Title: Let's Be Noble
Contents
Let's be honorable (1 Chronicles 4:9-10)
The words of this text clearly and clearly testify to the theme of Chronicles through the person named ‘Jabez’ that if we obey God’s word, we will receive blessings, but if we disobey, we will receive tribulation. By proving that Jabez became a noble among his brothers, he is showing the way for many people in the future generations to become precious and honorable through this. Jabez was a man of godly faith who feared God and became a noble person who changed his destiny through prayer. What is God trying to teach us about the right truth through the text? What is the secret to overcoming the walls of reality and living a precious life, the way to a noble life?
1. The meaning of the name of Jabez
Jabez's birth is understood from the name his mother gave him. A person's name has various meanings when the person's parents build the joint of their child. The reason his mother named her son ‘Jabez’ can be seen in the record, “I gave birth to him through labor.” The meaning of the word Jabez is ‘toil, sorrow, affliction, pain’. This is the name his mother gave him. Regarding this, there are theories that some of the brothers were born through the pain of childbirth, or that they were crippled due to childbirth, and some scholars say that it means the suffering of life (Genesis 3:16). There are people who live according to the law of causality and retribution that people think of through the pain and suffering experienced when a person is born into this world.
2. Jabez's Prayer
Jabez overcame his fateful situation and became a valuable person. What's the secret? There are secrets to changing fate, the ability to honor life, and the spiritual principles that make life successful and rewarding. That is the prayer that we ask and ask God for. The prayer of faith is the secret, method, and power of overcoming destiny (James 5:15). Thousands of people have turned the moments of hardship and adversity in their lives into opportunities for new history through prayer. They turned stumbling blocks into stepping stones. Prayer is like an emergency exit. Even if all directions are blocked, you knock on the door of heaven believing that there is a door, and the gate of heaven will be opened to those who knock. When you pray to God during the difficult times of your life, amazing works will happen.
3. The object of prayer: the God of Israel
Jabez prayed to the God of Israel. What does 'God of Israel' mean?
First, God is with us (Genesis 32:28). God is with those who fear Him. He is the God of Jacob. Joseph became a noble man because God was with him. Second, He is a God who answers prayer. You solve the problem. The God of Israel is the one who personally answers the prayers of his chosen people and gives blessings. Third, the title “God of Israel” means the God of blessing (Genesis 32:28). God gives grace to thousands of generations to those who delight in His commandments and keep them (Exodus 20:6, Deuteronomy 5:10). God sets up those who ask Him in honor like Jabez. David also became a noble man (2 Samuel 7:9).