While preparing to teach on this name of God I was overcome… I couldn’t make it through the preparation without crying. I would have to say that preparing this lesson brought me into a new appreciation for the mercy of our God. This name of God will be one that is added to those etched in my memory from being called on often, the name Jehovah-shammah.
We discover the meaning of Jehovah-shammah in Ezekiel 48:35…
The city shall be 18,000 cubits round about;
and the name of the city from that day shall be,
‘The LORD is there.’”
Yes, Jehovah-shammah, this name of God means the LORD is there.
Now as we see this name, let’s think about how the Lord has showed Israel that He is there. When God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt… He was there.
Then they set out from Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness.
The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way,
and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light,
that they might travel by day and by night.
He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day,
nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
Exodus 13:20-22
When it was time to enter the promise land the LORD was there. At this time the children of Israel had been in the wilderness a long time. Moses had died and it would be Joshua who lead the children into the land. Yet God assured Joshua that He would be with Him just as He had been with Moses… the LORD was there.
No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life.
Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you;
I will not fail you or forsake you.
Joshua 1:5
Even all the surrounding nations understood that the LORD was there with Israel. After they had been in the land and they came under attack Israel marched into the battle with the ark of the covenant and their enemy trembled in fear… because the LORD was there.
The Philistines were afraid, for they said,
“God has come into the camp.”
And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before.
1 Samuel 4:7
After the temple was built and Solomon came and bowed down before the Lord and sought Him in prayer, the glory of the Lord came and filled the temple and all the children of Israel knew that the LORD was there.
Now when Solomon had finished praying,
fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices,
and the glory of the LORD filled the house.
The priests could not enter into the house of the LORD
because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’S house.
All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down
and the glory of the LORD upon the house,
bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground,
and they worshiped and gave praise to the LORD, saying,
“Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
2 Chronicles 7:1-3
It was clear to all that the LORD was there. But sadly… even when they knew Jehovah-shammah… they chose to ignore Him, to defy Him, to blaspheme His name. In Ezekiel 8 we read about the time that the Spirit of God reached down and yanked Ezekiel up and took him to show him all the evil that was going on behind closed doors… in the temple.
He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head;
and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven
and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem…
Ezekiel 8:3
It was horrible. The elders of Israel had carved images they were bowing down to, they were committing abominations… the women were weeping for false Gods, outside the temple even more abominations were being committed. God was moved to jealousy. He was angry. He was hurt. He was not going to take any more.
So we read further in Ezekiel and we see how the glory of the Lord that fell in 2 Chronicles and filled the temple and the Holy of Holies moved to the threshold of the temple.
Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple when the man entered,
and the cloud filled the inner court.
Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple,
and the temple was filled with the cloud
and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD.
Ezekiel 10:3-4
God was going to share His glory with these idols. So he begins to slowly move. He doesn’t get mad and just jet away… He just moves to see if the people will look for Him… but He is not missed… He is not searched for… so He moves further still.
Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple
and stood over the cherubim. When the cherubim departed,
they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them;
and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the LORD’S house,
and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.
Ezekiel 10:18-19
Can you see how much God loved the people? He did not want to leave them. He just wanted them to return His love… but they had turned to idols… to carved images… to sin. They did not consider Him or His holiness or His heart. They just went on to whatever they saw fit in their own eyes and went through the motions with God but their hearts were far from Him. God doesn’t want our motions… He wants our hearts. So God leaves the temple and He leaves the city. He will not be second.
Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them,
and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.
The glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city
and stood over the mountain which is east of the city.
Ezekiel 11:22-23
Can you imagine the crushing blow this vision must have brought upon the eyes of Ezekiel? As he watched his God leave the temple and the temple… knowing that He was just in His leaving because God had shown him what all was going on in the temple and in the city… the abominations were just more than God was going to put up with… so He leaves.
Precious one let me ask you… is God there in your life. Are you aware of His presence in your life? Are you fully His or are you trying to fill your temple with carved images and idols? What is going on in the inside depths of your temple? Is God there? He wants to be… but He will not share you with idols and images. He will back away… but He will never back to far away to not hear you when you cry out to Him because you finally have come to your senses and realized that He is all you need and all you will ever want.
Notice that God does not leave Ezekiel with this vision of Him leaving…
He closes the book of Ezekiel with Ezekiel 48:5
The city shall be 18,000 cubits round about;
and the name of the city from that day shall be,
‘The LORD is there.’”
God was not done with Israel.
God was not done with Jerusalem.
He would return… but He would come in a different way.
More on that when we discuss our next name of God 🙂