צְבָאָֽם (ṣə·ḇā·’ām), the word used in that verse ("their hosts"/"the host of them") is one of the more interesting words in Hebrew that has continued on into the Christian lexicon, as we left in untranslated in every subsequent language of Christian people, though not in that form (that is 3rd person plural, I believe; NB: I don't know Hebrew, just Google
). Putting my 'credentialed Linguist hat; on for this next statement (i.e., this is not me disagreeing with Mormonism on religious/doctrinal grounds, though I certainly do), whenever that happens -- when a word is borrowed in wholesale without being translated into an equivalent word in the target language -- there's generally a reason for it.
In Christianity, the form that we do use,
Sabaoth, is an honorific for God as protector,
particularly of armies (i.e., Israel conceptualized as an army; the Christian people conceptualized as an army, etc.). This is presumably why when you look up
צְבָאָֽם (ṣə·ḇā·’ām)
in a modern Hebrew context dictionary online, you get a lot results where the translation is not "their hosts", but "their armies". So perhaps in modern Hebrew, the word has shifted to mean not "protector of armies", but just "armies".
Knowing this about that word and its particular meaning in Christianity (and, at least according to Wiktionary -- which I know is not the greatest source in the world, but again, I don't know Hebrew -- in Judaism, as well) kind of puts a new spin on the Mormon apologetics, doesn't it? He Is The Way is apparently envisioning disembodied spirits waiting to get bodies, but following the word as it is actually used would make us think that they weren't
waiting to get bodies, but were made as armies of the Lord, with Him at their head, as their protector.
At least that's the sense that comes through in the prayers where you actually see the
sabaoth form used, as in this Coptic prayer from the Agepya (Coptic daily prayer book):
Holy Holy Holy. Lord of hosts
(sabaoth). Heaven and earth are full of Your glory and honor. Have mercy on us, O God the Father, the Almighty O Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. O Lord, God of hosts
(sabaoth), be with us. For we have no helper in our hardships and tribulations but You. Absolve, forgive, and remit, O God, our transgressions; those which we have committed willingly and those we have committed unwillingly, those which we have committed knowingly and those which we have committed unknowingly, the hidden and manifest, O Lord forgive us, for the sake of Your Holy name which is called upon us.
Let it be according to Your mercy, O Lord, and not according to our sins.
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Again, it is about God as protector, and acknowledged Lord and master of our fates, as 'commander' (of sorts) of those He has created.
NB: in my physical copy of the Agpeya, it has Sabaoth in brackets like that, and every time I've prayed from it in church during the raising of the incense, we say 'Sabaoth', though sometimes later in the liturgy we will say "Lord of Hosts" instead, as that is an equivalent meaning (keeping in mind here what "hosts" does and does not mean); in Arabic, the word is borrowed as الصاباؤوت al-Sabaout, which is a quite literal rendering of the Greek form used in Coptic (and in Christianity most generally, with the caveat that the last letter is a "t" rather than a "th" sound because even though that's available in the Arabic alphabet, Egyptians in particular don't really do "th" sounds -- everything becomes a T, Z, or S, depending on which Coptic/Greek/Arabic letter it is meant to represent, so unless the priest happens to already know English and have mastered this sound, which is rather rare across the world's languages, he'll usually say "Saba-oot", which is more or less as it is written in Arabic above.)
Or consider Psalm 23:
Lift up your gates, you princes, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors; and the king of glory shall come in. Who is this king of glory? The Lord who is strong and mighty, the Lord who is mighty in war. Lift up your gates, you princes; and be lifted up, you everlasting doors; and the king of glory shall come in. Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts
(sabaoth), He is this king of glory. ALLELUIA.
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It makes sense
when you actually know what it meant to the ancient Hebrews, rather than to people who didn't know what they were talking about, like Joseph Smith, and people who follow those people who didn't know what they were talking about.
TL, DR version: disembodied spirits waiting to get bodies, no; armies of the Lord, yes.