The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

1 Chronicles 4:9-10, “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother
named him Jabez saying, ‘Because I bore him with pain.’
10 Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that You would bless me indeed
and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep
me from harm that it may not pain me!’ And God granted him what he requested.”

Proper names were very important in the days of the Old Testament. Some are actually prophetic of the person’s character. Who could fail to note the change of Abram to Abraham,
or of Jacob to Israel? So, the LORD’s name, YHWH, and other various designations of deity, denotes His character. What is peculiar about the name of Jabez is that whatever meaning it originally had, has now been lost to us. Some have allowed that Jabez means “pain,” in that
his mother “bore him with pain.”

YHWH was the LORD’s covenant name with His people, Israel. The Hebrews considered
it too sacred to be pronounced aloud. The head of a family of Judah, noted for his “honorable” character, though “his mother bore him with sorrow”; but the phrase, “as if it stood for ya’tsebh,” is an honest commentary caution, indicating that the biblical author is unsure of the origin and meaning of the name Jabez.

What may be more meaningful is the fact that the Jews believed Jabez to be an emminent Doctor of the Law –one whose skill and fame gathered about him numerous scholars, and
for which the City of Jabez was likely named. If true, this lies in sharp contrast with some commentators, who believe the prayer is likely to be from one who sets forth on his own,
as he commences life’s venture into the world. The Jewish concept seems more plausible.

First Chronicles 4:9 also indicates something of Jabez’s status:

“And Jabez was more honorable than his brothers…” While the Hebrew word
translated honorable has several meanings, the thought of prominence
with God and man should likely be assumed. “His brothers” may refer to
natural, physical brothers, born of Jabez’s parents, or simply his countrymen….
and his mother named him Jabez saying, “Because I bore him with pain”
(vs. 9b).

It had long been the LORD’s decree that all women would bear children in pain.
Something, nevertheless, prompted Jabez’s mother to speak of her pain in the birth
Jabez as being intensified. The Hebrew word here may also mean sorrow, in which
case Jabez’s mother would be speaking of her intense sorrow.

Whether she is speaking of physical pain or sorrow connected with Jabez’s birth, or an emotional or spiritual pain or sorrow, we cannot know. In any event, Jabez name is
inextricably bound up with what she believed or experienced at that time.

However few they are in number, all of these notations serve as background for the
pinnacle event: Jabez’s prayer. Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying,

‘Oh that Thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that Thy
hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldst keep me from harm, that it may
not pain me!” And God granted him what he requested (I Chr 4:10).

All of us like to read stories with good endings. What we have here is nothing short of a blessed account in which the LORD grants the request of His petitioner. The concern of
this writing, however, is not so much what Jabez asked and received as what Jabez had
to be in order to ask and receive it.

We live, unfortunately, in a day of “name-it-and-claim-it” theology. While The Prayer of
Jabez never overtly advocates that, I write with the fear that readers of that book may nevertheless adopt the formula of Jabez’s prayer without adopting the formula of Jabez’s
life. There is a fundamental maxim that we have to be something before we can do
something. Especially is this true in the spiritual realm. Get to know Him and follow His
teachings. That’s the key to a spiritual life!

An excerpt from my book, Before The Prayer of Jabez.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom