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1 Samuel 1:3
“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.”
Continuing our look at divine omnipotence, the truth that God is all-powerful, we come today to another title given to our Creator that emphasizes His power with respect to His doing battle as the divine warrior. This title is “Lord of hosts” (1 Sam. 1:3). We see the significance of this title in that it appears more than two hundred times in the Old Testament. Its basic meaning is “Lord of armies,” so it tells us of God’s office as the commander of a whole multitude of warriors. The Lord both fights for His servants and leads His servants into battle.
Importantly, the armies that God commands are both angelic and human in nature. Often, the Bible refers to the Lord’s angelic army as “the host of heaven” (2 Chron. 18:18), though sometimes that phrase can refer to the stars and the planets (Deut. 4:19). In any case, Scripture tells us that there are various contexts in which these armies may fight. Sometimes God may send a single angel such as Michael to assist an individual (Dan. 10). At other times, God sends His angelic army into battle alongside His human army. For instance, God led His angelic army into battle as David took the Israelite forces to war against the Philistines (2 Sam. 5:22–25).
Speaking of God’s human army, we see that Scripture often describes the armies of Israel and Judah as the armies of the Lord (e.g., see 1 Sam. 17:36). In the new covenant context, that makes the church the human army of God, since the church is the true Israel of God (Gal. 6:16). Thus, the New Testament features guidance for the spiritual armor that we are to wear and how we are to do battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil (Eph. 6:10–20).
That God is the Lord of hosts brings us great comfort, for it assures us that there is no shortage of forces that He can send for our aid. In fact, the first appearance of this title in Scripture occurs in today’s passage in the context of Israel’s being weak and in desperate need. This context helps us see how much assurance we get from knowing God as the Lord of hosts. Matthew Henry comments: “Probably Samuel the prophet was the first that used this title of God, for the comfort of Israel, when in his time their hosts were few and feeble and those of their enemies many and mighty; then it would be a support to them to think that the God they served was Lord of hosts, of all the hosts both of heaven and earth; of them he has a sovereign command, and makes what use he pleases of them.”
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
God has a great army of angels at His disposal to do battle against Satan and the forces of evil in our behalf. This army is largely invisible to us, but we can be sure that it is indeed warring against the enemies of the Lord for our sake. Be encouraged that God deploys a mighty army to fight for our good and His glory.
For further study
- Psalm 24:7–10
- Isaiah 14:27
- Malachi 1:14
- Luke 2:13–14
The bible in a year
- Ruth 1–4
- Luke 11:29–53