Ephesians, Jewish New Testament and comments of David H. Stern

chapter 6
1. Children, what you should do in union with the Lord is obey your parents, for this is right.
2. "Honor your father and mother — this is the first commandment that embodies a promise —
3. so that it may go well with you, and you may live long in the Land" (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16).
4. Fathers, don’t irritate your children and make them resentful; instead, raise them with the Lord’s kind of discipline and guidance.
Raise them with the Lord's kind of discipline and guidance, as did Avraham (Genesis 18:19). 'The training you give a child does not leave him when he grows up" (Proverbs 22:6). 

5. Slaves, obey your human masters with the same fear, trembling and single-heartedness with which you obey the Messiah.
6. Don’t obey just to win their favor, serving only when they are watching you; but serve as slaves of the Messiah, doing what God wants with all your heart.
7. Work willingly as slaves, as people do who are serving not merely human beings but the Lord.
8. Remember that whoever does good work, whether he be a slave or a free man, will be rewarded by the Lord.
9. And masters, treat your slaves the same way. Don’t threaten them. Remember that in heaven both you and they have the same Master, and he has no favorites.
With the necessary changes, these verses apply to employer-employee relationships. 

10. Finally, grow powerful in union with the Lord, in union with his mighty strength!
11. Use all the armor and weaponry that God provides, so that you will be able to stand against the deceptive tactics of the Adversary.
12. For we are not struggling against human beings, but against the rulers, authorities and cosmic powers governing this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.
13. So take up every piece of war equipment God provides; so that when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist; and when the battle is won, you will still be standing.
14. Therefore, stand! Have the belt of truth buckled around your waist, (Isaiah 11:5) put on righteousness for a breastplate (Isaiah 59:17).
15. and wear on your feet the readiness that comes from the Good News of shalom (Isaiah 52:7)
16. Always carry the shield of trust, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the Evil One.
17. And take the helmet of deliverance (Isaiah 59:17) along with the sword given by the Spirit, that is, the Word of God;
Compare MJ 4:12-13. 

18. as you pray at all times, with all kinds of prayers and requests, in the Spirit, vigilantly and persistently, for all God’s people.
A one-verse sermon on prayer; note the use three times of the word "all."

We are not struggling against human beings but against the unseen agents (1:20-23a&N) of the Adversary, Satan (Ml 4: l&N). This is why "the weapons we use to wage war are not worldly. On the contrary, they have God's power for demolishing strongholds" of demonic spirits (2C 10:2-5&N). This description of the armor and weaponry that God provides confounds people who are used to fighting people by worldly methods and have no sensitivity to God's methods, which are: truth, righteousness, readiness grounded in the Good News of shalom, trust, deliverance (or: "salvation"), the Word of God given by the Spirit, and prayers. Unbelievers taken aback by the apparent triumphalism of the song, "Onward, Christian Soldiers," should understand that the "soldiers" in this song, that is, the believers in Yeshua. are not fighting to force non-Christians to convert, but to overcome demonic principalities and powers by God's prescribed methods. 


19. And pray for me, too, that whenever I open my mouth, the words will be given to me to be bold in making known the secret of the Good News,
20. for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may speak boldly, the way I should.
21. Now, so that you may also be informed about how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus, the dear brother and a faithful worker for the Lord, will tell you everything.
Tychicus. A believer from Asia Minor who accompanied Sha'ul to Jerusalem (Ac 20:4). Sha'ul sent him to Ephesus with this letter (this verse and 2 Ti 4:12) and the one to Colossae (Co 4:7) and perhaps to Titus in Crete (Ti 3:12). 

22. This is the very reason I have sent him to you, so that you may know how we are getting along and so that he may comfort and encourage you.
23. Shalom to the brothers. May God the Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah give you love and trust.
24. Grace be to all who love our Lord Yeshua the Messiah with undying love.

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