The Branch and The Shield
I love the live-action version of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. I was first introduced to the story as a child via the '70s animated version by Rankin Bass and finally read the book as an adult after watching the movies about a year ago. One of the main characters in the story is Thorin Oakenshield, a dwarf king. If you're not familiar with The Hobbit, Thorin is on a quest to return to his home and overthrow a dragon that has stolen his kingdom and treasure. In the live-action film, an elaborate backstory on how all this occurred along with how
Thorin came by the name Oakenshield is given.
In a recent conversation with my sister, Thorin Oakenshield's backstory came to mind. We were talking about faith and the armor of God from Ephesians 6. Our discussion was regarding the material the shield was made of and the maker of it. If you want an effective shield that will protect you during a battle, you need to know who made it and what they made it from. Those two things will determine how much trust you put in your shield. As tangents will take you, I ended up at Thorin Oakenshield. Oakenshield refers to the branch of an oak tree Thorin used against his enemy when his battle shield was broken, and he could find nothing else to defend himself. He was able to absorb the blows from his foe with the branch and emerged triumphant. In a critical moment, an unconventional item was used to defeat the enemy (that'll preach all by itself). Although it wasn't a shield of iron or treated wood, Thorin knew the qualities of the oak tree would be sufficient to serve his purpose in a pinch when nothing else was available.
Just like Thorin, we have a shield from a branch that we can trust to protect us from our adversary. Jesus is our righteous Branch and our shield is made by a reliable Maker out of a material that we can trust. When the pivotal moment in a battle comes, you know that your shield of faith will "extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one."
In a recent conversation with my sister, Thorin Oakenshield's backstory came to mind. We were talking about faith and the armor of God from Ephesians 6. Our discussion was regarding the material the shield was made of and the maker of it. If you want an effective shield that will protect you during a battle, you need to know who made it and what they made it from. Those two things will determine how much trust you put in your shield. As tangents will take you, I ended up at Thorin Oakenshield. Oakenshield refers to the branch of an oak tree Thorin used against his enemy when his battle shield was broken, and he could find nothing else to defend himself. He was able to absorb the blows from his foe with the branch and emerged triumphant. In a critical moment, an unconventional item was used to defeat the enemy (that'll preach all by itself). Although it wasn't a shield of iron or treated wood, Thorin knew the qualities of the oak tree would be sufficient to serve his purpose in a pinch when nothing else was available.
Just like Thorin, we have a shield from a branch that we can trust to protect us from our adversary. Jesus is our righteous Branch and our shield is made by a reliable Maker out of a material that we can trust. When the pivotal moment in a battle comes, you know that your shield of faith will "extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one."
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