ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 FALAITE NOVEMA 10, 2023

Watching Almonds

Siofi ‘a e Va’a ‘Ai

JEREMIAH 1:11-12

AND THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ME, SAYING, "JEREMIAH, WHAT DO YOU SEE?" AND I SAID, "I SEE AN ALMOND BRANCH." THEN THE LORD SAID TO ME, "YOU HAVE SEEN WELL, FOR I AM WATCHING OVER MY WORD TO PERFORM IT."

SELEMAIA 1:11-12

11 Pea na‘e hoko kiate au ha folofola ‘a Sihova, ‘o pehē, Ko e hā ‘a e me‘a ‘oku ke mo‘usioa, Selemaia? Pea u tali, Ko e va‘a ‘ai ‘oku ou mo‘u siofi. 12 Pea folofola mai ‘a Sihova, Totonu ho‘o sio: he te u ‘ai ‘eku lea ke fakahoko.

Because the almond is the first tree to blossom in Israel, to watch for its blooms is to watch for spring's arrival. Hebrew playfully expresses this connection because "almond tree" is shaqed and "watch, stay awake, guard" is shaqad. To shaqad the shaqed is to watch the almond. Thus God points to an almond tree (shaqed) to impress on Jeremiah that he is "watching over [shaqad] his word to perform it." This also explains the almond-like bulbs atop the branches of the menorah (Exod. 25:31-40). Just as nature is

renewed by the arrival of spring, so life itself was renewed and sustained by the light of God that burned within his tabernacle.

Jesus used the fig tree as a parallel illustration. Just as the fig signals the approach of summer, so the world's unraveling means the kingdom of God is near (Luke 21:29-31). Until that happens, we watch God's Word, live in his light, and watch for the second coming of Christ, when the Lamb shall be our light, our Menorah, in an earth that is the holy place of God (Rev. 21:23).

O Lord, keep our eyes on your Word, illumine us with your light, and keep us steadfast in the faith.