(Names of Jehovah) 5. Jehovah Shalom — Roy Hession

Gideon’s Call and the Peace of Jehovah

The book of Judges, chapter 6, where we have the story, a little bit of it at least, of Gideon. We'll start our reading at verse 14, and we have here the story of the call of Gideon, a man quite insignificant in his day and age, but who nonetheless was called to be God's instrument in giving victory to his oppressed people.

And he's threshing corn, hiding it away from the Philistines, lest they come and steal it, and Jehovah appeared to him. Verse 14,. And Jehovah looked upon him and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites.

Had not I sent thee? And he said unto him, O my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. And Jehovah said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou talkest with me. Depart not, hence I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring my presence, and set it before thee.

And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. And Gideon went in and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephor of flour. The flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.

And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. Then the angel of Jehovah put forth the end of the cloth that was in his hand, and cut the flesh and the unleavened cakes.

And there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of Jehovah departed out of his sight. And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of Jehovah, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God, because I have seen an angel of Jehovah face to face.

And Jehovah said unto him, Peace be unto thee, Fear not, thou shalt not die as you thought to against us. You're not going to die. Yes, you've seen me face to face and even so. Thou shalt not die. Then Gideon built an altar there unto Jehovah, and called it Jehovah Shallow.

In the authorized version that's not in the margin, that is actually in the text. And he called that altar Jehovah Shallow, which means, as the margin says, the Lord sent it. And to this day it is still in foster of the Abba Ezra.

Jehovah’s Grace and the Compound Names

So we come to the last of these studies on this great subject, too big for a mere series of five, but we'll make do. And we have seen that that name Jehovah means, I am. It's an unfinished sentence, and we discover as we read through our Old Testament, and see this name coming in all its different contexts, that it means, I am, whatever my people need.

It is indeed, above all else, the name of grace. Don't think that grace was only made known in the New Testament. It's there all the way through the Old as well. It means there never would have been a New Testament.

There never would have been a Savior for it, had not God been the God of grace. And then we've been looking at the compound of this name Jehovah. If it means, I am, that missing part of the sentence has to be filled in by, I am He.

And He becomes what we confess we lack, what we need. And as I said, to encourage us to go on filling up the blank check, we have these beautiful compound names. Now, I have seen lists of the compound names of Jehovah, and I don't know how many some people have found.

I am the Lord that He is, Jehovah Rothian. I am the Good Shepherd, Jehovah something else. But I don't think that those are authentic compound names of Jehovah. He is all this, that and the other. But these are the special compound names which are always associated with the name of a place or the name of a person.

After Abraham's wonderful experience of that land being provided, he called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh. It's quite clearly a name, a title. And after their victory over the Amalekites, they built an altar.

And they called the name of that altar Jehovah Nissi. And then in Jeremiah 23, we read, this is the name whereby He shall be called. So this isn't just a sentence, it's a name, Jehovah Sidkinu. And today we are going to see yet another one, Jehovah Shallow.

Jehovah Shalom: Peace with the Holy God

And this was built by Gideon as an altar and it was given this name Jehovah Shallow. Because contrary to his expectations, having seen the Lord face to face, he did not die, but rather had peace. And to celebrate the peace he found with the Holy God, he built that altar and he called the altar Jehovah Shallow.

There's yet another, which is at the end, the last verse of Ezekiel 48, Jehovah Shammah. This is the name of that city of Jerusalem. You can call it the heavenly city. It's prophesied there in the book of Ezekiel.

Maybe it may really be true that Jerusalem is going to be rebuilt. I don't know about that. But it's certainly spoken of as if it's going to be. But this I do know, there's a new Jerusalem coming. And the name that Ezekiel gave to that Jerusalem is Jehovah Shammah.

The Lord is there, the last verse of the book of Ezekiel. And over all these five compound names, we throw the shadow of that all-inclusive name, his name shall be called Jesus, which is Jehovah Sus.

Indeed, each one of these has pointed to him. And we certainly won't be able to extend our series any further, but we must know we've seen in all this Jehovah Sus, our Saviour. All of these have been pointing forward to him and being types and foreshadowings of him.

And so we have this verse in Judges 6, 23. No, 24. Then Gideon built an altar there unto Jehovah and called it Jehovah Shalom. I am, shalom means peace. I am thy peace. And what a relief it was to him.

The circumstances in which he erected that altar and gave it that name are all here. They arose out of the fact that in process of receiving his call to service, there appeared to him Jehovah, or at least an angel of Jehovah.

Seeing God and Receiving Peace

And that was an awesome experience for Gideon as it would have been for any Israelite, because it was common knowledge in Israel that if a man saw God, he was almost certainly going to die. Indeed, it's based on Exodus 34, 20.

No man shall see my face and live, said he to Moses. And he's seen him. And like all of them, they expected to die. But he didn't die. He felt okay. And how are you feeling, dear? I'm just fine. But we've seen God face to face.

And our lives have been preserved. Yes, said the Lord. Fear not, fear not, dear Gideon. Peace be unto thee. Thou shalt not. And so there he was, standing in the presence of a holy God, but alive to tell the story.

And he's found God that day to be a God of grace, who gave peace to sinners like him. And so he built that altar and called it by that name. Jehovah Shalom, my peace. The parents of Samson, over in chapter 13, verse 21, had a rather similar experience, though they didn't need to build an altar and call it by that name because it had already been called that name.

But do you remember, in chapter 13, an angel appeared to the parents-to-be of Samson and told them that they were going to have this remarkable child and gave prophecies concerning him. Verse 21. But the angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife.

Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of Jehovah. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die because we have seen God. But his wife said,. Nice logic, this. If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meal offering at our hands, which he did previously.

Neither would he have showed us all these good things and told us about this boy. Would he have done all that if he intended to kill us? And she remembered that altar and that name. And it applied to themselves when they were in precisely the same situation.

She reminded herself that Jehovah was Jehovah, shallow, her peace. Now this applies, of course, to ourselves. It's a fearsome thing to get a vision of God and rarely to see him. Could, even for us, spell death.

Christ’s Veiled Glory

And when Jesus came to reveal God, the Lord was very careful to see he came in flesh and blood like ourselves. And the body of our Lord Jesus, the physical body, was designed to shield the inner glory from men's eyes because men couldn't look on it and live.

Jesus himself says in John 1 .18,. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. And dear old Charles Wesley, in one of his Christmas hymns, has got it beautifully, Veiled in flesh the Godhead see.

That was Jesus. God, but for man's sake, veiled in flesh. It was a curtain. Oh, he was glorious enough, but if that curtain was lifted, that would be dangerous indeed. It was just once, for a moment, on the Mount of Transfiguration, and God lifted up the veil for a moment.

Oh, the vision! They saw and dropped it, and God dropped it for their sakes. So we are really not in an unlike position to them. And friend, you're in his presence, although that presence was veiled, and in some degree still is.

But one day, you're going to have the veil lifted. And you're going to see him face to face. And there are many experiences, here and now, when God does lift the veil a little bit. And you have a new sight of deity.

God spares you. He doesn't let it be more than so much. And what happens when you get any such vision of him? He says, fear not. Thou shalt not die. Even though I am what I am, and you are what you are, I want to tell you there's peace for you.

Oh, how shall I? Whose mind is dim, whose heart is dark, before thee never will appear, and on my naked spirit bear the uncreated being. The spirits that surround thy throne may bear the burning bliss, but that is surely theirs alone.

For they have never, never known a fallen world like this. I want to tell you it's a big thing when you get any sort of a vision of the Lord. I tell you what you say, you say again what Isaiah said. He said, my righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

Filthy rags! This life of service, this splendid Christian I think I am, when God sees you and you see yourself as you, he sees you, it's one long bunch of filthy rags. But he says to you, but peace for you.

Thou shalt not die. For I have made provision for you, knowing that you are what you are. I've done it ahead of time. And he reveals himself to you, the sinner, the failing saint, whose mind is dark, whose words are dim, whose being what you have been.

He speaks peace to you. And the provision that God has made for our true condition is wonderfully expressed in Colossians 1, 20. Colossians 1, 20. And having made peace through the blood of his cross.

Peace Through the Blood of the Cross

Peace! Because he has made peace, even for people like ourselves, through the blood of his cross. One of the greatest hymns in our book is that one, O Christ, what burdens bow thy head, quite remarkable.

Almost deserves a place in the canon of scripture. And one verse of it says, Jehovah bade his sword awake, O Christ, it won't gains thee. Thy blood the flaming blade must slake. Thy heart its sheath must be.

All for my sake, my peace to make, now sleeps that sword for me. All for my sake, my peace to make. And although when you see yourself in the light of God, as he sees you as you see him, although you have to say, all my righteousnesses are as filthy rags, in numbers they are as such to you, but, but, peace to you.

Through the blood of his cross you shall not die. You shall not be cast away. Rarely and truly, sometimes the saints of God, blessed as they may be, when we get a new sight of ourselves as God sees us, we're almost sure he's going to cast us away, but he says, no, I've got peace for you.

You the failure, you the needy one, you the one who professes one thing and lives another, all those awful things, I've got peace with you through the blood of the cross of Jesus. What a phrase, peace through the blood.

Now the sinner isn't at peace with God, I agree. But God is at peace with the sinner. It isn't God who needs to be reconciled, it's man. God's love for the sinner has never changed, nor for the world.

Man has declared war on God, I should say he has, but not for a moment has God ever declared war on man. Indeed he did a thing that is never done in earthly diplomacy. When there's a rebellious situation, when there's the imminence of war between two countries, it's a generally understood thing that the first thing a country does is to withdraw its ambassadors prior to the declaration of war.

But God, on that first Christmas day, didn't withdraw his ambassador, he sent him. And the angels saw it, they celebrated peace on earth and goodwill toward men. Please turn the cassette over now, do not fast wind it in either direction.

And the angels saw it, they celebrated peace on earth and goodwill toward men. In spite of all that man has done against God, it's never for one second changed God's goodwill to man. He sent rather than withdrew his ambassador and he sent him on a blessed goodwill mission, knowing how they would treat that ambassador, but he sent him nonetheless.

And you may not be altogether at peace with God, but he's at peace with you. I know there have been wrong things, perhaps you haven't repented of everything. He's still at peace with you. God is at peace with man.

The man can be at war with God. But the moment you take a sinner's place in deep honesty, that peace with you from God becomes your experience toward him and you can testify. Failure that I've seen myself to be.

I want to tell you, dear friends, you can tell us, I have peace through the blood of his cross. All my indebtedness was anticipated and finished. The very things I know have sparked my fellowship with him.

They've been anticipated and settled by their precious blood. Peace through the blood of his cross. There's only one peace that Jesus has made for us. Only one. It's not the good Christian's peace, because there aren't any good Christians as God counts them.

It's not the soul winner's peace. It's not the hard-working church worker's peace. It's not the minister's peace. The only peace that Jesus has made for us through his blood is the sinner's peace. And it is never enjoyed, save as in deep honesty, perhaps over new issues, we take that blessed, holy place.

I wouldn't think it's holy, it's the sinner's place. Have you got that? Maybe you think if you could really be more effective, you'd get peace. So you think the peace that's available is the more effective Christian's peace.

The only peace there is, is the sinner's peace. And if there's a situation going on, and there often is, a bit of argy-bargy, nobody's at peace in their heart, they're each pointing at the other person, except the one person in the situation who says, Lord, I'm the fellow who's wrong.

He's the only one at peace. He's taken the sinner's place. Again and again. I remember in Brazil years ago, we'd been invited to take a minister's conference by an American missionary who had himself been greatly blessed with a message of revival on a previous visit.

Humility and Taking the Sinner’s Place

And Joe Church and I were there, or was it William Lagenda? Anyhow, we were at this camp, this minister's meeting. And those that had sponsored our going, this brother who'd worked it that we should be there, had become a bit disturbed because there were all sorts of speakers of which we were just one or the two of us.

And everybody seemed to have a bit of different emphasis, looking in a little different direction. And our little message and testimony sounded like a little squeak that was quite getting obliterated in the welter of other messages.

And my friend, my American missionary, he got the leaders of the camp around and said, you know, I'm not very happy about this. And he began to tell them they hadn't got it right and they ought to have arranged it differently so that the visitors from away were really given an adequate opportunity, etc., etc., etc.

And I remember leaning across to Ernie Gilmour, as his name was, and I whispered to him, brother, I think you're getting wrong with God. He was pointing. And he went silent. And the conversation went on.

And of course they defended themselves, of course. There was no other way to do it. This was the best way, etc., etc., etc. And he didn't answer. He went silent. And when at last he did speak, he'd heard the voice of God.

He said, brethren, I want to tell you something. God has shown me. I've become critical. And I'm sorry. That man got peace through the blood of the cross of Jesus as he took a sinner's place. And of course it had made all the difference in the world.

And the atmosphere of a discussion changed and it proved peaceful and amicable. But it was one man who was the first to take the sinner's place. And whereas everybody else might be arguing, this man had peace.

May I say again, you can only get peace with God as a sinner, not as a better Christian, not as a preacher, as a more effective worker, nor as a sole winner. Only, only as a sinner. Peace for such by the blood of his cross.

I hear the words of God. I gaze upon the blood. I see the mighty sacrifice. And I have peace with God. And indeed, if you aren't in the habit of taking the sinner's place, perhaps you need to have another sight of that mighty sacrifice.

And gaze afresh upon the blood. And though it's all been anticipated, whereas there's nothing so searching as the message of the cross, there's nothing more encouraging. It encourages you to take a sinner's place.

You say, why don't you admit you're wrong? Nothing's going to happen to you except you're going to be forgiven. Listen, you, and I know I've had my battles, all sorts of reactions. I'm no stranger to them.

And I have to learn this lesson again as indeed I have this morning. Peace with God through the blood of his cross when I take once again a sinner's place. It's a wonderful thing to be part of a sinner's fellowship.

They're falling over themselves to take the sinner's place. Oh, I was so wrong. No, no, no, you weren't wrong. I was wrong. Please, let me tell you. I'm wrong. You're not wrong. I've been wrong. You're an enormous quarrel as to who's wrong.

It happens sometimes in the home between husband and wife. That's a nice sort of quarrelling. If it is a quarrel. It isn't at all. Each so eager to take the sinner's place and enjoy the sinner's peace.

And not only the sinner's peace, the sinner's righteousness. We'd be talking about that. Now a righteousness without the law has been revealed. A righteousness with God which can be reckoned to you. But once again, only when you take a sinner's place.

And you sing, again, the sinner's song. The song of a sinner forgiven. And all the precious things of the Christian life are made over to you on street level when you and I are prepared to take the sinner's place.

And you find that Jehovah is the God of peace. Jehovah Shallow. The sinner's place. Amen. Is that good news? Well, it ought to be. You don't get peace by climbing higher but coming lower. To put yourself, again, in the wrong.

Repentance and the Call to Admit Wrong

Now this has got to be done. I wonder, has it been happening? I've been asking myself, what's been happening? And frankly, I hope I'm not doing us all an injustice, I'm not sure whether it has been happening.

I haven't had anybody come to me with a sin problem. I've seldom had a time when I've had less counselling to do. In fact, the verse that's come to me is Jeremiah 8, 6. I hearkened and heard, says the Lord, but no man spake aright, no man repented himself of his sin and said, what have I done?

But he's rushing as a horse into the battle. Just look at that verse, Jeremiah 8, 20. I don't know to what extent this is true. I'm only just one. Perhaps you have gone to another Christian, opened your heart and sought to be led to the cross.

I don't know. But I don't know of too much of it happening. Jeremiah 8, 6. I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright, no man repented him of his wickedness saying, what have I done? It may not be a wicked action that you need to repent of, but rather a wicked reaction.

Maybe the action was somebody else's, but what's your reaction be to their action? And sometimes their reaction is even worse than the other person's action, which is made and critical. Has that been happening?

It says here, no man repented him of his wickedness saying, what have I done? Everyone turned his course as the horse rushing in to the battle. But dear ones, doesn't this encourage you so to do? Is there no matter that you should have taken the sinner's place over?

Has he not spoken to you? Well praise the Lord if he has and you have said yes. Then be prepared to share that fact as a little testimony with somebody. And now a few more minutes, we've got the time.

That is this lovely compound name, Jehovah Shallow. Oh this God of grace, I am the sinner's. It puts it right within our reach, you've got that. You don't need to say in your heart, who shall ascend into heaven to bring him down?

He's come down. Or who shall go into the depth to bring him up? He's already come up. He's available to you as you are, where you are. But if there's a battle, it isn't a battle to do something other than repent, other than put myself in the wrong.

And because we're all of us so proud, it's a bit of a battle. Do you know, in East Africa, to which revival many of us owe a great deal, as missionaries and Africans returned years ago to England to share what they'd learnt in revival.

Victory Through Humbling Oneself Before God

They celebrate as a great victory when a man says he's wrong and comes to Jesus with it. There's one cause, if you hear it, won't you hear it a thousand times? Tuka tenda resa yesu. Glory, glory, hallelujah.

Glory, glory to the Lamb.

Oh, the cleansing blood has reached me. Glory, glory to the Lamb. And when that happens, they call it victory. In other words, their concept of victory is not our dominating sin but him dominating us and breaking us.

And at last we admit it. Hallelujah. Another man dead. Hallelujah. I remember at Keswick, years ago, a bunch of these Africans came and they were in the camp that I was running. And a number of them were sitting on the grass talking to the other campers and everybody started talking very frankly.

Some were missionaries, some were ordinary workers in England. And people began to admit, well, on my station it's a bad state. Oh, there's no love lost. And you know, as they said this one, I've realized it's me.

Straight away, the whole group broke into glory, glory, hallelujah. And you know, there's another victory. Another man has died and humbled himself. That's victory. Well, now there it is, Jehovah Shallow.

Another man at peace with God through the blood of this cross. Oh, the cleansing blood has reached me. Glory, glory to the Lamb. And now the last compound. Turn over, if you will, to Jeremiah. That's further on from Jeremiah.

I'm so sorry, forgive me. To Ezekiel. Ezekiel, which is the next book, so to speak, nearly so, from Jeremiah. Ezekiel. And in the last verses, the prophet is seeing the temple that is to be rebuilt one day, giving us its dimensions and much else.

Jehovah Shammah: The Lord Is There

Verse thirty-five. It was round about eighteen thousand measures. And the name of the city from that day shall be the Lord is there. And in the margin of the authorised it has Hebrew. Jehovah. This is the fifth glorious compound.

And dear ones, there is a city bright. Closed are its gates to sin, nor that defileth, nor that defileth shall ever enter in. But those that are cleansed do. They have been given a wonderful title to that city bright.

And that city has a name. Across its portals is written the name Jehovah the Lord is there. And we really are going to see Him. And see Him in peace. The supreme thing about glory, about heaven, is the fact Jehovah Shammah is there.

Jesus. You are going to see Him. You have walked with Him all these years. You have had to take His promises without always feeding them. You haven't always felt His presence, but you have taken it by faith.

And you have had Him with you. Many evidences of it. But you have never seen Him. Whom having not seen, we nonetheless have learnt to love. But our days of not seeing are one day.

Going to be over. Because He is Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there. Hallelujah.

You are going to see Him. The one you have walked with, but never seen. The one you have talked to, but never seen. The one for whom you have done many acts of service, but never seen. But one day you are.

It says so. His servant shall see Him face to face. Jehovah Shammah. I am. I am what you need and what you will need when you get beyond this earth. It's the sight of your dearest friend there. Do you know when you get to glory?

I am suggesting you'll find the place not all that different from what you expected. Indeed you'll find the place strangely familiar. This is all that different from the fellowship meetings we had way down there.

It was Jehovah there. It's the same Jehovah here, except that all the last disabilities have been removed and everything is stepped up and heightened. But all I like to tell myself, I'm going to find it.

If I know Jesus, strangely familiar. For what makes Heaven, Heaven is that Jehovah Shalom, Jehovah Shammah is there. And I'm going to see Him face to face. I tell you what a great God is ours. And covering all these considerations has been that other name.

Thou shalt call His name Jehovah Jesus. He is the one. Oh, we could very well spend another day on that. This glorious, all-inclusive compound of Jehovah. Don't get the idea that the God of the Old Testament is one person and the God of the New another.

Don't you believe it? I find grace as prolifically displayed in the Old as in the New. And it's all bound up with the one who's spoken of in the Old Testament as much as in the New. Jesus. Jehovah Sus.

Prayer for Peace Through Christ

So, Hallelujah. Let us pray. Lord, we want to thank Thee. We whose righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Nonetheless, because You took our place and paid our debt and are with us, are Jehovah shallow. Jesus, my peace.

Thank You for that great sacrifice. Thank You for that sight of the blood that You love to reveal us, whereby even the most needy of us find ourselves brought into peace. And if there are matters in which we've got to see ourselves to be at fault, give us grace.

Give me grace to take the sinner's place again and enjoy with Thee the sinner's peace. Amen.