Jehovah-shammah

Ezekiel 48:35It shall be eighteen thousand reeds all around, and the name of the city from that day shall be, Jehovah Is There.  

"Jehovah is There" is the presence of Jehovah Himself with His chosen, redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified tripartite people to be one entity, a great corporate God-man, the mutual abode of God and man; God in man and man in God. This is the goal of God in His creation of man. And this should be a Christian's subjective experience all the days of his life, and it must be my personal testimony.

Though because of the sin of idolatry, the glory of Jehovah left the children of Israel, the holy temple, the holy city, in the holy land, through the recovery and restoration of the people, the temple, the city, and the land, the glory of Jehovah returned back. Though degraded, through recovery, the restored city has a new name Jehovah-shammah! 

This history of Israel is being relayed in a Christian's life today. And it is my story too. I was enlightened by this picture. For the recovery of the holy temple, there must be first a recovery of the holy land. Which means, to subjectively recover the holy temple in the holy city with the name Jehovah-shammah, the holy land, Christ must be subjectively recovered back in our experience. This brings me into the urgency of enjoying Christ daily in all things. If I do not enjoy Christ, I can never enjoy the church as typified by the holy temple and the holy city. For God to fulfill His plan and for me to a part of the fulfillment of God's plan, I must enjoy Christ, the all-inclusive Christ, with all His riches. 

In the allotment of the good land to the children of Israel, the ones closest to the holy temple are the priests, followed by the levites, then by the workers, and then the royal families, and the rest of the people. The ones closet to the temple, the priests, are the ones who maintain the fellowship between the people and the Lord. In the new testament, the believers are the priests. As such, I am a priest too. But how much I function as priest depends on how near I am to the holy temple, geographically speaking. Likewise, how near I am, or how close my enjoyment of the presence of God will determine my real spiritual function as priest. The more I enjoy Christ, the closer I will be to Him, the closer I am to Him, the more function I will render in my service, and the more important I will be in His purpose. This being the case, I must exercise daily and hourly to enjoy the Lord at all times. 

By this way of gaining the good land Christ, and staying in His presence, Christ and the Church will be recovered in my experience, and I will be a part of the city where Jehovah is There, one with God in His move for His purpose. 

This was my enjoyment, and I shared this truth last Lord's day. And may this be the experience of all the saints. Jehovah-shammah, Jehovah Is There, be my testimony and the testimony of the church. 

This enjoyment, I shared to my brothers today. May the Lord grace us all to recover the good land Christ, live in His presence, and be one with God with a name, "Jehovah is There!"