JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH
taken from
Names of God
by
Nathan Stone
"And the name of the city from that
day shall be Jehovah-shammah" (Ezekiel 48:35).
The
meaning of the name Jehovah-shammah is Jehovah is
there. In the light of its
setting and significance it is a most fitting name with which to
climax the Old
Testament
revelation of God, By His various names Jehovah had revealed Himself
in the power and majesty and glory of His person and as
meeting every need of that
man whom He had made
in His image and for His glory. His name Elohim
revealed
Him not only as Creator and Ruler, but as covenanting to
preserve His Creation.
The
name Jehovah revealed Him in special relationship to man. For since that
name indicates absolute self-existence, and therefore One who is
infinite and
eternal, it could be revealed only to creatures who could apprehend
and
appreciate the infinite and eternal. And since the name Jehovah sets
God
forth in His moral and spiritual attributes, the special
relationship between
Him
and the crowning work of His Creation, the man made in His image,
was a moral and spiritual one. That moral and spiritual
relationship was broken
by man's disobedience and sin and fall. After that, the names
of God compounded
with Jehovah reveal Him as providing redemption for fallen,
sinful man, and
depicting every aspect of that great transaction of redemption by
which man is
fully restored to God-healing, victory, peace, sanctification,
justification,
preservation, care, and guidance. Jehovah-shammah
is the promise and pledge
of the completion of that purpose in man's final rest and
glory, for man's end is to
glorify God and enjoy Him forever. For, as Paul says, "Whom he
did predestinate,
them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified:
and whom he
justified, them he also glorified" (Romans 8:30), a past tense,
but speaking the
language of eternity.
THE OCCASION OF THE NAME
The
name Jehovah-shammah is found in the last verse of
the Book of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel
began his prophecies at a time when the nation
of its history, spiritually and nationally. The sun of its
strength and glory had long
set, and the night was fast closing in. Every one of his
prophecies was uttered in
captivity where he had been taken several years before the
destruction of
The
last great vision and prophecy was uttered in the twenty -fifth year of the
captivity and fourteen years after
and only a poor, miserable remnant left in the land.
Ephraim's
crown of pride was laid low in the dust. It appears they had been delivered
from bondage in
the psalmist tells
us, they sat and wept, as they remembered
from them. They hung their harps upon the willows. 'How shall we
sing Jehovah's
song in a strange land?" they answered their captors when
they demanded of them
one of the songs of
to reflect upon their follies and to realize the pleasantness
of their heritage now
laid waste and the beauty of Jehovah's sanctuary now destroyed.
Then they vow:
"If
I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not
remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I
prefer not
Perhaps
with the passing of the years, or with the easing of the conditions of
captivity, enthusiasm for
who twenty -five years before had prophesied to the early
captives in
the destruction of
and consolation which predicts the restoration of land and
people in a measure
far beyond anything they had ever experienced in the past, or
could have
imagined. The pledge of all this is the name Jehovah-shammah. Jehovah is
there.
The
Jehovah who had departed from the old
abominations of His people (Ezekiel 10:18, 19; 11:22-24) and destroyed
by
His
judgments, now returns by the same way into a new and glorious city and
by righteousness, justice, and holiness. The glory of Jehovah
would fill this
new place, and His presence would dwell and abide there forever
(Ezekiel 43 :1-7).
Ezekiel
heard a voice saying to him: Son of man, this is the place of my throne,
and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in
the midst of the children
of
their heartening and hope.
THE MEANING OF THE NAME
The
uniqueness and glory of
surrounding nations had always been the presence of a holy God dwelling
in their
midst. The condition of His continued presence among them was to
be their
faithfulness to a covenant by which they promised to be a holy people to
this
holy God. This again was in striking contrast to the surrounding
nations whose
worship was as cruel and licentious as their gods.
Jehovah
had promised His presence among His people from the beginning.
Whatever
the outward symbols or manifestation, the Presence was real and felt,
"Behold,
I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee
into the place which I have prepared," He said to Moses
(Exodus 23:20). In v. 23,
this angel is "my Angel." He is the angel of Jehovah
who appeared to Moses at
the burning bush (Exodus 3:2), and who announces Himself to
Moses as the
"I
am that I am"-Jehovah Himself (Exodus 3:14, 15). In answer to Moses' plea
to continue with His people in spite of their great sin and
provocation, Jehovah
says: "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee
rest." And Moses
continues: "If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up
hence. For wherein
shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in
thy sight? is it
not in that thou goest with us?"
(Exodus 33:14-16). Moses reminds the children
of
therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out with
his presence"
(Deuteronomy
4:37, ASV). And in a wonderful passage of Scripture, Isaiah
remarks: "In all their affliction he was af
flicted, and the angel of his presence
saved them: in his love and pity he redeemed them; and he bare
them and carried
them all the days of old" (63:9). In a beautiful psalm, which tells of David's desire
and purpose to build a house for Jehovah to dwell in, we read:
"Arise, O Jehovah,
into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength . . . . For
Jehovah hath chosen
he bath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest
forever: here will I dwell;
for I have desired it" (132:8, 13, 14).
Both
tabernacle and
in
were figures of the true, the pattern of things in the heavens
(Hebrews 9:23, 24).
Everything
about them was highly typical of God's presence and glory. Of their free
and willing gifts the children of
As
soon as the tabernacle in the wilderness was completed and dedicated, we are
told
that the glory of Jehovah filled it, and the cloud of Jehovah
was upon the tabernacle
by day, and there was fire therein by night, in the sight of
all the house of
throughout all their journeys (Exodus 40:34-38).
David
desires to build a "house" for Jehovah to dwell in because all these
centuries
since they had first entered the land Jehovah had "walked in
a tent and in a tabernacle"
(II
Samuel 7:5 -7). And when that magnificent
on the very site of
as Jehovah-jireh, a great and
dramatic scene ensued. At the end of Solomon's great
prayer of dedication, the fire, fitting symbol of Jehovah's
presence and power, came
down from heaven, consumed the sacrifices on the altar, 'and the
glory of Jehovah
filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house
of Jehovah, because
the glory of Jehovah had filled Jehovah's house" (II
Chronicles 7:1 -3).
The
fullness of Jehovah's presence was the hope and end of all prophetic e xpectation.
After
the glorious prophecy of Messiah's universal reign in the eleventh chapter,
Isaiah
pens a beautiful psalm of praise in chapter 12 which ends with
the words: "Cry out and
shout, thou inhabitant of
Also
speaking of a future fulfillment, Jeremiah says: "At that time they shall
call
of God," says the psalmist of
despised, Isaiah says: "They shall call thee The City of
Jehovah, The Zion of the
Holy
One of
is represented as "the indwelling Helper." Here
mention is made of "the city of
the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in
the midst of her . . . .
The
Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge." Whereas all
about in
the earth is turmoil and tumult, war and ruin, there is safety,
security, tranquility,
in the city of
But
to return to Ezekiel's vision and prophecy, was the fullest meaning of the name
Jehovah shammah to be realized in
any earthly habitation? "Will God," asks King
Solomon
on the very occasion of the dedication of the
deed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of
heavens cannot contain
thee; how much less this house that I have builded!"
(1 Kings 8:27).
The
orthodox Jewish interpretation of this vision has always been a strictly
literal one.
Its
fulfillment is to be realized in an earthly
sacrificial system restored. Then Messiah is to come and reign as the
Son of David
with
Jehovah-shammah is realized.
Some Christian interpreters have also supported
the view of a strictly literal interpretation and as having no
other significance.
Others
have interpreted the vision only in a typical, spiritual sense, as having no
literal fulfillment whatever in an earthly
There
are still others who combine the two interpretations and declare that the
vision has both a literal fulfillment and a wider, spiritual and
final fulfillment.
the Prince, will indeed appear for their salvation and the
setting up of His
kingdom when every knee shall bow before Him and every tongue
confess
Him as Lord. But there is an even fuller, a final application to be made
of this
prophecy, that of a new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness,
a home eternal in the heavens. For it is quite obvious that
even though Ezekiel
was bidden to carry this vision back to
of the captives there, it had a much larger significance than
could ever have been
realized by their return. And as a matter of fact, nothing in the
program of this
vision was adopted by them when they did return.
THE FULFILLMENT OF THE NAME
It
has been seen that the fulfillment of this name was limited in the Old
Testament
both in its manifestation and scope. Every manifestation of
God's presence in the
midst of His people, though real, could only be but a shadow of a
glorious reality
to come. As to its scope, it was limited to the nation
In
the New Testament dispensation it has a wider scope in that it is more
spiritual
than symbolic, and more personal rather than national. For now
it has been fulfilled
ideally in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. As man and representing the human
race "the whole fullness of God was pleased to dwell in
him" (Colossians 1:19,
margin). He was the effulgence of God's glory and the very image
of His substance
(Hebrews
1:3, ASV). "The Word became flesh and tabernacled
among us," says
John,
"and we beheld his glory" (John 1:14). Thus He became "God with
us," the
Immanuel
of Isaiah 7:14, the Child, the Son, the mighty God, the everlasting
Father
of Isaiah 9:6 . The One who in the Old Testament came
in occasional,
mysterious appearance as the Angel of Jehovah, the Angel of His
Presence,
the Angel of the Covenant, the Angel in whom is Jehovah's name,
became
in Christ both the Presence itself and the
so that in Him and of Him it could be said Jehovah-shammah, Jehovah is there.
This
Presence is now in believers as living temples of God. "Know ye not that
ye are a
(I
Corinthians 3:16). "What agreement
hath a
further says to the Corinthians: "For ye are a temple of the
living God; even as
God
said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and
they shall be my people" (II Corinthians 6:16).
Like
habitation of God. Of the true Church it can be said, "Jehovah is
there." Speaking
of the Gentiles, Paul calls them no more strangers but fellow
citizens together
with believing Jews, with the saints, and of the household of
God, built on the
same foundations of apostles, prophets, and Christ the chief
cornerstone. He
describes it as a building fitly framed, growing into a holy temple
in the Lord,
a habitation of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22). Christ
promised His abiding
presence to His Church (Matthew 28:20), being present even where two
or three
should be gathered in His name.
It will certainly have a larger fulfillment yet
for
every man shall dwell safely under his own vine and fig tree,
when the mountains
of the house of Jehovah shall be established (Micah 4:1-6),
and Messiah,
The
Branch, the beautiful and glorious Branch of Jehovah, shall build the
temple, and bear the glory and rule as prince and priest upon His
throne, with
counsels of peace (Zechariah 6:12, 13), there can be no doubt unless
the plainest
prophecies are so spiritualized as to rob them of all sens e and understanding,
and destroy the meaning and integrity of prophecy.
But,
as already indicated, the name Jehovah-shammah has a
final and eternal
fulfillment. This was intimated by the Lord Jesus in His parting
discourses to
His disciples. He spoke abo ut
the many mansions in His Father's house from
which He would return to take His disciples to Himself that they
should be
with Him there (John 14:2, 3). "Father, I will that they
also, whom thou hast
given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my
glory" (John 17:24).
The
ideal of life even in the Old Testament was never conceived of as being
fully realized on earth. "As for me," says the
psalmist, "I will behold thy face
in righteousness: 1 shall be satisfied, when I awake with thy
likeness" (Psalm
17:15).
"My flesh shall rest in hope," for "in thy presence is fullness
of joy;
at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm
16:9, 11). And the
New
Testament declares that our "citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians
3:20).
The
ideal and future life was often pictured under the figure of a city. Even the
psalmist must have had in mind something of what Ezekiel saw in his
vision,
something more than the earthly
the streams whereof shall make glad the city of
tabernacles of the most High" (Psalm 46:4). The great cities of
the world are
built on the banks of broad, deep streams, but
ideal, a heavenly
Abraham
looked for a city which had foundations, whose builder and maker is God
(Hebrews
11:10). He saw the final fulfillment of the promise "afar off." He
desired
a better country than any earthly
his true home, for he confessed himself a stranger and pilgrim
on the earth
(Hebrews
11:13-16). The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us: "Ye are
come unto
and to innumerable hosts of angels, to the general assembly and
church of the
first-born who are enrolled in heaven" (Hebrews 12:22, 23, ASV).
And of that
city the Book of Revelation says that there was no temple there.
There was no
further need of any outward symbol of Jehovah's presence, "for
the Lord God,
the Almighty, and the Lamb are the temple thereof"
(Revelation 21:22).
The
ideal and eternal character of this city of
glorious presence, finds its most sublime expression in Revelation
21 and 22.
"I
saw a new heaven and a new earth: for
the first heaven and the first earth are
passed away; and the sea is no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a brid e adorned for her
husband. And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying,
Behold, the
tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell [or tabernacle] with
them,
and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with
them, and be their
God"
(Revelation 21:1-3). In that beautiful city, foursquare with its precious
stones, its crystal river, its delectable fruits, and tree of life
with its leaves for
the healing of the nations, all will be light, and love, and
holiness, and worship,
and joy, and safety. There shall be no more curse, no
adversary, no defilement,
no sorrow, for every wicked doer shall be cut off from that
city of the Lord or
Jehovah.
Then will be realized the full and final rest of the redeemed, the
Sabbath
rest of creation restored. The glory of Jehovah will be fully manifested
in the Lamb that was slain. He will be seen and known in the
full meaning and
beauty of all the names by which He had revealed Himself to man's
imperfect
apprehension. And we shall join in saying "unto him
that sitteth on the throne,
and unto the Lamb be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and
the dominion
forever and ever" (Revelation
Copied from Names of God by Nathan Stone
Courtesy of Moody Press Chicago