The Lord is There - Ezekiel 48:35
Setting
This is going to be a bit of a bible study. We are going to hop around the scriptures a bit.
Last week we looked at a prophecy by Jeremiah who was the priest who prophesied Judah's downfall and restoration. He operated around 600BC. Ezekiel was priest too, but he was one of those exiles to Babylon and lived the whole of his priestly career in exile. He recorded some extraordinary visions (eating the scroll, the four living creatures with four faces and four wings, the valley of dry bones) - some of which are clarion clear and some of which are rather mysterious.
The very last line of Ezekiel's prophecy says, "Jehovah Shammah" - the Lord is there.
That is a powerful promise to the people of Israel but what does it say to us?
It says the Lord is there - speaking of a future time and a distant place.
It also says the Lord is here - speaking of the present time and this place, here, within us.
Ezekiel is speaking to a proud people living with the memory of a covenant relationship with a God who had rescued them from oppression and made extraordinary promises about their place in the world and their future. They has seen many mighty miracles, established a prosperous and peaceful nation and expected their God-given king to rule the world. And then it had all gone horribly wrong, their sin and apostasy has led to the country being ransacked and huge chunks of the population being ethnically cleansed to Babylon and other nations.
They are sitting by the rivers (Kebar) of Babylon, weeping, remembering Jerusalem (Psalm 137:1), wondering how they could have got it so wrong. They are a long way from home, alone, afraid, captive. Without a temple and a walled city they are losing their identity, pride and self-esteem. They have no hope. So they think about home.
It reminds a bit of the parable Jesus told about the prodigal son. The boy is a Jew sitting in a pigpen, humiliated, poor, hungry, without identity. Deeply regretting the mistakes he had made. He has no hope. And he thinks about home.
Have you ever looked around you and thought, we've lost it, switched on the news and said to yourself, this is a mess. How could we have got it so wrong?
Have you ever regretted mistakes you have made? Have you ever felt that you were losing your identity and pride? Have you ever felt lost, poor, hungry?
Are there times when you have no hope? When you feel a long way from home?
Right at the end of Ezekiel we are given a promise, a promise that God is there. The narrative running up to that conclusion is strange, more like describing an architect's drawing or a town-planner's rule book. It is a very detailed description of a temple, a city and a land which has been planned, designed and built to perfection. And at the centre is a throne on which the King sits in glory, He is there.
But there are small windows in it which give us a little insight into the meaning.
40v4
Look with your eyes and hear with your ears and pay attention to everything I am going to show you … Tell the house of Israel everything you see.
It starts with God saying to Ezekiel, pay attention and tell the people what I am going to show you.
Everything in the following 8 chapters points toward and culminates in the final two words, "Jehovah Shammah" (the Lord is There).
43v7
This is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet.
I love that picture of the splendour of a throne and the day-to-day familiarity of feet on the ground.
It speaks to me of God being the mighty King of the universe but also involved in my day-to-day walk. I experience his presence in worship and prayer but also when I listen to opera or read a good book. I sense His presence when I see people giving large amounts of money to Children in Need and when I stand on Almscliffe Cragg and feel the wind blowing through me. I experience His love when I share a meal with good friends.
43v10
Describe the temple to the people … and if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the whole design…
We then get to the crux of what God wants to say. He is in the process of demonstrating that He is still the King and that He will reign. That there is a plan, a future and a hope, but He stops and says to Ezekiel, "Show the people this plan, give them a glimpse of the promise. If their reaction is one of shame and repentance - show them everything."
Let's return to the prodigal son - he got himself into deeper and deeper trouble. But all the time his father was still at home, there, waiting by the window, looking out for him. At some point the son had to stop, connect with his shame, repent and turn back home.
God says the same to the people of Israel, I am here, I am waiting, there is a plan and future - how are you going to respond?
God says the same to you. I love you, I am reaching out to you, I have given my Son, Jesus, to die for you, to make a way back to me. Are you going to acknowledge your sin, that you have turned away from me, are you going to repent, turn around, come back? There is hope, there is a home and an inheritance for you.
Amongst the obscure parts of the prophecy we can discern something of what it is like - where God is:
45v9
Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing my people … use accurate scales and measures…
Where God is there is justice and right - in simple economic and legal terms - no corruption or abuse but fairness.
47v9-12
Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds - like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.
The river that sustains life. In Revelation 22:2ff these words are repeated to describe the Kingdom of God at the end of time.
47v23
In whatever tribe the alien settles, there you are to give him his inheritance.
A welcome to the alien. They receive the same inheritance as everyone else. This is poignant for the listeners because they are aliens in Babylon at the time. It is poignant for us because we all started as aliens from God and He is on a mission to rescue the whole world, every person on the planet.
[By the way: non-party-political point. The bible is crystal clear on the immigration and asylum seeker question. We are to welcome the alien and give them the same inheritance we enjoy. If you follow politics you will know that this is one of the topics in which the politicians are trying to grab voter territory. I hear very few voices daring to sound a different message - but I believe that we should defend this country's long and honourable tradition of welcoming any who wish to come to our shores. With no restrictions. ]
48v35
After a long guided tour Ezekiel is brought back to the city and the prophecy ends with the ringing declaration that the Lord is There.
Application
How does this apply to us? That was 2,500 years ago in a foreign land, before Jesus. What does it mean to us?
The promise is for us, for you and for me. God is there, not just in a future place but here & now.
Not in a different country in a different city at a different time.
But in our present, in our country and in our lives.
Paul describes it like this when he debates with the Greek philosophers of ancient Athens,
Acts 17v24,27,28
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by hands … God is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being.
However far from God we are or think we are He has made a way in which we can know Him, today. Jesus died to save us from that which separates us from God, and, as soon as we repent and turn, He is there.
John 14:16-17
I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth. You know Him for He lives with you and will be in you.
Jesus knew we need His presence to be with us and so He sent the Holy Spirit to be with us. Within us, every minute of the day, the Lord is present. We can speak with Him, listen to Him, sense His presence.
Matthew 18:20
Where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them.
When we gather together, in housegroups, at weekly worship, in twos and threes - He promises to be there, to be with us.
Romans 8:23
We who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters.
This is not the fullness of His presence. Yet. The time is coming when all this will come to pass - when Jesus will be worshipped by every created thing, when there will be righteousness and justice, peace and joy. When fruit trees will produce food every month, when the water will teem with fish, when there will be healing and light, no more pain, tears, goodbyes or brokenness. (Revelation 21:1-4, 22:1-5).
Whilst we wait, we groan, it isn't perfect yet, but it will be. We have the certainty of salvation - and the presence of the Holy Spirit give us the firstfruits, tasters of what is to come, the awareness of His presence.
· Worship -when we worship we sense His presence;
· Healing - when we see healing we sense His presence;
· Truth - when we hear truth we sense His presence;
· Beauty - when we see & hear beauty we sense His presence.
Whilst we wait we will take that message of hope and homecoming to the community around us, family and friends, neighbours and work colleagues, near and far.
We will pray that God will be there too, where we live and move and have our being. May we see glimpses of His beauty and power in us and through us to bless the city in which we love.
The promise of God's presence is for us but it is also for Headingley and for Leeds and for the nations - the Lord is there. When we go to work, onto the streets, into the community, the Lord is there too, at work and we are called to join in.
Conclusion
Sometimes I look around me and despair: at what man can do to man, what we can do to the garden in which we have been placed.
Sometimes I look around me and despair: at empty lives trying to fill the void with wealth, possessions, alcohol, drugs, sex, noise, knowledge, career - even with doing good.
Sometimes I look inside me and despair: when am I going to learn to trust Jesus, to let Him reign fully in my life, deal with my bad habits and sin.
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And then I am reminded that the Lord is there. The King of the universe who loves me with the force of a tsunami abides in my heart. His Holy Spirit fills me and I experience the firstfruits of God's presence.
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And then I am reminded that where two or more of us are gathered together, He is there among us. And we see His hand at work in our lives and those around us.
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And then I am reminded that one day every knee will bow before the King and there will be no more tears, or death, or mourning, or crying or pain. What is wrong will be put right, the King will establish justice and the new order.
The promise that God is there fills me with hope.
Hope gives us a direction to face - facing Him, going home.
Hope gives us a purpose to live - to see Jesus make His home among us.
Hope gives us a vision for the future - to see His Kingdom come.
David Flowers, 26/01/2014