We have already looked at four of them, El-ohim, El-Shaddai, Yahweh and Adonai.
In this sermon we want to consider the name Jehovah Sabaoth.
The word is pronounced as SA-BA-OTH
Many folks are intrigued with names.
(1)In genealogy we usually concentrate on SURNAMES, (Usually call our last name or our family name) since they are the most important way of identifying people who are related
• GIVEN NAMES are more important in a way, because they represent a voluntary choice by the parents or, sometimes, by an individual.
(2) Some parents chose to name their children after certain virtues they hoped their child would possess, such as Patience, Hope, Charity, Angel or Prudence.
(3) Some regions of the country rely on “Nicknames.” In the South, Dr. Odell Belger says he had friends or went to school with friends and classmates such as:
• A boy named Lightening
• A boy named Hot dog
• A boy named Bad Eye
• A boy named Mad Dog
• A boy named Popsicle
• A boy named Mustard
• A girl he dated named Shirt Tail
Names are fascinating, but the names of God in the Bible are in a camp all to themselves.
His name has been REVERED and ABUSED more than any name on the earth.
However, one day His name will be REVERED by all.
Look at Philippians 2:9-11, we read, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
The names of God should always be treated with reverence.
In this message the name JEHOVOAH SABAOTH refers to a captain or general who commands a mighty army.
It’s used over 270 times in the Bible.
Amos 4:13 describes this name Jehovah Saboath in great detail: “He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth–the LORD God Almighty [Jehovah Sabaoth] is his name.”
The first time we see the name Johovah Saboath in the Scriptures is when we see a mother crying out to God for a child.
Illus: This woman was having a difficult time bearing children, and the Scripture lets us know she cried out to Jehovah-Sabaoth to solve this problem in her life.
Look at First Samuel 1:3-11, we read, “And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there. And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb. And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons? So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD. And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD OF HOSTS, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.”
This mother recognized the honor of bearing a child. In fact, during Bible times, if a woman could not bear a child, she was considered to be inferior to other women who could.
God heard Hannah’s cry, and Samuel is given to her.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT SAMUEL MEANS?
Samuel means “A gift from God."
Children are a gift from God, and once they arrive in the home, the home is never again the same.
What a joy that we hear from these small lads…
• A Sunday school teacher asked her children, as they were on the way to church service, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?" One bright little girl replied, "Because people are sleeping, and you might wake them up!"
• Six-year-old Angie and her four-year-old brother Joel were sitting together in church, and Joel giggled out loud. Finally, his big sister had had enough. "You're not supposed to talk out loud in church." "Why? Who's going to stop me?" Joel asked. Angie pointed to the back of the church and said, "See those two men standing by the door? They're hushers."
• A father was at the beach with his children, when the four-year-old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore, where a seagull lay dead in the sand. "Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked. "He died and went to Heaven," the dad replied. The boy thought a moment and then said, "Did God throw him back?"
Make no mistake about it, life without children would certainly not be as entertaining. They are a gift from God.
Hannah discovered WHEN HER BACK IS UP AGINST THE WALL...Through Jehovah Saboath He could do the impossible and she could have a baby.
WHAT DOES JEHOVAH SABAOTH?
IT MEANS - Jehovah is over all the events of our life
He is often referred to as the Lord of Hosts in the scriptures!
Let’s look at-
I. THE DEFINTION OF JEHOVAH-SABAOTH
Every day of our life, Jehovah-Sabaoth is working in our life. Many times, He is doing it and we can’t even see Him doing it.
A good example of this can be found in 1 Kings 6:15-17 about Elisha, we read, “And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, a host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”
In this passage, Elisha and his servant woke up one morning and heard the enemy circling outside of their camp. The servant took one look at them and said, “…Alas, my master! What shall we do?”
Did you ever hear the expression, “Ask a dumb question and you will get a dumb answer?”
• This is exactly how the servant must have felt when Elisha answered that question.
• He felt he asked a sensible question but got a dumb answer.
Look at how he answered that question with him and this young man along surrounded by the enemy, he said in verse 16, we read, “…And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.”
If we had been there, we would have probably thought what the servant thought, “Here we are staring death in the face, and Elisha is losing his mind!”
From what the servant could see, it was only him and Elisha there, and he talked like there were thousands on their side to help them.
Illus: He must have felt like the man from the city, that moved to the country.
His farmer neighbor visited him one day and invited him to a party that night.
• The farmer then said, “I gotta warn you, there may be a lot of drinking going on.
• The man replied, “Well, I am not into drinking man, but I can handle it.”
• The farmer then said, "I also must warn you that sometimes there is a lot of fighting that goes on at my parties."
• The man says enthusiastically, "That's O.K., I enjoy a good fight every now and then.”
• The farmer said, "I gotta warn you that there is going to be a lot of wild dancing."
• The man replied, "That's O.K. I can handle that!”
• The farmer then gave the man directions to his cabin.
• As the man was leaving, he asked, "What should I wear?"
• The farmer answers, "It doesn't matter! It's just going to be the two of us there!"
The servant that was with Elisha must have felt like he was with a strange fellow. He looked around and all he could see was the two of them.
But then look at Look at verse 17, we read, “And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha."
How relieved the servant must have been when he saw, “…The mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”
We all rejoice that God is the El-ohim, the Creator of the universe, but listen, I am glad He also is JEHOVAH SABOATH works in our lives each day.
Every day, there are many things going on in our life that we cannot see, but the Lord of Hosts surrounds us each day, protecting us from the evils of Satan.
There are times in our life that He has intervened, and we were not even aware He had intervened.
For example, as we drive down the highways each day, we meet on-coming traffic with drivers that have no business behind the steering wheel, and the Lord of hosts protects us time and time again
Please allow me to tell you a personal story that took place in my life (Dr. Odell Belger)
Illus: I was driving down the highway one day and I came to an intersection and the light had just turn red, so I stopped waiting for it to turn green.
As I stopped, I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw an eighteen-wheeler coming down the highway in the same lane I was in. But he was about 100 yards back, so I turned around to wait for the light to turn green. But while I was waiting the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and I looked in my rear-view mirror again I noticed the eighteen-wheeler was getting very close with no intention of stopping.
In fact, the driver of the eighteen-wheeler was getting so close that I had to drive my car into a ditch to keep from getting run over.
He ran through the red light at full speed never touching his brakes. HE WAS ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL!!!
Listen, if Jehovah Sabaoth had not spoken to him, he would have drove that big eighteen-wheeler over the top of him.
Jehovah Sabaoth watches over us every day of our life.
Illus: Each day we come into contact with deadly germs that no one can see, but the Lord of Hosts can see them, and He protects us from them
The Lord of Hosts is with us each day to protect us, even though we can not see Him.
Let me give you another personal illustration.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger and his wife had come home from a Christmas party on a very cold evening. They lived in a two-story home, and they had a kerosene space heater that they would often use to knock the chill off. The heater was not full so he filled it and placed the five gallons can in their bedroom. He later lit the little kerosene heater, and they went to bed. Several hours later, his wife woke up and sat up in bed and screamed!!! It woke him up and as soon as he sat up in the bed he could hear and see a roaring fire in the hallway. Across their bedroom it was like a line drawn across the room, the top was pitch dark from the soot of the fire and the lower part of the room was smoke that you couldn’t see through. They were both greatly concerned about their boys and started hollering for them to escape out of the windows. They did, but they could not get to them because of the fire.
They had to get out because the soot line was about 4-5 feet from the floor.
Dr. Belger’s wife went running through the fire in a Silk nightgown, and he said, “I can still see her going through that fire, and when she reached the bottom of the staircase, you would never have known she had been through a fire.”
JEHOVAH SABOATH woke them up and saved their life.
The five gallons of gasoline can in their bedroom the fire had gotten so close to the can that the plastic container on top had melted and was bent over. If that can of gasoline had exploded it would have browned that house to pieces with them within it.
They later learn that the man who had sold them kerosene sold them gasoline instead.
Listen, Jehovah works in our lives, doing the impossible. No matter what storm of life we are facing, we need to know that JEHOVAH SABOATH is there to take care of us doing the impossible.
We need to be mindful of His care each day over us.
Illus: Reminds me of a little girl walked to and from school each day. Though the weather that morning was questionable, and clouds were forming, she made her daily trip to the elementary school.
As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with thunder and lightning.
The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school, and she herself feared that the electrical storm might harm her child. Full of concern, the mother quickly got into her car and drove along the route to her child's school.
Eventually, she spotted her little girl walking along, but at each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look up at the sky and smile.
As the next flash lit up the sky the little girl just stopped, looked at the streak of light and smiled.
• Finally, the mother called her over to the car and asked, “What are you doing?"
• The child answered, "God keeps taking pictures of me, so I keep stopping to smile for His camera!"
We need to feel the same way during the storms of life. We can stop and smile because we know God is with us.
We have looked at the DEFINITION OF JEHOVAH-SABAOTH.
He is JEHOVAH that deals with all the activities of our life, activities that we can see, and many times activities we can not see.
Let’s now look at-
II. THE POWER OF JEHOVAH-SABAOTH
The Lord Jehovah is always there for us when our back is against the wall.
We are familiar with the name JEHOVA, but you might be wondering what does the word Sabaoth mean?
Sometimes Sabaoth refers to the hosts of heaven (Psalm 148:2; 1 Kings 22:19), picturing God as Lord of the multitudes of angels, which are numbered as “a thousand thousand” and “ten thousand times ten thousand” (Daniel 7:10).
When we call upon God for help, He has these thousands and thousands of angels he can send to us for help.
Remember Sabaoth speaks of His army in heaven that He releases when our back is up against the wall.
We’re going to look at THREE biblical illustrations when Jehovah Sabaoth goes to battle when our backs are against the wall.
(1) When you feel oppressed
The first instance of Jehovah Sabaoth is found in 1 Samuel 1:3, where we read that Elkanah who was married to Hannah and Peninnah,
Peninnah had children but Hannah was barren and bothered by the whole ordeal.
We read in verse 6 Penninah couldn’t just be thankful that she had children she felt the need to needle and harass Hannah.
Hannah’s back was up against the wall, and she needed God to do battle for her.
In verse 11, she makes a vow saying, “O LORD Almighty [Jehovah Sabaoth], if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life…”
She needed God to unleash the armies of heaven because she was at the end of her rope.
The Lord of Host Jehovah Saboath did just that and she had a baby.
We need Jehovah Saboath When you feel oppressed, and your back is against the wall.
Also…
2. When you feel overwhelmed
In 1 Samuel 17:45 God also unleashes the armies of heaven when we are overwhelmed, when the problems in front of us seem so huge and so big that we want to run the other way.
The Philistines were the arch enemies of Israel and had gathered for war in the Valley of Elah to take on God’s people. The Philistines had a champion named Goliath who was two feet taller than Shaquille O’Neal.
This mammoth of a man challenged the Israelites to a smackdown fight as he belched out blasphemies against God.
When David was there, he heard Goliath shout his usual defiance. This taunting had been going on twice a day for forty days. Each time the Israelites heard his voice, “they all ran away from him in great fear” (verse 24).
David then asked the question that should have been asked long ago in verse 26: “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God
David was willing to shut his mouth!
Saul then told David to go for it.
He picked up what he was used to – his staff, his slingshot, and then found five smooth stones and went off in search of the giant.
When Goliath came closer to David and saw that he was just a boy, he despised him and said in verse 43: “Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks?”
Listen carefully for the name Jehovah Sabaoth: “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, [Jehovah Sabaoth] the God of the armies [Sabaoth] of Israel, whom you have defied
And with one stone from his sling, he slayed the giant.
God goes to battle when our backs are against the wall.
Conclusion
God goes to battle when your back is up against the wall. The Commander of the Hosts of Heaven wants you to call on His Name –Jehovah Sabaoth – when you are:
I.Oppressed
II.Overwhelmed
