Martie, my wife, and I were
talking yesterday about Ebenezer in the Bible.
For those of you who remember the song “Come Thou Fount” The second
verse starts with “Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I'm come; and
I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.” As many times that I sang that song in that
past, I would sing right past those words.
I didn’t have a clue what they meant.
Well, now I do – with the prompting of my wife ….. Ebenezer literally means
“stone of help”. (1 Samuel 7:10-12) “While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt
offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day
the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them
into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of
Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them
along the way to a point below Beth Kar. 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.”
An Ebenezer is a physical reminder
of a time when God intervened on someone’s behalf. Most people would recognize the name because of
the Christmas Story and the main character, Ebenezer Scrooge. But even though the name has taken on a bad
connotation, – there was redemption in his life – God showed up – could it be
that Charles Dickens was really talking about God’s intervention and redemptive
work in the lives of people so he used the name Ebenezer as the main
character? He could have picked any
other name – couldn’t he. That makes helps
me see that story in an entirely different light … hmmmm.
Dr. Henry Blackaby called those
God-events – spiritual markers. Pivotal
events in a Believer’s life that they can look back to and see the hand of God. If you are born again – then I am certain that you
have your own Ebenezers. Certainly the
day of your salvation, but if you think about it, you will remember many
more. Reflect on those times today. And then give God the praise. And if you are
up to it – share some with others as a comment on my BLOG post for today. https://pathfindermission.blogspot.com
CHARLEY
No comments:
Post a Comment