Ebednezer 2007

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Sermon: Ebednezer (1 Sam.7:12)

Defeat at Ebenezer (1Sam.4:1-3)

Reason: Went to battle in their own strength!

The sins of the people:  Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25

The sins of the priests:  1Sam.2:12-35

Defeat at Ebenezer (1Sam.4:3-11)

Reason: they focused more external rather than the internal

Focused on the Gift than the Giver, the Blessing than the Blesser ,

The error of depending more on something or someone other than God

Ark of the covenant mentioned 35 xs (4:12 - 7:1)

Victory at Ebenezer  (1Sam.7:2-13)

Reason: they trusted in the Lord…..they Repented, Confessed, Called on God,

Year 2007 (at end of yr say EBENEZER                      Year 2008 (at beg say: JEHOVAH-JIREH

(Highs are when you trust God, Lows when you don’t)

Jan                                                          Feb                                                         Mar

Apr                                                         May                                                       June

July                                                         Aug                                                         Sept

Oct                                                          Nov                                                        Dec

J. Hudson Taylor, had a plaque displayed in each of his residences that read “Ebenezer—Jehovah Jireh,” Together, these Hebrew words say, “The Lord has helped us to this point, and He will see to it from now on.”

 

Jacob set up a memorial at Bethel (Gen. 28:20–22; 35:14).

Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan (Josh. 4:9)

Joshua set up 12twelve stones on western bank at Gilgal to mark the place where the  

   waters opened and Israel crossed into the Promised Land (vv. 4:1–8, 19–21).

Joshua set up a “witness stone” to remind the Israelites of their vow to serve the Lord alone   

    and obey Him (24:26–28)

Heap of stones in Achor Valley reminded the Jews of Achan’s disobedience (vv. 7:24–26)

Faithful or faithfulness or faith (412xs)

Gen 24:27  saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”

Gen 32:10 I [Jacob] am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups.

Exod 34:6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,

Deut 7:9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands

Deut 32:4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

2 Sam 22:26 “To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

Ps 18:25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

Ps 25:10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant.

Ps 30:9 “What gain is there in my destruction, in my going down into the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness?

Ps 33:4 For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.

Ps 36:5 Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.

Ps 40:10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly.

Ps 54:5 Let evil recoil on those who slander me; in your faithfulness destroy them.

Ps 57:3 He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me;Selah God sends his love and his faithfulness.

Ps 57:10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Ps 61:7 May he be enthroned in God’s presence forever; appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him.

Ps 71:22 I will praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praise to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.

Ps 85:10 Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.

Ps 85:11 Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.

Ps 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

Ps 88:11 Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction?

Ps 89:1 A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.

Ps 89:2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself.

Ps 89:5 The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.

Ps 89:8 O Lord God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O Lord, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

Ps 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.

Ps 89:24 My faithful love will be with him, and through my name his horn will be exalted.

Ps 89:33 but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.

Ps 89:49 O Lord where is your former great love which in your faithfulness you swore to David?

Ps 91:4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

Ps 92:2 to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,

Ps 98:3 He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Ps 100:5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Ps 108:4 For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Ps 111:7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.

Ps 111:8 They are steadfast for ever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness.

Ps 115:1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.

Ps 117:2 For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord.

Ps 119:75 I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous and in faithfulness you have afflicted me

Ps 119:90 Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures.

Ps 138:2 I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

Ps 143:1 O Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.

Ps 145:13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.

Ps 146:6 the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— the Lord, who remains faithful forever.

Isaiah 1:26 I will restore your judges as in days of old, your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.”

Isaiah 11:5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

Isaiah 16:5 In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it— one from the house of David— one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.

Isaiah 25:1 O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.

Isaiah 38:18 For the grave cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness.

Isaiah 38:19 The living, the living—they praise you, as I am doing today; fathers tell their children about your faithfulness.

Isaiah 42:3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

Isaiah 49:7 This is what the Lord says— the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel— to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

Isaiah 55:3 Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.

Isaiah 61:8 “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them.

Jeremiah 42:5 Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us.

Lamentations 3:23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Hosea 2:20 I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord.

Hosea 11:12 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, the house of Israel with deceit. And Judah is unruly against God, even against the faithful Holy One.

1 Cor 1:9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

1 Cor 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

2 Corinthians 1:18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness 23 gentleness and self-control….

1 Thessalonians 5:24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

2 Thess 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one

1 Tim 1:14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

2 Tim 2:13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

Heb 2:17  For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

Heb.3:2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house

Heb 3:6 But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

Heb 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

1 Peter 4:19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Rev 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,

Rev 3:14  “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.

Rev 19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.

Obedience = Blessings                                                            See Mt.Gerizim and Mt. Ebal

Disobedience = Cursings (discipline, judgement)

Sovereignty  = God’s choice

72. eḇen hā˓ēzer: A proper noun designating Ebenezer: A proper noun referring to a city where Israel was ignominiously defeated by the Philistines twice (1 Sam. 4:1; 5:1). The word means “stone of (the) help.” This could be where Samuel placed a stone to commemorate a later victory over the Philistines (1 Sam. 7:12). Its exact location is obscure, some placing it near Beth-Shemesh, other placing it about 10 to 12 miles east of Joppa. B. A proper noun given to a stone erected by Samuel to commemorate an Israelite victory over the Philistines, meaning “stone of (the) help” (1 Sam. 7:12). EBENEZER (72) This place name, which means “stone of help,” is mentioned three times in 1 Samuel. It was the scene of the defeat of Israel by the Philistines, 4:1 and 5:1. In 7:12, when Israel defeated the Philistines, Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah (the watchtower) and Shen (the tooth or crag). This may have given the name to the locality mentioned in the earlier chapters. 7:12 Ebenezer. A different location from the one mentioned in 4:1 and 5:1. The name functions as the literary knot for the two ends of this unit (note on 4:1). Thus far the Lord has helped us. This expression means that the Lord was the one responsible for getting Israel to this point. He was Israel’s Sovereign One in times of both faithfulness and rebellion. He fought the battles and provided the blessings.  7:10-17. When the Philistines learned of the assembly, they attacked Israel at Mizpah but the Lord, in a mighty demonstration of power (by thunder), defeated them. In commemoration of this great triumph Samuel erected on the site between Mizpah and Shen (whose location is unknown), a monument which he called Ebenezer, literally, the “stone of [God’s] help.” This apparently ended Philistine occupation of Israelite soil though the Philistines came later time and time again to harass Israel (13:5). Amorites (7:14) refers to the hill-dwellers of southern Canaan (Num. 13:29; Josh. 10:5). Thereafter Samuel continued to judge . . . Israel in a circuit (approx. 50 miles in circumference) including Bethel . . . Gilgal . . . Mizpah, and his hometown, Ramah (see the map “The Cities of Samuel”). 7:12, 13 To commemorate the victory and acknowledge the Lord’s intervention, Samuel set up a memorial stone on the battlefield and named it Ebenezer, meaning “Stone of Help.” Samuel followed Joshua’s practice of commemorating the victories of God for His people with stone markers (Josh. 4). The victory at Ebenezer was so decisive that the Philistines made no more attacks against the Israelites during Samuel’s judgeship. Ebenezer. A different site than that mentioned in 4:1 (note) and 5:1, this Ebenezer nevertheless recalls the earlier episode, when the Israelites tried to manipulate their God by carrying the ark into battle only to suffer a resounding defeat. Now God has given them a great victory over the same enemies. Samuel sets up a memorial stone with the name Ebenezer, “Stone of Help,” not only to commemorate the victory but also as reminder of the different results brought about by presumption on the one hand and by repentance on the other. Thus far the Lord has helped us. The saying means that the Lord had been with them all the way “to this place,” or “to this hour.” 7:12 “Ebenezer” was a stone monument or testimony to the intervention of God in the life of Israel. As such, it stood for God’s grace in behalf of helpless man.

JM) 6:21 Kirjath Jearim. A city located approximately 10 mi. NE of Beth Shemesh. It would remain the resting place of the ark until David brought it to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6:1–19). This location had long been associated with Baal worship (Josh. 15:9, 60; 18:14). 7:2 twenty years. Coupled with v. 3, the 20 years designated the period Israel neglected God and chased after foreign gods. After those 20 years, Israel returned to the Lord. 7:3 prepare your hearts for the Lord … and He will deliver you. This statement recalls the cycle in the book of Judges: apostasy, oppression, repentance, and deliverance. It previews the contents of this chapter. 7:4 the Baals and the Ashtoreths. Most dominant of the Canaanite pantheon, these deities were the fertility gods which plagued Israel. “Baal” and “Ashtoreth” are plurals of majesty, which signify their supreme authority over other Canaanite deities. Ashtoreth represented the female goddess, while Baal represented the male sky god who fertilized the land. 7:5 Mizpah. This city was located 8 mi. NE of Kirjath Jearim in Benjamin. It became one of the cities of Samuel’s circuit (v. 16). I will pray. Samuel was a man of prayer (7:8, 9; 8:6; 12:19, 23; 15:11).7:6 drew water, and poured it out before the Lord. The pouring out of water before the Lord was a sign of repentance. This act is repeated in 2 Sam. 23:16  So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the Lord]. We have sinned against the Lord. The symbol of Samuel pouring out the water and the acknowledgment of the people reveal a situation where true repentance had taken place. The condition of the heart superseded the importance or righteous of the ritual. Samuel judged. At this point Samuel is introduced as the judge of Israel. His judgeship encompassed both domestic leadership and the conduct of war. The word links the text back to the last comment about Eli who judged 40 years (4:18). Samuel is shown to be the one taking over Eli’s judgeship. He served as the last judge before the first king (1 Sam. 8:50). 7:7 Israel … afraid of the Philistines. When Israel heard that the Philistines had come up against them for war, they were afraid.7:10 the Lord thundered … upon the Philistines. In a literal manner, the Lord did to His enemies what was said by Hannah in her prayer (2:10).7:11 Beth Car. The location is unknown. 7:12 Ebenezer. A different location from the one mentioned in 4:1 and 5:1. The name functions as the literary knot for the two ends of this unit (4:1). Thus far the Lord has helped us. This expression means that the Lord was the one responsible for getting Israel to this point. He was Israel’s Sovereign One in times of both faithfulness and rebellion. He fought the battles and provided the blessings.7:13 did not come anymore into the territory of Israel. The Lord gave Israel the victory over the Philistines, discontinuing their threat for the immediate future during Samuel’s judgeship. all the days of Samuel. As the section opened in 4:1 with Samuel pictured as God’s agent, so here the section closed with the Lord working powerfully through all the days of Samuel.

BKC - 6:13-7:1. The Israelites were so overjoyed to see the ark after seven months (6:1) that they offered a sacrifice of the cows to the Lord at Beth Shemesh, the border town where the ark had been directed, about 15 miles west of Jerusalem (see the map “The Wanderings of the Ark of the Covenant”). Unfortunately the people of Beth Shemesh not only rejoiced at the return of the ark (6:13) and offered . . . sacrifices in worship (6:14-15), but they desecrated it by opening it and looking inside (6:19) perhaps to see if the stone tablets of the Law were still there. This violated the Mosaic statute that only Levites could handle the ark and not even they could touch it directly, to say nothing of looking within it (Num. 4:5, 15, 20). Disobedience in this respect would bring death. The sin of the people of Beth Shemesh was a deliberate, “high-handed” violation of the clear will of God (1 Sam. 6:19; 2 Sam. 6:6-7). (According to the niv and a few Heb. mss., 70 people were put to death. Most Heb. mss., however, have 50,070. This seems an unusually large number, but it may be accounted for in some yet unknown way.) The point, of course, is that not only unbelievers (the Philistines) suffer when the Law of the Lord is disregarded; believers (the Israelites) also suffer when they do not conform to His strict requirements. After this disaster at Beth Shemesh the ark was moved again (1 Sam. 6:21), this time to Kiriath Jearim (modern Abu Ghosh, about 10 miles northwest of Jerusalem). No doubt the ark was taken there rather than to Shiloh, because the latter was destroyed by the Philistines, perhaps after the battle of Aphek (chap. 4; Jer. 26:9). The ark remained in the custody of the family of Abinadab (1 Sam. 7:1) for about 100 years. restoration of the ark (7:2-17) The return of the ark to Kiriath Jearim seemed to be a tangible sign that God was once again among His people to bless them and deliver them from all their oppressors. The mere presence of the ark did not guarantee God’s favor, however, as Israel had learned at the battle of Aphek. Rather, it was submission to the God of the ark that was essential (v. 4). 7:2. After the ark was at Kiriath Jearim for 20 years Samuel addressed the Israelites (v. 3). In other words, the ark was in Kiriath Jearim for 20 years before Samuel undertook his first recorded public ministry. In actual fact the ark remained at Kiriath Jearim for about 100 years. It was taken there just after the battle of Aphek (1104 b.c.) and remained until David brought it from there to Jerusalem in his first year as king over all Israel (1003 b.c.; 2 Sam. 6:1-11; 5:5;). 7:3-4. After these 20 long years with the ark at Kiriath Jearim, Samuel challenged the people of Israel to prove their loyalty to the Lord by abandoning their foreign gods and turning to the Lord . . . only. The plural Baals and Ashtoreths describe the many local shrines of those Canaanite nature deities. Baal, variously identified as son of El (chief of the Canaanite pantheon) or as son of Dagan (the Mesopotamian deity), was particularly recognized as the god of thunder and rain whose task was to make the earth fertile annually. Ashtoreth (or Astarte) was goddess of both love and war, as were her Babylonian and Greek counterparts Ishtar and Aphrodite respectively. She apparently functioned with Baal as a fertility deity and by their sexual union in some magical way the earth and all its life supposedly experienced annual rejuvenation and fruitfulness. (See the chart “Some of the Pagan Gods and Goddesses Worshiped in Nations Surrounding Israel,” near Jud. 10:6.)

7:5-9. Samuel next summoned the people to Mizpah, some seven miles north of Jerusalem, and there prayed for them and offered sacrifice to the Lord on their behalf (v. 9). This was a common place of assembly for Israel. In the time of the Judges the elders of the tribes gathered there to decide Benjamin’s fate following the murder of a Levite’s concubine (Jud. 19:1-20:1, 3; 21:1, 5, 8). Later, Saul was presented to Israel as king at Mizpah (1 Sam. 10:17). It was even the capital of Judah after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians (2 Kings 25:23, 25). The town of Mizpah should probably be identified with modern Tell en-Nasbeh. 7:10-17. When the Philistines learned of the assembly, they attacked Israel at Mizpah but the Lord, in a mighty demonstration of power (by thunder), defeated them. In commemoration of this great triumph Samuel erected on the site between Mizpah and Shen (whose location is unknown), a monument which he called Ebenezer, literally, the “stone of [God’s] help.” This apparently ended Philistine occupation of Israelite soil though the Philistines came later time and time again to harass Israel (13:5). Amorites (7:14) refers to the hill-dwellers of southern Canaan ( Num. 13:29; Josh. 10:5). Thereafter Samuel continued to judge . . . Israel in a circuit (approx. 50 miles in circumference) including Bethel . . . Gilgal . . . Mizpah, and his hometown, Ramah (see the map “The Cities of Samuel”).

Wiersbe - The Call for a King The Ark of the Covenant was now out of enemy hands and resting in the house of Abinadab in Kiriath Jearim in the territory of Benjamin (1 Sam. 1–2; Josh. 18:28). Shiloh had been destroyed by the Philistines and was no longer the location of the sanctuary of the Lord, and many years would pass before the Ark would be moved to Jerusalem by King David (1 Chron. 15). But having the Ark in Jewish territory didn’t automatically solve Israel’s problems, for during those twenty years when the Ark was in Abinidab’s house, a new generation had arisen and was crying out for radical changes in Israel’s government. For centuries, the people of Israel had looked to Jehovah as their King, but now they asked the Lord to give them a king just like the other nations. It was a critical time in the history of Israel, and it took the prayers and guidance of Samuel to bring them safely through this dangerous time of transition. 1. Seeking the Lord (1 Sam. 7:3–17) Samuel discerned that the people were restless and wanting change, and he knew that times of transition bring out either the best or the worst in people. God called Samuel to build a bridge between the turbulent age of the judges and the new era of the monarchy, and it wasn’t an easy task. There was one thing Samuel knew for certain: king or no king, the nation could never succeed if the people didn’t put the Lord first and trust only in Him. That’s why he called for a meeting at Mizpah, a city in Benjamin (Josh. 18:26), where he challenged God’s covenant people to return to the Lord. They put away their false gods (1 Sam. 7:3–4). Idolatry had been Israel’s besetting sin. Jacob’s family carried false gods with them (Gen. 35:2), and when the Jews were slaves in Egypt, they adopted the gods and goddesses of the Egyptians, and after the Exodus, worshiped some of these idols during the wilderness journeys (Acts 7:42–43). Moses commanded Israel to destroy every evidence of Canaanite religion, but the people eventually lapsed back into idolatry and worshiped the gods of the defeated enemy. Samuel specifically mentioned the Baals and Ashtoreths (1 Sam. 7:3–4). Baal was the Canaanite storm god to whom the Jews often turned when the land was suffering drought, and Ashtoreth was the goddess of fertility whose worship included unspeakably sensual activities. At Mount Sinai, the Jews didn’t see a representation of God, but they heard His voice; and they knew that worshiping any image of their God was to practice false worship.Putting away their false gods was only the beginning of their return to the Lord; the Jews also had to prepare their hearts for the Lord and devote themselves to the Lord alone (v. 3). This was in keeping with the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3). An idol is a substitute for God—anything that we trust and serve in place of the Lord. The Jews gave themselves to idols of wood, stone, and metal, but believers today have more subtle and attractive gods: houses and lands, wealth, automobiles, boats, position and recognition, ambition, and even other people. Anything in our lives that takes the place of God and commands the sacrifice and devotion that belong only to Him, is an idol and must be cast out. Idols in the heart are far more dangerous than idols in the temple.They confessed their sins (1 Sam. 7:5–6). Samuel planned to lead the people in a time of worship and intercession for deliverance from their enemies, but if they had iniquity in their hearts, the Lord would not hear them (Ps. 66:18). It wasn’t enough just to destroy their idols; the people also had to confess their sins and surrender themselves to the Lord. Two considerations suggest that this meeting occurred during the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. First, the people poured out water before the Lord, which became a practice at the Feast of Tabernacles, commemorating the times the Lord provided water in the wilderness (John 7:37–39). Second, the people fasted, and this was required only on the annual Day of Atonement, which preceded the Feast of Tabernacles.The key activity that day was their confession, “We have sinned against the Lord.” God’s covenant promise to Israel was that He would forgive their sins if they sincerely confessed them to Him (Lev. 26:40–45), for no amount of sacrifices or rituals could wash away their sins. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, you will not despise” (Ps. 51:17). Later in Israel’s history, this promise of forgiveness and blessing was reiterated by Solomon at the dedication of the temple (2 Chron. 7:14). They prayed for God’s help (1 Sam. 7:7–11, 13–14). When the Philistines learned about this large gathering of Jews, they became suspicious that Israel was planning to attack, so the five Philistine lords summoned their troops and prepared to invade. Israel had no standing army and no one ruler to organize one, so they felt helpless. But their greatest weapon was their faith in Jehovah God, a faith that was expressed in prayer. “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Ps. 20:7). As we have seen, Samuel was a man of prayer, and God answered him that day. As he sacrificed the evening burnt offering, the Lord thundered against the Philistine soldiers and so confused them that it was easy for Israel to attack and defeat them. When we remember that Baal was the Canaanite storm god, it makes the power of God’s thunder even more significant.All the days of Samuel, the Lord kept the Philistines at a distance from Israel. Because of this victory, the Jews recovered cities they had lost in battle and even gained the Amorites as allies. Whenever God’s people depend on their own plans and resources, their efforts fail and bring disgrace to God’s name; but when God’s people trust the Lord and pray, He meets the need and receives the glory. A man or woman of prayer is more powerful than a whole army! No wonder King Jehoash called the Prophet Elisha “the chariots and horsemen of Israel” (2 Kings 13:14), a title Elisha had used for his mentor Elijah (2 Kings 2:12; 6:17). Do we have such men and women of prayer today? They commemorated the victory (1 Sam. 7:12). The setting up of stones to commemorate significant events has been a part of the Hebrew culture since Jacob set up a memorial at Bethel (Gen. 28:20–22; 35:14). Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan (Josh. 4:9) and twelve more on the western bank at Gilgal to mark the place where the waters opened and Israel crossed into the Promised Land (vv. 4:1–8, 19–21). A great heap of stones in the Achor Valley reminded the Jews of Achan’s disobedience (vv. 7:24–26), and another heap marked the burial place of the king of Ai (8:29). Another heap stood at a cave at Makkedah to mark where five kings had been defeated and slain (10:25–27). Before his death, Joshua set up a “witness stone” to remind the Israelites of their vow to serve the Lord alone and obey Him (24:26–28). “Ebenezer” means “stone of help” because the monument was a reminder to the Jews that God had helped them that far and would continue to help them if they would trust Him and keep His covenant. The founder of the China Inland Mission, J. Hudson Taylor, had a plaque displayed in each of his residences that read “Ebenezer—Jehovah Jireh,” Together, these Hebrew words say, “The Lord has helped us to this point, and He will see to it from now on.” What an encouragement to our faith!

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