Commander of the heavenly hosts

In some English Bible translations, the name of Yahweh Tseva'ot (or Sabaoth) is simply translated as the Lord Almighty. It's usually Lord written in lower case letters, as opposed to LORD written in small capitals, which is how they usually translate Yahweh alone. 

But if you look up sābā' in a Hebrew dictionary, its original meaning is not might or strength. Throughout the Old Testament the word is most commonly translated as armies, troops, battle, war or service - including the description of the Levites service towards God.

When the pre-teen David approaches the giant Goliath (1Sam 17: 45) he says, "You come to me with sword, spear and shield, but I come to you in the name of Yahweh Tsevao't, the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel." (Elohim maʿărāḵâ ) Perhaps because David went on to be a military man who fought in many battles, we see that God often speaks to him - all through the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles - while calling Himself Yahweh Tseva'ot, the Lord of Hosts.

A prophet called Micaiah has a vision where he sees God sitting on the throne (1 Kings 22: 19) with the "hosts of heaven" standing around Him. With the prophet Isaiah's vision of God (Isaiah 6: 3) he hears the cry, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory." 

Although some Bibles translate Yahweh Tseva'ot as Lord Almighty, it's clear the name isn't referencing His inherent strength, but rather the fact that He has armies of angelic hosts to do His bidding. He is ready to fight for justice and righteousness. 

Psalm 24 describes the King of Glory and calls Him (vs 10) the Lord of Hosts. Psalm 46 says twice that the Lord of Hosts is our refuge. Throughout the Psalms, He is often called Yahweh Tseva'ot or Elohim Tseva'ot. The implication is that He is willing also to fight for us, no matter what enemies we're facing.

It is Yahweh Tseva'ot who says through the prophet Haggai that He is going to shake the nations. The name appears all through, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah and most of the minor prophets. At a time when Israel and Judah were falling apart, while they were being besieged by the foreign powers that would later take them into exile, God's prophets were reminding the people that they were rebelling against the Lord of heaven's armies. He wanted to fight for them, but instead they forced Him to fight against them.

He's still the Lord of Hosts today; no matter what is happening in our world, He is still the Lord Almighty.

In awe of Adonai...

God told Moses that His name was YHWH - Yahweh, the Lord, the pre-existent One, the great I AM. (It's often written as LORD with capital letters in our English Bibles.) But many Jews considered that name too holy to pronounce. Out of reverence for God's holy name, they used other names instead. One of those was Adonai - Sovereign Lord. 

Because of this, I expected I might find it used where people were in particular reverence and awe of God. Sure enough, it's used at times when people are being called by God and have a particular revelation of who He is. Isaiah has a revelation of Adonai's holiness (Isaiah 6: 1 and 8) and responds with a deep awareness of his own sin before he answers willingly to God's call. Jeremiah likewise feels sort of overwhelmed (Jer 1: 6) and responds by telling the Sovereign Lord, Adonai, that he feels too young and inexperienced to speak on God's behalf.

So it's not surprising that it's also a name people use when acknowledging God's lordship and accepting His sovereign will, even when it's disappointing to them. Moses uses it (Deut 3: 24) when reluctantly accepting that he will not cross over to the promised land. David uses it (2 Sam 7: 22) when accepting that he will not be the one to build a temple for the Lord. 

We can embrace God's sovereign will more easily when we are also convinced that He is good and caring. Adonai Tov (Good Lord) is another of His names that we find in the Bible.

Read on below for more about that.

The Lord is a GOOD Master

Adonai means Lord or Master. It was the word used when addressing an authority (like the king) or even the master of a slave or servant. Masters were not always benevolent in ancient times (even Jesus mentioned this in Matthew 20: 25) and so it's significant that the Old Testament believers tell us Adonai is good. 

Psalm 86: 5 - Adonai tov salach - the Lord is good and forgiving.

The belief in a good Lord, a kind Master, is proclaimed several times in the psalms, but more often using Yahweh Tov than Adonai Tov:

Psalm 145: 9 - The Lord is good to all.

Psalm 34: 8 - Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Lamentations 3: 25 - The Lord is good to those who seek Him.

So, in recognising Adonai as our Sovereign Lord, we don't need to fear that He will be unkind or cruel. The Bible clearly attests that He is a Good Master to serve. When Jesus prayed, "Not my will but yours be done," He was accepting God's sovereignty in His life. But He didn't call Him Adonai at that point; He called Him Father. (Luke 22: 42)

Our home... our place of belonging

This is perhaps one of the more unusual "names" of God. In a psalm written by Moses, he declares, "Lord Adonai, You have always been our home." The Hebrew word is mā'ôn. It means dwelling place, but not necessarily in the sense of a physical house. It's most often used in the Old Testament to refer to the place where God dwells - occasionally referencing the temple in Jerusalem, but more often referring to heaven, to the "place" where God is at home. It's mentioned a couple of times that God, "from His holy dwelling place," heard the people's prayers.

So when Moses prays, "Lord, you have been our dwelling place through all generations" (Psalm 90: 1) he's not speaking about a specific building; he's speaking about the sense of security and belonging that comes from being in God's presence. If we choose to make God our safe place (Psalm 91: 9) we will not need to fear the dangers that other people fear. We will feel "at home," no matter what our outward circumstances are.

I was very aware of this during the two years (2023 - 2025) that I was without a stable home to live in. I think I moved 14 times during that season, taking my dog, cat and personal belongings with me in my little car. Sometimes I didn't know where I was going to be living the following week, but I knew that God's presence was constant and that He alone could give a true sense of home. 

It's well known that Jesus, during His three years of itinerant ministry said, "The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." (Luke 9: 58) But being without a permanent home doesn't mean that you're truly "homeless." Jesus demonstrated what it means to live life with the awareness that the Father Himself is the home where we belong.

And so another psalmist, simply described as "an old man," prays in Psalm 71: 3, "Lord, be my mā'ôn, my true home, because You are my refuge and safe place." What a difference it makes when God is the place where we really feel at home.

What does it mean to redeem..?

Redeem isn't a particularly common word in modern English. We occasionally hear it used in the sense of redeeming an Amazon voucher or a money-off coupon in a supermarket... but on the whole, it has become a religious word that people don't fully understand the meaning of. The word itself gives little clue to its original meaning of buying back. That understanding is much clearer in the French verb racheter (which conveys the sense of making a payment) or even the Italian riscattare (which evokes the idea of rescuing someone or something.)

The concept of redeeming was much better understood in ancient times, and the verb gā'al appears more than 80 times in the Old Testament - often referring to the redeeming of family members who had been sold into slavery to pay a debt. So people in Old Testament times totally understood what God meant when he described Himself as the One who redeems Israel. They called Him Yahweh Gā'al or Elohim El Elyon Gā'al in their songs and prayers.... or even simply Gā'al, as when Job says, "I know that my Redeemer lives." And often different words are used - like ransom or rescue.

Surprisingly, the name Redeemer hardly appears in the New Testament, but the concept is there throughout. The disappointed disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24: 21) talk about how they'd really believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the One who would redeem Israel... and thankfully, later parts of the New Testament confirm that He did. The same Greek verb, lytroō, is used in other scriptures to tell us that Christ redeemed us from wickedness (Titus 2: 14) and to remind us that we weren't redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. (1 Pet 1: 18 - 19)

Sometimes the word ransom is used - like when Jesus Himself says (Matt 20: 28; Mark 10: 45) that the Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many. It seems perhaps that ransom is more readily understood than redeem by people today, but the meaning is the same: a price is paid to set someone free.

A different Greek verb, exagorazō, is used when Paul tells the Galatians that Jesus redeemed them from the curse of the Law, so that they could be adopted as God's children. There's a cost involved in adoption, and that's only a part of what it means to have God as our Rescuer and Redeemer.

Why a banner?

Nissi seemed a bit of a mystery word when I first began meditating on this name of God. The name appears only once in scripture - when Moses builds an altar in Exodus 17 and calls the altar Yahweh Nissi - the Lord is my banner. It was an expression of worship to God for giving them victory over the Amalekites, and Moses was probably thinking in terms of a victory banner.

Nissi is derived from the Hebrew word nês - which refers to a flag or a banner; something lifted up to show where your allegiance lies. Throughout history, nations carried their flag high above them as they rode into battle. In modern times, athletes still parade their flags at the start of the Olympic Games. It's a way of saying, "This is whose team we're on; this is who we belong to." When Moses proclaimed, "The Lord is my banner," he was declaring that Yahweh was the One he had chosen to follow.

A different Hebrew word, degel, is also used throughout the Old Testament to mean flag or banner, and many believers are familiar with the love song that declares,  "My loved one is mine and I am His; His banner over me is love." (Song of Songs 2: 4 and 16) When we belong to Yahweh, we belong to the universe's most incredible expression of love personified.

It's interesting that nês, beyond meaning banner, can also refer to something else that is lifted up on a pole. It's the word used in Numbers 21 when God told Moses to make a bronze snake and lift it up on a pole, so that the people could be forgiven and healed. Jesus later explained that He Himself would be lifted up so that mankind could have eternal life (John 3: 14 - 16)

Whenever we see football fans waving their flags and banners during a match, boldly declaring which team they follow, let's remember Yahweh Nissi - that He Himself is our banner; we should be equally bold and enthusiastic in following the One who is always loving and always victorious.

God is really with us

A few days ago, I reflected on the Hebrew name Yahweh Qarob - the God who is near. The idea of a God who is not far away was already revolutionary in Old Testament times, but Isaiah's prophecy about the coming Messiah takes it even a step further. 

Isaiah writes, in Is 7: 14, that the name of the coming Deliverer will be עִמָּנוּאֵל - Immanuel, God with us! His prophecy is quoted in Matthew 1: 21 - 23, saying that the same Jesus who'll save His people from their sins is the long-awaited Ἐμμανουήλ - God with us. By coming to live on earth, God was not only near; He was actually with us. He ate and drank, laughed and cried with mere human beings.

And what began with Jesus on earth, in the flesh, continued with the promise of the ever-present Holy Spirit in the life of believers. Even today, God is still with us, He is still Immanuel.