1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (NIV)
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 what did God do?
And God granted his request.
But what did Jabez ask for, and what did he receive exactly?
Jabez was a young man who followed Joshua through the promised land to conquer it.
He belonged to the tribe of Judah, one of the twelve tribes that traversed the land of Canaan to take full possession.
Of all those other 11 tribes, it is mentioned that they did not drive out the Canaanites (Judges 1:21-36).
But….
Judges 1:17 (ESV)
Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites.
When the entire land is taken, though not all the original inhabitants are driven out, the land is divided among the tribes of Israel.
Judah is assigned a very large area in the south of Canaan, and that is therefore where Jabez settles down.
Although God had blessed the tribe of Judah from the beginning with strength and victories over the Canaanites, and the tribe of Judah had been allotted a great expanse of land it seems not enough for Jabez.
He asks God, Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory!’
And strangely, God answered that prayer.
What did Jabez ask for, and what did he receive exactly?
Jabez understood that everything he had experienced in his life had a deep spiritual meaning.
Jabez understood that the territory his tribe had been given in the land of Canaan was a natural and visible image of what was to happen in the spiritual within him.
For, you are the promised land!
The promised land is an image of the new man.
And the land from which you were freed – Egypt – is an image of the old man.
Let me show you this through the New Testament.
The apostle Peter said:
Acts 2:38 (HST)
Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the deliverance of sin.
What Peter says might seem like a command, a kind of law we have to comply with: repent and be baptized!
However, it is not a law; it is a truth!
John 1:17 (ESV)
For the law was given through Moses,
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
It is not a law; it is a consequence of God’s love for you.
When you allow yourself to be freed from the slavery of sin, the result is that you are baptized; baptized into the death of Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3).
Peter says here, ‘repent!’
That means ‘turn around!’
No more toiling under the oppression and slavery of Pharaoh, but turning around and following Jesus out of Egypt towards the promised land, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light. (Matthew 11:30).
When the Israelites turned around and followed Moses out of Egypt, the result was that they had to pass through the Red Sea.
This is an image of baptism (1 Corinthians 10:2).
When you turn around and follow Jesus, the result is that you are baptized; baptized into the death of Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3).
You have then died with Him and are leaving the old behind.
The rest of it will come later in heaven, it is thought.1 Corinthians 13:12 (NAS)
For now we see in a mirror dimly, -they say- but then face to face.
Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known. However, this does not refer to later, somewhere after death; it’s about your journey from Egypt to the complete possession of the Promised Land.
When you repent in Egypt, turn around and walk out following Jesus, you only know Jesus in part.
You do not yet see the truth fully in focus so many things are still a mystery to you.
Therefor Paul says:
When you have just come to know Christ, the wisdom of God is still a mystery to you.
You are still like a baby in faith.
And just as a baby does not learn about politics, mathematics, and financial matters right away, but first learns to master the body and gains knowledge and experience step by step, the same is true for a baby in faith.
That’s why Paul says:
1 Corinthians 2:6 (NAS)
We speak wisdom – the wisdom of God – among those who are mature.
You are not spiritually mature right at the beginning of the journey.
At the beginning of the journey, you are just getting to know Jesus, and then the wisdom of God is still a mystery to you.
As you follow Jesus, you get to know Him better, and you grow up to spiritual maturity.
The people of Corinth are a good example of this.
They had come to know Christ but they had not yet grown very much and were therefore still like babies in faith.
Paul therefore cannot yet teach them the full wisdom of God.
He said to them:
1 Corinthians 3:1 (NAS)
I could not speak to you as to spiritualpeople
but only as fleshly; as to infants in Christ.
When you’re still in Egypt or just started your journey toward the Promised Land, you’re still a baby in Christ.
Paul calls this fleshly.
Romans 8:13 (BSB)
And if you live according to the flesh you will die!
but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Thát is the deep spiritual meaning of the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.
It’s the journey from the old man to the new man.
Paul explains what he told the Romans even more extensively to the Colossians.
Colossians 3:5-10 (ESV)
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:
sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
In these you too once walked, – in Egypt – when you were living in them.
But now you must put them all away:
anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge,
– at first still in part and gradually with increasing insight into the wisdom of God –
according to the image of Him who created him.
You are made in the image and likeness of God.
Genesis 1:26-27
Not what God looks like, because God is Spirit.
John 4:24
You too are spirit! ➡️ Your spirit is the image and likeness of God.
Your spirit dwells in your body to function in the natural.
Your body is depicted in the Bible as earth, such as the earth itself, a field, or a country or a city.
In this study, we use Egypt and the Promised Land as examples.
Egypt is the old man.
This person lives entirely according to the flesh.
The body of this person rules over the spirit of this person.
The Promised Land is the new man.
This person lives entirely according to the Spirit.
The spirit of this person rules over the body of this person.
Just like the Promised Land, all enemies in this body are defeated.
In the Promised Land, the enemies are great and mighty people who serve idols.
In your body, the enemies are the desires of the flesh, the deeds of the old man, such as sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
All these enemies must be destroyed!
And…
1 Corinthians 15:26 (ESV)
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
See that?
When you live according to the flesh, you will die.
But when you destroy all enemies in your body, you will live.
Romans 8:13 (ESV)
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die!
but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live!
How do you defeat these enemies? ➡️
By the Spirit of the Lord.
Because these enemies are stronger than you.
1 Corinthians 6:17 (ESV)
But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
Deuteronomy 11:23-24 (ESV)
The LORD will drive out all these nations before you,
and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you.
Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours.
So, your journey following Jesus doesn’t stop just beyond the border of the Promised Land.
Keep following Him until the sole of your foot has treaded all the land and all enemies are destroyed. This is how your territory is enlarged.
Then you have overcome, and Jesus promises you:
Revelation 2:26 (NKJ)
He who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end,
– until the land is completely taken –
to him I will give power over the nations.
And:
Revelation 3:21 (NKJ)
To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with Me on My throne,
as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Then your spirit reigns over your body.
Then you rule as king over the flesh.
The journey from Egypt to the Promised Land is your growth
into the fullness of the image and likeness of God.
What did Jabez ask for, and what did he receive exactly?
Jabez didn’t settle for a small portion of the Promised Land.
He wanted be able to comprehend what is the width, length, depth, and height of the promised land,
so that he would know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge,
that he may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:18-19 (NKJ)
… that you may be able to comprehend
what is the width and length and depth and height
to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Isaiah 54:2-3 (BSB)
Enlarge the site of your tent!
Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings!
Do not hold back!
Lengthen your cords!
Drive your stakes in deep!
For you will spread out to the right and left!
Your descendants – the fruit of the Spirit – will dispossess the nations
and inhabit the desolate cities.
You are the promised land!
And I pray that God will bless you abundantly and enlarge your territory!
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