1 Chronicles 4
1 Chron. 4:1-231The sons of Judah; Pharez, Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal. 2And Reaiah the son of Shobal begat Jahath; and Jahath begat Ahumai, and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites. 3And these were of the father of Etam; Jezreel, and Ishma, and Idbash: and the name of their sister was Hazelelponi: 4And Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah, the father of Bethlehem. 5And Ashur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah. 6And Naarah bare him Ahuzam, and Hepher, and Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah. 7And the sons of Helah were, Zereth, and Jezoar, and Ethnan. 8And Coz begat Anub, and Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum. 9And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. 10And 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. 11And Chelub the brother of Shuah begat Mehir, which was the father of Eshton. 12And Eshton begat Beth-rapha, and Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Ir-nahash. These are the men of Rechah. 13And the sons of Kenaz; Othniel, and Seraiah: and the sons of Othniel; Hathath. 14And Meonothai begat Ophrah: and Seraiah begat Joab, the father of the valley of Charashim; for they were craftsmen. 15And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh; Iru, Elah, and Naam: and the sons of Elah, even Kenaz. 16And the sons of Jehaleleel; Ziph, and Ziphah, Tiria, and Asareel. 17And the sons of Ezra were, Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon: and she bare Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa. 18And his wife Jehudijah bare Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Socho, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. And these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, which Mered took. 19And the sons of his wife Hodiah the sister of Naham, the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maachathite. 20And the sons of Shimon were, Amnon, and Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi were, Zoheth, and Ben-zoheth. 21The sons of Shelah the son of Judah were, Er the father of Lecah, and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of them that wrought fine linen, of the house of Ashbea, 22And Jokim, and the men of Chozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who had the dominion in Moab, and Jashubi-lehem. And these are ancient things. 23These were the potters, and those that dwelt among plants and hedges: there they dwelt with the king for his work. (1 Chronicles 4:1‑23) take up the genealogy of Judah for the second time. Two names especially stand out in 1 Chron. 2-4. First, that of David, for Judah's kingship is, as we have seen, the principal subject of Chronicles. Secondly, that of Caleb the son of Jephunneh who represents the energy and the perseverance of faith; Hur, who plays a prominent role in Israel's history (Ex. 17:12; 24:1412But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. (Exodus 17:12)
14And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them. (Exodus 24:14)), is a son of Caleb's (1 Chron. 2:19, 50; 4:1, 419And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took unto him Ephrath, which bare him Hur. (1 Chronicles 2:19)
50These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah; Shobal the father of Kirjath-jearim, (1 Chronicles 2:50)
1The sons of Judah; Pharez, Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal. (1 Chronicles 4:1)
4And Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah, the father of Bethlehem. (1 Chronicles 4:4)). Jabez (1 Chron. 4:9-109And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. 10And 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. (1 Chronicles 4:9‑10)) is of the same clan (1 Chron. 44:9-10; 2:5555And the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and Suchathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab. (1 Chronicles 2:55)).
Jabez' mother had borne him with sorrow and had named him Jabez: "Sorrow." She had herself experienced the consequences of sin. She acknowledged the curse that was its consequence for man, God's righteous sentence pronounced upon the woman whom the serpent had beguiled, for God had said: "I will greatly increase thy travail and thy pregnancy; with pain thou shalt bear children" (Gen. 3:1616Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. (Genesis 3:16)). Jabez' mother accepted this sentence by faith. So little did she seek to escape from it, that she passed it on to her son by having him bear the name "Sorrow." On man's side all hope of happiness was lost through the fall and sorrow was his fatal portion.
Jabez began with this conviction; therefore he was "more honorable than his brethren." Then he "called on the God of Israel," knowing that he could only depend on the Lord to be delivered from the curse of sin. He knew, moreover, that this deliverance could be so absolute that he, Jabez, would be able to be without sorrow!
Jabez addresses four requests to God; if God grants them, they will become the proof of his complete deliverance.
This is the first request: "Oh that Thou wouldest richly bless me...." God had cursed man and the earth from which he had been taken (Gen. 3:1717And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; (Genesis 3:17)). He alone could annul this sentence and replace it with blessing, the first proof of the end of sorrow. He alone could change circumstances in such a way that the sinner, banished from His presence, might be brought to Him to enjoy His grace and unconditional promises. "I will bless thee", the Lord had said to Abraham. When all is in ruin Jabez' faith goes back to the counsels of grace and to the promises of God. Is not his history, related only in this book, well-suited to the general character of Chronicles? "And God brought about what he had requested." In our case likewise, God has abolished through Christ's sacrifice all the consequences of sin, so that we might be blessed in Him with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies.
His second request is this: "... and enlarge my coast." Here and there these genealogies highlight various individuals whose borders God extended in the promised land at a time when the mass of the people had failed to conquer their inheritance completely. Jair has already given evidence of this in 1 Chron. 2. The names of Caleb, Achsah, and Othniel are likewise examples of this individual energy of faith, which finds its borders enlarged as it relies upon God. So it is with us: our spiritual borders expand in the heavenly sphere while we are upon earth. In order to attain to this we must recognize our irremediable ruin and the incapacity we have demonstrated to extend our borders ourselves, and must manifest humble dependence which relies upon the grace of God alone in order to possess them.
Third, Jabez says: "... and that Thy hand might be with me." He does not rely on his natural energy to enlarge his borders, but rather on the power of God. This is all the more striking since he came from a family noted for its energy.
Fourth and finally he says: "... and that thou wouldest keep me from evil." The evil that introduced sorrow into this world has not disappeared; it is ever present. Jabez knows this well, for he does not ask that it be removed, but he desires to be kept from the evil whose existence he sees. Here again, he recognizes that it is not his will, but the power of God alone that is able to keep him.
Absolute confidence in God's grace and power is the only way of obtaining these things. Jabez obtains them. How could sorrow still subsist in the heart of this man of God when all his requests had been granted? No doubt, sorrow has not disappeared from the earth any more than has the evil which caused it, but Jabez' heart, full of those excellent things which had been granted him, had no room for it.
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The people of God have yet other duties and other activities beside enlarging their borders as Jabez. Joab is "the father... of craftsmen" (1 Chron. 4:1414And Meonothai begat Ophrah: and Seraiah begat Joab, the father of the valley of Charashim; for they were craftsmen. (1 Chronicles 4:14)). God has entrusted us with certain functions, humble but very useful in their place, to which we do well to pay attention without coveting higher things. We will thus be kept in humility. Among the sons of Shelah are found "byssus-workers," potters, and gardeners (1 Chron. 4:21,2321The sons of Shelah the son of Judah were, Er the father of Lecah, and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of them that wrought fine linen, of the house of Ashbea, (1 Chronicles 4:21)
23These were the potters, and those that dwelt among plants and hedges: there they dwelt with the king for his work. (1 Chronicles 4:23)). These were not noble occupations, but they owed their importance to the fact that these men "... dwelt with the king for his work." Although very humble, they were his fellow workers within the limits that his work assigned to them; on this account the king retained them around his person; theirs was the great privilege, coveted in vain by many nobles and princes, of dwelling near him.
So it is with us too. Let us each fulfill our task; let us beware of coveting a high position among the people of God; let us rather be content with humble things. What our Lord asks is that we carry them out diligently. Let us be faithful in little things as long as we work together in His works. To say nothing of a future reward, we will obtain the inestimable present advantage of "dwelling with the king" and of contemplating His face.
In 1 Chron. 4:24-4324The sons of Simeon were, Nemuel, and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul: 25Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son. 26And the sons of Mishma; Hamuel his son, Zacchur his son, Shimei his son. 27And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brethren had not many children, neither did all their family multiply, like to the children of Judah. 28And they dwelt at Beer-sheba, and Moladah, and Hazar-shual, 29And at Bilhah, and at Ezem, and at Tolad, 30And at Bethuel, and at Hormah, and at Ziklag, 31And at Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susim, and at Beth-birei, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities unto the reign of David. 32And their villages were, Etam, and Ain, Rimmon, and Tochen, and Ashan, five cities: 33And all their villages that were round about the same cities, unto Baal. These were their habitations, and their genealogy. 34And Meshobab, and Jamlech, and Joshah the son of Amaziah, 35And Joel, and Jehu the son of Josibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel, 36And Elioenai, and Jaakobah, and Jeshohaiah, and Asaiah, and Adiel, and Jesimiel, and Benaiah, 37And Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah; 38These mentioned by their names were princes in their families: and the house of their fathers increased greatly. 39And they went to the entrance of Gedor, even unto the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks. 40And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for they of Ham had dwelt there of old. 41And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents, and the habitations that were found there, and destroyed them utterly unto this day, and dwelt in their rooms: because there was pasture there for their flocks. 42And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went to mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi. 43And they smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped, and dwelt there unto this day. (1 Chronicles 4:24‑43) we have the genealogies of the sons of Simeon. As a consequence of Simeon and Levi's sin, these two brothers were "divided in Jacob, and scattered in Israel" (Gen. 49:77Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. (Genesis 49:7)). However, they differed from each other in that in grace the Lord used Levi's dispersion to give him priestly functions adapted to his position, whereas it was otherwise for Simeon who continued to bear the mark of God's judgment "And his brethren had not many sons; neither did all their family multiply like to the sons of Judah" (1 Chron. 4:2727And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brethren had not many children, neither did all their family multiply, like to the children of Judah. (1 Chronicles 4:27)). Simeon was small in number, partially enveloped in Judah's territory, open to enemy attacks on the south, and without definite borders. But we find here the truth already presented that when collective faith has failed the faith of a few, as previously the individual faith of a Caleb, inspires them to "enlarge their borders." Many "mentioned by name were princes in their families; and their fathers' houses increased greatly" (1 Chron. 4:3838These mentioned by their names were princes in their families: and the house of their fathers increased greatly. (1 Chronicles 4:38)). "They found fat and good pasture" where the sons of Ham had dwelt before (1 Chron. 4:4040And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for they of Ham had dwelt there of old. (1 Chronicles 4:40)); they even went to "Mount Seir" (1 Chron. 4:4242And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went to mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi. (1 Chronicles 4:42)), occupied by Edom. The extent of their possessions depended neither on their numbers nor upon their power. Like Jabez, they bore the consequences of the curse pronounced upon them, but their extreme poverty which they could not deny impelled them to conquer that which God placed within their reach.
Notice that they obtained their blessings under the two reigns of grace in Judah: that of David (1 Chron. 4:3131And at Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susim, and at Beth-birei, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities unto the reign of David. (1 Chronicles 4:31)); and that of Hezekiah (1 Chron. 4:4141And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents, and the habitations that were found there, and destroyed them utterly unto this day, and dwelt in their rooms: because there was pasture there for their flocks. (1 Chronicles 4:41)), at a time when the state of the people was already drawing down upon themselves the approaching judgment through the king of Babylon. How all these details constantly bring us back to the great thought of this precious book! All that is according to nature ends in complete failure and is valueless before God; grace is the only thing we can count upon as we rest upon the counsels and election of grace which are established forever.