It’s amazing to me that God can still show me new things in a story I’ve heard and read a hundred times or more. This morning, Pastor mentioned the host of angels that appeared to shepherds just outside of Bethlehem. I’m sure that I’m not the only one who has had this misconception, but I’ve always had this mental picture of fifty or so angels appearing in the night sky. Of course, any shepherd (because shepherds were ‘nobodies’) would be amazed at seeing a group of angels.
Wait a second. The Bible said ‘host’. What is a host? A host is certainly more than fifty. Perhaps a host is several hundred? ‘Host’ is most often used to describe armies in the Bible. It always meant thousands of soldiers. Sometimes it was a hundred thousand or more. Wow! That would amaze more than humble shepherds. That would amaze even the mightiest king with the strongest army in history.
And God sent them to shepherds. Base, lowly, humble, filthy, rugged, worthless shepherds. Who, in their right mind, would send a host of angles to shepherds? Only God. Because he knew they would tell everybody. Because, outcasts that they were, shepherds were dependable. Because shepherds took care of their sheep.