“At the name of Jesus every knee should bow…” Philippians 2:10

THE FIRST THING you would notice about a Roman soldier when he prepared for battle is that he put on a belt, or a sash…

The idea was this:  a Roman soldier wore a tunic; a tunic was basically a dress for men.  It had two holes for arms and a hole for the head.  You put it on and it went down around your knees.

If you were going into battle, you would pull your tunic together with a sash.  Typically they wore an undergarment so they would pull up the corners of the tunic, the long hem of the tunic, and tuck it into the sash, and pull it as tight as they could.

Now remember you’re going into hand-to-hand combat.  You don’t want your tunic blowing around in the breeze where somebody could grab it, pull it over your head, and kill you.  You can’t get into hand-to-hand mortal combat with your tunic blowing around, catching the bushes, or getting your sword caught up in it.

Soldiers needed to run quickly.  They needed to move with dexterity, speed, and had to pull in all the loose ends or they would be an easy mark for the enemy.

This speaks of preparedness.  This speaks of readiness.  This speaks of alertness.  John MacArthur, “The Armor of God:  The Belt of Truthfulness and The Breastplate of Righteousness.”

“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth…”  Ephesians 6:14a, NKJV

Mike Benson