06/03/2005;  revised: 02/05/10

Apostle Andre Pelser

 

I want to discuss several aspects about the name Ebenezer to revive your spirit and strengthen your faith to believe that the Lord is ready to help you as well! He will help you in a marvellous way!

 

The Audible Voice

 

On 19.02.92  I heard the voice of the Lord audibly speak to me when he woke me up and said: ‘I am Ebenezer!’  This happened in the double storey house we rented in 14 Quest Road, Milnerton.

 

At that time I sweated in prayer for provision for my family. The income in the church was no more than R4 000 per month. The hall in Milpark Centre we rented cost R4 000 per month. Our house cost R2 000 per month and the schools R2 000 per month as well. We had no idea how we would survive in this new venture having started a church and a bible school in the Cape.

 

We called it Milnerton Christian Centre at that time. Later on that year the children suggested that we change it to Harvester, a chain restaurant in England where we liked eating whenever we went to minister with John Waller, an Elim pastor who pioneered a work in Slough, East of London. The children said, ‘why don’t we change the name of the church to Harvester? It is a good place to eat!’ Because we provide spiritual food for people we decided to change the name.

 

The Mustard Seed

I immediately knew that he had revealed himself to me in a way he has never done before. I made a vow to accept him as Ebenezer and to serve him accordingly: ‘Lord I will plant my mustard seed size faith to believe that you who helped me thus far will remain Ebenezer to us for the rest of our lives. I will not be slack in any business matters for I put my trust in you to provide, to lead and to guide me and to give me wisdom to obtain wealth and to do your work in the earth

 

Mark 4:30-32

30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? 31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: 32 But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.

The King James Version

 

I will be your son – be a father to me. Give me wisdom to speak to people as much as they can understand.

 

Sometimes we speak to people on a level that interests us but goes over their heads. That is not wise; sometimes we under-estimate the understanding of people. I saw in the bible how Jesus and Paul gauged their audiences and I desired this gift as well. So I included it in my vow to God.

 

The Meaning of Ebenezer

 

68 Õeben { eh’-ben}

 

from the root of 1129 meaning to build; TWOT - 9; n f

 

AV - stone(s) 247, weight(s) 7, divers weights + 68 3, hailstones 3, stony 2, carbuncle + 688 1, hailstones + 1259 1, hailstones + 417 1, headstone 1, masons + 7023 1, plummet 1, slingstones 1; 272

 

1) stone (large or small)

1a) common stone (in natural state)

1b) stone, as material

1b1) of tablets

1b2) marble, hewn stones

1c) precious stones, stones of fire

1d) stones containing metal (ore), tool for work or weapon

1e) weight

1f) plummet (stones of destruction) also made of metal

1g) stonelike objects, eg hailstones, stony heart, ice

1h) sacred object, as memorial Samuel set up to mark where God helped Israel to defeat the Philistines

1i) (simile)

1i1) sinking in water, motionlessness

1i2) strength, firmness, solidity

1i3) commonness

1j) (metaph)

1j1) petrified with terror

1j2)   perverse, hard heart[1]

 

1129 banah { baw-naw’}

 

a primitive root; TWOT - 255; v

 

AV - build 340, build up 14, builder 10, made 3, built again + 8735 2, repair 2, set up 2, have children + 8735 1, obtain children + 8735 1, surely

1) to build, rebuild, establish, cause to continue

 

5828 `ezer { ay’-zer}

 

from 5826; TWOT - 1598a; n m

 

AV - help 19, help meet 2; 21

 

GK - 6469

1) help, succour

1a) help, succour

1b)    one who helps[2]

 

5826 `azar { aw-zar’}

 

a primitive root; TWOT - 1598; v

 

AV - help 64, helper 11, holpen 3, succour 3, variant 1; 82

 

GK - 6468

1) to help, succour, support

1a) (Qal) to help

1b) (Niphal) to be helped

1c)    (Hiphil) to help[3]

 

A brief account of the Ark

 

1. Philistines go to Aphek to attack Israel. The Israelites suffer a heavy defeat in battle.

2. Israelite messengers bring the ark to Ebenezer (the Israelite camp) believing this will save them.

3. In a second battle, the Israelites are again defeated. The ark is captured.

4. Philistines take the ark to Ashdod and keep it in the temple of Dagon. The statue of Dagon is discovered broken and a plague breaks out in the area. (Possibly bubonic plague spread by the mice of 1 Samuel 6:4–5.)

5. They send the ark to Gath . . .

6. . . . and then to Ekron. In both places, plague spreads.

7. The ark is sent back to Israel, with gifts, on a new wagon without a driver. It arrives in Beth Shemesh.

8. The Israelites are overjoyed at the return of the ark. It had been missing for 7 months.

9. The ark is moved to Kiriath Jearim, where it stays for 20 years until David moves it to Jerusalem.

 

The Blessed Presence of the Lord

 It stayed in the house of Obed Edom and his household prospered tremendously because of the help of the Lord. The Ark represented the presence of the Lord in those days. Today we do not have to build physical arks to obtain the presence of the Lord. Jeremiah prophesied and said we do not have to build one because there is an eternal ark in heaven that was the original ark and the Holy Spirit provides the presence of the Lord in our gatherings and in our lives. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

EBENEZER [ebb un EE zur] (stone of help) — the name of a place and a monument in Israel:

1. A place where Israel was defeated by the Philistines and the Ark of the Covenant was captured (1 Sam. 5:1). Its location was perhaps at modern Izbet Sarteh near Aphek.

2. A stone erected by Samuel to commemorate Israel’s victory over the Philistines. It may have been named after Ebenezer No. 1 to show that Israel’s defeat there 20 years before had been reversed (1 Sam. 7:12).

 

The previous name of Ebenezer

1033 Beyth Kar { bayth kar}

 

from 1004 and 3733;; n pr loc

 

AV - Bethcar 1; 1

 

GK - 1105

 } & 4122

 

Beth-car = “house of the ram” or “place of the lamb”

1)                a place apparently belonging to the Philistines[4]

 

3769 karar { kaw-rar’}

 

a primitive root; TWOT - 1046; v

 

AV - dance 2; 2

 

GK - 4159

1) (Pilpel) to whirl, dance

1a)    whirling, dancing (participle)[5]

 

The interpretation of the meaning

The Philistines obviously danced and whirled around because they captured the ark that represented the presence of the God of Israel. Now they knew that Israel could no longer defeat them.

 

Could this have been the reason why David danced and whirled before the ark? He ‘kararred’ before the ark, because ‘karar ‘ is a root word of ‘Bethcar’. The Name was changed to Ebenezer after the ark was taken back.

 

⁹And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the LORD: and Samuel cried unto the LORD for Israel; and the LORD heard him.  ¹⁰And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel. ¹¹And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Bethcar. ¹²Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, [6] saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.  [7]

 

The application of the message

Maybe you have faced difficult situations for twenty years and you have wondered when it would end. Today the Good News is this: if you can believe that this word is for you, if you can hear it echo in your heart, if you are willing to confess it with your mouth, it will become a reality to you as from this very moment! Faith comes by hearing the word of the Lord. When faith comes, faith produces substance for what you are hoping for. Faith brings evidence that what you are hoping for is not in vain.

 

It is time for you to take back what the enemy has stolen from you. It is time for you to enjoy the refreshing presence of the Lord again. It is time for you to know God as Ebenezer again.

 

The Word that is sure

 

As I heard that audible voice, hear it today: I am Ebenezer! Hear the voice of God in your spirit! Hear it in your mind!

 

Peter said we have a ‘Word made sure’, namely the written Word of God that is more sure than the audible voice of God, that rises in our hearts like the morning star till the day dawns and the light breaks forth. He says we should hold on to that Word until everything becomes clear!

 

I have brought the Word of the Lord to you today: Today the Lord says to you: I am Ebenezer! Believe it! Act on it!

 

The time is here for you to dance

It is time for you to rejoice and to Karar before the Lord like David did when the ark finally returned! It is your time to dance and sing, because the presence of the Lord is with you. He said I will never leave you nor forsake you. He said I will be with you till the end. He said My Spirit will be in you and He will lead and guide you like a good shepherd. He said He will show you things to come. He is your Comforter, Your Paraclete. He is your friend that sticks closer than a brother. He is your strength, your provider, your healer, your saviour and your deliverer from all kinds of evil.

 

Ebenezer is with you today!

Let us rejoice!