Tu‘apulelulu Tisema 7, 2023

I WILL ALLURE HER

Te u Tauhele‘i ia

HOSEA 2:14

THEREFORE, BEHOLD, I WILL ALLURE HER, AND BRING HER INTO THE WILDERNESS, AND SPEAK TENDERLY TO HER."

HOSEA 2:14

Ko hono ō ia, vakai, te u fakamuimui ia ‘e au, ‘o fakalaka ki he toafa; pea te u lea ngongohe ki ai.

Koia, vakai, teu tauhele‘i ia, bea omi ia ki he toafa, bea lea fakafiemalie kiate ia.

(Paaki ‘a Uesi)

To explain the startling language she often employed in her writings, Flannery O'Connor once said, "To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures." Hosea and O'Connor would have been literary pals. Hosea says that Israel, like a lustful fool, had stepped out on her husband (Yahweh) to chase down her lovers (the Baals). So the Lord "will patah her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her [literally, 'to her heart']." Patah, usually translated "allure," carries dicey overtones of "entice" (Judg. 14:15) or "seduce" (Exod. 22:16; Judg. 16:5), especially when men and women are concerned. Patah is a risqué word. Hosea pictures God like a husband, desperate and daring, who will try every romantic ploy to win back his cheating bride. He will entice her into the wild, speak to her heart, seduce her with his love-whatever it takes to recapture her wayward heart.

This over-the-top romantic imagery is a prophetic way of depicting the lengths to which God will go to retrieve his beloved people-even if it means becoming one of them, being spit in the face, spiked to wood, and treated like a dog. For the love of us, God will push every boundary. 

O Lover of humanity, Christ our Lord, all praise to you for sacrificing everything to get us back.

 Pulelulu Tisema 6, 2023

The Holy Christian Jezreel

Ko e Sisilili Kalisitiane Haohaoa

HOSEA 1:4

AND THE LORD SAID TO [HOSEA], "CALL HIS NAME JEZREEL, FOR IN JUST A LITTLE WHILE I WILL PUNISH THE HOUSE OF JEHU FOR THE BLOOD OF JEZREEL, AND I WILL PUT AN END TO THE KINGDOM OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL.

HOSEA 1:4

Pea folofola ‘a Sihova kiate ia, Fakahingoa ia ko Sisilili; he ‘oku toe si‘i pea u ‘eke ‘a e toto ‘o Sisilili ki he fale ‘o Sehu, pea te u ‘ai ke ngata ‘a e pule‘anga ‘o e fale ‘o ‘Isileli,

Hosea and Gomer had three children: Jezreel, No-Mercy, and Not-My-People. Each of their names prophesied both punishment and promise. The latter two are obvious: the Lord would reject and show no mercy to Israel (1:6, 9), but later he would have mercy and reclaim them as his people (2:23). But what is the symbolism of Jezreel? The Hebrew name Yizre'el means "God [E] sows [zara]." Jezreel was the site of idolatry and bloodshed in the northern kingdom. For these sins God would punish Israel. However, God promises that later he will bless the desolate valley of Jezreel, for he says, "I will sow [zara] her for myself in the land" (2:23). Jezreel ("God sows"), which he destroyed, would, by divine grace, later live up to the meaning of its name.

Peter, referencing Hosea, says to the church, "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (1 Pet. 2:10). He could have added: Once you were not Jezreel, but now you are Jezreel, for God has sown within you the salvation and life of Christ, his Seed.

Thanks be to you, Almighty God, for making your church the new Jezreel.

 Tusite Tisema 5, 2023

Ancient of Days

Ko Talumeimu‘a

DANIEL 7:9

AS I LOOKED, THRONES WERE PLACED, AND THE ANCIENT OF DAYS TOOK HIS SEAT; HIS CLOTHING WAS WHITE AS SNOW, AND THE HAIR OF HIS HEAD LIKE PURE WOOL; HIS THRONE WAS FIERY FLAMES; ITS WHEELS WERE BURNING FIRE.

TANIELA 7:9

Na‘a ku mo‘usioa pē, kae‘oua ke fokotu‘u ‘ani ngaahi taloni, pea ‘afio mai ‘a Talumeimu‘a: ko hono kofu na‘e hangē ko e sinou, ‘o hinaekiaki, pea ko hono lou‘ulu na‘e hangē ko e fulufulu‘i sipi ma‘a; ko hono taloni koni ulo‘i afi, ko hono me‘a teka ko e afi kakaha.

"Ancient of Days" is a cool, mysterious title. That being said, the Aramaic behind it - attiq yomin - is fairly mundane; it simply means "aged one" or "old of days." Hebrew shares this word with Aramaic, for when it describes "ancient records," it uses attiq (1 Chron. 4:22). The Almighty's white, wool-like hair accentuates his antiquity. This minimal depiction of our Father is about as close as the Scriptures ever get to giving us a picture of him. 

This should not surprise us, however, for the Father wants to reveal himself to us in his Son. We see this in Daniel, for the Old One gives dominion, glory, and a kingdom to the Son of Man (7:13-14). The Messiah represents the Old One. Jesus himself says, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). This is made crystal clear in Revelation 1, when John describes Christ as the Old One was described: "The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow" (1:14). To see the Son of Man is also to see the Ancient of Days, the attiq yomin.

Our Father, the Ancient of Days, keep the eyes of our hearts ever fixed on your Son.

 Monite Tisema 4, 2023

The Handwriting on the Wall

Ko e Tohi nima ‘i he holisi

DANIEL 5:5, 25

IMMEDIATELY THE FINGERS OF A HUMAN HAND APPEARED AND WROTE ON THE PLASTER OF THE WALL OF THE KING'S PALACE, OPPOSITE THE AND THIS IS THE WRITING THAT WAS LAMPSTAND INSCRIBED: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, AND PARSIN.

TANIELA 5:5, 25

5 ‘I he houa ko ia na‘e nga‘unu mai ‘a e louhi‘i nima ‘o ha tangata, ‘o ne fai tohi ‘i he ‘aofi palasi fe‘unga mo e tu‘unga maama: pea na‘e mamata ‘e he tu‘i ki he konga ‘o e nima na‘e fai ‘a e tohi.

25 Pea ko eni ‘a e me‘a kuo tohi, MINE MINE TIKELI U-PASINI.

Belshazzar had no excuse. He'd seen firsthand what happened to Nebuchadnezzar when his head bloated with pride and God hammered him into humility (5:18-22). Belshazzar knew better but did no better. He and his fellow partiers guzzled wine from sacred vessels taken as spoils from Jerusalem's temple. As if that were not enough, he also "praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone" (5:4). This was spitting-in-the-face-of-God blasphemy. When the handwriting on the wall appeared, and

four Aramaic words were inscribed by divine fingers, his doom was sealed. Mene: his days were manah ("counted" or "numbered"). Tekel: in the balances, he had been taqal ("weighed") and found deficient. Peres or Parsin: a double meaning, for his kingdom would be paras ("divided") and given to the paras ("Persians"). This story, which has become proverbial in our language, remains a dire warning that God will not be mocked. 

Let us take heed. Let us repent. And let us ever throw ourselves on the mercy of the one who "wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us...,   having nailed it to the cross" (Col. 2:14 NKJV).

Write on our hearts, O Lord, your words of truth, that we may bear witness to your holy name. 

 Sapate Tisema 3, 2023

The Fiery Furnace

Ko e Fōnise afi

DANIEL 3:23

THESE THREE MEN, SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO, FELL BOUND INTO THE BURNING FIERY FURNACE.

TANIELA 3:23

Pea ko e toko tolu ko ia, ‘a Setaleki, Mēsake, mo ‘Apetenikō, na‘a nau tō ki he loto fōnise afi kakaha kuo ma‘u ha‘i.

This well-known account is about far more than a mean old king, three faithful Israelites, and a fiery furnace from which God delivered them. No Israelite, whose mind was steeped in the stories of old, could hear the Aramaic word attun ("furnace") without thinking of its equivalent in Hebrew-the kur. And where is the kur? Egypt. This place of Israel's ancient exile is the "iron furnace [kur]" (Deut. 4:20; 1 Kings 8:51; Jer. 11:4). How did the Lord get Israel out of Egypt's "iron furnace"? He sent his "angel" or messenger to lead them to freedom. Out of the Egyptian furnace, Israel emerged unharmed because the Lord their God delivered them by the hand of his messenger.

Likewise, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego embody Israel, cast into the new "Egyptian" furnace that is Babylon, ruled over by Nebuchadnezzar, who plays the part of Pharaoh. The Lord "sent his angel and delivered his servants" from the furnace (Dan. 3:28), just as he did in Exodus. This story, therefore, is a sort of acted-out promise of the future exodus of Israel out of Babylon and back to the promised land. And as with every biblical exile/return, it foreshadows the final, perfect exodus of salvation accomplished by the Son of God for us.

Holy Father, as we walk through fires of suffering in this world, deliver us by your merciful might.

 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).

 Falaite Tisema 1, 2023

LET US BE GIVEN VEGETABLES TO EAT

‘Omi mohuku kai pē

DANIEL 1:12-13

(DANIEL SAID,] "TEST YOUR SERVANTS FOR TEN DAYS; LET US BE GIVEN VEGETABLES TO EAT AND WATER TO DRINK. THEN LET OUR APPEARANCE AND

THE APPEARANCE OF THE YOUTHS WHO EAT THE KING'S FOOD BE OBSERVED BY YOU, AND DEAL WITH YOUR SERVANTS ACCORDING TO WHAT YOU SEE."

TANIELA 1:12-13

12 ‘o pehē, Fakamolemole, ka ke ‘ahi‘ahi ho‘o kau tamaio‘eiki ko kimautolu ‘o ‘aho hongofulu; ‘o ‘omi mohuku kai pē ke mau tokoni ‘aki, mo e vai moomau inu. 13 Pea ke toki sivi homau fōtunga ‘i ho ‘ao mo e fōtunga ‘o e kau talavou ‘oku kai ‘a e ‘inasi ‘o e tu‘i; pea ke toki fai ki ho‘o kau tamaio‘eiki ko kimautolu, ‘o fakatatau ki ho‘o vakai.

Daniel's dietary scruples in Babylon had nothing to do with him wanting to lead a healthy lifestyle. He wasn't writing a cookbook or working on a beach bod. Daniel was an exile. Living on unholy soil. Far from Jerusalem. Things were bad enough. He wasn't about to make them worse by defiling himself with food that God had prohibited (1:8). As a compromise, he asked for a simple test: let him and his friends eat only zere 'onim ("vegetables," a word formed from zera ["seed"]). Afterward, it was found that "they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh" than their counterparts (1:15). As happens repeatedly in the Scriptures, God blessed his children by means of food.

The spokes of human life have always revolved around the table. There is hardly a more fundamental human activity than eating. From the tree of life, to Passover, to the Lord's Supper, God has sanctified the table. He feeds, we eat, and thereby we partake of his blessings in this life, even as we await the wedding feast of the Lamb in his new creation.

Jesus, Bread of Life from heaven, fill our mouths with the food of salvation.