What is a “Sabaoth”?

Newsletter Article for May 1999

© 1999 by Rev. Paul A. Wolff

One of the best things about having e-mail is that I can subscribe to various mailing lists. One of my favorites is called “A.Word.A.Day”. As the name suggests, it sends out a new word every day along with its definition, a guide to pronunciation (as needed), a sentence or small paragraph with an example of the word’s usage, and a quote for the day which usually has nothing to do with the word for the day. I find that this is an interesting and fun way to increase my vocabulary, or learn the origin or other trivia about words. Sometimes the words have a particular significance such as the certain Friday where the word of the day was “triskaidekaphobia” (you can look that up yourself).

I mention this only because this month’s article describes my word for the month. When we follow the Holy Communion liturgy in the Lutheran Hymnal we sing praise to God in the Sanctus and call Him “Lord God of Sabaoth”. The word “sabaoth” (Sab-ay-OTH) is also in a few of the hymns, but how many of us understand what it means? My favorite dictionary does not contain “sabaoth” but it does have “triskaidekaphobia”.

I suspect most people think that the word in the Sanctus is “Sabbath”. After all, God is the Lord of the Sabbath. He is the one who gave the Third Commandment: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. However the words “Sabbath” and “sabaoth” are completely different despite sounding similar in English. Sabaoth is a Hebrew word which means “hosts” or “armies.” It is frequently used in the Old Testament to describe God as the “Lord of Hosts” (or “LORD Almighty” in the NIV translation).

The translation of sabaoth as “hosts” doesn’t really help us understand what this means. Usually we think of a host as someone who invites you to a party, and who provides lots of good food and drink, and doesn’t that sound like a lot of fun! However the “hosts” refer to a large number of people, or angels, and very often it is used to refer to armies. In 1 Samuel 17:45 the phrase “Lord Sabaoth” is paired with “God of the armies of Israel.” When Holy Scripture calls God the “Lord of Hosts” it is referring to His power and authority. God is the Lord over many armies in heaven and on earth.

The phrase “Lord sabaoth” is found throughout the Old Testament, but it is especially common in the prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah. The prophets were sent to call God’s people to repentance. Their messages warned the people about their disobedience to God and called them to trust in God and follow Him. By using the title “Lord of Armies” the prophets wanted to warn the disobedient people that if they didn’t turn from their sinful ways that God had the power and authority to punish them. This is what eventually happened when God used the pagan Babylonians to defeat disobedient Israel and carry off most of the survivors into captivity in Babylon.

However, the fact that God is in charge of armies is not only meant as a threat, but it is also meant to comfort God’s people. One of the reasons why people turn away from God is that they lose faith in God and start to believe that false gods can provide them with more protection or power or influence or security. It should reassure us that God is in charge of armies in heaven and on earth because God protects His people. He loves us and He uses His armies to protect His people from all harm and evil.

We shouldn’t necessarily view God’s power with trepidation. Even the aforementioned Babylonian captivity was only temporary. God watched over His people while they were in captivity and He brought them back to the land He had originally promised to Abraham and his descendants. Then when the Babylonians began to think too highly of themselves and didn’t give glory to God for giving them success and power, He sent an even nastier army to crush them.

We can take comfort in this when we understand that God will take care of punishing our enemies if they need punishing. Meanwhile, God calls us to love one another and trust in Him. He asks us to turn the other cheek if we are offended, and leave the revenge to Him. We certainly don’t want to be on the wrong side of God’s wrath, but we can take great comfort in the fact that He is the Lord of Sabaoth and all God’s armies serve Him for the good of us all.