07-05-2026 - JEHOVAH TSABA- THE LORD OF ARMIES - 1Samuel:17

We are at the middle of the year 2026, I give thanks to God for allow me continue in sharing His word, with these interesting messages from Pastor Rob Inrig from Bethany Baptist Church in Richmond, BC, we will continue to share the Word of God for those around the world who need to hear that God, our Lord of Armies fight the battle for each one of us, and

He will never abandon us if we trust and love Him with all our mind, heart and spirit,

Never forget Jesus, our Lord of Lords and King of Kings, is always on our side.

I invite you to pray and make this prayer personal, and for whoever needs support in difficult times, we mention the names of those who are in need, and also pray for the members of the family and friends. You can also mention the name in need.

(Vicky O, Nancy R, Tere G,  Stevie A, Socrates D, Sara’s mom H, Margarita G,  Rosy Ch, Patricia L, Lina J, Manuel D, Silvia H, Magda-, Miguel H.L, Alicia G, Brianda M, Alejandro M, Natalia M. Oscar N.D, Luis Carlos V).

I ask for your healing over every part of my life – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I ask that you make me strong and resilient for the days ahead. I know that you have a great purpose for those who believe in your name.

Help me not to allow the distractions and struggles of my days to weigh me down to the point of exhaustion. I know that your desire is for me to live this life abundantly and free. And my greatest desire is to reflect your love and light to a world that so desperately needs your hope.

For those I love who are facing cancer or a hard diagnosis, I pray for your covering of healing and grace. I pray for your strength and your great peace to fill their lives, reminding them that you are close. Thank you, nothing is impossible with you. Thank you for fighting for us, and you are bigger than anything this world throws our way.

I lean fully on You, Lord, for You alone are able. We love you; We need you this day, and always.

In Jesus' Name,

Amen.

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This morning, we are taking another look at the names of God.  So far we have seen Him as YWHW - LORD God Almighty, as JEHOVAH ROHI - our Shepherd, as ADONAI - our Master and as ABBA - our Father.  This morning we are considering another name used of Him, yet in truth, it’s generally a name that is mostly unfamiliar to us, JEHOVAH TSABA.

Far more familiar would be names for God like Jehovah Jireh, our provider - that name when God provided a lamb, sparing Isaac’s life.  And the number of times we see that name in Scripture?  Once.  Or another name used of God, He is Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals - transforming undrinkable water after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea.  And that name used of God?  Again once.   And Jehovah Nissi, God’s banner over me, is love?  One time.

But God’s JEHOVAH TSABA warrior name is used nearly 400 times in the Old Testament. Israel is probably more familiar with this name than almost any other.  This name, which means Lord of Hosts, Lord of Armies or God our warrior.  This IS who God has proved Himself to be for them. Their warrior God.

In the safety of our world, this may not resonate. Israel, though, since the beginning of time, has been a people at war, enemies wanting to put an end to her existence. Increasingly, many see Israel as aggressively seeking war, but history says differently.  True, there have been times when she has acted less than righteously.  Any reading of Scripture shows us that - of a people who sinned, of a people who rebelled, of a people who have raised a fist against God, yet God never forsaking this people He has called, His own.  He is disciplining. He is bringing judgment upon them, all in an attempt to restore them to be who He desires them to be.

God acting as a warrior for them and, when needed, against them so they can be reclaimed as His own.  God primarily acts as Warrior for these people through whom His Saviour would come, through whom the world will be blessed and through whom His future kingdom will be established.

And it’s because God has invested His kingdom purposes in this way, that the enemy has, from the beginning of time, risen up to destroy this people of the Promised land ‘from the river to the sea’ Ex 23:31, Dt 11:24.  Destroy this people and the truth of what God has promised, this God of Whom we are told, Cannot lie, is also destroyed.  

My point this morning isn’t to delve too deeply into who Israel is in God’s plan and how that is currently playing out, but to more deeply understand who God is to us in the context of what the enemy is already engaged in and where he wants that plan to go.  While it is true that we in Canada don’t know battle the way it is known in the Ukraine or Middle East, we dare not think we have been spared battle, that while not physical is definitely spiritual.  If that is the case, we are no less in need of a warrior God than David when he fought Goliath.  

Our problem is that the fight we are in is often invisible.  In some respects, it is similar to what is seen in the Middle East now, the presentation of a battle with Hamas or Hezbollah, but the power of that battle comes from a different place.  And that’s what we need to see as well. 

That’s why Paul pulls back the covers over the warfare we experience: for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places  Eph 6:12.

But that’s not how it looks in our day-to-day, so we deal with the things that come at us, using our methods.  We fortify areas that are weak, we gather resources to protect against loss, and we medicate to ward off things that hurt.  Reasonable actions to take, but if what we experience originates in the heavenlies, they can only be defeated by power from the heavenlies - power given us by Jehovah - Tsaba, our Warrior God who is the Lord of Heaven’s armies.  

When we think of warriors in Scripture, several come to mind.  There is Moses who lifted up his staff, watching as God brought walls of water down on a pursuing army.  There is Joshua, who, obeying an incredibly strange battle strategy, brought down the walls of a rock-protected city.  There is an outsized David who brought down a chiselled, wall-sized giant.  And Jael, a woman who acted against an enemy commander, who fled into her tent. 

God accomplishes His victories through those who yield to His command.  In Joshua’s case, we’re told, All the people, after leaving Egypt, that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness during the journey from Egypt had not 5:5.  For 40 years these people suffered because of their disobedience.  The evidence of that was clearly evident; they had not been ‘cut ’. That cut of circumcision identified the Israelites as God’s uniquely chosen people, and until that time, that mark’s importance had been overlooked and not there.  God requires that mark to be there if He were to act as a Warrior on their behalf.  

It’s now, as Joshua approaches Jericho, that a significant encounter takes place.  As the one who leads, I would think he wondered how a fortified city like that was to be taken. No doubt he wonders how many of those who have just been cut would soon be casualties of war, life cut away with swords and spears. Likely, he gazed over at walls that needed to be scaled and entranceways that needed to be opened.  But before battle, it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, Are you for us or for our adversaries?  He said, "No; rather I indeed come now as Commander of the HOST of Jehovah JEHOVAH TSABA and Joshua fell on his face to the earth and bowed down and said to Him, 'What has my lord to say to His servant?" The captain of the Jehovah's host said to Joshua, "Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped Him. Josh 5:13,14.

Joshua - the question you ask, Are you for us or for them? is the wrong one. It is not. Am I for you?  The question is, Do you understand whose battle this is and who fights the battle ahead?  Do you truly understand before Whom you stand?  

If the Commander of the Lord’s armies does not fight the battles we face, what chance do we have against enemies that aren’t physical but spiritual?  When we forget this, we arm up in our protective armour, our strategies, our resources.  Like Joshua, we stockpile our weapons, we enlist our soldiers, we determine the battlefield, and oh yes, we make certain we gather for obligatory prayers before setting out to confront the enemy.  Because that’s the way we’ve always fought our enemies.  It’s the way we’ve been taught.  It’s the way that seems most reasonable.  And it’s the way we don’t follow Jehovah Tsaba for Who He truly is.

And as we step into the battle, how do we do?  Our resources are soon in shambles, our protective strategies torn in pieces.  The situational and emotional missiles are far greater than what we can face on our own. 

Joshua - without putting Me, Commander over all, you are fighting as a weaponless foot soldier, having no idea who the enemy is and no idea what the enemy has in mind.  You are suited up for a battle in which you cannot win.  Joshua - the issue before you is this - Who has your allegiance?  Your capacities and your strength, your weaponry and battle plan?  Or Mine?  

The battle is not about swords and shields; it’s about God’s Spirit.  God knowing what we do not know, God, doing what we cannot do, God, fighting in a way we cannot fight.  

So lay down your command and fall under Mine.  Your task is to bow, not to stand.  To follow, not to lead.  Lay down your weapons and instead, take up Mine.  As you parent, as you relationship, as you career, as you position yourself for what you think is next.  Letting the Commander lead.  

Joshua, remember the promise I made to you: No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.  So be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them  Josh 1:5,6.

We would do well to remember the words of the Psalmist, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand firm.  The Lord gives victory to His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with mighty victories from His right hand.  Ps 20:7,8, 6.

Bowing to our Commander, who His presence is always with us and His power always for us - to all who are believers in Christ. 

Jesus said, I am always with you even to the end of the age Mtt 28:20.  The Psalmist observes, The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth  Ps 145:18 and Hebrews reminds us that what God said to Joshua is also true for us, I will never leave you or forsake you Heb 13:5 

His power for us. If God is for us, who can be against us?  Rom 8:1  Ephesians telling us, His power is working within us  3:20.   Corinthians saying that, The great treasure we have, gives us, Surpassing power that comes from God, not ourselves  2 Cor 4:7.   No weapon formed against you shall stand .... this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord  Is 54:17.  Greater is He who is IN you than he who is in the world 1 Jn 4:4.

God assures us that He is Jehovah Tsaba, working on our behalf. There is no better place to see this than arguably the most famous one-on-one battle in history - David and Goliath.  The setting - the Israelites pitted against a frequently faced enemy, the Philistines, battle lines already drawn on two hillsides, separated by a valley between.  

When David arrives on the scene, he stands outside the battle, not numbered among Israel’s warriors.  By task and by appearance, he is just a delivery boy bringing food and supplies to his brothers.  His oldest, very jealous brother Eliab is quick to remind him of this and insignificant as he is, you are just a keeper of a few sheep.  You are just a small boy who has stepped into a man’s world - you are out of place and of no use here.     

A quick look would seem to confirm David’s insignificance.  Before him stood a staggering and swaggering 9’9” giant.  If you missed him by size, which was impossible to do, you couldn’t have missed the sun’s reflections off his massive armour and shield of bronze.  Everything about him, signalled how big he was, how powerful he was.  

And Israel, seeing what they did, was paralyzed.    

There’s no need to dig into most of the story, it being so well known to all of us.  But just a few observations.  When most think of the story, it is an account about a boy with a sling and a stone.  A stone that flies with velocity, a stone flung with direction, a stone of force, a stone of impact.  This stone directed well, navigating past the armour.  But the story is not about that.  The sling and stone are just the instruments used that will bring about Goliath’s death.

But David understands what the others didn’t. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands. 1 Sam 17:47.  

Goliath’s defeat wasn’t because of a stone David brought to the battlefield; it was because of what Goliath hadn’t brought to the battlefield.  And David knew it.  Contrary to what every member of Israel’s army had done, David didn’t look up and measure how great, how strong, how invincible the enemy appeared to be; instead, he looked over, reminding himself what he knew to be true.  This enemy hadn’t been cut.  This enemy standing before them, who for 40 days had defied the living God, hadn’t been circumcised.  He didn’t have the mark David had that identified him as God’s covenant child.  And with that awareness, David stepped forward, a delivery boy supposedly on a mission from his father, who, in truth, is actually on a mission appointed by His heavenly Father. As God’s warrior, he was armed with assurance of victory, No weapon formed against you shall prosper, a truth Isaiah would write 250 years later Is 54:17.   And what is that to teach us?  That if Satan can keep you and me from seeing Who we are in Christ and the mission He has called us to, He can keep us from walking in the power of Jehovah Tsaba He has for us - as we fight our battles and as we are sent on mission from Him.

David’s perspective re Goliath - despite your size, despite your strength, despite the fear those things convey - you’re no match.  David’s eyes are not looking up but looking across, his assessing what David states twice: Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?  1 Sam:26, 36.

In this, David is actually stating two critically important things the army of Israel has gotten wrong.  And as critics as these were for them, they are equally critical for us.  The 1^st is they have forgotten WHO they are - more importantly, WHOSE they are.  You are covenant bearers.  You wear the marks as God’s chosen one.  You are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms Eph 2:6.  You fight under the banner of the LORD of Hosts. This One who can command all the armies of God to fight on your behalf.  But you don’t need a heavenly host; you have the Commander who, with one word, can defeat any enemy you may face.  He can defeat whether there are many or few.  Nothing and no one can overcome His power.  It’s this awareness that you and I are to step out on.  Over the things that oppress, over the things that imprison, over the fears and anxieties that plague, over the insecurities that disable.  

As Deuteronomy reminds, there is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides across the heavens to help you and on the clouds in His majesty.  The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemies before you, saying, ‘Destroy them!’   33:26-27

It’s true, there are times when our victories don’t come when we would like.  Sometimes they don’t come in ways we like.  Sometimes our victories don’t give even the slightest sign that anything will change. 

And those times are hard.  Painfully hard.  Confusingly hard.     

Yet as hard as these are, what we are told that, God is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He  Deut 32:4.  Our God who we are told that nothing can separate us from the love of God, Not height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord  Rom 8:39.   This is your God who fights on your behalf. 

The 2^nd thing the Israelites got wrong is that IN God’s power, they forgot their enemy is defeatable.  Strutting and shouting, the enemy looks impossibly large.  He invades, forcing his way in.  He takes what is not his to take and declares that what he has taken will always be his.  Sure, for a time, his shouting can overwhelm; his presence may bring fear.  But he will not win.  In the meantime, we are to take up the armour we are told of in Ephesians 6. 

As much as we may want our enemies destroyed now - pain gone, wrong defeated, injustice over, evil destroyed, sin conquered- that would mean Jesus’ victorious return.  We want that, but it will also mean that God’s justice will fall on all who have not received him.  That means, on family and friends and others we care for, who to this time have not accepted Jesus.   So pray for our Warrior God to win their hearts, that they will bow to Jesus as Saviour and Lord while there is still time. 

Be assured, when the time is right, the stone will strike.  Perhaps striking with a rock that brings deliverance from a giant we can’t fight, perhaps sounding out a trumpet blast that tears down a place we can’t go; perhaps impossibly melting away a mountain we can’t move. 

David, stepping into this battle, was reminded of Who God is; clearly aware of what the enemy did not have and reassured by God and who He has been to him in the past.  As he says to Saul, Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep and when a lion of a bear and took a lamb out of the flock, I went our after his father’s sheep and when a lion or a bear and took a lamb our of the flock, I went out after it and struck it and delivered the lamb from its mouth and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard and struck and killed it.  Your servant has killed both lion and bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.  

Times of His victory now, foretelling of His forever Victory to come.  Reminding us when we face things that are too hard, too impossible, too immovable - in these places when we believe God to be invisible, GOD present as - JEHOVAH TSABA - OUR WARRIOR.

When we think of ourselves as unseen, one of the many, in a place where we feel we are just doing the unimportant, just a nameless delivery person, thinking ourselves insignificant - GOD - JEHOVAH TSABA - OUR WARRIOR - in His strength on mission to bring about what He wants to accomplish. 

I close with one reminder from this giant killer: Our God is a God who saves!  The Sovereign LORD rescues us from death.  Summon Your might, O God.  Display Your power, O God, as You have in the past.  Sing to the one who rides across the ancient heavens, His mighty voice thundering from the sky. Tell everyone about God's power. His majesty shines down on Israel; His strength is mighty in the heavens. God is awesome in his sanctuary. The God of Israel gives power and strength to His people.  Ps 68:20,28,33-35.

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