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Ebenezer

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 19, 1911

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 88, No. 42.

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Ebenezer

By R. D. Quinn

The first seven chapters of First Samuel record experiences in the history of ancient Israel which, when viewed from a spiritual standpoint, are of inestimable value to the people of God to-day. The time covered in these chapters is the period between the judges and the kings, when “every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” The sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were sons of Belial, and knew not the Lord. Their greedy extortions finally caused the people to abhor the service of God, and besides all this, for the first time the priests had introduced into their worship some of the abominable excesses of the heathen, and strange gods and Ashtaroth were among them.
In this condition Israel dared to go out to fight the battles of the Lord. They suffered a great defeat, about four thousand of them being slain. A spirit of intimidation and dismay spread through the entire host. On the evening of that disastrous day the elders of Israel held a council of war. They recognized that God had smitten them, but instead of searching their hearts and lives for the thing that had caused their defeat, they suddenly remembered the ark of the covenant in Shiloh, and they said: “Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.”
They remembered the wonderful experiences in which that ark had played a part,—how the waters of the Jordan had fled before it, and the walls of Jericho had fallen down. Surely it would do the same for them again. But they did not seem to realize that unless the sacred principles of that holy law were a part of their very lives, the mere presence of a material symbol would do them no good. They were depending upon form and external machinery, instead of those moral and spiritual conditions on which alone the cooperation of God could be given. If we regard iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear us.
In due course of time the ark was brought into the camp, borne by the unconverted priests. “And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man unto his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.” A swift runner was immediately despatched to carry the sad news to Shiloh. “And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he [Eli] fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died.” Phinehas's wife, although she did not survive the terrible shock, seemed to divine the true cause of the disaster as expressed in her mournful words, “The glory [or character of God] is departed from Israel.”
Israel must learn by dear experience that the mere possession of the symbol of the covenant was valueless so long as the strange gods were cherished. “Go ye now,” says the Lord through Jeremiah, “unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did unto it for the wickedness of my people Israel.” Jer. 7:12. And the further fate of the city which for so many years had been the center of national life and worship, is told in the pathetic words of the psalmist: “He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; and delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand. He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.” Ps. 78:60-62.
But while disaster upon disaster was befalling Israel, still God was teaching them terrible things in righteousness. He had raised up Samuel to stem the tide of evil and turn the nation back to God. The record says: “The time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord,” or, as the margin of the revised version says, “was drawn together” after Jehovah. “And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only.”
When the Philistines heard of this great turning to God, they came up against Israel to battle. Whenever the people of God have vital power, they are sure to enlist against themselves the united forces of evil. Another great battle was fought on the same spot
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Ebenezer

(Concluded from page 19)
where the ark was taken twenty years before. Geographically the battle-field was unchanged, but there had been a mighty change in the hearts of God's people, and God wrought for them, and a great victory was gained; “the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel . . . all the days of Samuel.”
“Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” The ground upon which that stone was erected had witnessed a most crushing defeat and a most signal victory. In their first encounter with the Philistines thirty-four thousand of the flower of the nation had been slain, and the ark of God was taken. The message was in the ark, and it was the ark, but not God, to the rescue. Twenty years later a great change had been effected through the prayers and earnest labors of Samuel. The message now was in the men, and God was taken into account, and he wrought for them.
This is the great message of the whole story for us. No truth can ever be of much value to us if that truth is outside of us. O, if only the church of God would put away the sins that grieve the Holy Spirit! If only we would separate from our idols and cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and surrender ourselves unreservedly to God, then might we hope for the manifestations of his power in the saving of the lost. R. D. QUINN.