The Prayer of Jabez

January 24, 2024 at 3:49 pm | Posted in Biblical prayer, I Chronicles | 2 Comments
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One of the best-selling Christian books of recent times is Bruce Wilkinson’s The Prayer of Jabez. Its subtitle is “Breaking Through to the Blessed Life.” Of course, the actual prayer of Jabez in the Bible is not a magic incantation, and it is not a guarantee of prosperity for us today, but it is an important passage of Scripture. 

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

I Chronicles 4:9

The name Jabez meant “pain” or “sorrow,” yet he is described as being more “honorable.” This reminds us of the Bereans in Acts 17:10-11, who were “more noble” than the Thessalonians because they were people who loved the Word of God, searched out its meaning diligently, and sought to obey it faithfully. However, the reason for Jabez’s honorable distinction is given more explicitly in the next verse: 

And 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.

I Chronicles 4:10

This prayer has four elements: two material requests and two spiritual requests. “Bless me indeed” was no doubt intended as a petition for earthly prosperity – basically a way of saying, “Make me wealthy and healthy,” which, despite its misuse in the modern Charismatic movement, is not a terrible prayer to pray, depending upon our motives, intentions, and designs. “Enlarge my coast” was Jabez’s way of asking for more land (more territory) – but also more influence. 

While these first two requests are material requests on their face, even they have strong spiritual implications to them, too. “Bless me” also means, “Lord, You decide what is good for me, and just do it.” “Enlarge my coast” also means, “Help me to reach more people and bring You more glory.”

“That Thine hand might be with me” acknowledges the need for God’s favor, but also admits the necessity of His protection and His preventing Jabez from moving out of God’s will, which goes along with “that Thou wouldest keep me from evil.” This sounds a lot like “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” so we can certainly understand how God in the Old Testament would approve of, and answer, this prayer.

And that is the real point of Jabez’s prayer being recorded here in II Chronicles 4 – not to give a formula for prayer, but to show that God – even in the days after Solomon and the evil kings who succeeded him – was still answering prayers and working in the lives of people who would sincerely call upon Him and obey Him.

Jabez’s prayer is noticeable because it is anomalous among the lists of names in I Chronicles 4 and 5, and there is another anomaly in Chapter 5 dealing with Reuben’s tribe and his descendants in one of the battles for the conquest of Canaan. 

The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war.

I Chronicles 5:18

The tribes mentioned in Verse 18 were the so-called Transjordanian tribes: the ones who settled on the wilderness side of the Jordan River, but just inside Canaan territory.

19 And they made war with the Hagarites, with Jetur, and Nephish, and Nodab. 20 And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him.

I Chronicles 5:19-20

The first part of Verse 20 makes it sound like they received military reinforcements, but the second part makes it clear that God delivered their enemies into their hands in response to their intreaty (prayer) and trust in Him. 

And they took away their cattle; of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men an hundred thousand.

I Chronicles 5:21

44,760 men defeated well over 100,000 (that’s how many captives were taken; we don’t know how many more died). 

For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their steads until the captivity.

I Chronicles 5:22

In the Old Testament God often gave His people the possessions of their enemies. God owns everything, and when pagans mismanage God’s property He may very well take it from them and give it to new managers.

One Race, One Savior

January 19, 2024 at 12:50 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment
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After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

Revelation 7:9

There are people in this world who live in different places, speak different languages, and look differently. However, there is only one “race:” people; human beings; the human race. We are all related to Adam.

And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

Acts 17:26

As human beings we have many differences, but we are all sinners. Adam was a sinner, and all of us are a part of his family, so we all have sin inside of us.  

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Romans 5:12

Jesus’s obedience made a way for us to change families.

Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

Romans 5:19

Only Jesus can change our status from children of Adam to children of God, and He will do it for people no matter how they look, what language they speak, or where they live.

And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

I John 4:14

The Lord’s Name

January 12, 2024 at 1:33 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments
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I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high.

Psalm 7:17

As we praise the Lord, we are not praising some vague, ambiguous higher power. Christians are not like the Muslims or the adherents of other religions, who can substitute the mere title “God” for whatever false deity they acknowledge. One of God’s greatest revelations of Himself to us is the revelation of His name. We are blessed to know it in any of its forms or all of its forms, and we must not neglect it as we call on Him by name.

When I used to coach my daughters’ softball teams, there was always a degree of chaos or confusion at the first couple of practices, because I hadn’t yet learned all the players’ names. God can not be confused, but, just as we appreciate it when someone learns and uses our name, certainly God deserves the honor of having His name reverenced, respected, feared, and distinguished.

I. The Knowledge of His Name

13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you. 15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

Exodus 3:13-15

“I AM” or “YHWH” or Yahweh is a name of:
A. Exclusivity (He is the only true God.)
B. Nationality (He is the God Who is known to the people He has called.)
C. Universality (He is the Creator, the Uncaused Cause, the Unmoved Mover.)
D. Aseity (He is self-existent, not dependent on anything or anyone else for His being.)

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 124:8

Our help is not in those who merely manage heaven and earth, and not in those who have acquired a certain measure of power or wealth in the earth. Our help is in its Creator. He made it all, and He upholds it. He controls it, and He runs it in a very personal, hands-on way. He is transcendent, yes, but He is also immanent. In your darkest hour, in your worst pain, in your deepest despair you must call upon this Lord, and this Lord alone – and you need to call upon His NAME: all that He is.

II. The Kindness of His Nature

The name of the Lord is not merely a signifier of His identification. It tells us not only what He’s called but something of Who He is.

5 And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

Exodus 34:5-6

Moses wanted to see God, but no one can see God in His unveiled glory (without being supernaturally strengthened  by God Himself) and live. However, God graciously allowed Moses to have a revelation of His name and what it meant

Look at the kindness of these attributes found in the name of the Lord: 
A. Merciful: He withholds deserved punishment.
B. Gracious: He gives out undeserved blessings.
C. Longsuffering: He is patient and slow to anger.
D. Abundantly Good: He goes beyond finite temporary goodness, and is omnibenevolent, causing ALL things to work to together for good His people.
E. True: He does not deceive and He makes reality correspond to His will.

Why are things the way they are? Because God – the God whose NAME is revealed in the Bible – WANTS them to be that way.

III. The Key to His Nobility

Of course, there is a flip side to His kindness. Knowing Him, and knowing Him by name, is the absolute best thing for us.

This is talking about God delivering His people from bondage and destruction, and the necessity of purifying them as a part of doing that:

For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.

Isaiah 48:11

How serious is it that God’s name not be polluted? That the glory of His name not be corrupted?

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Exodus 20:7

This is the so-called Third Commandment. To “take in vain” means to count God’s name as common or worthless, or to use it frivolously or blasphemously. To what extent will the Lord not hold guilty those who do this?

15 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. 16 And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death.

Leviticus 24:15-16

One of the few explicitly capital crimes under the Old Testament Law, along with murder and witchcraft and certain other serious sins of rebellion and perversion, was blaspheming God’s name. Christians are not under the Old Testament Law today, but do not think for a second that God has changed His mind regarding His own name.

1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. 2 Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. 3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised.

Psalm 113:1-3

IV. Salvation in His Name

The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

Proverbs 18:10

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Romans 10:13

10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Acts 4:10-12

Christian Service as a Means of Grace (Part 2)

January 10, 2024 at 2:45 pm | Posted in Means of Grace | 4 Comments
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Even if we could manage to do everything God has commanded us to do, from His point of view, we would still add nothing of value to Him. So if we are ultimately unprofitable servants, why is it so important to serve? Or, asked a different way, what distinguishes a good servant from a bad servant?

14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. 17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. 18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

Matthew 25:14-18

We live in the period of time between Verse 18 and Verse 19.

19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Matthew 25:19-23 

The faithful servants entered into joy, and their joy was not retirement. It was more service. The unfaithful servant didn’t know who his lord was.

24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

Matthew 25:24-28

The unfaithful servant made – in his mind – a lord he wanted to follow and be like. We don’t use our talents because our talents are worthy. We use them because the Lord is worthy. He is worthy to be served. He will judge the nations – by judging the individuals who make up the nations. This will include being judged for our attitudes, which we will look at in Part 3.

The Enemies of Togetherness

January 8, 2024 at 1:08 pm | Posted in Philippians | 2 Comments
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The number one enemy of unity – togetherness in spirit and in deed – and of having joy in that togetherness – is selfishness: love of self (which is not really the Christian, Biblical type of love). So in order to have the same love, to be in one accord, and to have the same mind, here is the number one thing that we must overcome: 

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Philippians 2:3

Strife is fighting among ourselves: contention. It is sinful competition rather than cooperation. Vainglory is being proud of something about which we have no basis for being proud. Often we are proud of something we have truly accomplished. We might have some basis for being pleased with ourselves when we work hard or figure out a problem or don’t give up. For example, we might maintain our diet or exercise every day, or we might get a promotion or a raise because we’ve been good workers, or we might help somebody even when it costs us. The danger in this type of pride is that we don’t give glory to God Who really deserves to be praised whenever we benefit in some way. However, there is a whole other level of pride: vainglory. This is when we glory in things in which we had absolutely no part: our skin color, where we were born, our natural mental or physical abilities (“giftedness”), even our salvation!

The basis for a great deal of pride (as well as a lack of contentment) is comparison.

Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Philippians 2:4

Look on the things of others not enviously or covetously, but in order to see needs and promote the welfare others, even at the expense of your own recognition or advantage. This idea of envy or covetousness lies at the root of sinful worldly philosophies that decry privilege and class and advantage and oppression and diversity and equality and social “injustice.” Instead we ought to praise God for our own “privilege” and for that of others, while at the same time recognizing it as an opportunity to bless others in His name. If you are part of a privileged class, economic status, skin color, nationality, sex, etc., you ought to be joyful and thankful, and to praise God and glorify Him FOR it and WITH it.

The Top 15

January 4, 2024 at 4:36 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments
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Yesterday was the 15th anniversary of The Deep End. Thank you to all the new readers/subscribers, and thanks to those of you who have been faithful to read and share so many posts over the years. Thanks most of all to the Lord, Who has allowed me to continue studying and writing about His Word. Back in 2014 I shared the top 10 posts at that time. Below are the current top 15 of all time:

1. Teaching the 3rd and 4th Commandments to Children (Exodus 20:7-8)
2. Different Types of Burdens (Matthew 11:28-30; Psalm 55:22; Galatians 6:2,5)
3. Strange Weapons Lesson 3: The Pitcher (spiritual application)
4. How Tall Was Jesus?
5. You Can’t Get Blood from a Turnip (Genesis 4:1-5)
6. More Strange Weapons: A Bone (Simple, Silly, Serious, and Successful)
7. Stand Your Ground (II Samuel 23:11-12)
8. Parallelism in Psalms (Psalm 19:7-9)
9. Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket
10. What the Bible Says about Neighbors
11. The Marriage Curse (Genesis 3:16)
12. Discipleship Lesson 1: Salvation
13. LONGsuffering in Marriage (I Corinthians 13:3-4)
14. The Yoke’s on You! (Jeremiah 27)
15. Strange Weapons Lesson 1: The Prod (background) (Judges 3:31; 5:6)

S.W.I.M. to Hope in Grace

January 3, 2024 at 3:19 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment
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I am throwing all my good works overboard, and lashing myself to the plank of free grace; for I hope to swim to glory on it.

Charles Spurgeon  

And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

Romans 11:6 

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

I Timothy 1:9 

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Titus 3:5


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