What’s In A Name?, Pt 14: Shammah
Ezekiel 48:35b “And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE.”
Psalm 46 1God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. 4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. 8Come and see what the LORD has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Isaiah 7:14 14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.
Colossians 1:19 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
John 1:14 14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Hebrews 1:3 3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
Shammah derives from the Hebrew word sham which means “there” or “at that place.” The compound name YHWH-Shammah appears only once in the Tanakh (Old Testament) Scriptures at Ezekiel 48 shown above, but the idea of God in our lives appears many times in B’rit Chadashah (New Writings) Scriptures some of which are shown above. Shammah might be the most comforting of God’s names discussed previously because rather than expressing majesty (Yahovah) or power (El-Shaddai) or eternity (El-Olam), this name expresses the comforting presence of God in our lives. This idea of the comforting presence of God is also expressed by Immanuel. The Immanuel of Isaiah 7:14 means “God with us” and so is closely related to Shammah.
First, there is one thing to consider. There is a foundational prayer in Judaism called the Shema. This word is pronounced the same as Shammah but is entirely different in meaning and the two should not be confused. Shema means “listen” and is the first word in a prayer taken from Deuteronomy 6:4-5.
“Listen, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your being, and all your might.”
As an aside, let’s remember God is eternal. But the grammatical structure of language puts limits on our understanding of this by using temporal forms of words. So in English we would say someone was there yesterday, is there today and will be there tomorrow. Not so with God! He is always is! He is there yesterday, is there today, and is there tomorrow. It is us who move through time, not God. This is comforting because it means we don’t have to wait for God to show up. He waits for us. When we are saddened by something, or gladdened, or rejoiceful, God is already there.
The promise that God has taken up flesh to dwell with us for a short time (1st Coming) and will come again to dwell with us forever (2nd Coming) is glorious enough of course but we should realize that through the Holy Spirit God is with us right now! That means we are never alone, that the God who created the universe, and us, wants to be with us in real time. Our Father wants us to turn toward Him in our private place and fellowship with Him in our public place. Church is a place to worship God, sing songs of praise, learn of Him, and hear from Him, but church is not the only place to be with Him. If He is YHWH Shammah or YHWH Immanuel He is with us at all times whether we are aware of it or not. And since God is eternal and created each of us, He did that creating of us with intentionality; with a goal in mind. And He even tells us about it:
11For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, … (Jeremiah 29:11-14a)
How does this inform the way we live our lives? The idea that God is always present might be difficult for some people to accept. Some are more interested in being rightly religious than they are in being rightly related. They look at faith as being something they go to rather than something they always have. They enjoy the pomp and circumstance of tradition but miss His mercies that are new every morning. They prefer a civilized religion instead of a raw and uncensored relationship w/ God. It is critical to make this change in our approach to God. When Shammah says God is there it doesn’t mean He’s at some far away place. No, He is right here, in our heart. He’s paying attention; He is interested; He wants to be involved.
Shema says there is one God. Shammah says that one God is always there in times of trouble
9The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. 10Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. (Psalms 9:9-10)
And that God values every one of His children
26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (Matthew 6:26)
How can we do better than that?
Rogers, J. (2005).Retrieved from: Jehovah Shammah- The Lord Is There Sermon by Joseph Rodgers, Ezekiel 48:35 - SermonCentral.com