Sermon # 26 - The True Blessings Of God Series

We read in 1 Chronicles 4:10, “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.” (NASB)

The name Jabez as we considered previously signified ‘pain’. While child-bearing is generally agonizing, Jabez’s mother went through such excruciating pain, that she decided to name her son Jabez, which meant ‘pain or sorrow’. Jabez was certainly brought forth with pain, his situation might have been arduous, but he decided that he would not continue this way. Jabez determined that he would trust in the God of Israel, who alone could totally transform his situation. The first appeal therefore, that Jabez made to God was that He would bless him. The reason for this is found in the last part of the verse, where Jabez pleaded with God that He would keep him from harm so that it would not pain him. Though his life commenced with pain, Jabez’s apprehension was that the latter part of his life should not end in pain. Hence, he beseeched God that He would bless him.

When faced with distressing situations, many resign themselves to the fact that it is probably their fate that wrought these misfortunes, and there are those around who influence them adversely to believe that nothing will ever change for the better. Instead of feeling dejected in such circumstance, like Jabez, we must persevere with faith, recognizing that there is an Almighty God who can deliver us, and lead us onto a life of triumph.

What is the true blessing, according to the word of God?

The blessings God bestowed on Adam and Eve

We read in Genesis 1:22, “And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.” (KJV)

Also in Genesis 1:28, “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (KJV)

The first time we read about being blessed, is in Genesis 1:22, when God blessed the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and said to them ‘be fruitful and multiply.’ The second time we read is in Genesis 1:28, where God blessed Adam and Eve, and said to them also ‘be fruitful and multiply’. However, God also blessed them with the authority to have dominion over all that He had created.

When God blessed the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, the only blessing bestowed on them was fruitfulness and multiplication, that’s what is happening even today. However, when God blessed Adam and Eve, not only did he endow them with the blessing of fruitfulness and multiplication, He also spoke over them, the authority to have rule over all that He had created.

If we were to define blessing someone in general, we could say that blessings are words spoken by one person to the other, specifying or detailing as to what would or should become of them in the future.

God is the source of all blessing, and blessings come from the word of God. They come to strengthen us to live in accordance to God’s word, and that is true blessings that come from God. The way the world and the word define blessings are quite contradictory. When the world refers to blessings, what they refer to mostly is to be blessed with material things. However, the true blessings of God are those that God bequeaths us, so that we can lead lives that are in keeping with God’s expectations of us. One of the reason we fail is because we have not understood on the basis of God’s word, all that He anticipates from us, in order to be recipients of His divine blessings.

The blessing God bestowed on Abraham

We read in Genesis 22:15-17,“And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;”(KJV)

As we read and study the above mentioned verses carefully, we observe how God did not just say that He would bless Abraham, but also enumerated the exact way in which He would bless him. He said to Abraham, ‘That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore;’ There are two aspects of this blessing God showered on Abraham, one was the heavenly blessing which he likened to the stars of the heavens, and also the earthly blessings which can be equated to the sand on the sea shore.