Amazing Ebenezer

By John Stallings


Ebenezer sounds like a person’s name doesn’t it? How wrong can we be until we know? Names can sometimes be confusing.

I heard the other day that among high school & college students, a commonly miss spelled word is Madagascar. That surprised me until I got to thinking, --now where is Madagascar on the map? Of course Madagascar is an Island in the Indian Ocean, off the Southeastern coast of Africa.

Isn’t that strange that we wouldn’t be more familiar with the nation who runs the car races in Daytona Beach? [Just kidding!]

We know that in Charles Dickens’ story, A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is the name of the lead character.

We’ve all heard & know of churches, many of them Baptist, named Ebenezer- this-that- or the other. Dr. Martin Luther King Junior’s father pastored the famous Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta Georgia.

Another mistake we often make is, because Ebenezer Scrooge was so famous as a skeptic whose attitude toward Christmas was “Bah, humbug,” we tend to think Ebenezer must be a by-word for coldness of heart & stinginess.

But the name Ebenezer is quite the opposite of cold-heartedness. For that matter it doesn’t remotely stand for anything negative.


One of the oft recurring themes of scripture is; as God’s people we should make every effort not to be in the negative column, always grumbling & complaining.

I heard the story of a family driving home from church one Sunday. Dad was fussing & complaining about the sermon being too long & he also thought it was boring. Mom said she thought the organist played too loud & the choir was off key much of the time. Sis chimed in & mentioned that the soloist was as usual very much off key during most of her solo. Grandma complained that she couldn’t hear what the preacher was saying & as usual she missed almost all of it. As they pulled into the driveway Junior said, “Yep, but you gotta admit, it was a pretty good show for a nickel.”

BACKGROUND ON EBENEZER

Israel was in a tough place. They were under siege from the armies of the Philistines who were closing in on them. Their leader was the great Old Testament judge & prophet Samuel who begins to cry out to God to spare & rescue the people.

While Samuel was praying & offering sacrificial offerings to the Lord, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered against the Philistines & threw them into such panic that they were routed before the Israelites.

Samuel does a wonderful thing at this point. He recognized the source of their blessing & strength & does something important. He took a stone & set it up as a monument to God’s deliverance & he named the stone Ebenezer, meaning “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

Far from Ebenezer, the old sour puss of Dickens’ story who won’t pay Bob Cratchet what he deserves, here is the Ebenezer of God….a simple stone that declared something very powerful: Thus far the Lord has helped us-, or—A stone of help!

Listen to The Message Bible;

The men of Kiriath Jearim came & got the chest [Ark] of God & delivered it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. They ordained his son, Eleazer to take responsibility for the chest of God.

From the time that the chest came to rest in Kiriath Jearim, a long time passed—twenty years it was--& throughout Israel there was a widespread, fearful movement toward God.

Then Samuel addressed the house of Israel: If you are truly serious about coming back to God, clean house. Get rid of the foreign gods & fertility goddesses, ground yourselves firmly in God, worship Him & Him alone & he’ll save you from Philistine oppression.

They did it. They got rid of the gods & goddesses, the images of Baal & Ashtoreth & gave their exclusive attention & service to God.

Next Samuel said, get everybody together at Mizpah & I’ll pray for you.

So everyone assembled at Mizpah. They drew water from the wells & poured it out before God in a ritual of cleansing. They all fasted all day & prayed, -we have sinned against God.

So Samuel prepared the Israelites for holy war there at Mizpah.

When the Philistines heard that Israel was meeting at Mizpah the Philistine leaders went on the offensive. Israel got the report & became frightened—Philistines on the move again!

They pleaded with Samuel,--pray with all your might! And don’t let up! Pray to God, our God that he’ll save us from the boot of the Philistines.

Samuel took a young lamb not yet weaned & offered it whole as a Whole-Burnt-Offering to God. He prayed fervently to God, interceding for Israel. And God answered.

While Samuel was offering the sacrifice the Philistines came within range to fight Israel. Just then God thundered a huge thunderclap exploding among the Philistines. They panicked-mass confusion!—and ran helter-skelter from Israel. Israel poured out of Mizpah & gave chase, killing Philistines right & left to a point just beyond Beth Car. He named it “EBENEZER” [Rock of help,] saying,--This marks the place where God helped us.--1 Sam.7:1-12

There are some lessons we can learn from this story;

1. GOD WILL HELP YOU WHEN YOU’RE FAITHFUL TO HIM.

Israel had been unfaithful to God but they repented & heeded the advice of Samuel. After that, God fought the Philistines on their behalf. All Israel had to do was mop-up.

2. WE SHOULD RECOGNIZED GOD’S HELP WHEN IT APPEARS.

In the past I’ve been unduly critical of things sometimes used to mark or remind us of God’s blessings like T-shirts with slogans written on them, bumper stickers etc. because they in some way were like idols or cold dead things.

However, I see it differently now. As I write this, in the background the television is tuned to the 9/11 celebration in New York City. The president as well as other dignitaries are present at “ground-zero” & as a nation we’re marking that dreadful day seven years ago.

Shortly after 9/11, wars were being fought in Afghanistan & Iraq & on other fronts around the world. However, in the end we keep coming back to one spot in lower Manhattan where it all started. This is as it should be in a nation that values life as we do in America. We might call this one of our national Ebenezers.

Spiritually speaking, Thanksgiving Day is an Ebenezer as well as Christmas & Easter. Also, each time we celebrate communion, the Sacramental Elements, a cross, a picture or even a hymn can serve as reminders of God’s love, His presence & His assistance.

Far from being idol worship, anything that takes us back to remember God’s intervention in our lives can be wonderful places of encouragement & can be called our personal Ebenezers.

I once read a story about three men who carried two sacks on their shoulders, one tied in front & the other tied on their back. When the first man was asked what was in his sacks, he said, “In the sack on my back are all the good things all my friends & family have done for me. They are hidden from view. In the front sack are all the bad things that have happened to me. Every now & then I stop, open the front sack, take the things out, examine them, & think about them.” Because he stopped so much to concentrate on the bad stuff he didn’t make much progress in life.

The second man was asked about his sacks. He replied, “In the front sack are all the good things I’ve done. I like to see them so quite often I take them out to show them off to people. The sack in the back? I keep all my mistakes in there & carry them all the time. Sure they’re heavy. They slow me down, but you know, for some reason I can’t put them down.”

When the third man was asked about his sacks he answered, “The sack in front is great. There I keep all the positive thoughts I have about people, all the blessings I’ve experienced, & all the great things God & other people have done for me. The weight isn’t a problem. The sack is like sails of a ship. It keeps me going forward. The sack on my back used to hold all the negative things I could think of about me & others. But a long time ago I cut a hole in the bottom of it so that things go in & right back out. I have no extra weight at all back there."

What are you & I carrying around with us? Are we carrying around the remembrance of God’s help in our lives? Are we marking the places where God has helped us? Or are we allowing the negative events in our lives to drag us down? Our growth in life depends on our remembrance of the faithfulness of God.

Why do you think Samuel named the stone Ebenezer? It was for the edification of the Israelites. Ebenezer—stone of help, marks the spot where God had helped them.

Ebenezer marks the milestones in our spiritual life. It points to where we’ve been so we can have confidence in where we’re going.

Many things around us shout EBENEZER- “this far the Lord has helped so I can trust Him the rest of the way.”

Don’t be ashamed to find your Ebenezers & set them high in your heart to honor the Lord.

I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help. My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven & earth.-Psalm 121:1-2

Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all His benefits. -Psalm 103:2

EBENEZER!!

Blessings,

John