Jehovah Sabaoth
“Aunt Heather, come shoot me! Let’s play bad guys!” My
nephew’s big smile pasted across his face didn’t match the gravity of the words
he spoke. But that’s OK, he’s 3. He loves playing shoot-guns, and setting up
soldier-guys, and even occasionally pretending to get shot (although usually it’s
the other person who dies, because his aim is apparently perfect).
Yesterday when he said it, a shiver went through me because
while he only knows war as a game, I know it’s very real. And right now, it’s sitting
at our doorstep. And for a moment, trauma spoke terrible things to my mind. For
a quick second, fear tried to anchor it’s way into my heart. I remember my war
and I don’t want a single soul to have to do that. But war is a fact in our
world. We can hate it but it’s still very real. How then do we deal with it and
not fall into fear, terror, or hatred?
We must remember that the God we serve is a warrior. “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the Lord is his name!” Hosea 12: 5. Jehovah Sabaoth (God of Heaven’s Armies) quite literally means God who makes warfare. He does not sit idly by while His creation fights; He is actively engaged in the war with us. One of my pastors recently said, “Our God is a warrior, so it’s ok to be a warrior and speak to Him like a warrior.” He created us to engage in warfare as well. We were not made to sit by and watch while nations destroy each other, it’s in our spiritual DNA to engage with evil and destroy it. For every Christian this means prayer and spiritual battling. And for some this might also mean physical battle.
One day, wars will cease. Peace will reign eternal. But don’t
be fooled into thinking our physical fighting will create this. God alone will
end all wars, even if we have to fight in them for a while. “O Lord God of
Heaven’s Armies! Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O Lord? You are
entirely faithful… You scatter your enemies with your mighty arm. The heavens
are yours, and the earth is yours; everything in the world is yours-you created
it all,” Psalms 89:8, 10-11.
Do I want my nephew or niece to go fight any war? Absolutely
not, it would be kind of sick if I did. But I know that even now their parents
are raising them to be prepared spiritually for battle. They know Jehovah
Sabaoth already. My nephew already declares the peace of God in his room and
has no fear of the dark. God of Heaven’s Armies already whispers strength and
courage to his heart. He is in far better hands than mine for battle
preparation.
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