Yahweh Shammah
In the 25th year of the Exile in Babylon, God gave Ezekiel a vision of a new temple and a new Jerusalem. This vision is unpacked in detail for a full eight chapters, including a description of the River of Life that will flow from the temple and measurements that reveal the cubic symmetry of the city.This description parallels the pictures of the New Jerusalem in Rev 21 and so many interpreters are quick to picture these as prophecies of the Heavenly City that awaits us in the future. What is interesting about Ezekiel is that after 8 chapters of painstaking measurement and description, the section and the book ends dramatically with a single sentence: "And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE."
Yahweh Shammah - The Lord is There.
This hope of restoration sustained Ezekiel in the exile. He longed for a day that they would return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. This hope sustained the Early Church as they faced the lions and gladiators and dreamed of a Heavenly Jerusalem.
BUT it is more than a distant hope!
There is another temple that we often forget. That temple is you and me. We are the temples of the Holy Spirit. God, by sending His Son to die for our sins, made it possible for us to be forgiven and restored. He is building His temple in us - and the name of our city, our lives, is Yaheh Shammah - God is there!
| "These will be the exits of the city: Beginning on the north side, which is 4,500 cubits long, 31 the gates of the city will be named after the tribes of Israel. The three gates on the north side will be the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah and the gate of Levi. "On the east side, which is 4,500 cubits long, will be three gates: the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin and the gate of Dan. "On the south side, which measures 4,500 cubits, will be three gates: the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar and the gate of Zebulun. "On the west side, which is 4,500 cubits long, will be three gates: the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher and the gate of Naphtali. "The distance all around will be 18,000 cubits. "And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE." (Ezekiel48:30-35) |
