Lord of Hosts

   Lately I've been wondering what exactly Lord of Hosts means. I realize it's a name of God but I haven't really understood why He is the Lord of Hosts. A guy I met recently explained this way, "Because Jesus lives in us, we are the host. God lives in each of His followers therefore He's the Lord of hosts." (that is obviously not verbatim but whatever :)) But my study Bible told me that the Lord of Hosts meant that God was the ruler over many, as in Lord=God and Hosts=Angels (like in a Heavenly Host). Because of these different explanations that both seemed to make sense, I did some research. 
   
  The name 'Lord of Hosts' is translated from 'Jehovah Sabaoth.' Jehovah means God and Sabaoth means armies/hosts therefore when we simply take the words and literally translate, Lord of Hosts means ruler over many armies or fighting forces. However we can also take a look at the name in context.
  
  When we see 'Lord of Hosts' in the Bible (and it is used 250+ times), we see it used mainly in 2 different ways. 
1) A person is crying out to the Lord of Hosts. When this happens, the crier is calling for a defender, calling for God to come fight a battle they couldn't win alone. 
2) As a name for God after He shows His incredible power.   
So, in context, we can see that it shows God a powerful defender. (For specific in text examples go here: http://donotdepart.com/jehovah-sabaoth-the-lord-of-hosts)

   In conclusion, the Lord of Hosts is a name of God that highlights His supreme power over all of His creation. While His Hosts may include angels, they are truly all of creation. (So, that guy's explanation isn't Biblically true about the Lord of Hosts because host isn't translated into that meaning but we can use it that way because He is the Living God of the Living Word.)