Ebenezer in a Dream

July 16, 2025July 12, 2025Todd R 2 Comments

In the ESV Bible, the phrase “but God” appears in the narrative 43 times, changing the direction of the story. Ebenezer the squirrel, the blog’s mascot, represents these memorials of God’s intervention in the world and in our lives. As a squirrel can unexpectedly draw our attention, I write about these moments to draw our attention to God as a reminder that adding God to our circumstances can change everything. One of the times the words “but God” appears is in Genesis 20:3, which says:

“But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, ‘Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.’”

This “but God” Ebenezer comes during Abraham’s sojourn in Gerar, where Abimelech was king. Similar to an earlier story from Genesis 12, Abraham lies and says his wife Sarah is his sister in order to stay out of trouble. In this case, Abraham explains his reason for lying as: “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’”[1] Ironically, Abraham inadvertently here proved there was no fear of God in his own life at this moment, by prioritizing an assumption he had made about Abimelech’s character above the absolute knowledge of God’s character, who does not lie. Be careful about what you’re certain of. It might be wrong.

Just like each of us, even the heroes of our faith are not perfect and seek their own means of finding prosperity apart from God. How God deals with them therefore reveals His grace with real people, and also has lessons we can learn from. In response to this “but God” dream, Abimelech returns Sarah to Abraham to avoid sinning with her. The dream revealed the power of God to Abimelech, who “took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him.”[2] Abimelech even gave Abraham 1,000 pieces of silver and told Sarah it was “a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.”[3]

Ebenezer, the ‘but God’ squirrel, is behind more than you know.

Although Abraham ended up shamed by this situation, God ended up glorified. God was always in control, even when Abraham was faithless. Of this story, the Life Application Study Bible notes: “How many times has God done the same for us, holding us back from sin in ways we can’t even detect? We have no way of knowing—we just know from this story that he can. God works just as often in ways we can’t see as in ways we can.” In other words, there are often many Ebenezers we are not even aware of. We may benefit from “but God” moments in the lives of others, as Abraham did with Abimelech. Therefore, next time you see a squirrel (or the next 100 times), thank God for His many mercies toward you that you haven’t even noticed.

“God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” – John Piper

[1] Genesis 20:12
[2] Genesis 20:14
[3] Genesis 20:16

Don’t Ignore Ebenezer Today

July 14, 2025July 12, 2025Todd R Leave a comment

Reminders of God’s word can guide our daily lives, but only if we follow those reminders. Earlier, I introduced the blog’s mascot, “Ebenezer, the ‘But God…’ Squirrel.” Ebenezer is a reminder that however difficult or frustrating our situation, if we actively and intentionally inject God into the situation, He can and will show us the best way forward. However, what if we try to say “But God” but take the wrong path anyway? If we do, we are not alone.

A search of the exact words “but God” in the ESV Bible gives 43 results, and the first one is found in Genesis 3:3, which says “but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” This verse occurs when the serpent in the garden questions God’s word that Adam and Eve were limited by God in what they should and shouldn’t do. Eve, the speaker in the quote above, responds rightly that God had been specific about what not to do. As most of my readers will know, even though Eve knew God’s word, the serpent was able to convince her to ignore it.

As they say in the financial industry, “past performance is no guarantee of future results,” but I will guarantee anyway that today and every day every one of us face temptation to do something God wants to protect us from. I also am confident of the words “but God…” that “If you recall them daily and live by them, they will transform your life completely,” as I quoted earlier from James Montgomery Boice. But we must live by them to be transformed by God, not just quote them.

Today, pray that we all would be distracted by God’s word as easily as we are sometimes distracted by a passing squirrel when we are tempted to ignore His voice in our souls. And if God delivers you from temptation today, make a note, a perpetual “stone of help” that God’s word is good!

Keep an eye out for Ebenezer as an ongoing series here, covering the 43 direct “but God” references, but also others.

The Last Enemy is Death

June 12, 2025Todd R 2 Comments

In life there are many difficult questions, and two of the hardest are also common objections to Christianity: 1) Why doesn’t God do anything about the evil in this world? and 2) Why do bad things happen to good people?

However, the Bible does not leave Christians without hope in the face of these questions.

First, part of what God is doing about the evil in this world is the fact that everyone dies. The Bible teaches that every bad thing in this world is a result of sin – people deviating from God’s purposes – and that because of that sin the world is cursed[1]. Not only do people hurt each other, but the creation itself, including human nature, is not in its ideal state.

Death was not originally part of this world, but came in to the world as a result of sin and is a constant reminder of it. In Genesis chapter 5, there is a genealogy from Adam to Noah. The phrase “and he died” is repeated over and over again and is a reminder that this world is not perfect. God created a consequence for the sin of mankind: death. While the Bible doesn’t explain why there was a snake in the garden or why Adam and Eve sinned, it does describe what God is doing about it. When we ask why bad things happen, we acknowledge that bad things exist, that they shouldn’t exist, and that they can happen to anyone. God isn’t doing nothing about the evil in the world – we all die and that is part of the judgment.

So, the two objections to Christianity (Why doesn’t God do anything about the evil in this world? and why do bad things happen to good people?) end up being contradictory because part of what God does about the evil in this world is that bad things (death) happen to everyone.

However, the Bible teaches that there are two deaths: a physical death and a spiritual death. In the first, our soul is separated from our body and our body dies. In the second, our soul is separated from God eternally and our soul dies but exists forever away from God’s presence and blessings. A second thing that God is doing about the evil in this world is that the first death is universal, but the second death is not.

Fortunately, judgement and death aren’t the only things God is doing about sin. What does this mean? Note the second half of God’s curse on the serpent from Genesis 3:15 –

“I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

Who is being bruised here? In the last phrase, Satan is injuring Christ through the crucifixion, but it’s described as a wound to the heel because it is not fatal. Jesus was raised to life eternal. On the other hand, Christ shall bruise the head of Satan – a fatal blow that he will never recover from. This was determined from the beginning.

While judgement comes to all in physical death as a result of sin, through Christ there is a way out from spiritual, eternal death. Jesus has paid the price for our sin and has conquered eternal, spiritual death as a result.

“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” – 1 Corinthians 15:26

Praise God!

[1] See Genesis 3:19 and 3:22

Sodom and Gomorrah’s Selfishness

May 29, 2025Todd R 1 Comment

Fellow travelers,

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah from the book of Genesis is well-known even to many who aren’t religious. Genesis 18 and 19 describe the two cities as extremely wicked, specifically mentioning homosexuality and rape. The English term “sodomy” even comes from the name of the city of Sodom. In the Genesis story, Lot and some of his family escape based on Abraham pleading with God for them, “Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.” (Genesis 19:24-25). This is the most well-known part of the story, and some explanations of why the cities were destroyed found on the internet and elsewhere say Genesis has the “full account” of the story. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for their excessive sexual sins.

However, there is more.

Ezekiel, a prophet to Jews captive in Babylon centuries after Sodom was destroyed, said: “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.” (Ezekiel 16:49-50). Ezekiel was describing the sins of Judah to explain why they had been sent into exile from their Promised Land and said they don’t compare favorably even to Sodom. Surprisingly, Ezekiel doesn’t even mention any sexual sins in this description. Not that these sins were irrelevant, but in Ezekiel’s view, Sodom would have been destroyed even without them. Sodom’s other sins were also abominations.

What’s the point? I can’t say it any better than the Life Application Study Bible, which notes on Ezekiel 16:49: “Sodom was destroyed because of its pride, laziness, gluttony, and unconcern for the poor and needy. It is easy to be selective in what we consider gross sin. If we do not commit such horrible sins as adultery, homosexuality, stealing, and murder, we may think we are living good enough lives.”

We can’t pick and choose which sins are more or less deserving of God’s judgement, because in His holiness and justice, He must and will judge all sin. While “lifestyle” sins without repentance may be more dangerous to a church or congregation, even sins we may not consider extreme are dangerous as well. Ezekiel’s point is that selfishness and a disregard for those in need should be repented of as much as any other sin. Ezekiel wrote, “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it,” but he also wrote that Judah would be restored by a coming Messiah, the Christ.

That restoration comes through Christ’s sacrifice for all sins, and anyone can have salvation through faith, which drives us to confession and repentance. As John wrote in 1 John 1:8-10, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

At the end of our journey, all of God’s people will be cleansed of all of their sins, not just the most noticeable ones, because “he is faithful.” Not because any of us are less sinful than others.

God Overcomes the Green-Eyed Monster

March 20, 2025March 19, 2025Todd R Leave a comment

In Shakespeare’s play Othello, the evil Iago says the line: “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! / It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock / The meat it feeds on.”[1]

Jealousy can be a monster that takes control of us if we aren’t careful, so since at least 1603, people have been describing this powerful emotion as being taken over by the “green-eyed monster.” What is this emotion? Merriam-Webster says we are jealous when we feel “hostile toward a rival or one believed to enjoy an advantage.”[2] Even though jealousy is a hostile emotion, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,”[3] so He must be able to work through the green-eyed monster.

The first use of the word jealousy in the ESV Bible comes from Genesis 37:11, which begins with: “And [Joseph’s] brothers were jealous of him.” This jealousy came from the favoritism Joseph’s father Jacob showed toward Joseph over his 11 brothers, but also the dreams Joseph shared where his family was bowing to him. So, in Genesis 37:19-20, the brothers “said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.’” But Joseph was rescued and ended up in charge of Egypt’s food supply during a famine, enabling him, through God’s providence, to feed and save the rest of his family. Therefore, what started as jealousy resulted in Israel’s deliverance from famine. Joseph tells his brothers: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 50:20)

Later, in the New Testament, jealousy was a cause of the persecution of the early Christian church. Acts 13:44-45 says “The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him” and Acts 17:4-5 says “And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.” (Emphases added)

The apostle Paul was quite aware of this fierce jealousy, but instead of getting upset and annoyed about it, he knew that God would use it for the good of His people. In fact, while Paul knew his ministry to the Gentiles provoked jealous feelings among Jews, he also hoped jealousy would bring some Jews to faith in Christ: “Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.” (Romans 11:13-14)

But the biggest example of God working through jealousy and its relative, envy, can be found at the cross. Pharisees and other religious leaders of Jesus’ day were jealous of the crowds that followed Him, of the authority He wielded, and of the miracles He performed. Therefore, they plotted against Jesus to silence Him, and when they finally seized Him and turned Him over to Pilate, the Roman governor of the region, Matthew 27:18 records that Pilate “knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.” What began as jealousy led to the cross and the only way our sins could be paid for was fulfilled!

Jealousy remains a harmful emotion, and God never creates evil in us, but jealous feelings not only resulted in the temporal salvation of Israel from famine and eternal salvation for some Jews in the New Testament, but jealousy also contributed to the crucifixion of Jesus, which made all salvation possible. When Paul wrote “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,” it included God overcoming “all things.” Even jealousy, the green-eyed monster.

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/top-10-phrases-from-shakespeare
[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jealous
[3] Romans 8:28