ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Tu’apulelulu Sanuali 26, 2023 

God's Retired Weapon

Ko e Me’atau kuo hu’i ‘e he ‘Otua

GENESIS 9:13-15

"I HAVE SET MY BOW IN THE CLOUD, AND IT SHALL BE A SIGN OF THE COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND THE EARTH. WHEN I BRING CLOUDS OVER THE EARTH AND THE BOW IS SEEN IN THE CLOUDS, I WILL REMEMBER MY COVENANT THAT IS BETWEEN ME AND YOU AND EVERY LIVING CREATURE OF ALL FLESH."

SENESI 9:13-15

kuo u ‘ai ‘eku ‘umata ‘i he ngaahi ‘ao; pea ‘e hoko ia ko e faka‘ilonga fuakava ‘i he vaha‘a ‘o‘oku mo māmani. Pea ka faifai pea u tānaki ‘ao mai ki he fonua, pea ‘e hā ‘a e ‘umata ‘i he ‘ao, pea te u manatu ai ki he‘eku fuakava, ‘a e fuakava ‘a‘aku mo kimoutolu mo e fa‘ahinga me‘a mo‘ui kehekehe, ‘io, ‘a e kakano kotoa pē; pea ‘e ‘ikai toe hoko ‘a e vai ko e lōmaki, ‘o maumau‘i ‘a e kakano kotoa pē.

Though often translated "rainbow," the word qeshet ordinarily refers to a "bow," the weapon. Notice two things: one, this qeshet is not in the hands of the heavenly archer, who shot the arrows of the flood on the earth. It hangs from the clouds. The Lord has retired his weapon. Second, it faces not downward, at us, but upward, at God. We are unthreatened by it. God transformed a weapon of war into an emblem of peace.

But it gets even better. Later, when God appears to Ezekiel, looking like a man, this likeness of the glory of the Lord is "like the appearance of the qeshet that is in the cloud on the day of rain" (Ezek. 1:28). This man-like glory is the Father's Son, whom John sees in heaven, "and around the throne was a rainbow" (Rev. 4:3). The two ends of the bow, joining Genesis to Revelation, point us to Christ, for "he himself is our peace" (Eph. 2:14).

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety" (Ps. 4:8).