1 Chronicles 4:10

What has been preserved here of the genealogies of the people is a moving remnant, through grace, of those who had fallen under a sad condemnation. It shows us something else: wherever there has been faith, God has blessed His people as individuals. Jabez, the son of affliction, seeking blessing in the presence of the God of Israel, did not fail to find it.

Chapter 4 gives no link to show that he was born of Judah. His name simply appears in the middle of Judah's family register. Was that border, which the LORD enlarged in answer to his prayer, named after him? If so, 1 Chronicles 2:55 supports the impression that he belonged to the family of the Kenites, who came with Israel at Moses' invitation and lived among the people of Judah. A Kenite could not claim a share in Israel on the ground that he was of Israel. Yet he might call on the God of Israel, and ask to be blessed with Israel.

Jabez began with this conviction, and so he was "more honourable than his brothers." Then he "called on the God of Israel." He knew that only the LORD could deliver him from the curse of sin. He knew, moreover, that this deliverance could be so complete that he, Jabez, would be able to be without sorrow!

God had cursed man and the earth from which he was taken (Genesis 3:17). He alone could cancel this sentence and replace it with blessing, the first proof that sorrow has ended... "I will bless you," the LORD had said to Abraham. When everything is in ruin, Jabez' faith goes back to the counsels of grace and to the promises of God... In the same way, God has abolished all the consequences of sin through Christ's sacrifice. So we can be blessed in Him with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

Here and there these genealogies highlight people whose borders God extended in the promised land. At that time most of the people had failed to conquer their inheritance... So it is with us: our spiritual borders expand in the heavenly sphere while we are on earth. To reach this we must recognise our hopeless ruin. We have shown that we cannot extend our borders ourselves. So we must show humble dependence that relies on the grace of God alone to possess them.

"Oh, that you would bless me indeed!" I wish that were our prayer all the time, wanting to receive blessing from God. Why? Just for our own personal advancement? No, first for our encouragement and strengthening, so that we can then be of help to others, because if we have blessing in our souls it is bound to flow out to others.

He does not rely on his natural energy to enlarge his borders, but rather on the power of God. This is all the more striking since he came from a family known for its energy.

The evil that brought sorrow into this world has not disappeared; it is always present. Jabez knows this well, for he does not ask that it be removed, but he wants to be kept from the evil whose existence he sees. Here again, he recognises that it is not his will, but the power of God alone that is able to keep him.

How easy it is to point the finger at someone else and be grieved because they have said or done something wrong! And how easy it is to forget our own failures. Are we grieved when we sin, when we fail? It is a mark of a tender conscience.

How could sorrow still remain in the heart of this man of God when God had granted all his requests? No doubt sorrow has not disappeared from the earth, and neither has the evil that caused it. But Jabez' heart was full of the excellent things granted to him, so it had no room for sorrow.