the Christian, there
is real spiritual armour:
Stand
firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round 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.
(Ephesians
chapter 6, verses 14-17).
And
there is true protection behind Christ our Shield.
THE
EXCEEDING GREAT REWARD
This
is a wonderful promise from God. And what a rich translation
from the KJV. God made it personal to Abram using the
word ‘thy’, the old word for ‘your’; ‘I am your shield
and your exceeding great reward’. It is just as personal
to all who come to the Father through faith in the Son.
And God in His fullness, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
is still every believer’s ‘exceeding great reward’.
Fellow Christian, how dear to you is your faith in Christ?
We should be willing to give up all things rather than
our precious trust in Jesus. You see, we don’t just
have a faith, something impersonal and unfeeling like
a large diamond, which is of great value in a monetary
sense but not much else; we have Jesus, the Son of God,
who is Himself God; we have God’s many priceless promises
to care for us and to do us good. In Jeremiah we read:
“For
I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to
give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon
me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”
(Jeremiah
chapter 29, verses 11-12).
And,
for all who really desire to find God, God promises
that whoever sincerely seeks Him will find Him. Many
claim to seek God, but stop short and become satisfied
with falsehoods because they never inwardly sought the
true God. Their motivation and their seeking were insincere,
although they would never admit to such a thing, not
even to themselves. Not one single human being who wholeheartedly
seeks after the Living God will be lost:
“You
will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your
heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD.
(Jeremiah
chapter 29, verses 13-14).
Jesus
repeats this promise in the New Testament:
“Ask
and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone
who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who
knocks, the door will be opened.”
(Matthew
chapter 7, verses 7-8).
Of
course, our asking, seeking and knocking must be on
a Godly line and not from selfish motives.
When
believers get to heaven, every trace of selfish desire
will have fallen away, and, though the Bible tells us
there will be certain rewards for Christians in heaven,
by far the best will be that living Exceeding Great
Reward---Jesus Christ in person.
Stand
up! Stand up for Jesus!
Stand
in His strength alone;
The
arm of flesh will fail you,
Ye
dare not trust your own.
Put
on the gospel armour,
Each
piece put on with prayer;
Where
duty calls, or danger,
Be
never wanting there.
(George
Duffield)
|
