49 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
49 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
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title = "1 Chronicles 4:1–23"
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date = "2023-09-06"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/1Chronicles4.1-23)
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I suppose chapter 4 begins with the end of the genealogy of Judah. Many more
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names are given that we haven't seen before. More families are filled out and
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we find out where various clans come from.
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In the middle of the genealogy, we are given a little vignette from the life of
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a man named Jabez. It's been about twenty years, but I remember all the hype
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caused by the book _The Prayer of Jabez_. It's a theological disaster,
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encouraging people to treat the Lord of the Universe as a prosperity-dispensing
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genie. So of course the religious unbelievers jumped all over it and the
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spiritually immature were swept up in the fervor. But that doesn't mean we
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can't learn from Jabez's life and example.
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We are told, rather suddenly, that Jabez was more honorable than his brothers.
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I don't see any of his other family members mentioned anywhere, so it's doubly
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strange that we are told about him here. However, he did have a city named
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after him, which showed up back in 1 Chronicles 2:55, where the clans of
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scribes lived. We are also told that the name Jabez was a reminder of the
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extraordinary pain his mother experienced while delivering him, which I can
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imagine was not a fun thing to grow up with.
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Jabez's prayer is actually a fine thing to pray. The Lord delights in blessing
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His people. We need His hand to be upon us to guide us through our lives.
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"Harm" could also be translated "evil", which is certainly something we want to
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avoid. The expanding borders are a little trickier. According to [an
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article](https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/real-prayer-jabez) by Steven
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Lawson, Jabez was part of the army that conquered Canaan in Joshua's time. In
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order for Jabez's borders to be enlarged, Israel's enemies would have to be
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defeated, which is something the Lord had made clear He would help them do.
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Altogether, God answered Jabez's prayer not because it was a magic formula, or
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Jabez's faith was so amazing, but because He chose to glorify Himself to do so.
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Prayer is more about changing us to get lined up with what God wants us to have
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and be, rather than changing God to get what we want.
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After this we get more names, some of which are famous. Othniel was the first
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judge of Israel, after Joshua. And we finally see Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
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Other names are linked with cities, clans, and trade-guilds.
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* * *
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Bless us, O Lord, according to Your good pleasure, for we are undeserving
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sinners.
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