The word for “help” in Hebrew is “ezer”.  One of its most famous uses is in 1 Samuel 7. In recognition of the Lord’s hand in securing victory over the Philistines, Samuel erects a monument called the “eben ezer” (the stone of help).

The word often arises in the context of war and carries the sense of alliance between otherwise separate parties.  Nations will “ezer” each other to wage war against another.  Soldiers will “ezer” their commanding officer to give him a victory.

Most often, though, God is the subject of the verb “ezer”.  He allies with his people to bring them out of hostile and uncertain circumstances. Without his help, defeat, failure, and even death would undoubtedly ensue.  With it, however, success and prosperity result. 

So, the help on view when this word is used is essential help.  It’s more than just the helping hand that may make an achievable task easier. Without “ezer”, plans would be doomed and progress thwarted.

Perhaps the most striking use of the word, however, is in Genesis 2. Up to this point in the Bible’s story, humanity has not experienced war or conflict. Hostility or aggression did not feature before sin’s inception into world affairs.

But in Genesis 2, a complication arises. Even within the very good order of God’s creation, something is deemed not good: man’s aloneness. God gave man the task of working the garden and caring for it. He delegated a creative responsibility to man to develop and sustain the creation God had made. And yet, it was evident that this responsibility could not be satisfied alone. It was work that required partnership. Man needed an “ezer”. Of course, the grand climax of the narrative is the creation of woman, and her introduction to the scene is a cause for monumental rejoicing!

The critical point of this is that man can’t live life alone. He is a dependent creature who needs help.  It does not mean every man needs a wife or that every woman needs a husband. But it does mean we all need support from outside ourselves to live well. The individualistic pursuit of fundamental independence is a project that will fail. But when we live in partnership with one another, serving each other in our differences and deficiencies, that’s when we find how life is meant to be lived.

It is beautiful for God to give us other people to help us in and through life. Indeed, his gift of the church to support and encourage us in faith is vital.  But before all that, we need to recognise how he has given us himself.  He is our “ezer”, and life is best lived when we entrust ourselves to his goodness.  In him, we find sustenance for all eternity.