The Word of the Lord teaches
us the principle of 'anointing our shields' (which is a key part of the
armor of God). Let's go back to the book of Isaiah.
Isaiah 21:1-10
The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass
through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. A grievous
vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously,
and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing
thereof have I made to cease. Therefore are my loins filled with pain:
pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I
was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it. My
heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure has he
turned into fear unto me. 5 PREPARE THE TABLE, WATCH IN THE WATCHTOWER,
EAT, DRINK: ARISE, YOU PRINCES, AND ANOINT THE SHIELD. For thus has the
Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. 7
<THIS IS WHAT HE SEES> And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a
chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with
much heed: 8 <THIS IS WHAT HE THINKS HE SEES> And he cried, A lion: My
lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set
in my ward whole nights: 9 And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a
couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen;
and all the graven images of her gods he has broken unto the ground. O my
threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the LORD of
hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.
Verse 5 is talking about the
lack of preparedness, and that lack is particularly expressed in not having
anointed the shield. The
anointing of the shield goes back as far as the Assyrians and the
Babylonians.
The
Assyrians became world rulers, and they did it by a superior weapon!
The
weapon that the Assyrians used to conquer the world was called the broad
sword.
The
broad sword was different from all the other swords they had before.
Because people defended
themselves with a shield, the only way you could hit them was if you caught
them with their shields down, you attacked from the back, or you had
something strong enough to pierce the shield.
Because they began using
metal shields, people looked for new weapons to cause greater damage.
This
was a sword that was a long bladed sword with a real wide blade made out of
spring steel. This sword was distinctly different from other swords because
it helped people overcome another soldiers shield.
Instead
of trying to pierce a shield, the Assyrian army took the broad sword and
they slapped the shield with the side of the blade, (like this) and when
they slapped it with the side, this long blade of spring steel wrapped
around the shield, and with a little twist of the wrist it went around
behind and would cut off an arm, cut off a leg and disable the shielded
soldier. And the world was
ruled by the Assyrians because of the use of the broad sword.
Now
everyone tried to figure out how to conquer the Assyrians.
What
is one step up from the broad sword?
The Babylonians discovered a
new weapon under King Nebuchadnezzar that defeated the broad sword.
This is what it was: they
took a common shield, a metal shield, and took some lamb skin and wrapped it
around the edges of their shield, layer upon layer and then fastened it. And
then, they anointed it with oil and it became very soft.
Now, when an Assyrian soldier
slapped the broad sword against their shield that had an inch of lambskin
layered and anointed, there was a dull thud and nothing happened.
The shield simply absorbed
the blow.
Now
we know that the Babylonians were conquered. The prophet Daniel gives us an
image and he talks about the Babylonian empire and tells that they were
conquered by the Medes and the Persians.
Now
the way that the Medes and the Persians conquered the Babylonians was
something very surprising. Strangely enough, the thing that the Medes and
the Persians used to conquer the Babylonians was again the broad sword.
The
same thing that had been used before!! But you say how could it work?
The
Babylonians had discovered that they could dull the blow.
You
see - there is something very unique about lambskin, anointed.
that is, that as soon as you
hang it up and it's not anointed, the oil dries out and it becomes hard.
The
Babylonians, after they had conquered the world, began to celebrate, and
they got kind of dull in their military preparedness
In Daniel 5 it describes the
exact events that were taking place when the Babylonian empire fell.
Daniel
5:1 Belshazzar, the king made a
great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and
silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple
which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his
concubines, might drink therein.
Daniel
5:4 In the same hour came forth
fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the
plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the
hand that wrote.
As
the story unfolds, the king is distressed. The queen (vs 10) suggests Daniel
to interpret the meaning of it.
His answer is in Daniel
5:17-28.
Daniel
5:25 And this is the writing that
was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 26 This is the interpretation of
the thing: MENE; God has numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. 27 TEKEL;
Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. 28 PERES; Thy
kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Looking here in Daniel we are
seeing the description of what is happening.
The Babylonians have conquered
the world, and now they are simply having a drunken feast - including the
desecration of temple vessels of gold and silver to drink from.
G -d proclaims judgement!
Now Isaiah said (vs 5):
arise, anoint the shield.
If the Babylonians had
bothered to periodically put a fresh touch of oil (anointing) upon their
shields, they would have been ready.
But
when they came out with their shields, those shields that they had learned
to defeat the broad sword with,
not having anointed the shield
- the lambskin did absolutely nothing. And again they were slaughtered on
that particular night and they were conquered.
The
significance is this: the scriptures describe the shield in the Brit
Hadashah (New Testament) as the shield of faith.
Ephesians 6:16 Above all, taking
the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God:
We
need a tenderness and an anointing before G -d on a continuing basis.
Now,
some believers have committed their lives to the Lord, they have memorized a
few scriptures, attended worship services for a time; and then they feel
that they are equipped for the rest of their lives.
What often happens, however,
is that they begin to slack off, and the enemy comes in and they are tripped
up and fall into sin.
When
this happens, others look and say what has happened?
How could this be.
Were they really saved? And
the answer is - of course they were.
They made a commitment but
they forgot one thing - we need to have an anointing that comes by the oil
of the Holy Spirit. This anointing of the Holy Spirit brings a freshness to
your spirit - and like anointing the lambskin on the shield, it keeps us
soft and pliable, teachable and usable.
In Isaiah 10:27, the
scripture declares that it is the anointing that breaks the yoke.
Therefore let us make sure
every yoke [burden, weight, pressure] is broken by seeking for and relying
upon the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah
10:27 And it shall come to pass in
that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his
yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the
anointing.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we
have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside
every encumbrance <KJV: weight>, and the sin which so easily entangles us,
and let us run with endurance <KJV: patience> the race that is set before
us, 2 Fixing our eyes on Yeshua the author and perfecter <KJV: finisher> of
our faith; who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
NOTHING WILL SUBSTITUTE FOR
THE ANOINTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!!!!
SYMPTOMS
OF A DRIED SHIELD
1) NO
TENDERNESS BEFORE G-D
When nothing seems to stir you below the surface.
No fear of a mighty and righteous G-d
No real desire for Holiness
(Lev 11:44, 19:2 Be Holy, for I Am Holy)
It will begin to creep upon
you, when the Broad Sword of the world begins to beat against your shield;
if you allow the lack of anointing to take place, sooner or later it will
cause some major destruction behind the shield that you thought was
protecting you.
Isaiah
6:1 In the year that king Uzziah
died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his
train filled the temple. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of
him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then said I, Woe is
me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the
midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the
LORD of hosts.
We read Isaiah's words and
think would I love to experience G -d like that.
You know what brings down
that presence of the Lord? A
hungering after G -d brings the presence of the Lord, a constant seeking
of a new anointing.
Isaiah
29:13-14 Wherefore the Lord said,
Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips
do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear
toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will do a
marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for
the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their
prudent men shall be hid.
Some talk a good game, but
their heart is not in it.
2) A GROWING SENSE OF PRIDE
IN ACCOMPLISHMENTS, RATHER THAN A HUMBLENESS BEFORE G-D.
SEE Pg 796 I COR 1:25 - 31 ABK PG 1099
Sometimes when the shield
begins to dry and there is a lack of anointing we begin to feel self-
important. "G -d is so lucky to have us".
That is not the kind of
attitude that G -d
appreciates in us.
3) A TENDENCY TO SETTLE FOR
LESS THAN THE GENUINE
We can sometimes take
substitutes for the anointing of G -d, or settle for less than
G -d's best.
Don't do it!!
G
-d is faithful and will accomplish exceedingly abundantly more than we ask
or think.
The
anointing is central to everything.
Without the anointing all preaching, teaching, singing, or dancing is
just empty rituals. Human
imitations of G -d's glory never make it.
Psalm
127:1 "Except the Lord build the
house, they labor in vain who build it."
4) A
GREATER TOLERANCE OF COMPROMISE, AND A TENDENCY TO HARBOR SECRET SIN
G-d's standards are still the
same! Some people, or even
religious organizations may redefine their standards, but G-d has not
changed.
Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I
change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
HOW DO WE
KEEP OUR SHIELDS ANOINTED?
By constantly returning to the
source of living waters, the lord our g -d, desiring and expecting to be
filled with the holy spirit.Let
us endeavor to keep our shields anointed. Seek G -d diligently, and expect
his
Ruach
to be poured out upon us. We can see various examples in the scriptures
where the early believers sought for and received an anointing of the Holy
Spirit:
Acts
2:4 And they were all filled with
the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave
them utterance.
Once again, the same group of
people as in the last scripture:
Acts
4:31 And when they had prayed, the
place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all
filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
The Word commands us not to
seek the world's "highs", but to be energized with the anointing of Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk
with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Philippians 1:11 Being filled with
the fruits of righteousness, which are by Yeshua HaMashiach, unto the glory
and praise of God.
