The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Genesis 11:1-9, “Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words.
2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.’ And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
4 They said, ‘Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’
5 The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6 The LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.
7 ‘Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.’
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.
9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

Mankind, in the early days of human history, possessed the advantage of a singular language. Inasmuch as everything originally came from God, He alone must be credited with having given mankind this linguistic ability. If you’ve ever travelled very far, you have realized the difficulty of communication with people of other languages.

(Previously, I’ve told you the humorous difficulty I had in Mexico before I learned the standard pronunciational difference between papa’s and pa’pas. In a sense of intentional, international humor, I often say that despacio with demasiado are two vital words to know when visiting any Latin American country.)

All humor aside, it was the LORD God Himself, who gave language to mankind; and man determined to utilize it selfishly. Therefore, the LORD intentionally confused mankind’s original language, forcing the people to spread out and inhabit the whole earth.

We all need to take care of how and when and how often we use words. We also need to take care that the LORD is always honored with and how we use the language He gave us. Not taking care how we use language can often find our communication lying a wee bit outside what is acceptable to the LORD Jesus Christ. Humor itself can often be a slipery-slope in conversation.

When I was a “kid,” our little Children’t Choir used to sing:

“Be careful little words what you say;
Be careful little words what you say;
For the Father up above is looking down in love;
So, be careful little words what you say.”

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