Jehovah Sabaoth NoG7

We learned last week how the Lord goes to battle for us and protects us as our shield. This week we are going to look at the army the Lord brings with him. We are going to look at God as Jehovah Sabaoth which means the Lord of Hosts, or Lord God Almighty. Looking up this name for God it appears over 250 times in our Bible so it must be an important name for God. So what is God revealing about himself in this name? This name for the Lord, means the Lord of armies. This means that God has an entire army that we can’t see. It also means that God is powerful and in control; God is the general of a great army.

Again how we talked about last week, God is a God of war. This name reveals how powerful God is, Our Jehovah Sabaoth is in control of the entire angel army. This is a name for God that is used by people in our Bible who are at the end of their rope. This name for God first appeared in our Bible during the time of the judges in Israel, this was a dark time for the people. So the few people that still followed God were calling on a name of God that showed that he was all powerful.

Let us take a look at the first time this name is used in our Bible

1 Samuel 1:1  Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite: And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there. And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb.

If we continue reading the story we find out how Hannah had faith enough in God that she kept praying to God, and God gave her a son, Samuel. And Samuel became a prophet. Let us turn our attention back to the verse we just read, why did Elkanah pray to this name of God?  As we have been learning, each name of God shows a characteristic of God and thus is the portion of God we call on in the situation at hand.

Why did he not call on Jehovah Rapha -quick test who remembers what that name for God means? Instead he was tapping into the fact that God is so powerful that he is able to command an army so great that it will conquer the world. Many men tried to conquer the world but none have been successful except our God and his hosts, that is his army, will. So Elkanah was tapping into the limitless power of God. For this family the power of God was able to answer their prayer and provide them with a son. This section of scripture is also a testament to the faith that both Elkanash and Hannah had, because they had been waiting years for God to provide them a son; but did they get discouraged and turn away from God? No, they just kept praying and believing that God would provide because he is so powerful.

Looking into the next part of the story of Samuel

1 Samuel_1:11  And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

This is Hannah praying to God and she once again calls on the Lord of Hosts.  Why does she do this? She is once again tapping into the full power of God. Let us think about this for a minute, an angel is a creature so powerful that one of them thought he could overthrow God. Anytime we hear of angels coming to someone in the Bible the people are terrified. When I think of angels I normally get this vision of these little cute chubby babies flying around in this pink sky but this is not accurate. It appears to me from reading the accounts of people meeting angels that angles were terrifying and not something you would want to mess with.

So what does this tell us about God?  It tells us he is so powerful that he can command the angles to do his will. It is not as if the angles are forced to serve God or do his will. Let us look at Satan who was an angel in the beginning, his name at that time was Lucifer which means light bringer. This means that he worked to bring the praises to God but he made a choice that he wanted to be God and thus tried to overthrow God. This just shows us the power angels have but our God is so much stronger and more power because he is the Lord of Hosts he is our Jehovah Sabaoth, he is the one who commands the angles.

Let us take a look at a famous use for this name in our Bibles

1Sa 17:45  Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

We all know this story it is the story of David and Goliath. David was going into battle with a giant, a man who’s whole occupation was war, while David was a simple shepherd. David had complete faith that God was in this battle, David knew that God was going to deliver his people, the Israelites. What David is saying here is that even though your army and your solider look bigger and stronger, I have God and his hosts of angles here with me and nothing can overcome my God. God went with David out to deliver the people from the hand of the Philistines because David was the only one in the camp to have faith in God.

If we look at it from a physical standpoint, Saul should have been the one to go out face the giant, not only was he king but he was also the largest of the Israelites. But Saul didn’t have the faith needed to face his enemy, so God rose up David to take care of the people and David, being a man after Gods own heart, took over being king of Israel and was their greatest leader. In this story of David and Goliath God came down and fought for David to show all of the people his power.

But did God respond to David’s use of his name? It would appear not because God did not call down an army of angels to fight against the Philistines but instead he went with David and fought for David. So why then does our Bible tell us that David called on Jehovah Sabaoth, David used this name for God because he was showing that he had faith that God would fight the battle for him. David is saying by using the Lord of Hosts that if God had chosen to send down an army to wipe out the Philistines than it would have been done. God was trying to show through David that if you have faith in God then you can accomplish anything for our God fights for us.

Next let’s look at this name of God when Elijah is speaking with God.

 1 Kings 19:10  And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

If we read the verses around this one then we learn that Elijah was in hiding from the people because they were seeking to kill him. He was hiding in a cave and the Lord sent ravens to care for him. Elijah was calling on the Lord as Jehovah Sabaoth to protect him from his enemies. Elijah was certain that the Lord would care for him and provide what he needed. This is an interesting time in Elijah’s life to use this name for God, because it is almost like he was needing assurance that God was there and had power but if you look at the verses before it you see that God had just called down fire onto an altar of wood that was drenched in water in front of Elijah. So Elijah had to have known how powerful God is.

But Queen Jezebel had told Elijah that she was going to kill him. So even though Elijah knew that God is powerful and able to do all thing he still had fears and doubts when faced w a bad situation. So it is not wrong for us to wonder what is going to happen, but what we need to make sure is that we do not doubt God, we must have faith that God in all of  his power is going to take care of us. What we cannot do is allow that doubt to change how we view God. We need to view the Lord of Hosts for who he is, the all-powerful creator and sustainer.

Isa 31:4  For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.

Isa 31:5  As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.

Breaking this section of scripture apart, when Isaiah is talking about the lion he is referring to God, and when he talks about the shepherds he is referring to things of this world and Satan. Let us think of the imagery here: which is stronger and scarier, a lion or a group of shepherds? The lion is much more powerful, and in the same way our God and Lord of Hosts is stronger than anything we will face in this life. He will be there to protect us from the attacks that have come against us.

Looking into verse 5 it says the Jehovah Sabaoth will defend Jerusalem. Now we can take that old testament promise and apply it to us. We are Gods people just like the Jewish people, so if God was willing to go to war to defend a city then he is willing to come down and defend us. He is able to send down warriors from heaven to protect us. He also provides us the tools we need to defend ourselves. We have discussed it before, about how we have a suit of armor that God provides, and last week we looked at how God is our shield. So even though we may not be able to see him or the angles standing next to us we know that he is there to protect us from the attacks of Satan.

We have been focusing on how powerful God is through this name and how he uses the army of angels that he has to fight for us but we need to do something as well. We need to come to God with a humble heart and repent of the sin and wrong in our life. If we do not repent and turn away from our sins then God can’t hear our prayers because we are still in sin and God cannot be around sin. This is one of the most powerful things God does; that is he forgives us when we mess up. I know I struggle with this, I struggle to confess my shortcomings to people and to God but what me and you need to do is realize that God is perfect and he will forgive us where we fail no matter how often. Now this is not a free pass to sin, simply because sin causes death, but it is a great comfort to know that no matter how many times we mess up, God in his almighty power can and will forgive us if we confess and repent. God is the Lord Almighty he is able to forgive us and save us.