Greater are those . . . | Carolyn E. Jacobs

Elisha answered, “Don’t be afraid. We have more forces on our side than they have on theirs.” 2 Kings 6:16

The name this week is Yahweh Tsebeaoth, the Lord of Hosts. Does Martin Luther’s hymn come to mind?

You ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabaoth his name,
from age to age the same;
and he must win the battle. – from A Mighty Fortress is our God

Other images from the hymn are mighty fortress and bulwark. Those make me think of David’s descriptions – strong tower, refuge. Or this proverb –

The name of Yahweh is Migdal-Oz. (strong tower)
A righteous person runs to it and is safe. – Proverbs 18:10, Names of God version

But what about those “hosts” of the Lord of Hosts? I don’t know about you, but singing about Lord Sabaoth confused me when I was growing up. Were they talking about the Lord of the Sabbath? What did rest have to do with fighting our enemies, anyway?

No. Not Sabbath. Sabaoth.

Tsebaoth comes from the Hebrew word saba, translated hosts. In today’s language, armies or multitudes makes more sense. What might that army look like?

In 2 Kings 6, the prophet Elisha makes a powerful enemy. Read 2 Kings 6:8-23 to see for yourself. It’s a great story. Go on, now. I’ll wait. Shoo.

What a story, right? It makes me laugh. The king of Aram thinks there’s a spy in the midst of his camp. Nope. It’s God – feeding intel to Elisha. So what’s the king’s plan? Take out Elisha, of course.

He sends his army out to encircle the city. Elisha’s servant sees something like the picture above, and he’s terrified.

But what’s the reality? Something like this:

Elisha can see Yahweh’s multitudes. He’s chill.

Here’s how the scene plays out in my head. Arnold Schwarzenegger is Elisha’s servant, and Danny DeVito is Elisha. Arnold goes out to grab the newspaper and sees the Aramean army encamped around the city. He screams like a little girl and runs back inside. “Boss, boss, come quick.”

Danny, dressed in a bathrobe, scratches his head, making his bedhead even wilder. He follows Arnold outside. He blinks a couple of times and takes a long sip of his chai. “What?”

Arnold can’t believe Danny could be so calm.

Elisha answered, “Don’t be afraid. We have more forces on our side than they have on theirs.”

Danny shrugs, takes another sip of chai, and turns around. As he’s walking back inside, he says, “Lord, open his eyes.”

At this point, Arnold can see who’s fighting for them – the host of heaven. The mountain was filled with fiery horses and chariots. Man. If you think the Old Testament is boring, you haven’t read 2 Kings 6.

How does the Lord of Hosts operate? Does he take out the Arameans? Not this time. (See 2 Kings 19 for that.) No, this time, he strikes the army with blindness.

Then, in my mind’s eye, Danny throws on a wrinkled shirt and stained trousers and leads the blinded army away from Dothan, right into the arms of the king of Israel.

That’s some story-telling gold, right there.

The army, no longer blind because Elisha prayed for Yahweh to restore their sight, is terrified.
The king is flabbergasted. He asks Elisha what to do.
Elisha’s response? Don’t kill them. Feed them and send them on their way.
The king prepared a feast!!! And then he sent them back to the king of Aram.

How does the story end?