Ask Mr Bible

The new name is Jehovah-Shammah, meaning, “the Lord who is present.”

In the final nine chapters of his book (40-48), Ezekiel describes for us the glorious features of the millennial temple and concludes by giving us the new name for the earthly city of Jerusalem in that day!

  “It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there” (Ezek. 48:35).

  Of course the obvious meaning is that God himself will be in that city.  The psalmist had this idea when he wrote Psa. 46: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea”  (Psa. 46:1-2). 
  He is a very present help in time of trouble.  He is an ever-present help in time of need.  He is Jehovah-Shammah at weddings.  He is an ever present strength in times of sorrow.  He is our joy in times of rejoicing.  Jehovah-Shammah—the Lord who is present.

  The greatest thing about heaven is probably connected to the worst thing about hell.  The worst thing about hell is not the terrible pain and the eternality, but rather that hell will be a place where Jesus Christ will be conspicuously absent throughout all eternity.  On the other hand, the greatest thing about heaven is not the pearly gates, the ivory palaces, the jasper walls, or the streets of gold but rather, heaven will be a place where Jesus Christ will be conspicuously present throughout all eternity.  Jehovah-Shammah—the Lord who is present.

  “And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee” (John 11:28). If rightly understood, Shammah may well be the most comforting of all the titles for Jehovah.  In essence, it says, He is there, and He does care!

  In his beautiful gospel hymn, Frank Graeff ponders four painful questions, and provides one glorious answer!

1. The questions:
  
Does Jesus care when my heart is pained too deeply
for mirth and song; As the burdens press, and the cares
distress, And the way grows weary and long.

Does Jesus care when my way is dark with a nameless
dread and fear?  As the daylight fades into deep night
shades, Does He care enough to be near?

Does Jesus care when I’ve tried and failed to resist some
temptation strong; When for my deep grief I find no
relief, Tho my tears flow all the night long?

Does Jesus care when I’ve said good-by to the dearest on
earth to me; And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks—
Is it aught to Him?  Does He see?

  2. The answer:

O yes, He cares—I know He cares!  His heart is touched with
my grief; When the days are weary, the long nights dreary, I
know my Savior cares.

Is God an impersonal force or a real Person?  You make the call.

The Bible makes it crystal clear that He is decidedly NOT some mystical principle, but an actual, living, caring Person!  Here are but a few of His many activities:

 A. He creates—“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).

 B. He destroys—“And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous … Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground” (Gen. 18:20; 19:24-25).

 C. He provides—“These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth” (Psa. 104:27-30).
  
  “Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?” (Luke 12:24).

 D. He promotes—“For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another” (Psa. 75:6-7).

E. He cares—“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward” (Heb. 10:35).

No principle can care.  Only a person can care for another person or another object.  Poet Thomas Baird wrote these thrilling words concerning these verses in 1 Peter and Hebrews:

It is His will that I should cast my cares on him each day.
He also bids me not to cast my confidence away;
But oh!  How foolishly I act when taken unaware,
I cast away my confidence and carry all my care.

 F. He hears—“He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?” (Psa. 94:9-10).

The fact that God hears is mentioned nearly 70 times in the Psalms alone.  In almost all cases this fact is connected to hearing our prayers.  For example, in Psa. 6:8 God says that he hears in time of sorrow.  Then in Psa. 34:6 we are told God hears in time of trouble.  Perhaps the greatest passage is found in Psa. 55:17, where we are told that God hears anytime we pray.  David says: “Evening and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.”

 G. He hates—There are certain things that God hates, and only a person can be involved in this manner. 

  “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren” (Prov. 6:16-19).

 H. He grieves—“And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart” (Gen. 6:6).  As humans are grieved, God Grieves.  In the New Testament we are told concerning the ministry of the Holy Spirit, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30).

 I. He loves—“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Perhaps the greatest song ever written is a song that we sometimes limit to the singing of little children.  It is the song that, as small children, we learned in Sunday school:

Jesus loves me, this I know;
For the Bible tells me so,
Little ones to him belong,
They are weak, but he is strong.