Falaite Ma’asi 31, 2023

תבנית Follow the Blueprint

MUIMUI KI HE PALANI NGAUE

EXODUS 25:8-9

"AND LET THEM MAKE ME A SANCTUARY, THAT I MAY DWELL IN THEIR MIDST. EXACTLY AS I SHOW YOU CONCERNING THE PATTERN OF THE TABERNACLE, AND OF ALL ITS FURNITURE, SO YOU SHALL MAKE IT."

‘EKISOTO 25:8-9

Pea ke nau ngaohi mo‘oku ha fale tapu; ke u nofo ‘i honau lotolotonga. 9 Hangē tofu pē ‘a e me‘a ‘oku ou tuku ke ke sio ki ai, ‘a e sīpinga ‘o e nofo‘anga, ‘a e sīpinga ‘o hono nāunau kehekehe–‘e pehē ho‘omou ngaohi.

Any architect will tell you that a sloppy blueprint leads to shoddy construction. God is having none of that. Moses is to ensure every item is made exactly according to "the pattern [tavnit]" God shows him. A tavnit is a copy, model, image, or plan. The Lord, as it were, has a model that he shows Moses. "Make it like this," he says, "down to the finest detail." When it's done, there will not be two tabernacles-one up in heaven, and one down on earth-but both will exist inside each other: one visible, one invisible. Thus when Isaiah sees the Lord in his temple, he's still on earth, in Jerusalem, only now his eyes are unveiled to gaze on the reality that was there all along  (6:1 ff). Worship is heaven on earth. The earthly tabernacle is the heavenly  tabernacle, and vice versa.

It is no different today when the church gathers in worship. We are surrounded by angels and saints. Christ and his Father are there with the Spirit. We don't really begin worship but join in the ongoing worship around the throne of God and of the Lamb. We “have come to Mount Zion" (Heb. 12:22).

Direct our hearts, O Lord, to worship you in spirit and in truth.

Tu‘apulelulu Ma’asi 30, 2023

God Goes Tent Camping

FOKOTU‘U TENITI ‘A E ‘OTUA

EXODUS 24:16

THE GLORY OF THE LORD DWELT ON MOUNT SINAI, AND THE CLOUD COVERED IT SIX DAYS. AND ON THE SEVENTH DAY HE CALLED TO MOSES OUT OF THE MIDST OF THE CLOUD.

‘EKISOTO 24:16

Pea na‘e toka ‘a e kolōlia ‘o e ‘Eiki ‘i he funga mo‘unga ko Sainai, pea na‘e ‘ufi‘ufi ia ‘e he ‘ao, ‘o ‘aho ono: pea ‘i hono fitu ‘o e ‘aho na‘a ne ui kia Mōsese mei he loto ‘ao.

The Lord is not some far-off, hands-off deity in a celestial resort a million miles away. He's in the thick of things, pitching his tent among his people. The Lord's glory shakan on Sinai. To shakan is to settle, reside, pitch a tent. At this point, Mt. Sinai is God's tent. Its peak is like the Holy of Holies (where only one man, Moses, can go); its slopes are like the Holy Place (where a few, like the priests, can go); and its base is like the forecourt and area around the tabernacle (where the Israelites worship). When God's tent-the tabernacle-is built, it will be a portable Sinai. God's glory cloud will fill it (Exod. 40:34), as that same cloud enveloped Sinai. Every Israelite knew where God had located himself. They knew precisely where to find him.

When the Father's Word became flesh, he pitched his tent (tabernacled) among us (John 1:14). "We have seen his glory," John adds. The glory of God is no longer in a tent but a man. The Messiah is where God has located himself, where we find him. Indeed, the Messiah is Yahweh embodied. He is Emmanuel, God-with-us.

O come, O come, Emmanuel, and dwell among us, that we may find mercy and holiness in you.

Pulelulu Ma’asi 29, 2023

The Blood of the Covenant  דם הברית 

KO E TOTO ‘O E FUAKAVA

EXODUS 24:8

MOSES TOOK THE BLOOD AND THREW IT ON THE PEOPLE AND SAID, "BEHOLD THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT THAT THE LORD HAS MADE WITH YOU IN ACCORDANCE WITH ALL THESE WORDS."

‘EKISOTO 24:8

Pea to‘o ‘e Mōsese ‘a e toto, ‘o ne afuhi ‘aki ‘a e kakai, ‘o ne pehē, Ko e toto fuakava eni, ‘a e fuakava kuo fai ‘e Sihova mo kimoutolu ‘i he funga ‘o e ngaahi lea ni kotoa.

This is the only time blood is sprinkled on the Israelites. The closest parallel is at the ordination of Aaron and his sons as priests, when blood is daubed on their ears, thumbs, and big toes (29:20). Since "the life of the flesh is in the blood," and that blood "makes atonement" (Lev. 17:11), God is literally sprinkling life and atonement on his people. By blood, he is making them a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exod. 19:6). This dam ha-b'rit ("blood of the covenant") cements them to himself as his chosen people. 

When Jesus gives his disciples the cup on his final Passover, he says, "this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matt. 26:28). The parallel is unmistakable. Rather than sprinkling blood on us externally, Christ sprinkles his blood inside us as we drink from his cup, so that "our hearts [are] sprinkled clean from an evil conscience" (Heb. 10:22); we are given the life of God, ordained as his kingdom of priests (1 Pet. 2:5, 9), and made part of the new covenant of God's chosen people (Heb. 12:24).

Sprinkle our hearts with your blood, O Christ, that we may be clean and forgiven, ready for service.

Tusite Ma’asi 28, 2023

Full-Bodied Worship  חוה

Hu kiate Ia ‘aki hoto kotoa

EXODUS 24:1

THEN HE SAID TO MOSES, "COME UP TO THE LORD, YOU AND AARON, NADAB, AND ABIHU, AND SEVENTY OF THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL, AND WORSHIP FROM AFAR."

‘EKISOTO 24:1

KA ko Mōsese na‘a ne folofola ki ai, ‘o pehē, ‘Alu hake kia Sihova, ‘a koe mo ‘Ēlone, ‘a Nātapi mo ‘Āpiu, pea mo e toko fitungofulu ‘i he mātu‘a ‘Isileli; pea te mou tu‘u mei he mama‘o, ‘o fai ho‘omou lotu:

Worship in Hebrew is not just adoration in the head or praise in the heart; it's full-bodied. To chavah is to put one's face to the ground, before either God (in worship) or people (in respect). When Abraham saw three visitors approaching, he ran to meet them and "bowed himself [chavah] to the earth" (Gen. 18:2; cf. 19:1). God tells Moses at Sinai to "chavah” from afar" (Exod. 24:1). When the Lord caused his glory to pass before Moses, he "quickly bowed his head toward the earth and chavah" (34:8). Hebrew destroys any false notion that humans are just "brains on a stick," as James K. A. Smith puts it, or souls trapped in bodies. Rather, as embodied images of God, we worship our Creator with the totality of who we are knees, arms, chest, feet, and face included.

The same physicality of worship is continued in the NT. When the Magi see Jesus, they "fell down and worshiped him" (Matt. 2:11). When praying to his Father, Jesus himself "fell on his face and prayed" (26:39). The physicality of worship is itself a confession that our bodies are the gifts of God, with which we serve, worship, and praise him.

Heavenly Father, Creator of our bodies, grant that we may worship you with all of who we are.

Monite Ma’asi 27, 2023

Grasping Not Grounding  חמד 

Kakapa mo e holi ki he me‘a ‘a e kaunga‘api 

EXODUS 20:17

"YOU SHALL NOT COVET YOUR NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE: YOU SHALL NOT COVET YOUR NEIGHBOR'S WIFE, OR HIS MALE SERVANT, OR HIS FEMALE SERVANT, OR HIS OX, OR HIS DONKEY, OR ANYTHING THAT IS YOUR NEIGHBOR'S."

‘EKISOTO 20:17

‘Oua te ke mānumanu ki he fale ‘o ho kaungā‘api. ‘Oua te ke mānumanu ki he uaifi ‘o ho kaungā‘api, pe ki ha‘ane tamaio‘eiki, pe ki ha‘ane kaunanga, pe ki ha‘ane pulu, pe ki ha‘ane ‘asi, pe ki ha me‘a ‘e taha ‘oku ‘a ho kaungā‘api.

Though we usually call it "the fall," Adam and Eve's sin was grasping, not grounding. Eve stretched out a grasping, coveting hand. She saw that the "tree was to be desired [chamaa] to make one wise" (3:6). The verb chamad is ambiguous: God's laws are to be chamad (Ps. 19:10), but you shall not chamad anything of your neighbor's (Exod. 20:17). We all know desire can be sweet honey or bitter poison. In this commandment, it's obviously the latter, but the verb chamad is a reminder that sins are often misdirected desires. Coveting is directing God-given desire at the wrong object, just as lust is directing God - given sexual desire at the wrong person.

Even the Lord is said to desire, for he chamad Zion "for his abode" (Ps. 68:16). But when God sent his Messiah to that abode, "he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire [chamad] him" (Isa. 53:2). He was "as one from whom men hide their faces" (v. 3). But he desires us! And he will have us, for God's greatest desire is to call us his beloved.

O Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; strengthen their heart; incline your ear (Ps. 10:17).

Sapate Ma’asi 26, 2023

שקר False Witness

Fakamo‘oni loi

EXODUS 20:16

"YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST YOUR NEIGHBOR."

‘EKISOTO 20:16

‘Oua na‘a ke tu‘u ko e fakamo‘oni loi ki ho kaungā‘api.

In Israel, this law prohibited playing fast and loose with the truth in judicial proceedings. To "bear" is to anah ("answer") and 'ed shaqer is a lying witness. We might paraphrase it: When you testify before the judges concerning your neighbor, don't be a lying witness. Proverbs describes two types of witnesses: "A faithful witness does not lie, but a 'ed shaqer breathes out lies" (14:5). This exhalation of evil is echoed in the psalms, where false witnesses "breathe out violence" (27:12). Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words break hearts, souls, reputations, livelihoods. No one can tame the tongue, James reminds us, for "it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison" (3:8). The devil's first move was to speak.

When the Truth is embodied in Jesus, lies wage war. His archnemesis is "the father of lies" (John 8:44). "Many bore false witness against him" after the Messiah's arrest, though they couldn't even keep their lies straight (Mark 14:55-59). They breathed out lies, they exhaled violence, until finally the crucified Christ of Truth "breathed his last" (Luke 23:46). But that was only the beginning. Standing alive again, outside his tomb, is "Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth" (Rev. 1:5).

"Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long" (Ps. 25:5).

Tokonaki Ma’asi 25, 2023

Sticky Fingers and Stolen Hearts

‘Oua na‘a ke kaiha‘a.

EXODUS 20:15

"YOU SHALL NOT STEAL."

‘EKISOTO 20:15

‘Oua na‘a ke kaiha‘a.

There's remarkable overlap between the many nuances of the English verb "steal" and the Hebrew ganav. As teenagers "steal [go sneakily] into the house" when they're out past curfew, so men shamefully ganav into the city like cowards fleeing a battle (2 Sam. 19:3). We say a man "stole a woman's heart," like Absalom "ganav the hearts of the men of Israel" (2 Sam. 15:6). And in both Hebrew and English, kidnapping is theft or ganav of a person (Exod. 21:16). The command not to ganav is to look on, and treat, what God has bestowed on another person as his gift to them, not our entitlement or potential possession.

It is a great irony that the authorities feared the early Christians would steal the body of Jesus, thus faking the resurrection (Matt. 27:64). This very Messiah had taught that "the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). That abundant life he gives us in his resurrection. And that life bears the fruits of love in our actions. So Paul writes, "Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need" (Eph. 4:28).

O Holy Spirit, root out of our hearts the weeds of greed and sow in us the seeds of contentment.

Falaite Ma’asi 24, 2023

The Great Sin

KO E FU‘U ANGAHALA

EXODUS 20:14

"YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY."

‘EKISOTO 20:14

‘Oua na‘a ke tono ‘unoho.

When God warned Abimelech not to have sex with Sarah, the king complained that Abraham's lies had almost brought on him and his kingdom "a great sin" (Gen. 20:9). In calling this "a great sin," Abimelech was echoing the name given to adultery in many ancient law codes. In the OT, to na'af is not merely to have illicit sexual intercourse, but to engage in intercourse with someone who is not your spouse.

Many references to na’af, however, are not about sex but idolatry. In fact, the four other occurrences of "a great sin" refer to Aaron's golden calf (Exod. 32:21, 30-31) and Jeroboam's idolatrous calves (2 Kings 17:21). This accords with the graphic  oft-repeated image of Israel "whoring after other gods." This commandment, therefore, and the first commandment, are two sides of the same coin: worship only the Lord and have sex only with your spouse.

How fitting, therefore, that when Paul depicts the church's connection with the Messiah, he says that the church is Christ's bride. The twofold "great sin"-idolatry and adultery-having been atoned for by Jesus, we both wed and worship our heavenly Groom. "He remains faithful-for he cannot deny himself" (2 Tim. 2:13). Our great sin is no match for his greater redemption.

Our faithful and forgiving Lord, cleanse us of every defilement by sin, that we may lead holy and faithful lives in service to you and others.

Tu’apulelulu Ma’asi 23, 2023

Killing Mosquitoes and Men  רצח 

TAMATE’I ‘O HA KI’I NAMU MO E FAKAPOO TANGATA

EXODUS 20:13

"YOU SHALL NOT MURDER.

‘EKISOTO 20:13

‘Oua na‘a ke fakapō.

Despite its many literary home runs, the KJV struck out in translating this "Thou shall not kill." Hebrew has a verb for kill, harag, but that is not used here. Harag is a broad term, used to describe killing people (Gen. 4:8) or animals (Lev. 20:15). The verb used in Exodus 20 is ratzach. One frequently hears that ratzach refers only to murder, but that is not correct either. It does refer to murder (Ps. 94:6), but it also refers to manslaughter or accidental killings (Num. 35:6). Whatever the situation or motivation, however, to ratzach is always to take a human life. One cannot ratzach a mosquito. Ratzach is also never used for soldiers killing in combat or for when God or his agents exact the death penalty.

To ratzach is of ultimate seriousness, because the victim is of ultimate significance. "Whoever sheds the blood of man," God says, "by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image" (Gen. 9:6). To ratzach is to de-image God's image-bearer. This underscores all the more how merciful the Father has been to us in his Son: our shedding of his blood, rather than being the world's end, is the world's new beginning. In the ratzach of the Messiah, we are redeemed.

Father, forgive us for all the times we have hurt or harmed our neighbors, and enable us to help and support them in love.

Pulelulu Ma’asi 22, 2023

Living Long  in the Land  ארך

LAHI HO NGAAHI ‘AHO ‘I HE KELEKELE 

EXODUS 20:12

"HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER, THAT YOUR DAYS MAY BE LONG IN THE LAND THAT THE LORD YOUR GOD IS GIVING YOU."

‘EKISOTO 20:12

Faka‘apa‘apa ki ho‘o tamai mo ho‘o fa‘ē; koe‘uhi ke lahi ho ngaahi ‘aho ‘i he kelekele, ‘a ia ‘e foaki kiate koe ‘e Sihova ko ho ‘Otua.

The same phrase, "the LORD your God," occurs in the first four "words" or commandments of Exodus 20. Honoring one's parents, therefore, is the bridge between the first and second table of the law. To honor our Father in heaven entails honoring his parental icons on earth. Since the Hebrew verb kavad ("honor") literally means "be heavy or weighty," we might say, "Treat your parents with weighty significance" or "Don't make light of your parents." Paul reminds us that this "is the first commandment with a promise" (Eph. 6:2)-namely, that your days will be arak ("made long") in the land.

In the OT, the land is the kingdom of God, where the Father reigns over, blesses, and protects his children. For one's days to be arak is not simply to shoot for one hundred candles on your cake, but to live a full, blessed, God-soaked life in his kingdom. This long kingdom life was a foretaste of the resurrection, for the Messiah himself, after suffering, will "prolong [arak] his days" (Isa. 53:10). Having honored his Father and given himself as an offering for our guilt, he rises to prolong his days in the resurrection kingdom in which we, his brothers and sisters, share.

Heavenly Father, give us grace to love and honor you, along with our earthly parents.

Tusite Ma’asi 21, 2023

God's Favorite Number

KO E FIKA FAKA-‘OTUA

EXODUS 20:9-10

"SIX DAYS YOU SHALL LABOR, AND DO ALL YOUR WORK, BUT THE SEVENTH DAY IS A SABBATH TO THE LORD YOUR GOD."

‘EKISOTO 20:9-10

Ko e ‘aho ‘e ono te ke ngāue, ‘o fai ai ho ngaahi nafa kehekehe; 10 ka ko hono ‘aho fitu ko e Sāpate ia ‘a Sihova ko ho ‘Otua:

If God has a favorite number, it's sheva ("seven"). The opening sentence of the Bible is seven Hebrew words. He completed his work of creation on the seventh day (Gen. 2:2). This law about the seventh day begins with the seventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet (zayin). Seven categories of humans and animals rest on the Sabbath (you, son, daughter, male servant, female servant, livestock, sojourner). Later, God will establish the spring festival of Shavuot ("weeks," a word derived from sheva). God's number is seven. We might say that as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, his number of completeness and totality and perfection is 777.

The number of sinful humanity ("of a man"), however, and of every anti-God power ("of the beast") is 666 (Rev. 13:18). This number is not mystical but pathetic: it's man aping God, the devil straining toward divinity. But we are a falling-short, imperfect 666, and he is a perfect and complete 777. He is God and we are not. Yet our perfect God also perfectly loves us. He forgives us seventy times seven-and beyond. By joining us to Christ, who rested in the tomb on the seventh day, he brings us into wholeness in his resurrection perfection.

O Lord, "seven times a day I praise You, because of your righteous ordinances" (Ps. 119:164 NASB).

Monite Ma’asi 20, 2023

שׁוא Hallowed Not Hollowed

KE TAPUHAA - ‘IKAI KO E TAUKAE

EXODUS 20:7

"YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD IN VAIN, FOR THE LORD WILL NOT HOLD HIM GUILTLESS WHO TAKES HIS NAME IN VAIN."

‘EKISOTO 20:7

‘Oua te ke takuanoa ‘a e huafa ‘o Sihova ko ho ‘Otua: he ‘e ‘ikai lau ‘e Sihova ‘oku ta‘ehalaia ia ‘a ia ‘oku ne takuanoa hono huafa.

To "take [nasa] the name" is shorthand for "to take the name of God upon the lips." Thus the psalmist says he will not take (nasa) the names of other gods upon his lips (Ps. 16:4). The expression "in vain" is "in shav." To be shav is to be empty, vain, worthless, unreal-to take God's name upon one's lips emptily, worthlessly, trivially. Since shav also refers to idols, using God's name in shav entails magic or false prophecy. Basically, God wants his name to be hallowed (treated as holy), not hollowed (treated as empty).

The right use of God's name is integrally connected with God's mission. "As is your name, O God, so is Your praise to the ends of the earth" (Ps. 48:10 NASB). The Lord wants his name "proclaimed in all the earth" (Exod. 9:16). So he protects that name, lest it be belittled or besmirched, and occasion given to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme his name (cf. 2 Sam. 12:14). He writes his name on baptism (Matt. 28:19). He proclaims his name through preachers (Luke 24:47). And he gives us Jesus the Messiah, who is his embodied and glorified name (John 12:28).

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name... on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:9-10).

Sapate Ma’asi 19, 2023

פסל Graven Images

Tamapua pe Fakatātā

EXODUS 20:4

"YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FOR YOURSELF A CARVED IMAGE, OR ANY LIKENESS OF ANYTHING THAT IS IN HEAVEN ABOVE, OR THAT IS IN THE EARTH BENEATH, OR THAT IS IN THE WATER UNDER THE EARTH."

‘EKISOTO 20:4

‘Oua te ke ngaohi ma‘au ha tamapua, pe ha momo‘i fakatātā ‘o ha me‘a ‘o e langi ‘i ‘olunga na, pe ‘o māmani ‘i lalo ni, pe ‘o e tahi ‘i lolofonua.

In 63 BC, when the Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem and entered the temple, he must have been surprised to find no image of God. His surprise would have been shared by any person in the ancient world. All deities had their statues, poles, carvings, or images, which served as a kind of visual rendezvous between the gods and their worshipers.

Not Yahweh. Every "carved image" or pesel (from the verb pasal, "carve, hew, cut, sculpt") of God was banned on pain of death. Images of angels, oxen, and flowers were in the temple, but not Israel's Lord. Why? Because he had not yet given them his image.

But in Christ, he did. The Messiah "is the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15). To see him is to see the Father (John 14:9), "for in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" (Col. 2:9). Hidden in the prohibition against "images of God" is the promise of God giving us his image in his Son, who "is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature" (Heb. 1:3).

O Christ, the image and glory of the Father, transform us into your image from one degree of glory to another.

Tokonaki Ma’asi 18, 2023

עשרת הדברים - The Ten Words

NGAAHI LEA ‘E HONGOFULU

EXODUS 34:28

SO [MOSES] WAS THERE WITH THE LORD FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS. HE NEITHER ATE BREAD NOR DRANK WATER. AND HE WROTE ON THE TABLETS THE WORDS OF THE COVENANT, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

‘EKISOTO 34:28

Pea na‘a ne ‘i he potu ko ia mo e ‘Eiki ‘i he ‘aho ‘e fāngofulu mo e pō ‘e fāngofulu; na‘e ‘ikai te ne kai ai ha me‘akai, pe inu ha vai. Pea na‘a ne tohi ‘i he ongo maka tohi ‘a e ngaahi lea ‘o e kovinānite, ‘a e Fekau ‘e Hongofulu.

A great irony about the Bible is that the Ten Commandments, arguably the most well-known section, are never called the Ten Commandments in the Bible itself. Where they are numbered at "ten" (Exod. 34:28; Deut. 4:13; 10:4), they are not called ten mitzvot (the Hebrew word for "commandments") but Aseret Had'varim, "the ten words." However we divide these seventeen verses (20:1-17) into "ten words"- itself a centuries - long disagreement - they summon us to trust in God; to love him with all our heart, soul, and mind; and to love our neighbor as ourselves. And however we divide and number them, this much is beyond doubt: the total number we've kept is a big, fat zero.

Martin Luther famously wrote, "The law says, 'do this,' and it is never done. Grace says, 'believe in this,' and everything is already done." Every spark of shalt or shalt not that enters a sinner's ear kindles a fire of rebellion in his heart. The law is never done. But Christ, who fulfilled the law, graciously proclaims, "It is finished" (John 19:30). We are free, forgiven, and fully alive in Christ Jesus.

Keep us free, O Lord, that we may stand firm and not submit again to a yoke of slavery (Gal. 5:1).