Good morning, we’ve reached the middle of another week. I hope God has blessed you and your household today.
We are now going to look at 1 Chronicles 3-5.
David’s sons
Chapter 3 is about the lineage of David. There were no surprises in these verses, however, when I read 3:9 it says, “besides his sons by his concubines”. (NIV).
We read of the many sons of David. Several had become kings. David was God’s anointed king. I can only guess at how many people went through their lives knowing David was their father, but not being to lay claim to it, because their mother was a concubine?
Did any of them rise to fame, having the genetic makeup of a great warrior? Were they people of faith? Or did they follow the evil paths of some of their half-brothers? We will never know, at least not here.
I wonder if in heaven we ever find these answers? We have eternity. Will we even care?
Sorrow and pain
Then in 2 Chronicles 4:9, we read of Jabez. Many of the commentaries at BibleHub. Com (1) draw attention to this man. I will draw from Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (2).
The verse says his mother named him Jabez because of his painful birth (NIV). Was it his mother’s pain? Or his? Perhaps it was the pain of all of Israel? We don’t know.
Other translations use the word sorrow. This conjures up images of Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. He cried out because of the sins of Israel.
Or even of Jesus, who we read,
“He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted. (Isa 53:3-4, NIV).
Jabez’s prayer
Our text in 2 Chronicles says Jabez was more honourable than his brothers. The chronicler considered him more honorable because he cried out to the God of Israel.
Knowing the idolatry of the people, he was crying out to the true God. Much like Jeremiah, lamenting the people’s sin.
He asks for four specific things from God: that He blesses him, enlarges his territory, has His hands on him, and keeps him from harm – easing his suffering (v4:10)
A blessing from God is a gift or talent. God gives some people gifts of prophecy, teaching, or healing.
This tells me that Jabez was not taking credit for his own accomplishments, but giving glory to God for all he had. When we do anything with our own strength, we highlight our weakness. This allows God to get the glory when He provides His strength.
Territory determined a man’s wealth in those times. I think it refers to more than land in this case. He is talking about his reach.
Modern application
I am seeing more clearly how writing is my mission field. In Marana, Arizona, I might one day preach in front of a couple of hundred people.
Combine observing the webcast. Perhaps if I gain notoriety, I might reach a few thousand.
Publication ensures a book’s lasting availability. Often becoming more significant.
George Orwell’s books had some popularity during his lifetime. Now, seventy-five years later, as we see so much of what he wrote in 1984 (3) or Animal Farm (4) coming true, they deserve another look.
Through the written word, I may share the Gospel with untold numbers of people, now and in the future.
God’s will
Having His hands on us has several implications.
When I preach, or write, I ask that it be God’s words, and not mine that people hear. I know I am nothing and all I can do is through and for Him.
So praying that God has His hands on me would give all control and dominion to Him.
This was Jabez’s prayer. He was not seeking for God to magnify himself. He was asking God to be his Lord.
His name suggests pain and suffering. Having this removed would be important to him.
Matthew Henry points out he was not asking for personal healing in this prayer. This mirrors Jesus’s prayer in Matthew 5. He is asking God to keep him from evil.
Remember, Jabez suffered because of the surrounding evil. He was empathic and knew Israel suffered for their sins.
The verse said he was more honorable because he was not seeking his own glory. Many other kings were calling on idols, hoping to enlarge themselves.
Jabez was seeking the will of God. This makes him more honorable.
Are you familiar with suffering?
Is it your own sin, or that of others, which bothers you the most?
Do you cry out only for yourself, or are you seeking God’s will for everyone?
Tomorrow we read one long chapter, 1 Chronicles 6.
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https://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_chronicles/4-9.htm
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Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible. Nelson, 1997.
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Orwell, George. 1903-1950, 1984. New American Library, 1981.
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Orwell, George. 2021. Animal Farm. Collins Classics. London, England: William Collins.
