ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 Tokonaki Tisema 2, 2023

No Handmade Kingdom

‘IKAI KO HE PULE‘ANGA NGAOHI ‘E HE TANGATA

DANIEL 2:34-35

"AS YOU LOOKED, A STONE WAS CUT OUT BY NO HUMAN HAND, AND IT STRUCK THE IMAGE ON ITS FEET OF IRON AND CLAY, AND BROKE THEM IN PIECES....BUT THE STONE THAT STRUCK THE IMAGE BECAME A GREAT MOUNTAIN AND FILLED THE WHOLE EARTH."

TANIELA 2:34-35

34 Na‘a ke mo‘usioa pē kae‘oua ke tā ha maka ta‘ekau ai ha nima, ‘a ia ne ne te‘ia ‘a e ‘īmisi ‘i hono va‘e na‘e fiofio ‘aione mo ‘umea, ‘o ne laiki ia. 35 Na‘e toki hoko ko e koto lailai ‘a e ‘aione, mo e ‘umea, mo e palasa, mo e siliva, mo e koula, ‘o tatau mo e kafukafu ‘o e ‘au‘au‘anga ‘i Fakaafumate; pea ne ‘ave ia ‘e he matangi, pea na‘e ‘ikai ma‘u ha potu ki ai: ka ko e maka na‘a ne taa‘i ‘a e ‘īmisi na‘e hoko ko e fu‘u mo‘unga, pea na‘e fonu ai ‘a māmani.

These verses are from a section of Daniel (2:4b-7:28) written in Aramaic, a language in the same family as Hebrew. In both languages, the word for "hand" is yad. In Nebuchadnezzar's dream, which Daniel interprets, a stone "cut out by no human hand" destroyed earthly kingdoms and "became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." In the Bible, the human yad corrupts. Something "made with [human] hands" is flawed, of the old order of fallen creation (e.g., 2 Cor. 5:1; Acts 7:48). Unlike legendary Midas, everything that sinners touch doesn't turn to gold but to dust, mud, gravel, or worse. The worldly kingdoms of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were "handmade," sinner-made kingdoms, destined not to last.

This nonhandmade stone, "the stone that the builders rejected" (Ps. 118:22), grows into a worldwide mountain. It is the kingdom of the Messiah. A God-made kingdom. Not the hand of fallen humanity, but the Son at the Father's right hand formed this realm of mercy. Against this kingdom, the gates of hell don't stand a chance (Matt. 16:18).

"As your name, O God, so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is filled with righteousness" (Ps. 48:10).