EBENEZER VERSUS ICHABOD

Greetings literature fans...or as Billy Graham would say it...
LIT..era..ture.

Meet Ebenezer Scrooge. He is the brainchild of good old Charles Dickens who wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843. He describes Ebenezer..."The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and he spoke shrewdly in his grating voice." Aaaaahhh...just the type of man that you would want to know...or maybe be. Of course the story is a familiar one that has been reduced to celluloid impressions with various movies, T.V. shows and retellings. He is visited by the 3 Ghosts of Christmas (Past, Present, and Yet To Come). As a result he has a life changing experience...as he went from Bah Humbug...to being giddy.

Meet Ichabod Crane... the brainchild of Washington Irving who wrote the short story...The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in 1820. Ichabod is described as having big ears, big nose and a long frame. Irving is also famous for his character Rip Van Winkle.. but that is another Rambling in the making. Ichabod also has been immortalized in the celluloid with everything from Disney remakes to Johnny Deep as a detective investigating the Sleepy Hollow shenanigans.

Ebenezer and Ichabod were mentioned centuries before Dickens and Irving penned their masterpieces. The Dickens you say? Yes and the Irving also.

One mention is redemptive and the other tragic...much like the two stories.

In The Christmas Carol... Mr. Scrooge went from being a miserable...chain forging...prisoner of his own past...who when he experienced his visitations...REPENTED...had a change of heart and became a changed man. For the rest of his life...he was able to look back at that fateful night...and walk out his present that not only changed his future...but all the people that he came into contact with in his world.

Ichabod on the other hand...motivated by his anxiety, worry, and tension...and mostly his fear of the unknown, superstition...and probable harassment by his rival Brom Bones (both had a thang for Katrina van Tassel)...had a dubious end...with either an attach by an apparition...or run out of Sleepy Hollow...NEVER TO BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.

Well...come on Ramblin' Rod...we are waiting. How are you gonna bring this back around to the D.B.R. nothing more...nothing less. How are you gonna make the Bible Connection with Eb and Ich? I'm glad you asked. Let's check out the two references in the Word of God.


Ichabod is mention in I Samuel 4:21,22..."And she named the child ICHABOD...saying, "THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED; because the Ark of God (aka Ark of the Covenant) was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED from Israel, for the ARK OF GOD WAS TAKEN."

The ark represented the presence of God...the place where the GLORY would rest. The name Ichabod became synonymous with DEPARTED GLORY. Much like the fate of Ichabod Crane. No glory...no Katriana van Tassel...only shame, possible death, and disgrace.
We see in Acts 3:19 what happens in the presence of the Lord...and how we get there..."Repent (change of heart, mind, direction, actions)...and return (come back)...that your sins may be WIPED AWAY...in order that TIMES OF REFRESHING may come from THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD." Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh...now that's refreshing. A lot better than having a Jack-O-Lantern hurled at your cranium from a ghostly figure. Glory may have been departed from your life...but you can RETURN...and become REFRESHED again.

Ebenezer is found in I Samuel 7:12..."Then Samuel took a STONE (stone of help)...and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it (the stone) EBENEZER,saying, THUS FAR THE LORD HAS HELPED US."

The Ebenezer Stone was a touchstone...for Samuel and the people of God...to look back to as a stone of REMEMBRANCE...that the event in which God moved on their behalf BACK THEN...is a reminder that He can move on our behalf NOW...and in the FUTURE. Scrooge... after a night of introspection...REPENTED...had a change of direction...and now EBENEZER...had an EBENEZER...that would remind him of where he was...and where he is...and where he is going. The EBENEZER STONE keeps us focusing on the FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.

So...what do you want...departed glory or a reminder that GOD IS FAITHFUL?

It was the best of times...and the worst of times...but with JESUS...the worst of times...keep on gettin' better.

Love and Ebenezer Kisses (you must REMEMBER this)
Rodney "Duck" Boyd