Jehovah Shammah – The LORD is there
All the way around shall be eighteen thousand cubits; and the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE.”
THE LORD is THERE.
– Ezekiel 48:35
I’ve not studied all the names of God before and had only been familiar with the more often repeated ones such as “Jehovah Rapha”, “Jehovah Jireh”, “Jehovah Nissi” and The Lord of Hosts. Blue Letter Bible has a good quick overview of the Names of God in the Old Testament if you want to know more. So, I was doing bible reading through the book of Ezekiel and how many of you know that that book is not exactly easiest to understand. There are many intriguing visions and remarkable prophecies told by Prophet Ezekiel which I will not attempt to explain because I do not understand them (yet). I was trying to read through the last few chapters in a single sitting and trying to wrap my mind around all the dimensions of the temple 🤔and just as I was somewhat excited about reaching the end of the chapter, I read the last verse of the entire chapter “The LORD is THERE”. It was like a rhema word of God coming alive in my heart!
I was meditating about how precious a declaration and end to the chapter, end to the book, that “The LORD is there”. Then I also noticed that “is” is in italics, meaning in the original translation, the italicised word was not included. So it would have read “The LORD there”. As I mentioned, I wasn’t familiar with this as the name of God and I only after doing a word study on “there”, did I come to realise that it was a name of God – Jehovah Shammah. This only appears once in the bible and Blue Letter Bible explains the meaning and derivation as follows:
Jehovah is translated as “The Existing One” or “Lord.” The chief meaning of Jehovah is derived from the Hebrew word Havah meaning “to be” or “to exist.” It also suggests “to become” or specifically “to become known” – this denotes a God who reveals Himself unceasingly. Shammah is derived from the Hebrew word sham, which can be translated as “there.” Jehovah Shammah is a symbolic name for the earthly Jerusalem. The name indicates that God has not abandoned Jerusalem, leaving it in ruins, but that there will be a restoration.
In the English translation, reading “The LORD is there” feels literally as if God is there, but not here. However, I was reflecting about how this was mentioned by Prophet Ezekiel in the Old Testament. Today, post the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, the presence of the Lord is not “there” but “here”, real and tangible through the Holy Spirit, the Promise of the Father given after the resurrection of Jesus (John 16:7). The word of God affirms this:
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
– 1 Corinthians 6:19
It was like the Holy Spirit telling me, how present the Lord is with me. This is so precious because when I (re)look at this name of God, I am assured of His abiding presence in me because of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I am the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21) and am accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6). For in Him, we live and move and have our being! (Acts 17:28) Praise God!
Be blessed,
Beloved
