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WEEKLY
Volume 3 Number 25
16 November 2008
The LORD of Hosts
(Message delivered by Rev
Hien Nguyen at the Worship Service, 2:00 pm, Nov 16, 08)
Text: Psalm 46
Thanks and praise be to the
LORD for being our Provider, Jehovah-jireh (Gen 22:14), our
Shepherd, Jehovah-rohi (Ps 23:1), and our Banner or Victory,
Jehovah-nissi (Exod 17:15). Today, we are learning the name
Jehovah-sabaoth, which means, the LORD of Hosts (1 Sam 1:3). Then,
what does this name mean to you and me?
The Meaning of Jehovah-sabaoth
Sabaoth
means army, host, battle (going forth to war). The LORD of hosts
refers to the LORD of His heavenly hosts or angels (Luke 2:13-14; cf. Ps
103:20-21) as well as the LORD of His earthly hosts or His people, both
Israel (1 Sam 17:45), and His church (James 5:4; Eph 5:23). It is so
encouraging to remember that one angel alone was able to destroy the
mighty army of the Assyrians (185,000 men) (2 Kings 19:35; 2 Chron
32:21). Then why are you and I afraid of men or our spiritual enemies
when the LORD of hosts is with us and for us? Our Lord Jesus did not
fear His enemies but told Peter to put up again his sword to its place
and said, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he
shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt
26:53). No one would have been able to arrest our Lord Jesus if He had
not been willing to give up His life for our sins!
The LORD of hosts
is first mentioned in 1 Samuel 1:3, “And this man (Elkanah)
went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD
of hosts in Shiloh,” and it has at least 226 occurrences (2 Kings
19:31; Ps 24:10; 46:7, et al). The LORD, the God of hosts is
mentioned 7 times (Jer 38:17; 44:7; Amos 41:13; et al), the LORD God
of hosts 21 times (2 Sam 5:10; 1 Kings 19:10; Isa 3:15, et al), and
the Lord of Sabaoth twice (Rom 9:29; James 5:4). The name The
LORD of hosts denotes the sovereignty, power, holiness, glory,
righteous judgment, faithfulness, and mercy of God, who is strong,
mighty, wise and quick to help and defend His people, even to judge His
people and the nations.
Knowing More of the LORD
through His Name
The LORD of hosts is
sovereign: “The
LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it
come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:…
For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and
his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?” (Isa 14:24,
27). Shall not you and I trust in our LORD’s sovereignty and commit
everything to Him as “we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his
purpose” (Rom 8:28)?
The LORD of hosts is good and
merciful:
“Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth
for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the
house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land,
as at the first, saith the LORD” (Jer 33:11). Do you and I
acknowledge and appreciate our LORD’s goodness and mercy and then give
thanks and praise to Him always? Truly, “Except the LORD of hosts had
left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as
Sodom, and we should have been
like unto Gomorrah”
(Isa 1:9; Rom 9:29).
The LORD of hosts is our
mighty Redeemer:
“As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of
Israel”
(Isa 47:4), and “Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his
name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the
land, and disquiet the inhabitants of
Babylon”
(Jer 50:34). Is the LORD of
hosts your and my personal mighty Redeemer, who has redeemed us from our
sins, unrighteousness and the curse of the law? Do we belong to Him
alone?
The LORD of hosts is our Maker
and Husband:
“For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy
Redeemer the Holy One of
Israel; The God of the whole
earth shall he be called”
(Isa 54:5). The church in Ephesus was rebuked by the LORD because they
had left their first love (Rev 2:4). Our LORD loved us so much that He
died for us, so He will be jealous if we love and obey anyone or
anything rather than Him. Do you and I really love and obey the LORD and
His Word above all? As the LORD of hosts is our Maker and Husband, may
He help us love Him, honour Him and keep a faithful fellowship with Him.
The LORD of hosts is holy and
glorious: When
Isaiah saw the glory and holiness of the LORD of hosts, he really
humbled himself, “And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy,
holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory…
Then said I (Isaiah), Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a
man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isa 6:3,
5). Job shared his humble experience, “I have heard of thee by the
hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor
myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). If you and I are
still proud of ourselves, we have not yet seen the LORD and His glory
and holiness!
The LORD of hosts is wise and
perfect in His Work:
“This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in
counsel, and excellent in working” (Isa 28:29). Do we “come,
behold the works of the LORD” (Ps 46:8) and then trust in Him and
His good work in us and commit our lives to Him so that He “will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” (Phil 1:6)?
The LORD of hosts resists the
proud: “For the
day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and
lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought
low” (Isa 2:12),
and “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;
and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be
stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of
hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch”
(Mal 4:1). Truly, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the
humble” (James 4:6). It is better to humble ourselves rather than to
be humbled by the LORD of hosts due to our pride or arrogance. We must
be submissive to the LORD of hosts, our Leader and Captain just as
Joshua did, “And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD
am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did
worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?”
(Josh 5:14).
The LORD of hosts expects us
to hear and obey His Word alone:
The LORD commands us not to hear the words of false prophets or false
shepherds, but to hear and obey His Word alone, “Thus saith the LORD
of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto
you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not
out of the mouth of the LORD” (Jer 23:16; cf. 29:8) and “Thus
saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to
hearken to my words? saith the LORD” (Jer 35:13). Do you and I
listen to and obey God’s Word or human words?
The LORD of hosts is always
ready to help and defend His obedient people:
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in
trouble… God is
in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and
that right early” (Ps 46:1, 5) and “As birds flying, so will the
LORD of hosts defend
Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will
preserve it” (Isa
31:5), “And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts
was with him” (2 Sam 5:10). Dear friends, if the LORD of hosts is
with us and for us, we shall be secure and richly blessed. When a host
of Syrians full of horses and chariots compassed about Dothan where
Elisha dwelled, his servant was so frightened and cried, “Alas, master!
How shall we do? Elisha said to him, “Fear not: for they that be with
us are more than they that be with them,” and Elisha prayed the LORD
to open his eyes and then he could see the mountain “full of horses
and chariots of fire round about Elisha” (2 Kings 6:15-17). Dear
friends, it is so vital to have our spiritual eyes open to see the LORD
of hosts be with us and around us so that we shall not panic before the
mighty enemies.
The LORD of hosts is righteous
in judgment: The
LORD is holy and righteous and intolerant of sins and injustice, so He
has judged and will surely judge all the nations even His disobedient
people, “the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that
is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness” (Isa 5:16), and
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation
to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of
the earth” (Jer 25:32), and “Therefore thus saith the LORD God of
hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all
the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against
them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I
have called unto them, but they have not answered” (Jer 35:17). God
has chastised His people throughout the ages due to their sins and
backsliding to bring them back to Himself in repentance so that they
“might be partakers of his holiness” (Heb 12:10). Shall you and I
not wisely fear Him and depart from all sins and evil?
Conclusion
David overcame the giant
Goliath because he trusted in the name of the LORD of hosts, “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” (1
Sam 17:45). Martin Luther trusted in the LORD of hosts to encounter the
fierce opposition and persecutions from the Roman Catholics in the 16th
Century Reformation, and his trust in the LORD of hosts or the LORD
Sabaoth can be seen in his hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” How
about you and me? Thank God and praise the LORD of hosts as He is always
sovereign, holy, righteous, wise, good, merciful, and mighty. He is our
Maker, Redeemer, Husband and Captain. May the LORD help you and me know
more about Him and His glory and holiness so that we may humble
ourselves more before Him. May the LORD help you and me fear Him, trust
in Him, and submit to Him and His Word and “Be still, and know that I
am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the
earth.” (Ps 46:10).
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