What Are the Fiery Darts of the Devil? (Ephesians 6:16)

 

What Are the Fiery Darts of the Devil? (Ephesians 6:16 Explained)

In Ephesians 6:16, the Bible talks about the fiery darts of the devil. It says:

“Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you'll be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” — Ephesians 6:16

I want to talk about these fiery darts because I think this topic is a lot more important than what many people realise.

Now, the text here doesn't exactly tell us what these fiery darts are, but if you do a bit of cross-referencing and look through the Scriptures, you can find out pretty quickly what fiery darts, fiery arrows, or arrows in general actually represent.

I want to take you through a number of passages.

Fiery Arrows, Lying Lips and Deceitful Tongues (Psalm 120:1–4)

The first passage is Psalm 120, beginning at verse 1. We're going to read from verses 1 through to 4. It says:

“In my distress, I cried to the Lord and He heard me. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue. What shall be given to you? Or what shall be done to you, you false tongue? Sharp arrows of the warrior with coals of the broom tree.” — Psalm 120:1–4

Here in this passage, we can see that the psalmist is calling for God to deliver him from his distress. And he's distressed about the fact that there are people out there with lying lips and deceitful tongues speaking against him, seeking to do him harm.

And in this passage, these lying lips and deceitful tongues are associated with the sharp arrows of the warrior and the burning coals of the broom tree. It's almost as if these arrows are on fire, just like Ephesians 6:16, where it talks about the fiery darts of the devil.

Now, the arrows and burning coals here may refer specifically to the judgment that comes upon the deceitful tongue. Nevertheless, notice the connection between deceitful speech and the imagery of arrows.

So I think that this helps us understand what we're looking at when we're looking at the fiery darts of the devil. It's the devil's lies and the devil's slander. Perhaps it's the devil's lies being whispered into our own ears, or perhaps it's the devil whispering lies into other people's ears about us.

Let me show you another passage.

False Accusations Are Compared to Sharp Arrows (Proverbs 25:18)

Proverbs 25:18 says:

“A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow.” — Proverbs 25:18

Now, this is really interesting because we can see that a false witness's lies are compared to a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow. They're fired at you.

And this is exactly what Satan does. Satan is the father of lies and is the accuser of the brethren.

There's no doubt that one of his tactics is to make false accusations against us in our own ears, but also in the ears of others.

And sometimes it comes when you least expect it.

The Wicked Shoot Their Arrows in Secret (Psalm 11:2)

If you look at Psalm 11:2, it says:

“For look, the wicked bend their bow. They make their arrow on the string that they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.” — Psalm 11:2

And have a look at Psalm 64:1–4. It says:

“Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation. Preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the rebellion of the workers of iniquity, who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words—that they may shoot in secret at the blameless. Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.” — Psalm 64:1–4

Notice here in this passage that the wicked fire off these arrows from a secret, hidden place. They fire off these arrows when you least expect it. Suddenly, these arrows are being fired towards you.

And this is exactly what the devil tries to do.

You're in the middle of serving the Lord. You're in the middle of marching forward for the kingdom of God. And suddenly the devil tries to fire off these false accusations against you, or he tries to bring up your past sins and say, “Remember this. Remember this sin that you did.”

And he hurls off all of these fiery darts in an attempt to destroy you or stop you from advancing forward in the mission that God has given you.

And that's why the Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:16 to take up the shield of faith.

What Is the Shield of Faith in Ephesians 6:16?

Now, what is the shield of faith?

Well, the shield of faith is faith in Jesus Christ.

First of all, faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

If you've repented of your sins and put your faith in Christ, all of your sins have been forgiven.

The devil may accuse you, but his accusations cannot overturn the forgiveness that you have received through Jesus Christ.

And that's why we need to have faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.

But also, we need to have faith that Christ is with us.

You know, when you go off into battle, you want to have faith that the commander is with you and that you've got a good commander leading you.

And we as Christians need to have faith that Christ is with us, that Christ is leading us into battle.

Jesus promised us that He would be with us always, even to the end of the age.

And so, the way that we quench these fiery darts of the devil is to lift up our faith in Jesus Christ.

Faith that He died on the cross for our sins, and faith that He's with us all the way.

How to Quench the Fiery Darts of the Devil

When we look at all of these passages together, we can see that the Bible repeatedly uses arrows to describe the lies, bitter words, and false accusations that are directed against the righteous.

And I think that this gives us an important insight into what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 6:16.

The devil is the father of lies and the accuser of the brethren. One of the ways he attacks Christians is through lies and false accusations, whether those accusations are directed at us personally or spoken about us to others.

Sometimes these attacks come when we least expect them, when we're in the middle of serving the Lord and advancing forward in the mission that God has given us.

But the Bible tells us to take up the shiel