(A great deal of the inspiration for this sermon taken from Francis Frangipane’s "The Three Battlegrounds", and "This Day We Fight".)
Have you ever taken a good look at a Christmas tree angel? What do you see? What gender is portrayed? What tone? What emotions? At our home, it is a female angel exemplifying beauty, peace, and calm.
However, that is not quite the same as the Biblical image of an angel. When you reflect on angels in God’s Word you find. . .
- Masculine forms
- Masculine names
- Symbol of strength
- Their first words are often – “Fear Not”/”Be Not Afraid”
- Because they are fierce warriors of righteousness
- They are mighty in battle
- In fact, there are no references to feminine angels in the Bible
- The cupid form of an angel we often picture came from Greek mythology – not the Scriptures
As one theologian writes, “Those were not Gerber babies that sang around the manger the holy night Christ was born; those were mighty, warring heavenly beings singing in awe of the sacrifice of the great King.”
This is not intended to disparage your view of angels, but to ask the question, I wonder if there are any other Biblical images that have become somewhat convoluted, disproportionate, or even missed over time?
Do me a favor. Clear your mind. In a moment, I’m going to say a name. When I do. I want you to think of the first image that comes to mind of that person. Don’t ponder it for long. First thing that comes to your mind. Ready?
(Slide of Jesus the Good Shepherd is displayed on the screen.)
Okay, what is the first image that comes to your mind when you hear the name Jesus?
All right. I admit it. That wasn’t fair. Let’s try this again. Clear your mind. First picture that comes to your mind when you think of. . .Jesus?
(Slide of Jesus with children on His lap is displayed on the screen.)
Seriously though. Even without the rather direct subliminal messaging, I wonder if left to our own thoughts what image would come to our mind at the mention of the name Jesus. Because I believe that to a similar extent as with angels, we have missed out on a fully developed, accurate image of Christ.
The Bible utilizes a number of compound names for God. Maybe you have heard some of them:
- Yahweh/Jehovah-Nissi (the Lord my Banner)
- Yahweh/Jehovah-Jirah (the Lord my Provider)
- Yahweh/Jehovah-Rapha (the Lord my Healer)
About 30 different times there is this type of unification between the Lord’s eternal nature, and the needs of His people in a compound name for God.
One other compound name appears almost 300 times. In fact, it appears more than 10 times the sum of all the other names put together!
- Yahweh/Jehovah-Sabaoth – The Lord of Hosts. . .or the God of Armies
And this was not only a compound name of God, but a recognized description of Jesus Christ before He actually came to earth. Look at these references and descriptions of Him –
I Samuel 17:45 – David approaches Goliath, “You come to me with a sword, 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, Jehovah-Sabaoth whom you have defied.”
We can get stuck in the 23rd Psalm – The Lord is my Shepherd. But look at the 24th Psalm (v. 7-10) –
Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
The LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts – Jehovah-Sabaoth,
He is the King of glory.
Around Christmas, we relish the prophecies of Isaiah. We reflect on the coming of the humble, suffering king. But look at what else Isaiah had to say (42:13) –
The LORD shall go forth like a mighty man;
He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war.
He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud;
He shall prevail against His enemies.
What I want us to do today, is make room in our consciousness, in our picture of Christ, in the painting that we have unfurled over the past five weeks of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, the Door, the Way, the Truth, the Life. . .to make room in that picture for the most abundant revelation of the divine nature of Christ that you will find in the word of God. . .the Lord strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle. The Lord of Hosts. Jehovah-Sabaoth.
You see, this is the question for us this morning. Will we even recognize Christ when He comes, or will His nature have been so skewed by the image of the manger and the influence of Greek mythology that we miss one of the most significant indicators of who Christ is?
The name Jesus, given to Him by His heavenly Father, is the Greek form of the name Joshua. Joshua was the Hebrew general who led the people into battle, and into a season of great victory. Let’s look at how this connects together.
Turn with me to the book of Joshua. Joshua 5. If I was to ask you, as we approach a New Year, how many of you have areas of your life in which you hope to see victory? Relationships. Finances. Spiritual battles. Maybe even demonic oppression. Would there be anyone here today who would like to see 2007 be the year of victory in an area of your life, your home, your family?
Well, to be victorious in battle, we are going to need to see Christ as the warrior who is fighting for us. Joshua 5:10 (read through verse 12).
What a great scene. After being set free from Egypt. After 40 years wandering in the wilderness. After manna, day in and day out. Finally they are celebrating the Passover in the land, eating the food of the land, experiencing all that they have longed for all these years. What a picture of peace, rest, and all the thing contained on our banners that we have explored over the past month.
Verse 13 (read). Joshua comes upon this man, who is standing with a sword drawn. Looking all ready for battle. And seeing this image, Joshua asks a very logical question. “Whose side are you on?”
If I come up to someone on the street with a gun pulled, I might want to know. . .are you with the police, public safety, some protection agency. . .or am I about to get it?
You see, this image is probably not the one you have of meeting Jesus face-to-face. Sword drawn. Armed for battle. It is all too confrontational. To intense. To different from the pictures of shepherds and children that we have placed at the forefront of our minds.
But this is a Biblical image of the Lord. Verse 14 (read a). Who is the commander of the army of the Lord? I believe it is the Lord Himself. I think it is Christ.
How many of you have a translation where the word “Man” there in verse 13 is capitalized? If you do, that is a way for your translators to indicate their belief that this was God or Christ standing before Joshua. There is not a capitalization scheme in Hebrew so this is possibly a way that our translators can indicate what they believe about this passage.
If they capitalize the word “Man” that is there way of saying this just isn’t any normal man. This would be God or Jesus. They are indicating a belief that this commander would have been an appearance of the ultimate deity, in either the form of the Father or the Son. And in a moment we will explore why I think that would be Jesus rather than God.
But first, look at Joshua’s recognition of this being (read 14b through verse 15).
Taking off sandals due to standing on holy ground. Sound familiar? Remember Moses at the burning bush? So we have a key connection here. We have this leadership connection from Moses to Joshua for the Hebrew nation through a divine appointment with Christ. So, why a sensing or belief that this was Jesus rather than God?
In John 1:18 we are told that no man has seen God. Based on that Scripture alone many scholars would label these appearances pre-incarnate appearances of Christ. Appearances Jesus is making to people prior to coming to earth in the form of a baby. No one has seen God, rather it is Christ, Jesus who declares Him.
So follow this with me. All this Hebrew, Greek, and grammar stuff can even confuse me, especially confuse me, but this is important to where we are heading. Christ is revealing Himself to people, prior to coming to earth in the form of a baby, and in this instance the revelation is in the picture of a man, ready for battle, with a sword drawn.
Let me try to cement your understanding of who this is standing with Joshua. We looked at Chapter 5, verse 15. What comes next? Chapter 6, right? Let’s look at it. Chapter 6:1 (read through verse 2). Whose talking to Joshua? The Lord.
So this evidence prior to Christ’s incarnation. This appearance and image of Jehovah-Sabaoth prior to His birth as a babe forces us to ask the question, would we recognize Christ if He showed up today? Because this might not be the predominate image of Christ we are carrying around in our heads. In fact, it may not even be an image we carry at all.
So what happened to this identity for Christ? Where did it go? Is it possible that it actually changed with the incarnation? Did God intend for a new image of Christ to emerge, or did our minds simply get skewed by the incarnation? Let me share what I mean by that.
Anyone know who this guy is? (One of my childhood pictures is displayed on the screen.) How about this one? (A picture of me at the U.S. Naval Academy is displayed on the screen.)
This is a persona example of how we can make the connection to past pictures versus the current reality –
- These pictures are factual – but not up to date
- They recognize who I was, not who I am
- They miss key elements of the man that I am today (Father, Husband, Pastor, etc.)
You see, it is entirely possible that we can lock into our minds a picture, an identity, an image of someone that can be 100% factual, but may not reflect the role or full revelation and identity of that person today.
I believe the same thing can happen with Jesus. The incarnation was critical to salvation. It was critical to our understanding of God’s love for us. It was critical to the model of humility and servant hood that we are to follow in our lives and ministry today.
However, if we stop at the incarnation. If we think that Jesus life on earth was a transition point away from the Lord of Hosts as pictured in the Old Testament, than we have quit too soon.
Turn with me to the book of Revelation. If you made it all the way through your One Year Bible, you have just come through these powerful texts. Today is December 31st. Anyone get through their entire One Year Bible? (Congratulations!)
Okay, Revelation 19. Beginning in verse 11 (read through verse 16). Wow! What a picture! What an image! What an identity to grasp of Jesus Christ.
This is what I’m saying. It is a pretty heavy journey from a baby in a manger, to those words I just read. But as history and eternity unfolds, that is the journey that is taking place in the revelation of Christ to the earth. A renewal of the predominate Biblical image of Jehovah-Sabaoth. And if our minds get stuck in the stable, we may not recognize Christ when He arrives, sword drawn, rod of iron, judging and making war.
So let me wrap this up. Why does this matter? Here’s why.
Remember the questions? As we approach a New Year, how many of us have areas of our lives in which we hope to see victory? Relationships. Finances. Spiritual battles. Maybe even demonic oppression. Anyone here today who would like to see 2007 be the year of victory in an area of your life, your home, your family?
And I’m talking complete, full, to be set behind you so that you can with hope and enthusiasm move forward victory. Then you need to know. Whatever your battle, the Lord of Armies, the Lord of Hosts is fighting with you.
We don’t have time to look each of these up, but jot down the references on your notes as I read them to you. Meditate on them as you launch into 2007.
Psalm 18:17-19, “He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support. He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.”
I just love how those verses end. “He delivered me because He delighted in me.” Jesus delights in you, and wants to war on behalf of your deliverance.
Here is another one. Isaiah 54:4-5, “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth,
And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.” And hear this today, “For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.”
People like to say, “Whose your daddy?” Well, whose your Maker? The Lord of Hosts is His name. So do not fear, and do not be ashamed.
One more. I’ll end with my favorite. Isaiah 49:25, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible be delivered; for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children.’”
Man how I love that one. “I will contend with the one who contends with you.” You don’t have to fight your battles alone. The manger is empty. The tomb is empty. And the Lord of Hosts has His sword drawn and is prepared to battle for you.
This is just the start of a journey. We are going to be building block upon block for the next few weeks and months. Foundational truths towards true freedom and victory in life. But it all starts here. Solving the case of the missing identity. Recognize this missing identity of Christ. See the mighty warrior that wars on your behalf. And know that when the Lord of Hosts enters into battle, He has no intention of losing.
