Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 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. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…
As we move into Ephesians 6:10-17 and the importance of putting on the full armor of God Paul fittingly summarizes all that he has written with allusions to the powerful image of the resurrection of dry bones found in Ezekiel 37:1-14. The most obvious of these allusions occur in Ephesians 6:10-14. The repetition of various forms of the word “stand” (4 times) are strong indications that Paul is alluding to Ezekiel 37:10. The passage in Ezekiel where God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy to the lifeless bones serves Paul’s purpose of encouraging the Ephesians. Just as Ezekiel saw bones into which the breath came… and they lived and stood on their feet, a vast multitude, so now Paul has seen Jews and Gentiles reconciled to God through Christ. With this allusion, Paul is implicitly restating the assertion that he made in Ephesians 2 that the Christians in Ephesus are beneficiaries of God’s promises to raise Israel from the dead by infusing them with the Spirit (Ezekiel 37:14). Remember, the true Israel is the church (or the church is the true Israel). The implicit reference to the power of the Spirit, then, is also a further reminder that God has also given them the power to live holy lives and even overcome mighty cosmic powers and spiritual forces of evil that are arrayed against them and seek their destruction. Thus, we now get the imagery of the spiritual armor needed to withstand the attacks of these spiritual forces, referred to in Ephesians 6:11 as the devil’s schemes.
This coming Sunday we resume our series in Ephesians by focusing on the belt of truth.