We can see Jesus even in the heroes of humanity.
Mr. Harris (referring to
Mahana)— “You mean that little shadow that comes in once in a while for a spool
of thread?”
Tulo—“She has a face like a
stone and she looks like she missed too many meals. She’s not young either…. Moki long ago gave up hope of finding a husband for her…. The whisper is that he (Johnny Lingo) can get
her for nothing…. I only know what they are saying.”
Moki (Mahana’s father, at his
home)—“Mahana. Mahana! Where is that girl. Mahana! She knows today is the
bargaining day! I’ll beat her! She is a foolish as she is ugly…. He (Johnny
Lingo) doesn’t want to pay a three-legged cow for her.” (Mahana, up in a tree,
hears her father’s insults. To his counselor friend, Mahi, Moki says,) “You don’t
know what it’s like to have a homely daughter, Mahi. I’m ready to give him a
cow, just to have him take her off my hands. And I will count myself fortunate,
just to be rid of her. She is no comfort hugging the corners of the hut,
speaking in whispers. And never looking at me! This is what comes, Mahi, of
buying a 2-cow wife. Look at you, Mahi. You paid 4 cows for your wife and she
gave you beautiful daughters. Your investment has been doubled.”
Mahi—“I see her (pointing up
in the tree where Mahana has been hiding and listening to her father’s depredation of
her self-worth).”
Moki (looking up at his
daughter)—“Mahana, you ugly, today is the day of bargaining. Come down and meet
your husband to be! Mahana, I will not have this. Shall I follow you up there
with a stick? Do you want me to put bruises all over you so that Johnny Lingo
will see what a disobedient daughter you are?
Moki (interrupted by distant
voices of the islanders following Johnny Lingo)—“I hear them. They come! (He
and Mahi get the mats laid out for the bargaining. Tulo sees Mahana up in the
tree and gestures to the others that she is there.)
Walking up to Moki, Johnny
Lingo strongly inquires of him, “Where is Mahana?” Mahi and Moki invent a story
about Mahana being out picking up materials to mend the roof because she is
always busy fixing everything.
(Bargaining formalities begin
as the two sit on the mats.)
Johnny Lingo—“I seek the
father of Manaha.”
Moki—“I am Manaha’s father.
What is it you want?”
Johnny Lingo—“I wish to take
Mahana for my wife.”
Moki (hypocritically, using
words that infer that he is demanding a high price)—“It is hard for a man to give his
daughter to another.”
Johnny Lingo (clearly reading
Moki’s avarice)—“I am prepared to pay. How many cows do you wish for Mahana?”
(Tulo whispers to the people—“One
cow is all he can ask. One cow.” And all the people believe Tulo).”
Moki (wanting a real deal, he
looks up at Mahi)—“I will consult with my counselor (as he gets up to talk with
Mahi).”
Discussion between two
self-confident island women—“If he asks for two cows, Johnny Lingo will settle for one.
If he asks for one cow, Johnny Lingo will settle for the horns and the tail. He
is the sharpest trader in all the islands.”
Moki—“They will think I’m
crazy.”
Mahi—“You are crazy if you
don’t listen to me! I am your counselor.”
(End of discussion between
the two island wives)—“I am a four-cow wife, myself.”
(First island wife, swelling
in greater pride)—“Really? My husband paid five cows for me!”
Second island wife, in humiliated pride—“Humph!” (They both look up and turn away from
each other in mutual disgust.)
Another wife to an elderly wife
who nods in agreement—“One cow.”
Moki (having finished counseling
with Mahi, he sits back down for the final bargain and firmly, announces)—“Three cows!”
Surprised, everyone has a long hilarious
laugh, while Mahana in the tree turns away, badly belittled and totally destroyed. But,
Johnny silences them with his hand. You can hear a pin drop.
Johnny Lingo—“Three cows is
many. But, not enough for Mahana. I will pay eight cows!”
Mahana turns around to look
down upon Johnny as everyone appears aghast with mouths dropped open, and Moki
just stares in dumb amazement.
Johnny Lingo—“I will bring
them [the eight cows] in the morning. Tomorrow night will be the wedding
festival. Then Mahana and I will leave the honeymoon place. Is it agreeable?”
Moki (in a daze)—“Agreeable.”
They shake hands, and Johnny
walks through the arrogant, ignorant, earthly-minded crowd and leaves.
Later, Tulo, laughing, says to
Mr. Harris about Johnny paying eight cows for Mahana, “It can be only two
things. Either he is crazy, or he is blind.”
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Johnny remembers the love he and Mahana had many years ago, and he knows that that old, childhood trust and love can be reborn. Jesus, our Creator, remembers the beauty that He saw in Adam and Eve. The glory He had with them remained fresh in His mind ever since their departure from Eden. Despite the ravages upon our original glory, the harrassment of our spiteful and destructive lord, Jesus can see in us what no one else can see.
But, the people’s rudeness and
careless treatment toward Mahana comes from the natural self-confidence of the
sinful heart of man. An easy life in a family that loved one another does not
automatically safeguard anyone from the work of sin. Their whole life they can
go arrogantly onward destroying the downtrodden. Even if they destroy others while laughing, they are still guilty. They are probably even more guilty since they cajole anyone who might have rebuked them for their lack of mercy, and so they go on through life preventing any possibility of being stopped.
“There is none righteous, no not one.
There is none that understandeth...
Their throat is an open
sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is
under their lips:
Whose mouth is full of
cursing and bitterness:
Their feet are swift to shed
blood:
Destruction and misery are in
their ways:
And the way of peace have
they not known:
There is no fear of God
before their eyes.” (Rom. 3:10,11,13-18).
They are like the Reese
monkeys in the experiment that analyzed the different emotional characteristics
between monkeys that were raised with a mothers’ love and one that was raised
without any love. Just like Mahana hugging the corners of her hut and
whispering to herself, the monkey who was fed and given the bare necessities of
life, but never got loved, huddled to itself in the presence of the other
monkeys that had mothers and had a large social network, war-mongering monkeys
that heckled and screamed and threw sticks at the distraught, unloved monkey.
Similarly, humanity has been
disconnected from the continuous flow of abundant love and life from the great
Father of all. His Spirit has been cut off from this one world of intelligent
beings, and another master has had charge of their upbringing. His loveless
method of rearing the defenseless children of Adam has been to threaten, to
harass, and to insult, and finally, when the first three methods didn’t make them produce beauty and joy, their master has beaten and badly bruised them.
But, the Son of God found His
Father’s heavenly home a place not to be desired while they were bound and
mistreated under the captivity of Satan. So He went on a far journey to their wilderness planet to buy them back from their tyrannical ruler. He forewarned their totalitarian
tyrant of His rescue for humanity, “It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15). Jesus, the Comforter, has always
been “a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge
from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is
as a storm against the wall.” (Isa. 25:4). He kept them encouraged until He could
come and deliver them.
As Johnny Lingo said, “Then,
always and forever, when they speak of marriage settlements, it will be
remembered that Johnny Lingo paid eight cows for Mahana”, likewise the cost would be
extremely high for Christ’s purchase of His bride, His redeemed church. Jesus
says, “Then, always and forever, when they speak of marriage settlements, it
will be remembered that [Jesus] paid [an infinite damnation] for [His church]”.
But their deliverance would always and forever be remembered. Not only by His
redeemed bride, but also by all the intelligent universe, the price He paid for Earth will
be the great topic throughout eternity. The bride’s song will be Mahana’s. “The LORD
shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard
bondage wherein thou wast made to serve…. The LORD hath broken the staff of the
wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. He who smote the people in wrath with a
continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none
hindereth. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into
singing.” “Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in…distress”,
“the bride, the Lamb’s wife”.
“For the LORD will have mercy
on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the
strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of
Jacob.
And the people shall take
them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them
in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them
captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
And it shall come to pass in
the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and
from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
That thou shalt take up this
proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased!
the golden city ceased!
The LORD hath broken the staff of the
wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
He who smote the people in wrath with a
continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none
hindereth.
The whole earth is at rest, and is
quiet: they break forth into singing.
Yea, the fir trees rejoice at
thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is
come up against us.” (Isa. 14:1-8).
“And a voice came out of the
throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, both
small and great.
And I heard as it were the
voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice
of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the LORD GOD omnipotent reigneth.
Let us be glad and rejoice,
and give honour to HIM: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath
made herself ready.
And to her was granted that
she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the
righteousness of saints.” (Rev. 19:5-8).
“And I saw heaven opened, and
behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True,
and in righteousness He doth judge and make war.
His eyes were as a flame of
fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man
knew, but He Himself.
And He was clothed with a
vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God.
And the armies which were in
heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
And out of His mouth goeth a
sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them
with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath
of Almighty God.
And He hath on His vesture
and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Rev.
19:11-16).
“And it shall be said in that
day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is
the LORD; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.
For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest.” (Isa 25:9,10).
“O LORD, Thou art my God; I
will exalt Thee, I will praise Thy name; for Thou hast done wonderful things; Thy
counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
For Thou hast made of a city
an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it
shall never be built.
Therefore shall the strong
people glorify Thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear Thee.
For Thou hast been a
strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress,
a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible
ones is as a storm against the wall.” (Isa. 25:1-4).
“And the ten horns which thou
sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate
and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
For God hath put in their
hearts to fulfil His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast,
until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
And the woman which thou
sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
And after these things I saw
another Angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was
lightened with His glory.
And He cried mightily with a strong voice,
saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of
devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and
hateful bird.
For all nations have drunk of
the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have
committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich
through the abundance of her delicacies.
And I heard another VOICE
from heaven, saying, Come out of
her, MY people, that ye be not
partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
For her sins have reached unto heaven, and GOD hath remembered her iniquities.
Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto
her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her
double.
How much she hath glorified herself, and lived
deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I
sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death,
and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong
is the LORD GOD who judgeth her….
And after these things I
heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and
glory, and honour, and power, unto the LORD our GOD:
For true and righteous are HIS
judgments: for HE hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with
her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of HIS servants at her hand.
And again they said,
Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
And the four and twenty
elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped GOD that sat on the throne,
saying, Amen; Alleluia.” (Rev. 17:16-18:8, 19:1-4).
“Thou shalt bring down the
noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow
of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low….
And He shall spread forth His
hands in the midst of them, as He that swimmeth spreadeth forth His hands to
swim: and He shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their
hands.
And the fortress of the high
fort of thy walls shall He bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even
to the dust.” (Isa. 25:5,11,12).
“And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there
was no more sea.
And I John saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned
for her husband.
And I heard a great VOICE
out of heaven saying, Behold, the
tabernacle of GOD is with men, and HE will dwell with them, and they shall
be HIS people, and GOD HIMSELF shall be with them, and be their GOD.
And GOD shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things
are passed away.
And HE that sat upon the
throne said, Behold, I make all things
new. And HE said unto me, Write:
for these words are true and faithful.
And HE said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of
the water of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I
will be his GOD, and he shall be MY son….
And there came unto me one of
the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and
talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
And he carried me away in the
spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy
Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from GOD,
Having the glory of GOD: and
her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear
as crystal;
And had a wall great and
high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written
thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.” (Rev.
21:1-7,9-12).
“And I saw no temple therein:
for the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY and the Lamb are the temple of it.
And the city had no need of
the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of GOD did lighten
it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
And the nations of them which
are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring
their glory and honour into it.
And the gates of it shall not
be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
And they shall bring the
glory and honour of the nations into it.
And there shall in no wise
enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination,
or maketh a lie….
And he shewed me a pure river
of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of GOD and of
the Lamb.
In the midst of the street of
it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare
twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of
the tree were for the healing of the nations.
And there shall be no more
curse: but the throne of GOD and of the Lamb shall be in it; and HIS servants
shall serve HIM:
And they shall see HIS face;
and HIS name shall be in their foreheads.
And there shall be no night
there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the LORD GOD giveth
them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.” (Rev. 21:22-22:5).
“And in this mountain shall
the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines
on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
And HE will destroy in this
mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is
spread over all nations.
HE will swallow up death in
victory; and the LORD GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the
rebuke of HIS people shall HE take away from off all the earth: for the LORD
hath spoken it.” (Isa. 25:6-8).
