When I was 21, our university volleyball team spent a Christmas in South Korea, playing exhibition games for a week. They weren’t used to hosting westerners back then (I didn’t see another white person, even at the airport) but they did their best.

One night I ordered pizza from the hotel restaurant. The picture on the menu looked delicious. When it arrived however, I was dismayed to see it was made with processed cheese slices and topped with things like raisins and maraschino cherries. I’m guessing they saw a picture in a magazine and did their best to imitate it. So disappointing.

Lots of things we didn’t appreciate. Like having to sing as a group to the banquet hall after dinner. Standing every time someone older than us entered the room. Letting the Korean players leave their hand on your thigh while you travelled on the bus together. Nail heads sticking up out of the floorboards at one of the practice gyms. No heat at the games in the middle of winter. Having to visit the bath houses and see way too many naked men.

Looking back, engaging with another culture so intimately was an immense privilege which I mostly didn’t appreciate because my mindset was on my own comfort and enjoyment.

OK, I wasn’t as bad as the American tourist I overheard at one of the historical sites we visited. The lady finished an extremely demonstrative yawn with “Why can’t these people get themselves on the right timezone!”

As western Christians, our paradigm can be like that. As if we’re on vacation here. And if it rains, that’s interrupting our comfort and God needs to do something about it.

No Armies, Please

One place that comes from is in how our modern Bible translations present the Hebrew word tsābāʾ (צָבָא). It means army and appears 485 times in the Old Testament. (I should mention that in 13 of those it means “service” – we’ll ignore those.)

In the NIV, for example, when tsābāʾ refers to the Israelites at war, it’s translated as “armies”. But when it’s paired with Yahweh, the NIV switches to “LORD Almighty”. And when it refers to stars or celestial beings, it becomes “starry host” which is a lot more pleasant.

God is about armies. The phrase “is his name” appears most often as “‘Yahweh Armies’ is his name” The NIV renders it as The LORD Almighty is his name, because Yahweh Armies doesn’t make sense in English. But if you think of Yahweh as “I AM” it gets grammatically easier: “I am Armies is his name”. Like Yahweh Righteousness (Jer 23:6) or Yahweh Peace (Judges 6:24).

• “‘Yahweh Armies’ is his name” – Is 47:4, 48:2, 51:15, 54:5; Jer 10:16, 31:35, 50:34, 51:19

I could only find two passages where army is paired with Yahweh unaltered in the NIV:

• In Joshua 5, the “Commander of the army of Yahweh”
• In Joel 2, Yahweh leads His army in judgment

Here are a few unfortunate missed opportunities to translate armies accurately. God rescued his armies from Egypt, and women are an army.

• “the LORD brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions armies” – Ex. 12:51
• The Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng army: “Kings and armies [same word] flee in haste; the women at home divide the plunder.” – Ps 68:11-12

Not only is the original Bible OK with armies, it goes into great detail about heavenly armies. The original wording is mostly hidden in the NIV, often by using the old English word “host”, which meant army.

Celestial Armies

Created to Praise God

• Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array and all their armies. – Gen 2:1
• By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host all the armies by the breath of his mouth. – Ps 33:6
• Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts army, you his servants who do his will. – Ps 103:21
• Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly hosts armies. – Ps 148:2

Under God’s Command

• It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts commanded their armies. – Is 45:12
• He who brings out the starry host armies one by one and calls forth each of them by name. – Is 40:26
• Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven armies of the heavens standing around him on his right and on his left.“ – 1 Ki 22:19 and 2 Chr 18:18

Punished for Receiving Worship Themselves

• And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array army—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to [divided, distributed, assigned, allotted, parceled out] all the nations under heaven. – Dt 4:19
• those who bow down on the roofs to worship the starry host army of the heavens – Zeph 1:5 and many other places
• All the stars in the sky army of the heavens will be dissolved and the heavens rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host armies of the heavens will fall like withered leaves from the vine. – Is 34:4
• They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars army of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. – Jer 8:2
• In that day the Lord will punish the powers army in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below. – Is 24:21
• It grew until it reached the host army of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host army of stars down to the earth and trampled on them. – Dan 8:10

In the New Testament

• Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying – Luke 2:13
• But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars army of heaven. – Acts 7:42

We’re Not on Vacation

The Bible describes a God of Armies who commands heavenly armies and thinks we’re an army. Pass the lemonade is not what’s happening here. A battle is going on that’s bigger than our personal comfort, or even the physical world.

The very identity of our God is to be over all armies. He cares for us and comforts us like people who are in a war. As if we are being attacked by an enemy much more powerful than us!

He is our Hope:

Yahweh Armies is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Yahweh Armies is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. – Ps 46:7-11

He is our Hero:

“Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husband—Yahweh Armies is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. – Is 54:4-5

He is our Encouragement:

“Be strong, all you people of the land,” declares Yahweh, “and work. For I am with you,” declares Yahweh Armies. “This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.” This is what Yahweh Armies says: “In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,” says Yahweh Armies. “The silver is mine and the gold is mine,” declares Yahweh Armies. “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,” says Yahweh Armies. “And in this place I will grant peace,” declares Yahweh Armies. – Hag 2:4-9