Ebenezer. What classic secular Christmas story does that make you think of? Nope, not White Christmas or It’s a Wonderful Life. A Christmas Carol by Dahl’s Chickens… no, I mean Charles Dickens. Ebeneezer Scrooge is the main character, “bah humbug”. But that’s not the Ebenezer I’m thinking of.
No, this Ebenezer is found in the Bible! In 1 Samuel 7:12 we read: “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far has the LORD helped us.'” The footnotes say that “Ebenezer” means ‘stone of help’.
So at RFIS, in the prayer garden, we have also piled up some rocks. And we had the students write a name on each one. These are the names of people groups that now have the New Testament or portions of Scripture translated into their heart language.
Each of these rocks represent around 20 years of linguistic and translation work. The translation work for many of the languages on these rocks in the prayer garden have been done by or with consultation from parents of (former and current) RFIS students. If not for RFIS taking care of the educational needs of their children, many of these languages might still be waiting for God’s word.
I just discovered something researching “Ebenezer” in the Bible. In context, Samuel raised the rock to remind them that the Lord was their help when the people of Israel chose to turn away from foreign false gods and relied uniquely on God to save them from a battle against the Philistines. And as the people of the language groups on these rocks now have God’s word, they can now turn away from their false gods and fully rely on the True God to save them from the Evil One. So, not only is this “Ebenezer” at RFIS a reminder of how the Lord has been the help of all those involved in translating Scripture, but it serves as a reminder to pray that those who recieve God’s Word might accept his help and salvation in their own lives.
As I’ve been typing this, these words of an old hymn that I love, and may not be so familiar, have been going through my head. Much of the English is not the way we speak today, but the message is excellent… now that we know what “Ebenezer” means.
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
1. 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.
2. Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.
3. O 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, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.
