GOD’S WORD FOR AUGUST 10 ~ ~ Ezekiel 48:35~ ~ “ The distance around the city shall be 18,000 (4 x 4,500) cubits; and the name of the city from that day [and ever after] shall be, ‘The Lord is There.~ ~ ~ JEHOVAH SHAMMAH’”

From Dr. Tony Evans book, The Power of God’s Names. Tony has a ministry called the Urban Alternative, but also teaches on VCY radio and other stations daily…105.9 at 11 am central time. He’s known for his down-to-earth illustrations of spiritual concepts, by relating them to normal activities of life.

Prayer: Jehovah Shammah, you live in a place I have never been. You have established the heavens above me, and they reach far beyond what I could ever know. My finite mind cannot comprehend You in all Your majesty, seated there in the New Jerusalem—the place of Your dwelling. Yet You are also equally here with me right now, and my praise is in your heart and in your ears. You are my closest friend, and I praise You for all Your greatness.”

(while he is still talking about Elohim, the strong Creator God, he takes a short detour to Jehovah Shammah to illustrate God’s ability to be everywhere at once, which he introduced in yesterday’s writing)

JEHOVAH SHAMMAH– “the Lord is there.”

God is here, yet He is also there. God is both there and back again at the same time. His silence doesn’t indicate His absence, for He is everywhere. Nor does His distance belie His presence.

JEHOVAH SHAMMAH also refers to the city of Jerusalem as a type of the gospel church (Ezekiel 48:35). It is where He manifests His presence in the midst of His people.

With all of this talk about God being here, there and everywhere, we might be tempted to think of Him as an energy source. Yet the name ELOHIM doesn’t mean God is like that. The Bible would never say “May the force be with you.” In fact, as we continue studying Genesis chapter 1, we see His name ELOHIM associated with some very personal attributes.

“Then God (ELOHIM) SAID, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

God (ELOHIM) SAW that the light was good; and God (ELOHIM) SEPARATED the light from the darkness. God (ELOHIM) CALLED the light day and the darkness He CALLED night. (Gen. 1:3-5)

God said, God saw, God separated, and God called. Each of these actions clearly reveals the very personal and engaging character of God. He’s not merely a spirit floating around in never-never land. He is other-dimensional—and we shouldn’t lost that emphasis—but He’s also intensely personal. If we were to skim a few chapters forward in the Genesis account, we would discover Hi walking in the garden in the cool of the day and calling out to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:9)

So if we refer to God as an energy, a concept, force, or a theory, we are not referring to ELOHIM. As ELOHIM,God personally interacts with His creation. In other words, you and I do not live in an impersonal universe. We don’t reside in a universe with no one to relate to who is above and beyond us yet also with us.

Many people who purport the theory of evolution believe that the universe has no supreme being or God with whom we can relate. We interact with nature or with the unseen, unidentifiable forces. Yet our universe is personal because ELOHIM is personal.

He is not only personal, He is also plural.

The word ELOHIM is actually the plural version of the word EL, or ELOAH. The interesting aspect of this plural word is that it uniquely refers to a singular Godhead. In Genesis 1:26-27 we read,

“Then God said, ‘Let US make man in OUR image, according to OUR likeness…God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him.”

Scripture uses both plural and singular pronouns when referring to ELOHIM. His works are usually described with singular verb forms. So ELOHIM is a plural word by construct but often a singular word by usage, revealing the inimitable makeup of the Trinity. God is a plural being although He exists as one God.

God sometimes introduces a concept in the Bible and then explains it later. We call this “progressive revelation.” In this case, we find the plural form of ELOHIM refers to more than one. As revelation progresses, God explains the Trinity more fully so that by the time we reach the New Testament, we read in Matthew 28:19:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the FATHER, and the SON and the HOLY SPIRIT.”

There we finally see the three distinct persons, one in essence, who make up the plural name of ELOHIM. It’s difficult for us to comprehend how three can also be one. The best illustration I can think of is the pretzel.

A pretzel is comprised of one interlocking piece of baked dough, yet it also has three distinct holes. The three holes are separate, yet they are also connected to each other in the one pretzel.

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