Jehovah Shammah—the LORD Who is There

(Ezek 48:35) ""… and the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE…”

1. Theological and Biblical Context

a. The Overriding Concept of this Letter, this passage, and this verse is the Presence of God Manifested—In other words, the Glory of God.

b. An overview of the Millennium and Pre-Millennial theology

(1) Pre-Millennial theology is based on the following principles

(a) Interpret the Bible Literally—The Bible is to be taken literally unless there is a compelling reason to not take it literally (such as, when a prophet said “I saw a sign…”)

(b) Understand Israel—As the curses against Israel for her unbelief and stiff necked rebellion were fulfilled literally, so shall all of the promises of restoration and redemption of Israel come to pass, just as literally. Israel, as a nation, will be converted in one day, and God’s promises to the Fathers will be fulfilled.

(c) Understand The Church—The church is not Israel, and Israel is not the church, and God has overlapping but different plans for each entity.

(d) Understand the Distinction Between Israel and the Church—It is a gross theological error to teach that the church has replaced Israel or that all of the promises given to Abraham’s physical seed were annulled and given to the church.

(2) Pre-millennial Theology follows a basic timeline—there is great disagreement about some of the details, but all agree on the basics.

(a) The Church Will Be Raptured Out—1 Thes 4:13-18

(b) The Great Tribulation Will Take Place, the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer 30:7, Rev 7:14) —(Mat 24:21) ""For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be."

(c) All of the Jews in the world will return to the Holy Land and will be won to the LORD—(Jer 23:3), (Jer 29:14), (Jer 32:37), (Ezek 11:17) ""Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel."'"

(d) At the very end of the Tribulation, the Jews will be under attack and final annihilation.

(Zec 14:1-2) "Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city."

(e) Just as it seems as if the people of Israel are about to be overwhelmed, The Lord Jesus will return to take over.

(f) There will be

(i) The judgment of the nations—Mat 25:31-46

(A) Those individuals from the nations who hid and protected the Jews during the Tribulation, and all of the surviving Jews, will be sent into the Millennial Kingdom

(B) Those who did not protect the Jews will be sent to everlasting fire.

(ii) The establishment of the Millennial Kingdom—Rev 20:1-10

c. Why is this important to the study of Jehovah Shammah, The LORD Who Is There?

(1) Because the only place in the Bible that this particular title is given as a Name of God is in Ezekiel

(2) Chapters 40-48 of Ezekiel describe the Millennium and the Millennial worship in great literal detail.

(3) Therefore, anyone who does not understand and believe in Pre-Millennialism cannot possibly understand nor properly interpret this passage.

d. Context: The Message of Ezekiel

(1) The great themes of Ezekiel are these:

(a) God’s Glory: The visible and invisible manifestation and revelation of His Persons, Attributes and Perfections

(i) The Glory is revealed

(ii) The Glory Departs—to the East

(iii) The Glory returns, in a flood, from the East—on That Day, The Day of the LORD.

(b) God’s Man: The Calling, preparation, and ministry of the prophet Ezekiel

(c) God’s People

(i) Israel’s sin
(ii) Israel’s Restoration
(iii) Israel’s Redemption

(d) God’s Judgments

(i) On Israel
(ii) On the nations that oppressed Israel
(iii) On Satan

(e) God’s Kingdom—the Millennial Temple revealed

(f) God’s Presence—He is “there” for His people, He was “there” for His man, Jehovah Shammah is the God who is THERE

2. God Was There for Ezekiel— (Ezek 1:3) "the word of the LORD came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was upon him there."


a. The Prophets’ Interpretation—The Three Greatest Prophets in the Old Testament had several things in common

(1) They were being sent to a people who would not listen, and they knew that from the beginning, their message was going to fall on deaf ears

(2) Much of the message they were sending was addressed to people living far in their future, and even yet in our future.

(3) They address the (still) future full restoration of Israel and the Kingdom of God.

b. The Prophet’s Vision of God’s Glory—Ezekiel’s calling began with a vision that has probably been more mistreated and confused than any other passage in the Old Testament.

(1) Without getting lost in the maze of possible meanings of the wheels and beasts, and ignoring the confusion who want to make this the manifestation of an alien space ship, note this one vital fact.

(2) Fact—this is a vision of God and His Glory

(Ezek 1:1) "Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God."

(Ezek 1:26-28) "And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. 27 Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD ."

c. The Prophet’s Call

(1) God Called—(Ezek 2:1-2) "And He said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you."

(2) Spirit Led— 2 Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me…”

(3) God Sent—Sent to a Rebellious People Who Do Not Want to Hear God’s Word nor follow God’s plan— “… 3 And He said to me: "Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. 4 "For they are impudent and stubborn children.”

d. The Prophet’s Preparation

(1) Says What God Wants Said, no matter who likes it or not—“… I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD.' 5 "As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse; for they are a rebellious house; yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.

(2) A man who fears nothing except not pleasing God— 6 "And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house.

(3) The Message is the Word 7 "You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious….”

(4) The Prophet must consume the Word First— 8 "But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you." 9 Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10 Then He spread it before me; and there was writing on the inside and on the outside, and written on it were lamentations and mourning and woe." (Ezek 3:1-11) "Moreover He said to me, "Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel." 2 So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll. 3 And He said to me, "Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you." So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness.

(5) He is to be a stubborn, hard headed prophet who cares not for the opinions of man—“ “…. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. 7 "But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. 8 "Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. 9 "Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house." 10

(a) This sounds like some present-day churches I know, and there aren’t enough flint-headed preachers to go around these days.

(b) People who think that preachers should be soft-spoken and inoffensive do not understand the role and responsibility laid upon the True Preacher’s back—(2 Tim 4:1-2) "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching."

(6) The Prophet also does not gauge success by how many believe, only that he spoke the Truth—Moreover He said to me: "Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears. 11 "And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' whether they hear, or whether they refuse.""

3. God Was There When the Glory Departed

a. We often think of Ichabod when we think of Glory departing

(1) Eli was wickedly tolerant of his sons’ sins.

(2) His Sons and the armies of Israel were defeated, his sons killed, and the Ark taken

(3) Eli fell backwards and died

(4) Eli’s daughter-in-law died in childbirth, and as she was dying, she named the poor child Ichabod, “no glory,” or “the Glory Has Departed.”

(5) But that was only temporary—the Ark was later returned, the temple went on to be built, and so on.

(6) But the incident in Ezekiel was the final great disaster, the final removal of God from the Temple.

b. The Temple had been inaugurated with a great move of God’s Spirit.

(2 Chr 5:13-14) "indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying: "For He is good, For His mercy endures forever," that the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God."

c. For a little over 400 years, God had been there for Israel

(1) Despite the patience of God, His Presence in the Temple was often ignored, commonly offended by sins and abominations of sinful Israel, and only rarely was there any appreciation of the Glory of God

(2) God had endured insult after insult, rebellion after rebellion, and Israel’s Sin was great, so great that The Glory Departed from the Temple— (Ezek 11:22-25) "So the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was high above them. 23 And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city.”

(a) Note the slow, stately way that the Glory moves out to the Mount

(b) When God’s Glory returns to the Temple in the Millennial Kingdom—it won’t be like that.

(3) This mountain, of course, is the Mount of Olives!

(a) The Mountain where the Garden was where Jesus often went with His disciples, and where He was arrested.

(b) The Mount from Where Jesus departed in His Ascension—Acts 1:1-11

(c) The Mount where the Returning Messiah’s feet will first touch the Ground—Zech 14:3-5

4. God Will Be There—When the Glory Returns—And He Will Reign for 1,000 years. (Ezek 43:1-5) .;

a. Non-literal interpreters have tried to tie Ezekiel’s temple to all sorts of meanings and fulfillments, none of which are any more than the fancies of men.

(1) Why is this not the Ezra Temple—

(a) The manifestations of God’s Glory were not seen in that Temple, and the floor plan is vastly different.

(b) The Glory never shone in the Temple again after its departure in about 592 B.C.

(2) Why is this not Herod’s Temple when Jesus visited it on Earth?

(a) Because Christ’s Glory was hidden in human flesh

(b) Because this Temple was the one there when Jesus prophesied that it would all fall down

(3) Why is this not the New Jerusalem, the Heavenly city? Rev 21:21 “…the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple…”

(4) No, this is the Millennial Temple, made for the people of God to worship during the 1,000 year reign of Christ on Earth—because no other explanation can suffice..

b. Note the physical manifestations that were absent when the glory departed from the Temple, but now are seen—

c. Glory returns, like when Habakkuk saw God moving—(Hab 3:3-4) "God came from Teman, The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens, And the earth was full of His praise. 4 His brightness was like the light; He had rays flashing from His hand, And there His power was hidden."

(1) First, God came from the same direction from which He departed the Temple—“…Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east. 2 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east….”\

(2) Manifestations

(a) Noise—the voice of many waters—“…His voice was like the sound of many water…”

(b) Bright light “…and the earth shone with His glory…”

(c) The Glory is like the vision of God from Chapter 1—“…3 It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw; like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the River Chebar…”

(d) Ezekiel’s reaction: the common one when Godly people meet God… “…and I fell on my face…”

(e) God’s Spirit is There, and He transports Ezekiel to the heart of God’s Glory, so that he can witness and write about it.

(f) And the Glory Filled the Temple, as it had when Moses inaugurated the Tabernacle and as it had when Solomon decorated the first Temple—“…4 And the glory of the LORD came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. 5 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple."

d. The Name of the City is “The LORD Who Is There”

A.C. Gaebelein— “…Throughout the pages of the Book we read of Israel’s rebellion, Jerusalem’s judgments, the nation’s disobedience and rejection. They follow the messages of Hope—Israel’s conversion—Israel’s’ conversion, the regathering of the twelve tribes , the final conflict, the retuning glory of the Lord, and from that day the name of the city will be Jehovah Shammah Because He has manifested His gracious presence in the midst of His people and established his throne, blessed His people with all the spiritual and nations blessing, promised by His holy prophets, destroyed all their enemies, and covers all with His visible glory one more. Therefore the city will have the name, “Jehovah is there. What a glory it will be for Him . The city through which He once walked with weary feet, the Son of God garbed In Servant’s form, the city through which he was dragged, when the cross was laid upon His shoulders, the city which cast Him out, the city outside of which he endured the cross and despised the shame, that same city will be made in that day the glory spot of the earth!”


e. My God has always been there for me, and because of Who He Is and What He Can Do, I will ever depend upon Him for my protection and well being.