The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Obadiah 1:15-17, “For the day of the LORD draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head.
16 “Because just as you drank on My holy mountain, All the nations will drink continually. They will drink and swallow And become as if they had never existed.
17 “But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, And it will be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions.”

Even the casual student of the Old Testament will recall that brothers Jacob and Esau were virtually always in conflict. They cheated and schemed against each other in the effort to conquer. Such opposition seldom finds termination; thus, Esau (elsewhere described as “the father of Edom”) was noted in the prophecy of Obadiah to have been in conflict with Jacob who led the Israelites.

The stern warning against the Edomites comes in verse 15, where the prophet Obadiah warns that the Day of the LORD is drawing near to all the nations. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to read this warning without sensing its appropriation to the times in which we now live. A hopeful, if not honest, reading of these verses places Christian nations as those who will escape the pride and antisemitism that the LORD so despises. Yet, an honest and truthful examination of our national circumstances leaves us in serious doubt as to our own holiness.

Quite candidly, the passage does say that “the Day of the LORD draws near on all the nations.” It may be that this passage ought not to be considered eschatologically. Still, it is foolish of us to fail to consider it as for our nation, if indeed, we are Divinely included. One thing is certain: the LORD hates pride that denies His involvement in all matters everywhere. For “on Mount Zion there will be those who escape” because they are holy. If you were to choose, would you identify with Edom or with Israel and why? Think carefully before you answer. The day our nation turns against Israel, we will have charted the course for our own
destruction!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Amos 8:4-7, “Hear this, you who trample the needy, to do away with the humble of the land,
5 saying, ‘When will the new moon be over, so that we may sell grain, and the sabbath, that we may open the wheat market, to make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger, and to cheat with dishonest scales,
6 So as to buy the helpless for money and the needy for a pair of sandals, and that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?”
7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Indeed, I will never forget any of their deeds.”

If you wish to know something of the background of the prophet Amos, you need not look into Wikipedia for information. Oh, it’s there, to be sure; but the information often comes from those whose lives Amos denounced. Amos was not formerly trained in the Law of Israel, as was the Apostle Paul, who lived centuries later. Amos farmed, as it were, and shows a richness of information with respect to the natural world.

At the same time, he noted well the sins of the people around him. The “up-and-outers” trampled the “down-and-outers,” day after day. They could hardly wait for the “legal time” of buying and selling, so they could get back to making money! And in that process, they gloried in defrauding the poor. Certainly, we have nothing on the crooks of Amos’ day. Dishonesty stretches it’s evil fingers into the distant past. Prices were exorbitant! And the items for purchase seemed smaller and more expensive by the day. Sound like the day in which we live?

What is outstanding beyond the ministry of Amos is the Word of the LORD: “Indeed, I will never forget any of their deeds,” the LORD said. In our day, we look for merchants with the best goods at the lowest price. Nothing wrong with that. Yet, when those from whom we buy the necessities of life price them beyond the standard of decency, we can find solace in the fact that the LORD Himself has viewed their process. We will one day be vindicated, if we live and work in truth. Those who live only for themselves, will one day answer to that charge before Almighty God Himself. But, by then, it will be too late. Think about it!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Joel 2:31-32, “The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.
32 “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered;
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.”

Our world is saturated with special days. We have Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, New Year’s Day, Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day, Labor Day, Washington’s Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, National Bird Day, Palm Sunday, April Fool’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Good Friday, Armed Forces’ Day, and the list goes on.

Yet, there is one special day that ranks above all others: “The Day of the LORD.” This day will not be as pleasant as the other days, yet it will exceed them beyond all expectations. It is an awesome day, not at all a day to be desired, for “the sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood…” It is a day when the wrath of God is poured out upon those who have rejected Him.

Make no mistake about it, none of us is worthy of escaping the wrath of Almighty God! Each of us has sinned against the LORD and is worthy of His sternest displeasure. Yet, because God is love, He has provided a way of escape from the penalty for sin. From the Garden of Eden, the LORD has required that man offer a sacrifice for his sin. In His plan for man’s forgiveness, God offered His own Son on the Cross of Calvary as that supreme Sacrifice. You can accept Jesus’ sacrifice for you sins or you will die in your sins and spend eternity in Hell, separated forever from our loving God.

The Day of the LORD is nearing with every passing day. Soon, time will have depleted itself and those who have failed to accept Jesus will suffer for eternity. The Bible says, “Now is the accepted time; today is the Day of Salvation.” Accept Jesus Christ as God’s Sacrifice for you, and do it today! Jesus is the only way, and time is swiftly running out….

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Hosea 10:12, “Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD Until He comes to rain righteousness on you.”

The Book of Hosea lends itself to numerous themes. One predominant theme is “The LORD’s Restoration of Backsliders.” Previous verses speak of Israel’s sin and her need to repent. There is no escaping the obvious parallel between Israel and the Church. Therefore, while the Church had yet to arrive in the days of ancient Israel, we may well view the warning to Israel as an equally serious warning to the Church today.

Today’s Church is no less guilty of backsliding than Israel in the day of Hosea. The condemnation that the LORD gave to five of the seven churches in the Revelation is appropriate for today’s church. Still, it is easy enough for us to critisize the Church as a whole, when it is our sin that affects the corporate body we know as the Church.

We owe it to the LORD that He is even willing to forgive our sin. Certainly, we do not deserve it! Yet, He bids us to “Sow with a view to righteousness” and “Reap in accordance with kindness.” Yes, as born-again believers in Jesus Christ, we long to see others come to know Him. But is our sowing –our witness of His saving grace— with the view of others coming into His righteousness? If our witness is a burden that desperately longs to see others saved, then it follows that our “reaping” will be accompanied with kindness.

Further, we are to expand our witnessing so as to “break up the (fallow, untilled) ground.” Our witnessing should exceed those who knock on our door or those with whom we work every day. We must stretch ourselves into neighborhoods not our own, not a difficult thing to do at all in this day of Wi-Fi and electronic messaging. Note well that the “time to seek the LORD” is not limited to the lost alone; it refers as well to us who have already believed in Him; for the verse concludes, “Until He comes to rain righteousness on you.”

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Daniel 4:23-25, “In that the king saw an angelic watcher, a holy one, descending from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it; yet leave the stump with its roots in the ground, but with a band of iron and bronze around it in the new grass of the field, and let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him share with the beasts of the field until seven periods of time pass over him,’
24 this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king:
25 that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.”

Sometimes we just get too full of ourselves. It happens when we focus exclusively on ourselves and our desires. No one else matters. No thinking outside of our own possesses any value. Yet, when this occurs, trouble is just around the corner.

Nebuchadnezzar was the undisputed king of Babylon. He was in charge of everything. He was the law, and no one dared to dispute it –well, almost no one. The king’s only difficulty, it seemed, was having dreams he could not understand. That ought to have been a hint to him that even as king, he didn’t know everything. But when some people come to believe they know it all, it takes the LORD to prove to them that He is greater!

Daniel was a servant of the LORD. The LORD gave Daniel the interpretation of the king’s dream; and for a short time, Nebuchadnezzar lived under the sovereignty of Almighty God. But then, one day he got cocky, admiring all of the things he possessed, things he had built. They were indeed magnificent, but there was One who was greater –One whom the king must be made to recognize as superior to himself.

When he stubbornly refused to acknowledge the LORD as superior, all that you read in the verses above came crashing down on him. And for seven, long years Nebuchadnezzar lived like an animal and ate grass until he recognized and acknowledged the LORD God of Heaven as Superior over all! Don’t fall into Satan’s trap. Worse than what happened to Nebuchadnezzar can happen to us. Yield your life –your time, possessions—all that you have to Jesus Christ. Put Him first! That’s when life becomes real and truly meaningful.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom