The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Zechariah 1:1-4, “In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo saying,
2 “The LORD was very angry with your fathers.
3 “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Return to Me,” declares the LORD of hosts, “that I may return to you,” says the LORD of hosts.
4 “Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.”‘ But they did not listen or give heed to Me,” declares the LORD.”

From this basic challenge to repent, Zechariah moves on to give eight visions designed to further encourage the LORD’s people. The prophet first cites the material side of prosperity that will come (1:7-17). Additionally, there is coming a spiritual side of prosperity (3:1-6:8). Interestingly, the prophet cites the material first. Perhaps, he knows that will get his listeners’ attention and set them up for the spiritual side that is coming.

Two years later, he answers questions concerning the observance of certain feasts that the people themselves had instituted. While it is dangerous for any people to institute things that the LORD has not commanded, it does speak well that the people were asking if what they were doing was acceptable to God. Far too often, we just launch out and do whatever seems good to us, and later ask the LORD to bless it. That’s putting things together backwards.

There is far more to what Zechariah says than can be stated in our small letter. Still, we will all do well to follow Scriptural teachings as we know them while being careful at the same time to neither overlook His teachings nor include aspects He has not included. There is a great deal of false teachings permeating the world-at-large today. Seek a church that advocates the whole council of God and shares it faithfully and consistently with humility. The LORD will be honored and you will be blessed.

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,

Haggai 1:2-7, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘This people says, “The time has not come, even the time for the house of the LORD to be rebuilt.”‘”
3 Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
4 “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?”
5 Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider your ways!”
6 “You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.”
7 Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider your ways!”

What do we do when things just don’t seem to go right? We do the easiest thing there is: Blame someone else! Isn’t that the easiest, most economical way? It’s not my fault! Never! It’s just got to be someone else!

The Israelites were much like that. The LORD had blessed them immensely! Sixteen years befroe, they had fought a war and won! The focus should have then been to honor the LORD who brought them through; but – they were tired; it was a time to rest. We’ll get around to it, they seemed to be saying. But for now, we just need to rest. Sixteen years!!

How do you get a nation of “old geezers,” who just want to sit in the sun and whittle, to get on with the work for which the battle was initially fought? You seek out an energetic young man to sound the alarm. Haggai was just right for that situation! We’re not sure where Haggai was born; and we’re not certain of his actual age –yet he was called into service by the LORD!

Haggai gave five stirring messages to the people. The first was: “Consider your ways!” Things weren’t going well materially for the people. “Did you ever wonder why?” is the question wrapped in Haggai’s early message. We’re too much like Israel today. The Israelites had built nice homes for themselves, but the House of the LORD lay in virtual waste! Think about it, young Haggai says. Consider, too, that you lack the food supply you need. Any idea why that might be occurring?

Once started, you would think the people would be excited! No, they got discouraged when they pictured the House they were building for the LORD was vastly inferior to the one Solomon built. It’s difficult to calculate this attitude unless it was just an excuse to quit working.

Finally, they became encouraged when they learned that their House of the LORD would be superior to the immediately former one. Lee (Outlined Bible) gives the theme as: “God first in life and service!” What wonders the LORD would perform for us, were we to adopt the power of that declaration. But, how is that to be realized? First, by reading the Bible daily; second, by talking with Him daily in prayer; and third, by sharing Him with others. Yet, it all starts with Haggai’s admonition: “Consider your ways!”

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,

Zephaniah 3:17-20, “The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
18 “I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts– They came from you, O Zion; The reproach of exile is a burden on them.
19 “Behold, I am going to deal at that time With all your oppressors, I will save the lame And gather the outcast, And I will turn their shame into praise and renown In all the earth.
20 “At that time I will bring you in, Even at the time when I gather you together; Indeed, I will give you renown and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, When I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” Says the LORD.”

Were you ever whipped severely as a child? If you were, the chances are it was not because your parent hated you, but because he loved you and wanted you to grow up and become a good child and, later, a good parent. My mother told me how severely her father punished her, while crying more than she, while he whipped her.

Zephaniah commenced his ministry in the early days of Josiah about 641-610 BC. He foretold the doom of Nineveh that occurred in 625 BC. “The Day of the LORD” is mentioned seven times and functions as a major emphasis of this book.

The prophet notes the jealousy of the LORD, first upon Israel (1:18), and then over all of the Earth (3:8). Has the LORD not a right to be jealous of the nations He has formed? Indeed He has! Yet, like a God-fearing parent, He chastises us, His children, in the effort to produce in them more and more of His likeness. Zephaniah concludes his message to Israel by saying that the LORD’s jealousy has been quenched and He is at “rest in His love” (3:17).

When your endeavors seem to be going wrong, consider that you may be suffering under the LORD’s loving wrath. If your wrong-doing is not being chastized, you had better assess whether you truly belong to Him.

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,

Habakkuk 2:1-4, “I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved.
2 Then the LORD answered me and said, ‘Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run.
3 ‘For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay.”
4 “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith.”

Did you ever encounter something you simply could not handle? Of course, you have. Did you think at the time to inquire of the LORD in that regard? Of course, you did! Did He then move quickly to resolve your troubling encounter? Your desire may not have been as quickly attended as what the prophet Habakkuk wanted. The LORD acts as quickly as He desires. He also uses whom He will to achieve His desires.

In this instance, the LORD elected to use the Chaldeans, a nation that was more evil than Israel, to punish His own people. To Israel, He said —

15 “Woe to you who make your neighbors drink, who mix in your venom
even to make them drunk so as to look on their nakedness!
16 “You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor. Now you yourself
drink and expose your own nakedness. The cup in the LORD’S right
hand will come around to you, and utter disgrace will come upon your
glory.
17 “For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and the
devastation of its beasts by which you terrified them, because of human
bloodshed and violence done to the land, to the town and all its inhabitants.
18 “What profit is the idol when its maker has carved it, or an image, a
teacher of falsehood? For its maker trusts in his own handiwork when he
fashions speechless idols” (Hab. 2:15-18).

We would all do well (this writer included) to take careful inventory of our lives on a daily basis.
Having committed ourselves to the will and way of our LORD Jesus Christ does not mean that
everything we do is always within His will. Being “born again,” being one of His children, does not
indicate perfection within ourselves. It is all too often that our lives appear to others as less than we
profess. Thus, we must examine ourselves daily to determine that we are living according to the
LORD’s divine desire. We must live daily in His Word – the Holy Scriptures! We cannot do wrong
and escape Divine penalty.

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,

Nahum 1:7-13, “The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him.
8 But with an overflowing flood, He will make a complete end of its site, and will pursue His enemies into darkness.
9 Whatever you devise against the LORD, He will make a complete end of it. Distress will not rise up twice.
10 Like tangled thorns, and like those who are drunken with their drink, they are consumed as stubble completely withered.
11 From you has gone forth One who plotted evil against the LORD, A wicked counselor.
12 Thus says the LORD, “Though they are at full strength and likewise many, even so, they will be cut off and pass away. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no longer.”
13 “So now, I will break his yoke bar from upon you, And I will tear off your shackles.”

The prophet Nahum was a native of Galilee. Hezekiah and Isaiah were his contemporaries.
The theme of Nahum’s book is the destruction of Nineveh! Remember Nineveh, the huge city where Jonah preached –and they repented? Well, 150 years later, Nahum is announcing the city’s total destruction! The Ninevites were apostates, now deliberately rejecting and challenging the God before Whom they had previously repented. Now, after turning back to her old war-faring ways, the LORD God determined it was time for the destruction of this apostate people.

There is a solemn message here for all people: As Leon Morris clearly said, “A nation (or a person) can reach a point in opposition to God where return is impossible.” Yes, God does eventually give up on people who steadfastly refuse to believe and behave as He has ordered. Please, don’t be one of those! If you’ve never been born again, never trusted Him as your personal Savior, do it today! How?
Just pray a simple prayer, confessing your sins. Ask Him to forgive you and take control of your life; and believe in Him. He has responded to others, He will respond faithfully to you.

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