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THE DESIRE OF JABEZ GRANTED or SORROW'S CALL If any man speak, let him speak as the Oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4: 11
Jabez means 'sorrow or sadness'. Long ago in Israel lived a man named Jabez. Jabez was a descendant of Judah who was a descendant of Jacob. His name is little known even as his story is so little in evidence
in these modern times. Yet from all the names in the world there are those who can be found in the tradition of this honourable man - Jabez.
We find his account in that little read book of the Bible - famous for name after name after name - the book of 1 Chronicles. In two verses that speak volumes i.e.
Today humanity is obsessed with keeping records on the lives and activities of people. There are records from the cradle to the grave. In the UK the DVLA now insists on seeing your passport or birth certificate or
status of citizenship and to add to all that a photograph of you before you can be licensed just to drive a rusting motor vehicle! Computerisation is making this more easily practicable and indeed possible. God
who is greater than any computer database system, no matter how sophisticated, has always kept very detailed records of the lives of men and women. There is no one who can or has escaped God's trusty log
book of individual souls that have been born, lived and died. Think of that - no one! Even the most sophisticated recording systems and record-obsessed, corporations or countries can never boast that
claim. Were they to achieve recording every single soul alive on the planet today, their records would lack the archive data of souls that went before.
The God of Israel notes those who have rejected Him and he notes those who have trusted Him fully for salvation and a new life. God has his own perspective on the world as we have our own different
perspectives on God. From God's perspective the world is full of names - those written in the Book of Life and those who are not. Dear reader consider, if mankind has found it necessary to record the births ,
marriages, rights and deaths of each other do you not at the same time consider that God keeps his own accurate records ? I have been asked on several occasions, Do you think my employer has a record or file
on me ? Of course they do - every responsible Corporation does. Your file is kept in their Personnel Department and from time to time someone pulls it out and has a look. Think of all those institutions that
are looking at your personal details. Think of the times you have received unsolicited mail from loan sharks and other marketing sharks and just where did they get your personal details from! God knows us all by
our names - i.e. individually. Names mark out our individuality from that of the next name. Think of how many times you have had to write your name or had requests for it - the list is practically endless.
What does God think about you when he looks up his records and pulls out his file on you? What do you think a perfect, sinless, Holy God thinks ? The thought is indeed awesome.
The happy end of a man named 'sorrow' gives us a joyful hope and insight into the character of the truly penitent or repenting person and God's very gracious response.
'And his mother called him Jabez saying, because I bare him in sorrow '
It is a surprising and striking thing for a mother, especially a Jewish mother to name her son in a patriarchal society - 'Sorrow'. A mother bearing a son was typically a very joyful event, notwithstanding the
pain of childbirth. Yet, this mother was bent on the name 'sorrow' or 'sadness' for her son. Why ? The Bible does not tell us the specific details except to say that she was very sorrowful while she was
pregnant. Jabez's mother emphasised the true state of the mother of all mothers - Eve. In Genesis 3:16 Eve is told '
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children '.
Jabez's mother experienced this in a special way. Eve, the very first mother of all was cursed with this problem following her joint disobedience in the Garden of Eden. All the sons and daughters of Eve are
therefore born in sorrow and sadness of sin. In this sense therefore all mothers bear their children in sorrow and in this sense all born to woman could equally be named 'Sorrow'.
Jabez from his birth was therefore saddled with a rather sad and depressing name. That is indeed true of all of us. What a difference there would be if there were no sorrow in life! Yet we are born in depressing
circumstances in a race fallen not evolving. Ah, how convenient it is for some 'scientists' to believe we are
evolving into a better species. The theory of evolution is like two lumps of sugar in a cup of rather bitter tea
but the Gospel of Jesus Christ is refreshing with an entirely different taste! Firstly, how can anyone in this
fallen world pretend that it is not a world of sorrow. A man born blind and deaf knows it. It is impossible to evade this striking truth whether you are a millionaire or sadly destitute on the streets. You may enjoy
excellent health or you may be very poorly indeed reaching for the last breath of this life. Whoever, wherever or whatever you are and do sorrow and sadness will find you even if you do not care to find it.
Thus it has been since records began and before, thus it is today and it is certain thus it shall be as long
as this present world continues - no matter if you pour all the sugar into all the cups of sorrow it will never be sweet. Why this pessimistic view? Dear reader, because there is death! And why is there death? Because there
is sin. That is the sorrow of it all. No death no sorrow, no sin no death - what a package! From the time we are born we are in the land of the shadow of death. Death casts its ugly shadow over the good and evil,
young and old, rich and poor, the ugly and the beautiful. We are literally born to die. Even the most optimistic atheist must conclude that there is something rotten in tasting the goodness of life only to lose
it and then - uncertainty. Even the most hardened self confident atheist must at some time or other have thought about this seemingly bizarre anomaly and then by some remarkable magical illusion brushed it
aside until the next time the dreaded thought surfaces. I work next to one of the largest undertakers I know of in London. Their line of coffin surpasses all the
others I have seen. I have seen coffins that remind me of a Rolls Royce or a BMW or a Jaguar but I have never seen anyone 'window shopping'. I have yet to see someone stop their car or simply stop and rush to
the window with their credit card and reserve one of the products. Yet this is a necessary and inevitable purchase for everyone unless death meets us in extraordinary circumstances. The undertakers who work
in the Death business are remarkable characters, even though they are in a sure line of business they try to keep up to date with the latest marketing techniques. They polish the coffins in the window to a gleam
(you can see your faces in them) and deck them out with incredible skill but they mainly succeed in offending the passing public. Deeply there is a desire to protest but instinctively those who pass are faced
with a certain unpalatable truth about the necessity for the trade. Rushing in to a meeting one morning with few minutes left to make it in good time, I noticed that the traffic
was barely moving. I looked out to see whether I could determine the reason for the 'crawl' but for some time was left mystified and frustrated. I sensed that other drivers shared my frustration and a few sweaty
hands were sliding across the horns to alert the offenders up front that there was traffic stuck behind. This
went on for a long time. All drivers will appreciate with remarkable empathy what it's like to be stuck at a point of traffic you expect and usually experience on other busy morning to be clear. Now you are going to
be late and you are convinced that it is because someone up front has not appreciated the urgency of the rush hour! I later found the cause - to my own embarrassment I found it was a funeral! Someone was being
taken to the cemetery to be buried and this was a good route to get there. It does seem at times as if motor vehicles exude the personalities of their drivers because I could see vehicles that looked as it they
were embarrassed. The hooting hushed out and the steamy anger quelled - drivers with any conscience that morning experienced sorrow both, from the BMW to the humble Lada.
Death is the big cause of grief but the thing that leads to death i.e. sin is the source and the greatest pain.
It makes us live a living death. Mankind's sin is indisputably the very cause of all our grief and sorrows.
The lie that is told that destroys another person's reputation and livelihood, the anger that blazes out without reason or sense, the pride that stinks for all to see except the very one who caused the stink -
me! Hate that kills my friend and neighbour - another nation! Lust that burns and will not learn satisfaction! Greed that grabs and thinks only of self and own and kin - enslaves another nation!
Violence, secrets and lies, jealousy, unkindness, unfairness, sheer wickedness ! Self confidence and self conceit, unnatural passion and deceit. Idolatry - worships everything but God - career idols, pop idols,
hobby idols, sporting idols, education idols, 'keeping up with the Jones' idols. Money idols, theoretical idols, - all kinds of idols, even 'Christian' religious idols.
There is so much sin that the whole earth is literally buried under its weight. The whole media brings us no
relief, it simply pumps out the filth in increasing quantities. It is being manufactured in hearts and lives, in
relationships, in homes, in workplaces, educational establishments, in social groups, in villages, towns, cities, countries, islands, continents governments, internationally!
That is how it is today, that is how it was in Jabez's time. There is nothing new under the sun when we look at man's sinful nature. The same sins that fouled up ancient societies and lives are the very same
ones that modern so called 'sophisticated man' continue to stumble over. What! all this modern technology and learning and yet we cannot deal with the most basic sin in our lives? We continue to fail
even according to our own plumb line. Even the most hardened atheist will be faced with the simplest truth that s/he cannot keep to his own pre-determined standards of morality. Yes, even with all that evolution
happening - nothing has changed - it seems in many ways to be getting worse! Jabez was a man who understood all this very well. Jabez although saddled with the unfortunate name of 'sorrow' did not seek to
change his name by Deed Poll. Many people who consider that they have been saddled with a rather unfortunate name seek to change it -
but we cannot evade the whole sorry episode of sin in our lives by any effort we may care to make. The problem is not with man making the effort to get out of the whole mess of his sin - many have tried through
one way or another to do so. How do you account for the many different religions and philosophies? Are they not all different attempts? One of the biggest modern attempts is through scientific empiricism,
rationalism, logic etc. Today we conduct statistical studies to show incidence of crime, divorce, child abuse, pornography, drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, racial and sexual harassment etc. All this data gets
recorded somewhere but what does it achieve? As the wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, has told us - it simply leads to more sorrow and more books i.e. data. He says the increase of knowledge is the
increase of sorrow. Now in every one of these ' carefully researched' studies there is usually a conclusion / summary and recommendations with 'lessons to be learned' but sin continues stronger than ever, divorce
rises, adultery seems more in fashion and practised today than at any other time , children continue to be abused, money continues to flow into the bank accounts of drug barons, the rich get richer and the poor
gets poorer. Sin is very elusive. No electronic devises to identify, monitor, track it and kill it. No drug on the market to
alleviate, treat or cure it. You can't even see it. Not everything that has impact on our physical world is visible. Indeed the things of greatest impact on mankind are in their source form invisible to man. How
helpful it would be to see that lie being manufactured in the human heart, or to stop the conception of lust, hatred or pride that destroys families and nations. No research seems aimed at tackling the corruption of
sin or to deal with its effects or consequences and yet it is the greatest danger faced by all mankind! Remarkably, people are shocked at atrocities - it is as if they didn't realise that man was a helpless sinner
! In Western developed so called 'civilised' societies where the subtleties of sin can be evidenced in 'deceptive' art form, people are horrified when confronted by the fact that they are sinners. Sin makes us
deceive ourselves about the truth. What me? No, not me I'm not like that! Sin makes us self-righteous even when we practice the highest forms of wickedness. Sin and its consequences are universal, invasive,
unnatural and yet seemingly natural to our desires. We love sin and we hate sin but we can't even control our sin. When there is an attempt to suppress sin in one area it comes bursting out in another area - like
the sea in the leaking dam wall that the little Dutch boy tried to contain with his finger! Self confident we may be sailing through the waters of life's ocean like the Titanic that 'could never sink' but soon the
unseen icebergs smash our keel and once the water gets in - the inevitable happens we sink! Jabez thought long and hard about the name he had been given and he was indeed sorrowful. It takes a
realist to see that his heart and life is in a sorry sad state, that the world is not right and everyone is affected by this dreadful disease of sin. Jabez faced up squarely to the meaning of his name. He then
thought about his great need. 'And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying O that Thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that Thine hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldest keep me from evil that it may not grieve me! '
Here is a man who knows that he has a great need and he knows exactly what he needs and what a striking prayer he prays. Have you ever prayed a prayer like this? Do you find this a strange sort of prayer?
There are so many people who claim to pray or appear to pray. We are by nature conversational and relational beings. We like to find someone's ear to bend when we have a problem and even the most
reserved and withdrawn longs to find some person to relate to, someone who understands his case and his need. You therefore find this sort of relationship even in prisons among murderers and terrorists. We
seek in our inner being for that 'one' who will understand us but we do not seek God on his terms, nor do we seek him out naturally. We would rather seek some human source. There are even those who prefer to
seek this level of relationship with pets - animals. Whilst it is a good thing to treat our pets with care, compassion and affection we cannot ever expect to secure a satisfying relationship with them such that
we cannot even secure from others who are created in the image of God! Jabez realised that he could only be helped and blessed by one person i.e. the very God of Israel.
He pleads for blessings, enlargement i.e. greater understanding. He wants to understand spiritually the meaning and purpose of life and death. He wants guidance and help, he wants the presence of Israel's
God without whom he cannot enjoy these blessings. He wants to have his sin dealt with, he wants 'shot of
it' - to be rid of its terrible dominion, effects and curse upon his life. If I can be rid of my sin, have it dealt with, subdued, conquered, then I can really be enlarged and blessed indeed. I can walk with God and
experience what it is to be made in the image and likeness of God and what true joy is. Sorrow wants to become Joy! Before we can begin to deal with our sorrowful state we must understand that only one Person can help
and that Person is the God of Israel - there is no other god beside the God of Israel. There is only one way that we can come for deliverance and salvation and it is through Jesus Christ. There is no other name in
heaven or on earth by which we can be saved. This is not a bargaining or negotiating point - it is an absolute necessity since only Christ the Son of God - Israel's God, has any power to rescue us from sin
and sorrow. The God of Israel is the God who renamed Jacob 'Israel'. Israel wrestled with this Mighty God until he was blessed. He is also the God of Abraham, in whom all nations and people would be blessed.
Abraham means 'father of many nations'. The God of Israel was that same God that David would trust in when he confronted and defeated Goliath that confident formidable warrior . He is the God who has a
history of dealing with men and women. He was with the people of Israel as a nation, he is with all peoples who trust in Christ for salvation, such as have been blessed with forgiveness and new life. The God of
Israel has power to conquer death, to kill and make alive, to heal, forgive, bless. This God can bring joy out of sorrow, life out of death, strength out of weakness. He is a holy God, compassionate, full of love -
hating with absolute intensity all sin. Jabez considered the history of his people and the history of God's dealings with them and he called with a great desire,
Our greatest need, our greatest necessity is for Divine blessing. It is only this kind of blessing that can reverse the effects of the fall, the curse, sin and death! But what is blessing, what does it mean to be
blessed? It is to receive God's free gift of forgiveness and mercy. We cannot be blessed until we have been forgiven. Forgiven of what? Of sin, the sin that makes us die! Our father Adam sinned and we have
inherited the curse of sorrows - sin. We have lived under its penalty, been sold out like slaves to it. It is our
master and it will not let us go free, unless a stronger Master, should defeat, destroy capture and deliver us from its effects. We have a master - the Devil. Surely you are not telling me I am a slave of the Devil.
Dear reader we are all the Devil's slaves till we are rescued by the One who has defeated the Devil i.e. the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus rescues us and he buys us back. That is what was happening when an innocent Jew called Jesus of Nazareth was put to death in Israel some 2000 years ago - that is how we account for the very
millennium we approach. By our common parent Adam sin entered and sorrows so by one Man - the Man Christ Jesus, the Son of God, life and hope and eternal joy! That is why we communicate the Gospel. It is
good news to men and women, boys and girls who are here in this 'land of the shadow of death'. The good news is Christ was born of a virgin, and he was called 'Sorrow' , man of sorrows. Isaiah tells us 'He is
despised and rejected of men , a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief ' We end our look at Jabez with another man called 'Sorrow'. This man unlike Jabez was able to enter into a
world of sorrow, experience sorrow - yet he caused no sorrow being without sin. The only sorrow he works is the necessary sorrow that leads us to repentance i.e. to be truly sorry for our sinful lives and to turn to
him for rescue. Yet what a name for One who is God!. God entered into our world of sorrow to rescue us from sorrow? What a deed - what remarkable love. Beyond doubt we see that God has a great heart of
love toward the children of sorrow who stumble in this world. Why else should he have cared to come and to suffer such sorrow and grief? I cannot describe what Jesus of Nazareth bore in pain and suffering in the
place of every sinner who would be rescued by him - I simply cannot understand it myself. The Apostles and early Christians and indeed any person who has experienced his remarkable salvation sees it as a
great mystery of love - matchless love. What a great wickedness it is therefore to reject such remarkable love from the One who made all things, who is Himself offended and grieved by our sorry acts and state of sin!
Jabez prayed a vitally necessary prayer, he prayed a true and genuine prayer, he prayed a desperate from the heart, he prayed an exemplary prayer. Is the prayer of Jabez your prayer for the whole of life? Yet the
story does not end there - Jabez did not pray a vain or pointless prayer that went unheard. We are told that something remarkable and supernatural happened that would fill him with hope, certainty and joy for
the rest of his life and all eternity: 'And God granted him that which he requested'. Copyright Biblically Speaking
1 Chronicles 4: 9 And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.
I Chronicles 4: 10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand
might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested. Biblically Speaking (Copyright) 1999, Karl Thompson |
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ISSUE No. 7, August 1999
