Day 115 – 1 Chronicles 3-5

Talking Points

• The list of genealogies continues. Included in these chapters are the families of Judah, Simeon, Reuben, Gad, and Mannaseh.
• It is interesting to see the people that come from the twelve brothers, the sons of Jacob. As the family lines spread, we find rich and poor, successes and failures, rural people and city dwellers, those who trusted God and those who rebelled against Him. With each new generation, as they become increasingly distant from each other — even unknown to each other — they have the common bond of a single ancestor. In this growing number of people, they are all the people of God.
• Again, it is confirmed: God answers those who trust in Him and cry out to Him.

Thoughts

In the midst of the tedious record of names, there are two verses recounting an interesting event — the prayer of a man named Jabez. Not much is known at all about him, other than he is a descendant of Judah. His name means “born in pain” or “sorrow maker.” It seems he was named that for the suffering his birth caused his mother. A cultural understanding of the day would hold that the fate of his life would be lived out, cursed by his name. Simply, his life would bring sorrow. It was to be his destiny.

Even so, the Bible says he was an honorable man. Despite his cursed fate, Jabez was a good man. In chapter 4, verse 10, his plea to God is recorded. It is a prayer that has had much made of it, even today. It is a prayer that has been misapplied and even commercialized. The point of the prayer is this: This man, a man with a painful past and a less than promising future, knew that his hope was in the God of Israel. Verse 10 says he “called on the God of Israel.” It literally means he cried out to Him. He knew his God was able, faithful, and gracious to those who call upon Him!

What a beautiful picture. What a beautiful trust. And, what a beautiful God! The verse ends, “And God granted him what he requested.” May we turn to that same God — the God who takes painful pasts and hopeless futures and redeems them for something tremendous.