The Lord of Hosts

Sometimes we sing words during worship that have no meaning to us! Could be dangerous? Maybe. In that great hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, there is a line that says, "Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same." What's that about? It is a title for God that is common throughout the Old Testament - Yahweh Tsebaoth- the Lord of Hosts. In many modern translations the translation is Almighty God. The Hebrew - tsaba - is a generalized word that means a force, a group, or an army. When the Scripture calls God, Yahweh Tsebaoth, the intent is to impress us with His majesty. It is a way to inform us, if you'll allow for a loose translation, that He is the God-the General; the Boss who is in charge of the the work force!

Is He in charge of your life today? You have put a Christian fish on your car's bumper? Now there's a sign of submission to God - NOT! You once said a prayer in a church in which you acknowledged Jesus as Savior and Lord? Good, but are you living that prayer? I mean - is He really 'in charge,' the One who is your Boss, the One you trust implicitly, the One who gives orders that you follow promptly? That can be hard to do, especially when He doesn't choose to let us know what His plans are, when He only allows us to see a slice of time that doesn't include a neat ending to the story of our lives! We discover the true depth of our surrender to His authority when His orders appear to leading us into tough times and/or costly sacrifice.

It's easy to take orders from the project manager if you think she's competent, understand her goals, and agree with her strategy, right? We readily put ourselves wholeheartedly into an effort when we have great confidence in the leader. But what about the times when you don't know the plan, when you only have your assignment, and have not worked with the one in charge enough to really know if she's all that competent as a leader? It's much harder then to just 'do your job' without wondering - "is this the right thing to do? Will this really succeed?"

The Bible tells us that God is Yahweh Tsebaoth to assure us that we can trust His leadership even when He doesn't tell us the whole plan! The General has it all worked out and He's been very successful! So as He sends us into the battle in life - be it with sin, with sickness, with Satan or his demons- we go with full assurance, and with authority - not of our own making, but from His Name!

David, just a teenager, went to do battle with Goliath, the champion of the Philistine army that was holding the line against the armies of Israel. As the shepherd lad strode onto the field where the contest would take place he went with courage that came from knowing he was in the Lord's army. As he approached the skilled warrior, he said, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty (Yahweh Tsebaoth), the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me... and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel." (1 Samuel 17:45-46, NIV)

Don't steal God's majesty, or make Him too small in your understanding. Let Him impress that He is Lord of hosts on you today. Last night as I went home from teaching about this in our Bible Study class, I reflected over the various needs of people to whom I am called to minister. I stood outside, under the canopy of the dark sky spangled with the stars, and thanked Yahweh Tsebaoth that He has entrusted me with His Name and prayed that I would be content to do His will and follow His orders even when I don't know the 'rest of the story.'

Here's one more 'Lord of Hosts' Scripture which I hope will stick in your mind for this day, but it needs context.... Some Jews had returned from the time of captivity in Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem. Nehemiah had led the campaign to restore the city walls. Ezra headed the campaign to rebuild the Temple. Surrounding nations were threatened by the re-building and sent an emissary to Xerxes, the Persian king who had allowed the reconstruction, asking him to stop the effort. The thought of these opponents of the Temple re-building was, "If the Jews rebuild their Temple, their god will return and make them strong again!" which he did.
For several years the work was at a standstill, the foundations and stonework reminding the Jews of their weakness before the great Persian empire. During that time, Zechariah preached and encouraged Zerrubabel, the mayor of Jerusalem. The prophet said, “This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty. (Yahweh Tsebaoth) Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel’s way; it will flatten out before him! Then Zerubbabel will set the final stone of the Temple in place, and the people will shout: ‘May God bless it! May God bless it!’ " (Zechariah 4:6-7, NLT)

Who is trying to stymie God's work in your life?
Who is trying to discourage you, cause you to doubt or fear?
Speak to them and say, It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty (Yahweh Tsebaoth)!