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And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:17)

 

The helmet of salvation is listed fifth among the items of armor. Again, Paul's words are in all caps once more indicating that we have a quote from the Tanakh.

He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. (Isaiah 59:17)

 

Here again, Isaiah describes G-d's armor, and in this passage, He has a helmet of salvation on His head.

The Hebrew word for salvation is yeshua which is the Hebrew name of Jesus.  Isaiah describes G-d as having a "helmet of Jesus/Yeshua/salvation" on His head!  It appears that we are once again called to clothe ourselves in Messiah as we were with the "belt of truth."

This piece of armor is designed to protect our head.  Our head holds our mind which contains our thoughts.  We should set our mind on G-d's interests, not man's (Matthew 16:23).  We should be of one mind (Acts 2:46).  We should be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).  And we should spiritually appraise all things with the mind of Messiah (1 Corinthians 2:15-16).

In Romans 7 and 8 Paul writes regarding the mind and war:

For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:22-25)

 

In his inner man, in his mind, Paul joyfully concurs with and serves the Law of G-d. In his flesh, a different law (the law of sin) is waging war against the law of his mind (the Law of G-d) and making him a prisoner. Praise be to G-d that He (and we!) have been set free from the law of sin. Paul goes on to make some general statements in this matter in Romans 8:

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:5-8)

 

The mind set on the flesh is death.  Paul tells us that we should have our mind set on the Spirit, serving the Law of G-d, which is a spiritual matter (Romans 7:14). Should we not have our mind protected by our Messiah, our salvation? He provided us with the perfect instruction regarding the Law of G-d. By observing Him and clothing ourselves with Him, we can walk (the "feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace") as He walked as Yochanan encouraged us to do (1 John 2:4-6).

 

The Example of the PriestShield of Faith

Speaking of the Law. Let us once again consider the image of the priest. That white miter cap he is sporting doesn't seem to provide much protection to guard his head, does it?.

Look more closely.

He has a gold plate on his head on which is engraved "Kadosh l'YHVH" or "holy unto the LORD" (Exodus 28:36). Isaiah 6:3, and Revelation 4:8 all describe G-d as Holy, Holy, Holy. In Revelation 3:7, Messiah is described as "He who is holy, who is true...". Again we see the picture of being clothed with Messiah Yeshua. He is truly our helmet of Salvation/Yeshua.

 

Torah Portion

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Today is

Yom Sh'lishi, 9 Adar II, 5784

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

 

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