Friday, November 26, 2010

The Three Little Piglet Generals and the Armaments Crisis (Ephesians 6:16)

(I introduced a lesson on the Shield of Faith from Ephesians 6:16 with this humorous "Parable" I hope you enjoy it and consider what makes up your own shield of faith).

There were these three little pigs who were the generals of the piglet armies. One night they were challenged by Canines Kahn, the wolf leader and his barbarian wolf hoard. During the night, Canines Kahn climbed the hill and by the light of the moon challenged the pigs saying, "Come out, come out and fight. We will stab you with our spears and slash you  with our swords and cut you all down."

That night the first pig general, General Ham-hocks, ordered the piglet army to make shields, all through the night hammers and saws could be heard as the carpenters and helpers made shields out of wood.  At dawn, the piglet army stood behind their wooden shields and faced the enemy. The bugle sounded and they rushed to battle and fought bravely but In the battle, the shields splintered and broke. Many piglets were wounded and fell so the piglet army fled to fight another day.

The next night the moon rose and the general Canines Kahn challenged the piglets. From his hill, he called, “Come out, come out, and fight. We will stab you with our spears and slash you with our swords and cut you all down."

The second general, General Bacon, ordered shields to be made. All night the workers labored and stretched lacquer hardened leather over frames, and at dawn, the piglet army faced their enemy. The bugle sounded the charge and the piglet army ran to battle the wolf hoard. They fought bravely again, and this time, the shields did not splinter they absorbed the impact of the blow but they were too flexible like springs and bent with a springiness caused the piglets to stumble and fall. Many were wounded and slain, so, the piglets fled to fight another day.

The next night the general. Canines Kahn climbed the hill and challenged the piglets again, he said, “Come out, come out, and fight. We will stab you with our spears and slash you with our swords and cut you all down."

The third piglet general, General Sausage, ordered shields to be made. All through the night smithies labored at the red hot iron forges with bellows pumping and hammers hammering on steel and they forged strong iron shields. At dawn, the piglet army carrying steel shields went out to face the enemy.  The bugle sounded and the piglets ran to battle.

The steel shields did not shatter or break and they did not flex and bend but they were too heavy to hold up for long and they slowed down the piglet warrior’s movement. Again many were wounded or slain so the piglets fled the field to fight another day.

The fourth night general Canines Kahn climbed the hill and by the light of the moon howled and challenged the piglets, he said, “Come out, come out and fight. We will stab you with our spears and slash you with our swords and cut you all down.”

This time, the piglet General Ham-hocks gathered all the shields and ordered new shields to be made out of the strongest elements of the others, and all during the night the army worked. The wood was cut very thin then cross laminated like plywood. Over the wood, they stretched leather that dried hard on the wood, and on the outer side they hammered a thin layer of metal. At dawn, the piglet army lined the valley floor and faced the enemy.

The piglet generals led their piglet army into battle. The shields were light enough to hold, were flexible to absorb the blow, they could not be pierced and did not split. The wolves saw that they were against a technologically superior force and sued for peace.

EPILOGUE

General Ham-hocks patented the shields and sold the shield composite technology to an emerging third world rabbet nation and bought himself an island off of the coast of Madrid where he wrote his memoirs.

Illustration for the shield of faith is made of many truths, Ephesians 6:16.

(C)Adron Dozat