Indeed, some Hamites had been living there prior to that

Originally posted Sunday, June 22, 2008 at 1:40pm

First of all, the statistics I originally cited in my previous note were wrong. Prostitution is only legal in Nevadan counties boasting less than 250,000 residents (not 100,000). Of course, in either case, prostitution is illegal in Washoe and Clark Counties, where Reno and Las Vegas, respectively, are located. So, once again, I apologize for the error, and to steal my friend’s joke, I am deeply sorry if this affected your purchasing decisions involving prostitutes. I am not, however, deeply sorry for stealing his joke, because, to steal one of my own jokes, theft is property, or in other words, if you steal something, it’s yours*.
I would also like to give a big thank-you to everyone who left comments. Your kind words mean a lot to me. They are a big part of the reason that I have not yet gone completely insane. (Some of you who know me well may think this has already happened.)
I also don’t want to give anyone a holier-than-thou sort of impression. Hopefully I’m improving, but I don’t consider myself an exceptionally moral person. My life is JUST like an episode of VH1’s Behind the Music, except without the fame, fortune, rock music, groupies, or substance abuse.

Fun fact: 1 and 2 Chronicles, which are one book in the original Hebrew manuscripts, provide an additional take on material also found in 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings. The Greek name for the Chronicles, Paralipomena, means “things omitted.”
Now, if you enjoy genealogies as much as I do, then 1 Chronicles is the most exciting book in the entire Bible. I credit my ability to get through the book mostly to the fact that my study method involves crayons. Anyway, 1 Ch 4:9-10 is a very odd passage:

4:9 Jabez was more respected than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, for she said, “I experienced pain when I gave birth to him.” 4:10 Jabez called out to the God of Israel, “If only you would greatly bless me and expand my territory! May your hand be with me! Keep me from harm so I might not endure pain!” God answered his prayer. (NET)

(Note: most translations translate the word “respected” here as “honorable.” I’ve also seen one Lutheran source arguing it should be “honored,” which I find kind of funny because Lutherans always like to say that humans cannot do anything to merit God’s favor and God is basically just being nice to us.)

What’s so strange about this passage is that it pops up unexpectedly in the middle of a genealogy that doesn’t even say how Jabez is related to anyone else on the list. These are the only two verses in the entire Bible that even mention Jabez. (1 Chronicles 2:55 mentions a place of the same name.)
Now, back in 2001, some guy named Bruce Wilkerson wrote a book called “The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life.” It’s apparently the poor man’s “Purpose-Driven Life,” though, by which I mean it has sold a boatload of copies, and there’s probably now a Prayer of Jabez Travel Edition, Soundtrack, Kids Edition, Bible Study Companion, Couples Edition, Singles Edition, Page-a-Day Calendar, Collectors Edition, Keychain, Holiday Gift-Pak Edition, and Bathrobe.
Now, I don’t know too much about this book, but I wouldn’t recommend it, based on some of the criticisms I read. Wilkinson wants you to recite the Prayer of Jabez every morning for a month and to read his book every week for a month, and he assures you that if you boldly pray the prayer of Jabez, then God WILL bless your life and everything will get better and better for you. There are probably lots more things I could say about using some prayer as a success formula, but you guys are all very smart cookies and you’re probably already 12 steps ahead of me on this one.
Shane Claiborne, in his book “The Irresistible Revolution,” (a much better book, by the way) also takes issue with the prayer. His point is that there are better prayers for Christians to emulate, writing, “the constant echo of ‘me’ and ‘my’ of Jabez does not appear once in the Prayer of Jesus (only ‘us’ and ‘our’), and the ‘keep me from harm’ is supplanted by ‘thy will be done.’ ”
It is true that material prosperity, particularly in the Old Testament, is one of the ways that God blesses his faithful servants, but God also makes it rain on both the just and the unjust, and as Christians we are called to participate in the ministry and the suffering of Christ. Sometimes the faithful are rewarded for their trouble with persecution and death.
If, however, the prayer of Jabez is a good prayer on some level, as I assume it is, then why? My guess, dear reader, is that it demonstrates an attitude of dependence and reliance upon God. So it is a good prayer in some ways, but we have learned a lot more about God since then, and we can do better.

*Disclaimer: the author does not actually condone stealing of any kind. He also apologizes for the fact that this joke is rather obscure and not actually funny.