Anoint The Shield!

Isaiah 21:5 in the NLT says this, “Look! They are preparing a great feast. They are spreading rugs for people to sit on. Everyone is eating and drinking. But quick! Grab your shields and prepare for battle. You are being attacked!”

It says it this way in the KJV, “Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.”

This was a message from the prophet Isaiah about Babylon.  It was a warning to those in captivity in the desert by the sea.  He was envisioning a roaring disaster in a terrifying vision.

And here he is giving clear instruction to those who would find themselves in the midst of an enemy invasion.

The order was this (easily found in the KJV):

• prepare the table
• watch in the watchtower
• eat and drink
• arise
• anoint the shield

Anoint means this = “to rub or sprinkle on, apply ointment to, to dedicate to the service of God.”

Here, the one summoned to be battle-ready, was encouraged to “anoint the shield.”

But wait - I thought a shield was for protection and didn’t need to be tended to because of it's innate defensive nature?

Oh but look!

Shields were instruments of defense that prepared a war soldier to ward off the spears and the arrows of the enemy.  The shield itself behaved as a defensive piece of armor for the troops engaging in physical combat.

By rubbing oil on the shield, it prevented the instrument from becoming hard and ultimately crack.  Perhaps without the oil anointing, it would become so rigid that the tip of the arrow aimed at it would easily destroy the shield, rendering it impossible to secure the soldier.

Think about that!

The shield has been given as a piece of armor from the Lord.  In fact, it’s mentioned in Ephesians 6 as a “shield of faith”, and is necessary for the Christian solider.
But Isaiah beckons us to examine it a little further.
He says to “anoint the shield”… to “oil” it for battle.
And by doing so, it ensured that nothing would harm that shield.
Nothing would get lodged inside of it.
Nothing would damage the protection of the one prepared.

So that could be interpreted to mean:
Nothing that comes against me will prosper.
Nothing that anyone says can destroy me.
Nothing that anyone does to me can permanently harm me.

I have oiled my shield so that when the attack comes, the offense simply slides down and I remain… unaffected.

Oh I pray that I, too, can oil my shield… anoint the protective gear I posses.  So that I might not only have strength in adversity, but prevention from damaging affliction aimed to destroy all I have worked so hard to acquire.  When I choose to oil the shield, I am refusing to live defensively or offensively.  I am simply remaining steadfast in His promise to protect me in my preparedness for anything that comes my way.

Anoint the shield!