ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 Falaite Tisema 22, 2023

Make It Plain

TONGI KE MAHINO

HABAKKUK 2:2

AND THE LORD ANSWERED ME: "WRITE THE VISION; MAKE

IT PLAIN ON TABLETS, SO HE MAY RUN WHO READS IT."

HAPAKUKI 2:2

Pea tali mai ‘e Sihova, ‘o pehē, Tohi ‘a e vīsone, tongi ke mahino ‘i he ngaahi tohi‘anga, koe‘uhi ke lau ai pē ‘a e lele.

Deuteronomy could be called the Ba'ar Book. In the introduction, that "Moses undertook to ba ar this law" (1:5) - that is, to "explain, elucidate, make very clear." Moses, like a diligent rabbi, was punctiliously unpacking the Torah. Near the end of Deuteronomy, he instructed Israel to write, on stones, all the words of the Torah "very plainly [ba'ar]" (Deut. 27:8). No scribbling or eight-point Hebrew font! God uses this same word when addressing Habakkuk, "Write the vision; make it plain (ba'ar] on tablets, so he may run who reads it." Make it so legible, so clear, that someone who sprints by can read it on the run. Habakkuk's message of coming Babylonian attacks dare not be footnoted, whispered, or reduced to some esoteric code. It needed to be published for all Israel's eyes to see. Paint it on a billboard. Make it plain as day.

What good is God's Word if it remains unknown, unseen, unpublished? Ba'ar that Word. Make it clear. Unveil that merciful Word for all the world to see. As in Habakkuk's time, the Lord speaks that Word so that "the righteous shall live by his faith" (2:4). But where does faith come from? "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" (Rom. 10:17).

Jesus, Word of our Father, "speak, for your servant is listening" (1 Sam. 3:10 NIV).