1 Chronicles
1 – 4
The first part of Chronicles is a genealogy from Adam,
obviously not complete but through the great names of the Bible. You see many
names and the history of many of the world’s nations. Often people “poo-poo”
the Bible as a bunch of sand script yet they cannot refute the accuracy, from
Genesis 1 and on. This gives a logical explanation of how the other nations
stem from Adam. Interestingly “science” is now finding the “first” man appears
to be from the region in the Middle East. So this may not just be a boring
piece of analogy but rather a critical piece of history for the people of the
world.
Verse 3:5 has part of David’s lineage that Solomon was born:
There, Bath-shua (the daughter of
Ammiel) gave him 4 sons: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon;
Bathsheba bore Solomon, David’s successor. As we know she
was the adulterous affair that had David commit murder to cover it up. Kings
shows us the turmoil and problems that arose from this affair with succession
to the throne. The power struggle would eventually split the nation of Israel
and lead them into exile. When reading these verses you don’t get any story and
just lineage, you have to remember the history behind each name to see how the
nation grew.
Verses 4:9 & 10 contain the only story embedded in these
initial chapters:
9 Jabez,
whose name commemorates his mother’s labor pains, was more honorable than his
brothers. 10 He asked the God of Israel, “Please
bless me and extend my territory. Let Your hand be with me and guard me from
harm so I will not experience pain as my mother did.” And God did
just that.
The “Prayer of Jabez” has become one of the most talked
about verses in the Old Testament because of a book with that title by Bruce Wilkinson.
If you get the chance read it, the book expands on this prayer in detail. It’s
a short read but very interesting. In a nutshell the nagging question is why
Jabez? Why through verse after verse of names does Jabez stand out?
There is nothing more mentioned on Jabez for the rest of the
Bible other than these two verses. The prayer is amazingly simple and powerful.
First it asks for blessing and then protection. In other translations it says
“keep me from evil” unlike the Lord’s Prayer that says “deliver me from evil”,
Jabez is asking to be protected and shielded from evil. I like that better than delivery from evil. I
know we are never going to be completely isolated from evil and sin, but asking
for protection from it is important.
Often our naiveté is our protection. I had an instance early
in our marriage where I got a note from
a co-worker. It was unsigned and confusing so I asked Katy if she knew what it
meant. The song it referred to was one of “hooking up” while in relationships
and the “XOXOXO” at the end was “hugs and kisses”. I am glad I had no clue
since that’s an evil I don’t want to be delivered from!!
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