Through the Bible - Zephaniah 3- Haggai 2, Revelation 16
Good morning,
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "Ebenezer"? I posed the question to the High School Sunday School kids last week and there was a unanimous response, "Ebenezer Scrooge", the famous character from Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol". I would guess that 90% or more of people that you asked on the street, even in church would have the same response.
In the film and in plays, the character gives a strong testimony of what greed and selfishness can do to a person, and what it can rob him of.
But do you know what the word really means? It's an old Hebrew word that can be found in the Old Testament, it means "stone of remembrance".
I was used by Samuel when he spoke to the people of Israel after defeating the Philistines, telling them to "put away their foreign gods".
1 Sam 7:12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the Lord has helped us." NKJV
Matthew Henry wrote, "Samuel erected a thankful memorial of this victory, to the glory of God and for the encouragement of Israel, v. 12. He set up an Eben-ezer, the stone of help. If ever the people's hard hearts should lose the impressions of this providence, this stone would either revive the remembrance of it, and make them thankful, or remain a standing witness against them for their unthankfulness."
He was telling the people that it was God who had helped them, delivered them in the past, that they should look to Him in faith for their future.
The other day I was reading in Ecclesiastes and read the following verse, I thought that it (and the rest of the passage) tied in well with the thought of Ebenezer, (Scrooge that is).
Eccl 5:12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet,
Whether he eats little or much;
But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep. NKJV
or from The Message:
Hard and honest work earns a good night's sleep,
Whether supper is beans or steak.
But a rich man's belly gives him insomnia.
Ebenezer Scrooge, couldn't sleep, his greed ate away at him. He envied and didn't understand how those with so little could still have such joy. His dreams revealed to him that he needed to change his ways. Giving away what he had greedily gathered, thinking of others instead of only himself, finally brought him joy.
The story is a good reminder for us at Christmastime. If you have time, watch one of the many versions at home or with family. Maybe it will convict you.
I found the following in Wikopedia, "Contemporaries noted that the story's popularity played a critical role in redefining the importance of Christmas and the major sentiments associated with the holiday. A Christmas Carol was written during a time of decline in the old Christmas traditions. "If Christmas, with its ancient and hospitable customs, its social and charitable observances, were in danger of decay, this is the book that would give them a new lease", said English poet Thomas Hood."
Thomas Hood had some good words to say, I think that we can definitely relate to all of the "anti Christmas" mentality that is out there today. I would differ with his opinion on at least one point. The Bible and the Saviour that it points to is what could give the "Scrooges" of today a new lease on life.
It's funny, but when you think about it Ebenezer Scrooge just could be the ebenezer, the stone of remembrance to turn a life towards things or better yet, the thing that matters most this Christmas, our Lord Jesus Christ.
I'll close with a song that is not known as a Christmas carol, but it could be. Note that it makes mention of "my ebenezer".
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great 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 rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I'll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.
Come thou long expected Jesus, come!
In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
Eccl 5:8-6:1
The Vanity of Gain and Honor
8 If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter; for high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them.
9 Moreover the profit of the land is for all; even the king is served from the field.
10 He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.This also is vanity.
11 When goods increase,They increase who eat them;So what profit have the ownersExcept to see them with their eyes?
12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet,Whether he eats little or much;But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.
13 There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun:Riches kept for their owner to his hurt. 14 But those riches perish through misfortune;When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand. 15 As he came from his mother's womb, naked shall he return,To go as he came;And he shall take nothing from his laborWhich he may carry away in his hand.
16 And this also is a severe evil — Just exactly as he came, so shall he go.And what profit has he who has labored for the wind? 17 All his days he also eats in darkness,And he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.
18 Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. 19 As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor — this is the gift of God. 20 For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.
NKJV
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