Jehovah-Shammah

JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH

Ezek. 48:15,21,35

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. A little boy was afraid of the dark. One night his mother told him to go out on the back porch and bring in the broom. He turned to his mother and said, “Momma, I don’t want to go out there; it’s dark!” The mother smiled reassuringly at her son. “You don’t have to be afraid of the dark,” she explained. “Jesus is out there. He’ll look after and protect you.” The boy looked hard at his mother, “Are you sure He’s out there?” “Yes, I’m sure. He is everywhere and He always ready to help you when you need.” The little boy thought about it for a little while, then he went to the back door and cracked it a little bit. Peering out into the darkness he called, “Jesus? If you’re out there, would you please hand me that broom?”

B. TEXT

“The city [of Jerusalem] will be in the center of it…. the temple sanctuary will be in the center….And the name of the city from that time on will be: ‘The Lord is there’” Ez. 48:15,21,35.

C. THESIS

1. We’re continuing our series tonight on the Covenant Names of God. We have previously covered Jehovah, Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-Rapha, Jehovah-Nissi, and Jehovah-Shalom. Tonight we’re looking at the name, Jehovah-Shammah.

2. This name of God is the last one given in the Old Testament and is found in the very last verse of Ezekiel’s prophecy!

3. The title of this message is “Jehovah-Shammah.”

I. EZEKIEL’S PROMISE OF RESTORATION

A. OCCASION OF THE REVELATION OF THIS NAME

1. Ezekiel had prophesied 25 years earlier that Jerusalem and the Temple would be utterly destroyed. Everything came to pass just as Ezekiel had prophesied.

2. As the 70 years of captivity wore on, Israel’s hopes diminished that they would ever be restored as a nation or have God’s favor again.

3. God’s answer was to send them a message of comfort through Ezekiel that God had not forgotten them or abandoned Jerusalem.

4. God said that in later years that Jerusalem would be called “The Lord is there.” Wow! What an awesome admission the entire world would someday about Jerusalem!

B. THE HISTORY OF GOD’S MANIFEST PRESENCE

1. Down through the history of Israel, God manifested himself among His people. Sometimes God manifested His presence in individuals, such as Samson or Gideon. Other times God manifested His presence in locations, such as the Tabernacle or Temple.

2. Moses was surprised by God’s special presence at the burning bush, and the people who were delivered from Egypt saw His presence in the cloud and fire and in the glory at Mount Sinai.

3. God, however, wanted to manifest His special presence

and glory in a continuous way in the midst of His people. So He gave them a project to build a tabernacle that would be a place for God to dwell. God called the tabernacle the mishken (Hebrew for “dwelling place”; Exodus 25:9).

4. When it was completed, the glory, which was God’s manifest presence, came down in a most powerful way (Exodus 40:34). Later that glory continued to be manifest in Solomon’s temple in the holy of holies. Because the glory was always there, the rabbis called it the Shekinah (from the same root word as mishken).

5. But sadly, in both corporate and individual life, God had to withdraw His presence because of sin. Ezekiel saw God’s presence go up from the Temple and withdraw, but later, God told Ezekiel that His presence would be restored among them forever.

II. BEAUTIFUL PICTURE: GOD IS WITH US!

King David caught an inspired glimpse of what God’s omnipresence means when he sang, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast” (Psalm 139:7-10*). In other words, no matter where one might go on earth, under the earth, or in space, God is there.

A. GOD IS WITH US AT ALL TIMES

1. Immanuel, “God with us,” came so that He could always be among us. Jesus came to earth so we would never be abandoned.

2. Acts 17:28 says “‘In Him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed His offspring.’ (ESV)

3. He is always WITH you and me… IN you and me; AROUND you and me and OVER you and me. ‘Lord, We need You to be in us, around us and over us today.’