“And the name of the city from that time on will be: YAHWEH IS THERE.” Ezekiel 48:35
For more than a year and a half now, I have been making my way through the TANAK—the Hebrew version of the Old Testament Scriptures. Those who have attended the 2nd in the series of Know Your Bible seminars are familiar with the fact that the ordering of the books of the Old Testament in the original Hebrew is different than the ordering found in our English texts—and with very important implications. (To learn more, join us for the Genesis to Revelation seminar, KYB#2, August 24th.)
I have enjoyed immensely reading through the TANAK. The last book I completed, however, was not an easy read. Ezekiel is, without a doubt, one of the most difficult books in the canon not only because of its length and intense imagery, but because of its emphasis on judgment.
However, in spite of the amount of judgment described in this book, it does not end on a note of judgment. To the contrary, it ends on a very powerful note of hope. What is the hope with which Ezekiel concludes? It is a description of the rebuilding of the temple and the New Jerusalem. This description concludes, in the last sentence of the book of Ezekiel, with the words listed above, “And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE.” In my translation above, I replace, THE LORD with YAHWEH, because it is God’s covenant name that is most literally found in the Hebrew.
What is the overriding characteristic of the New Jerusalem? Yahweh is there! God is present. Why is this significant? Because, in reality, God’s dwelling with His people has been at the center of God’s purposes for mankind from the very beginning. In the Garden of Eden, before the fall, Adam and Eve had unfettered fellowship with God. There was no shame (Gen 2:25) because sin had not entered into the equation. Then we come to chapter three and the fall—and everything changes. The end result is that Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden. But more significant than leaving the beauty and bounty of the garden of Eden…they left behind the intimate fellowship they enjoyed with their Creator.
In a sense, everything we see in Scripture from this point on is about God’s redemption of mankind and a return to that wonderful enjoyment of our relationship with our Maker. We see this not only in the stories of men who walked with God like Enoch, Noah, Abraham and David. But we also see it in God’s adoption of Israel as His very own people.
Yet, when we come to Ezekiel, this relationship is in a horrible state because God’s people gave up fellowship with the Most High God for man-made gods that could never fulfill them. And yet, what Ezekiel makes clear is that God was not finished with His people. And it is for this reason that Ezekiel ends not on a note of judgment, but on hope. The hope is that one day God will once again dwell with His people.
What is the fulfillment of that hope? Well, in a very significant way, this hope has been fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Messiah, Emmanuel, God with us. As we read in John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” However, our ultimate hope is in Christ’s second coming, as we read in Revelation 21:3, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
And so, for now we live in the great in-between, the already, but not yet. Jesus’ Kingdom rule has already begun in the hearts of us who are the recipients of His
redemption, but the final consummation of His Kingdom and the removal of all that stands opposed to Him is not yet.
As a result, we, like Israel, face constant temptation to allow the temporary things of this world—empty idols and false gods—to marginalize that which is most important, the Kingdom of God. How do we combat these temptations? The key is found in that powerful title, “Yahweh is There!” It is as we put Yahweh God first, in daily walk, in weekly worship, and in faithful Kingdom service, that the reality of His presence in our lives grows as the temporary things of this world fade. May we increasingly live each day as subjects of the King, enjoying the unfettered access purchased by Christ’s redemption and participating joyfully in the expansion of His eternal Kingdom. Then it may be said of us, as individual followers of Christ and as a church, YAHWEH IS THERE!
In Christ, Pastor Dan