Jabez by Thom Lemmons
The Fiction Story
This story is told from the point of view of Jabez. His name means pain. He was born in anguish and lived a life of anguish. He is an Isrealite from the small village of Beth-Zur, but from a young age his nation was over run by the Moabites, a vicious force who took the best of their crops and animals. Every attempt to run the invaders out only led to more anguish, and for many, death. The backdrop of this story is found in Judges 3: 12-15 Life was hard under the Moabites. While they took what they wanted, the Isrealite's were left with a plethora of gods to beg and complain to. There were gods for the harvest and for the sky; there were gods for the animals and the weather and everything else. None of those gods helped them. Those gods hardly cared about the maters for which they had charge of.
Yet, there was one god that the Israelites did not call on. Jabez only knew him as the unnamed god. As a child he had heard the stories from an elderly woman in the village about the one who led the Israelites through the desert and into the promised land. He is not made of wood or clay. He can not be seen or touched. How does one call upon a shapeless, nameless God?
As a teenager Jabez is selected by the enemy troops for a special task. He happens to be small and wiry enough to explore a possible passage through a water shaft to gain entrance into a hold-out city. The mission is a failure and Jabez falls into the hands of a cautious ally. While in captivity, Jabez gains the friendship of a soldier named Ehud.
It is Ehud who, a few years later, shows up in Beth-Zur looking for good men to stage yet another revolt against the Moabites. But given the past eighteen years, why should Jabez and the people of Beth-Zur expect anything other than death and anguish?
The Christian Story
This is a story about gods. Ehud claims that he is called on by God to fight, and drive the Moabites out of the land. Which god did Ehud speak of? There were none that Jabez could name that they had not already called upon. Like Jabez, Ehud remembers a God that everyone else seems to have forgotten. Ehud calls him The Most High.
With the true God of Israel, the people go to war.
Further Thoughts
The book is Historical Christian Fiction, but I can not help but think of all the times Israel had been in the same situation since the setting of this story in Jabez's day. Even now, in our day. No doubt Israel feels the pressure of outside forces pressing in, and by in large, Israel has forgotten their God. In the future when they are yet again over-run with enemy forces someone, perhaps not unlike Jabez or Ehud will have to remind them of the one who first put them into the land – and then, again, put them in the land a second time. They will remember; they will look upon him whom they have pierced and as it is promised, He will save them.
Thank you for reading! If you're looking for a bright gospel-centered book, please, Let me recommend one. Or check out one of my own books.
Until the next book, remember Christ the author of salvation and the reader of your heart.
