Yahweh-Sabaoth
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Greetings…
We have been studying the theme “God By Name” wherein we have been looking into the different names and/or characteristics given to God throughout the Old Testament.
Last week we examined Yahweh-Jirech or “LORD will Provide” from Genesis 22:14.
Today we will be studying “Yahweh-Sabaoth” or “LORD of Hosts.”
There are actually 9 different variations of this name such as LORD God of Hosts, LORD God of the Hosts, etc…
In total these 9 variations add up to 285 times found in the Old Testament.
Our specific phrase “Yahweh-Sabaoth” or “LORD of Host” is the most prolific being found 240 times in the Old Testament and two times in the New Testament.
LORD of Hosts first appears in the book of 1 Samuel.
3 Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord.
Today we are going to answer the question “what is significant about knowing our God as the “LORD of Hosts.”
However, before we can go further, we must understand what the term “hosts” means which has several meanings.
It can mean “God’s people.”
41 At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.
It can mean “human armies.”
22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.
It can mean “angelic beings”
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
It can mean “Jesus’ angelic army.”
15 And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
Each of these are vital and important when it comes to striving to grasp the meaning of the “LORD of Hosts.”
However, there is another vital avenue that is found in understanding this name as well and that is how this terminology was used in the “Ancient Near Eastern” countries.
It’s these, which we will examine in our lesson coupled with our understanding of the term hosts that will help us better know our LORD of Hosts.
With that in mind let’s examine our lesson for today.
The LORD of Host truly is the…
Highest God
Highest God
Ancient Near Eastern Context.
Ancient Near Eastern Context.
The Baal Cycle contains three different stories of the “god of storms and agriculture Baal” from an ancient city on the northern Mediterranean coast of Syria that was destroyed in 1200 B.C..
What’s interesting about these stories of their idol Baal is how he came to power. Baal was a warrior god that lead the Canaanite pantheon by defeating Yam.
However, before defeated Yam, Yam appealed to El the patriarch deity and that his lordship be acknowledged, and Baal be given over to Yam. El agreed but Baal refused to surrender and instead he went and defeated Yam.
This led El and the other gods to acknowledge Baal’s status as the king of the Canaanite pantheon or “God of hosts” and ordered a temple be built for him.
Why is knowing the religious culture around the Israelites at the time we read 1 Samuel 1:3 significant?
Because the true “LORD of Hosts” is going to use those known stories of idol worship in the Gentile nations to demonstrate his superiority over “all other gods” including Baal.
3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.
4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.
9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
5 For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.
As clearly showing the God whom you and I are here to worship is truly the Highest God which makes him the…
God Above All Else.
God Above All Else.
Our God, who is above all else, must be the greatest in our lives and no idol should be greater.
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Not our family.
37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Not our work.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Not our hobbies or entertainment.
4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
Summary
Summary
Yahweh-Sabaoth or LORD of Hosts is positively the the Highest God above all other gods.
Brothers and sisters let nothing come between you and your God, let nothing be greater in your lives than our God the Highest God.
The second aspect of the name Yahweh-Sabaoth or LORD of Host deals with God as…
Commander In Chief
Commander In Chief
Ancient Near Eastern Context.
Ancient Near Eastern Context.
East of the Mediterranean Sea, in the Mesopotamian area i.e. Babylon area we find the epic Enuma Elish.
This is a seven-tablet story concerning the storm god Marduk who leads a legion of deities to a cosmic war against the divine armies of Tiamat who is associated with chaos and the ocean.
Marduk is victorious and ascends to the divine throne in the heavenly assembly where he becomes the “lord of hosts.”
Again why is knowing the religious culture surrounding the Israelites at the time we read 1 Samuel 1:3 significant?
Because, as we stated earlier, the true LORD of Hosts” is going to become known as such to warn those that know of these Gentile nation idols that he is superior over “all other gods” including the Mesopotamian great warrior god Marduk.
Yes, the Creator of the universe is the only valid “Commander In Chief” of a spiritual army, the…
LORD’s Army.
LORD’s Army.
Our God is the “supreme commander” of his hosts.
Today, God is leading his soldiers (us) through this spiritual war we are in.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
Today, God is also leading his “armies of heaven” in defeat of Satan and his messengers.
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Summary
Summary
As far as “warrior gods” go we have the only undefeated commander of any army, our LORD of Hosts.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The LORD or Hosts is the same God of yesterday, today, and forever and the LORD of Hosts is our God, the Highest God and Commander in Chief of the LORD’s army.
It’s no surprise then what the Psalmist stated about the mightiest and strongest God to every be.
12 Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. 13 You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters. 14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
15 You split open springs and brooks; you dried up ever-flowing streams. 16 Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun. 17 You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you have made summer and winter.
Invitation
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
