Lesson 18. Lights in the Darkness

Read: Genesis 39, 1 Chronicles 4: 1-23

When we read the Bible we often see that in the times of greatest darkness God breaks through with His light. When it seems that all have turned away from Him and there is no hope of God’s plan to come to fulfillment, then God Himself provides a righteous person as model or as leader to bring His people back on track. In the previous lesson we have seen how the offspring of father Abraham has become like the Canaanites in Canaan. We have reached a sad anticlimax in the history of God’s Kingdom building plans. And yet, God is still in control, and just at this time God prepares some people to make a difference and to secure that His promises to Abraham will not fail.

The Righteousness of Joseph

First, there is Joseph. Rather than an immature tattle tale, we now get to know him as a righteous servant and a witness of God to a nation that does not know Him. Joseph shows himself a reliable servant in the house of Potiphar. And the Lord blesses Potiphar because of Joseph. And when his wife tries to lure the young and handsome slave into her bed, Joseph sticks to his principles. He refuses to betray his master’s trust, and he refuses to sin against his God. This is a wonderful picture of righteousness and hope. After so much sin and corruption, we find in Joseph an upright young man, who is not polluted by the sexual sins of his society. He remains faithful, and he does not hesitate to testify to his allegiance with God.

At first, it seems that Joseph’s commitment to do the right thing only brings him trouble. In her rage of disappointment, Potiphar’s wife changes the story and suggests that it was Joseph who sought to seduce her into sin! And so, Joseph is humiliated again, and from a privileged servant he now becomes a prisoner. Yet, even there God blesses him and prepares him (through hardship!) to deliver Israel from famine and to isolate Abraham’s seed from the wicked practices of Canaan.

The Prayer of Jabez

We leave Joseph for a while to pay attention to Jabez. His prayer recently became very popular in the English speaking world through a book written by Bruce Wilkinson. Wilkinson suggests that we should regularly repeat Jabez’ prayer, so that God would bless us too. If we follow Jabez’ example, we may expect God to also bring us health and wealth.

1 Chronicles 4: 9, 10 tells us that Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. Why? Because he prayed to God! He turned to God in his agony, and expressed his dependence on and his hope in the God of his fathers. Although his brothers (the sons of Judah!) had become like the nations around them, Jabez prayed to God. Why? God worked in his heart through the fear of pain. His mother left him with a name that could only mean ‘bad fortune’. His name sounded like the local word for “pain”, so it was interpreted as a bad omen for his future. It was this bad predicament that made Jabez cry out to God. “Don’t give me a life of pain and trouble; rather protect me and bless me!” And God gave him what he asked for.

So, should we follow Jabez’ example and repeat his prayer so that God would make us prosper too? Should we, like good medicine, pray it once or twice a day to experience the health and wealth from God?

Well, first of all we must realize that we are dealing with the history of the building of God’s Kingdom, not a manual for the building of our personal estate. God shows us how He deals with His people in order to restore the creation to his rule and glory. Second, we must realize that Jabez is not described as a man who walked with God. The Bible shows that he is better than his wicked brothers, because his fear of pain brings him to cry out to God. He has learned the basic lessons that (for our blessing) we depend on God (read Psalm 127). He has realized that God is the source of all good things (James 1: 17).

Yet, this is only the first step. To continue to grow in God, there must be a second step. If we continue to pray to, and trust in God merely for our personal gain, we miss the point. People who don’t know God may seek to burn incense and turn prayer wheels to secure their personal blessings, but once we have come to know the true and only God, we realize that He does not exist for us; we were made to serve Him! So, James warns us (James 4: 3) that self-seeking prayers spring forth from an adulterous heart; that means a heart that is not faithful to God! Jesus teaches us to “First seek His Kingdom” (Matthew 6: 3), and trust that He will take care of our needs.

Jabez is a light in deep darkness, but if we set Jabez as our goal, we miss the point. We must move beyond Jabez and aim for Jesus. Jesus had all the rights to have everything for Himself, yet he voluntarily gave up everything, even His own life, in obedience to the Father (Philippians 2: 5).

Food for Thought

1 “My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God!” These words deserve to be framed in our minds. I pray that Jesus’ followers would remember these words when they are tempted into sexual sins. If only Adam and Eve had spoken such language, when Satan tried to trick them into the first sins, long ago in Paradise. “Our Lord has withheld nothing from us except the fruit of this one tree! How then could we do such a wicked thing and sin against our God!”

2 Just like Jabez, people usually only seek God or cry out to Him, when they fear or experience trouble and hardship. It was during the murderous terror of the “Khmer Rouge” in Cambodia that the church of Christ began to grow and prosper in that country. Indeed, in times of greatest darkness, people learn to seek and see the Light of God.

3 Check on the Internet about Wilkinson’s publication. What do others say? Do many (Western) people read the Bible for personal benefit and prosperity, or do they seek God and live to His glory?