Originally posted: 8/19/2021

The city shall be 18,000 cubits round about; and the name of the city from that day shall be, ‘The LORD is there,’” (48:35).

We come to the end of this prophetic book, filled with His warnings and judgments, His mercy and hope, His promises and pledges revealing His patience and desire for the lost.

And in this part of our journey in the prophetic writings of Ezekiel, there have been days of seeing Him beautifully increase in His Glory, and there have been days of hoping to see perhaps just a glimpse through the lens of our finite understanding; and yes, much remains a mystery.

In these last Words from God, through His prophet to us, in His division of the land and its boundaries, He names literal territories and water sources near the land of Israel, as well as the literal twelve tribes of Israel, allotting them their literal portion of the land as their literal inheritance; it certainly all sounds literal to me.

There are of course more measurements and more cubits tallied; and the temptation may be to observe all of this as we might an old map, the ones we relied on before we were so blessed with GPS. Literal maps; but today they are dinosaurs, nobody uses them anymore; their time has come and gone.

But if we will choose to study this map, we will discover inspiration and encouragement for today in the specific details the Lord has mapped out, literally defining the future of everyone who belongs to Him through faith, culminated in the very last words given in this amazing book,  “and the name of the city from that day shall be, ‘The LORD is there,’” (48:35).

And when “The LORD Is There,” this is the Place His Promises are Perfected.

Consider His City Named, “The LORD Is There”

• His City Named, “The LORD Is There” …the Place His Promises are Perfected in His Residing Rest.
  • And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest,” (Exodus 33:14).

• His City Named, “The LORD Is There” …the Place His Promises are Perfected in His Fullness of Joy and Pleasures.
  • You will make known to me the path of life;
    In Your presence is fullness of joy;
    In Your right hand there are pleasures forever, (Psalm 16:11).

• His City Named, “The LORD Is There” …the Place His Promises are Perfected in His Goodness and Lovingkindness.
  • Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
    And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, (Psalm 23:6).

• His City Named, “The LORD Is There” …the Place His Promises are Perfected in His Satisfying Presence.
  • How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You
    To dwell in Your courts.
    We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
    Your holy temple, (Psalm 65:4).

• His City Named, “The LORD Is There” …the Place His Promises are Perfected in His Restoration of All Things.
  • and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, ²¹ whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time, (Acts 3:20-21).

• His City Named, “The LORD Is There” …the Place His Promises are Perfected in His Eternal Life and Comfort.
  • And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, ⁴ and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away,” (Revelations 21:3-4).

• His City Named, “The LORD Is There” …the Place His Promises are Perfected in His Eternal Light and Glory.
  • And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb, (Revelations 21:23).

How do we respond to His City Named, “the LORD Is There”?

God sent His Son, Perfecting His Promise to be with us; for in His Son, “the LORD Is There.”

Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ²³ “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us,” (Matthew 1:22-23)

But still, as we certainly know all too well, life is laden with storms. Circumstances in life often leave us listening to the taunts of the enemy rather then the voice of Immanuel, leaning on our own understanding and crying out, “Where are You, Lord?”

My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”…
⁹ I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
¹⁰ As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
¹¹ Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God, (Psalm 42:3, 9-11).

In order to calm our soul when life comes crashing down, in order to hope in God as our help to lift our countenance in the confusion, it is absolutely crucial that our minds are trained and disciplined in seeking the things above, where Christ is, forever seated on His throne. Our struggles do not remove Him from His Sovereign Rule, and it is critical that we learn to set our minds on what His Word reveals about our literal future.

As catastrophic as events may prove, we must not become fixated and fearful about our troubles and trials here; for in light of eternity, they truly are but temporary. And this we know, the day is coming when Jesus will come again, and everything will become clear in His Perfected Promises as we are revealed with Him in glory in His City Named, “The LORD Is There.”

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. ³ For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory, (Colossians 3:1-4).

And this is what His Word reveals: our true citizenship actually is in His City Named, “The LORD Is There.” Oh that we would live in the hope we have in His Promises with joyful anticipation of that day when He will Perfect us and bring us to be with Him in our true home.

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, (Philippians 3:20-21).

So while this world is passing away, let us remember He is renewing us day by day, preparing us to live with Him forever in His City Named, “The LORD Is There,” where we will live forever in His Residing Rest, His Goodness and Lovingkindness, His Satisfying Presence, His Son, God with us, His Restoration of All Things, His Eternal Life and Comfort, and His Eternal Light and Glory.

This is our literal future! And the momentary troubles of this earth cannot compare and certainly cannot undo His Promises.

Oh, LORD, please strengthen us to live each day with Your Promises ever in our mind, that we would face every circumstance in this life convinced of our Perfect Eternity that awaits us in Your City Named, “The LORD Is There.”

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, ¹⁸ while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal, (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

Let’s Grow Together!