In my life lately, I have been needing a Rambo God, not a meek, mild, and far away God. The kind of God that ties a piece of fabric around his head, flexes his muscles and says, “I’ve got this”!
As we celebrate Chanukah this year, we see that kind of God in the story of the Maccabees. We see terrible persecution against the Jewish people, and the Maccabees rising up and fighting against their oppressors. They stood and fought, but they were not alone. God was right there in their midst. They won only because the “Lord of the hosts” was guiding, directing and giving them wisdom. Had the Lord not been on their side they would have never overtaken their enemies. The same thing is true in our lives today. If the “Lord of the hosts” (Adonai Tzva’ot) is not guiding, directing and giving us wisdom, we will not prevail.
The “Lord of the hosts” is an interesting term that is used in the bible quite frequently. The word “hosts” is a translation of the Hebrew word “tsaba”, meaning army, war, warfare, that which goes forth, host, and it can also mean an orderly arrangement. Another way that this term is translated is “God of the armies of heaven”, and also “Lord of the armies”. In Jewish tradition, God’s armies are all of the heavenly forces that are under His command. They consist of the angels and all of the celestial bodies. All created things are under the leadership or dominion of God, who made all and maintains them all. In Genesis 2:1 it says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.” God created it all and He is the one who has dominion over it all.
In 1 Samuel 1:3 it says, “Now this man would go up from his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of armies in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the Lord there.” This is the first time that this phrase is used for the Lord, however, if we look at Exodus 12:41 it says, “At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.” Notice that the word order is reversed from 1 Samuel, instead of Adonai Tzva’ot it is Tzva’ot Adonai. This is the Lord leading His hosts, the children of Israel out of Egypt. There are lessons for us to learn as we struggle in our daily lives, as we pray for Israel and for the hostages that are still not home. Here are three points that we need to learn as the Lord of Hosts leads us:
- Exodus 13:17, “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” The Lord was the one who chose the route into Canaan! We need to prayerfully heed the battle plan that the Lord discloses to us as we work to obtain our freedom. This principle is important for us today, it was important for the Maccabees and it is important to Israel. We need the Lord of Hosts to lead us with His plan and we need to be sensitive to His leading.
- Exodus 13:18, “But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.” When the Lord of Hosts is leading us, then we are equipped for the battle. He has equipped us perfectly for what is coming and no matter the difficulty He will be right there by our side. He was with the Maccabees, He is with us, and He is with Israel.
- Exodus 14:14, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” This verse is when the children of Israel are at the sea with no visible means of escape. Pharaoh and his men have almost overtaken them but our Lord has rescued Israel! He will provide a means of escape for us when we see no way of escape, if we will trust Him. He is our advocate, He is our defender and He is our fortress.
In the Song of Moses after the children of Israel are rescued by God from Egypt, in Exodus 15:3 it says, “The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.” Our God is the original Rambo and He’s got this!
P.S. I am so thankful to Judith Lier as this blog would not have been possible without her. She researched a question that I had, and provided much information and conversation that resulted in lots of the material included.