As we pick up in part 6 of our series, “The Names of God”, we are going to look at the name Jehovah Shammah. This name appears in the book of Ezekiel 48:35, and it means “The Lord is There”.

When Ezekiel received this vision from God, the Jews had been in captivity in Babylon for twenty-five years (Ezekiel 40:1). Jerusalem and the temple were in ruins. But God had promised that His people would be restored and that the city and the temple would be rebuilt (Jeremiah 25:11, 13; Daniel 9:20-27).

In the closing chapters of Ezekiel, the prophet describes what God told him in a vision about this coming restoration of the land, the city, and the temple. It included detailed plans and measurements for the restored city. The final words of Ezekiel’s book are these: “And the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE [Jehovah Shammah]” (Ezekiel 48:35).

That name, Jehovah Shammah, would have special meaning for the Jewish exiles. They felt forsaken in Babylon and cut off from God. But in this glorious city of promise—THE LORD IS THERE!
Something intriguing about this name is that the Jerusalem and the temple were rebuilt and the people were restored to the land, but not to the grand scale envisioned in the closing chapters of Ezekiel’s book.

There is actually a broader parallel between what Ezekiel saw and what John shares in Revelation 21:1–3.

This name, Jehovah Shammah, is a divine promise of God, and it reveals His covenant character by showing that He is fundamentally committed to presence. Being a God who exists to be encountered and experienced by His people.

This divine name demonstrates several core dimensions of God’s character.

1. Unwavering Covenant Faithfulness
The name fulfills God’s foundational promise that He would be their God while they remained His people, which was the ultimate aim established from the beginning of creation. Israel’s distinctive faith centered on a Holy God dwelling in their midst and guaranteeing His continued presence as they remained faithful to the covenant. Speaks to His reliability and consistency.

2. Active, Manifest Presence
From the beginning, God has now revealed Himself as some distant or abstract God. He revealed Himself and established His dwelling among His people. In the beginning, He walked with them in the cool of the day. At the giving of the law, He came down in the pillar of fire and cloud on Mount Sinai. His presence was in the Tabernacle and the Temple in the Holy of Holies, and now through Christ and the Holy Spirit, He is in us.

What is powerful is that there will come a day when the revelation of John will come to pass. In the New Jerusalem, the Lord Himself becomes the sanctuary, replacing any physical structure. The beauty is the seen progression of God continuing to draw closer to humanity.

3. Comfort and Protection
When Israel sinned and violated the covenant, they lost awareness of His divine presence and became like an abandoned city. The reality, though, is that God’s love and compassion moved Him to redeem them through presence. He would still bring deliverance and restoration.

Zephaniah 3:15-17, “The Lord has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; You shall see disaster no more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak. The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

4. Transcendent Yet Intimate
Though God made the Tabernacle, Temple, and ancient city His dwelling, the full meaning of this name transcends earthly locations because the heavens themselves cannot contain Him. God is simultaneously infinite and intimately accessible.

Jesus promised us in Matthew 28:20, “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”

One of the most powerful realities for us believers is that we have access to divine presence. The revelation of the name Jehovah Shammah declares to us that The Lord is There/Present.

Through Christ, we have received the reality of God’s permanent abiding presence. The other names we have learned about reveal what He does. That He provides, heals, is our righteousness, is our victory, and our peace. This name reveals where He is, with His people.

Presence is a Promise, Not an Emotion. Psalm 46:1–2 “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;”

Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Even in seasons when we feel isolated, spiritually dry, or overwhelmed by circumstances. Jehovah Shammah means God’s presence is fixed and unchanging. The key is to develop a conscious reliance on Him instead of turning to human strategies.

The key to remember is that the believer carries that presence into every room, meeting, and crisis they face. When we face the unexpected, we are not trying to summon Him into the room. We have need of quieting the internal storm in our heart and mind so that we can lean into Him and hear His voice.

It is a shift to recognize that because we walk with God, His presence is already deployed to help us navigate the obstacles we face. When we understand that, we realize that we are never truly acting alone. God is with us as He promised, and He will provide stability in us when everything around us is shifting.

God’s presence is the believer’s greatest advantage.