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WEEKLY
Volume 3 Number 29
14 December 2008
The LORD Is There
(Message delivered by Rev
Hien Nguyen at the Worship Service, 2:00 pm, Dec 14, 08)
Text:
Ezekiel 48:35
Thank God and praise the LORD
that He is All we need. He is our Righteousness, Jehovah-tsidkenu
(Jer 23:6), our Sanctifier, Jehovah-m’qadishkhem (Exod 31:13; Lev
20:8; 21:8), our Shepherd, Jehovah-rohi (Ps 23:1), our Provider,
Jehovah-jireh (Gen 22:14), and our Banner or Victory, Jehovah-nissi
(Exod 17:15), our mighty Defender, Jehovah-sabaoth (1 Sam 1:3)
and our great Healer, Jehovah-rapha (Exod 15:26). As the LORD
Himself is All we need, whom or what do you and I desire? Whom or what
are you and I seeking? The Psalmist said, “Whom have I in heaven but
thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee” (Ps
73:25). How about you and me? Do we appreciate the LORD’s presence in
our hearts and lives? Today, we are learning our LORD’s name Jehovah-Shammah,
“The LORD is there” (Ezek 48:35). Then, what does His name mean
to you and me and what are our proper attitudes?
Background of the LORD’s
Name Jehovah-Shammah
Ezekiel (the name means God
strengthens) was both a priest and a prophet (Ezek 1:3) at a time
when the king and the priests of Judah were backsliding. He witnessed
the judgement of God upon Judah due to her unfaithfulness, sins,
transgressions and iniquities when his people including himself were
taken captivity to Babylon in 597 BC when he was about 25 years old. God
used Ezekiel to write His message of judgement on the Southern kingdom
Judah (Ezekiel, chapters 2-24), His judgement on the surrounding nations
(Ezek 25-32), and His comfort and promise of blessings for the future of
His people (Ezek 33-48). God is holy and righteous, and as He is never
tolerant of sin, He has to chastise His children due to their sins and
backsliding by withdrawal of His presence and blessings, “Then the
glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and
stood over the cherubims. And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and
mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels
also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate
of the LORD’S house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them
above” (Ezek 10:18-19). However, thank God for His goodness, mercy
and faithfulness, He still loves His people and will bring them back to
Himself again. The last verse of the last chapter of the book of Ezekiel
is the revelation of the LORD’s name Jehovah-Shammah, “The
LORD is there” (48:35).
The Meaning of Jehovah-Shammah
Jehovah-Shammah
means “The LORD is there.” Although the prophecy is for His
covenant people Israel and the LORD’s name Jehovah-Shammah is the
name of God’s City or new Jerusalem (Ezek 48:35; cf. Rev 21), the name
Jehovah-Shammah is for all His children, including you and me.
Truly, God did love mankind and desire to dwell in the midst of His
people, so He gave His only begotten Son to come into this sinful and
cursed world to die for their sins, and His name is “Emmanuel, which
being interpreted is, God with us” (Matt 1:23). Jehovah-Shammah
denotes our LORD’s omnipresence and omniscience. As He is everywhere, He
knows everything, and nothing can be hidden from Him. David composed
Psalm 139 to praise the LORD for His omnipresence and omniscience, “O
LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting
and mine uprising… For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo,
O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and
before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for
me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy
spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” (Ps 139:1-2;
4-7).
Jesus Christ Is Omnipresent
and Omniscient
As our Lord Jesus Christ is
God, He is omnipresent or ever-present everywhere at all times. With
much surprise, Nathanael confessed that Jesus is “the Son of God”
and the “King of
Israel”
when Jesus said to Him, “Before that Philip called thee, when thou
wast under the fig tree, I saw thee” (John 1:48-49). Our Lord is
omnipresent!
Our Lord Jesus is now at the
right hand of God the Father, making intercession for us, “It is
Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the
right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Rom 8:34;
cf. Heb 7:25). However, His presence is everywhere, “For where two or
three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them”
(Matt 18:20). Wherever His children gather in His Name, whether in
Africa, America, Asia, Australia or in Europe, whether in a church
building, in the jungles, at sea or at home, He is in their midst at the
same time. It is so amazing! Moreover, Jesus promises, “I am with you
alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matt 28:20). Jesus uses the
verb in the present tense, denoting the truth that at the moment He is
ever with His children everywhere, including you and me, alway (all days
or all the way)! Our Lord Jesus is even in us, “Jesus Christ is in
you” (2 Cor 13:5), and “Christ in you, the hope of glory”
(Col 1:27). It is so comforting!
Our Lord Jesus Christ is not
only omnipresent but also omniscient or all-knowing. Jesus foreknew His
sufferings, death and resurrection (Matt 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22),
and “Jesus knew their thoughts” (Matt 12:25; cf. Luke 6:8), and
“he knew all men… he knew what was in man” (John 2:24-25). Jesus
knew the Samaritan woman’s life very well, and she said to her folks,
“Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this
the Christ?” (John 4:18, 19, 29), and “Jesus knew in himself that
his disciples murmured at it…Jesus knew from the beginning who they were
that believed not, and who should betray him” (John 6:61, 64), and
“Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this
world unto the Father… Jesus knowing that the Father had given all
things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God”
(John 13:1, 3). To the seven churches in Minor Asia (modern Turkey),
Jesus says, “I know thy works” (Rev 2:2, 9, 13, 19; 3:1, 8, 15).
Jesus knows all their strengths and weaknesses and He rebukes them for
leaving their first love toward Him, for their compromise and tolerance
to sins and wrong doctrines, for their spiritual death and for their
lukewarmness. How about you and me and our church?
Our Proper Attitudes
Trust in the LORD with
Thanksgiving:
Sometimes, due to our difficulties, problems, or trials in life, we may
be so worried, troubled and frightened that we forget our Lord’s
presence with us and in us. It is so comforting to remember that our
Lord is with us always because His Word says so, and this confidence is
based on His faithful Word and not on our feelings, “Yea, though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for
thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me” (Ps 23:4).
We also shall trust in our Lord more because our loving, caring and
omniscient Saviour does know us very well, even our weaknesses, our
health condition, our situations, our difficulties, our trials, and all
our needs. Let us trust in our LORD and thank Him in all things and for
all things, “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the
Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 5:20).
Fear the LORD and Depart from
Evil: Acknowledging
our LORD’s omnipresence and omniscience, we shall fear Him more
because we cannot hide anything from Him. He does know our thoughts, our
minds, our hearts, our motives, our works, our service, etc. Let us pray
like David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my
thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting” (Ps 139:23-24). There are many ways that will lead
us astray from our Lord’s eternal blessings, and there are many works
that will be burnt up by fire (1 Cor 3:15). May God help you and me walk
in His narrow way in the boundaries of His Word that leads to life and
help us live and serve Him according to His will so that our work may
remain and we shall receive His reward (1 Cor 3:14). Truly, “he that
doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17).
Living in His Presence:
We do need our LORD
Himself moment by moment as the branch needs the Vine (John 15:4-5). Our
LORD humbles Himself and desires to dwell with us and have fellowship
with us. The Laodiceans were so self-complacent that they did not need
anything, even the LORD’s presence, and He had to stand and knock at the
door of their hearts, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any
man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will
sup with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20). Let us wisely open
our hearts to welcome our LORD and live in His presence and keep a
living fellowship with Him always. Truly, “He that walketh with wise
men shall be wise” (Prov 13:20). We shall be wiser, humbler, and
holier when we walk closer with our LORD. We also shall have peace when
we live in our LORD’s presence, “I have set the LORD always before
me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved” (Ps 16:8).
Conclusion
Dear friends, thank God that
He is with us and in us always all the days of our lives. Let us
remember that He is omnipresent and omniscient. The LORD is there. May
God help us trust in Him with thanksgiving, fear Him and depart from
evil, and maintain a living fellowship with Him until He comes. Amen.
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