The Lord Almighty

1 Samuel 1:2-3,21-22 – He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord…When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow, Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always.”

Deuteronomy 12:7 – There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

Exodus 23:19 – “Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Deuteronomy 16:15 – For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.

Joshua 5:14 – “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”

1 Kings 22:19 – Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left.

Psalm 68:17 – The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands; the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.

1 Samuel 17:45 – 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.

Application:

• ·         The Lord Almighty was traditionally “the Lord of hosts”, a royal title. The title “the Lord of hosts” is understood as a reference to the sovereignty of God over all powers in the universe. In the account of the establishment of kingship in Israel it became a reference to God as the God of armies—both of the heavenly armies and of the armies of Israel.
• ·         Making vows to God was a common feature of Old Testament piety, usually involving thank offerings and praise.
• ·         The Lord wants His people to enjoy the fruit of their labor, because it is the result of His blessing.
• ·         The offering of firstfruits was an acknowledgment that the harvest was from the Lord and belonged wholly to Him.
• ·         “Your joy will be complete” as a result of God’s blessing.
• ·         Joshua and Israel must know their place—it is not that God is on their side; rather, they must fight God’s battles.
• ·         A true prophet was one who had, as it were, been made privy to what had transpired in God’s heavenly throne room and so could truthfully declare what God intended to do.
• ·         In the time of the Roman Empire Jesus referred to God’s host in terms of “legions”.
• ·         David’s strength was his reliance on the Lord.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV