Bible Doctrine Series-Jehovah-Sabaoth

Jehovah-Sabaoth—“the Lord of hosts” (I Samuel 1:3). The Hebrew word Sabaoth is defined as “an army, soldiers; warriors who stand and fight against an enemy.” Jehovah-sabaoth is Lord of hosts; He is the captain of our salvation. Jehovah-sabaoth has been actively delivering His people from their enemies since the time He first called Abram to become the father of a people unto Himself. But it was not until they were ready to enter the Promised Land as a nation that He was called by this name. He appeared to Joshua standing before the city of Jericho, identifying Himself as the captain of the host of the Lord. Joshua bowed his face to the earth in submission, removing his sandals in the presence of holiness. Hannah prayed in great sorrow and distress to Jehovah-sabaoth to deliver her from great affliction she suffered from childlessness. Listen to her prayer in 1 Samuel 1:11 “And she made a vow and said, ‘O Lord of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thy maid servant and remember me, and not forget Thy maidservant, but wilt give Thy maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.” The Lord remembered Hannah’s request and the vow she had made and gave her a son. She named him Samuel; he later became a judge over Israel. There is neither situation too insignificant— nor any opposing force too great—for our Lord of hosts to become involved. We must, however, be ever watchful lest we presume upon the Lord’s promises as Saul did. We must never believe the ways which seem right to us are better than obedience to the Lord of hosts. The enemy may fill our minds with fear as we stand in overwhelming situations, but we must look to Him who is greater than any circumstance we could see in this world. Elisha prayed that the Lord would open his servant’s eyes to see the spiritual battle then in progress. If we desire to see the reality of that battle, we must also keep in mind the Source of our victory. Zechariah 4:6 “….’Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.” As we learned in the previous chapter, our warfare is in the spiritual realm. We must not allow the enemy to focus our warfare on people or circumstances; these are merely used as opportunities for the enemy to distract us from the true battle. The real war is fought in our spirit as we are led by the Spirit of God to stand strong in the Lord Jesus, His ways, His truth, and His life. In Him we have authority over every name named. In Him we are not simply survivors, we are more than conquerors. We are the children of God, joint-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ who is Head of the church and the mighty hosts of heaven. As we walk obediently in the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, we are set free from destructive deceptions planted deep and built strong within our flesh. In that freedom we have the potential of becoming part of the mighty army led by Jehovah-sabaoth, destroying the works of the enemy in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.