ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 The Garb of Grief

Ko e Teunga ‘o e Fakamamahi

2 KINGS 19:1

AS SOON AS KING HEZEKIAH HEARD IT, HE TORE HIS CLOTHES AND COVERED HIMSELF WITH SACKCLOTH AND WENT INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD.

2 Tu’i 19:1

PEA ‘i he fanongo ki ai ‘a Kingi Hesekaia, na‘a ne hae hifo hono kofu, ‘o ne ‘ai tauanga‘a, ‘o ne ‘alu ki he fale ‘o Sihova.

[LILIU FAKA-TONGA]

Ko e fo’i lea fakapapalangi ko e "sack," ko e ‘omi hangatonu pe ia mei he lea Faka-Hepelu; ko e fo’i lea ko e sake, ‘oku ngaue’aki ki he tangai pe kofukofu me’akai (Senesi 42:25), kafu pe ‘uhi’uhi (2 Samiuela 21:10), pe ko  e tauanga’a. Na’e tui sake ‘a Hesekaia mo ‘ene kau hou’eiki ‘i hono ‘ohofi ‘a Selusalema ‘e he kau ‘Asilia. Na’e fakamamahi ‘a Sekope pea ne ‘ai tauanga’a (sake) ‘i he mole ‘a Siosifa (Senesi 37:34). Na’e makehe atu ‘a e ‘ai tauanga’a ‘a Ninive he na’e kau kakai mo e manu (Siona 3:8). Hange pe ko ‘etau teuga ‘uli ki ha putu ko e fakahaa’i ‘etau fakamamahi, na’e ‘ai tauanga’a (tui tangai) ‘a ‘Isileli ko e fakahaa’i ‘o ‘enau fakatomala ko honau teunga fakamamahi.

Na’e fakamatala ‘a ‘Aisea kau ki he ngaahi lahi ‘oku nau "‘ai tauanga‘a ki ai mōno ‘ufi‘ufi" (50:3), na’e to’o mai ‘e Sione ‘a e fakataataa ko eni ‘o ngaue’aki ki he tohi Fakahaa, ‘i hono vete ‘a e sila hono ono, "pea na‘e ‘uli‘uli ‘a e la‘ā ‘o hangē ha tupenu ‘uli‘uli tauanga‘a" (6:12). ‘I hotau kuonga ni, ‘oku hake ‘uta ‘a e mamahi, faingata’a, tukuhausia, kovi mo e li’ekina, ko ha taimi ki he ‘ai tauanga’a. Ka ‘i he kemo pe, ‘i he ongo mai ‘a e talupite, ‘e liliu faka’aufuli ‘a e me’a kotoa ‘i he ha’ele ‘anga ua mai ‘a Sisu, ke fakakofu ‘aki kitautolu ha pulupulu hine ekiaki ‘o e fiefia ‘i he pa mavava ‘a e kau tui. 

"Kuo ke liliu ‘eku tangilāulau ko e me‘a ke u me‘e ai; Kuo ke vete hoku tauanga‘a, ‘o no‘o ‘aki ‘a e fiefia lahi:" (Ps. 30:11).

When we use the word "sack," Hebrew is on our lips. The English word is derived from the word saq, which can mean a sack/bag for food (Gen. 42:25), a makeshift blanket (2 Sam. 21:10), or - most commonly - sackcloth. Hezekiah and his officials donned saq when the Assyrians laid siege to Jerusalem. Jacob mourned Joseph by wearing saq as a loincloth (Gen. 37:34). The most bizarre use was in Nineveh, when even the animals were "covered with saq" (Jon. 3:8). Just as we might wear black clothing to a funeral as an outward sign of a saddened heart, Israelites put on saq as robes of repentance and

the garb of grief.

Isaiah spoke of the heavens making "sackcloth their covering" (50:3), imagery picked up by John in Revelation when, at the opening of the sixth seal, "the sun became black as sackcloth" (6:12). This present time, so often awash with grief, pain, loss, evil, and  shame, is an epoch of sackcloth. But in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, all will be changed when Jesus returns to vest us in the snow-white robes of joy, when all believers will shout in rapture:

"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness" (Ps. 30:11).