A Wall of Shields

Paul talks about the "full armor of God." Not the armor of the legendary Roman military, but God's armor -- armor that allows us to "...when the day of evil comes...be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand" (Ephesians 6:13).

(I guess it's better to "stand fast" than to "run fast" sometimes).

Paul gives us the list of protective gear we need: the belt of truth buckled around our waist, the breastplate of righteousness in place, feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

And then he tells us to take up the shield of faith, "with which we can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one....."

And the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

The belt -- we put that in place and it rides around our body. We don't have to hold  it up. The breastplate and the sandals are the same. They fit onto our bodies, and without any further concern they become part of our armor. 


And the helmet is the same. It is kept in place by our body. We don't put it on various parts of our body to see where it functions best -- it goes on our head and stays there!


But the shield and the sword are different. They have to be taken up and held to be skillfully used.

A soldier in the legendary Roman army was well-equipped. When he went to battle it was intended that he do as much damage to the enemy as possible, and have the most security from harm as possible.

We often picture a soldier in the arena, a gladiator, fighting another warrior, or wild animals. He will skillfully maneuver his shield and stab decisive gabs with his sword.

But this is not how the Roman army generally used their shields.

Most of the time, marching and in battle, they formed a phalanx, like the Greeks and Assyrians did before them, and like the medieval armies did for hundreds of years after them.

A phalanx was a successful military formation in which the infantry lined up, close to each other, actually shoulder to shoulder, with their shields overlapping and their swords almost touching.

This is the way it would look: one soldier would take up his shield with his left arm and hold it so that it would protect his left side and his companion's right side, and would give his short sword flexibility of movement.

The line of soldiers would then be forming a "shield wall," with the brave men on the front line either advancing or standing firm as a unit, with their shields overlapping without any breaks. The army would move as a cohesive unit.

The term "right hand man" probably came from this military practice. Because a soldier's most protection came from the man on his right, whose own shield was covering his right side and protecting his sword arm.

It was hard for the enemy to break through this shield wall, but once it was broken, the battle became man-to-man combat and the bloody fierce fighting could go on for hours and the last men standing would declare themselves winners!

A good example  of the shield wall can  be seen in the Bayeux Tapestry, a woven record of the Battle of Hasting, when the Anglo-Saxons, under Harold, tried to defend England from the invasion of William Duke of Normandy in 1066.

The English had a solid shield wall formed and as they slowly advanced toward the Norman army they felt secure in that they would be able not only resist the enemy but drive them back to sea!

Then the Normans used their alternate strategy, which was to pretend to be retreating. They turned around and broke their formation, and appeared to be scattering in a mad retreat.

Cheering, the English broke their formation, chasing the fleeing men, and trying to cut them down
one at a time.

Then the Normans stopped running, turned quickly and reformed their shield wall, blocking the English, defeating their army and advancing against Harold.

And the rest is history.....And falling for that dastardly French trick ended the rule of Anglo-Saxons and led to the re-creation of England into a European style government and hastening its development into the modern nation we know today!

What makes my mind sparkle is that in the shield wall strategy:

1. each man benefited from his neighbor's shield as well as his own.
2. when the shield wall was broken the battle turned into a single-combat melee in which the side whose wall collapsed had a serious disadvantage.

So I wonder -- When Paul wrote to the Ephesians and compared their attire for battle with evil to the military gear of the Roman solider -- was he also thinking about a shield wall?  Each soldier benefits from his neighbor's shield as well as his own.....And actually the soldier's main defense and offense was the overlapping shields that formed a solid battle line....

Is Paul reminding us that when we join together and form a solid wall we will have more success in our Christian walk -- especially in our fight against the enemy within and without? That "united we stand and divided we fall"?

Is God reminding us that we need to rely on, support, and stand by each other? That the shields of faith of my sisters and brothers in Christ help me stand fast....and holding up my shield of faith  will help them to stand?