In Jer. 11:20 there is a very specific name ascribed to Jehovah, that is, Jehovah of hosts; He is the Mighty One, the Lord of all the heavenly host, the King of glory, the One who is strong and mighty, the victorious and coming Christ, the One who has authority to rule over all the nations! Hallelujah!
In this article we want to take a closer look at what does Jehovah of hosts mean and imply, and how can we as His believers in the New Testament enjoy Him and experience Him as such a One.
Our God is Jehovah of armies; He is the absolute commander, the Commander in chief of all the heavenly armies.
What are these armies? They are the myriads of untold number of angels that are the holy angels faithful to God; also God can use the human beings and even whole nations – whether they know it or not – as His armies to accomplish something.
For example, in World War 2, when the enemy was stirring up one particular country with the enemy’s evil armies in the air, the Lord of armies could use other countries to deal with that country.
Jehovah of hosts is the Lord of history, and everything is under His control; He is such an absolute authority.
When we realize this, we will be uplifted, for our God is Jehovah of hosts, and He commands and rules over all things!
In the New Testament we see that, in Acts 12, the persecution against the believers went to another level: Herod and his roman forces began to attack the church, they killed James, and they put Peter in prison.
What did the church do? The prayer meeting was in Mary’s house, and they prayed earnestly; an angel appeared in Peter’s prison cell, woke him up, took him by the hand and led him outside – his chains fell off, the gates opened up, the guards were oblivious, and Peter was released.
This angel didn’t just decide to go do this on his own but rather, Jehovah of hosts sent His angel in response to the prayers offered to Him, governmental prayers, prayers of authority and warfare, prayers for God to exercise His government on the earth!
And later in that chapter when Herod spoke and the people said, The voice of a god not of a man, an angel came and killed him; the angel didn’t do this by himself but rather, God commissioned the angel to do it.
In the Old Testament one time the army of the Assyrians surrounded the city of Jerusalem, and the situation was hopeless; in one night an angel killed over one hundred thousand people.
We need to realize that, behind the visible scene, there are armies in this universe; we shouldn’t be preoccupied with the armies themselves but realize that the Lord has at His command the spiritual forces to deal with anything, with any ruler on earth with any country, with any situation, and with any matter.
If we see this, our prayer will be uplifted; we will not necessarily ask the Lord to send an angel here or there but rather, we will ask Him to execute His government, bring His authority in this or that situation…and He will!
Jehovah of Hosts is Jehovah the Mighty One, the Lord of all Heavenly Host, the King of Glory, the Victorious and Coming Christ!
This title, Jehovah of hosts (Jer. 20:12; 30:8; 48:1; 50:18; 1 Kings 22:19) indicates that Jehovah God is the Mighty One, the Lord of all the heavenly host, the Commander of all the host. He is the commander.
In Luke 2, as the shepherds were in the field, an angel stood by them and the glory of the Lord shone around them; they feared greatly, and the angel said, Don’t be afraid, for behold, I announce to you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people, because today a Savior has been born to you in David’s city, who is Christ the Lord!
And then many angelic armies joined him to praise the Lord, for they realize what a great event this was: Christ the Lord was born, He will be the Victor, the Overcomer, and He will destroy the works of the devil, bring in the kingdom, live under God’s government, and He will ascend with all authority in the universe!
In the Old Testament in 2 Kings 6 we see an illustration of the heavenly army and how it operates according to God the Commander’s direction; great Syrian armies surrounded Jerusalem, and Elisha the prophet was at peace, even telling his terrified attendant, There are more with us than with them!
Then he prayed, Lord, open his eyes that he may see; his eyes were opened, and he saw something in the spiritual realm – there was an army of God, immeasurable greater than the Syrian army! Amen!
No matter how trying, how difficult, how distressing, and how perplexing our situation is, we need to realize that, even though there’s an enemy behind all this, our God is Jehovah of hosts, the Commander in chief of all the heavenly armies and of all the masses of people on the earth!
It was this God who disassembled the Soviet Union in response to prayers! Jeremiah knew God as Jehovah of hosts, the Lord of all the armies, and we can also know Him to be such ones under His government and cooperating with Him in prayer!
Jehovah of hosts is the King of glory, the One who is strong and mighty; He is Jehovah of the armies (Psa. 24:8, 10).
May the Lord gain in us an army to match His heavenly army; may we rise up to pray one with Him the prayers He needs to move on earth and bring in His kingdom! The King of glory, Jehovah of hosts, is the consummated Triune God embodied in the victorious and coming Christ! Amen! A
s the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ, the King of glory is coming to possess the earth and take it as His kingdom.
When Christ comes, He will come as Jehovah of Hosts, and He will make wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He will be exalted among the nations, and He will be exalted on earth (Psa. 46:9-10). Only He can make wars to cease!
Jehovah of hosts has the authority to rule over all the nations, and His hand holds the authority to remove kings and set up kings (see Dan. 2:21).
People may be very upset with the outcome of a particular election, and they may rebel, speak evil of, and oppose the newly-elected president or ruler; we should not be drawn into the political atmosphere on one side or the other, but we should stand on the side of the throne of God, realizing that Jehovah of hosts rules!
It is not that we are celebrating the victory of the elected ruler or that we fully agree with everything he says; we simply realize there’s a God in the universe, He is sovereign, and He is the God of heaven and earth.
May we not allow our soul to be drawn into the political, social, or economical atmosphere on earth; may we pray in oneness with the saints and with the throne for Jehovah of hosts to do what He intends to do today!
Such a person who prayed was Hannah, who is actually the first person in the Bible to pray to Jehovah of hosts; she was desperate to have a child, she prayed earnestly, and because Jehovah closed up her womb, she was desperate in her prayer.
Her prayer went to another level until it matched God’s heart; she prayed to God as Jehovah of hosts and told Him that, if He gives her a son, she will consecrate him to God for His service.
What God needed in that age was an age-turning instrument like Samuel, and Hannah received a revelation of Jehovah of hosts, prayed the prayer that was in God’s heart to meet His need, and both His need and her need were met!
At a time when the priesthood had become destitute, God revealed His name as Jehovah of hosts, indicating that when His administration was such a destitute stage, he would come out to rule over the entire situation to usher in the reign of His kingdom (1 Sam. 1:3). Hallelujah!
Samuel was a dispensational instrument to turn the age from the age of the judges to the age of the kingdom at that time. May we all pray like this, not in a begging or imploring way but one with the Lord, prayers of authority, sitting in the heavenlies, for God to do what He intends to do on earth in this age today!
Lord, grant us a revelation of Yourself as Jehovah of hosts, the God who is the Mighty One, the Lord of all the heavenly host, the Commander of all the host! May we realize what is going on behind the scenes and really see that there are more with us than with them, for Jehovah of hosts is on our side! Amen, Lord, You are the King of glory, the One who is strong and mighty! Hallelujah for the consummated Triune God embodied in the victorious and coming Christ, the King of glory who is coming to possess the earth and take it as His kingdom! Amen, Lord, come! Come, Lord Jesus and take the earth to make it Your kingdom for Your glorious expression! Be exalted among the nations and on the earth! Praise the Lord!
Being Open to the Lord for Him to Come in as Jehovah of hosts, the King of Glory, the Victorious Christ!
In Psa. 24:7-10 we see the victorious Christ as the coming King in God’s eternal kingdom.
The psalmists speaks to the gates to lift their heads and be lifted up to let the King of glory come in; this is Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle, Jehovah of hosts! Hallelujah!
These gates are of the cities of the nations, the doors are the houses of the people; the long enduring doors indicate waiting and expecting with long endurance (Phil. 3:20; 1 Cor. 1:7).
People on earth have been waiting and expecting Christ’s second coming; Haggai 2:7 says that Christ is the Desire of all the nations – all the nations are expecting Christ to come, but He would not come that quickly according to our human concept.
As we wait for Him to come as the desire of all the nations, we have the tendency to drop our head in discouragement; so we need to lift up our heads, for He is coming!
We must get ready to welcome Him, for this King of glory is Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle, Jehovah of hosts!
Amen, this King of glory is Jesus, the embodiment of the Triune God in resurrection; He’s the One who is strong in fighting and victorious.
“Be lifted up” implies becoming stronger! Hallelujah, when we look to the Lord as the One who is in resurrection coming back to possess the entire earth and make it His kingdom we praise Him, we are encouraged, and we pray one with Him for His return!
We do enjoy the Lord’s presence today, but we still must say, Lift up your heads, o gates, and be lifted up, o long enduring doors (Psa. 24:7)!
In the background of Psalm 24, the mountain of Zion was there, but the Ark was missing. Now the Ark is coming in; Christ is coming in. And while the Ark was entering, David said, “Lift up your heads, O gates; / And be lifted up, O long enduring doors; / And the King of glory will come in” [v. 7]. We may be the mountain of Zion, we may be the local church, but the King of glory is not so absolutely within. We need to be open, we need to be lifted up, to let the King of glory come in all the way. Then the church will be the steppingstone, the beachhead, for the Lord to return and possess the earth. (CWWL, 1969, vol. 3, “Christ and the Church Revealed and Typified in the Psalms,” pp. 46-47)
We must be even more open to the Lord, opening ourselves wide to Him so that the victorious Christ, Jehovah of hosts, would come in us!
May we open the doors of our heart, the doors of the church, and all the doors in our being so that Christ would come in to the church in an adequate and fuller way, so that He will eventually come with the church to bring in His kingdom!
Before the Lord comes back to the earth, may we allow Him to come in us, come in to fully possess the mountain of Zion – the church – and manifest His kingdom and glory in us!
We may be the mountain of Zion, we may be the local church, but the King of glory is not so absolutely within, so we need to be open, we need to be lifted up, and we need to let the King of glory come in all the way! Amen!
Lord Jesus, we open our whole being to You: come in to us as the King of glory, Jehovah of hosts! Even before You come back to the earth to possess it, come in to fully possess us and to possess the church! We open wide to You: may all the gates lift up their heads and all the long enduring doors be lifted up for the King of glory to come in! Amen Lord Jesus, may the church be a steppingstone, the beachhead for You to return and posses the earth as the victorious coming Christ!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Life-study of the Psalms, msg. 30 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of Jeremiah and Lamentations, week 7, Knowing Jehovah, the Eternal God, in His Lovingkindness, Compassions, and Faithfulness.
- Recommended listening: the message for this week by brother Ron is very recommended; most of the things shared in this article are inspired from his speaking. You can purchase and download this message via lsmwebcast.com.
- Hymns on this topic:
– The Lord shall get the glory / If we will sing His praise, / And angel hosts will listen / When we our voices raise; / The world around will hear us / Give glory unto God, / And Satan’s hosts will tremble / And flee our conqu’ring rod. (Hymns #1095)
– Soldiers of Christ, arise, / And put your armor on, / Strong in the strength which God supplies, / Through His eternal Son; / Strong in the Lord of Hosts, / And in His mighty pow’r, / Who in the strength of Jesus trusts / Is more than conqueror. (Hymns #888)
– Look! God’s tabernacle now is with the saints; / Emmanuel—God with us, we proclaim. / Everything is done, so let His children come; / Christ and the church—where God and man are one! / Lift up your heads, ye cities of the earth; / Open your gates, and let the King come in. / Shout to His praise—He’s coming in to reign! / Shout to His praise—He’s coming in to reign! (Hymns #1222)
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