Jehovah-Shammah – “The LORD Is There”

by Chris Simmons

Ezekiel was a prophet who spoke for God both before and after the fall of Jerusalem. The last nine chapters of that book are part of those written after the fall and written to give hope regarding the order and beauty of the restored kingdom. In the very last verse of that book (48:35), Ezekiel closed with the words, “The city shall be 18,000 cubits round about; and the name of the city from that day shall be, ‘The Lord is there’” or Jehovah Shammah. In that verse Ezekiel speaks of the Messianic prophecy that would be fulfilled in God’s eternal spiritual kingdom (the church) that God would never again abandon or leave His people.

Because of the sins and wickedness of the Israelites and their decision to forsake God, God and His glory had abandoned His temple which had been desecrated by the idolatrous allegiances they had formed (Ezekiel 10:18-19; 11:22-24). However, God promised to bring them back to the promised land when they would begin to seek after the Lord with all their heart (Jeremiah 29:10-14). When He did, His presence and glory would once again abide with them. Ezekiel recorded in Ezekiel 43:7, “and He said to me, ‘Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name.’” God would not abide with the Israelites while they persisted in their sinful ways but for the sake of His own name (cf. I Samuel 12:22) they were brought back to the land and the Lord was there once again.

In God’s kingdom, we have been promised that God will never forsake us. “Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’ so that we confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5). David spoke of his trust in God’s presence in Psalms 37:25-28, “I have been young, and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his descendants begging bread … For the Lord loves justice, and does not forsake His godly ones; they are preserved forever; but the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.” That is not to suggest that God will not allow a soul to depart from Him if that’s what the individual chooses to do. We can choose to go on “sinning willfully” and are promised that no longer would a sacrifice remain for our sins (Hebrews 10:26). God will not abide with one who “returns to wallow in the mire” of sin (II Peter 2:22). To him who continues to seek after God with a whole heart, we are promised that nothing will separate us from our Heavenly Father. Paul wrote in Romans 8:37-39, “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nothing can, against our will, separate us from our Creator.

The name Jehovah-Shammah speaks of the very close relationship God seeks to have with us and His desire to be a “very present help” in our lives (Psalms 46:1). It’s interesting that in Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, it is noted “the Hebrew word for “present” (“matsa”) refers to “finding” someone or something that is lost or misplaced, or ‘finding’ where it is. The thing may be found as the result of a purposeful search.” We need to, with great purpose and resolve, search for that divine “help” that we so desperately need in our lives.

How important to us is it that God go with us each step of our lives? In the context of Exodus 33:12-16 we read of Moses humbly acknowledging to God the need to “know Thy ways, that I may know Thee” and God then promising “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” Take note then of Moses response to God when he said, “If Thy presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Thy sight, I and Thy people? Is it not by Thy going with us, so that we, I and Thy people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?” Moses realized that any journey without God is a journey not to be taken. If God is not there, neither should we.

Beyond our needs in this life, how important is it on the other side of eternity that we be where God is? The promise to the faithful and obedient in Christ is that both the “dead in Christ” and those who are alive in Christ when He comes again “shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord” (I Thessalonians 4:17). When we speak of heaven, we need to always remember, the Lord is there. Revelation 21:3, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them.’” Jehovah is there!