Shortly after God called Abraham, He appeared to him in a vision, saying, "Don't be afraid; I am your shield and your very great reward."
There was no coincidence about the timing of this reassurance. When Abraham set out to follow God's call in Genesis 12, he took his nephew, Lot, with him. The two men separated in Genesis 13, after a conflict among their workers, and Lot ultimately moved to Sodom. In Genesis 14, we see Abraham rescuing Lot, who had been captured when armies invaded the city of Sodom.
Abraham didn't live in a city; he and his household were relative nomads, living in tents. If a walled city like Sodom was vulnerable to attack (archeological excavations in Jordan suggest that Sodom was a massive, heavily fortified city), how much more vulnerable was Abraham's small tribe of 300 people, living alone and isolated.
But it's precisely at this moment that God appears to Abraham and promises, I am your Shield, your guarantee of safety. The Hebrew word is māḡēn.
David, a man who regularly fought in war (and who for the early years of his life also didn't have the protection of a walled city) picked up this name and regularly proclaimed Yahweh Māḡēn in his songs.
Psalm 3: 3 - You are a shield for me.
Psalm 28: 11 - The Lord is my strength and my shield.
Psalm 33: 20 - Wait for God; He is our help and our shield.
Those of us who follow and honour the Lord are urged in scripture to trust Him for protection (Psalm 115: 11) : You who fear the Lord, trust in Him. He is your help (Yahweh Ezra) and your shield. (Yahweh Māḡēn)
I couldn't help noticing the recurring link between the Shield and His Word. Trusting in God's protection is closely linked to trusting what He has spoken.
Proverbs 30: 5 - Every word of the Lord is proven true. (ṣārap̄ ) He is a shield to everyone who puts their trust in Him.
Psalm 119: 114 - You are my hiding place and my shield. I put my hope in your word.
The message is clear: if we want to experience God as our shield in the battles of everyday life, we need to trust Him and we need to trust His word. We can only trust His word if we know it, and we can only know it if we are reading it regularly and listening to His voice.
