ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Tokonaki Sune 17, 2023

מכר God as Merchant

‘OTUA KO E MESAIENITI

JUDGES 3:8

THE ANGER OF THE LORD WAS KINDLED AGAINST ISRAEL, AND HE SOLD THEM INTO THE HAND OF CUSHAN-RISHATHAIM KING OF MESOPOTAMIA. AND THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL SERVED CUSHAN-RISHATHAIM EIGHT YEARS.

FAKAMAAU 3:8

Ko ia na‘e langa‘i ai ‘a e houhau ‘o Sihova kia ‘Isileli, ‘o ne fakatau kinautolu ki he nima ‘o Kūsani-Lisataimi ko e Tu‘i Mesopotēmia: pea na‘e nofo ‘a ha‘a ‘Isileli kia Kūsani-Lisataimi ‘o valu ta‘u.

(LILIU FAKA-TONGA)

‘I he taimi na’e pau ai ki he fanga tokoua ‘o Siosifa ‘e ‘ikai te n au tamate’i ia, na’a nau  makar ia ("fakatau") ki ha kau ‘Isime’eli (Senesi 37:28). Kapau ko ha sotia ‘Isileli kuo ne ‘omi ha popula ‘i he ikuna ‘o ha tau, pea na mali, ‘e ‘ikai te ne lava ke ne makar  ia ‘a mui ange (Teutalonome 21:14). Ko e makar ‘oku kau ki ai mo e ngaahi fefakatau’aki faka-komesiale, hangē ko hono fakatau ‘o ha kelekele (Sen 47:20). Naʻe lahi ‘aupito ‘a e taimi naʻe tautea ai ‘e he ‘Otua´ hono kakai´ ‘aki ‘ene makar (fakatau) kinautolu ki he ngaahi tuʻi muli, hangē ko Kūsani-Lisataimi (Fakamaau 3:8), Siapini (4:2), pea mo e kau Filisitia´ (10:7). Ko e taumuʻa´ ke nau fakatomala, pea ke nau manatu ki he kovinanite´ ‘o nau falala kakato kiate Ia, he ko Sihova honau Huhuʻi´.

Ka ‘i hono aofangatuku´, naʻe pau ke ‘i ai ha founga ke fakangataʻaki ‘a hono fakaehaua ‘e he kovi´ ‘a e faʻahinga ‘o e tangata´; ko e ‘Alo ‘o e ‘Otua tonu, naʻe fakatau ‘aki ‘e Siutasi ha konga siliva ‘e 30 (Matiu 26:15).  Ko e ola ‘o e foʻi fakatau ko ia´, ‘oku taʻefa´alaua.  “Ko ho‘omou ‘ilo, na‘e ‘ikai fai‘aki ‘a e ngaahi me‘a ‘auha, ha siliva pe ha koula, homou huhu‘i mei he anga ta‘e‘aonga ne tuku fakaholo mai mei he mātu‘a” (1 Pet. 1:18-19).

‘E Tamai faka-hevani, neongo ‘oku kulaʻahoʻaho ‘emau angahala´, fakamaʻa au ke u hinehina hangē ko e sinou´ ‘i he taʻataʻa ‘o e Lami´.

When Joseph's brothers opted not to murder him, they makar ("sold") him to Ishmaelites (Gen. 37:28). If an Israelite soldier brought home a prisoner of war and married her, he could not later makar her (Deut. 21:14). In addition to selling people, makar also covers many commercial transactions, like selling land (Gen. 47:20). Multiple times, to discipline his people for their idolatry, God would makar them to foreign kings, such as Cushan-rishathaim (Judg. 3:8), Jabin (4:2), and the Philistines (10:7). The goal was to bring them to repentance, that they might remember the covenant and trust again in him as their redeeming God.

But ultimately there was only one way to deal, finally and fully, with the evil that bedevils humanity: the Son of God himself was sold out for a measly "thirty pieces of silver" by Judas Iscariot (Matt. 26:15). Yet the result of that sale was priceless redemption for us. We were ransomed not with "silver  or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot" (1 Pet. 1:18-19).

Heavenly Father, though our sins are as scarlet, make them white as snow in the blood of the Lamb.