Yesterday morning I wrote about A Christmas Carol. During the day I found myself constantly humming the beautiful old hymn Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing written by Robert Robinson in 1758. This hymn truly 'stands the test of time' and has been covered and recorded by modern artists. It was stuck in my head to the point that I was prompted to listen to a number of versions of it on Youtube. Here are just a few (each opens in a new window).

So why was this song banging around in my head? If you know the song well, or have clicked on any of the above links you may note that the second verse of the song begins with these words: “Here I raise my Ebenezer.” I think my subconscious was enjoying the juxtaposition of Ebenezer between old Scrooge and the hymn. For years and years I have found it hard to shake the mental image while singing the hymn of someone holding up a curmudgeonly old miser who keeps his office way too cold and doesn’t pay Bob Cratchet enough!

Despite having this incongruous mental image for decades, it has taken me until today to explore Robinson's meaning.

The answer to this, as it does for many questions, lies in the Bible - 1 Samuel 7 in particular. There it is reported that the prophet Samuel and the Israelites found themselves under attack by the Philistines. Fearing for their lives, the Israelites begged Samuel to pray for them in their impending battle against the Philistines. Samuel offered a sacrifice to God and prayed for His protection. God listened to Samuel, causing the Philistines to lose the battle and retreat back to their own territory. After the Israelite victory, the Bible records: “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’ ” (1 Samuel 7:12).

In Hebrew, the name Ebenezer (or rather eben-haezer) consists of three elements. The first part of the name is the noun אבן ('eben), meaning stone. The final part of the name comes from the verb עזר (azar), meaning to help or support. In between these two elements sits the definite article ה (he). It is usually transliterated as a proper name by dropping the definite article to create "Ebenezer." 

Literally speaking, an Ebenezer is a "stone of help," or a reminder of God’s presence and divine aid borne out of His love for us. Of course, there can be many Ebenezers in our life - things that serve to remind us of God's action and support in our lives.

Sue and I have been surrounded by 'Ebenezers' over the last 18 months. Yes, there are songs, scriptures, pictures, gifts, cards and the like. Much more more significantly, there are people who would be called Ebenezers for us. These are people who remind us of God's love, care and support - whether they know it or not. As you read this blog, you should rightly count yourself as one of these. We are deeply grateful.

For years I have associated Ebenezer with Christmas, but for all the wrong reasons. What better time of the year to remember God's ultimate Ebenezer - Jesus Christ.

I leave you with the closing paragraph of an excellent exposition of the meaning of Ebenezer using the Hebrew etemology (which you can read in full here):

Because of the [ommitted] definite article (ha), the name Eben-haezer doesn't simply mean Stone Of Help, it means Stone Of The Help, which in Hebrew denotes an emphasized specification. Eben-haezer didn't commemorate getting help in general or even the help that God gave. Eben-haezer commemorated the help that God IS.

So, to all our Ebenezers we say "This Christmas season, may you know the reality of the help that God is, and experience the grace and peace that flows from that."