Isaiah 59: The Failings of Man: Chapter 19: The Armor of God

Isaiah tells us that there was no righteous man on the earth who was qualified to intercede for the people, so God Himself intervened to do what men could not do. Isaiah 59:16 says,

¹⁶ And He saw that there was no man and was astonished that there was no one to intercede; then His own arm brought salvation [yasha, “to save”] to Him, and His righteousness upheld Him.

The prophet used the word yasha, “to save,” which is the root word of both Isaiah and Yeshua. It is a prophecy that God would bring salvation through the intercessory work of Yeshua-Jesus. The implication is that He is the only one on earth who could save, because He alone is without sin.

The Apostle Paul comments on this in Romans 3, affirming Isaiah’s revelation that “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23) and are incapable of saving themselves. Therefore, Paul says in the next verse, we are “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”

The Armor of Christ

Isaiah 59:17 continues,

¹⁷ He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation [Yeshua] on His head; and He put on garments of vengeance [naqam] for clothing and wrapped Himself with zeal [kina] as a mantle.

This is a partial list of spiritual armor that Jesus Christ put on in order to do His redemptive and judicial work in the earth. He Himself is the helmet, of course, for it is the “helmet of Yeshua.” The breastplate signifies “righteousness” (tsedeqah, “justice, righteousness, establish every man’s lawful rights”).

The law reflects the character of Christ, which is the divine standard for the whole world. When He judges the world, it is to restore the lawful order. It is to judge all violation of the rights that the law of God ensured to all men equally.

All but the “garments of vengeance” are available to the body of Christ for as the Apostle Paul notes in Rom. 12:19,

¹⁹ Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written [in Deut. 32:35], “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

Jesus Christ, being personally sinless and knowing the whole truth behind every man’s motives and actions, is able to execute vengeance (naqam) with perfect justice and no bias.

The mantle of zeal (kina) was manifested in Christ when He cleansed the temple the first time in the early part of His ministry. John 2:17 says,

¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it was written [in Psalm 69:9], “Zeal for Your house will consume Me.”

The Hebrew word for “zeal” in Psalm 69:9 is kina, which is closely related to Cana and Canaanite (Hebrew: kena’aniy). Jesus cleansed the temple shortly after His first miracle at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. He drove out the money-changers, who had turned the House of God into a house of merchandise. The Hebrew word for Canaanite meant a merchant. (See Job 41:6, where kena’aniy is rendered “merchants.”)

Hence, Christ’s zeal (kina) motivated Him to expel the Canaanites (merchants) from the temple. He was zealous, not in a carnal manner (such as is seen among the political party known as the Zealots), but in defending the rights of God in a lawful manner.

Men must be very careful about their acts of zealotry, for it is as easy to misuse zeal as it is with vengeance.

The Belt of Truth

To the armor above we must add the belt of truth from Isaiah 11:5,

⁵ Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness [emuna] the belt about His waist.

The Hebrew word for truth is emeth, which is from the root word aman, “to believe the truth, have faith, to be faithful.” Isaiah says that “faithfulness” (emuna) is “the belt around His waist.” One cannot separate truth from faith or faithfulness, because these are derived from the same Hebrew word. To have faith is to believe the truth. If one believes a lie, it is not true faith, no matter how strong the belief is.

I have heard Christians say that they do not want to learn “doctrine,” but that they prefer simple “faith.” I have found that this usually means that they do not want to learn truth, which they equate with head knowledge which they deem to be carnal. There is certainly much head knowledge that lacks biblical truth, but the knowledge of God is spiritual knowledge, emanating not from the soul but from the spirit. True knowledge comes from “the spirit of knowledge” (Isaiah 11:2), not from carnal men.

Unfortunately, most of those who set aside truth in favor of faith tend to separate truth from faith, and the result is that their faith is no longer based in truth.

Those who despise truth have failed to put on the belt of truth. Lacking this piece of spiritual armor makes them susceptible to lies from their friends, from their teachers, from the government, and from lawless religious leaders.

The Full Armor of God

Paul famously drew from Isaiah when he gave a more complete list of spiritual armor in Eph. 6:13-17,

¹³ Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

It is noteworthy that the Apostle does not tell believers to put on the garment of vengeance, which is only given to Christ Himself. He speaks of girding “your loins with truth,” which is the belt of truth in Isaiah 11:5.

He speaks of the “breastplate of righteousness” and the “helmet of salvation” in Isaiah 59:17. In 1 Thess. 5:8, 9 Paul enlarges on this,

⁸ But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation, ⁹ for God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hence, the breastplate of “righteousness” is defined in terms of “faith and love.” It is “the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” (Phil. 3:9)—as distinct from one’s own works. In other words, it is New Covenant faith. Secondly, righteousness is defined in terms of “love,” which governs all things and is the righteous standard of the God of love.

The “helmet” given to us is not said to be “salvation” itself but “the hope of salvation.” When we put on the helmet of Yeshua (“salvation”), we make Christ our Head, and we are given the hope, or better, the expectation of salvation or deliverance. In other words, we may expect “the redemption of our body, for in hope we have been saved” (Rom. 8:23, 24).

Paul says that we have reason to have this “hope of salvation,” because “God has not destined us for wrath.” Our hope is for salvation, not wrath. Hence, our outlook in life is such that we can be confident of the future and live without fear.

Quality Shoes

We must also wear proper shoes if we want to put on the full armor of God. Paul equates these shoes to the idea of shalom, “peace, reconciliation.” As ambassadors for Christ, our feet have been shod with the word of reconciliation. We are messengers of peace that are sent to tell the good news “that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19).

God’s love was such that He reconciled men while they were yet enemies (Rom. 5:10). We are ambassadors of the good news, called to tell people how God took the initiative to reconcile them even while they believed God was their enemy.

Isaiah 59 tells us that there are no righteous men on the earth, and for this reason God took the initiative and sent Yeshua to intercede for the world and to save it. He did this to fulfill His New Covenant vows to save the world through Christ. When we understand the meaning of this, we have put on the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace and reconciliation. But without understanding the reconciliation of all things, we must question the quality of our shoes.

The Shield and the Sword

Paul speaks of “the shield of faith” as a defensive part of one’s armor. It is designed to “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” If one’s faith is weak, one’s shield is weak. It is easy, then, for the accusations of the enemy to hit us in the heart. We must know without any doubt that we are the children of God and that the righteousness of God has been imputed to us, or else our faults will trouble us and cause us to doubt our position in Christ.

Paul links the shield of faith to the sword of the Spirit. The shield is defensive; the sword is an offensive weapon. If our shield is weak, we will be hindered in wielding the sword, which is the word of God. There are many who try to engage in spiritual warfare without much knowledge of the word of God. They often find themselves at a great disadvantage.

It is my desire that every man’s sword would be long and effective in the battle. We will take no ground unless we go on the offensive, using the sword of the Spirit effectively.

We also need defensive armor to avoid being wounded by the fiery arrows (or darts) of those who stand ready to accuse us of sin and imperfection. Hence, it is vital that we know how to deal with personal sin in a lawful, biblical manner.

The ultimate goal of the New Covenant, according to Heb. 8:10, 11, is to write the law on our hearts, transforming our nature into the image of Christ, and to bring believers into spiritual maturity, where they will no longer be in need of teaching. Then “all will know Me, from the least to the greatest of them.”