2006-04-14
Good Morning Cherished Readers,
We still have a couple more names of God to examine before moving on to the second index sentence of the Lord's Prayer. Just to recap, we've learned about the following names for God: "El Elyon," God is Sovereign; "Eloheim," God is the Creator, Everlasting God; "El Shaddai," God Almighty, All Sufficient; "Jehovah," I AM WHO I AM; "El Roi," God Who Sees All; "Jehovah Jirah," God Who Provides; "Jehovah Nissi," God is My Banner, Leads In Battle; "Adonai," Lord of All; Jehovah Tsidkenu," God is Righteous; "Jehovah Rapha," God Who Heals; "Jehovah Raah," God Is My Shepherd; "Jehovah Shammah," God Is Always Present. It should be apparent to us all that reading the OT Scriptures in the original Hebrew imparts much more information about God than the English translation does. Hebrew names always reveal something about who the person or Who our God is or what [he] He does.
Today, we'll begin by taking a look at "Jehovah Sabaoth," which means The Lord of Hosts. The term "hosts" was confusing to me when I was first researching what I would write, so I looked it up in the dictionary. In this context it means, "a great multitude of persons, or an army." The first phrase of that definition certainly could mean angels in heaven or evil angels following Satan too. The idea here is another way of saying, "Lord of all people and angels on earth and in heaven." The term, Jehovah Sabaoth, is not used until the book of 1 Samuel. Afterward, we see it used often in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. This name of God belongs to a certain time in the experience of God's people. This is a name for those who find their resources inadequate in the midst of a struggle. This is the name of God to run to when there is no other help, from the human perspective. From God's perspective, it is a name that reminds His people of exactly Who He is-not only One Who delivers, but also the One Who judges. MAL 1: 10, 14, "The Lord of Hosts says, 'I wish one of you would close the temple doors so as to prevent you from lighting useless fires on My altar. I am not pleased with you; I will not accept the offerings you bring me...A curse on the cheater who sacrifices a worthless animal to Me, when he has in His flock a good animal that he promised to give me! For I am a great King, and people of all nations fear Me.'"
The name of God meets failure and offers deliverance. We see this in PR 18: 10, "The Lord of Hosts is like a strong tower, where the righteous can go and be safe." PS 20: 7 uses it too. "Some trust in their war chariots and others in their horses, but we trust in the power of the Lord of Hosts." We have some real examples of insights we can gain about God in certain passages or verses which use this name for God. 1 SAM 1:1-3 begins the story of Hannah's desire to have a baby. In this passage, we can see that God notes Hannah's habit of going to Him in faith. In 1 SAM 1: 6-7, 10-11, the fact that Hannah was unable to have a child initially even through her husband's other wife, Peninnah, brought Hannah sadness. She turned to God and promised to give her first son to God's service, if He would enable her to have a baby son. God knew she would keep her promise. God answered Hannah's prayer, and she went on to have Samuel, whom she turned over to the priest, Eli, for a lifetime of service to Jehovah Sabaoth. Throughout this passage and the little books of Malachi and Haggai, we see both God delivering the righteous and in judgment of those who were not. HAG 1: 6-7 is an example of the latter. Haggai was written in 520 BC. [God speaking] "The people had returned from exile and had lived in Jerusalem for some years, but the temple still lay in ruins. The people had planted much grain, but harvested very little. You have food to eat, but not enough to make you full. You have wine to drink, but not enough to get drunk on! You have clothing, but not enough to keep you warm. And working man cannot earn enough to live on. Can you not see why this has happened?" Their priorities had been wrongful, and God wanted the people to see this. They had built the city wall and their own houses and had left the temple unfinished.
One further example serves to summarize what this name, Jehovah Sabaoth, entails. It's found in JER 20: 11-13 in a passage where Jeremiah is complaining to the Lord of Hosts. "But you, Lord of Hosts, are on my side, strong and mighty, and those who persecute me will fail. They will be disgraced forever, because they cannot succeed. Their disgrace will never be forgotten. But Almighty Lord of Hosts, You test men justly; You know what is in their hearts and minds. So let me see You take revenge on my enemies, for I have placed my cause in Your hands. Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! He rescues the oppressed from the power of evil men." Jeremiah was a man with a tough job at a pivotal time in Israel's history, just before she was to be taken into exile. As with Isaiah, his rightful message from God was falling on deaf ears. Yet, Jeremiah never departed from His knowledge of or reverence for the Lord of Hosts. He knew and understood God is a Deliverer of the righteous and a fair judge of those who are not.
PRAYER: O Lord, as we read through these passages and verses, we cannot help but review how we fit into the truths they teach us. Each time we learn a new name for God, You are asking us to do this, and then to do it again and again throughout our lives. Yes, Dearest Lord, we always come out wanting in comparison to Christ, but You continue to deliver us and judge us with wisdom and fairness. As long as we are working to expunge sin from our lives, You will continue to help us and carry us though our trials. You do not want us to be mired in guilt as the devil does. Quite the opposite. This is to be an exercise to bring us closer to the degree of perfection we need to be raptured home to You, not to bring us broken spirits and despair. Sometimes, it's hard for people to understand that You are the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of All-even the devil and his evil angels. But when we read books like Daniel and Revelation, we come to understand that Your goodness will win out in the end. Evil really will be eradicated [REV 20: 10]. Nothing evil will enter the gates of the New Jerusalem [REV 21: 27]. While You are asking us to evaluate our state of faithfulness, You are also loving and protecting us while we work on this project [PS 145: 20; PS 139: 5]. PS 107: 1, "O thank God-He is so good! His love never runs out." You are a God Who rewards righteousness. PS 55: 22, "Cast Your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be defeated." How helpful it is when we can gain Your perspective by keeping Your holy words in our minds and hearts! PS 119: 93, "I will never forget Thy precepts: for with them Thou has quickened me." You bring us to life, a life that is eternal and blissfully joyous with You. This outcome is so much more acceptable to us than the awful alternative of spiritual death. Dearest Lord, we offer You our heartfelt worship, praise, and thanks for all that You are and all that You do. We thank You for revealing Yourself to those of us willing to spend daily time in Your word, meditate on it, and study it. In Christ's holy and mighty name, we pray. Amen.
We have one more name, perhaps my own favorite, "Jehovah Shalom," God is Peace to review next week. I love this name, because my own life has been a war between the forces of evil and the God Who loves me so much. It wouldn't surprise me if each of us who are getting older could say that. We have to believe that God will ultimately win, because the Scriptures give us so much evidence of that. If we are people of faith, then we can share in the inner peace that God alone is capable of giving us. Because I wasn't raised a Christian, it is only recently that I have been reading all seven books of C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. This wonderful set of children's stories depicts in allegorical form excerpts from the Scriptures. The Christ figure is the lion, Aslan. One scene has Jill Pole, a little girl who has been brought to the magic land, approaching a crystal clear stream of water while she is hugely thirsty. The great lion, Aslan, is on the other side, which initially causes her to fear approaching the stream. He never reassures her that he won't attack, but her thirst is too great for her to resist. She comes and drinks, finding the water quite able to slake her thirst. The lion never attacks, but instead blesses her with an assignment to work through and gently transports her with his breath to where it will take place. I won't give away the rest, but can't help thinking this is what God does for each of us who will have faith in Him. I'm sure the end result will be worth the trials we must go through. Think of Christ and what He was willing to go through for us! Let me end with 2 COR 4: 17-18, "And this small and temporary trouble we suffer will bring us a tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble. For we fix our attention, not on the things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what can not be seen lasts forever."
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn