The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

1 Kings 21:22-29, “Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, because

Jezebel his wife incited him.

26 And he acted very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out

before the sons of Israel.

27 And it came about when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay

in sackcloth and went about despondently.

28 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

29 ‘Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the

evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house in his son’s days.’”

Most of us have somewhere-sometime done something that we later assessed as wrong before the LORD. Knowing His Word, we knew that what we needed was to consider it as evil and repent and receive forgiveness. Has that not happened to you?

Well, as our verses tell us, Ahab, King of Israel, was an evil man. Whatever was left in him that was good turned evil very quickly when he married Jezebel because she was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians –all of whom were idol worshippers. In addition to his own sin, Jezebel encouraged Ahab to ignore the LORD and do what he wanted. But, when serious devastation beset Israel, Ahab suddenly became humble before the LORD, fasting and praying and asking the LORD’s forgiveness.

Elijah was the LORD’s prophet in those days, and the LORD spoke to him, asking if he had noticed how humble and repentant Ahab had become? The Scripture does not allow us to know what Elijah saw and knew; but, the implication of the LORD’s question suggests that the prophet had observed everything related to Ahab. It was then that the LORD determined not to bring evil on the nation of Israel in Ahab’s day. But that is not the end of the LORD’s determination.

“I will bring the evil upon his house in his son’s days,” the LORD said. There is a principle here that we must not miss.

Yes, Ahab had done evil, and he was responsible not only for his own evil doings, but also for doing the evil that Jezebel suggested. Further, Ahab had repented of the evil he had done. But repentance, regardless of its sincerity, does not dispel the consequences of the sin. For example, the gossip intentionally spread against someone is not erased because you repented. Thus, we need to be extremely careful, allowing our conversation to be “Yea, yea and Nay, nay.”

Somewhere the insincerity of our words will come back to bite us. It’s what my grandmother us to call, “the chickens coming home to roost.”

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

P. S. With more than 144 countries in our world suffering from COVID-19, we should be praying for the nations’ leaders,

medical and logistical people that are working to squelch its devastation. We should also be praying for those who

have been affected by the virus. Some have asked if the LORD is sending a signal to all mankind. I do not know;

but we would do well to receive it as His warning of even worse things to come. If you do not know the LORD, now

is the time to repent and believe and call upon Him as your LORD and Savior. If you are saved, it is time to share

Him with those who are not. May God bless and protect you is my prayer.

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”