"Here I Raise My Ebenezer" - Tim Phillips
The name "Ebenezer" will always have a special significance to me. "Ebenezer" was the name of the church where I was ordained to the ministry and the first church I ever served as a minister (in the wonderful community of Cotton Plant, Mississippi). It is impossible not to sing "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" and not be reminded of that name ("Here I raise my Ebenezer..."). But the name Ebenezer, of course, should draw our attention back to 1 Samuel 7:12: "Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far the Lord has helped us.' "
I preached on 1 Samuel 7:2-14 a few weeks ago. It was not the first time I have preached on that passage (I preached on that text my first Lord's Day at Ebenezer, and I also preached on that text while at my second pastorate, when I was going through 1 Samuel). This time, however, my concern was on the topic of revival.
Walter Kaiser, in his book Revive Us Again, includes the events of 1 Samuel 7 as one of his examples of the Lord bringing revival to His people in the Old Testament. The Ark of the Covenant had been lost in battle with the Philistines in 1 Samuel 4, and when it finally returns to Israel, the people disobey by looking into the ark, and a large number are struck down (see 1 Samuel 6:19). Israel remained under Philistine oppression for 20 years. Finally, Samuel returns (he has not been mentioned since 1 Samuel 4:1) and calls the people to repentance: "If you return to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines" (1 Samuel 7:3). The people listen and respond, the Lord grants them victory over their enemy, and Samuel erects a memorial stone and names it Ebenezer.
This is not the only time in Scripture where we see the name "Ebenezer." It was also the name of the place where Israel had earlier been defeated by the Philistines and where the ark had been taken (likely a different Ebenezer; see 1 Samuel 4:1; 5:1). And we see that suffix "ezer" ("help" or "helper") many times throughout the Old Testament (even if we don't know Hebrew). When God creates the woman in Genesis 2, she is called a helpmeet (helper) for the man. In the Psalms, the Lord is called a help for His people (Psalm 33:20; 115:9-11; 121:2; etc.). The ark was not their helper. The stone was a memorial, but it was not the helper either. They served to point to the One who was their true Helper. It was the Lord all along who was to be their help.
In 2020, how has the Lord helped you? This has been a year full of chaos, uncertainty, and fear; Israel experienced that for 20 years. So how has the Lord helped us? He helps us the same way He has every other year. Yes, He gives us daily provision. Yes, He provides the very air we breath every moment. But He especially has helped us in sending His Son Jesus Christ.
The promises of the gospel of forgiveness of sins and eternal life in Jesus Christ are the best proof of all that the Lord has helped us, and He has done so when we could not possibly help ourselves.
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4)
COVID-19 will one day be a distant memory. Tyrannical politicians will not remain in office indefinitely. Some of our churches may have been closed for a time, but the Lord Jesus Christ promises that His church will never die (Matthew 16:18). He does not change, and His promises will always remain true. "For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations" (Psalm 100:5). In tough times, remember Samuel's call to return, repent, and call upon the Lord. Remember how the Lord has helped us and continues to help us. He is still our help in 2020, and He will be our help in 2021 and beyond. Here is where we should raise our Ebenezer.