“David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel,
whom you have defied.”
whom you have defied.”
1 Samuel 17:45 (NIV)
On July 14 we will begin our time in the book of Amos, and I thought it would be wise for us to seek to have the same view of the LORD that Amos has, before we try to digest his message of destruction upon Israel and the nations around Israel.
What gives God the right to destroy any nation?
According to Amos 4:13 He possesses that right within Himself,
for He is the LORD (YHWH) God (elohim) Almighty (tsaba).
As we break this verse down, most of us understand that YHWH is the personal name of God, and that elohim is one Hebrew word for a divine being, but what does the Bible mean by Almighty (tsaba)? Only the NIV translates tsaba as Almighty – most other English bibles translate tsaba as host - because it means host - not host as in a person who receives guests but hosts as in a large number of people, or things, in other words Almighty refers to God’s power and control over large numbers.
The Bible records that David’s response to Goliath’s taunt was; I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel. It is impossible to exaggerate the amount of faith that young David had when he approached Goliath. That faith was not blind faith for God had previously helped David kill a lion and a bear. His actions proved his faith for despite a real risk (likelihood in most people’s mind) that David would be killed, David went down into the valley to defeat Goliath and he went armed with the name of the LORD Almighty the God of the armies of Israel. This amazing passage reveals that David believed that God has power and control over large numbers of people (Israel’s army), and that David is coming to Goliath under the authority and with the power of the God of Israel’s army, and for David that is all he needs - well plus a sling and 5 stones. We sing a song at Parkdale occasionally called God of Angel Armies which speaks to the power of God and His hosts of angels, but I wonder if we remember that God has power and control over a whole host of humans also. I know Elijah forgot this - he thought he was the only one left, and God reminded him that there are 7,000 others who haven’t bowed their knee to Baal.
Friend be encouraged today by the truth that our God is the LORD God Almighty
– the God who has a host of humans under His authority and full of His power.
May we be counted among them!
May we place ourselves under His authority and may we step out in faith in His Name, trusting Him for the victory we need today.
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