August 4 God With You

Ezekiel 48:35(b) "And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord is there." 

WE conclude our look at Ezekiel with a very appropriate and reassuring promise. As God ends his instructions on rebuilding the people Israel, the nation Judah and the city Jerusalem to once again worship him, God says that the city will be known as "The Lord is there." This is a very, very intimate and personal promise God gives to Israel - and to you.

           In the Hebrew language there are many different names for God. These names refer specifically to the various truths of God's character. One of those names is Jehovah Shaamah. The name means 'the Presence of the Lord is over all". Think about this: From the beginning of his Holy Word, God has revealed his intention to be with us, his special creation. We see him walk and speak with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. See, too, how he comes to dwell with his people in the Exodus Tabernacle. Remember also how his Presence filled the first temple. Through Ezekiel, he has now promised to dwell with his people in the second temple as the Glory of the Lord returns.

           But this is just the beginning! Even more personally, God fulfilled in Jesus Christ his promise of his intimate presence with us. As Isaiah 7:14 declared a child named Immanuel, "God with us" would come, we certainly know God did come in Jesus Christ to dwell among men. Further, we celebrate Communion because Jesus transformed the Bread of the Presence from the temple's altar into the eternal bread of his holy Presence in our souls. He gave us the sacred meal that we would remember his body broken for us and his blood shed for us. In Communion we remember the Lord's sacrificial and holy Presence.

           We also can recall Jesus' promise to his disciples as he ascended to heaven in Matthew 28:20 "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." And in great wonder, you must be assured that as you are saved in Jesus, the Holy Spirit indwells you. Indeed, Jehovah Shaamah is in you in the sacrifice of the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit.

           Fittingly, the New Testament ends in much the same way as Ezekiel ends. The Apostle John, too, describes the new city God will construct to prepare for the eternal time when God will live with his own forever. In the new Heaven, God will intimately live with us as he did in the Garden of Eden. Revelation 21:3 "Behold, 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." It is appropriate that John prayed to conclude the vision of the events to come with "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.'"

            I'm not sure how you've responded to the lessons from Ezekiel. But know this: Ezekiel mirrors the Bible as God's teaching on the entire counsel of God. In other words, God used Ezekiel to reveal to his people that they had a great problem. They were sinners separated from him. His only appropriate response to their sin was the wrath of his judgment. To appease his wrath against Israel's sin, God first judged them with death and exile. Then by his grace he came to offer his salvation to his people to bring them home again. This promise is given to those who would call on his name and worship him.

           The entire Bible speaks the same truths. Because of our sin nature from Adam, we are born with a problem. God's wrath against our sins is upon our souls. To appease his wrath, God's judgment has come not to us, but upon Jesus. Through Jesus' death, God's wrath was satisfied. And now the Holy Spirit comes to us by his grace to call us home into God's holy presence. If we turn to him to repent of our sins, to confess Jesus is Lord and seek to live in the Lord's Presence, we will be saved.

           Saved in Jesus, we live in the promise that we now dwell with God and he with us. We live knowing we are his people forevermore. Learn from Ezekiel. Believe in God. Believe God. Worship God. Be joyfully assured of his holy Presence. Be mindful that this Good News is to be shared with everyone you know.

Prayer: Thank you Jehovah Shaamah for your eternal Presence in my soul. May I live with joy and awe that you have saved me from my sins. Give voice to my joy, so others will know. In Jesus' name and the Spirit's power, amen.