One night recently as I slept, the words of a song flooded through my head. On waking, the only words I could remember from the song were ‘every Ebenezer’.
Feeling there was meaning in this and realising it was not about Ebenezer Scrooge from the Charles Dickens famous novella A Christmas Carol, I searched to find where I might find Ebenezer in the Bible.
A time of great revival
1 Samuel chapter 7 tells us about a time when all the people of Israel turned back to God. This was a time of great revival. The people put away their idols and false gods and turned back to their Creator, the Living God (1 Samuel chapter 7 verses 2-4).
With such a great move of the hearts of the people turning back to God, the enemy was bound to turn up to try and shut things down. After all, if God’s people turned back to God, imagine the effects that would have on their lives. They would have a relationship with God again and live in the blessing promised to them centuries earlier which would spill over to affect the territories surrounding them.
The attack
And so it was that as the Israelites confessed their sins before the Lord, giving their hearts back to Him and getting their lives right again, their enemy the Philistines came up to attack them.
As you can imagine, the Israelites were afraid and begged Samuel not to stop crying out to the Lord their God to rescue them from the hand of the Philistines. As Samuel called out to the Lord and sacrificed the burnt offering on behalf of the Israelites, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle (verse 10).
What happened next was ground-shaking.
God to the rescue
The Lord answered Samuel. Thundering with loud thunder against the Philistines, God threw them into a panic and the Philistines were routed right before their eyes. The Israelites were then able to fight against their enemies and succeeded in a great victory (1 Samuel chapter 7 verses 7-11). This is where the significance of the word Ebenezer enters.
‘Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” (1 Samuel chapter 7 verse 12)
The significance of the stone was to commemorate the faithfulness of God to His people. When we remember the power and the might of God to protect us, we can be confident that no matter what we face, God will show up, and His timing will be perfect.
Following this routing, the Philistines stopped invading Israel’s territory and God’s hand was against them throughout Samuel’s lifetime. It’s a little like being picked on at school and then your big brother shows up.
God restored to the Israelites the towns that had been taken from them, and Israel also delivered the neighbouring territory from the hands of the Philistines. When God blesses us, it benefits those close to us as well.
‘And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.’ (1 Samuel chapter 7 verse 14)
Knowing where your help comes from
Ebenezer means “stone of help”. God showed up with thunder.
Just like the Israelites in this passage, I believe we too are entering a time of revival as spoken about in Acts chapter 2 verse 7:
“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”
As the dark gets darker, the light gets brighter, and though clashes may happen, nothing can extinguish the light, it will only rise up. In the days we live in, it is vitally important that we know where our help comes from. Our help comes from the Lord.
So, when you feel the pressure of the enemy drawing near, don’t shrink back. Remember what God did for the Israelites and raise an Ebenezer. Declare the mighty help that comes from the Lord. Remember His power. He will never leave us nor forsake us but will come with a mighty roar to our defence. He will send thunder and shake the ground to scare the enemy away. You can be confident in this.
It is up to us to know who we follow and place our confidence in Him.