[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during December 2023]
December is here. Three weeks of frantic activity by those who cried ‘Too soon!’ but who are now bemoaning ‘Too late!’. Then, like the Bible narrative, things go quiet after Christmas. There is, of course, a precedent for taking a trip to Egypt but that country has already offered respite to more than its fair share of refugees this year.
In the first book of Samuel we read of events following the sacking of Shiloh in around 1090BC. Shiloh had been the geographical focus of Israel’s religious life but the nation had become complacent about its relationship with God. Once again the nation of Israel was at war with the Philistines and things had not gone well for them.
Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield.
1 Samuel 4 v2 [NIVUK]
Matters took a turn for the worse:
Israel was defeated, and they fled, every man to his home. And there was a very great slaughter, for thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell. The ark of God was captured
1 Samuel 4 v10-11 [ESV]
The nation of Israel had, not for the first time, suffered a national disaster. Why had they, who considered themselves to be God’s chosen people, been so roundly defeated? Even worse, they had allowed God to be humiliated in the sight of the people around them. How could there be anything good about that?
The scale of the disaster made the nation of Israel return to God. They renounced the foreign religious practices which had crept into their society and devoted themselves to serve the Lord exclusively. The representatives of the people asked the prophet Samuel to intercede on behalf of the nation.
So that brings us to Ebenezer, but not the one often associated with a certain English novelist at this time of year.
Samuel took a single rock and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it “Ebenezer” (Rock of Help), saying, “This marks the place where God helped us.”
1 Samuel 7 v12 [MSG]
A rock can be an arid trip-hazard or it can offer a place of respite and security. The psalmist chose the latter option:
In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
Psalm 62:7 [NKJV]
In 1776 the English parson Augustus Toplady had a similar experience, which led to him writing the words of what became a well-known hymn:
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in thee.
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Last week’s reflection: Not All It Seems
Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © the Author
Dear Steve;
Thanks for the reminder to find a quiet resting place in this season. Advice well worth taking on my part.
Hi Steve
Which refugees has Egypt taken in this year. We have not heard of any Palestinian refugees being given any sanctuary although aid to Gaza is entering via the Egypt Gaza border. If at least some of the Palestinian civilians were given a place to go there would obviously be fewer casualties as Israel systematically tries to remove HAMAS. I suppose the Egyptians fear terrorists hidden in the crowds crossing the border into their land.
Quotation from the UN High Commission for Refugees:
“Egypt hosts around 430,000 registered refugees and asylum-seekers from 59 nationalities. As of October 2023, the Sudanese nationality has become the top nationality, followed by Syrians. Other relevant countries of origin include South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Yemen, Somalia and Iraq.” (https://www.unhcr.org/eg/about-us/refugee-context-in-egypt) Other sources suggest that the number of unregistered refugees could be as much as nine million.
The reluctance of Egyptian authorities to accept Palestinian refugees is understandable, for the reason you suggest, but there have also been ‘Third Country’ nationals seeking to leave Gaza via Egypt.