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Master and Commander What Happens When Yahweh Gets Fed Up Jackson Snyder Masih, September 3, 2004
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Go Directly to Message This has been a week of raw terror on many fronts. It’s now clear enough that radical Moslems,
whose foundational philosophy is death, subjugation and hypocritical morality,
are waging a concerted, global war against Yahweh, his people, and all
civilization. These wretched killers
have no respect whatsoever for life or freedom or Commandments or Law. Nor have they any fear of or respect for the
Holy One. They’re throat cutters,
blasphemers, torturers, child abusers and the slaughterers of innocents. They’ve taken their
horror into busses full of commuters, restaurants and gathering places, worship
and fellowship centers – even into the halls of law and order – police and
guard stations and embassies – shattering tens of thousands of lives. Now they’ve taken their bombs to children in
a school, causing devastating carnage.
Their fanatical wickedness is no longer limited to Gaza or to some
little-known backwater in the Philippines.
This evil has expanded like a locust plague to such far-reaching places
as India and Spain, Russia and the US, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Japan and
France, Indonesia and Great Britain and, of course, Israel and Iraq. There’s no negotiating with them, there’s no
reasoning with them, there’s no compassion within them. They are, as Scripture points out, (2 Peter 12,13 paraphrase)
brute beasts, speaking
evil of the things they don’t understand; counting it as pleasure to riot in
daylight. Spots and blemishes, they
boast in their deceptions, but are to be taken out and destroyed. and shall utterly perish in
their own corruption. Their portion is hatred, demonization, bloodlust and mass
insanity. ¿But is there yet any good at
all in these people? ¿Can they be redeemed? No they cannot. There’s no good in them whatsoever. Like Crabby Appleton, “they’re rotten to the
core.” Like the Canaanites of old,
they’re so corrupt, so devilish, so insatiable for blood, so engorged with
corpses, that their only recourse is the holocaust of the first and second
death. War begets war – blood begets
blood – fire begets fire – those who live by terror will die in horrible
ways. They want to take as many
with them as they can. What is the real G-d doing in this war? Whose side is he on? What part does he play? Songs of Sabaoth One of Yahweh’s titles is curious and often misunderstood; that
is, Sabaoth (or Tzviot).
In most Bibles, the sacred name and this common title, Sabaoth, are
hidden beneath the discriminating pen of the translator. Most Bibles gloss over “Yahweh Sabaoth” with
the words “The LORD of Hosts” or
some other unintelligible appellation.
“The LORD of Hosts” has
a ring to it as though the Holy Ghost is a party host with the most to boast
and the holy toast! Yet “LORD of Hosts” has little in common with
hospitality. Just the opposite. Hosts or Sabaoth must be important and meaningful, since it occurs nearly two hundred-fifty times in the New Jerusalem Bible, by my reckoning. Probably the best rendering of the word Sabaoth is from an unexpected source – The Living Bible – which translates Sabaoth or Hosts as “Commander of Armies.” That’s exactly right. The LORD of Hosts – Yahweh Sabaoth – means that, besides being a loving Father to those in covenant with him, he’s also a powerful provocateur by virtue of his command of vast armies.
With this in mind, we can recast several familiar passages that
contain “Sabaoth” or “LORD of
Hosts.” Take the Our Psalm, for
instance Psalms
24:10 Who is this King of glory? Yahweh, Commander of Armies, he is
the King of glory. And consider a few other
songs from ancient times, their words corrected to emphasize what kind of King
the ancients sang about: Reader 1: Psalms
46:1. G-d is our refuge and strength, a very present help in
trouble. 6. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice,
the earth melted. 7. Yahweh, Commander
of Armies, is with us; the god of Jacob is our refuge. Did you notice the
implication that armies were coming to the rescue? Like the troops trapped in Bastogne during the D-day campaign –
their fears were allayed because they knew that the mighty George Patton of
Sabaoth was on the way. Here’s another song: Reader 2: Psalm 48:1. Great is Yahweh, and greatly
to be praised in the city of our god, in the mountain of his holiness. 2.
Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on
the sides of the north, the city of the great King. 8. As we have heard, so
have we seen in the city of Yahweh, Commander of Armies, in the city of
our god: Yahweh will establish it for ever. The reason this Zion of
the future is so beautiful and holy is because Yahweh, the mighty Commander,
is guarding it against infidels who would tear it to pieces. Consider our beautiful country. We had an outrageous disaster September 11,
2001, a catastrophe that awakened the world.
And though these Moslem devils have since struck just about everywhere
in the world, there hasn’t been one subsequent strike here. It’s as though we’ve been protected, as the
terrorists within our borders have been exposed and arrested time after time by
the vigilant angels who’ve directed good people to their rat holes. How about this song: Reader 3: Psalm 59:1. Deliver me from mine
enemies, O my god: defend me from them that rise up against me. 2.
Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody
men. 3. For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered
against me: not for my transgression, nor for my sin. 4. They run and prepare
themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold. 5.
Thou, Yahweh, Commander of Armies, awake to visit all the
heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Some pray that somehow
these devilish people can be saved in the end – that if only god would reveal
himself to them, they would repent and lay down their arms. Others, like some very prominent political
types who are trying to get elected, have duped their followers into thinking
that reasonable engagement, promises or negotiations will end their reign of
terror. The Psalmist here was singing about Philistines (the old
word for Palestinians) – these bloody
men aren’t awaiting him because he’s done wrong – he’s guiltless. They lie in wait for anyone – the
South Korean missionary, the Nepalese road worker, the Turkish truck driver,
the Pakistani pastor, the American electrician – they lie in wait to steal
anyone’s blood through the most hideous and public means imaginable, so the
world may marvel at their transgression.
Reader 4:
Revelation 13:4-7. Who is
like the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against Yahweh, to blaspheme
his name, and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given
unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given
him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. (O Commander of Armies, visit ALL beasts without
mercy.) And here’s one more song – this one upbeat and hopeful: Reader 5: Psalms 84: 1. How
amiable are thy tabernacles, O Yahweh, Commander of Armies! 2.
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of Yahweh: my heart
and my flesh crieth out for the living god.
3. Yea, the sparrow hath found
an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even
thine altars, O Yahweh, Commander of Armies, my King and my god. 4.
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising
thee. There’re many wonderful promises in the Scripture – promises that’ll
take ultimate power to bring to pass.
There’s no better desire than for the peaceful courts of Yahweh, where
even a swallow may nest unmolested.
Somewhere Yahweh says. “The time
will come when all the earth is filled, as the waters fill the sea, with an
awareness of the glory of Yahweh” (Habakkuk 2:14). Such a
wonder may only be realized when there is a clean end made of evil by means of chains
that can never be broken and fire that can never be quenched. In those days the innocent may feel confident
in the Commander of Armies; all enemies will be under his feet.
Prophets, Wars and Armies
In the Prophets, Yahweh describes himself as a soldier. The nations that the Commander of Armies
swore in his wrath to put down are well known today, though recorded three
thousand years ago: Libya (i.e. Put), Sudan and Ethiopia (i.e. Cush),
Lebanon, Syria, Iraq (i.e. Assyria, Babylon), Iran (i.e. Persia),
Jordan (i.e. Ammon), Palestine (i.e. Moab) and Arabia (i.e. Dedan,
etc.). We have the popular notion that Yahweh’s army consists solely of
angels. This is true; however, Yahweh
uses the angels to stir up nations and bring retribution upon those who reject
his Law and block the blessing he offers every creature. With eyes of flesh, war is waged only on the
human level. However, the Bible makes
it clear that when war strikes earth, it strikes heaven. The two are entirely interconnected. Nothing can be done on earth that doesn’t
affect heaven and vice-versa. Consider the passage from Revelation: Revelation
12:7-12 (excerpts). There was
war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels;
no place was any more found for them in heaven. And Satan, who deceives the whole world, was cast to earth and
his angels with him. Woe to those on
earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great rage because his
time is short! The Bible is a powerful tool for understanding the meaning of
warfare and how and why Yahweh commands war.
If the devil and his bunch are earth-bound, and the prophet cries, then
“Woe on us”! Just who do you imagine
the devil’s working through at present?
There’re those who say our government is the devil, and that
terrorists are rampaging because of our imperialism and occupation; that
Muslims have arisen only to protect their homelands (they say). And there’s no way to beat them because
Allah is with them and they pray a lot (they say). Friend, you neither know the Scriptures, the power of Yahweh or
the deviousness of the enemy. These fanatics
will hack off your head with a pocketknife on television, no matter how
open you are to their cause. They’re
like the sons of Anak: they kill and eat their own. What design have they on us (Numbers 13:33)? To kill
us all and kill themselves. To destroy
all that’s good in the world. What Will You Do About
the Violent? Habakkuk cried out to Yahweh because, though he lived in a holy
land, the evildoers of his generation were prospering at the expense of the
godly, and violence was the rule of law.
“¿Why should this be so in a land that was established under the Law of
Yahweh and protected by his Armies?”
That’s Habakkuk’s case before the Almighty. Yahweh gave Habakkuk inside information about how he
commands. Yahweh said he was stirring
up the armies of the Chaldeans to chastise the people of Israel who were
incorrigible. This was a great surprise
to Habakkuk, who certainly didn’t want Israel ravaged by Chaldeans. But Habakkuk also understood that He was
sending foreigners in only to correct the situation – to excise the evil from
the land. When Habakkuk acknowledged
Yahweh’s purpose, he cried out again, Habakkuk
1:12. O Yahweh, my Holy One – I see that it’s not your plan to wipe us
out! You’ve decreed the rise of the
Chaldeans to chasten and correct us for our awful sins! A new thought crosses Habakkuk’s mind. “Why should we be punished by people more vile than us? Who could be worse than Chaldeans? Why would Yahweh use them?” Now, if you spoke the language of Habakkuk, you’d
know that the Chaldeans were so fierce that even their name reigned in
terror. “Chaldeans” means
“devils.” Habakkuk cries out again, Habakkuk 1:15. Must we be
strung up on their hooks and dragged out in their nets, while they rejoice?
17. Will you let them get away with
this forever? Yahweh told Habakkuk to wait and see – before the
Chaldeans do any more than chastise, he will send another army into
Chaldea to strike them for their wickedness. Quid pro quo. This is how the Commander used armies
over and over in the Bible. He doesn’t
just rule angels or good guy armies, but all armies are his, good or
bad, at his disposal 24/7/365. Centuries after Habakkuk was in the grave, Yahweh raised up an
army of Maccabees, “Sons of Hammers,” they were godly guerilla fighters (165 or
so BC). This little band of Levites
beat one of the most powerful kings ever known (Antiochus IV Epiphanies of
Syria) and liberated all of Israel. Is
anything too hard for Him? Then a hundred years later when Israel’s sovereignty was
threatened again by Syria, Yahweh sent the legions of Rome to liberate
Israel and keep order. Forty years
later and twenty-five years into the reign of Caesar Augustus, Yahweh sent his
Son into the world. The Prince of Peace
came in the middle of a short era known as the “Pax Romana” – the “Peace of
Rome.” Even in these peaceful times,
terrorists known as zealots or innovators worked hard to disrupt
Roman law and order in the Holy Land.
The terrorists were quite successful – for a while, anyway. Thousands were crucified. Yahshua hadn’t been sent to save the Romans or cast them out or
put down rebellion. He came to lay
out Yahweh’s plan for humanity’s salvation. Even though the Son of Yahweh made it plain to the Jewish
authorities – that they capitulate to his Father, Yahweh, Commander of
Armies – or else he would return to destroy Jerusalem and all them with it
(Mark 13). Undoubtedly, Jesus quoted
their scroll: Jeremiah
18:11,12. “Yahweh says this:
‘Listen, I am preparing a disaster for you, So now, each one of you, turn back
from your evil ways.’ They, however, will say, ‘We shall follow our own plans;
each of us will act on his own wicked inclinations.’” These Kings and Priests of Israel all knew exactly who
Jesus was. They weren’t ignorant of his
identity. No, they were devilish to the
extent of conspiring to kill their own god and take over according to their
evil inclinations. Like Moslems who’re
today killing anything that’s decent about their god, and defaming
the very Allah they proclaim, these Jewish leaders of old had no
fear of the very Elohim they proclaimed. Then as now, they prophesied falsely – that
the death of the Just One would save their nation – that god blesses ruthless
killers – that paradise is reserved for murderers. But the exact opposite of their prophecy came to pass, just as
Jesus said. Yahweh sent Rome against
Jerusalem a scant generation after the resurrection, and Rome burned Jerusalem
to the ground. One and a half million
people in that city died out of proud and wanton disobedience that day in 70 AD
– more than died at Hiroshima. Seventy
years later, Rome burned Jerusalem again – but this time they banished all Jews
from the city forever – an interdiction that’s continued until modern times. Watching Rome
Yahweh would watch what Rome would do next. Perhaps Rome wouldn’t repent and he’d have
to send his armies from Parthia against his armies in Rome. What Yahweh saw was that Rome allowed hate
for Jews to linger. Rome not only persecuted
them sorely, but Christians even more.
Rome exiled them, castigated them, tortured them, crucified them,
beheaded them, fed them to beasts and burned them at the stake – and they did
so for the next two hundred fifty years. Yahweh gave Rome another look.
He sent an angel to a godless but powerful Roman General named
Constantine. The angel gave Constantine
a dream. The next day, he saw a
vision in the clouds overhead. It
was the
chi-rho sign (“key row” – the sign of
Christos – cristoV – cr.) In response to Yahweh’s angel, dream and
sign, General Constantine turned his troops against the rest of the Roman
army and defeated his own empire in the name of “Christ.” He marched triumphantly into Rome and took
over as Emperor. One of the first
things he did was ban all persecution against Jews and Christians throughout
the entire Roman Empire. And this
on account of a dream. 325 AD was a year of incredible turnabout. Considering all the demonic temples situated
everywhere –all the blood of martyrs staining every sidewalk – and new
intruders nearing the gates – Emperor Constantine moved his entire capital out
of Rome to Byzantium, six hundred miles to the East. There he set up his new nation in which Christians, Jews and
anyone else, could live in peace.
Constantine’s Christian empire was known as Byzantium. Byzantium lasted a thousand years. After the thousand years of peace, Moslems
wasted Byzantium. Count the Cost
Nobody who keeps up with current events can deny that this War
On Terror has escalated into a world war.
We’re extremely fortunate to be living in a culture not unlike that of
Byzantium – it’s a golden age here – we’re free and safe – we’re the most powerful
empire the world’s ever known. Yet as
Christians, we’re appalled at the tremendous suffering of the innocent from
Indonesia to China to Afghanistan to Iraq to Israel to Sudan to Algeria –
people still subjugated under the control of brute beasts who call
themselves Sons of the Prophet. We aren’t insensitive to
the millions who’ve died at the hands of seditious maniacs like the Sadam,
Uday, Qusay,
Al
Zarqawi,
Moqtada
Sadr,
bin
Laden and the rest of hell’s denizens.
We’ve lost a great many soldiers and American civilians to battle,
murder and accidents. We’re not
insensitive towards those thousands who’ve been caught in the crossfire. We feel great compassion for these 700
killed or wounded by maniacs in the Russian middle school yesterday. As Yahweh has commanded certain armed
forces to search out and destroy the enemies of righteousness, there are bound
to be innocent casualties. Jesus said, “Count the cost.” Has it been worth it? The cost has been high in lives. No one can deny that. So many today are saying that the price has
been too high. But consider
another way to count the cost: count forty-four million. Forty-four thousand thousand captives
have been set free in the last three years – and that’s exactly what Yahweh
Sabaoth, the Commander of Armies, sent his Son and his legions of angels
and his armies to do – to set the captives free and preach the year of favor. To know that Yahweh is using our armed
forces in such a fashion right now – not to harm what’s decent but to destroy
the enemies of righteousness, aid and abed the downtrodden, and proclaim favor
– should make every American proud, drive them to their knees in supplication,
thanksgiving and glorious praise for what’s becoming a new and kinder
world. Amen. For Communion
Today we again have the opportunity to approach the table of war
and peace – the table of commitment and reconciliation. Yahweh Sabaoth sent his Son so that we might
have courage and power to set the captive free and fight the good fight of
faith. Today as we come near, consider
that we commune with all the saints of glory, with angels and archangels, with
the host of heaven and earth, and with Yahshua our Messiah himself – and
he shall reign victorious.
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