Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
James 5:4*
The names of Christ can be a little confusing if you don’t expend some effort to figure it out. For instance, a lot of people think that the title above is just another spelling for “Lord of the Sabbath” which is found three times in the gospels. That is certainly not the case.
Lord of Sabaoth has its root in the Hebrew name for God, Yahweh Tsebaoth, which was transliterated into the Greek and then into English. An actual translation would be “LORD of Hosts” or “LORD Almighty.” This name emphasizes God’s absolute power over everything in both the physical and spiritual universe.
The verse above comes from a section where the apostle James addresses rich believers in the church in very unflattering terms. When he reaches the point where he brings up the fact that they are defrauding their workers of their wages, he presents the Lord Jesus as the Lord of Sabaoth. Instead of using a title of Christ that might invoke thoughts of love and mercy, the apostle tries to show how serious the offence was. The LORD of hosts, the LORD Almighty is hearing the cries of the workers; they should consider this and tremble.
The only other reference to Lord of Sabaoth is found in Romans 9: 29 where it is quoting Isaiah 1:9. That Old Testament verse reads “Unless the LORD of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, We would have become like Sodom, We would have been made like Gomorrah.”
Again the writer is trying to invoke the fear of God into the reader. Sometimes even blood-bought Christians forget who the Lord Jesus is. He is not only our Savior, Redeemer, and friend; He is the Lord of Sabaoth, the LORD Almighty.
*see also Romans 9:29
November 19
