Ask most people what the word “Ebenezer” means, and you’re more likely to get a vacant facial expression than an actual answer. Those who do respond will likely associate it with Mr. Scrooge from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, or Mr. Balfour from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped. Its association with those villainous and miserly characters is probably one of the reasons we don’t hear about too many ebenezers these days. In fact, it might surprise you that originally Ebenezer was the name of a place, not a person, and a very special place at that.
You can read the fascinating story of how the ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines and returned to Israel in 1 Samuel 4-7. I suggest you do, because the meaning of Ebenezer, stone of help, doesn’t mean a lot without that context. Suffice it to say, however, that an ebenezer is a symbol of victory, a memorial raised to commemorate a dramatic and miraculous intervention by God on behalf of His people.
1 Samuel 7:12 says, “Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the LORD has helped us.’” Somehow, the English word “help” doesn’t seem to do justice to the role God played in this situation. We tend to picture helpers as ancillary supporting characters, like an unpaid intern getting coffee and donuts. However, that’s not the idea conveyed by the Hebrew word azar. In the KJV it is sometimes translated “succor,” which means “to come to someone’s aid in a disaster.” It’s used frequently in the Old Testament to refer to an ally, often a stronger force coming to the aid of a weaker one. In 2 Chronicles 14:9-15 we read about the king of Ethiopia coming against king Asa of Judah with 1,000,000 men and 300 chariots. Asa called out to the Lord for “help.” In response, the text says, almost nonchalantly, that God routed Asa’s enemies so completely that “so many Ethiopians fell that they could not recover,” or, more literally, “until none remained alive.” Now that’s the kind of help worthy of an ebenezer.
The victory Israel experienced in the days of Samuel was similar. The Philistines were beaten so badly that they no longer attempted to invade Israel, and the territory the Philistines had taken from Israel was restored. That’s more than enough to warrant an ebenezer.
Today I would like to raise an ebenezer of my own. Exactly one year ago today I became unemployed, and I haven’t had a paying job since. You might find that an odd event to celebrate, and perhaps odder to call it an ebenezer. And yet, I can think of no better thing to do, and no more appropriate name to call it. Granted, on it’s face being terminated from one’s job doesn’t appear to have the same panache as bringing a foreign army to its knees, but allow me to make my case.
For starters, at this time last year, my wife, Crystal, was in bad shape. The chemo regimen she had been on for three and a half years had stopped working. The next drug they tried gave her hives from head to foot. The one after that caused such severe nausea that in a four-month span we spent five weeks in the hospital. The doctor was afraid to put her on the only remaining alternative, which was known to cause life-threateningly high blood sugar levels — not a rosy outlook for a diabetic. It was around the second of the five hospitalizations that I was let go. I had juggled work and hospitals before, but nothing like this. I quickly realized it was a mercy that I no longer had to justify not going into the office.
Additionally, even when I wasn’t running back and forth between home and the hospital, I became aware of how desperately I needed the sabbatical. The two years leading up to my termination had been challenging ones — emotionally, physically, and spiritually — but I had no idea just how depleted I was. I was so determined to not quit my job just because things were hard that I was afraid I might miss God’s instruction to leave, so I asked Him to make it very clear when it was time to go. Graciously, He had me escorted from the building so there would be no doubt.
Living in hospitals isn’t really living, so we decided to stop all chemo treatments. We knew that the disease might progress more quickly but we were ok with that. In fact, the day I was dismissed Crystal thought, “He sent Sam home to be with me. I’m going to die.” But that’s not what happened. Instead, she got stronger and felt better than she had in years. What was intended to be a three-week break from chemo turned into four months. During that whole time, the cancer remained stable. It was the much needed respite her body and soul needed. The break also gave us the needed time to transition her to a new endocrinologist familiar with the effects of chemo on blood sugar and prepare to deal with that side effect when the time came.
As for me, I got close several times to landing a new job, but each time those opportunities fell through, God immediately followed up by doing something miraculous and unexpected to remind me that He is still capable of routing million-man armies. Sometimes He gave me insight into why the situation I thought would have been good for me really wasn’t. Other times He would bring a new possibility to me just to remind me of the mind-blowing things He’s capable of doing. Once He even dropped an envelope full of cash in my mailbox. Knowing my weaknesses, He consistently stepped in and said or did something He didn’t have to do, just to remind me that He is still there and He cares.
By far the greatest blessing has been the book — and I haven’t sold a single copy yet. I had to do quite a bit of study and soul-searching as I wrote it, and just getting the manuscript down on paper was an exercise in growth. As it’s progressed through the editing and proofing processes in preparation for publication, I’ve had to reread it multiple times. Each time I’ve done so, God has used it to make a correction in my heart or encourage me in one of my down moments. I highly recommend that you read it. The author has some incredible insights and sounds like he really knows what he’s talking about — I just wish I could be more like him.
In all of this, the bills have all been paid, there’s always food on the table, and they won’t be coming to repossess the house or the car this month. We’ve even been able to retire some old medical debt from a claim processing error I could not convince the insurance company to own up to. I don’t have a new job yet, but being employed isn’t what constitutes victory. Having hope and faith constitutes victory. Seeing the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord on a daily basis for the past year while I’ve been unable to provide for myself constitutes victory. Knowing that He will give me a job when He’s good and ready and learning to be comfortable with being unsettled constitutes victory.
That’s what I celebrate today.
Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by Thy help I've come.
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to resuce me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
Robert Robinson, 1758
