Jeremiah warned about a physical battle specifically against the army of Egypt at that time. But his words also apply to the spiritual battle for us. How can we apply the following Scripture to our lives today?

Jeremiah 46:3-5
"Prepare your shields, both large and small, and march out for battle! Harness the horses, mount the steeds! Take your positions with helmets on! Polish your spears, put on your armor! What do I see? They are terrified, they are retreating, their warriors are defeated. They flee in haste without looking back, and there is terror on every side," declares the LORD.

Paul tells us about this spiritual battle in Ephesians 6. (Ephesians 6:11-17) Paul calls the shield a shield of faith. According to Jeremiah 46 we prepare our shield of faith.  We must believe!

Jeremiah tells us to put our helmets on. Paul calls it the helmet of salvation. Without salvation through Jesus people are defenseless in the spiritual battles.

Jeremiah tells us to polish (that word means sharpen) our spears. Our spears according to Paul are our swords, the Word of God. If we polish our spears, we hone our knowledge of God’s Word.  We do that through study of His Word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Jeremiah and Paul tell us to put on our armor and take up our positions and stand firm. Look what happens. Our enemy will flee. He is, after all, already defeated.

The people in Jeremiah’s day were told to be physically prepared and armed. Many times they didn’t even have to fight. Our struggle, as stated by Paul, is not against the physical flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Put on the full armor of God and maintain a firm stand.

This passage in Jeremiah was written in bold confidence of what would happen.  We must read the passage with that same bold confidence of what will happen!

Jeremiah 46 reassures Judah and Israel as well as all of us today. Verse 28 "I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished."

God loves us too much not to discipline us, to keep us from going the wrong way.