“The distance all around will be 18,000 cubits. “‘And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE.”
~ Ezekiel 48:35
Hi James and Ellen,
Have you ever asked your dad and/or ma how a country or a state or a town or a street got its name? Do you find it interesting to find out how a country, state, town and/or street got its name? Your grandpaa when he was a kid lived on a farm that is located one mile west and two miles north of a small town. The town’s name is Volga. When your grandpaa was a kid, there was about 900 guys, gals and kids living in Volga. The story how Volga purportedly got its name is that guys – as they were laying railroad tracks through a small settlement in eastern South Dakota, decided when winter set in in to hole up in this settlement. Some of the guys – if not all the guys who were laying railroad tracks, were from Russia. The longest river in Europe – the Volga River, is found in Russia. Because the settlement did not have a name that the Russian guys holed up in – because of not being able to lay railroad tracks because of freezing, snowy winter weather, the guys named the settlement Volga. Your grandpaa’s grandpa on your grandpaa’s dad’s side of the family homesteaded the farm on which your grandpaa’s dad was born. The farm that your grandpaa’s grandpa on your grandpaa’s dad’s side of the family homesteaded is across the road from the farm where your grandpaa lived when he was a kid.
There is a 300 acre lake bordering the south side of the land of the farm that your grandpaa’s grandpa on your grandpaa’s dad’s side of the family homesteaded right around the early 1900’s. The lake’s name is Goldsmith. Your grandpaa does not know how this small glacial deposit lake got the name Goldsmith. Your grandpaa’s grandpa on your grandpaa’s dad’s side of the family also homesteaded a strip of land that is located between the east side of Lake Goldsmith and the road east of the lake that passes the house where your grandpaa lived when he was a kid. Your grandpaa’s dad when he was a kid would go fishing in Lake Goldsmith to catch fish to eat. Your grandpaa’s dad taught your grandpaa how to fish. Your grandpaa when he was a kid would often go fishing in Lake Goldsmith, too, to catch fish to eat. Your grandpaa went ice fishing on Lake Goldsmith a couple of day ago and caught right after dusk about a ten inch long walleye and a walleye fingerling. Your grandpaa has caught bullheads, perch, northern pike, crappies, bluegills, sunfish, walleyes, saugeyes, suckers, carp and mud puppies in Lake Goldsmith.
Have you ever wondered how the city of Jerusalem got its name? The city of Jerusalem has name recognition throughout planet Earth. The city of Jerusalem means the foundation of peace. The city of Jerusalem for guys, gals and kids who are Christ-followers is the most important city on planet Earth. The settlement that became known as the city of Jerusalem was known in 1400 B.C. as being U-ru-sa-lim. The name U-ru-sa-lim means the city of Salem. Per Ezekiel – in Ezekiel 48, Jerusalem’s name will one day be changed to Yahweh-Shammah. Yahweh-Shammah is a wordplay on Yerushalayim – which is how Hebrews or Jews say Jerusalem. Hebrews or Jews are Israelite people group guys and gals. God chose the Israelite people group of guys and gals to be His specially chosen guys and gals. Yahweh-Shammah is a decisive name that defines what the new city of Jerusalem will one day be like. Verse 35 describes Yahweh-Shamman: ““The distance all around will be 18,000 cubits. “‘And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE.”” Do you know who a Christ-follower guy or gal is? A guy or gal who is a Christ-follower has internalized that a new Jerusalem – Yahweh-Shammah, is imminent. A Christ-follower guy or gal will always put being a faithful follower of Christ before his or her self-interests, life goals and carnality. When the city of Yahweh-Shamman (THE LORD IS THERE) is suddenly a reality, it will not surprise a Christ-follower. Your grandpaa believes that every guy, gal and kid who is Christ-follower who is living on planet Earth when the city of Jerusalem becomes the city of Yahweh-Shamman will be ‘zapped’ into heaven at the very same moment that God – as God the Son – Jesus Christ, reappears on planet Earth. When God – as God the Son – Jesus Christ, returns to reign over planet Earth, the city of Jerusalem will be renamed Yahweh-Shamman (THE LORD IS THERE) and the city of Jerusalem will be rebuilt. In the center of Yahweh-Shamman will be the Lord’s sanctuary. The area where the Lord’s sanctuary will be located will be rectangular – 25,000 cubits or almost seven miles on the north and south sides and 10,000 cubits or a little less than three miles on the east and west sides. The consecrated priests – who will come from Zadok’s extended Levi tribal clan, will live within this sacred area. Zadok’s extended Levi tribal clan will receive this special blessing of being able to live very near to the Lord’s sanctuary and to serve the Lord in His sanctuary because Zadok’s extended Levi tribal clan will have always remained faithful servants of God – never messing up by doing something that would cause God to not to be able to use them in His sanctuary. Exact portions of land around Yahweh-Shamman will be for homes for the other priests and pastureland for their livestock. The land area in the four directions around Yahweh-Shamman will be assigned equally by an ascending order of birth to the twelve tribal clans that make up Israel’s people group. Are you forward looking or introspective kids? Do you use your life experiences as lessons to be able to track ahead in making a difference in your worlds and in the worlds of other guys, gals and kids or do you use your life experiences as mirrors to look over your shoulders at what might be gaining on you to inhibit you from making a difference in your worlds in the worlds of other guys, gals and kids?
A Christ-follower has to be a forward looking guy, gal or kid or he or she will be left wondering what just happened.
Ezekiel 48 (663)