Jehovah Shammah (The Lord is There)

Jehovah Shammah appears in Ezekiel 48:35 as the name of a city the prophet Ezekiel was shown in vision. Jehovah Shammah means “THE LORD IS THERE.”

When Ezekiel received this vision from God, the Jews had been in captivity in Babylon for twenty-five years (Ezekiel 40:1). Jerusalem and the temple were in ruins. But God had promised that His people would be restored and that the city and the temple would be rebuilt.

The name of the city—Jehovah Shammah, GOD IS THERE—was intended as a divine promise to give hope to the Jewish exiles. (Psalm 137 describes their misery and longing for their homeland.) They knew they were in Babylon because of their sins and failure to follow God faithfully. But God had not forsaken them. He had promised to bring them back from exile and restore them in their native land—if they would repent and turn to Him. And the very name of the restored city would stand as a promise they could depend on—GOD IS THERE. Or as John says to us,

“God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them, and be their God” (Revelation 21:3).

Perhaps like the exiled Jews, those without Christ can feel distant and lonely, but when we receive Jesus as our savior and develop a personal relationship with him, we can experience the constant presence of God. When we are hurting, he is there. When we are lonely, he is there. When we are tempted, he is there. When we are joyful, he is there. He is always there for us, offering his comfort, his love, his guidance and his strength.

- By Austin Bonnema, Missionary at Overland Missions, Zambia Africa
austin@overlandmissions.com