1 Sam
7:12-13 (ESV) Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen
and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, "Till now the Lord has helped
us." 13 So the Philistines were
subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the
Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
NOTE: For some
reason, I always associate "Ebenezer" with the pile of stones taken
from the Jordan River when Israel crossed over with Joshua. It was not named
but did also serve as a reminder of God's saving hand. We seem to need
reminders. Either we are forgetful or we are disbelieving. While it is true
that we do forget what God has done in the past, I think it is more likely that
we are prone to disbelief. So, when faced with an obstacle in the present, we
tend to disbelieve what happened in the past. Maybe it was just coincidence;
maybe I did not perceive it correctly; maybe I was just lucky. For whatever
reason, each new problem raises doubts on past miracles. I think part of the
reason is that we don't believe bad things should happen to us, and when they
do, we think that maybe God is not real or not in control. There are a lot of
errors in that statement. Life is full of bad things, and partly because God is
not in control. Shudder! What do I mean by that statement? In the garden, we
rebelled against his rule and chose for ourselves to be our own gods. And God
gave us what we wanted. So, in a sense, he is not in control of this world. He
sees it completely and can intervene where appropriate to accomplish his will,
but in general, we get what we mistakenly asked for in the garden--we get human
rule and all the associated mess that goes with it. But as I said, God can
intervene to accomplish his purpose. The story in Samuel is a case where he
intervenes against man's rule to protect the nation of Israel, and his long
term plan for redemption. So when bad things happen, they remind us of our need
for God's rule in our life because of our rebellion. And when God intervenes,
we are reminded that he is not without power to accomplish his will in our
lives and in the world.
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