1 – “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked.” (1 Chronicles 4:9-10, ESV)

RAF: Tucked away in the midst of these chapters with their long lists of people we do not and cannot know – about whom we know no more than their being listed here – is this simple reminder: When men call upon the Lord, He hears. And He answers. He is ever willing to meet us if we will but seek Him. Father, grant that I might seek you always and never stop.

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1 – 2 Kings 17 / Entire chapter.

RAF: 1. God must be our God. 2. God must be God, alone. 3. God must be worshiped according to what He has revealed. 4. God must be believed, and served according to what He has said. It is for want of these that Israel was decimated. Oh Father, keep us.

2 – “This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him: “She despises you, she scorns you— the virgin daughter of Zion; she wags her head behind you— the daughter of Jerusalem.” (2 Kings 19:21, ESV)

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1 – “A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give to the men, that they may eat.” But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” So he repeated, “Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’ ” So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.” (2 Kings 4:42-44, ESV)

RAF: This precursor to Jesus feeding the 5000 & the 4000, is a great reminder of God’s good provision for us. And, how it is He often makes what we have sufficient, rather than our needing more. How we need to trust Him for sufficiency. Temptation is warded off when we look to Him to make sufficient what we already have.

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1 – ” In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.” (1 Kings 16:29, ESV)

RAF: And still God tolerated Ahab to reign in Israel for 22 years. His patience is displayed toward Ahab, and His provocation against the Israelites in leaving them to the whims of such a wicked man. There is always more going on that just the one circumstance.

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1 – 1 Samuel Chapter 26.

RAF: While Jesus walked the earth, though the anointed King to come, nevertheless, He did nothing to overthrow or harm those authorities the Father had set in place. He bids His disciples to submit to them, in spite of their corruption. He could have come and judged all. But He did not come the first time to judge – rather to save. He will come again. The next time it will be to judge the earth in righteousness. But how He treated the lives of those who hated Him as precious. How He did not revile them when reviled. How He remained harmless, though they sought His life to take it. How He called to them and sought to have them reconciled. But they would not.

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1 – “And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”” (1 Samuel 15:20-21, ESV)

RAF: Like Eve in Eden thinking it was better to add that the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil shouldn’t be touched either, so here, they thought they could do one better than just following what God commanded. Whether it be subtracting or adding to what God says, either makes us God. And He will not stand for it. Many believe it is good and right to add works in salvation, that it is noble and higher than simply believing God to be justified. But in the end, it isn’t what He commanded. We cannot make His Word better.

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1 – “ Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord.” (1 Samuel 2:12, ESV)

RAF: It is not enough that our children are “our” children in that we know the Lord. It is not enough that they be the children of priests, or even priests themselves. Do they know the Lord? This is the critical thing. This is what we need to raise them to, to know God for themselves.

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1 – ” And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.” (Judges 13:1, ESV)

RAF: It is amazing in this book to see how long the People of God can walk in obstinance before they feel the pain of their fall and cry for recovery. Over and over. – Heavenly Father, give me a heart that repents at the drop of a dime. Do not let me grow so hard and cold that long times pass before I feel the woeful state of my soul and fly back to you.

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1 – “ Now Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep the whole commandment that I command you today.” (Deuteronomy 27:1, ESV)

RAF: The whole of God’s words to them is seen as a unity. It is spoken of here as the “whole commandment” in the singular. While the New Covenant believer is not “under the Law”, nevertheless, every word God speaks is precious, and to be considered. By it, we know His heart and mind in a vast variety of situations and circumstances.

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1 – “Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God said to him.)” (Deuteronomy 10:9, ESV)

RAF: Now, as we are a “royal priesthood” 1 Peter 2:9, and we receive the “earnest of our inheritance” Ephesians 1:14 in the Holy Spirit – we see that the Levitical priesthood was a type of the Christian. As their inheritance is God and not earthly plots of ground – so ours. Imagine, we inherit the fullness of God.

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