ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 Tusite Tisema 12, 2023

A Fruity Pun

Ko e kato fua‘i ‘akau kuo momoho

AMOS 8:1-2

THIS IS WHAT THE LORD GOD SHOWED ME: BEHOLD, A BASKET OF SUMMER FRUIT. AND HE SAID, "AMOS, WHAT DO YOU SEE?" AND I SAID, "A BASKET OF SUMMER FRUIT." THEN THE LORD SAID TO ME, "THE END HAS COME UPON MY PEOPLE ISRAEL; I WILL NEVER AGAIN PASS BY THEM."

‘Emosi 8:1-2

1 KO E me‘a eni na‘e tuku ke u sio ki ai ‘e ‘Ātonai Sihova: pea tā ko e kato fua‘i ‘akau kuo momoho. Pea ne folofola mai kiate au, ‘Ēmosi, ko e hā ‘oku ke sio ni ki ai? 2 Pea u tali, Ko e kato fua‘i ‘akau kuo momoho. Pea folofola ‘a Sihova kiate au, Kuo hoko ‘a e faka‘osi

Just as the Lord used the "almond tree" (shaqed) to show Jeremiah that he would "watch" (shaqad) over his word (1:11-12), so he used a fruity pun with Amos. The word qayitz means "summer" or "summer fruit," and qetz  is "end." The qayitz visualizes the qetz, the fruit symbolizes the end. It's one of several agricultural images that this man, who once was "a dresser of sycamore figs," uses (7:14). He speaks of fruits destroyed (2:9), famines of the word (8:11), swindling in grain markets (8:5). Creation itself is called by the prophetic prosecution as a witness against people's infidelity, perversity, and impending doom.

Creation is awry because her king and queen-and we their children-have tossed their crowns in the mud. Sin has seeped into every aspect of existence. Creation therefore groans, as Paul says (Rom. 8:22). We await the getz, the end, when destruction will come, yes, but on its heels a new heaven that has no end.

"O LORD, make me to know my end and what is the measure of my days" and a new earth, where fruits of love and peace will flourish in a summer (Ps. 39:4).