The Battle of Mizpah is immortalized more in a lovely song than in the stone Samuel erected to commemorate the Lord’s answer to the people for deliverance from the Philistines. The prophet was not engaged in mere iconography: he wanted to declare something of the undercurrent. By erecting a stone and naming it he might have simply instituted a memory. Instead he clearly wanted to proclaim something profounder. When Samuel drew out the meaning of Ebenezer (Help-Stone) he referenced the Lord’s help up to then. ad-hennah, the Lord has been helping us, with the perfect tense of help (azar) pointing to the way things were, as contrasted with a help event.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,

Tune my heart to sing thy praise…

Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I’ve come

The Ebenezer of verse 12 in this 7th chapter of Samuel’s second book is the capstone rising from the fear the Hebrew people experienced in the 7th verse. Often it takes discomfort or concern to bring us to seek God’s help. The Christian understanding of help brings us to a more circumscribed help experience. Help is resident and needs no intermediary. The Holy Spirit is in us to help us assimilate the totality of divine reliability – guide us into all truth.

Help-Stone
Ebenezer, (Hebrew eben – ezer)

The Ebenezer experience is triggered by the sons of Israel became afraid of the Philistines.

יִּשְׁמְעוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וַיִּֽרְא֖וּ מִפְּנֵ֥י פְלִשְׁתִּֽים׃

In their changing conditions, facing the Philistines, the Israelites deemed themselves in need of prayer. “Do not cease to cry (za`aq, זעק) for us” they implored Samuel, “we need Yahweh to save us from the Philistines’ hand” (vs. 8). Samuel’s response is to combine a young lamb as a whole burnt offering with his cry to God. We do not know what he said, but the book records that the Lord answered the cry.

Dire straits

As long as we do not think we can create or depend on parallels of an Ebenezer experience, when we have not really reached a place of dire proportions. The sons of Israel were without the ark of the covenant for seven months, and it was not returned from Philistine hands as a result of an Israelite offensive. The Philistines were massing for an attack on the Israelites. A more dire and fatal condition could not be imagined for the Hebrew people than to have the visible symbol of divine presence in the hands of their enemies. Even in circumstances like these God is responsive.  He answered with thunder as the Philistines advance to attack.

My Help-stone

A help-stone, if we want to find a parallel in our lives to the Mizpah-Ebenezer episode, it would be great if we could first  acknowledge where we are.  Then, in raising up a memorial, acknowledge God’s role in being our present help, that is, present and helping long before any crisis.