ROMANS 9:29

“And just as Isaiah foretold: ‘IF THE LORD OF ARMIES HAD NOT LEFT US DESCENDANTS, WE WOULD HAVE BECOME LIKE SODOM, AND WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE GOMORRAH.’”

Right now there is another war going on in the Middle East. There seems to always be one or two going on there. This time it seems everyone over there has had enough with Iran’s threats. The U.S. has entered into the war and has displayed some incredible weapons, both defensive and offensive. But if you combined all the weapons and militaries of all the countries in this war they would pale in comparison to the army of heaven.

Paul refers to this army in today’s verse. He is quoting from Isaiah 1:9 this time. Here we see God described as the Lord of Armies. The Greek word used here is sabaóth, which is used here and in James 5:4 which says, “Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of armies..” Let’s take a closer look at this description of God as used in the Old Testament.

APPLICATION

The Hebrew equivalent of this word in Isaiah 1:9 is tsaba. It means “a mass of persons (or figuratively, things), especially reg. Organized for war (an army)” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance). Remember in the previous verse we looked at yesterday, it referred to God completing his plans thoroughly and quickly. I can’t help but think about Desert Storm back in 1991. After a massive 42-day air campaign, a swift 100-hour ground offensive heavily damaged Iraqi forces and restored Kuwaiti sovereignty. Experts said the U.S. would need weeks or months to defeat Sadaam Hussein. It took less than five days on the ground!

God doesn’t need an air or ground campaign, unless your count his angelic army (which you can’t begin to number). They are at the ready, just listening for their Commander’s call. Shouldn’t we be the same? Aren’t we part of the Lord’s army here on earth? We may not carry swords like the angels, but we have THE sword, His Word. We need to wield that in defense and offense. Defensively, it shields us from the attacks of the evil one as we memorize more and more of it. Offensively, we can attack any force of evil that tries to battle against us.

Aren’t you glad we serve such a God? Aren’t you glad He’s on our side? Abraham Lincoln was asked during the Civil War whether God was on the side of the Union. His reply, “I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord’s side.” Shouldn’t we all feel that way? Shouldn’t we all be on His side?

I serve You, Lord of Armies, because I know You are always on the side of right.

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