Starting in verse 10, this section is subtitled "the armor of god " in my bible. It is the beginning of the end of the chapter and the letter. The christians addressed in this letter are told to be strong in the lord and in his mighty power. But what is his mighty power? So far it seems to be only abstract ideas. There are no concrete acts that this god does, that I can recall being mentioned in this letter. Instead, all the real action is to be done by the readers/hearers. Everything else is couched in metaphors and the language of "spiritual" philosophy. We have been told about grace, redemption, salvation, etc.. All words that have ambiguous meanings and purpose. What good is this god in the present tense, here on earth, besides making sure his commands are followed correctly? To what earthly end?
This armor that the readers are to put on is another metaphor and it is supposed to be for protection against the schemes of the devil. Is he also a metaphor? The passage tells us he is not flesh and blood, but he has something to do with rulers, authorities, and powers in this dark world, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. He is a Sith Lord? Now that humans have actually explored the heavens with spacecraft and telescopes, it is quite obvious there are no spiritual forces of evil messing around up there. Where are these heavenly realms any way?
This armor of god is for fighting a spiritual battle on an evil day that is supposedly coming. When? Is the battle just as imaginary as the armor? The armor consists of 1. The belt of truth. 2. The breastplate of righteousness. 3. Shoes of readiness 4. A shield of faith. (To extinguish the devil's flaming darts) 5. The helmet of salvation 6. The sword of the spirit, aka the word of god. Add all kinds of prayers and requests. What practical good is any of that? The armor sounds a bit like it belongs on Wonder Woman. At least you can see hers. The christian's armor is invisible and just about as powerful as any other invisible armor.
Lastly, Paul asks the readers to pray for him that he can continue to propagate this drivel fearlessly. Why does he need prayers? Isn't he wearing his armor? I am impressed with how much a waste Paul's life was, earnestly suffering and toiling for nothing, not to mention teaching others to do the same.
*Today many christians interpret the fiery darts to be the persecution and opposition of nonbelievers, which they see in the most innocuous places. The sword of the spirit is interpreted to be the bible, even though the bible did not exist in its present form then, and the only New Testament writings that existed were possibly a few of Paul's letters. Even the author of Ephesians has not been bold enough to call his own writings the word of god.
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