23-02-2020 Jehovah-Shammah

Title: Jehovah-Shammah

God is the God who not only hears our situation from afar but see with His own eyes and experience with His own body. He overcame all the temptations first then tell us how to do. This is Immanuel God, and His characteristic. Similarly, there is another expression ‘Jehovah-Shammah’ which means the Lord is there. Let’s think about what ‘Jehovah-Shammah’ teaches and shows us about God.

1. Jehovah

In the Bible, there are different names of God used. ‘Elohim’ is the name refers to a creator, whereas, ‘Jehovah’ is the name referring to a savior or a redeemer. ‘Jehovah’ is the God who came down to the earth in order to ratify His covenants with fallen mankind, remember them and finally fulfill them (Exo 3:7-8).

God appeared to Moses in a burning bush and said that He has seen everything, He has heard everything, thus, He came down to deliver His people out of troubles. So, Moses asked “if people ask me, what’s the name of God that you met?”, what shall I answer them? Then God answered, ‘I AM’ is God’s name and ‘I AM’ in Hebrew is ‘Jehovah’. So, Jehovah is the God who remember His covenant, hears the cries and prayers, and come to save His people (Exo 3:13-14).

• Shammah

‘Shammah’ is derived from ‘Sham’ which means there. Therefore, Jehovah-Shammah means the Lord is there, Jehovah is there, God is there. Where is there? There is the place of suffering, the place of tribulation, the place of slavery, and the place of discipline. And when go through such time, God will be there with us in these places and in such time. God showed Moses that although bush was in a blazing fire but didn’t consume. It means that God will be there in blazing fire and protect His people, so that His people will be saved and delivered unharmed. Likewise, you may have encountered financial or emotional or bodily difficulty. But please remember that our Jehovah is with you and me right in the midst of hardship and He will save us from these troubles.

Prophet Ezekiel saw the vision of Jehovah-Shammah when he was taken to Babylon as a captive (Ezk 1:1). One of the prophets who were taken to Babylon was Daniel, who was taken in 605BC. Daniel had 3 friends: Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. Their faith was as strong as Daniel that when a king established an idol and ordered to worship it, they refused. As a result, these three people were put to a furnace of blazing fire that is 7 times more heated (Dan3:18-20). Then, King Nebuchadnezzar saw there were 4 people walking around in the furnace without harm (Dan 3:25). God was there with Daniel’s 3 friends in the furnace of blazing fire. Our God will be with us not only in the church, not only when we are healthy or strong but when we are weak, when we are sick, when we are depressed, and when we in difficulty, and will deliver us from troubles.

Theologically, God is omi-present which means God exists everywhere. That is true but more specifically, God is Jehovah-Shammah: God is there with us when we are in troubled and will save us from there.       

Conclusion: Jehovah-Shammah is the completion of our faith

• God will be there in our daily life

‘That day’ here signifies the last day. So, in the last day, the city will be called Jehovah-Shammah.

People confused that Jehovah-Shammah is the name of Ezekiel’s temple. But if we read carefully, it says that the city will be called Jehovah-Shammah. If we remember the picture, there is ‘the allotment which you shall offer’, the top part is called ‘the land of the Levites’, the middle part is called ‘the land of the priests, and the temple locates here in the middle part. The lower part is called the area for common use and the city locates here in the lower part.

Therefore, Jehovah-Shammah is not a name for Ezekiel’s temple. The temple is of course Jehovah-Shammah as God is there for sure. However, God wants to show us

that in the end, not only the church is God’s dwelling place, but our common places will also be God’s dwelling places (Ezekiel 48:15).

(2) God must be with us in our daily life

If God is with us in our common places and common time. It means God is will us all the time. Therefore, God must be seen in our daily life: More precisely speaking, God has to be found in our language and behavior of daily life, of our working life, of our studying life.

In order to change our daily language and behavior, we have to change the understandings that are in our hearts.

For example, 430 years of slavery in Egypt. For them to think about going out from Egypt was just a dream that will never come true.

Daniel was put in a position that he was about to be beheaded because of wickedness of King Nebuchadnezzar. However, Daniel didn’t fear of death at all but bravely went to the king and asked for a time so that he can give him the answer he was looking for (Dan 2:15-16).

The founding pastor explained that this was the result of his daily life and faith.