… and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
Matthew 1:23
Reading Assignment
Ezekiel 1
Ezekiel 48:35
Psalm 139
… and the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there [Jehovah Shammah].
Ezekiel 48:35
The dispersion
The future of Israel as a nation looked pretty bleak. Both the northern tribes of Israel and the southern tribes of Judah had fallen to hostile nations and had been taken captive and enslaved. They had entered into a new era where the hub of activity was no longer focused in the promised land, but in a foreign country.
Ezekiel was a contemporary of Jeremiah, although quite a bit younger. When the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, took the second wave of the Judahites into captivity, Ezekiel, who was getting ready to enter the priesthood, was included. If you recall, priests entered into their ministry when they were 30 years old and finished at age 50. When Ezekiel was captured, he was only 25 years old. He would never become a priest because there was no place of sacrificial worship in their captivity, but 5 years later, after he turned 30, God called him to be a prophet.
The book of Ezekiel is fairly complex. It is actually a collection of 13 scrolls that Ezekiel wrote, over a number of years, to the leaders who were in captivity. God warned him in advance that his prophecies would be mostly ignored. Nevertheless, Ezekiel acted as the voice of God so that the captives knew, on some level, that they were not completely forsaken.
Through Ezekiel, God spoke of judgments, both on the nation of Israel and on the nations that were hostile to Israel. Finally, God gave hope that Israel, as a nation, would again serve their God. God said He would make this possible by changing their hearts. This parallels the prophecy that Jeremiah gave (Jeremiah 31:33) where God said He would write His law in their hearts.
As we find ourselves at our last name of God for this series, and at the final session of this study, we also find ourselves nearing the end of Israel’s history as it can be found in the Old Testament. The only history remaining is found in parts of the book of Daniel, a few of the minor prophets, Esther, and the books of Nehemiah and Ezra, which chronicle the return of selected groups to Jerusalem decades later.
Let’s learn what God revealed of Himself to His subdued people at this late date in history that would carry them into the coming era of His New Covenant.
SIDE NOTES
Ezekiel is called to be a prophet
At the beginning of the book of Ezekiel, there was still a king in Judah. Jehoiachin, the grandson of Josiah, was on the throne and was a wicked king, allowing rampant idolatry, even in the temple. Ezekiel knew of these abominations through missals from Jeremiah because he was a captive of King Nebuchadnezzar. He, along with the others, resided within the Israeli settlement on the banks of the Chebar River.
God called Ezekiel into his prophetic ministry by giving him one of the most bizarre and complex visions that is recorded in the Bible.
Note: Ezekiel lived with the other Jewish captives next to Chebar, a waterway off of the Euphrates River. This was located near the northern border of modern-day Kuwait. A lament for their condition can be found in the Psalms.
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?
Psalm 137: 1-4
Ezekiel’s vision
In the first chapter, Ezekiel saw God coming to him, riding on His chariot. In his writing, he tried to describe what he saw, but trying to translate the spiritual into the natural must have been difficult.
Part of his description included the cherubim that were beneath the throne. We like to think of cherubim, or cherubs, as sweet-faced little darlings with wings, but the book of Revelation has quite a different description, which mirrors what Ezekiel saw.
And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. Revelation 4:6-8
The people thought Ezekiel was a crackpot, but even in their rebellion and isolation, God was preparing a way to communicate with them while they were in exile. Talk about faithful!
Scriptural basis for elements of Ezekiel’s vision
The Throne
God promised Moses that He would communicate with His people from His throne between the cherubim. As God on His throne approached Ezekiel, He was fulfilling this promise as He spoke from His heavenly Ark. (See Exodus 25:40, Hebrews 8:5)
And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
Exodus 25:22
The Chariot
As David passed the kingdom to his son Solomon and gave him charge for building the temple, he described all of the furniture of the temple and how much gold he had allotted for each. Then he described the ark of the covenant as a chariot, just as Ezekiel saw when God came to him on his throne. There is also a description in the Psalms of God riding on a cherub.
And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
1 Chronicles 28:18
And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
Psalm 18:10
God’s presence departs from the Temple
Another one of Ezekiel’s early visions was watching God as he abandoned the temple in Jerusalem. God had endured the abuse of His so-called covenant people for over 100 years. They had shed blood in the holy places to sacrifice to idols, held secret rites, and committed fornication in the name of their strange deities, just to mention a few.
In Ezekiel’s vision, God departed from the tabernacle, the house that had been created for Him, thereby removing His presence and protection. The entirety of Ezekiel 10 describes the cherubim that came to transport God away from His earthly dwelling place.
Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims. Ezekiel 10:18
Note: These two visions, where Ezekiel described the movement of God on his chariot accompanied by the cherubim, sparked a lot of discussion among Jewish scholars. The question that was discussed had to do with whether or not God’s manifest presence (His Shekinah glory) ever left the proximity of the Tabernacle. Ezekiel’s vision had a lot to do with the resolution of this question.
The Watchman on the Wall
Ezekiel gave warnings for decades about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. God gave him a strict mandate about warning the people. Paraphrased, He said, ‘If you don’t warn them and they keep doing evil, then they will die in their sins and their blood will be on your head. If you do warn them and they ignore you, they will still die in their sins, but their blood will not be on you.’ This caused Ezekiel to be called the Watchman on the Wall.
So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. Ezekiel 33:7
Note: The ‘watchman on the wall’ referred to a guard or watchman placed on the city wall, waiting for an enemy army to show up so that there would be an alarm early enough to take arms. This is also where the reference to blowing the trumpet in Zion came from because the watchman would sound the alarm using a ram’s horn.
Ezekiel prophesied the coming Messiah
During his twenty-some years of prophetic ministry in Babylon, Ezekiel prophesied about the judgment of Israel (chapters 4-24), and the judgment of those nations surrounding Israel (chapters 25-32). Then his focus changed to prophecies that spoke of the restoration of Israel.
This began with the coming of the promised Messiah from the root of David.
And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. Ezekiel 34:23
After this, God began speaking to Ezekiel about the restoration of Israel.
The four faces of the cherubim
The four faces of the cherubim described by Ezekiel are symbolic of God’s many-faceted nature.
The face of the lion represents His kingship, highlighting His strength, majesty, and courage. The gospel of Matthew often emphasizes this aspect of the ministry of Jesus.
The face of the bull represents His service and dedication, reminding us of His diligence, his power and his sacrifice. The gospel of Mark emphasizes this aspect of the ministry of Jesus.
The human face represents the image of God, which is forever manifested in man. It reflects His intelligence, His reason, His humanity, His compassion and His unique capacity for love and moral choice. The gospel of Luke reveals this aspect of Jesus’ ministry.
The face of the eagle represents the swiftness and far-seeing vision of God. It depicts His heavenly perspective and divine omniscience. This revelation of divine nature follows Jesus throughout the gospel of John.
Jehovah Shammah
After all of the hardship and heartache experienced by the Israelites due to their straying, God again showed Himself to be faithful to them. The name that He left them with would shine forth as a beacon, showing the way of the coming Messiah.
As the book of Ezekiel closes, there is a lengthy section (chapters 40-48) giving a very detailed description of the new Temple and the new city that will be established for the restored Israel. It was not called the New Jerusalem. In the very last verse, and with the very last words of Ezekiel, God called this city Jehovah Shammah, or The Lord is There.
… and the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there [Jehovah Shammah]. Ezekiel 48:35
The very last name of God that He revealed to His Old Covenant people was a promise for the future. We are part of that future.
The Lord is There
Jehovah Shammah
Yahweh Shammah
The Lord is There
This name of God gives great insight into the heart of God. God’s heart has always longed to be with His creation. He never wanted to leave us. Rather, we were always the ones who left Him.
This aspect of His nature was hinted at in scripture over and over again, throughout hundreds of years. It is easy, in reading through the text of the Bible, to gloss over these references in favor of the story that is being told, but if you look for them, they will begin to become obvious to you.
The Psalmist put it this way:
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. Psalm 139:7-10
Yahweh was always There
But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
Genesis 39:21
And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
Exodus 33:14
… Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Joshua 1:9
Fear thou not; for I am with thee …
Isaiah 41:10
Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.
Isaiah 8:10
God With Us
The prophet Isaiah spoke prophetically of the coming Messiah and named Him with a name of the same meaning as that of Jehovah Shammah:
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14
Immanuel means God with us. At the time of Isaiah, God was already speaking about the nature of the Messiah who would be with them.
Jesus is Immanuel
As Jesus was speaking to his very worried disciples near the end of His earthly ministry, He assured them that even though He was leaving, He would not be gone. What a paradox for them to wrap their understanding around. It was only later, as they experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit, that they began to understand what He meant.
It is through Jesus that mankind can actually comprehend this attribute of God. Jesus is a Savior who we can see and touch and smell and hear; a Savior who we can each individually understand and communicate with every day. He is a Savior who reminds us, with His presence inside of us every single day of our lives, that He is with us.
His promises are as much for us today as they were for them.
Jesus is with you
Jesus is in you
Jesus is for you
Jesus is there
Some promises of Jesus
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
John 14:18
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever …
John 14:16
and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Matthew 28:20
… for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Hebrews 13:5
We shall be like Him
To be there for someone takes commitment, loyalty and faithfulness. Most of us know what it feels like to make a commitment, and most of us also know what it is like to be disappointed when a commitment is broken. Because God has placed this attribute into us, we should be aware that this is something vital, something that we should not take lightly.
As we have traversed through this study, learning the attributes of God as revealed by His names and how they reside in us, I hope you have gained new insight as to how precious you are to God. I would like to close with this verse:
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2
Questions for Discussion and Reflection
How is the name Immanuel related to the name Jehovah Shammah?
Have you ever felt like God was far away from you? What did you do to come near again?
Do you think we have ‘idols’ today that can act as barriers, making us feel as if the Lord is not there?
Do you think the city named Jehovah Shammah is the same city as the new Jerusalem written about in Revelation 21?
If you have enjoyed this study, I invite you to share your thoughts and comments. Use the contacts page to let me know what you think, and if there are any areas that could be improved. I hope you have been blessed and have grown in your own personal faith.
Blessings,
Chandra
References
The Holy Bible: King James Version
The Holy Bible: Names of God Bible
Strongs Exhaustive Concordance and Hebrew Dictionary
©2026 Chandra Hronchek