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.’
B. JESUS PROMISED HE WOULDN’T LEAVE US
1. John 14:16-18 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another [Paraclete] to…be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth….You know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
2. John 14:20 (Jesus says) “On that day you will realize that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.” (NIV)
3. Matthew 28:20 (Jesus says) … “And remember that I am always with you until the end of time.” (GWT)
C. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR GUARANTEE
1. Eph. 1:13-14; “When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
2. 2 Cor. 5:5, “Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (1 Cor. 1:22; 2 Tim. 1:14).
3. An “earnest money” contract is one in which a sum of money is applied/ a down payment, to guarantee that the purchaser is serious and will follow that payment with many more.
4. The Greek word is arrabon. In modern Greek arrabona is the word for the engagement ring! The Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will raise you up from the dead and seat you on the throne with Christ, no matter what happens in this world!
III. THE FINAL FULFILLMENT
After the Second Coming of Christ will dawn an idyllic period when Christ will rule and reign on this present Earth for 1,000 years. The following are some of the interesting features of this period:
A. ACTIONS OF KING JESUS
1. The first actions of King Jesus are to: a). Throw the Antichrist and false prophet in the Lake of fire; b). To destroy their followers; c). To bind and imprisoned Satan in the bottomless pit (Rev. 19:19-20:3; Isaiah 24:21-22). Christ will cause wars to cease (Ps. 46:4; Micah 4:1-3; Isaiah 2:1-4) and establish his reign over the whole world (Isaiah 11:1-5).
2. The "First" Resurrection does not signify all-inclusive designation. If Rev. 20:5 is the resurrection of the righteous, then the rapture would have to be post-tribulational. Rather, Daniel 12:2, John 5:29, Acts 24:25 and Rev. 20:6 show that there are two "kinds" of resurrection: one kind is for the righteous, preparing them for heaven; the second kind is for the wicked, preparing them for hell (Matt. 10:28; Romans 9:22). According to the "harvest" paradigm (1 Cor. 15:23), the first resurrection has three parts; the first fruits, the main harvest, and the gleanings (Ruth 2:7-8). The resurrection spoken of in Rev. 20:5 is the final part of the first resurrection.
3. Since there is no tempter and no sin, the world will be released from the curse of sin (Rom. 8:20-22).
a. Trees will "sing for joy" (Ps. 44; 96:12-13).
b. The nature of animals will be changed (Isa. 11:6-9; 65:35).
c. Deserts will blossom (Isa. 35:1, 6).
d. Thorns and thistles will be healed (Isa. 55:13).
e. People's handicaps will be healed (Isa. 35:5-6).
f. Death will be almost unheard-of (Isa. 35:5-6).
4. Topographical changes will occur. Judah will be leveled but Jerusalem will be elevated (Ezek. 14:8-21). Jerusalem will be rebuilt and be the most beautiful and powerful city on Earth. It will be the Capital city of the world, with Jesus the King of Kings ruling there. When the nations gather to oppose it, at their first glance of it they are struck with wonder! Not only is it a beautiful city, but God/Christ will dwell there (Ps. 102:16; 60:10-22; 46:5-9; Isa. 60:10-22).
5. The 12 Apostles will sit on 12 Thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:28). Resurrected Christians will help judge the various groups (1 Cor. 6:2-3).
6. All the Promises to Israel of their land, peace, and King will be fulfilled. “But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid” Mic. 4:4.
B. RESTORATION OF THE MANIFEST PRESENCE
1. Ezekiel saw (43:1-5) the shekinah glory of God returning to the Millennial Temple, rebuilt in the beautiful millennial city of Jerusalem. It will be much larger and beautiful than former temples.
2. God said, “And the name of the city from that time on will be, ‘The Lord is There’” (Hebrew, “Jehovah-Shammah”, 48:35). The chief characteristic about Jerusalem will be Who lives there! His presence will flood the city with Glory.
3. But we don’t need to wait for that day to experience God’s presence and power, however. That’s why Jesus came – to help us be “Born” of the Spirit and to be “Baptized” in the Spirit.
4. That’s what happened on the Day of Pentecost: “ Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” Acts 2:2-4.
5. God sent down His Spirit so that now our bodies are to be the Temples of God (1 Cor. 3:16), filled with His Spirit, and the greatest compliment others could say of us is Jehovah-shammah, “The Lord is there!”
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Mark Twain made enough money to buy his own steam ship. When coming into a town, he would often blow the whistle.
2. He was occasionally known to blow it for so long that he ran out of power/steam, and had to drift downstream for a while the power built up again.
3. Some Christians are like that - they use the power of God for themselves (blowing their own whistles), and then when they need it, don't have enough left.
4. Others don’t get enough to overpower their carnality.
B. THE CALL
1. It’s time we got filled with the Spirit. Let’s all come to the front and ask God to fill us with His Spirit!
2. Prayer time.
