The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Joel 2:1-3, “Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; surely it is near,
2 A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, so there is a great and mighty people; there has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after it to the years of many generations.
3 A fire consumes before them and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but a desolate wilderness behind them, and nothing at all escapes them.”

The name Joel first occurred as the name of Samuel’s eldest son. The name means “Jehovah is my God.” It is likely that this Joel would, as a young man, have known the prophets Elijah and Elisha.

A severe drought had fallen upon the land of Judah. Now, the LORD directs the locusts to devastate
the land. It was not the first time, however, that locusts had been employed to destroy the crops of the people of God. Joel understood that the plague had been ordered by the LORD, and that the answer lay in a truly spiritual revival among the people.

While we often attribute the rise in food and gasoline prices to the mismanagement of government, could its cause not also be viewed as ultimately from the LORD due to our continual engagement of evil in our own land? We have obviously allowed evil to dominate our thinking. We view evil as pleasurable, when it ought to be viewed as detrimental. We are so focused on such an avalanch as the result of “climate change,” when it is ought to be attributed to our evil-repudiation of the LORD and His Holy Scripture!

Evil has pervaded the world from the beginning of time. Evil today, however, smirks with pride over its mockery of God and His Word. Things that would have shocked our preceeding generation, are now
allowed, as if they are “normal.” Paul warns us against such moral impurity in Romans 1:24-25:

“Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their
bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for
a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed
forever…”

Unless we quickly and sincerely repent of our filthiness, the LORD’s worst may befall us. Our cry for
mercy then will be too late for those who have already fallen. Worse still, the LORD may declare us
delinquent and allow us to endure the full measure of His wrath. “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Heb. 4:7 KJV).

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