In my post about using colour to help you study the Bible, we started looking at the idea of noticing repeated words and phrases in a passage. This can be a really fruitful line of enquiry in your study.
If God repeats something, it’s not because he’s forgetful, or can’t think of anything else to say; it’s because it is important and he doesn’t want us to miss it.
Sometimes those repetitions just help us to understand what a passage is about, or what the writer’s focus was – as we saw in the exercise on the prologue to John. Other times, they can help to reveal something really rich that we otherwise might not notice.
The Lord of Hosts
For example, in my Haggai study, we always look at why the title used for God throughout is the Lord of Hosts.
The book is written to the Jews who have returned to Jerusalem having been in exile. They had started making repairs to the temple, but had got distracted and the task had fallen by the wayside. God speaks to them through Haggai, urging them to get on with the task again.
In the ESV translation, the name ‘the Lord of Hosts’ is used 12 times in this short book (just 38 verses!). Other translations render this name as ‘God of the angel armies’, which is a bit more evocative. He is the commander of the heavenly hosts, the God with troops of angelic warriors. What a powerful image.
But I had read it several times before it occurred to me that it’s quite an odd name for God to use for himself in the context of rebuilding the temple. If it had been me, I might have wanted to emphasise God’s glory, and how he is worthy of worship, or maybe to highlight humanity’s sinfulness and their need for a God who was both holy and compassionate, graciously giving them a place to bring their sacrifices and be reconciled to him. But no, he presents himself as a warrior. I wonder why.
To answer this, we look at the parallel retelling of the rebuilding of the temple in Ezra. There we learn that the people had faced opposition for attempting to rebuild, and had been afraid.
When you discover that, it starts to make much more sense of why God would use this name for himself. He’s telling them they don’t need to be afraid of being attacked or harmed while carrying out his will – he’s got hosts of heavenly armies who can protect them. And he says it again and again and again.
Where else is it used?
A quick search on Bible Gateway reveals that this name for God is most commonly used in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the last three of the ‘minor prophets’. These books were written after Israel had divided. First the northern kingdom (Israel) then the southern kingdom (Judah) were overthrown and taken into exile, as a result of their disobedience to God. His faithful remnant must have felt vulnerable and unsure of God, and he starts reminding them of this aspect of who he is.
What a wonderful, kind, compassionate, powerful God we have!
Have a go yourself
This week’s download is an exercise I prepared a couple of years ago, as part of a study on the book of Joshua. It looks at a very familiar repeated phrase. Have a look and see what you can discover through it.
Then start to pay attention to the things you see repeated in your own readings. Get into the habit of wondering why they come up again and again, and see what God is trying to say.
—–
This post is part of a series of ideas for how to get started with studying the Bible either for yourself or as a small group leader. Follow this link to find the other posts in the series.
PS All these resources are absolutely free, but if you find them useful, consider making a small donation through my Ko-fi page. Thank you!
