Ebenezer!

1 Samuel 7:1-17

Key verse 7:12

“Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying “Thus far has the Lord helped us.”

God is in the business of helping his people. The problem is that God’s people are not always open to receiving his help. For the most part we try to do things on our own. But there is one thing that we cannot do on our own. We cannot return to the Lord on our own. We need God’s help in order to return to the Lord. In today’s passage, Samuel led a spiritual revival in Israel. But the real leader of this revival was the Lord. The Lord was persistently helping his people to return to him. Though the message, we would like to consider the steps involved in revival. But most of all we would like to be better able to recognize and respond to the Lord’s help to lead a revival in this generation.    

Part I. “If you are returning to the Lord” (2-9)

The first thing the Lord did to help the Israelites to return him was to discipline them. Look at verse 1-2. “So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD. They took it to Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the LORD. It was a long time, twenty years in all, that the ark remained at Kiriath Jearim, and all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD.” 

Originally, the ark of the Lord had been in Shiloh. From Shiloh, it was taken into the Israelite camp, where it was captured by the Philistines. Then it went to Ashdod and Gath in Philistine territory. After 7 months it was returned to Israel; to Beth Shemesh. Finally, it was put under guard at Abinadab’s house in Kiriath Jearim. It seems that wherever the ark went there was the Lord’s discipline. In the Israelite camp, the Israelites were defeated by the Philistines and thirty thousand men died, including the priests, Hophni and Phinehas. In the towns of the Philistines, there were plagues of rats and painful tumors. In Beth Shemesh, seventy men died, because they looked into the ark. The Lord kept on disciplining his people. 

The point of the Lord’s discipline was for the Israelites to know that the Lord is holy. When the men of Beth Shemesh were disciplined by the Lord; they asked “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? They recognized that the Lord is holy and that they were not holy. They could not stand before the holy God, so they sent the ark away to Kiriath Jearim. While the ark was locked up at Abinadab’s house, the Israelites must have felt far from God. They must have thought that the Lord had abandoned them. But it was all part of the Lord’s greater plan to help them to return to the Lord. Through the Lord’s discipline, the Israelites learned that God is holy and they became humble. They began to mourn for their sins. And, they began to seek the Lord. This movement was initiated by the Lord and it was universal. All the people mourned and sought after the Lord.

No one likes to receive discipline. But we need to remember that the Lord disciplines those he loves. He disciplines us to know his holiness, so that we would be humble and seek the Lord. With this in mind, the right response to the Lord’s discipline might be to give thanks to the Lord.   

The second thing the Lord did to help his people to return to him was to help them to repent practically. Look at verse 2. He said, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourself to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hands of the Philistines.” 

Samuel did not commend the Israelites for seeking the Lord. He helped them to repent practically. Feeling sorry for our sins is not enough. It must lead to practical repentance. 2 Corinthians 7:1 says, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorry brings death.”

The worship of foreign gods is idolatry. It is strictly forbidden by the Lord. The foreign god’s the Israelites served were the Baals and Asteroths. These were the pagan deities of the Canaanite nations. Serving these gods involved the worship of nature, material, fertility and sex. Worship services included ritualized heterosexual and homosexual prostitution and child sacrifice. These practices seem really barbaric. However, they share a lot of similarities with the more subtle forms of institutionalized idol worship we see today. Homosexual lifestyles and widespread abortion promote free sex without the material burden of having children. Such an environment makes it very easy to compromise ones views about marriage, divorce, multiple partners, pornography, lustful thinking and an unhealthy focus on outward appearance. Meanwhile, materialism is constantly being advanced through the media, style, and technology and a credit card culture.       

Practical repentance is not easy. It takes a long time for one person to repent fully. The Israelites continued serving idols even as they mourned and sought after the Lord. At first glance this might not have seemed like the best time to challenge them. They had already been disciplined by the Lord and had begun to humbly seek Him. But this was God’s time. This was the time when the Lord was helping them to return to him. So it was the best time to help them to repent practically. 

When it comes to helping one person to repent, we need to strike when the iron is hot. Then best time is when they have been disciplined by the Lord and are beginning to humbly seek the Lord. When Samuel waited for the best time to challenge God’s people, his challenge was very effective. If they were really serious about seeking the Lord, they must repent. They must get rid of their idols and commit to the Lord and serve him only. The people accepted Samuel’s challenge and repented practically.  

The third thing the Lord did to help the Israelites to return to the Lord was to help them to publicly confess their sins. Look at verses 5-6.  Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah and I will intercede with the LORD for you.” When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel was leader of Israel at Mizpah. 

Samuel organized a Bible conference where the people could confess their sins. Remember, they had already repented practically. They repented practically prior to attending the Bible conference and confessing their sins. Here we can learn that we don’t need to use our Bible conference as our opportunity to repent. We can repent before attending the Bible conference. When the Israelites repented practically before their Bible conference, the Lord helped them to make a sincere confession of their sins. It was more than a cathartic exercise, but a real confession before the Lord. 

As they poured out water before the Lord, they poured out their hearts—in humility and gratitude and probably many tears. And they fasted and confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” Through making a public confession, the Israelites were completely cleansed of their sins.  

Look at verse 6b again. “And Samuel was leader of Israel at Mizpah.” Samuel led Israel by leading a national repentance movement—helping the people to repent before the Lord. But behind the scenes, it was really the Lord who helped them.     

The fourth thing the Lord helped the Israelites to do to return to the Lord was to help them accept the way of salvation. Look at verses 7-9. “When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. And when the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. ⁸ They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁹ Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on Israel’s behalf, and the LORD answered him.”

When the Israelites repented fully, the real battle began. The Philistines came up to attach them. The Israelites were afraid and said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” Then what did Samuel do for them? He did two things. He sacrificed a lamb as a burnt offering and he cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf. 

These two things remind us of what our Lord Jesus has done for us. One, Jesus became the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for our sins. We could not pay the price for our sins. But Jesus paid the price with his blood, when he died in our place. There is no way for us to return to the Lord apart from through Jesus blood sacrifice as the Lamb of God. There is no other way to be saved, but through his blood. Two, Jesus became the only mediator between man and God. After Jesus rose from the grave, he ascended to the right hand of the Heavenly Father. There he cries out in intercessory prayer on our behalf—that we would be set free from the power of sin and Satan. The Israelites accepted an animal sacrifice and Samuel’s intercessory prayer and were saved. But we received a gospel that is far superior—with absolute power to save. In order to return to the Lord, we must not only repent of our sins, but also turn to Jesus Christ and accept God’s way of salvation.

Part II. “Thus far the Lord has helped us” (10-17) 

To this point, the Lord helped the Israelites to repent fully and accept God’s way of salvation. Even if the Lord ceased to help them in any other ways they could be alright. But the Lord continued to help them. 

The fifth thing Lord did to help the Israelites to return to him was to help them to experience the victory over their enemies. Look at verses 10-11. “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. ¹¹ The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Car.”

The Philistines had oppressed the Israelites for a very long time. But now the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Philistines. Instead of being ruled over by their enemies, they ruled over their enemies. The Philistines represent all the unbelieving people, worldly principles and deceptive philosophies that work to oppress God’s children. The Lord wants to give us complete victory over our enemies, just as he gave Israel complete victory over the Philistines. However, if we expect to have God’s victory in our lives, we must turn from our sin and turn to the Lord.  

The sixth thing the Lord did to help the Israelites to return to him was to help them to testify to the Lord’s help. Look at verse 12. “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far has the LORD helped us.”

The name Ebenezer means stone of help. Samuel raised this stone as a testament to God’s help. It was erected at the location were the Israelites were twice defeated by the Philistines, which was the same location where they now won a resounding victory over the Philistines. It commemorated the fact that they won this victory only through the Lord’s help. Not only that, but it also commemorated all the help the Lord had provided for them thus far—for Samuel testified, “Thus far has the Lord helped us.”   

The words “Thus far” refer to all the ways that the Lord had helped them to return to the Lord. Broadly, it could mean all the help the Lord had provided for them back to the time of Abraham. It could mean all the help they received from the Lord from the time Moses brought them out of Egypt or Joshua led them into the Promised Land. It could mean all the help the Lord gave them beginning with Hannah’s prayer or the birth of Samuel. Narrowly, “Thus far” could signify all the help they received from the Lord beginning with the Lord’s discipline described in this passage. Thus far, the Lord helped them to 

Thus far the Lord helped them to be disciplined by the Lord to know his holiness and to humbly seek him. He helped them to repent practically. He helped them to hold a Bible conference and confess their sins. And now, he helped them to win the victory over the Philistines. 

It is not always easy to see the Lord’s help. But it is even more difficult to remember the Lord’s help. In order to remember the Lord’s help, we need to commemorate it. Spiritually speaking, we need to raise up an Ebenezer to the Lord. 

As a portion of one of the verses from the Hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing says: 

Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
Here by your help I'm come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.

An Ebenezer can be nearly anything that reminds us of the help we received from the Lord. One of the best ways to raise an Ebenezer is through writing Bible testimonies. Writing Bible testimonies can help us to identify God’s help in our lives and to remember his grace. Another good way is to keep a prayer journal where you record dated prayers and answers to prayers. But raising an Ebenezer is not only for us to remember God’s help. It is also to encourage others. When others hear how the Lord has helped us, they may be encouraged that Lord could help them in the same or a similar way.

Finally, raising an Ebenezer helps us to secure future help and continual protection from our enemies. Look at verse 13. So the Philistines were subdued and did not invade Israelite territory again. Remembering God’s grace is one of the best ways to keep from falling back into our sins. Remembering that God has “helped us” in the past gives us confidence for the future.

   

The seventh thing the Lord did to help the Israelites to return to him was to help them to receive proper follow-up. Look at verses 15-17. “Samuel continued as judge over Israel all the days of his life. ¹⁶ From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. ¹⁷ But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also judged Israel. And he built an altar there to the LORD.”

The Lord provided follow up through Samuel. This follow-up was ongoing and systematic. As Israel’s judge, Samuel followed up on the flock of God all the days of his life. Each year he went on circuit from town to town in order to continually reach out to all the flock of God under his care. A true shepherd follows-up on God’s flock systematically, throughout their lifetime. This point characterizes my calling to UBF ministry. I first believed the gospel and received Jesus with a pure heart when I was 17 years old. But the men who shared the message with me, never followed-up. So over the following 12 I was swallowed up by the world little by little until I was completely lost. But when the Lord brought me to UBF ministry I discovered something different: follow-up—in some people’s opinion, too much follow-up. However, in my case, I knew that I needed it. Also, I knew that others needed it, although they didn’t know that they needed it. With this conviction, the Lord called me as a shepherd. Through preparing the message on today’s passage, I realized that I had forgotten much of God’s grace on my life. It was because I didn’t continue to struggle hard to write testimony and became spiritually dull to see the Lord’s continual help to help me to return to the Lord. I pray to struggle newly to write testimony as raising my Ebenezer to the Lord.

In conclusion, we need God’s help to return to the Lord: We need it for spiritual revival and we need it continually throughout our lives.

One word: He named it Ebenezer  

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