2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
In this present series of devotions, we are continuing to look at citations that reveal God as Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is there. JER 29 is in the middle of a group of chapters in that book which recall the events of this prophet’s life. Jeremiah wrote a letter to the Jews in Babylon. We may assume that this letter was written before 586 BC when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem including the Temple and Jeremiah was taken captive himself. He was placed under the care of the governor, Gedalia, until Gedalia was assassinated by fanatics. Later, the prophet went down to Egypt where he lived out the rest of his days. It is thought that he ministered as late as 582 BC. JER 29: 10 is another key example of Jehovah Shammah’s presence and righteous exercise of his sovereign power. “The Lord says, ‘When Babylonia’s seventy years are over, I Jehovah Shammah] will show my concern for you [Israel] and keep My promise to bring you back home.’” Remember an important lesson that we learned from God’s dealings with Daniel. When God holds a person in high esteem He may let them see what is in the future. He did this for Daniel, and Jeremiah’s statement here tells us that the same was done for Jeremiah. With the advantage of hindsight that history gives us, we can see that Israel’s punishment of being taken into captivity and its loss of nationhood was temporary. The time of it was measured by God with fairness, effectiveness for bringing Israel to spiritual brokenness, and for a length determined to be right to punish without destroying her. That is the action of Jehovah Shammah who was there the whole time dealing with His unruly children as a righteous, responsible, and loving Parent feel the necessity to do.
The Jews in captivity in Babylon had heard after 586 BC how the Shekinah glory of the Lord [the dazzling light of the Lord’s presence] had left the temple. EZK 10: 18-19, “Then the dazzling light of the Lord’s presence left the entrance of the Temple and moved to a place above the creatures [cherubim or living creatures]. They spread their wings and flew up from the earth while I [Ezekiel] was watching, and the wheels [God’s throne] went with them.” EZK 11: 22-24, “The living creatures began to fly; and the wheels went with them. The dazzling light of the God of Israel was over them. Then the dazzling light left the city and moved to the mountain east of it. In the vision the Spirit of God lifted me up and brought me back to the exiles in Babylonia. Then the vision faded, and I told the exiles everything that the Lord had shown me.” Taken out of context, one could say that these citations are proof that Jehovah Shammah did desert his people when he left the Temple at Jerusalem in 586 BC, but one should never take a citation or passage out of context.
The latter portion of the book of Ezekiel, EZK 40: 1-48: 35, is a vision of the future Temple and future land. This is the millennial temple that will be set up during those thousand years after the seven years of Tribulation are over. EZK 48: 35, “The total length of the wall of all fours sides of the city is 10,080 yards. The name of the city from now on will be “The Lord is Here.” This name for the new Jerusalem is hugely revealing of the character of the Lord Who loved us enough to sacrifice His Son on the cross so we could be saved. We must remember that Hebrew names are descriptive of one’s character or calling. Surely, Jehovah Shammah is descriptive of our Abba. Note also that this name for the new Jerusalem lends God-given hope for all those who awaiting the establishment of His Kingdom. We are surely in those numbers as were the Jews who longed for deliverance from captivity in Babylon.
This hope, the hope that only God can give us, is necessary for us to have vision. PR 29: 18, “A nation without God’s guidance is a nation without order. Happy is the man who keeps God’s law!” We must have vision to find motivation in enduring the spiritual warfare to which we are subjected and keep our faith strong. The vision God gives us is His promise to eventually set up His Kingdom and to make us joint-heirs to it with Jesus Christ. RO 8: 17, “Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings He keeps for His people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept, for Him; for if we share Christ’s suffering, we will also share His glory! ”Included in that vision is the promise of eternal joy and fellowship with Him there. Jehovah Shammah will be there with us to make that a reality. The hope He has given us is enough to sustain our faith if we will allow that. Another reminder of this hope is found in DN 7: 27, “The power and greatness of all the kingdoms on the earth will be given to the people of the Supreme God. Their royal power will never end, and all rulers on earth will serve and obey them.”
There are too many wonderful citations reminding us of this hope to include in today’s message, and I, for one, don’t want us to miss a single one. When the circumstances of our lives get complicated and painful as they often do, Jehovah Shammah knows that we need plenty of reminders of His love and His presence in our lives. That is why I am led to spend whatever time on this subject that He deems I should. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, David, and Paul all faced perilous times without allowing their faith to waiver. They had the hope that God gave them and remained aware of God’s presence in their lives throughout the time that they faced spiritual warfare. Their example is important to us today, because I believe they and any of us who will follow their model of faithfulness will one day be together with God in His Kingdom.
PRAYER: O Lord, Jeremiah spent time warning Israel of her impending punishment as the time grew near for it to happen. This had to have been painful for him to do. His own time in captivity also had to have been a trial to him. Yet, You Dearest Jehovah Shammah never left his side while he continued to obey You. The same must have been true for Ezekiel. You loved him enough to let him see You leaving the Temple and had to have taken joy in the strength of his faithfulness. You showed Your love for both these men by letting them see a vision of the future. Because we are privileged to have the Scriptures and choose to study them, You are allowing us to see into the future with even more clarity than the OT prophets had. We can take hope in that and let it motivate us to keep our faith strong in the face of whatever spiritual warfare we must face. We acknowledge Your sovereign power over our lives and even take joy in it. We can find comfort here, because You are always there for us and always exercise that power with love, compassion, patience, and righteousness. Each day that we come to you in humble prayer, we find more reasons why You deserve nothing less than our adoration, worship, trust, obedience, loyalty, honor, glory, praise, and thanks. In Christ’s holy name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, the Lord continues to take us on a path that will give us a better understanding of the impact of His constant presence in our lives. He is our Jehovah Shammah and wants us to know the depth of His love for us. Bask in that love and realize that the hope He gives us is real. When we let that hope sustain our faith, we open ourselves to copious blessings. God loves you and so do Peter and I.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn