Do you ever wish you had your own personal army?

It would come in handy, wouldn’t it, when your boss chews you out, or when someone cuts you off in traffic. Just summon your cavalry, and your tormentors would soon change their tune.

The Bible doesn’t promise us our own armed forces, but it does say that we can call on the name of the Commander of all the forces in the universe:

The Lord of Hosts.

This compound name for God is found over 270 times in Scripture. The Hebrew word for “hosts,” Sabaoth, can refer to human armies, angelic armies, or celestial bodies such as the sun, moon and stars. It’s a military term: God as Commander of all creation.

We see this name for God appear when David confronts Goliath. David says,

“You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (1 Samuel 17:45)

Goliath must have wondered what David was talking about. The only army he could see, the Israelite army under King Saul, had been quaking in their boots for 40 days at the thought of confronting him in battle. And now here’s this kid with a slingshot talking about armies in the plural. Faced with David’s “threat,” Goliath might have thought, “Oh, yeah, you and whose army?” Famous last words, indeed!

Elisha and his servant were given the privilege of seeing God’s Heavenly armies. When they were surrounded by the Aramean army, Elisha prayed that his servant’s spiritual eyes would be opened. They were able to see the fiery multitudes of the Lord’s armies protecting them, the horses and chariots of fire. It was actually the Arameans who were surrounded! (2 Kings 6:17).

The title “Lord of Hosts” includes control over military forces, but it is also employed in Scripture to describe God’s power over every aspect of life…

Do you know where the first use of this title for God occurs in the Bible? Surprisingly, it’s actually not in the context of war. It’s found in the account of Hannah and her husband Elkanah in 1 Samuel.

Hannah was faced with an insurmountable problem: she was barren. Her husband Elkanah had a second wife, Peninnah, who, wouldn’t you know it, was abundantly fertile. For years, Peninnah ridiculed and humiliated Hannah for her failure to have children.

Hannah couldn’t take it anymore, so appealed to the Supreme Warrior to fight a battle for her that she had no hopes of winning on her own. This is how Hannah addressed God in prayer:

“O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, if you will only look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him to You. He will be Yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut.” (1 Samuel 1:11)

There were a lot of different names of God that Hannah could have used. She could have made her petition to El-Roi, the God Who Sees. Another potential title she could have addressed God with was Jehovah-Jireh, the God Who Provides. An obvious choice would have been Jehovah-Rapha, the God Who Heals You.

But Hannah chose to use His military title instead, Lord of Hosts.

Why was that, I wonder?

Perhaps because she knew that her battle needed to be fought on several fronts. She not only needed healing of her womb, but also healing of her emotions from the years of humiliation and anguish she’d suffered. She needed restoration in the eyes of her community. She needed to feel that she was remembered by God, that he would go into action on her behalf and deliver her from disgrace to a position of strength and honour.

She needed to call out the big guns.

And the Lord of Heaven’s Armies came through for her.

He can do the same for us, too.

We all have “Peninnah” situations in our lives, areas where we face injustice, derision, or years of struggle and suffering.

The same God who is the Five-Star General of Heaven’s Armies also tenderly cares for the least of us. When we call out to Him, He hears us and He sees us.

When we come up against something that we can’t handle on our own, we can turn it over to the Lord of Hosts. He may not give us the quick fix we long for, but we can be assured that He is in control and that He loves and cares for us. We can put it in His hands, and trust that He will work things out for our good and His glory.

The Lord of Hosts has your back!

“Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts;
cause Your face to shine upon us,
that we may be saved.”

psalm 80:19

© 2024 Lori J. Cartmell. All rights reserved.