Interpreting the Prayer of Jabez (1 Chronicles 4:9-10) in its Context

Yesterday I referenced Bruce Wilkinson’s book, The Prayer of Jabez, centered around 1 Chronicles 4:9-10.

“Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, ‘I gave birth to him in pain.’ Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.”

I mentioned that since that book came out in 2000, the criticisms of its theology have become well-known. It has been called an evangelical health-and-wealth, name-it-and-claim it type of doctrine. Because too many people want to understand this passage in terms of the Prosperity Theology, a proper understanding is lacking. It is my purpose to set the Prayer of Jabez in its proper context and interpret it appropriately.

                                                      

1 and 2 Chronicles were originally one book. The author wrote a very theological interpretation of history from Adam to the Decree of Cyrus in 540 BCE, focusing on God working through history to bring about his divine purposes through the one, true family of Israel. Special emphasis is placed on David, the Temple, and the cultic practices of Israel. The theological approach is similar to that found in Deuteronomy that emphasizes the cause and effect relationship between God and his covenant people. If Israel maintains their part of the covenant, they can expect blessings. If they fail, they can expect curses. It was the purpose of the covenant that God made with Abraham (and Israel) that the world would be blessed and the curse of the Fall of Man would be reversed. The first nine chapters are genealogies showing how God worked through the families of the earth from Adam to Abraham and eventually to the Davidic line. In chapter four we get a snippet from the unknown life of Jabez. Why does the author of the Chronicles include the anecdote in his work? What purpose does it serve?

This two verse story opens with the knowledge that Jabez’s birth was troubled, and his mother named Jabez (sorrowful) because of the pain (jozeb) of the childbirth (reversing the last two consonants). The ancient Israelites believed in the power of words to shape reality under certain circumstances (i.e., blessings and curses), particularly when it came to the naming of children. The naming of a child at birth could affect its destiny. This is why Jacob immediately renames Benjamin to something more positive when Rachel calls out a sorrowful name and dies giving birth (Genesis 35:18). A bad name could leave a curse on one’s life. This appears to have been the case with Jabez. In his prayer, Jabez asked God to bless him so that evil would not bring him pain. He was seeking a reverse of the curse.

Now admittedly Jabez’s prayer was an immature one. He wanted to escape the pain of his life through material possessions. This attitude was not uncommon for a people that did not believe in an afterlife and conceptualized divine blessings in terms of children, land, and its produce.

Of course, many people today seek to escape the pain of their lives and the results of their characters and actions through the accumulation of material possessions. Jabez may have been more honorable than his brothers, but he was still very spiritually immature. Indeed, it is unadvisable for any Christian to pray such a prayer in this manner. Nevertheless, God did grant the request. I am reminded of Romans 8:26 when Paul says that “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” In this incident, God answered the weakness of Jabez’s prayer for relief and reversed the curse with a blessing.

Knowing that this passage is about turning a curse into a blessing, it makes sense why the author of the Chronicles wanted to include it. The history that he unfolds is about the curses and the blessings that follow from Israel’s behavior towards the covenant. This reaches a head in the ultimate curse: expulsion from the land in the Babylonian exile (2 Chronicles 26). Yet, in the final three verses of the book, the Lord reverses the curse through the decree of Cyrus, and God’s people return to their homeland. God turned a curse into a blessing. Therefore, the Prayer of Jabez is an early example of what God would do with Israel. Ultimately, God uses Jesus to reverse the curse of the Fall and bless the whole world. But, again, the blessings of the covenant and the covenant itself were for the purpose of blessing the entire world.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with praying to God to relieve one’s pain or prevent pain from occurring (see Luke 22:42). 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 shows us a God who can reverse the curses in our lives and turn them into blessings. However, it should be noted, it’s God’s intention that the blessings he sends your way be used for the purposes of his Kingdom. The purpose of a blessing is to bless others. As both Jesus and Paul will teach, the major problem of Israel is that they wanted to keep that blessing for themselves. This selfishness with the blessing brought a curse. Therefore, pray to God to relieve your pain, but pray that God can use you to be a blessing for others.

Defending Joel Osteen in Light of Incipient, Evangelical Prosperity Theology

As many people know, Pastor Joel Osteen was pilloried in the media recently when he was wrongly accused of heartlessness with regards to the plight of the people suffering from the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The accusations against him were completely unfounded and EASILY disproved, but – once again – people ignorantly piled on in a complete rush to judgment. As Ed Stetzer wrote, “The response from many people spreading false information shows their character, not Osteen’s. The irony for some in this moment is clear: they hate Osteen because they believe he distorts the truth—and then they do the same when they critique him with false information.”

Now I’ve heard people hate on Joel Osteen since I was at seminary. It seems like people love to do so. Why? Basically, I think this is because he is a well-known, popular pastor who preaches sermons with prosperity gospel theology. I’ve never jumped on this hate train, though I certainly don’t mind honest critique of his so-called theology. I have lightly kidded him in the past but all in good fun. Now why haven’t I felt the need to attack Joel Osteen? Three reasons:

First, the Word of Faith movement, with which Osteen belongs, is not within my sphere of influence. I tend to fall within mainstream evangelical Protestantism (Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc). I don’t touch upon Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Word of Faith and others much unless, maybe, the Pope makes some grandiose pronouncement that he intends for us all to follow (snicker). For the most part then, I follow the principle of Luke 9:50 (“Leave him alone. For whoever is not against you is for you”) and John 21:22 (“What is that to you?”). I call this the Biblical doctrine of minding your own business.

Second, Joel Osteen seems like a nice, humble guy. I’ve never gotten the idea or heard any rumor that he acts inappropriately behind the scenes. I once saw video of a preacher being interviewed behind the scenes at a Christian speakers’ conference. At the back of the shot, in the distance, was Joel Osteen in a candid moment, not realizing he was on camera. He was thanking the various people who were working behind the scenes at the conference (the “little people”). Granted, that was only a snapshot, but even his demeanor suggested to me that he wasn’t walking around thinking he was a big shot. Believe me, there are far too many preachers and pastors out there who are jerks, bullies, and egotists. The Bully Pastor is a far bigger problem with which the Church in America has to deal. It’s refreshing to see a minister not behave in such a manner.

Finally, and this gets to the heart of the matter, in terms of Osteen’s poor theology, well, let’s face it: half the pastors in this country preach sermons with poor theology. And that half estimate is probably being generous! Granted, much evangelical theology is bad and most people, including most pastors, just accept what they hear without considering whether or not it’s true. But even by that standard, the sermons being preached out there are cheap. These preachers just aren’t studying. Granted, God is still using these preachers for evangelism and discipleship, but only just enough that the Kingdom of God chugs along. God still works through weakness. So when I hear various preachers condemn the theology of Joel Osteen I think, “Take the plank out of your own eye first.” But let me be more specific at the hypocrisy.

Osteen is known for advocating Prosperity Theology. Here is a good definition: “Prosperity Theology (sometimes referred to as the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, or the gospel of success) is a religious belief among some Christians, who hold that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for them, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to religious causes will increase one's material wealth.”

Naturally, I think the Prosperity Theology is wrong. It’s unscriptural and relies on a poor hermeneutic for understanding what the Bible does say about blessings. Many other Christians and theologians have explained why it’s bad, so I have no desire to explain why that is the case. Most mainstream evangelical preachers and pastors will state clearly that they are against the whole “health and wealth” theology. In fact, they will state unequivocally they are against the Prosperity Gospel and will denounce it in no uncertain terms. But then …

But then a preacher will want to do a Bible study series on Bruce Wilkinson’s book, The Prayer of Jabez, and do a sermon on 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 using Wilkinson’s interpretation: “bless me and enlarge my territory!” Of course, since that book came out in 2000, the criticisms of its theology have become well-known. It has been called an evangelical health-and-wealth, name-it-and-claim it type of doctrine. Wilkinson says that “I want to teach you how to pray a daring prayer that God always answers” and “I believe it contains the key to a life of extraordinary favor with God.” The book suggest that this passage in 1 Chronicles is some kind of secret key that unlocks all the blessings God has in store for believers. Indeed, it treats Jabez’s prayer as a mantra to be recited word for word and portrays divine blessings in terms of miracles, material blessings, and mundane popularity. As one person wrote, “For Wilkinson, the prayer has become the secret to success in every endeavor. God is viewed as a butler who responds in a mechanical manner when certain words are recited.” To say that reciting someone else’s prayer gets God to give you what you want like some magic words (“Accio Moolah!”) is ludicrous. As I’ve said before, “Pray the Prayer of Jabez and God will expand your territory; pray the Prayer of Jonah and you will be vomited up onto a beach.” This understanding of the Prayer of Jabez is not just a poor interpretation of Scripture or simply spiritual immature; it’s plain prosperity theology. Yet many preachers who denounce Osteen’s theology will preach 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 in a like manner.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, “Well, my pastor doesn’t preach the Prayer of Jabez in such a manner.” Good. I should hope not. But how does he preach Malachi 3:10? “’Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’”

As I’ve written before, this verse, as it is commonly preached, has been taken severely and unnecessarily out of its context. While the Bible does talk about giving for ministry, the tithe itself does not apply to Christians. Malachi 3:10, as a reading of the whole chapter makes clear, concerns the ongoing faithlessness of Israel to meet its covenantal obligations, particularly the requirements of the Torah, which includes the tithe. The purpose of the covenant was to solve the problem of evil and through Israel be a blessing to the world (Genesis 15, 17, 18, 22; Malachi 3:12). Faithfulness to the covenant brought blessings, but faithlessness brought a curse (Deuteronomy 28). Malachi is warning the people that they are cursed for their disobedience (3:9). Yet, the prophet does so within the context of the prediction of the coming Messenger (3:1) who will enable the people to fulfill the covenant and the purpose of the Law (see Deuteronomy 30). The early Christians saw this prediction fulfilled with the appearance of Jesus (Mark 1:2). This verse (3:10), this chapter, is about how God is saving the world; yet we’ve reduced it to “Give money to the local church so God will give even more money to you.” That is how this verse is regularly preached. What is the nature of such an interpretation other than prosperity theology? At best, you can apply Malachi 3:10 by saying “Give to ministries not in order that God will bless you, but so God will use it to bless the world through you.”

So, in light of this incipient Prosperity Gospel, of whom do you think I should be more critical? Osteen who preaches health and wealth according to his Word of Faith theology or the preachers who criticize Osteen but teach similarly health and wealth sermons contrary to their own stated theology? I prefer to focus my energies on furthering the Kingdom of God within my own sphere of influence.