The Names of God - Jehovah Shammah
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And these are the goings out of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures.
And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.
And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.
And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun.
At the west side four thousand and five hundred, with their three gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali.
It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.
Introduction:
Introduction:
I. The Meaning of Jehovah Shammah
I. The Meaning of Jehovah Shammah
It is in verse 35 of the above text that we see the name and the meaning of Jehovah Shammah.
It is the Hebrew word “שָׁם” (sham) and it literally means, “there.”
When you bring the two Hebrew words, “Jehovah Shammah” and then you have the wonderful name for God, “The LORD is There.”
What a name!
Because in this name, it also speaks to the Omnipresence of God, and we will see this at another study, but just to give you a clear understanding when we speak about the omnipresence of God we are making reference to the fact that God is everywhere present and has access to all portions of reality.
That everywhere that we go, God goes with us.
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
And, of course, the word “hell” there is the Hebrew word “Sheol” and does not make a reference to the eternal destiny of the lost, but this Hebrew speaks of “the grave.”
The Hebrew word for the place of lost souls is “Gehenna.”
The fact that Psalmist is trying to make is that no matter where he went, the LORD was THERE.
Just a little background.
God revealed Himself as “Jehovah Shammah” during the time of Ezekial.
The Children of Israel were in the 70 years of Babylonian captivity.
Ezekial used prophecies, parables, and visions to dramatize God’s message to His exiled people.
Probably one of the most famous passages in the book of Ezekial is the vision of the dry bones.
The nation of Israel was like a valley of dry bones that God would breathe life into again.
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, destroyed Jerusalem in three stages.
First, He invaded Judah in 606 B.C., carrying off key leaders including Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Eight years later, Judah revolted and Nebuchadnezzar took away another 10,000 hostages, including Ezekial.
Now, by taking prominent leaders, he hoped to govern Judah.
But 11 years laster, in 586 B.C., Judah revolted again.
After a three-year seige Nebuchadnezzar devastated Jerusalem and the temple, killing or deporting thousands of people (2 Kings 25).
When the Jewish exiles heard of the destruction of the temple, they were convinced that God had deserted them and there was no hope of deliverance.
Psalm 137 is a song of bitter sorrow sung during the Babylonian captivity.
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
Jerusalem and the holy temple, where they had sung glad songs of praise to their God, now was all a pile of rubble.
In contrast to those wonderful memories of joyful songs in the temple, we read in Psalm 137 they had hung up their harps they had used in worshipping God.
For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
Even in their captivity, it was as if their captors were mocking their sadness by making them sing one of the old songs of Zion.
It was in these circumstances that God gave Ezekial a vision of the future of the destroyed Jerusalem in our above opening text.
The prophecy of the New Jerusalem describes the 12 gates, three on each side, paralleling Revelation 21.
The most remarkable think about the New Jerusalem will be the presence of the Lord.
The glory of the Lord departed the city because of Israel’s sin.
But in this vision Ezekial saw that God would restore the city in a way that would exceed any of its previous glory.
Then after going into detail describing the New Jerusalem, Ezekial ends his prophecy by revealing the new name of the city.
It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.
In other words, this is the wonderful knowledge that God will be present with His people in a new and better way.
Jehovah Shammah, the LORD is There.
III. The Manifestation of Jehovah Shammah
III. The Manifestation of Jehovah Shammah
The Bible teaches that we do not have to wait until the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy to enjoy and be encouraged by the Lord’s presence.
The primary thing that we need to keep in mind that what makes Jehovah different from all pagan religions is that Jehovah dwells among His people.
The condition of His continued presence and protection was that His people be obedient to HIs commandments, living holy and moral lives.
This was in contrast to the surrounding pagan gods whose worship involved cruelty and sexual immorality.
The Lord has always promised to be present with His people.
After Moses led his people of the Egyptian bondage, received the Ten Commandments, and built the tabernacle, he asked the asked what he was to do next and would be would be with him to help.
And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
This verses teaches that the result of being aware of the presence of God in our lives is rest.
Listen, life is often hard and we get worn out from carrying all those burdens ourselves because we lose sight of the fact the God is our Jehovah Shammah, He is the LORD that is THERE.
After the death of Moses, the burden of leading more than 2 million Israelites into the promised land fell onto Joshua.
To reassure Joshua, notice the promise the God gave to him.
There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
He says the same thing to Christians.
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
This promise is summed up in the name “Jehovah Shammah.”
The name reveals that God is always present with us and is our source of courage and strength as we do God’s will.
III. The Material of Jehovah Shammah
III. The Material of Jehovah Shammah
One of the important lessons that we learn about God in this name is that He always completes what He starts.
God had established Jerusalem to be the center of worshipping Him and a place where he could dwell with His people.
And God’s plan for the city would be completed.
And this truth absolutely applies to our lives.
Now, when we take our eyes off the LORD and we begin to look at the circumstances of our lives, it looks as though our lives are in ruin.
However, we need to remember the promise.
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
When you feel deserted by God because your Jerusalem (the way that you use to worship and serve God) seem in ruins, remember that God will finish want He has started in your life.
It will begin by an awareness of His presence in your life to give you the strength and courage to be all that He saved you to be.
Also, when we look at our country and our communities we see what seem to be insurmountable problems.
When it looks like the evil one is destroying what is decent and good, and we seem threatened, we need to remember:
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
When you feel that you have deserted by God in a world that is clearly becoming more permissive and immoral- a land of spiritual captivity:
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
The Bible teaches us that His children are never out of the presence of the LORD.
Because does not dwell in temples that are made with hands.
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
Every believer can truly look to God as their “Jehovah Shammah” the LORD is THERE.
Now, if God does not seem to be close to you as He once did, guess who moved.
You have moved away from the things that made you aware of His presence in your life.
The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
That means that when we pray that we are aware of the presence of the LORD and He is better able to guide us and strengthen us.
Now, there are other things that make us aware of His presence; Bible Study, Church Attendance, and of course, living a holy life.
The LORD is our “Jehovah Shammah,” the LORD is ALWAYS THERE.
