Continuing my 2020 Lenten Journey- with personal thoughts and commentary by Martha McDuff Wiggins on the book “Lord I Want To Know You” by Kay Arthur.
Day 42b
Jehovah-shammah, The LORD Is There (Part 4, Final)
And His own received Him not. But, to all who received Him…
In this final day of our Study we are going to look at how wonderfully the LORD fulfilled His promise in Ezekiel 48:35. I will be heavily relying on the Study book to take us step by step through the life of Jesus using many of the names we have now come to know, but also adding my own commentary to help clarify at times or to go a bit further…
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (Elohim, The Creator). He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind” (John 1:1-4).
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14).
While others knew Him not, there was one who did. As required by law, Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to be presented to the LORD. This was the new temple, built by the Israelites according to the LORD’s instructions after the earlier one built by Solomon, from which the Lord had departed, had been destroyed. Simeon, an old and righteous man, had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would see the Messiah before he died. Upon seeing the infant Jesus there in the temple, he immediately recognized him as Jehovah-shammah, The LORD is There, as prophesied by Ezekiel.
“Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel” (Luke 2:22-32)
At the age of twelve Jesus came again to the Jerusalem temple. Separated from Mary and Joseph, He remained behind for three days among the teachers in the temple, listening and asking questions. While they were all amazed at His understanding, unlike Simeon, they did not recognize Him as Jehovah-shammah, The LORD Is There.
Nor did they submit to Him as Adonai, The Lord, when during His adult ministry, He divulged His true identity. “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds” (John 8:58-59).
They could not see that it was Jehovah-jireh, The Lord will Provide, who stood before them in His temple, or on Mount Moriah, the very place where Abraham was provided with the ram to sacrifice in place of Isaac, his only begotten son. There before them stood the Lamb of God, the LORD’s provision, His only begotten beloved Son, to be sacrificed for all of their sins. Yet, they did not recognize Him, they knew Him not.
They also refused to hear or see Jehovah-raah, the Good Shepherd, who called them by name, who came to find His lost sheep and lead them to life eternal.
Because so many refused to believe, an undercurrent of fear had developed among some of those who had chosen to follow Him. “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore” (John 6:66).
Even though they had been following Him, they failed Him by not carrying His standard, by not rallying around Jehovah-nissi, The LORD Is My Banner. Instead they deserted Him. By putting themselves first, by refusing to defend Him, they greatly tested Jehovah-tsidkenu, The LORD Our Righteousness!
“For knowing God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God”(Romans 10:3).
As His popularity grew among the lost and wandering people, crowds began to form wherever He went. They hungered and thirsted for the Truths He shared. As the crowds grew, so did the fear among government and Jewish religious officials. He was gaining too much power. They began to plot against Him. They arranged to take His life never realizing (blinded so the LORD’s promise could be fulfilled) they would be laying hands on Jehovah-sabaoth, The Lord Of Hosts, who had at at His command legions of armies filled with mighty warrior angels.
For 33 years Jesus, the Son of God, walked the land of Palestine preaching, teaching, working miracles, and going in and out of His Jerusalem temple, until the day came when He departed it once again, saying “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, ‘BLESSED is HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD! And Jesus came out of the temple” (Matthew 23:37-24:1).
They crucified Him, Jehovah-tsidkenu, The LORD Our Righteousness.
They pierced His side. The healing blood and cleansing water gushed forth. They did not know that it was the blood of Jehovah-rapha, The LORD Who Heals (them).
They did not know, and could not believe, that it was Jehovah-mekoddishkem, The LORD Who Sanctifies You, who hung there on the Cross of Crucifixion.
And sadly, because they did not know Him, they missed the peace that Jehovah-shalom, The LORD Is Peace, brought with Him.
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand”(Romans 5:1-2)
Three days after being crucified and buried, Jesus was Resurrected from death and ascended into Heaven, where He, Jehovah-tsidkenu, The LORD Our Righteousness, sits in judgment over all.
Yet, recognized or not, received or not, Jesus fulfilled the promise of Ezekiel 48:35, that Jehovah-shammah, The LORD Is There would return to His Jerusalem temple. “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).
We are His children, and as such, heirs to Life Eternal. Because we have believed on His name, and are His children, Jehovah-shammah, The LORD Is There, dwells within each of us, for we are each His temple.
So, the Study book walked us through the timeline of Jesus’ life on earth while interjecting many of the names of the LORD wherever it was meaningful to do so. By studying and knowing these names along with their characteristics and attributes, we have developed an arsenal of weapons ever at our disposal to fight our daily battles against Satan and his desire to rob us of our inheritance. Clearly, it is in these battles that our hope is in Jehovah-jireh, The Lord Will Provide.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God” (John 3:16-21)
Mental action to facilitate your Lenten Journey:
Yes, We are His children, and as such, heirs to Life Eternal.
First we must recognize Him when He is Jehovah-shammah, The LORD Is There. Then we must make our temple a good and honorable dwelling place for Him. Does your temple need cleaning? Now is the time.
🙏🏻💖
Further action if so inclined:
—Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
Do you live in darkness for fear of the light? Sometimes the most important thing you can do is shine a light on your deeds.
I’d like to say how much I’ve been blessed knowing that you came along on this beautiful and hopefully meaningful Lenten Journey with me. I wish you the most wonderfully blessed Easter as He Resurrects Himself within your heart. 🙏🏻💖😇
I’ll leave you with one last thought-
—“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5)
Jehovah-shammah, The LORD Is There.
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