It was freezing cold outside and the furnace was broken. The repairman was called, and the furnace was fixed. It was an easy fix for the furnace repairman. The blowers were working but the fire was out. Once the fire was relit the furnace was working fine.
Without living in the presence of God, as believers in Christ we become like the broken furnace. We are going through the motions. Without the fire of the presence of God we are blowing air but not living in the presence of God with the power of God.
That is tragic when a believer goes through the motions, but the Lord is not present. When you study the seven churches of Revelation the most frightening of all is the church of Laodicea. The lukewarm church going through all the motions without the presence of God.
We know how big God is. We know how set apart from us. We know how much God’s ways are higher than our ways. But the reality is God desires to have a relationship with you. Man is the crowning work of God’s creation. God who is almighty and perfectly holy desires a relationship with you.
There are these amazing passages in scripture where we find the names of the Lord. They are compound names along with the name Jehovah. The name Jehovah is the covenant name of God. This is the name for God that describes the special relationship between God and man.
Here are some names that describe different aspects of God.
Jehovah-Jireh: The Lord is our provider. (Genesis 22:14)
Jehovah-Rapha: The Lord is our healer. (Exodus 15:26)
Jehovah-Nissi: The Lord is our banner, our victory. (Exodus 17:15)
Jehovah-M’kaddesh: The Lord is our Holiness. (Leviticus 20:8)
Jehovah-Shalom: The Lord is our peace. (Judges 6:26)
Jehovah-Tsidkenu: The Lord is our righteousness. (Jeremiah 23:6)
In Ezekiel 48:34 we find a compound name of God. Jehovah-Shammah. The Lord is there. The Lord is present. The intimacy of the relationship between God and man is expressed in this name.
What comes to your mind with you consider the prophet Ezekiel? Do you think he was imbalanced? He demonstrated extreme behaviour.
Ezekiel made a clay model of Jerusalem. Ezekiel took the clay model and acted out a siege of the city. He erected siege ramps on the model and then took an iron pan placed it over the model. (Ezekiel 4:1-3)
In another prophetic episode Ezekiel shaves his head and beard using a sword. He burns a third of the shaved hair, He strikes a third of the shaved hair with the sword and scatters a third of the hair into the wind. He then tucks a few strands of hair into his garment. He takes a few strands and throws them into the fire. (Ezekiel 5:1-12)
One time Ezekiel took all his belongings and left the city. (Ezekiel 12:1-7) One of Ezekiel’s visions is nine chapters long and is recorded in minute details. (Ezekiel 40-48).
Ezekiel’s name means God strengthens. Ezekiel is a contemporary of Daniel and Jeremiah. They are facing a devastating period for Israel. This includes:
The city of Jerusalem has been ransacked.
The Temple has been destroyed.
The Lord’s people have been exiled.
God’s covenant promises seemed lost.
There is hopelessness among the people.
Of all these problems the most significant one was that the temple had been destroyed. The temple represented God’s presence. The temple was what told the people the Lord was there. It seemed that the Lord was no longer present with his people.
The Israelites were asking themselves, where we miraculously delivered from Egypt only to experience bondage by the Babylonians. Ezekiel ministered to a devastated people who wept for their homeland. The temple was destroyed. God was no longer present. It was time to weep.
In Ezekiel chapters 40-48 the prophet has a vision of a city and a temple. After 9 chapters of description the name of the city is Jehovah-Shammah, The Lord is there. The Lord is present.
Through this vision Ezekiel ministered hope in a time of despair. Ezekiel’s vision was not taken literally by Ezra, Nehemiah and others who rebuilt the temple. Some say that the temple in Ezekiel’s vision will be literal in the Millennial reign of Christ.
I would say that it does not make sense for a literal re-institution of this vision in the Millennial reign. That would then include the re-institution of animal sacrifices after Jesus Crucifixion. We all hold that the crucifixion of Jesus was a once and for all sacrifice and that the animal sacrifice of the Levitical system never again need be re-established.
Ezekiel’s vision although detailed is more symbolic. God was present now in only a remnant. That was why Ezekiel tucked a few hairs in his garment. God made a covenant with Israel. In this covenant his presence was conditional on their faithfulness.
If God was to remain present, then his people must remain faithful. The reason the temple lay ruined was because God’s people were unfaithful. They failed to keep their side of the covenant. God would not force himself on his people.
Moses begged God to be present with his people after they sinned by making the image of the golden calf. God told Moses his presence would not go with them, but Moses pleaded and then Moses saw God pass by from the cleft of the rock.
Ezekiel brings hope for the Lord’s people in captivity. His vision of Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord is there, the Lord is present lays before them a hope for the future.
So, how do we assure that God is present? What hope do we have from Ezekiel’s vision?
Ezekiel’s message of hope is wider than for the Israelites in captivity. It provides hope for me. It provides hope for you. God desires to be present in your life.
From the beginning of time God has desired to fellowship with man. Adam and Eve knew intimate fellowship with God in the garden of Eden. It was sin that broke the fellowship between God and man. That sin spoiled the Garden of Eden. God was no longer intimately present.
The rest of the Old Testament is the unfolding of the story of how God would restore the fellowship between God and man. It is the story of the messianic hope. It is the looking ahead to the coming of Jesus. The child will be called Emmanuel, which means God with us (Isaiah 7:14).
God reveals his name, Jehovah-Shammah because that is his character. God desires to be present and fellowship with his people. God is not satisfied that man has broken fellowship. He does something about it!
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). God in the person of Jesus Christ pitched his tent in our midst. When Jesus came and lived on earth then, the Lord was present in a unique way.
Jesus’ parting words were, “and for sure I am with you always, even till the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). He is still present with us.
The good news in the gospel of Jesus is that God can be present in your life. When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, he called this being “born again.” When you are born again God is present in your life.
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12)
God’s great desire is to be present in your life. That means acknowledging that you will never make it on your own. It means trusting Jesus Christ as your savior. This means you are ging the Lord Jesus Christ complete control of your life.
When you open your heart and receive Jesus then He is present in your life. The Lord Jehovah is present in your life and he will never leave you are forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Do you know how wonderful it is to experience Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord presence in your life?
Without this presence of God you will never experience true joy, you can never know the abundant life (John 10:10) until you open your heart to Jesus. It is then you allow the Lord to be present. Then God will always be present in your life as your savior.
You must continually follow his will for him to be present in daily victory. This is the abiding life on (John 15:5). You will know God’s presence in all fulness as you submit to Jesus daily, moment by moment, then you know the Joy of the abundant life.
Remember the temple of Ezekiel’s vision represented the presence of God? Now when you receive Christ the Lord is present. You are a living temple.
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)
We are the temple of the living God. (2 Corinthians 6:16)
When you received Christ, when you were born again, God is present, Jehovah-Shammah. The beauty of true worship is the Lord is present. Where two or three are gathered in my name there I am in their midst.
The glory of the believer in Jesus Christ is that he or she will spend eternity in Heaven where God and Jesus are present. In Revelation chapters 21 and 22 the picture of heaven is as a city where the multitudes worship before the throne of God. It is the glory of heaven where God is present. He is there. The city of the Lord’s presence.
At a time of desolation, destruction and despair in the history of Israel God reveals himself. He reveals himself as Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord is present.
Your own life may be in shambles. You may currently have no more hope than the exiled Israelites. You need to hear from Ezekiel. The Lord is present. Won’t you open your heart to Christ. Let your faith in Christ and his death, burial and resurrection give you the eternal presence of God.
If you are a believer in Jesus who experience his presence and you are not walking with Christ. You must relight the furnace. You can recommit your life to Christ know abiding in the vine and experience the fullness abiding in Christ.
God is present. Jehovah-Shammah
Won’t you commit your life to Jesus Christ today? If you do, you will know his presence.
