Study from God’s Word… Ezekiel, Chapters 44 - 48 … Passage for Reflection: Ezekiel 48: 35 … NIV And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE.
My Journal for Today: Interesting observation Dr. LaGard Smith makes in his devotional entry for today’s date (9/6), reminding his readers that we have cities which almost everyone knows by their designated “nickname,” such as The Big Apple, Big D, Music City, Sin City, The City of Brotherly Love, or Motown. I agree that almost everyone would be able to name all of those because of their designated and characterized nicknames. And even in Old Testament lore, we know of cities like Jericho as the “City of Palms” and Jerusalem as the “City of David.”
And in today’s text we have God’s vision to Ezekiel about the coming City of God. And in another vision God gave to the Apostle John, in The Revelation, we’re given a word picture of the “New Jerusalem.” But both of these could amply be designated – a nickname from God if you will – as “THE LORD IS THERE.” In Hebrew that name is “Jehovah shammah,” which means that in this city, described in great detail by God to/through Ezekiel in the Book by his name, i.e., Chapters 40 – 48, was to be called “The City Where God resides” or “THE LORD IS THERE.”
Do you know, my fellow Christian, where that Temple is now? Yes, right now, as you read this, where is the “Jehovah shammah?” And I would hope that we all know from God’s own word [in this case from Paul in 1st Cor. 6: 19 – 20 (linked here)], God has His New Covenant Temple residence in the hearts of any – and all – believers. Yes, dear one, if you are a born-again Christian, “Jehovah shammah” is in your heart; and that is where God will reside forever when the New Jerusalem, the vision brought to the Apostle John in Revelations 21 is provided for all to bring God’s temple dwellers into His new home in heaven.
And if we can grasp the concept that God has honored each and every born-again Christian with our hearts becoming a “Jehovah shammah,” that place where God’s Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, resides, we would want to treat God’s Temple with the respect, dignity, and the reverence it reserves; wouldn’t we? Hence the tagline of challenge in the passage to which I’ve linked you above (see 1st Cor. 6: 20). And I know that I’m a shabby Temple Keeper at times; and I need to take my stewardship of this heart which God’s Spirit has taken residence, … His “Jehovah shammah.” Maybe we all should resolve here, before our Lord, to keep His place, the Jehovah shammah, a place purified by how we live for Him.
My Prayer for Today: Oh, Lord, You live in me! Amen
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