Tuesday Devo
Scripture:
1 Samuel 7:7-12
7 When the Philistine rulers heard that Israel had gathered at Mizpah, they mobilized their army and advanced. The Israelites were badly frightened when they learned that the Philistines were approaching. 8 “Don’t stop pleading with the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines!” they begged Samuel. 9 So Samuel took a young lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He pleaded with the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered him.
10 Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them. 11 The men of Israel chased them from Mizpah to a place below Beth-car, slaughtering them all along the way.
12 Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!”
7 When the Philistine rulers heard that Israel had gathered at Mizpah, they mobilized their army and advanced. The Israelites were badly frightened when they learned that the Philistines were approaching. 8 “Don’t stop pleading with the Lord our God to save us from the Philistines!” they begged Samuel. 9 So Samuel took a young lamb and offered it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He pleaded with the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered him.
10 Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them. 11 The men of Israel chased them from Mizpah to a place below Beth-car, slaughtering them all along the way.
12 Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!”
Commentary:
12. So remarkable a deliverance could not be allowed to sink into oblivion, hence Samuel’s memorial-stone, set up like our war memorials in a prominent place. But Samuel’s stone recalled not the names of the dead but the living Lord God, the Helper of his people. Ebenezer means ‘stone of help’ or ‘stone of the Helper’, a name frequently applied to the Lord (e.g. the refrain ‘He is their help and their shield’ in Ps. 115:9–11). The explanation of the name, Hitherto the Lord has helped us, can mean either ‘as far as this geographical spot’, which fits the context well, or ‘until now’; the Hebrews loved to use words and expressions with double meanings, and most likely kept both senses here. The reminder of prayer answered in the past would encourage faith in God for further blessing:
We’ll praise Him for all that is past.
And trust Him for all that’s to come.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 86.
We’ll praise Him for all that is past.
And trust Him for all that’s to come.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 86.
Questions:
If you look around your home, you probably have physical items that hold memories: a handwritten letter, a family photo, or a ticket stub tucked into a drawer. We like to keep these momentos as reminders or souvenirs of a past experience.
After God threw the invading Philistine army into confusion and delivered Israel at Mizpah, Samuel took a large stone, set it upright between two towns, and named it Ebenezer, which means "stone of help". He declared, "Up to this point the Lord has helped us!"
Where this Ebenezer is placed has monumental significance to Israel. Samuel raised this stone at the exact location where, years earlier, Israel had suffered a catastrophic military defeat and lost the Ark of God. The place that once stood as a monument to their greatest humiliation was transformed into a reminder of God’s power to save.
Charles Spurgeon once said that we are too quick to engrave our trials in marble and write our blessings in sand. When a new crisis hits, we are quick to forgot how God has shown up in the past, and we panic as if He never carried us through a storm before. Raising an Ebenezer means deliberately marking God's past help so that when future uncertainty arrives, our faith is anchored in His proven track record.
After God threw the invading Philistine army into confusion and delivered Israel at Mizpah, Samuel took a large stone, set it upright between two towns, and named it Ebenezer, which means "stone of help". He declared, "Up to this point the Lord has helped us!"
Where this Ebenezer is placed has monumental significance to Israel. Samuel raised this stone at the exact location where, years earlier, Israel had suffered a catastrophic military defeat and lost the Ark of God. The place that once stood as a monument to their greatest humiliation was transformed into a reminder of God’s power to save.
Charles Spurgeon once said that we are too quick to engrave our trials in marble and write our blessings in sand. When a new crisis hits, we are quick to forgot how God has shown up in the past, and we panic as if He never carried us through a storm before. Raising an Ebenezer means deliberately marking God's past help so that when future uncertainty arrives, our faith is anchored in His proven track record.
- When something goes wrong, what does your mind naturally do first: remember how God has helped you before, or immediately focus on everything that could go wrong this time? Why is it so easy to forget yesterday’s faithfulness when today feels hard?
- Think of a time when you were sure something wasn’t going to work out, but God carried you through it. What do you remember most about that season now; the difficulty, or the way God met you in it? What makes that hard to remember when you face something difficult today?
- Is there a past failure, disappointment, or difficult season that you still mostly remember for what went wrong? Spend some time looking back at that season again. Where can you see God’s faithfulness that you may have overlooked at the time?
Prayer Topics:
- Thank God for the specific ways He has helped you, carried you through hard seasons, and provided what you needed. Take time to name some of those things instead of letting them become easy to forget.
- Ask God to forgive you for the times you have forgotten His faithfulness and allowed fear or anxiety to take over.
- Pray for a heart that remembers what He has already done when you are tempted to worry about what comes next.
- Pray for the ability to see your current circumstances in light of God’s faithfulness.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
2. Are there sources outside the Bible that confirm the Biblical account of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead? Many Roman and Jewish historians have confirmed that the apostles died as martyrs for preaching that they saw Jesus risen from the grave. No one dies for something they know to be a lie.
(Luke 1:1-4; Acts 26:26; 1 John 1:1-4, Josephus, Clement, Hegesippus, Tertullian, Origen, Polycarp)
(Luke 1:1-4; Acts 26:26; 1 John 1:1-4, Josephus, Clement, Hegesippus, Tertullian, Origen, Polycarp)
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