1 Chronicles 4:5-5:17
1Chr. 4:5-43
So you're reading all of these names and suddenly you come to 4:9-10. Before, when I used to preach on Jabez, I would have someone read 4:1-10, because you could hear the monotony break when you got to verse 9. But then I stopped doing that because no one could really read those hard-to-pronounce names anyway.
Vs. 9-10 When I returned to the States in 2001, I was stunned to hear that BW had written a book called The Prayer of Jabez. This portion had been one of my favorite sermons in English and German, and now they were telling me in the US that everyone was sick of hearing sermons on Jabez. I've never read the book. You might already know all this, but here are some notes.
Jabez is from the tribe of Judah. You can see this if you look back at the beginning of this chapter.
The time of his prayer looks to be the beginning of the conquest of Canaan. One of the ways to find this is to read your Bible every year. Another way is to use a search program. I found this by reading every year. If you look at the words "enlarge my border," you'll see them again next year in Deuteronomy 12:20. This was just before Israel crossed the Jordan.
The promise was made to all of Israel. They were all standing ready to take the land, but Jabez prayed. He prayed according to God's promise, and he prayed because he had learned to go to God because of the mark his mother had put upon him, in punishment for his painful birth. His adversity taught him to go to God. That is why Jabez was more honorable or "of greater substance" than his brothers. All the people were ready to go and claim the land, but Jabez humbled his heart before God, having learned, and knowing now, how much he needed God. Adversity doesn't always lead you to God. It did in Jabez's case.
I've heard some people preach this saying that God was so happy to have anyone pray, that He was willing to answer a selfish prayer…as long as it was a prayer. How silly. Everything Jabez prayed is a promise of God.
As disciples, the Father prunes us through adversity to be fruitful in His harvest. The promises of God do not relate to our comfort or bank accounts, but to His mission. That is where Jabez found God's blessing, doing God's work, and that is where we find our blessing, following Christ in the harvest.
V. 13 After Jabez, you have Othniel, the first judge of Israel. This also helps to establish the time of Jabez.
To understand the focus of this section of Chronicles, look for any mentions of genealogies or registers.
1 Chr. 5:1-17
Vs. 1-2 This is an interesting note regarding the giving of the birthright to Joseph. Judah, it appears, was blessed in spite of missing the birthright, although Judah would have been next in line after Levi and Simeon were disqualified. Do you remember all of that?
Acts 25
Vs. 1-5 The success of any Roman governor over Israel was in the hands of the Jews, so a wise governor was kind to them. Notice that one of the top things on the Jews' list was Paul and trying to kill him. Maybe after two years those guys still hadn't eaten and really, really needed to kill Paul.
Vs. 6-12 We don't see all of the detail of who Paul interacted with these two years. The temptation would be to see this as wasted time, particularly because of Festus. In verse 9 it is clear there would be no real help from this conniving ruler. You could think that Paul should have appealed to be tried before Caesar years earlier, but the Lord had a plan in all of this. Apparently Paul had enough to do in ministry to stay content. Only when Festus was ready to put Paul into the hands of his enemies, did Paul use his right to appeal to Caesar.
Vs. 13-27
Here is one of the purposes of Paul's stay. Notice verse 23, this was a gala event. Everyone was invited to hear Paul give his testimony. This would not only be hugely public and help in Paul's future release, but, as we'll see tomorrow, Paul was very persuasive.
Look at Festus' words in vs. 24-27. This is Festus saying "See how smart I am?" NOT! Had he been anything but a sleazy politician, he would have had the guts to let Paul go. God was using the guile of this crooked man to accomplish His own purpose. He forced Paul to play the "Caesar" card, again, accomplishing God's purpose.
So, when they would send Paul to Nero, the letter of accusation would say, "Dear Nero, We think he's innocent, but he wanted to talk to you."
Once again too, in Luke's writing, a Roman official is saying that there is nothing wrong with Paul or Christianity.
Psalm 5
I can imagine that as this hearing was being set up, Paul was praying something like this. Reading this psalm and the letters that follow, you get an idea of how well read Paul was in the OT. Compare verse nine to Romans 3:13, "Their throat is an open grave, they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." Paul definitely knew his psalms.
V. 12 I wonder if Paul prayed something like this when he was taken in before Agrippa and Bernice and all the leaders and officials of Caesarea?
Proverbs 18:19
And unfortunately this is just as true among believers as among those who don't understand the grace of God or our mission here for Christ. Or actually maybe it is only true among those believers who don’t understand the grace of God or our mission here for Christ.
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link Every Day in the Word. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.
No comments:
Post a Comment