The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Jeremiah 6:10-14, “To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed and they cannot listen. Behold, the Word of the LORD has become a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.
11 But I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary with holding it in. “Pour it out on the children in the street and on the gathering of young men together; for both husband and wife shall be taken, the aged and the very old.
12 “Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD.
13 “For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain, and from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.
14 “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.’”

By definition, a “homophone” is a word or a phrase that illustrates similarity in sound, yet has a totally different meaning. A small boy wanting more cookies or a second piece of cake, might cry, “Piece, piece,” yet that would have a totally different meaning than the cry for “peace,” as in our Scripture passage above. Check out the following list. Notice that the words all “sound” alike, but have quite different meanings:

Air / heirdear / deer know / no peace / piece
Bare / bearflour / flower meat / meet see / sea
Cell / sellknight / night real / reel their / there

In much the same way, nations cry peace! Yet, their true desire is for their piece, not peace for or with their adversaries! One may say, “I love you;” yet the one speaking means something quite different than the one who hears it said.

The last verse in the Jeremiah passage above illustrates this quite clearly. Peace for one comes only when there is a realization of occupancy of land for the other. Do you have peace? True peace? Do those around you have peace? The Bible says that “those who love Your (the LORD’s) law have great peace. And nothing causes them to stumble” (Psa. 119:165).

Practice being peaceful. Practice loving peace. “When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Prov. 16:7). Think about how you can come to be at peace with someone. You’ll both be better for it.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas
United States of America

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