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The names of God, part 9, Jehovah-Shammah

The last verse in Ezekiel gives us the name Jehovah-Shammah, “The Lord is there. After writing about the dimensions of the New Jerusalem, Ezekiel 48:35 ends with this:

³⁵ The city shall be 18,000 cubits round about; and the name of the city from that day shall be, “The Lord is there.” [Jehovah-Shammah]

Those who may have read Ezekiel’s description of the new (or renewed) Jerusalem in the days of the prophet probably interpreted it according to their Old Covenant revelation that was prevalent at the time. Hence, they would have seen this description as a larger city built upon the ruins of the original city that had been destroyed by the Babylonians.

We, however, have the benefit of a New Covenant perspective. In particular, we have John’s description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 that is not intended to be taken literally, for it is a heavenly city whose dimensions are symbolic.

Two Temples

There are also differences between Solomon’s temple and Ezekiel’s temple. Both give the measure of the sanctuary as 10 x 20 cubits, but Solomon’s temple was measured “according to the old standard” (2 Chronicles 3:3), that is, the ordinary cubit of 19.8 inches. Ezekiel’s temple, however, used “long cubits” (Ezekiel 41:8) that was one handbreadth longer than the old standard cubit (Ezekiel 43:13). The long cubit measured 23.1 inches.

Solomon’s temple was 60 x 20 cubits, so its perimeter was 160 cubits, or 3168 inches in length (60 x 2 plus 20 x 2). The number 3168 represents the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord (kurios) has a numeric value of 800; Jesus (Iesus) has a numeric value of 888; and Christ (christos) has a numeric value of 1480. If you add them together, you get 3168, the perimeter that defines the dimension of Solomon’s temple. His temple was designed to manifest the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is not likely that Solomon himself understood this, because he was probably unfamiliar with the Greek language, nor did he know that the gospel in the future would come down to us in Greek. But God, who revealed the “pattern” (blueprint) of the temple to David (1 Chronicles 28:12 KJV), knew the end from the beginning.

Ezekiel’s temple was measured by “a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze” (Ezekiel 40:3). He used “a measuring rod of six cubits” (Ezekiel 40:5), which is a reed of six long cubits or seven cubits of the old standard. The Holy Place measured 40 x 20 cubits (Ezekiel 41:2), and the Most Holy Place was 20 x 20 cubits. In other words, Ezekiel’s sanctuary was 60 x 20 cubits, but by using the long cubit, its perimeter of 160 cubits measured 3,696 inches. It was 528 inches longer than the perimeter of Solomon’s temple.

The Hebrew word maftayach means “key” and is used of the key of David in Isaiah 22:22. It has a numeric value of 528. Hence, the difference between Solomon’s temple in the earthly Jerusalem and Ezekiel’s temple in the heavenly Jerusalem is the key of David. The number 528 is also a powerful healing frequency, and this may be why the heavenly Jerusalem’s street contains a tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:2).

The perimeter of Ezekiel’s city is said to be 18,000 cubits (Ezekiel 48:35). Using the long cubit of 23.9 inches each, this would be 430,200 inches. The measure of the perimeter of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:16 is 12,000 furlongs (stadion, about 202 yards each). This would be 87,264,000 inches, which is nearly 203 times greater than Ezekiel’s city.

Fortunately, we do not have to choose which account to believe, because both are symbolic of a spiritual city. Both Paul and John refer to the New Jerusalem as a heavenly city. Ezekiel’s city of 18,000 cubits (perimeter) emphasizes the number 18 (“oppression, bondage”), while John’s city connects it to the chosen ones who are its rulers. The Greek word eklogay (“elect, chosen”) has a numeric value of 144. This is also the numeric value of Lazarus which points to the resurrected ones. And, of course, 144 is 12 x 12. Twelve is the biblical number of governmental perfection.

Hence, it seems that Ezekiel’s city, defined according to its 18,000 cubit perimeter, seems to point to the earthly Jerusalem that is in bondage with her children (Galatians 4:24 KJV), whereas John’s city is the heavenly Jerusalem which “is free” (Galatians 4:26).

Two Cities

There are two cities that go by the same name: Jerusalem. The Old Testament writings do not distinguish them, except that the name of the city literally means two Jerusalems. The Hebrew name, Yeru-shalayim has the dual ending “ayim.” The Hebrew language has duals (ayim, “two”) and plurals (im, “three or more”).

The ancient rabbis discussed this and wondered why Jerusalem was a dual. No doubt Paul had participated in such discussions while he was a student under Gamaliel. He later came to the conclusion that there were indeed two cities, writing in Galatians 4:25, 26,

²⁵ Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.

The Old Testament prophets, as we said earlier, never attempt to distinguish between the two cities. Sometimes Jerusalem means the earthly city and at other times, it is the heavenly city. As a general rule, whenever the prophets speak of an imperfect, sinful, or lawless Jerusalem, it speaks of the earthly city. When it speaks of Jerusalem in glorious terms, it refers to the heavenly city.

Speaking of the earthly Jerusalem, Ezekiel 24:9 says, “Woe to the bloody city!” Nahum 3:1 echoes the same sentiment, saying, “Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage.”

Yet of the heavenly city, Zechariah 14:11 says, “People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.” Isaiah goes further, linking Jerusalem to the new heavens and the new earth, implying that this is also the New Jerusalem. Isaiah 65:17, 18 says,

¹⁷ For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. ¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and her people for gladness.

The earthly Jerusalem had existed for thousands of years, but Isaiah saw a city that was either in the process of being created or was to be created in the future. His city was revealed in the last half of Isaiah, which was the prophet’s revelation of New Covenant things yet to come. So it is clear that the prophet was speaking of the New Jerusalem and not the old city.

For this reason, too, when John describes the heavenly city, he quotes from Zechariah and Isaiah, using their prophecies about “Jerusalem.” In other words, John interprets “Jerusalem” as Old Testament prophecies of the “New Jerusalem” (Revelation 21:2). Paul then makes a clear distinction between the two cities in Galatians 4:25, 26.

The point is that the name of the city, revealed in Ezekiel 48:35 as Jehovah-Shammah, is not the old city but the new. God’s presence is no longer in the earthly Jerusalem, but the heavenly city which Abraham sought for as an “alien” in Canaan (Hebrews 11:9). We too, as the household of Abrahamic faith, are also aliens insofar as the old city is concerned, “having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13).

Praying to Jehovah-Shammah

To invoke the name of Jehovah-Shammah is to appeal for recognition as a citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem. Secondly, we may claim benefits that come with our citizenship. Being a citizen of the heavenly city is what makes us, “like Isaac… children of promise.” What does that mean?

Paul says in Philippians 3:20, 21,

²⁰ For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; ²¹ who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

Citizenship in the city called Jehovah-Shammah gives us the hope of being transformed into the image of Christ. In other words, “Jehovah is there.” He is present in this heavenly City that is named after Him. By implication, He is NOT present in the earthly Jerusalem, for He forsook that city even as He departed in earlier times from Shiloh (Jeremiah 7:12, 13, 14).

Recall that Shiloh was named prophetically, Ichabod, “the glory has departed” (1 Samuel 4:21, 22). It denotes a town where God’s presence has departed. He is no longer “there.” Those who consider Hagar-Jerusalem to be their spiritual “mother” may be in danger of being “cast out” along with their mother (Galatians 4:30).

But we are not the children of the earthly Jerusalem. We are children of the city called prophetically Jehovah-Shammah. As children (citizens) of this city, we have the right to expect transformation into the image of its King.