The Know

On June 1, 1833, Joseph Smith received a revelation reiterating the need to build a temple in Kirtland, Ohio. In this revelation, the Lord also identified Himself as “the Lord of Sabaoth, which is by interpretation, the creator of the first day, the beginning and the end” (Doctrine and Covenants 95:7). While it may appear only briefly, this name-title and its interpretive gloss teach important truths about Jesus Christ and His atoning mission.

This title was probably first made known to the Prophet Joseph Smith through the New Testament book of James, which at one point identifies Jesus Christ as “the Lord of sabaoth" (James 5:4). While the New Testament was written in Greek, James actually used a Hebrew title that has been preserved in the King James translation. In contrast, the name-title Yhwh ṣĕbāʾôt in the Old Testament is often literally translated into English as “the Lord of Hosts.”1

Some may wonder why Doctrine and Covenants 95:7 states that this title means “creator of the first day” rather than its literal meaning from Hebrew. Matthew L. Bowen has argued that this gloss “makes good sense in terms of ancient Israelite [belief] . . . and represents an example of the prophet Joseph Smith’s ability to obtain correct translations and explanations by revelation.”2 Indeed, this designation fits quite well with ancient Israelite conceptions regarding the Creation and beliefs about the Lord’s actions during this time.

First, it should be noted that the first half of this title, Yhwh, is the name of God in the Old Testament. That sacred Hebrew name is rendered in modern languages as “Jehovah” or “Yahweh,” but more often it is translated as “Lord,” especially in the King James Version, following the literal meaning of the words kurios (“lord”) in the Greek texts or dominus in the Latin texts. As biblical scholars have noted, this ancient name in Hebrew “may have originally constituted a verbal form” that can be translated as “‘he creates,’ ‘he makes happen,’ or ‘he brings to pass.’”3 Thus, the term “Lord” would be equivalent to the “creator” in the epithet “creator of the first day,” used by the Lord himself in Doctrine and Covenants 95:7.4

Based on this meaning, Frank Moore Cross has suggested that the title Yhwh ṣĕbāʾôt could also be rendered “He creates the (divine) hosts.”5 This meaning could also be reflected in another common name for God in the scriptures, Yhwh ʾĕlôhîm or “the Lord God.” As William H. Brownlee has suggested, this name, which first appears in Genesis 2–3 with regard to the creation of Adam and Eve, can be translated literally as “‘He creates gods,’ i.e., ‘He creates the members of the divine assembly.’ Thus, the name is equivalent to yahweh ṣĕbāʾôt (‘He creates the heavenly hosts’).”6 In this sense, this name or title can literally refer back to God organizing and assembling the hosts of angels or the divine council.

Furthermore, there is good reason to connect these heavenly hosts with the first day of Creation. According to Genesis 1:1–5, on this day (or period of time) God created the light and separated it from the darkness, naming each in the process. Bowen explains, “In ancient Israelite thought, however, ‘the first day’ or ‘Day One’ involved more than just the creative activity ascribed to it in Genesis 1.”7 Specifically, some early Jewish texts and traditions state that during that first stage of the Creation of this earth, God indeed organized all the spirits and heavenly hosts. According to the Book of Jubilees, which was originally written in Hebrew and dates at least to the second century before the birth of Christ, “on the first day he created the heavens that are above, the earth, the waters, and all the spirits who serve before him, namely the angels of the presence; the angels of holiness . . . all the spirits of his creatures that he made in the heavens and that he made on the earth, and in every place.”8

This detail is also present in other accounts of the Creation throughout the ancient scriptures. In Job 38, for instance, the Lord asks Job, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth . . . when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4, 7). According to Margaret Barker, the series of questions asked of Job “describes the works of Day One” and thereby places the begetting of the sons of God during this time.9 Similarly, a text in the Book of Abraham reads, “The Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; and God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them” (Abraham 3:22–23). It was in this council that plans for the creation of the earth were made, led by a premortal Jesus Christ (see Abraham 3:24).

The Why

Given an ancient Israelite context, the meaning of the interpretive gloss of “Lord of Sabaoth” found in Doctrine and Covenant 95:7 becomes perfectly clear. Indeed, the title “Lord of Sabaoth” or “Lord of Hosts” was conceptually related to the first day of Creation in ancient Israelite thought. The Lord, He who creates all things and causes all things to be, also organized the heavenly hosts of His children on the first day of Creation. Having organized His spirit children, He presented His plan of salvation to them before leading them in the creation and organization of the world portrayed in the books of Genesis and Moses.

In short, the definition provided here by the Lord matches an ancient Israelite connotation that would have been difficult for Joseph Smith to have known in 1833 without revelation. To most people, the use of the word Sabaoth here might appear odd or even to be a mistake, but as has often happened before, further study vindicates the Prophet. As Bowen explained, this verse “constitutes yet another example of a revelation given through the prophet Joseph Smith ‘getting it right’; the defect may not be in the interpretive gloss on ‘Lord of Sabaoth’ offered there but in the knowledge of Joseph Smith’s would-be interpreters.”10 Because Joseph had not yet learned Hebrew, this insight can confidently be credited to prophetic revelation.

Furthermore, while the epithet “creator of the first day” in Doctrine and Covenants 95:7 looks back to what God has already accomplished, the Lord also noted in the same verse that He was “the beginning and the end,” thereby looking toward the future as well as to the past. Being the “Lord of Sabaoth [hosts]” and “creator of the first day” in the beginning reflects His organization of spirit children at the foundation of the world. Being the “Lord of Sabaoth” and “creator of the first day” at the end emphasizes His role as the author and firstfruits of the spiritual re-creation fully offered to all the children of God at the end of time.

As Bowen concludes, the beginning and the end “suggest both the idea of the one who commences creation but also the one that brings it to completion.”11 The completion of the growth and glorification of the sons and daughters of God is brought about through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, “The ‘Lord of Sabaoth’ or ‘Lord of Hosts’ himself worked out the infinite atonement so ‘that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise,’ thus ‘bringing to pass’ every promise in the ‘covenant of the Father,’ and finishing the heavenly ‘hosts,’ at least those who are true and faithful in all things, as ‘gods.’”12 It is only through Jesus and His Atonement that we can accept and receive these great blessings. Truly, it is His work and glory to bring them to pass (see Moses 1:39).