BLESSING AND ENLARGEMENT
[p. 472] BLESSING AND ENLARGEMENT
In reading this passage I wish to call attention to the character of the early chapters of this book. To many the genealogies given may seem dry reading. It will be found, however, that “handfuls” of spiritual food have been strewn “of purpose” throughout these pages.
By comparing 1 Chronicles with Genesis 10 it will be seen that in the former the genealogical register culminates in David, whereas in the latter the end reached is that the origin and division of the nations after the flood are determined, Genesis 10:32. By this comparison it will be seen that the genealogies in Chronicles are more typical and spiritual. They suggest that whilst the whole human race is before God from its beginning, the history of each individual, being recorded, as in Genesis, there is also a record, and a much more important one, of those who can be directly connected with Christ, the true David. This latter is furnished in 1 Chronicles. The most casual reader will observe the early appearance of David in this book; and the culminating feature is seen in the confession by the Israelites “we are thy bone and thy flesh”, 1 Chronicles 11:1. How blessed it is to be thus registered!
In Psalm 87:6 we are told, that “Jehovah will count, when he inscribeth the peoples”, Psalm 87:6. In this psalm the point is not to show the stock or origin of the believer, but the place of his birth; that is, it is not of whom he is, but whence he is. The believer is born of God; he is also born in Zion, which represents the sovereignty of God. Our spiritual birth is altogether on this principle. “The wind blows where it will, and thou hearest its voice, but knowest not whence it comes, and where it goes: thus is every [p. 473] one that is born of the Spirit”, John 3:8. The gift of the Holy Spirit to the believer is also on the same principle of sovereignty. He is given to man on the ground of faith in Christ and His work. Through the reception of the Spirit the believer enjoys sonship, being also bone of Christ’s bone and flesh of His flesh.
We may now consider the verses read in 1 Chronicles. The Spirit of God from time to time throws into special prominence the evidences of faith and grace in the history given in these chapters. Jabez perhaps furnishes the most striking instance of this. He may be regarded as a type of a believer, in a remarkable way, in our dispensation. It says of him, first of all, that he was “more honoured than his brethren”. To be signalised in this way involves much. There was an excess of grace there, and it wrought in Jabez to mark him off as more honoured than his brethren. To be honourable in the divine sense is not a product of the flesh. It is the fruit of the Spirit. It is further said; “his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bore him with sorrow”. Herein doubtless is the secret of the distinguishing prosperity of this remarkable man. He was a child of sorrow. We may say that he was typically the product of the exercises and prayers of the saints.
Saul of Tarsus in New Testament times corresponds with him in a certain sense. His spiritual beginning is doubtless seen in Acts 7, where he is said to have been a witness of the martyrdom and prayer of Stephen. He was included in the prayer of the martyr. It need not be remarked that Saul, also called Paul, was more honourable than his brethren. He was a true Benoni — the child of his mother’s sorrow, Genesis 35:18. Paul was also a true Benjamite. The name Benjamin, the son of the right hand, has direct reference to Christ Himself, but Paul, as carrying on his service in the energy of the Spirit, strikingly exemplifies “the right hand”. The work [p. 474] of God is carried on in connection with the prayers and exercises of His people. Souls are thus born spiritually and develop dignity and power in the testimony of God.
The Spirit of God speaks of Jabez’s own exercises and prayers and tells us, that he called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that thou wouldest richly bless me, and enlarge my border”. In this prayer we see how Jabez had come to recognise God as the source of blessing and enlargement. This is a true mark of faith. God has pleasure in such desires as Jabez expresses, and He delights to answer our prayers. Man naturally may bring about much in the way of advancement and prosperity in this world, but it quickly disappears, entailing much sorrow and disappointment; whereas, “the blessing of Jehovah, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow to it”, Proverbs 10:22. Enlargement after the manner of the world is very often at the expense of others. To enlarge his coast a man has often to remove his neighbour’s landmark, and even worse than this; life is often taken in order that the gain may be thus unlawfully and murderously acquired. See Proverbs 1:19 and 1 Kings 21. The blessing and enlargement which God gives are not at the expense of others; on the contrary, others are enriched by the blessing He accords to any believer. His blessing is from His own fulness and resourcefulness, and it is “far exceedingly above all which we ask or think”, Ephesians 3:20.
Jabez further desired that God would keep him from evil, that it might not grieve him. As receiving the gospel the believer discerns that the world is dominated by Satan; sin prevails in it. Like the Ethiopian eunuch, he sees the necessity for baptism and accepts it. He places the death of Christ between himself and the world. But this has to be maintained, and so he reckons himself “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus”, Romans 6:11.
[p. 475] He knows he is not under the law, but under grace, and so sin has not dominion over him. He is delivered “from the authority of darkness and translated .. into the kingdom of the Son of his love”, Colossians 1:13. He is “kept guarded by [the] power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in [the] last time”, 1 Peter 1:5.
It is said of Jabez that “God brought about what he had requested”. The Christian today, as walking in faith, finds the same result to his prayers. Being translated into the kingdom of God, he is kept from evil by the power of God; and being born of God, he “keeps himself, and the wicked [one] does not touch him”.
May God grant that we all may express the exercise of Jabez and receive the answer which he received.