Jabez - Pain

Jabez

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (NKJV)
Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, "Because I bore him in pain."
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.

Bore him in pain

Every mother knows the pain of childbirth. Anything that comes with pain is costly. Although she had many children, the mother specifically says that she bore Jabez in pain. Those who are borne with unusual pain are even more precious like an expensive possession. When you pay a big price for something, it is of great value. In his mother’s eyes, Jabez was a special treasure.
Conversely, her understanding and way of thinking could have made her see him as a curse because of her pain!
In the spiritual sense, Our Lord Jesus labored with much pain not only in His body but also in His soul to intercede, causing us to be born again and attain salvation in Him.

Isaiah 53:10-11 (NKJV)
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.

We also ought to bring forth many to salvation by laboring for them in intercession.

He will cause pain

That is what ‘Jabez’ means. He will cause pain, indirectly or directly. If a precious possession is adversely affected by any means, it causes pain. Jabez’s mother probably felt that this special child was more vulnerable, and if hurt, would cause her much pain. She could also have meant that since he caused her pain, he would cause pain to others.

Jabez needed to have a change of name from ‘Heilcospain’!! Just because he was borne in pain, his mother sealed his life’s path with such a name! Imagine the impact of this name on his life! “He will cause pain, he will cause pain! (Beware)”!! It can be so with our names. It is good for you to know the meaning of your name. Study the character of the person, Biblical or otherwise, after whom you have been named. You can overcome any curse by asking God to bless you whether you literally change your name or not.

How often do we go through unnecessary pain because of certain words spoken over our lives?
You are a fool. You are no good. You are ugly.
Have you been condemned for life by the medical system following a scan or a blood test?
You are a Diabetic. You are a hypertensive. You have arthritis. Your heart is in a bad shape. It is a life-imprisonment!
You can simply accept these words and live under their oppression, focusing, refocusing, getting preoccupied and depressed about your situation. This is the life of defeat the enemy wants for you! Every declaration of the mouth is an opportunity either for the devil to get a foothold into your life or for the Lord to glorify Himself through you. Even salvation of the soul is the confession of the mouth from the heart.

Romans 10:9-10 (NKJV)
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

The words that come from the mouth of God are powerful. They create. They heal.They calm the storm.

Genesis 1:3 (NKJV)
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.

Psalms 107:20 (NKJV)
He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.

Matthew 8:8 (NKJV)
The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NKJV)
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Listen to what the Lord has to say in every situation. Take His words to heart. Meditating on God’s word is better than any other medication! The most important prescriptions are the Scriptures!! Pray and declare God’s words on yourself and on others and see the manifestation of God’s glory! Believe  His words, submit to them and obey them and see His good plans fulfilled in your life. That is victorious life in Christ! That is eternal life. What people say may be true but His word is Truth !!

John 17:17 (NKJV)
Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

Matthew 4:4 (NKJV)
But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' "

Isaiah 55:10-11 (NKJV)
"For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Nevertheless, all of us have inherited the curse of the fall of Adam and Eve and pain is inevitable in this life for each one of us in various forms.

Genesis 3:16 (NKJV)
To the woman He said: "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you."
( Gen 3: 14 - 19 )
When Jesus took our curse on the cross, He carried on Himself all our pain and sorrows and has brought the greatest blessing of salvation to us! ( Isaiah 53 )

Isaiah 53:4-5 (NKJV)
Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

Jesus has asked us to take up our cross and follow Him. Although Cross means pain, He has promised us the victory in Him.

John 16:33 (NKJV)
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

The followers of Jesus went through unusual pain, bringing the message of salvation, healing, deliverance and blessings to others. We need to follow that same path, living for others, not causing them pain but bringing a blessing.

Narrow Boundary

Towards protecting Jabez, his mother gave him a small territory and set a firm boundary. Don’t we do that to a child who is precious and vulnerable? We mollycoddle them saying, “You can’t go there” and “ You can’t do that”! It is like placing costly jewelry in a sealed case, putting it in a box and securing the box in a vault!

It was so also with Benjamin, whom Rachel named Ben-Oni, meaning ‘Son of my sorrow.’

Genesis 35:18 (NKJV)
And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.

Jacob, his father did not want to part with him by sending him to Egypt with his brothers.

Genesis 42:38 (NKJV)
But he said, "My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave."

When Moses pronounced his final blessings on Israel, his words reinforced the place of protection on the tribe of Benjamin, the youngest and probably the most treasured son of Jacob.

Deuteronomy 33:12 (NKJV)
Of Benjamin he said: "The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him, Who shelters him all the day long; And he shall dwell between His shoulders."

Those who are prone to cause pain to others through whatever means, are also given a restricted territory. Criminals are put in prisons. The mother of Jabez could have ‘imprisoned’ him to protect others from ‘Heilcospain’!

Our fleshly carnal weaknesses make us vulnerable to the enemy of our souls, the devil, who is prowling around like a lion, seeking whom he may devour. When we overstep the boundary God has set for us in the world, we become people of the world. Although we may seem to be free, we become conformed to the patterns of the world and are oppressed by the worldly systems and subtly our souls become slaves to them. We are also prone to physical danger forsaking God’s protection. This can be related to the Israelites being slaves in Egypt. God is able to break the power of the world, the flesh and the devil over our lives, bringing us into CHRIST’S boundary. This is Jubilee!

Leviticus 25:8-10 (NKJV)
'And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.
Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land.
And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.

This is the jubilant celebration when prodigals return home!

Luke 15:10 (NKJV)
Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Jeremiah 31:16-17 (NKJV)
Thus says the Lord: "Refrain your voice from weeping, And your eyes from tears; For your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord, And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
There is hope in your future, says the Lord, That your children shall come back to their own border.

As long as the adversary is around, we need various rules and laws to protect ourselves and others during our life on earth. conscience in itself is a built-in law for those who do not have any other law. The Ten Commandments were given by God through Moses to His people, the Israelites. Although the law sets narrow boundaries, the purpose of the commandments is to lead us to spiritual freedom from bondage while we live in this world of evil.

Exodus 20:1-3 (NKJV)
And God spoke all these words, saying:
"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
You shall have no other gods before Me.

Galatians 3:24-25 (NKJV)
Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

The law is good discipline until we come to grace that is revealed in Jesus Christ our Lord. Discipline builds character. People who are disciplined are honorable. Because of more discipline, Jabez probably became more honorable than his brothers.

Hebrews 12:11 (NKJV)
Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.