The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Ezra 9:10-15, “Now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments,
11 which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end and with their impurity.
12 ‘So now do not give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters to your sons, and never seek their peace or their prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’
13 “After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt, since You our God have requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us an escaped remnant as this,
14 shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape?
15 “O LORD God of Israel, You are righteous, for we have been left as an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in our guilt, for no one can stand before You because of this.”

The gist of Ezra’s prayer includes the awareness that the LORD’s instructive warning did come
through the prophets’ servants. There is no excuse for the intermarriage that had occurred
between Israel’s righteous daughters and the heathen’s unrighteous men. Further, the LORD’s
people are never to seek peace with an evil people or to seek their prosperity. Oh, how often
we are guilty of desiring worldly possessions!

We are to acknowledge the LORD’s righteousness, as He provides us freedom from the lust
of worldly possessions. What He is providing for us here is both tangible and practical. We
must be satisfied with whatever He has provided. This world is not our home; and the tangible
things the world produces and embraces are not for us!

Beyond all of the above instructions, we must realize that our love for this world’s goods will be
what is passed on to our children and their children. And their temptations will be just as ours. They will love what we have loved and passed on to them and to the generations that will follow. We must totally absorb Ezra’s prayer! Let the LORD guide you to love His provisions; for they alone possess His purposes.

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