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“search the scriptures” John 5:39
‘O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid’, 1 Sam. 1. 11. That this is the first time this title is uttered by human lips is remarkable. Not by a mighty king leading an army of faithful warriors, but by a desperate, childless woman crying to the Lord for a son in a time of faithless men. In a moment that cannot help but touch our hearts, there is Hannah, distressed and ‘provoked’, v. 6, making a vow before the Lord that, should He give her a son, she would give her child to Him ‘all the days of his life’, v. 11.
What follows cannot deal with this topic fully, as the title ‘Lord of hosts’ occurs more than 240 times in the Old Testament, making it one of the more common titles of our God, and certainly the most numerous as considered by this series of articles.
Although most English versions render the Hebrew word tsebahoth1as ‘hosts’, it is not used in a way that is common in modern usage. The first time the root word2 is used, it is in Genesis chapter 2 verse 1, ‘Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them’. In chapter 1, creation is formed and filled, and it is to this filling, found chiefly in days four, five, and six, that this word refers. The air, the sea, and the land were bursting with the creation the Lord God had wonderfully made. A sky filled with the stars and a world teaming with life - these are ‘all the host of them’, pointing to the vastness and greatness of all that is under the Lord’s control.
The second time it is mentioned, it refers to armed forces. Genesis chapter 21 verse 22 records of Abimelech that ‘Phichol [was] the chief captain of his host’. He was the general of his army - and, for the most part, this is how the term is used, to designate a military force.3 So, when we come to the title, ‘the Lord of hosts’, Jehovah Tsebahoth, it conveys the thought that Jehovah has a vast angelic army at His disposal. Perhaps ‘the Lord of Armies’ is more understandable to modern minds.4 It reminds us that the Lord is a warrior, Exod. 15. 3, who will fight on behalf of His people.
With many first mentions in the scriptures, there is within it something of the way the theme or doctrine will be developed throughout the remainder of the Bible - and so it is with this title. First, it is a name linked with the house of God. This sets the stage for the way in which the title is connected to days of decline in the nation, which in turn leads on to the lovely truth that it is a title linked to God’s deliverance.
1 Samuel chapter 1 verse 3 tells us that Elkanah went each year ‘to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh’. In Joshua chapter 18, it was at Shiloh where the tabernacle was set up, v. 1. This would be where the children of Israel gathered to receive instruction, v. 8; where the nation was encamped before settling in the land, v. 9;5 and where guidance from the Lord was sought, v. 10. This was the place of the house of God, where God dwelt among His people and it is here in 1 Samuel chapter 1, that He is first identified as Jehovah Tsebahoth. As we will see, it was a time of decline in Israel, which was a tragedy, for the Lord longed to ‘dwell among them’, Exod. 25. 8, to be their God and for them to be His people.
We see this thought further developed, particularly in the Psalms. Psalm 84 is a sustained appreciation to God for His dwelling place - ‘how lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts’, v. 1 NKJV. The title occurs four times, the most in any psalm.6 Space does not allow elaboration of Psalms 24 and 48, which point forward to a future day when the Lord Jesus, identified in each as the Lord of Hosts,7 will enter and reign from Jerusalem, having physically returned with the armies of heaven.8It is interesting to note a specific link of the title with the ark of the covenant. In 1 Samuel chapter 4 verse 4, Hophni and Phinehas, treating it like a lucky charm, took the ‘ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who dwells between the cherubim’ NKJV, to battle against the Philistines. They brought it from Shiloh, but it did not save them; neither would it ever return there, for it would be captured by the Philistines,9 and, after a significant interlude,10 instead going to Jerusalem in David’s reign after he moved the tabernacle there, 2 Sam. 6. How lightly Hophni and Phinehas treated divine things, but the Lord of hosts is ‘jealous for … [His] holy name’, Ezek. 39. 25, and dealt with these ungodly men.
We cannot help but see a reminder of the centrality of the house of God, and a warning against treating the things of the Lord lightly. The God of the house is Jehovah Tsebahoth, and He will guard it.
The context of 1 Samuel chapter 1 is a time of decline for Israel. The closing verse of Judges sums up the situation: ‘every man did that which was right in his own eyes’, Judg. 21. 25. The high priest, Eli, was a weak man, who knew the sin of his sons. Along with what we have already seen about their use of the ark, they were ‘corrupt’, 1 Sam. 2. 12 NKJV, they ‘despised the offering of the Lord’, v. 17 NKJVmg, and they ‘hearkened not unto the voice of their father’, v. 25. These were ungodly priests in the Lord’s house, and their father could not control them. Eli was weak in other ways; he lacked spiritual sight as surely as his own eyesight was fading, 3. 2, for he believed Hannah was drunk when she was praying, 1. 12, 13. Things were not as they should be in Israel, and it is in these circumstances that God is made known as the Lord of hosts.
Again, we see that this theme accompanies the use of the title as scripture progresses. It is most heavily used in the prophetic books. Jukes notes, ‘especially in those who most keenly felt the failure of Israel in the promised land, the name meets us constantly’.11 Indeed, more than half of the uses in the Old Testament are found in Isaiah and Jeremiah alone, both dealing with the decline of Judah. One example will need to suffice. Isaiah chapter 1 records the rebellion of Judah and contains that prophecy’s first use of the title, ‘the Lord says, the Lord of hosts … “Ah, I will rid Myself of My adversaries, and take vengeance on My enemies”’, v. 24 NKJV. Sadly, God’s people were now His enemies, for they had departed from their God. There was much human weakness and failure. But, as we shall see, God was, and is, not weak. No, He is mighty; He is the Lord of hosts.
In 1 Samuel chapter 1, Hannah cried to the Lord of hosts out of her need. Her prayer in verse 11 is one marked by a deep acknowledgement of this: she was in ‘affliction’, and was ‘in bitterness of soul’, vv. 10, 11. We should never forget that we do not pray to a God who is in any way limited, and the Lord of hosts moves to deliver His people. In her son, Samuel, Hannah’s prayer is wonderfully answered and her praise in chapter 2 reminds us of this, ‘I rejoice in thy salvation’, v. 1.
When David took up his feeble weapons against Goliath, he was aware that it was ‘in the name of the Lord of hosts’ that he was facing the giant, 17. 45. Although there was an army at his back, they were of no help, ‘dismayed, and greatly afraid’, v. 11. Instead, David knew he needed Jehovah Tsehaboth, and He was there, and through Him the people of God experienced deliverance that day by the hand of a shepherd boy.
The repeated couplet in Psalm 46, ‘the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge’, vv. 7, 11, also dwells on this theme. In times of ‘trouble’, v. 1, there is the certain comfort that the Lord of hosts is there, and able to deliver. At the end of the psalm, the Lord says through the psalmist, ‘be still, and know that I am God’, v. 10, the time for human action is over, the Lord of hosts will act. Not only to be a ‘refuge and strength’, v. 1, but to ensure that He ‘will be exalted in the earth’, v. 10.
In James chapter 5, the ungodly ‘rich’ are condemned, v. 1, as those who have mistreated God’s people.12Among other things, they are told to ‘weep and howl’, v. 1, they are also warned that their ‘gold and silver are corroded’, v. 3 NKJV, and, significantly, that the cries of those they cheated have ‘entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth’, v. 4. It is the Lord of hosts who still sees His needy people and will deal with their oppressors. What wonderful comfort, even for us today.
Space has not permitted a thorough treatment of this wonderful title of the Lord of hosts. However, from this first mention we are reminded of the solemnity of dealing with the house and things of the Lord, and that the Lord of hosts is still at work despite days of failure, and that He is a wonderful deliverer.
Different lexicons and dictionaries give slightly varying transliterations of the Hebrew, and there are a variety of Hebrew words which English versions render ‘hosts’. However, saba (Strong’s H6635, ‘army’) is the root word behind them. We commend the reader to the study of these words.
Ibid.
Exod. 15. 4; Judg. 4. 15.
The NET version has ‘the Lord of Heaven’s Armies’.
KJV has ‘host’ but it is a different Hebrew word, mahane, which is perhaps better rendered as ‘encampment’ or ‘camp’.
In verse 8, the title is ‘Lord God of hosts’, an extended form of the title which is also used elsewhere, e.g., Ps. 89. 8; Isa. 3. 15.
Pss. 24. 10; 48. 8.
Rev. 19. 14.
1 Sam. 4. 11.
1 Sam. 5 and 6.
Andrew Jukes, The Names of God in Holy Scripture, Kregel, 1972, pg. 155.
The title occurs twice in the New Testament, here in verse 4 and Romans chapter 9 verse 29, in both cases the KJV has the Greek transliteration ‘sabaoth‘.
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