1 Chronicles 4:1-23
1 The sons of Judah were Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. 2 And Reaiah the son of Shobal begot Jahath, and Jahath begot Ahumai and Lahad. These were the families of the Zorathites. 3 These were the sons of the father of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash; and the name of their sister was Hazelelponi; 4 and Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer was the father of Hushah. These were the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah the father of Bethlehem. 5 And Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah. 6 Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah. 7 The sons of Helah were Zereth, Zohar, and Ethnan; 8 and Koz begot Anub, Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.
9 Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, "Because I bore him in pain." 10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he requested.
11 Chelub the brother of Shuhah begot Mehir, who was the father of Eshton. 12 And Eshton begot Beth-Rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Ir-Nahash. These were the men of Rechah. 13 The sons of Kenaz were Othniel and Seraiah. The sons of Othniel were Hathath, 14 and Meonothai who begot Ophrah. Seraiah begot Joab the father of Ge Harashim, for they were craftsmen. 15 The sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh were Iru, Elah, and Naam. The son of Elah was Kenaz. 16 The sons of Jehallelel were Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel. 17 The sons of Ezrah were Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. And Mered's wife bore Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa. 18 (His wife Jehudijah bore Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Sochoh, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah.) And these were the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took.
19 The sons of Hodiah's wife, the sister of Naham, were the fathers of Keilah the Garmite and of Eshtemoa the Maachathite. 20 And the sons of Shimon were Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-Hanan, and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi were Zoheth and Ben-Zoheth. 21 The sons of Shelah the son of Judah were Er the father of Lecah, Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of the linen workers of the house of Ashbea; 22 also Jokim, the men of Chozeba, and Joash; Saraph, who ruled in Moab, and Jashubi-Lehem. Now the records are ancient. 23 These were the potters and those who dwell at Netaim and Gederah; there they dwelt with the king for his work.
The family and lineage of Judah are covered here, and even the narrative itself says the records are ancient, for these are the early day accounts of God’s people. In the midst of all the historical genealogical information, one man is singled out as more honorable. This Jabez whose name means “He Will Cause Pain,” because his mother had a difficult delivery at his birth, this man called on the LORD of his people Israel to ask several things. He pleaded for success as a blessing of God’s goodness in the midst of pain, but more importantly for purity in the midst of pain. He prayed for God to keep him from doing evil so that he would not cause pain to others. As in 2 Timothy 4:18 and Matthew 6:13, we should also plead with the Lord to keep us from both the evil adversary and our own sinful nature bent on harming others, for we are to love our neighbors as ourselves as a resultant proof of our sincere love of God in Christ. We pray as Jabez that we would know God is with us and for us (Romans 8:31) that we might be blameless and harmless as Philippians 2:15 challenges each of us to be and do. This is not a prayer for material blessings or gain, but of godliness in character lived out (1 Timothy 4:7-8, 6:5-6) as we rely on our Lord for His goodness of provision and providence and for living to do good to God and others instead of causing pain. God grants these sincere prayers as He did with Jabez for true blessings of goodness for our needs and not our misspent desires (James 4:3, 6-7, 10). Let us learn from God’s people as the scriptures all provide history and guidance (2 Peter 1:3, 2 Timothy 3:16-17) to learn from, especially for purity amidst pain.
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