Gtcotr/ss071821
Life is built on choices. And, since we are so closely connected with others, our lives are affected not only by the choices we make but also by the choices others make as well … and often those choices are made without our consent.
We don’t always get to choose what we go through, but we always get to choose how we will go through it. Choices … Ultimately, We can only be responsible for the choices we make. And … life can change in an instant, simply by making another choice.
We will talk more about our choices in a moment. First let’s read our opening text for today.
Last Sunday we discovered the Rechabites. They were descendants of Abraham, but they were not Israelites. They came from Abraham’s third family; from one of the sons he had with his wife Keturah. Nonetheless they lived among the Israelites and were granted by Moses to inherit the same covenant blessings as did Israel. 900 years after Moses, God used the house of Rechab in Jeremiah 35 to teach the Children of Israel the importance of making the right choice … specifically the choice to obey your heavenly Father
It is very interesting to find the Rechabites mentioned in 1 Chronicles 2:55, right smack dab in the middle of the list of the descendants of Judah. Once again, the Rechabites were not Jews, they were Midianite Kenites of the house of Rechab. And more than that, these Rechabites were recognized as noted scribes in Israel.
Scribes were among the most educated and trusted individuals in the nation. They were schooled and trusted to record, interpret, carry-on, and protect the integrity of correspondence of all types and kinds, including those Biblical scribes who interpreted the Word of God. Scribes were very important people and they occupied highly respected positions in society and worked closely with government and religious leaders.
Jesus often admonished scribes for being hypocritical and expecting others to be perfect when they themselves violated the weightier laws of God. (Jesus “woe’d” them 7 times in Matthew 23 alone) However, during the times of Jeremiah, the Rechabites were a people known for their integrity.
1 Chronicles 2:55 The clans also of the scribes who lived at Jabez … the Tirathites, the Shimeathites and the Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.
The
word Jabez is a Hebrew word which means pain, sorrow, or grief. The word Jabez is found
in only three verses of the Bible. The verse we just read is one of those in
which the word Jabez refers to a town, well it was more of a village or a
community, which was located near the town of Bethlehem in Judea. It is
believed to have been well-known for two things:
1.
Its
far-reaching educational impact as far as training scribes
2. Its founding father, Jabez.
This morning we are going to further discuss the impact of the choices we make in life. Remember: Life is built on choices and: We don’t always get to choose what we go through, but we do get to choose how we will go through it.
Our Bible story for today takes place early during the times of the Judges … perhaps 1375-1350BC. We are not given the circumstances surrounding the events we will read in 1 Chronicles 4, but it must be very important seeing that once again the Holy Spirit interrupted the long genealogy of Judah to insert a nugget of truth for us to find.
1 Chronicles 4 NKJV
9 Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”
·
Children
don’t choose into what circumstances they are born.
· They do choose what they will make of themselves.
The fact that we are given little or no real background as far as the situation leading up to the birth of Jabez has intrigued Bible scholars for 3000 years. Some imagine Jabez was so well-known that it was expected everyone knew his life’s story. Others surmise the mother of Jabez was widowed or perhaps unwed or that she subsequently died as the result of her painful and sorrowful delivery. Still others believe God intended to leave the details out to broaden the application of the truths taught by the successful triumphs of Jabez.
We can’t know any of these things for certain but what we have been told is that his mother named him Jabez, because of the pain associated with his birth. Whether physical, mental, social, or spiritual pain, we are not told. But we do know whatever it was, she named him pain and every time anyone called his name it was a reminder of who he was in the eyes of his mother.
But! That’s not the end of our story.
1 Chronicles 4:10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.
Jabez called upon the God of Israel!!!
The first thing we all need to do when they find ourselves in the middle of a problem, whether it was by our choice or by the choice of someone else, is to call upon the God of Israel.
Let’s review the prayer of Jabez …
·
Oh that You would bless me indeed
o It might have been
evident to Jabez that he could not depend on anyone else to bless him or even
give him a fair chance.
o However, Jabez knew
someone who could reach beyond his circumstances and the situation he was in.
o Jabez must have
believed that even his mother’s choices for his life were subject to God.
o Jabez continued his
prayer
·
And enlarge my territory
o Make me bigger than I
am today
o Give me greater
influence
o Enlarge my borders …
o Perhaps barriers and
boundaries even Jabez was tempted to believe.
o Get me out of this
hole
o Take off the limits
others have placed on me
o Help me to do things I
haven’t done
·
And that Your hand would be with me
o Basically – go with me
God … stay with me
o Don’t just bless me
and forget me … be with me
·
And that You would keep me from evil
o Restrain the evil and
harm that wants to engulf me
o Jabez knew God was big
enough to manage the evil and harm he would face when he stepped into new
territories.
·
So that I may not cause pain
o The implication is so that he might not cause himself pain and fulfill or live out the implications of his name or the expectations of others.
And the Lord granted his request. So much so that Jabez ended up being more honored than his brothers and it seems a whole community was named after him most likely due to the impact he had on the whole Kingdom of Judah by raising up scribes from the faithful people we know as the Rechabites.
My take-a-ways from this morning are simple. I have choices. I may not can choose what I go through in life, but I can choose how I am going to go through life.
It is my choice to move beyond my past, beyond my pain, and beyond the place others see me.
It all begins with one best choice. The best choice you can make today is to call upon the name of the Lord God of Israel.
Place your past, your present, and your future in His capable hands. Refuse to live in the box. Ask God to bless you, strengthen you, walk with you, enlarge you, keep you from evil, and help you to not cause pain to yourself or others.
Let’s
call upon the Lord together right now!
