Joshua 4

And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?' then you shall let your children know, saying, 'Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land'; for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever."

(Jos 4:20-24)

And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car. 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."

(1Sa 7:11-12)

EBENEZER – not Scrooge, but the stones of remembrance. In both of these passages these monuments of stones were erected to serve as reminders of what God had done. Here in Joshua, we see them taking steps to ensure that as a nation they would not forget the faithful work that God had done on their behalf. They had just experienced a miraculous work of God, and by remembering it, they could continue to trust in God’s faithfulness.

In the passage from 1^st Samuel we see similar circumstances. The Lord had just granted them a miraculous victory, and Samuel wanted to take steps that would ensure they remember these things. Samuel announced to all the men around him that this monument was to be called EBENEZER, meaning “thus far, the Lord has been our help”. The idea here is that if God has been our help thus far, we can trust Him to continue to work on our behalf.

In our life, I think it is important that we setup Ebenezers of our own. I don’t mean literal piles of rock all over the neighborhood… I mean taking note of the times when God has brought us through difficult circumstances. There may be a physical object you save, our journal entry you write, or just a memory that you come back to…whatever it is, the important thing is that we take steps to remember how the LORD has brought us to where we are, and as long as we keep our eyes on Him, He will continue to lead us on.

The other day I came across a journal entry I had written after a trip I took in high school to minister to kids in Philadelphia. It was incredible to read and see what God was doing in my heart then, to recount His faithful work in my life until today. It reminded me of just how important it is to trust in Him. I may not know what the future holds, and the Israelites definitely didn’t either… but we do know the one who holds the future, and we can rest secure in HIM.

Here are the words to a hymn that I love… they are based on these passages of scripture.

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

Hither by Thy help I’m come

And I hope by Thy good pleasure

Safely to arrive at home

Jesus sought me while a stranger

Wandering from the fold of God

He to rescue me from danger

Interposed His precious blood

Oh 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 Lord take and seal it

Seal it for Thy courts above