Transcript & Slides: Yahweh of Hosts

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Yahweh of Hosts
By David Feddes

The words of my title might not appear in the Bible that you have. The phrase "Yahweh of Hosts" might appear zero times in the translation that you're using. The name Yahweh appears almost 6,000 times in the original Hebrew language of the Bible, and the phrase "Yahweh of hosts" or "Lord of hosts" appears about 270 times. But those words vanish in some Bible translations. In some versions of the Bible, the phrase "Yahweh of hosts" is translated as "Lord Almighty" or, if it's "Yahweh Elohim" in the original Hebrew, then it's translated as "Lord God Almighty." In the hymn"A Mighty Fortress," we sing "Lord Sabaoth." If you look at how that is spelled, you might say that must have something to do with the Sabbath. Actually, it has nothing to do with the Sabbath. The word Sabbath is "Shabbat," meaning a day of rest. The Hebrew words sabaoth means hosts or armies. So when we sing of "Lord Sabaoth," we're singing of the Lord of armies,  "Yahweh Sabaoth."

I don't want to make too big a deal of differing Bible translations because if you were to read a Bible that translates it as "Lord God Almighty," you're still reading about the great and exalted God, the God of angels and of the heavenly beings. But "Yahweh God of hosts" does have a different ring to it than "Lord God Almighty." Lord is a title or description; he's master. Yahweh is a personal name. At some point in history, and it stopped being pronounced by  most Jewish people because they were troubled by what was said in the Ten Commandments, "Do not take the name of YHWH your God in vain." They were so eager not to take the name Yahweh in vain and considered that name so holy that the best way to not take it in vain was never to say it at all. So, it would not even be pronounced when they were reading their Bible. They'd be reading along in Hebrew, but instead, when they saw those four letters YHWH that represent the name of God, they would say "Adonai," which means Lord, instead of that personal name Yahweh.

When we start giving God titles instead of his revealed names, we might be missing something. In the New Testament, you'll find that God gives another name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We're baptized in that name. It's a fuller revelation of who God is in the being of, the Trinity. 

When we speak of Yahweh, we're not just giving him a title; that is the personal name, the name that means "I am," by which he revealed himself as the covenant God. And when we speak of hosts, to translate it as Almighty is certainly not a lie. When you say God is almighty, that is absolutely true. He is omnipotent, the big word that means he can do anything. He's Almighty, but it has a little different ring to it, doesn't it, to say that this person with such a title has all power versus saying this personal God is commanding real armies right now, big armies and lots of them! He is Yahweh Sabaoth, the Lord of hosts.

I want to think with you about two things: the hosts of Yahweh and then about Yahweh of hosts. Who are we talking about when we talk about the hosts of the Lord and the Lord of hosts? Well, let's examine Psalm 89, verses 5 through 8:

When we think of Yahweh of hosts, let's first think about the hosts of Yahweh. Who are they and who are we talking about? This text gives us several ways of describing these beings. It describes the council of the Holy ones and calls them sons of God, and it makes it clear that God is their maker. In other passages, they're actually called gods. So, there is a council of sons of God or gods, whatever name you might use, beings that are beyond our world and universe that form a council. Then there are also angels. Angels are mentioned here, and the word angel means messenger. It's not always clear whether among the heavenly beings some are angels and others are part of the inner council because it seems when you read the Bible, there are different ranks of angels and different kinds of angels. That certainly shouldn't be surprising. We might think that all angels come out of the same cookie cutter with wings and so on, but there's probably as much variety among angels as there is among people or among even maybe other species that God created.

In some of the visions, you see amazing beings. There are four living creatures close to the throne of God, then there is a council of 24 elders. This is in Revelation 4 and 5. And then beyond them, hosts of angels. So, it may be that there are different kinds of heavenly beings with different ranks. But at any rate, according to this passage and others, there are those who form a council. Then there are those who are called angels, and they are the messengers of God. There's the word that we use here and elsewhere: the hosts, the warriors, the armies. Another word is assembly. One of the things that you read about very often in the Bible is this assembly gathered in worship of God. When you read in Revelation, you read of the four living creatures falling down before the throne, of the 24 elders falling down before the throne. They have harps, so they're musicians, and they're falling down before the throne and praising God. Sometimes they're saying, "Holy, holy, holy," sometimes they're saying, "You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things," and sometimes they're singing to the Lamb, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain." But they are an assembly of worshipers.

So, those are the things that we find in this text and in some of the related texts of the Bible about the heavenly beings, the hosts of Yahweh. It speaks of the council of the Holy ones in verse 7 of Psalm 89. Psalm 82, verse 1, uses similar wording. It says, "God has taken his place in the Divine Council." When God speaks of true prophets versus false prophets, he says, "If the false prophets had stood in my counsel, then they would have proclaimed my words to the people. But they didn't. They had never been in the counsel of the Lord." But when you read of the various prophets of God, you read of a prophet named Micaiah, and he says, "I saw the Lord, and I saw him in counsel, and I saw them deciding how they're going to get rid of King Ahab." Or you have Isaiah saying, "I saw the Lord, high and lifted up, and I saw the seraphim, the burning ones, and they had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, with two they were flying, and they never stopped saying, 'Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh Sabaoth; the whole earth is full of his glory.'" So, you have this counsel of the Lord, and the prophets are brought into that counsel of the Lord. The same could be said of Ezekiel. You read in Ezekiel 1 of this vision of living creatures and of these wheels within wheels and a great throne, and above all these amazing creatures is God himself. Ezekiel is brought into that council. That's what happens with these great prophets of God in the Old Testament. They are brought into the counsel of the Lord, which is hidden from most humans, and then they come from that council with a word from God. Very often they will say, "Thus saith Yahweh Sabaoth," and they know what they're talking about because they have been there with the Lord and the Lord of hosts in the counsel of the Lord.

In a council, what goes on? Well, there's discussion, there's decision, there's going forth and doing. One of the earliest examples would be from Genesis 1, verse 26: "Let us make man in our image and in our likeness." Now, some understand that to be an early reference to the Trinity, those words "let us." But it's probably more accurate to say that it is a word in the Divine Council where God is speaking to the others who are with him and saying, "Let's do this." When the Tower of Babel is being constructed, then the Lord, Yahweh, says, "Let us go down and confuse their languages." That "let us" language of the Bible is what we get when we have a Divine Council with God and his other heavenly beings.

One of the words that's sometimes used for this council is gods. One of the most striking is Psalm 82: "God has taken his place in the Divine Council; in the midst of the gods, he holds judgment. I said you are gods, sons of the Most High." Now, some take that to be extremely figurative language where God is actually speaking to humans and using figurative language to say, "These are the judges who are ruling on God's behalf." But it's probably more accurate to say that it is referring to the heavenly beings. When God speaks of this and the heavenly beings who are in God's Council also had responsibility for governance on the earth in various ways and places, and some of them, as rebels against God, ruled in wrong ways. So, in Psalm 82, God is pronouncing judgment on the judges. Elohim, the plural word for gods, is often used in the singular to refer to God himself. But then, in the second part of that verse, it says, "In the midst of the gods, he holds judgment." You can tell whether it's singular or plural. He is singular, but he holds judgment over them. So, in one verse, Elohim can mean God himself, and it can mean a whole bunch of other lesser heavenly beings. But when he's among the gods, that gives us an important clue that there are heavenly beings.

Sometimes we think, "Well, you know, all those other religions that believed in a whole bunch of gods, a whole bunch of supernatural powers, that was all just bunk, it was all made up." Probably not. They shouldn't have been worshiping them, but that doesn't mean there was nothing to those religions and activities at all. At one point, the Bible even speaks of those gods of the other nations as demons. The Apostle Paul in the New Testament says, "You cannot share in the cup of the Lord and in the cup of demons. You can't be going into these temples where they worship other gods and then go into God's place of worship and take part in the Lord's Supper." He says that on one level, of course, an idol, the stick or the piece of wood or gold, is nothing. But on the other hand, it's backed by rebel gods. Those gods would have originally been heavenly beings that were made by God to hold governance, but when they rebelled against God, they became hostile gods, and God promised he would judge them. When it speaks of God, sometimes it uses the phrase "God of gods." Yahweh your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God. Now, would that be high praise of God if there's actually nothing to any other gods, if they don't exist? It's more impressive if there are real, powerful supernatural beings that he is far higher than and that he rules.

In Joshua 22, verse 22, there are some people who are misunderstood, and they say, "No, we're in line with God," and then they speak this way: "Yahweh, God of gods. Yahweh, God of gods, knows." Or when they praise the Lord, Psalm 136 says, "Give thanks to the God of gods, for his faithful love, his loyal love, endures forever." So, he's not just the God of nothings and imaginary things. He's the God of lesser gods. We should never think, of course, that therefore, when they're called gods, that God is just one of a big collection who happens to be just a little more powerful than the rest, like Zeus or, you know, in some of the other myths about gods and goddesses. God, Elohim, is the one who made all the other beings that can be called gods with a small "g." Who is like you, O Yahweh, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? This is the song of Moses after the people have been rescued from slavery by powerful plagues that have been sent on Egypt. Then they've been brought through the Red Sea on dry ground, and then the Red Sea drowned the enemies. This was the praise they offered.

We sometimes read the stories of the plagues in the book of Exodus and say, "How in the world did those magicians pull that off? They were really slick. They could change water to blood; they did several of the other plagues on a much smaller scale, but they still managed to pull it off." Then at some point, they kind of ran out of gas, and they couldn't match the plagues that were being sent by Yahweh anymore. But we're secularized people, we're Westerners who think there's a scientific explanation for everything. The truth of the matter, almost certainly, is that the gods that the Egyptians were worshiping had a real existence. They shouldn't be worshiped, you shouldn't be worshiping angels, and certainly not worshiping fallen angels. But there are powers that people of various religions can manage to tap into, and the idols, the gods, will sometimes act. So, God says maybe they do have some reality after all. I created them, and then they rebelled, but God is awesome above all of them.

Moses' father-in-law, upon meeting Moses, says, "Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods." We sometimes have an idea that monotheism means that there's one supernatural being, and that's it. It is true to say there is one great creator, God, above all, holy above all, but it's not true to say there's only one supernatural being. There's lots of them, hosts of them, in fact. Part of those hosts rebelled against God, but he's greater than the rebels, and he's greater than those who are allies in his army. Another phrase for members of this Divine Council are sons of God. Psalm 89, which we've just read, says, "Who among the sons of God is like Yahweh?" The question obviously deserves the answer: nobody. But the question describes the sons of God and then says there are sons of God, but they're not God in the same sense. Psalm 29: "Ascribe to Yahweh, sons of God, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength, ascribe to Yahweh the glory due his name." These sons of God are called on to worship Yahweh.

In the book of Job, you also read the supernatural beings, the heavenly beings, described as sons of God. The sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and slithering in among them is Satan with his ideas. But God has convened his counsel, and the sons of God have gathered there. Then, near the end, when God, Yahweh, is speaking to Job, he says, "Where were you, Job, when I laid the Earth's foundations, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" When we read Genesis, we tend to think that before God said, "Make the Earth," and all of that, and divide the waters, there was nothing. Well, the Bible says in the book of Job that the heavenly beings were there, shouting for joy while God was making everything. There were spectators. That doesn't mean they were eternal. We'll see in a moment that they too were created, but they were created before God created what we call our world. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In creating the heavens, he may not just have created the skies as we know them and the heavenly bodies as we know them, but the heavenly beings that the Bible describes. He created them before he made us.

Having said that there are beings that can be called gods or sons of God, we ought not to mistake them as being equal with God. Who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh? Who among the sons of God is like Yahweh, a God greatly to be feared in the council of the Holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him? Even in such a council of such mighty and amazing beings, there is none that compares. He's to be revered, to be feared, to be awestruck even by the angels. Remember the vision of Isaiah: with two wings, they covered their faces. Even in the very presence of God, these greatest of beings closest to his throne can't look upon God directly or know him fully as he is. There is no other, and that's why they say, "Holy, holy, holy," not just because he doesn't have any sin, but the word holy means totally different and apart from everything else in that context. They are creatures. In Nehemiah, there's a prayer offered up by Levite leaders of worship, and they say, "You are Yahweh, you alone. You made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve all of them, and the host of heaven worships you." God created them for his own glory, and they worship him constantly.

The New Testament says of Jesus Christ, "For by him, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or rulers or dominions or authorities. All things were created through him and for him." That is one of the things that displays the greatness of Christ, the Son of God. He's the Word, the second person of the Trinity, through whom all of these different beings were made. When we confess Jesus, we confess that all things were made through him. When we confess faith in the Father, even in the words of the creeds, we say in the Nicene Creed, "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible." The invisible realm is a very great realm. There's a lot we don't know about it, but learning just a little bit about it can enhance our appreciation of just how great God is.

So, we have the hosts of Yahweh, this council of the Holy ones who gather and deliberate and act on God's behalf. Sometimes they're called sons of God, sometimes they're even called gods, but always they are creations of God, and God, Yahweh, is far, far above them. Another word that's used in our text and throughout the Bible for these heavenly beings is angels, and that's the one we're most familiar with. In the New Testament, very often the word angel is used to describe these heavenly beings and these hosts. The word angel simply means messenger. The last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, means "my messenger." Malak is the same word for angel or messenger. You can't tell the difference. The only way to tell the difference is by context. Does it mean messenger or does it mean what we call an angel? You gotta read it and think about the context. In the New Testament, angelos means angel. Does it mean messenger or does it mean what we call an angel? You gotta determine that by the context because angel or malak simply means messenger. Of course, that is one of the great things that angels do, one of the great roles they play in the Bible, bringing messages from God to people. Sometimes they are messages for the prophets, sometimes they're messages of guidance for an individual of where to go or what to do, and sometimes they are fantastic messages bringing the gospel: "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Then the angel who gives that announcement is joined by the other messengers who praise God and say, "Glory to God in the highest." It was angels who said, "He is not here; he has risen, just as he said." After Jesus returned to heaven and the disciples were gawking and wondering what in the world had happened, angels came and said, "This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come just as you have seen him go." The Bible says that when he comes, he's not going to be coming alone. We sometimes imagine the return of Christ as this great Christ appearing in the sky, and that may be true, but it's not the whole truth because it speaks again and again of Christ coming with his holy ones, his hosts of angels, to sort out the wicked from the righteous, those who are right with God and trust in him from those who rebel against God and reject him. The angels are part of that great force. They're the messengers who not only spoke of the coming again of Christ but are going to be with him when he comes.

The Bible uses the word that we've been focusing on mainly in this message: hosts. Sometimes a host can just mean a whole pile of people, a multitude, a whole bunch, a crowd. But that's not what Sabaoth means. It means armies. So, sometimes you'll have a more recent translation, like the New Living Translation, for example, which says "the Lord of angel armies." That last part is a pretty good translation, "angel armies" or "heavenly armies." When the Bible speaks of angels, we like to think about the guardian part of it, and armies or soldiers or police are very encouraging when you're in a pickle and you're hoping they'll help you. You're glad when you have a flat tire, and you see a police car pull up by you. If you're getting mugged and all of a sudden you see a policeman show up, you are so glad to see that member of the police. If you're speeding, you're not so happy. If you're the mugger, you're not so happy.

Psalm 78 describes the plagues that God sent on Egypt. It says, "He unleashed against them his hot anger, a band of destroying angels." The angels of God were against Egypt, and that was the force that God used to bring about those plagues. When we think of those warriors, then we need to remember that angels are not the chubby little cute pink-cheeked cherubs that you sometimes see in some really bad art. When people meet angels and see them, they almost always fall at their feet in terror and need to be told not to be frightened. Then there are those whom the angels came to deal with in a very firm way. The Egyptians found out the power of God and of his angels. Sodom and Gomorrah were great cities. Two angels showed up, and they were cinders. One angel showed up when Jerusalem was surrounded by 185,000 troops of Assyria, and the next morning 185,000 troops of Assyria lay dead. This is what we're talking about when we talk about the power of the warrior angels, the hosts of Yahweh. The Bible says, "When the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire," he's going to commit to the fire those who've been against him. So, when we think about angels, it is heartwarming to remember that "he gives his angels charge concerning us to keep us in our ways" if we're his people. But it should also be a dread warning that when we don't take God seriously, he can unleash his avenging, his destroying angels against his enemies. So, the hosts of heaven are to be reckoned with in our thought, and the God who commands them all needs to be taken with awe and seriousness.

Another aspect about troops or soldiers is they're always under command, and that's why the word servants is also used in our text. Servants do what they're told. Soldiers obey orders. So, Psalm 103 speaks this way: "Bless Yahweh, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word. Bless Yahweh, all his hosts, his servants who do his will." The holy angels do what their holy Creator and Commander tells them to do. The soldiers always follow the orders. Then it says, "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" They can be described as servants because they follow God's orders. They can also be described as servants, amazingly, because they serve us. They help us. They do things that we desperately need, and we'll be looking perhaps in some future messages in more detail about some of these aspects of what angels do. Certainly, if you're following the Bible reading plan in the book "Jesus Firsthand," you'll be reading about some of the great stories of the Bible, how angels were warriors, how they were messengers, and, of course, how they were worshipers. In the vision of Isaiah, "Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." They're worshipers, but don't forget what they say in their worship. They say "holy, holy, holy." They say another thing that our eyes need to be open to: "The whole earth is full of his glory." He shines in what he's made here on Earth too. So, God help us to see the glory of what he's done here on Earth, not just in heaven.

You read all through the Bible, Revelation 4 and 5 if you need a real refresher. It has the angels of God, the four living creatures, the 24 elders, those great beings who are part of the council, and that wider circle of thousands upon thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand angels around the throne, all worshiping him. When the book of Hebrews, chapter 12, speaks about the privileges of being a believer, it says that "you've come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly." This worshiping assembly—you don't just gather in this glorified machine shed with the metal outside and all that. When you come into this rather humble building, you're also gathering with the angels, and you're there together with the cherubim and the seraphim and all of God's mighty heavenly beings. That's why the Bible, sometimes in describing and regulating worship among believers, says, "You do this because of the angels." Or when Paul is giving a charge, he says, "In the presence of God and of the elect angels." There's this sense of being always surrounded by these great worshipers.

If you dive into church history, just the writings of some of the early authors, you'll find that they think differently than we do. When you read Augustine, for instance, nowadays scholars look at Saint Augustine and see what he has to say about politics in "The City of God" or what he has to say about election in some of his great treatises. But when I read some of his writing, one of the things that really struck me that I didn't really notice before was how much he's constantly talking about angels. They lived in a supernatural world. They lived in a world where it wasn't just the great Creator but also other supernatural beings who are very busy and very active and worshiping. So, when we think of the hosts of Yahweh, we think of the council, we think of the messengers, we think of the warriors, we think of the worshipers.

Now, having thought just a little bit about the hosts of Yahweh, let's think about what that means for Yahweh of hosts. I'm not talking because I want to scratch your little itch of curiosity about angels. It is valuable to know about angels if the Bible tells us about these heavenly beings, but the purpose in all this is to help us to know God better. God, in relation to his angels, shows us a lot about how he also relates to us. Even we pray, "As in heaven, so on Earth." God speaks and listens to his counsel. Now, he has the first say and the final say, but he consults with this heavenly council a good many times in the Bible when we read it. Is that so strange? Do you believe in prayer? Do you believe that God listens to beings who are a lot less and lower than he is and pays attention to what they say? Do you believe God speaks to little beings like us? He speaks to us, and he listens to us because he invites us too to participate in his counsel.

When we read of them being called gods and sons of God, just remember what the Bible says of those who have been adopted into Jesus Christ: "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." 1 Peter even goes so far as to say, "You become partakers or fellowshipers with the divine nature." There's something mysterious going on where God lets not only those heavenly beings but also earthly beings be part of his family. Then he exalts them in ways we cannot imagine, giving authority and rule. Those who are faithful in a few things will be put in charge of many things, says our Lord Jesus. He loves and exalts his family, and it tells us something about God too: he seems to like to share. He likes involving others in the discussion and decisions, but also in the action. Some people might ask, "Why does God need a Divine Council?" Well, the answer is he doesn't need one, but apparently, he has one. What does God need you to bring the gospel to others for? Why does he need you? The short answer is he doesn't, but he gives you the privilege of being his partner. He likes to work through angels. He likes to operate through people. He can, if he wishes, simply declare and make it happen without any other being bringing it about, but very often he likes to involve and share his rule and his word with other people.

Another thing we learn about him is he is very, very creative. You should get that idea just going to the zoo or looking at a nature show or going somewhere else. When you look at a little chick or a platypus or a rhinoceros, these are strange, strange critters, and so are we. You go snorkeling and see a wide variety of life that's unlike anything you've seen if you're just a land lover. You see these amazing, multicolored fish. You look at some of the creatures of the ocean. You look at a camel with those strange humps, and you just think, "Wow." Then you realize when you've looked at a lot of different aspects of creation, its animals, its mountains and trees and plants. I mean, look at just step back and look at the shape of them and the different things that God has made. Then think to yourself, "Now when I've looked at everything on Earth, the plant life, the animal life, the rivers, the mountains, and all of that, and when I look at the stars, I still haven't seen nearly everything that he has made." He has hundreds of millions of beings that he made that are part of an entirely different realm but that intersect with ours and have an influence on ours that we don't normally see. That just tells us what a lover of variety and what an awesome creator that we have.

He speaks through messengers. As I said, he could always just speak with a voice straight from heaven, but sometimes he's chosen to involve his angels in that. I'm sure the angels love it. They didn't apparently take it too kindly when they weren't believed. You recall the angel Gabriel telling Zechariah, "Now you and your old wife, I know you couldn't have any kids, but now you're going to, and he's going to be wonderful. He's going to prepare the way for the Lord." Zechariah said, "How do I know that's going to happen?" Gabriel says, "Do you know who you're talking to? I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to bring you this good news, you little pipsqueak. So if you don't have something good to say, then don't say anything," and he can't talk for nine months. So, yeah, sometimes the messengers didn't take it real kindly if you didn't believe it right on the spot because they see things differently. They live right in the present. An angel who stands in the presence of God considers it ridiculous, stupid, unbelievable that any idiot wouldn't believe something God says. That's what it's like when you live right in God's presence. We, whose vision is clouded by our sin and by many other things, have a hard time believing certain things sometimes. But for an angel in the presence of God, no, a message from God is absolutely sure. As our Lord Jesus himself said to some unbelievers who didn't believe in the resurrection, "The reason you don't believe is you don't know the Scriptures or the power of God." We need to get into the Scriptures, and we need to understand the power of God.

He speaks through messengers. He commands mighty armies, and not only angel armies, he calls us to be his agents. He calls us to be his soldiers. He calls us to put on the armor of God and to serve him as faithful soldiers. If the angels, beings that great and powerful and mighty, are constantly adoring and worshiping and being amazed at him, then what should we be doing? We should be giving him awestruck worship because he deserves it.

We neglect to think about the hosts of God. If we neglect to think about them, then we're missing out on some important things that we should know about God, Yahweh, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit himself. As you read your Bible, as you read your meditations and think about angelic activity in the Bible, let it cause you again to exalt the name of God. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Yahweh of hosts. O Yahweh, God of hosts, hear my prayer. O Yahweh of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in you. If you start talking to God not just as some vague figure out there but Yahweh of hosts—he has a name, and he has mighty armies—if you start praying like that, quite often you might find your prayers have a lot more confidence and power. Who is the King of glory? Yahweh of hosts. He is the King of glory. When we need revival, when we need help, how shall we pray? O Yahweh, God of hosts, restore us. Cause your face to shine that we may be saved, that we may be saved.

Yahweh saves. The word for that is Yeshua. Jesus saves, and he saves finally not just by these great hosts but by the one through whom all those hosts were made, the one whom all those hosts adore and worship. He sent that Son of his love into the world. There is none like him. God sent him to become one of us, and he sent him to save us from sin and death by his own blood and to give us eternal life by his resurrection. Then he is above all rule and authority and power and dominion, not only in the present age but also in the age to come. That is who Jesus is. So, let's conclude by saying together these words of Psalm 89:

Yahweh
of Hosts
Slide Contents
By David Feddes

LORD God Almighty

Yahweh God of hosts

Yahweh Elohim Sabaoth

יהוה אלהי צבאות 

⁵ Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Yahweh, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! ⁶ For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh? Who among the sons of God is like Yahweh, ⁷ a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him? ⁸ O Yahweh God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Yah, with your faithfulness all around you? (Psalm 89:5-8)

Hosts of Yahweh

• Council of holy ones
  • Gods
  • Sons of God
  • Creations of God
• Angels: messengers
• Hosts: warriors
• Assembly: worshipers

Council

the council of the holy ones. (Ps 89:7)

God has taken his place in the divine council. (Psalm 82:1)

If they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed
my words to my people. (Jer 23:22)

Gods

God (elohim) has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods (elohim) he holds judgment… 
I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High.” (Psalm 82:1, 6)

God of gods

Yahweh your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God. (Deut 10:17)

Yahweh, God of gods! Yahweh, God of gods knows. (Joshua 22:22)

Give thanks to the God of gods, for his loyal love endures forever. (Ps 136:2)

God above gods

Who is like you, Yahweh, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? (Exodus 15:11)

Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods. (Exodus 18:11)

Sons of God

Who among the sons of God is like Yahweh? (Psalm 89:6).

Ascribe to Yahweh, O sons of God, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength. Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due his name. (Psalm 29)

The sons of God came to present them-selves before Yahweh. (Job 1:6; 2:1)

Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation…  and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:4, 7)

Above all

 For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh? Who among the sons of God is like Yahweh, a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him? (Psalm 89-6-7)

Creatures

You are Yahweh, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. (Neh 9:6)

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. (Colossians 1:16)

Hosts of Yahweh

• Council of holy ones
  • Gods
  • Sons of God
  • Creations of God
• Angels: messengers
• Hosts: warriors
• Assembly: worshipers

Messengers

Angel means messenger.
מַלְאַ֣ךְ (malach) = ἄγγελος (angelos)

I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. (Luke 2:10)

He has risen.” (Matthew 28:6)

This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come. (Acts 1:11)

Warriors

Hosts צבאות (sabaoth) = armies

He unleashed against them his hot anger… a band of destroying angels. (Psalm 78:49)

… when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire. (2 Thessalians 1:7-8)

Soldiers serve

Bless Yahweh, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word. Bless Yahweh, all his hosts, his servants who do his will. (Ps 103:20-21)

Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:14)

Worshipers

“Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh of hosts! The whole earth is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:3)

The four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped. (Revelation 5:14)

Hosts of Yahweh

• Council of holy ones
  • Gods
  • Sons of God
  • Creations of God
• Angels: messengers
• Hosts: warriors
• Assembly: worshipers

Yahweh of hosts

• Speaks and listens to council
  • Loves and exalts his family
  • Shares reign with imagers
  • Creates splendid variety
• Speaks through messengers
• Commands mighty armies
• Deserves awestruck worship

Yahweh of hosts

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Yahweh of hosts! … O Yahweh, God of hosts, hear my prayer…

O Yahweh of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts you. (Psalm 84)

Who is the king of glory? Yahweh of hosts, He is the king of glory! (Psalm 24:10)

O Yahweh God of hosts, restore us; cause your face to shine that we may be saved. (Psalm 80:19)

⁵ Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Yahweh, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! ⁶ For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh? Who among the sons of God is like Yahweh, ⁷ a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awe-some above all who are around him? ⁸ O Yahweh God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Yah, with your faithfulness all around you? (Psalm 89:5-8)

¹ Praise Yahweh! Praise Yahweh from the heavens; praise him in the heights! ² Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! …⁵ For he commanded and they were created… ¹³ Let them praise the name of Yahweh, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven. (Psalm 148)