The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Judges 13:2, “Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, so that the LORD gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years.

2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children.

3 Then the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son.

4 “Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing.

5 “For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name.

7 “But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.'”

I sincerely trust that you’ll not think unkindly of me for utilizing these verses as the backdrop to a very personal encounter. But, to me, the parallels are astounding! You see today, July 22 is my birthday. My mother had been told that she would never bear a child. I was never told the rationale behind that medical assessment; nevertheless, at the LORD’s appointed time, and by the grace of God, I entered the world; and through the faithful prayers of my mother, father, grandparents, and doubtlessly, a host of friends, most of whom I never knew.

The directives that the angel of the LORD gave to Manoah, in the Scripture passage above, were virtually identical to what was passed on to me, by my parents, as strong, Christian advice. They never clearly mentioned the Judges’ passage above, yet clearly taught me the essentials that the angel of the LORD gave to Manoah. Thus, I have never indulged in intoxicating beverages. One can live successfully without such. At the same time, I was never a “Nazarite,” nor do I claim such. By the grace of Almighty God, I was called into His service 74 years ago, and have been blessed by God with a worldwide ministry, in which many souls were brought to Him. I am 91 today.

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

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