A Name of God in the Bible: Jehovah-Shammah

“And the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE” (The English Bible has a note: “The name shall be Jehovah-Shammah,” meaning “The Lord is there”) (Ezekiel 48:35).

It is the most wondrous thing that the most high and holy God is willing to dwell with humanity. From the very beginning of the Old Testament, God demonstrated His desire to dwell with people, walking in the Garden of Eden and speaking with them. After the exodus from Egypt, He commanded Moses to build the tabernacle, so He could dwell in the midst of His people in the wilderness. He promised, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14), which means “God with us.” So, the Word became flesh and “tabernacled” among us, just as God dwelt with the Israelites in the wilderness tabernacle. The Lord Jesus came into the world to redeem humanity so that all who believe in Him might have eternal life. In the future new heaven and new earth, “the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Revelation 21:3). What a beautiful hope!

Jehovah-Shammah is the hope of Israel’s restoration and the pinnacle of Christian joy and glory.

We must remember that God is a holy and jealous God. The Bible says, “The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: ‘Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?'” (Isaiah 33:14). This is the natural human reaction to the thought of dwelling with God: sinful people cannot dwell with God, for it is a terrifying prospect. They know that “the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24). And God is the living God, an unceasing, everlasting fire; the end for those who sin against Him is eternal punishment.

For this very reason, God sent His beloved Son, Christ Jesus, into the world to die on the cross as a substitute for humanity, accomplishing redemption. The Bible says, “You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there” (Psalm 68:18). The Apostle Paul tells us, “In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things” (Ephesians 4:9-10). This means that only through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus can believers have their transgressions forgiven and be justified (Romans 4:25). It also says that the resurrected Lord Jesus “to bring many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10). “The son remains in the house forever” (John 8:35), so we do not have to fear being cast out again, as Judah was when it was conquered and exiled.

The phrase “from that day on” in Ezekiel 48:35 speaks of a new beginning. Ezekiel’s readers were a people scattered and exiled in Babylon because Jerusalem had become a city of sin and corruption. But the restored Jerusalem will be called “The Lord is there.” Only through Jesus Christ can this eternal city exist; this is also the hope of every Christian. Thanks and praise be to the Lord!