Introduction:
· Throughout the Scriptures, there are many names for God that reveal to us His character and how He longs to relate to us. Let me give you several examples before we get into our study for today.
· He is Jehovah Roi – This name portrays Him as “The Lord is my Shepherd.” He is the God who cares for His sheep. (Psalm 23)
· He is Adonai – meaning the LORD/Master. It speaks of His headship. ● He is our loving Master and we are His servants or slaves. It places a major responsibility on God. (Psalm 8:1)
· He is Jehovah – our Self-existent God. He is the eternal source of life who does not exist on anyone or anything else. (Exodus 3:14)
This will give you some idea of Who God is; what He is like; and, how we relate to Him.
Today, I want us to explore and get acquainted with “Lord Sabaoth” who is the LORD of HOSTS. This name is actually a title and it means “God of the Angels”, or LORD of Hosts.
The word “Hosts” suggests an army or organized group and the term “angels” means messengers. God has a great army of heavenly messengers that carry out His will. These messengers carry out a variety of roles or ministries.
1. When a Christian dies, we believe these servants of our LORD, escort us into the presence of God. (2 Cor. 5:8; Luke 16:22)
2. They serve as guardians to protect us when we are confronted by danger. (Psalm 91:11-12)
3. He is the King of Glory. (Psalm 24:10) We could also say that ‘Lord Sabaoth” is a militant name for God because the hosts of heaven are a great army for God. What a comfort this should be to us to realize that our God has an incredible army that He can deploy to assist us.
When the children left Egypt and were headed for the promised land, they had a vision of what it would mean to fight for and capture the land. In time, they were led into the land, but after a while, their faith began to falter. They did not drive out all of the inhabitants of the land and ultimately they began to worship some of the ‘gods’ of the people, still in the land.
Jehovah Sabaoth comes on the scene to the faithful Israelites who were worshiping at Shiloh. The tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant were located there.
There is a strong lesson for us here today. As long as God’s people followed Him, LORD SABAOTH led the way and the people were victorious. If they left off following Him, they suffered for it. For example, the children of Israel were in a battle with the Philistines at a time when they, the Israelites, were not really following LORD SABAOTH. As a result, 4,000 Israelite men were killed. Their leaders questioned what caused their defeat and said “Wherefore has the LORD smitten us today before the Philistines? Let us fetch the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that when it comes among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.”
Do you know what is wrong with this scene? Those people put their trust in a piece of furniture, rather than God. They knew that the LORD of HOSTS was their militant leader, but they put their trust in a piece of furniture rather than the Living God.
The name LORD SABAOTH LORD of HOSTS is most often found in the books by the prophets. Over time, they learned that when they and the people followed the LORD of HOSTS, they were victorious. He fought for them.
In Isaiah 10:24, 26, we read “Therefore, thus saith the LORD GOD of HOSTS, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee … and the LORD of HOSTS shall stir up a scourge for him.”
In Proverbs 14:34 we read “Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people.” Any person or nation that chooses to follow LORD SABAOTH will find the LORD of HOSTS fighting for them and leading them to victory again and again. When will we ever learn that putting our trust in the gods of this world will sooner or later end in disaster?
In Romans 8:37, the Apostle Paul wrote “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him (Christ) who loved us.” He continues in verses 38-39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creations will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our LORD.”
We can’t say with any certainty how many angels our God has at His disposal, but rest assured they are more than we can imagine and they are eager to carry out His bidding and minister to us. Folks, the LORD of HOSTS is for us. Keep the eyes of your heart fixed on Him and follow wherever He leads and you will enjoy victory after victory.
Glory to His Name!
Pastor Leonard
