ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Tokonaki Me 27, 2023

לענה Nephew Wormwood

KO E AKA ‘OKU ‘AHU MO KONA

DEUTERONOMY 29:18-19

"BEWARE LEST THERE BE AMONG YOU A MAN OR WOMAN OR CLAN OR TRIBE WHOSE HEART IS TURNING AWAY TODAY FROM THE LORD OUR GOD TO GO AND SERVE THE GODS OF THOSE NATIONS. BEWARE LEST THERE BE AMONG YOU A ROOT BEARING POISONOUS AND BITTER FRUIT, ONE WHO, WHEN HE HEARS THE WORDS OF THIS SWORN COVENANT, BLESSES HIMSELF IN HIS HEART, SAYING, 'I SHALL BE SAFE, THOUGH I WALK IN THE STUBBORNNESS OF MY HEART."

TEUTALONOME 29:18-19

18 na‘a ai ha taha ‘iate kimoutolu, ha tangata pe fefine, pe ha fāmili, pe ha matakali, ‘oku tafoki hono loto he ‘aho ni meia Sihova ko hotau ‘Otua, ke ‘alu ‘o tauhi ‘a e ngaahi ‘otua ‘a e ngaahi pule‘anga ko ē: ‘io, na‘a ai ‘iate kimoutolu ha aka ‘oku fakatupu ‘a e ‘ahu mo e kona‘ī‘ī: 19 pea ‘i he ‘iloange ‘oku ne fanongo ki he ngaahi lea ‘o e fuakava ni, pea ne fakamālie‘ia hono loto, ‘o pehē, Te u tu‘umālie pē, he ko e ta‘emangoi au, pea te u fai atu, koe‘uhi ke tafi‘i ‘a e mākona fakataha mo e fie inua.

C. S. Lewis was indebted to the word la'anah for the name of Wormwood, the junior tempter in The Screwtape Letters. And a devilish name it is, for la'anah refers to a plant that produces an intensely bitter oil. The OT uses la'anah metaphorically for idolatry (Deut. 29:18), an adulteress (Prov. 5:4), and divine chastisement (Jer. 9:15). Its Greek name is given to a great blazing star that plummets from heaven: "The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter" (Rev. 8:11).

The psalmist sings, "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (119:103). God crafted us in his image for the honey of his Word, not the wormwood of lies. Open your lips to taste how sweet his salvation and mercy are!

Feed us with your grace, Lord Jesus, and see that no root of bitterness springs up among us (Heb. 12:15).