Look Again at Jabez

Tags

2016, 5776, Abundance, Ayin Av, Blessing, Identity, Pain, Prayer of Jabez, prosperity

5776 is the Hebrew year; 2016 is the Gregorian year; but the meaning of the year is the same, Ayin Av. Ayin means to see, to look again, Av means tent peg, hook, plumb line, connector. Today I hear the Lord saying, look again at Jabez, see him today in the year of Ayin Av, 5776, 2016, so on this first day of 2016, I looked again and what I saw blew my natural mind. I trust it will explode in you like it did in me.

I Chronicles 4:9-10 says, “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez saying, “Because I bore him with pain.” Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!” And God granted him what he requested.”

Jabez means pain, but it also means abounding or abundance. Jabez’s mother named her son based on her current situation (intense labor pains), not based on a prophetic destination. So, Jabez became a self-fulfilling prophecy, because names are powerful. But Jabez as he matured, realized his name meant more than pain, even though “honorable” actually means burdensome. So Jabez brought more pain to his family than his brothers. The duality of meanings of words is all over scripture and that is why we need the knowledge of God to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14), for there are hidden meanings to discover that will unlock treasures untold.

Jabez grew up in pain, but his name also meant prosperity, abounding, abundance, so there was a side of his name he had yet to experience, but when he discovered the other meaning of his name, he prayed for 4 things: 1) Blessing; 2) Enlargement; 3) Hand; and 4) Keeping. These requests carry such significance, they were so aligned with the Av (plumb line, tent peg) that God granted his request. So, what exactly did He ask for and when we pray this prayer, what exactly are we asking for?

1. Blessing – Jabez asked for the blessing of Jacob(Genesis 32:24-31), he asked for the blessing of a name change. He, like Jacob wanted to be blessed with the other meaning of his name. Jabez knew pain, but he was requesting to know prosperity. Pain prepares you for prosperity, so prosperity won’t bring you pain, for pain and prosperity are connected. (See Joseph for another example of this).
2. Enlargement – Jabez asked for land, to become many, to increase his territory, (Psalm 16 is what Lance Wallnau has prophesied as the word for 2016). Jabez was aligning himself with the blessing of Abraham (Genesis 12). Isaiah 54 speaks the same request, and Isaiah says the key to increasing influence is worship, sing my friends, sing!
3. Hand – Jabez wanted God’s hand to be with him, this was a request for the authority, influence and leadership of Moses (Exodus 33:12-23). He wanted the glory (weightiness) of God. His name meant a heavy burden, but as he discovered the truth of his name as weighty, he requested the weighty glory of God that Moses experienced in the cleft of the rock.
4. Keeping – Jabez wanted to be kept from harm (evil, misery, distress or injury), he was requesting to be aligned with someone in the future, he was wanting to be in alignment with Jesus and His kingdom. Matthew 6:9-13 is a prayer with the same request, and Revelation 21:3-5 promises the same thing. He wanted to be healed of all pain, so he would not hurt anyone.

The prayer of Jabez is a prayer of alignment, he requested he would be aligned with the blessings of Jacob, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. He was a tent peg in the sense that he hooked or connected himself to the past and the future. In this year of Ayin Av, we need to look again as there are connections that God is making, just like he connected I Chronicles 4:10 to Isaiah 54:2-3 to Matthew 6:9-13. We also need to look again, for we are not recycling the old, we are entering a new wine skin with new wine.

Jabez teaches us through his prayer that identity precedes destiny which will usher in prosperity without pain. I hope you take the time to look again at Jabez.