Now we move on to the next verse, Ephesians 6:16, which says, “above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”

First century Roman soldiers had some of the most advanced weaponry of their time. They created an idea for what the Bible refers to as “darts” that was ingenious. Let me explain. They fashioned long metal spikes with a triangular tip that looked much like an arrow, but it was larger and heavier. They would fasten the dart to the tip of a spear. When they faced off at a distance against an enemy army, they would, in unison, throw their spears at them so that they would rain down from the sky in large numbers. If the opposing army had shields, many of the spears would still get past them and impale the soldiers. But many of the spears would of course lodge into the enemy’s shields.

Back in those days, shields were often made of plywood. And so another tactic used would be to coat the tips of the darts with flammable liquid, light them, and then throw them. If the spear lodged in the enemy soldier’s shield, it would set it on fire, causing the soldier to expose himself as he dropped the shield or tried to put the fire out. That is probably what prompted Paul to speak of “the fiery darts”.

Realizing that the enemy might dislodge the spears thrown at them and use them as return fire, the Roman army also designed the spears to actually bend as they struck their targets. So if the enemy could somehow dislodge the burning dart and throw it back, it would not be possible to be accurate because the tip was designed to bend upon impact because of the weight of the spear attached to it. This rendered it practically useless. How smart is that!

I mention these details to make it clear that the Romans put a lot of thought into their weaponry, especially when it came to defending themselves. For example, unlike their enemies who traditionally had small rounded shields mostly designed for close-quarters combat, the Roman army created very intuitively designed shields that would protect their soldiers even if they would be bombarded from a distance with spears or arrows. You see, the Roman shield was made larger and rectangular in shape, like a door.

As a matter of fact, the Greek word for “shield” comes from the Greek word that means “a door”. It is thoo-reh-os. “…above all taking the thoo-reh-os of faith. To give you an example of the root word, Jesus once said, “I am the thoo-rah of the sheep (which means door). I am the thoo-rah. If anyone enters by me, he will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:7 and 9).

It was with this door-like shield that the Roman soldier would be protected practically from head to toe. And should the enemy launch a barrage of arrows or spears at them, the Roman army would have its troops on the outer perimeter of the formation would place their shields side by side in front of them forming a wall of protection, while the soldiers on the inside of the formation would raise their shields above the formation to make a roof. Because the shields had a slightly convex surface, it left a large enough area around the protective barrier for the perimeter soldiers to see out without being hit by incoming spears. This afforded the Roman soldiers almost total protection.

So now that you have that basic picture, let’s look at the parts of Ephesians 6:16 in more detail…

Once again, the passage says, “above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”