Deuteronomy 33:29 Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.

Isaiah 41:11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.

Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

Romans 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Ephesians 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

I John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? (Also I John 4:4).

Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

MEMORY VERSE: Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. —Proverbs 30:5

CENTRAL THOUGHT: Faith in the power of God, sealing that faith with our lives and testimony, and putting our trust in Him, is a mighty shield for us, causing us to overcome the world and cast down the accuser with a victory that makes us to tread upon all his high places as more than conquerors; to quench all of his fiery darts; to cause our opposers to be ashamed, condemned, to perish and not prosper.

WORD DEFINITIONS

Deuteronomy 33:29 “Shield”: shield or buckler carried by a warrior for defense; same word as for “scales” in the description of leviathan in Job 41:15. “Tread”: trample (Berean Study Bible).

Romans 8:37 “More than conquerors”: from the Greek word “hupernikao,” or hyper (beyond) plus nikao (conquer), meaning exceedingly conquer; completely and overwhelmingly victorious; surpassing victory. “The ‘more than conquerors’ seems to mean, if there is any definite idea to be attached to it, the conversion of the enemy conquered into a friend and a helper” (MacLaren’s Expositions).

Ephesians 6:16 “Shall be able”: from the Greek word dunamai (from which we get our English word dynamite!); to have power; it means literally, “I can.” “Quench”: extinguish. “Fiery”: flaming; ignited. “Darts”: missile; arrow; javelin. Translated “needle” in Luke 18:25. “The wicked”: bringing toils, annoyances, perils; speaking primarily of the devil, the evil one.

I John 5:4 “Overcometh”: prevail; subdue; carry off the victory; come off victorious.

Revelation 12:10 “Accuser”: make accusation; charge; prosecute. “Cast down”: to throw to the ground, prostrate and passive.

Revelation 12:11 “Testimony”: witness; with the meaning, “to hold the testimony and to persevere steadfastly in bearing it” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon).

LESSON BACKGROUND

In the previous lesson, we concentrated on the faith that is the door-sized defense or shield for the Christian soldier; today we want to focus on the exciting concept of the kind of victory faith in God gives us. God promised Abraham He was his shield; and we can remember the ways God defended Abraham against his enemies, time after time. Well, that promise extended to Abraham’s descendants, the nation of Israel. The promise from Deuteronomy is an exclamation—“How happy!”—that celebrates the victory God gives Israel. It repeats a thought from the lesson about saints’ feet—the ability God gives His people to tread over their enemies. The prophet Isaiah enlarges on this: the enemies of God’s people would be ashamed and confounded; they would be reduced to nothing; they would perish. Their weapons would not prosper. You get the idea of the flaming dart just fizzling out.

“The fiery darts of the wicked…or devil, are evil thoughts, and strong injections, as they are termed, which in the unregenerate inflame the passions, and excite the soul to acts of transgression. While the faith is strong in Christ it acts as a shield to quench these. He who walks so as to feel the witness of God’s Spirit that he is his child, has all evil thoughts in abhorrence; and, though they pass through his mind, they never fix in his passions. They are caught on this shield, blunted, and extinguished” (Clarke’s Commentary).

Paul in Romans 8 expands the idea, rejoicing that the saints are more than conquerors; that we have the dynamic power through faith in Christ to extinguish satan’s darts (Ephesians 6:16); and John declares that the faith God births in us overcomes the world! In John’s vision on the Isle of Patmos, he saw the great conflict in the heavenly realm and heard the triumphant voice, “They overcame him…” The great accuser is cast down!

—Angela Gellenbeck

DISCUSSION:

1. Express the terms of victory found in Deuteronomy 33, Isaiah 41 and 54, Romans 8, Ephesians 6, I John 5, and Revelations 12.
2. The word “heritage” refers us back to the promise God gave to ______________.
3. The word “shield” was also used in Scripture to describe the physical “armor” of what beast?

4. Share the meaning of the term, “more than conquerors.”

5. In the Memory Verse, what is the key to God being a shield to us?

LIFE APPLICATION

The victory described by these verses is the “heritage” promised to Abraham! Zacharias was inspired after his son John’s birth with this praise about the promise to Abraham, that “we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life” (Luke 1:74-75). We receive this heritage because our faith in Christ makes us sons and heirs of Abraham.

The MacLaren quote in the Word Definitions is inspiring; however, while we know Christ gives us total and complete victory over the devil, the Bible tells us he will be completely banished into the lake of fire in the end. He’s not going to be converted or turn into a friend. But consider the opposition we may sometimes have because of our faith. Being more than a conqueror in this sense brings to mind the many times in history when the foes of the church were won to Christ and actually became friends and helpers, as in the example of Paul the apostle. I believe everything satan brings against us can be turned into spiritual good if we hold our trust in Christ. That is overwhelming victory!

Jesus said, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Then He gave an admonition, “Rejoice not that the spirits are subject to you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:18-20). This balances the celebration of the overwhelming victory we have with the truth that only as we trust in Christ for salvation, and have Him write our names in His book of life, can we have that kind of victory. It is His righteousness. It is through His strength. HE is our shield. We take refuge behind this huge shield only by faith in His name.

—Angela Gellenbeck

REFLECTIONS

by Sarai Castro, AL

It all started on July 27, 2020. We came back from the Monark campmeeting. It had been just beautiful. I really enjoyed myself; my whole family did. We met family that we had known nothing about, yet they were very welcoming.

My baby sister, Faith, started coughing badly, but we thought nothing of it until the first Sunday morning after we got back and my grandmother came in as usual to wake us up for church services in our home. I asked, “Are we going to church this morning?” She said, “No.” I knew something was wrong. We were being quarantined because we had symptoms of the COVID-19 virus.

At first it was kind of fun, and then it became boring. It was then that I invited my sister into my room. We drew pictures together and talked and talked about things. Over time we got better and we began to think and talk like each other. We got really close. Just to think of her being sick or to hear her cough hurt me. She no longer got on my nerves! I just wanted my baby sister healed, and I prayed hard for her to get well.

The Lord heard our prayers, and she was healed; both of us were healed, and we found out it was not even the COVID-19 virus at all. Today if you ask me a question and Faith is around, most of the time we will answer the same way; it’s as though she can read my thoughts now. Through the sickness and being “locked in” together, we learned to love each other and we have grown very close. Please continue to pray for us to live for the Lord.

Click here to hear “Faith” sung by the congregation at Monark Campmeeting: