Today's Video Devotion

Wednesday 4/19/23

The Prayer of Jabez

📺️ 1 Chronicles 4 🔊

¹The sons of Judah; Pharez, Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal.

 ²And Reaiah the son of Shobal begat Jahath; and Jahath begat Ahumai, and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites.

 ³And these were of the father of Etam; Jezreel, and Ishma, and Idbash: and the name of their sister was Hazelelponi:

 ⁴And Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah, the father of Bethlehem.

 ⁵And Ashur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.

 ⁶And Naarah bare him Ahuzam, and Hepher, and Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah.

 ⁷And the sons of Helah were, Zereth, and Jezoar, and Ethnan.

 ⁸And Coz begat Anub, and Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.

 ⁹And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.

 ¹⁰And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.

 ¹¹And Chelub the brother of Shuah begat Mehir, which was the father of Eshton.

 ¹²And Eshton begat Bethrapha, and Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Irnahash. These are the men of Rechah.

 ¹³And the sons of Kenaz; Othniel, and Seraiah: and the sons of Othniel; Hathath.

 ¹⁴And Meonothai begat Ophrah: and Seraiah begat Joab, the father of the valley of Charashim; for they were craftsmen.

 ¹⁵And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh; Iru, Elah, and Naam: and the sons of Elah, even Kenaz.

 ¹⁶And the sons of Jehaleleel; Ziph, and Ziphah, Tiria, and Asareel.

 ¹⁷And the sons of Ezra were, Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon: and she bare Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa.

 ¹⁸And his wife Jehudijah bare Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Socho, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. And these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, which Mered took.

 ¹⁹And the sons of his wife Hodiah the sister of Naham, the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maachathite.

 ²⁰And the sons of Shimon were, Amnon, and Rinnah, Benhanan, and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi were, Zoheth, and Benzoheth.

 ²¹The sons of Shelah the son of Judah were, Er the father of Lecah, and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of them that wrought fine linen, of the house of Ashbea,

 ²²And Jokim, and the men of Chozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who had the dominion in Moab, and Jashubilehem. And these are ancient things.

 ²³These were the potters, and those that dwelt among plants and hedges: there they dwelt with the king for his work.

 ²⁴The sons of Simeon were, Nemuel, and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul:

 ²⁵Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son.

 ²⁶And the sons of Mishma; Hamuel his son, Zacchur his son, Shimei his son.

 ²⁷And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters: but his brethren had not many children, neither did all their family multiply, like to the children of Judah.

 ²⁸And they dwelt at Beersheba, and Moladah, and Hazarshual,

 ²⁹And at Bilhah, and at Ezem, and at Tolad,

 ³⁰And at Bethuel, and at Hormah, and at Ziklag,

 ³¹And at Bethmarcaboth, and Hazarsusim, and at Bethbirei, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities unto the reign of David.

 ³²And their villages were, Etam, and Ain, Rimmon, and Tochen, and Ashan, five cities:

 ³³And all their villages that were round about the same cities, unto Baal. These were their habitations, and their genealogy.

 ³⁴And Meshobab, and Jamlech, and Joshah, the son of Amaziah,

 ³⁵And Joel, and Jehu the son of Josibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel,

 ³⁶And Elioenai, and Jaakobah, and Jeshohaiah, and Asaiah, and Adiel, and Jesimiel, and Benaiah,

 ³⁷And Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah;

 ³⁸These mentioned by their names were princes in their families: and the house of their fathers increased greatly.

 ³⁹And they went to the entrance of Gedor, even unto the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.

 ⁴⁰And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for they of Ham had dwelt there of old.

 ⁴¹And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents, and the habitations that were found there, and destroyed them utterly unto this day, and dwelt in their rooms: because there was pasture there for their flocks.

 ⁴²And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went to mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi.

 ⁴³And they smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped, and dwelt there unto this day.

Written By: God through Inspiration

Penned By: Ezra

Date Penned: (430 BC)

Overview: A History of God's Chosen People (c 1-29)

Theme: The Genealogies of Israel (c 1-9)

Message: The Tribes of Israel Descendants (v 1-43)

1 Chronicles 4 Commentary 

(4:1) The Account of Judah - The Tribe of Judah's story begins in Genesis 49

(4:9-10) The Prayer of Jabez - Jabez is remembered for a prayer rather than a heroic act. In his prayer, he asked God to (1) bless him, (2) help him in his work by expanding his territory, (3) be with him in all he did, and (4) keep him from evil and disaster. Jabez acknowledged God as the true center of his life. When we pray for God's blessing, we should also pray that he will take his rightful position as Lord over our work, our family time, and our recreation. Obeying him in daily responsibilities is heroic living.

(4:10) The Power of Prayer - Jabez prayed specifically to be protected from evil and disaster. We live in a fallen world filled with sin, and it is important to ask God to keep us safe from the unavoidable evil that comes our way. But we must also avoid evil motives, desires, and actions that begin within us. Therefore, we must not only seek God's protection from evil but also ask God to guard our thoughts and actions (Philippians 4:6-7). As God does this work in us, we do our part by purposefully working to fill our minds with positive thoughts and attitudes (Philippians 4:8-9). We can also seek encouraging relationships with others who follow God (Hebrews 10:24-25).

(4:13) The First Judge - Othniel was Israel's first judge. He reformed the nation and brought peace to the land. His story is found in Judges 1:0-15 and 3:7-11.

(4:15) The Account of Caleb - Caleb was one of the 12 spies sent into the Promised Land by Moses. He and Joshua were the only two among the spies to return with a positive report, believing in God's promise to help the Israelites conquer the land. Caleb's story is told in Numbers 13-14 and Joshua 14-15. See his profile.

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter making an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today we continue in the book of 1 Chronicles with Chapter 4. In our text today we see see the descendants of Judah and Simeon as the tribes of Israel are expounded upon. What catches my eye is the prayer of Jabez as he asks for the Lord to bless and protect him in and evil world. In making application we see the need for prayer in our lives. Not to use God as a "Drive thru Window" to meet every fleshly desire we have, but to call upon the Lord to do His Will in our lives as we walk through an worldly system that is ungodly and full of snares and deception. How about you? Do you see the need to pray to the Lord to guide and protect you as you walk in this world? Let us learn from our text today and the Prayer of Jabez to seek God in Prayer to guide us through a world that is far from the heart of God.