The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Isaiah 59:1-11, “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.
2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion and speak lies; they conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.
5 They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; he who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.
6 Their webs will not become clothing, nor will they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and an act of violence is in their hands.
7 Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, devastation and destruction are in their highways.
8 They do not know the way of peace, and there is no justice in their tracks; they have made their paths crooked, whoever treads on them does not know peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, but behold, darkness, for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 We grope along the wall like blind men, We grope like those who have no eyes; We stumble at midday as in the twilight, among those who are vigorous we are like dead men.
11 All of us growl like bears, and moan sadly like doves; we hope for justice, but there is none, for salvation, but it is far from us.”

Were I the Chaplain of the U. S. Senate but for one day, I would be sorely inclined to read this passage with all the emphases and implications it conveys that apply to our United States. The gloom that currently hangs over our nation like an infectious cloud, does so largely because of the multiple iniquities that hang over two of our three Houses of Government.

Isaiah prophesied for more than 50 years; and his words are cited in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament prophet. It is said that “the primary task of the Old Testament prophets was not to foretell future events, but to forthtell the will of God which He had revealed to His prophets” (Jensen, 320-321).

No past, present or future situation is outside of the LORD’s awareness or His ability to control. Nor has He overlooked the slightest minutiae within these situations. The problems that harass us are the problems we have either caused or failed to erase through confession. Read again verse 9, “Therefore, justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us.”

It is not that justice and righteousness are not available to us; rather, it is that our actions have disabled our right to them. The messes we want cleaned up are the messes we alone have created. We grope and stumble and growl and moan, but His salvation is far from us.

Repentance of our own sins will affect the healing of our nation and its problems. The Covenant of the LORD is with us, provided we meet the standard He sets before us:

“My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth
shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor
from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from now and
forever” (Isa. 59:21).

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