The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Genesis 18:26-33, “So the LORD said, ‘If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city,
then I will spare the whole place on their account.’
27 And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although
I am but dust and ashes.
28 “Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the whole city because
of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
29 He spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said,
“I will not do it on account of the forty.”
30 Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are
found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 And he said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are
found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.”
32 Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.”
33 As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the LORD departed, and Abraham returned to his place.”

Do parents bargain? I don’t believe I ever thought of it just that way, but I learned as a
mere kid not to give up –at least, not easily. Years later, when positions were changed,
I thought back and realized what my parents must have been thinking when I challenged
them like my kids were now challenging me.

Maybe it’s not best to use the word “challenge” with respect to Almighty God. To do that
seems to put us both on the same level, when certainly we are not! No one has the
“footing” required when we use the word “level’ with respect to a mere man and his God.
I am certain Abraham thought of that much quicker than you or I. God doesn’t play games!

Abraham, however, was thinking of Lot and his family over there in Sodom. The LORD was
the only One who could rescue them. Abraham had to put everything before the LORD!
He commenced slowly:

“Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the whole city
because of five?” It seemed a reasonable request.

The LORD replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

Whew! “Suppose forty are found there?” Abraham said cautiously.

And again the LORD said, “I will not do it on account of the forty.”

With things going so well between them, Abraham remained in a de-escalating position and
worked his bargain with the LORD down to ten. Can you imagine doing such a thing? No?
We do it all the time! God is not unreasonable! But, He is ultimately in charge! He knew from
the beginning exactly how many “righteous” people resided in the City of Sodom.

We simply can’t play games with God –and win! He knows from eternity past, who will and
when we will attempt to bargain with Him over an infinite number of things! Just be smart!
Don’t get cute with God! Had Abraham not been in righteous standing before the LORD,
He would never have allowed the bargaining to even commence. What does that say about
us? 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,

Genesis 18:22-26, “Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham
was still standing before the LORD.
23 Abraham came near and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
24 “Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare
the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?
25 “Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous
and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”
26 So the LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place
on their account.”

May I say without being trite that this passage reminds me of the kids’ game we all used to play. Oh, don’t you remember? It was called “Hide and Seek.”

No, I am not being crass or flippant in any way. I am simply seeing a balance in what the
LORD says and the game we all used to play.

Of course, the LORD had hidden nothing from Abraham, nor does He intend to do so.
Abraham has become great, as well as the human leader of “a great and mighty nation.”
Further, it is the LORD’s stated intention that he will become the father of many nations.
He has been Divinely chosen to model the way of the LORD to the other nations of the
earth.

Abraham is the LORD’s chosen that he might “keep the way of the LORD”; and this
Abraham does as the LORD leads and teaches him along the way. Yet, the cry of the
cities of Sodom and Gomorrah is exceedingly great! Their cry is the cry of sin and the
remorse that sin brings. Is it a real cry? What is the nature of the cry? The LORD
determines to inspect the cry and see if the sin is so great!

To understand the cry of a city is to understand the cry of its people. Thus, the LORD
executes an internal inspection to determine the nature and the seriousness of the cry.
He does the same with us –both as a nation and as individuals within the nation. What
will He discover in your life? What will He discover in mine? –or in our nations’?

If your guess is the same as mine, His discovery will not be pleasant. We have broken
virtually all of His commandments. He have scoffed at His Word, the Holy Bible; we have laughed at His directives for our lives. It is as if we believed ourselves to actually be God!
We have derided all of His insturctions; yet, He is now personally en route for His Official
Inspection!

“Oh, but that Inspection,” you say, “just regards God’s inspection of the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah.” Yet, it is emblamatic of where we are in His world today! Read His
inspection with “fear and trembling.” Can our world be cleaned up in time for His Return?
It is doubtful. See what you think –even more, what you can do to rectify our world in
time for His Coming!

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,

Genesis 18:17- 21, “The LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,
18 since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?
19 “For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”
20 And the LORD said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.
21 “I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”

Any father worth his weight, loves his son and wants to teach him the values of life by personal demonstration. Most fathers, who delight in their sons, long to see them grow in greatness;
therefore, they do all they can to train and assist them in becoming successful.

Abraham knew from the LORD that his grandson, Lot, would one day become what the LORD had
designed; therefore, he did all he could to develop the boy to that end.

Every Godly father anticipates his son and/or grandson to be the best he can possibly be. He wants
his son to live up to the family’s good name. Further still, he wants his son to search and discover
the LORD’s divine plan for his life and pursue that plan to the uttermost.

Lot, the nephew of Abram, had elected the richer fields and ended up living in Sodom. The LORD
warned Abram of Sodom’s sinfulness and pending destruction; still, he could not allow his nephew
to remain there and be destroyed.

Do you live where sin abounds? Or do you have relatives that do? What are ou doing to extracate
these relatives from the sinful environment that surrounds them? Do you pray for them? Do you
seek to influence them through the Word of the LORD?

Perhaps the LORD has assigned you to urge and enable your relatives to be freed from such an environment. What are you doing to fulfill His usage of you? Are you praying for them? Are you
urging them to leave that environment? The LORD wants to use you, too, for His glory!

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,

Leviticus 26:13-24, “’I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.
14 ‘But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments,
15 if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul abhors My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant,
16 I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away; also, you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat it up.
17 ‘I will set My face against you so that you will be struck down before your enemies; and those who
hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you.
18 ‘If also after these things you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
19 ‘I will also break down your pride of power; I will also make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze.
20 ‘Your strength will be spent uselessly, for your land will not yield its produce and the trees of the land will not yield their fruit.
21 ‘If then, you act with hostility against Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins.
22 ‘I will let loose among you the beasts of the field, which will bereave you of your children and destroy your cattle and reduce your number so that your roads lie deserted.
23 ‘And if by these things you are not turned to Me, but act with hostility against Me,
24 then I will act with hostility against you; and I, even I, will strike you seven times for your sins.”

“Young man, if you think this is hurtful, just wait until your Dad gets home!” Although uttered some 80 years ago, those frightening words from my mother’s voice still ring in my ears! At that time, nothing could have been worse. What is worse now are the printed words above –words that doubtlessly sent shivers up and down the spine of the Israelites!

Those committed to military service learn quickly how vital it is to follow the directives of their superiors!
In the throes of battle, obedience is often the matter of life and death. So it is spiritually in the lives of those ostensibly committed to the directives of the LORD Jesus Christ.

Not everyone who elects to disobey the LORD believes he will escape judgment. Sometimes, it’s doing what we ought not to do. At other times, it’s not doing what we’ve been told to do! Either way, we
simply cannot do wrong and get by. When will we learn? Time is fleeting swiftly! We’d better learn to obey, and do it quickly!

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,

1 Chronicles 4:9-10, “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother
named him Jabez saying, ‘Because I bore him with pain.’
10 Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that You would bless me indeed
and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep
me from harm that it may not pain me!’ And God granted him what he requested.”

Proper names were very important in the days of the Old Testament. Some are actually prophetic of the person’s character. Who could fail to note the change of Abram to Abraham,
or of Jacob to Israel? So, the LORD’s name, YHWH, and other various designations of deity, denotes His character. What is peculiar about the name of Jabez is that whatever meaning it originally had, has now been lost to us. Some have allowed that Jabez means “pain,” in that
his mother “bore him with pain.”

YHWH was the LORD’s covenant name with His people, Israel. The Hebrews considered
it too sacred to be pronounced aloud. The head of a family of Judah, noted for his “honorable” character, though “his mother bore him with sorrow”; but the phrase, “as if it stood for ya’tsebh,” is an honest commentary caution, indicating that the biblical author is unsure of the origin and meaning of the name Jabez.

What may be more meaningful is the fact that the Jews believed Jabez to be an emminent Doctor of the Law –one whose skill and fame gathered about him numerous scholars, and
for which the City of Jabez was likely named. If true, this lies in sharp contrast with some commentators, who believe the prayer is likely to be from one who sets forth on his own,
as he commences life’s venture into the world. The Jewish concept seems more plausible.

First Chronicles 4:9 also indicates something of Jabez’s status:

“And Jabez was more honorable than his brothers…” While the Hebrew word
translated honorable has several meanings, the thought of prominence
with God and man should likely be assumed. “His brothers” may refer to
natural, physical brothers, born of Jabez’s parents, or simply his countrymen….
and his mother named him Jabez saying, “Because I bore him with pain”
(vs. 9b).

It had long been the LORD’s decree that all women would bear children in pain.
Something, nevertheless, prompted Jabez’s mother to speak of her pain in the birth
Jabez as being intensified. The Hebrew word here may also mean sorrow, in which
case Jabez’s mother would be speaking of her intense sorrow.

Whether she is speaking of physical pain or sorrow connected with Jabez’s birth, or an emotional or spiritual pain or sorrow, we cannot know. In any event, Jabez name is
inextricably bound up with what she believed or experienced at that time.

However few they are in number, all of these notations serve as background for the
pinnacle event: Jabez’s prayer. Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying,

‘Oh that Thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that Thy
hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldst keep me from harm, that it may
not pain me!” And God granted him what he requested (I Chr 4:10).

All of us like to read stories with good endings. What we have here is nothing short of a blessed account in which the LORD grants the request of His petitioner. The concern of
this writing, however, is not so much what Jabez asked and received as what Jabez had
to be in order to ask and receive it.

We live, unfortunately, in a day of “name-it-and-claim-it” theology. While The Prayer of
Jabez never overtly advocates that, I write with the fear that readers of that book may nevertheless adopt the formula of Jabez’s prayer without adopting the formula of Jabez’s
life. There is a fundamental maxim that we have to be something before we can do
something. Especially is this true in the spiritual realm. Get to know Him and follow His
teachings. That’s the key to a spiritual life!

An excerpt from my book, Before The Prayer of Jabez.

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