Jehovah Shalom (The Lord is Peace)

Jehovah Shalom (The Lord is Peace)

2 Thessalonians 3:16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. (NIV)

            We are living in turbulent times as we are moving closer to the end of the age. There are constant threats of war, civil unrest, government corruption, terrorism, acts of greed, and much more taking place in our society. Jesus forewarned of these days leading up to His second coming and His prophetic words are playing out like a movie right before our very eyes. Mathew 24:6-9 ⁽⁶⁾You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁽⁷⁾Nation will rise against, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁽⁸⁾All these are the beginning of birth pains. ⁽⁹⁾”Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. (NIV) Despite what we see taking place all around us, God never wanted His children to have anxiety about the things to come.

            The name of Jehovah Shalom means Lord of peace. Judges 6:24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord of Peace…(NIV) Why is it that we can call God the Lord of Peace in a world with so much chaos? In the beginning, God created a world that was perfect. There was no such thing as sin, sadness, grief or death. All that God had made was perfect. Genesis 1:31-2:3 ⁽³¹⁾God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day. ^(2:1)Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. ⁽²⁾By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ⁽³⁾And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (NIV) It was not until the fall of man that sin encompassed the earth and as a result, peace was lost. Despite man’s disobedience, Jehovah Shalom desired for His children to have peace by having a relationship with Him.

           In God, we never have to live in fear for He is our shelter in the time of storms. He will protect and lead His children when turbulence occurs in our lives. Jehovah Shalom is our cellar during life’s tornadoes. He’s our mountain during life’s hurricanes. He is our freezer during the life’s volcanic heat, and He is our structure of steel during life’s shakings in an earthquake. Jehovah Shalom is our Lord, God of peace in any situation that we may face. All we have to do is trust Him and allow Him to take care of the rest. Psalm 91:1-2 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” (NIV)