“Ko ngā Whakaaro me Ū ki te Hinengaro: Te Kawenata,” Haere Mai, Whai Mai i Ahau—Mō te Kāinga me te Hāhi: Kawenata Tawhito 2026 (2026)
“Te i te Kawenata,” Haere Mai, Whai Mai i Ahau: 2026
Ko ngā Whakaaro me Ū ki te Hinengaro
Te Kawenata
Puta noa i te Kawenata Tawhito, ka kaha pānuitia te kupu kawenata. I tēnei wā, whakaaro ai tātou he whakaari tapu ngā kawenata ki te Atua, engari i te ao onamata, he mea nui ngā kawenata i roto i ngā whakawhitiwhitinga mahi a te tangata tētahi ki tētahi. I whai tikanga nui i aua wā kia whakawhirinaki tētahi ki tētahi, hei mea haumaru, hei mea oranga hoki, ā, ko te kawenata tētahi e pērā ai.
Nō reira, i te wā i kōrero te Atua ki a Enoka, Noa, Mohi, me ētahi atu e pā ana ki ngā kawenata, i te tono Ia kia uru mai rātou ki roto ki tētahi hononga whakawhirinaki ki a Ia. E karangatia ana tēnei kawenata, arā, ko te kawenata hou mau tonu ko te kawenata Aperahamika rānei—he aronga ki te kawenata i meatia ai e te Atua ki a Aperahama rāua ko Hera kātahi ka whakahoungia ki ō rāua uri mokopuna a Ihaka rāua ko Hākopa (i karangatia hoki ko Iharaira). Kei roto i te Kawenata Tawhito e kīa noa ko “te kawenata.” Ka kite koutou ko te Kawenata Tawhito tētahi kōrero mō tētahi iwi i whakapono ai ko rātou ngā kaiwhiwhi o tēnei kawenata—te iwi kawenata.
E hono tonu ana te whakahirahira o te kawenata Aperahamika i ēnei rā tonu, he pērā mārire ki te Hunga Tapu. He aha ai? Nā te mea he iwi kawenata anō hoki tātou, ahakoa he uri whakaheke nō Aperahama, Ihaka me Hākopa kāore rānei. Nā tēnei take, he whakahirahira rawa kia mārama he aha rawa te kawenata Aperahamika, ā, he aha hoki tana hāngai ki a tātou i ēnei rā.
He aha te Kawenata Aperahamika?
I pirangi a Aperahama “kia kaha ake tana whai i te tika” (Aperahama 1:2), nō reira i tonoa ia e te Atua kia uru ki roto ki tētahi hononga kawenata. Ehara a Aperahama i te tuatahi kia mau tēnei hiahia, ā, kīhai ia i te tuatahi kia whakawhiwhia tētahi kawenata. Koia rā, i te mutunga iho, he kawenata mau tonu. I whai atu a Aperahama i “ngā manaakitanga o ngā tūpuna” (Aperahama 1:2)—ko ngā manaakitanga i tāpaea mā roto i te kawenata ki a Arama rāua ko Iwi, ā, nō muri iho, ki te hunga e whai kaha ana i ēnei manaakitanga.
I whakaaria mai nei te kawenata a te Atua ki a Aperahama ngā manaakitanga mīharo maha: he whenua tuku iho, ngā uri whakaheke tokomaha, te tukuna iho o ngā tikanga tapu tohungatanga, me tētahi ingoa e whakahōnoretia mō ngā whakatipuranga maha e heke mai ana. Engari ehara i te mea ko ngā manaakitanga e whiwhi ai ki runga i a Aperahama me tōna whānau te whainga matua o tēnei kawenata engari ko rātou te manaakitanga ki ērā atu o ngā tamariki a te Atua. “Ka meinga koe hei manaakitanga,” tā te Atua i whakapuaki, “mā roto i a koe manaakitia ai ngā whānau katoa o te whenua” (Kenehi 12:2–3).
I whakawhiwhia rānei e Aperahama, Hera me ō rāua uri whakaheke ki tētahi mana motuhake i waenganui i ngā tamariki a te Atua i roto i tēnei kawenata? Ko tāna whiwhinga noa iho, arā, he hōnore kia manaakitia ētahi atu. Ko tā te whānau o Aperahama he “kawe i tēnei minitatanga me te Tohungatanga ki ngā iwi katoa,” e tohaina atu ana “ngā manaakitanga o te Rongopai, koia ko ngā manaakitanga o te whakaoranga, arā, o te oranga tonutanga” (Aperahama 2:9, 11). Ehara i te mea he pai ake rātou i ētahi atu nā te mea ko rātou te iwi kawenata a te Atua; ko te tikanga kē, he haepapa tō rātou ki te āwhina i ētahi atu.
Ko tēnei kawenata te manaakitanga i roa a Aperahama e whai ana. Whai muri iho i tana whakawhiwhi ki tērā, ka mea a Aperahama i roto i tana ngākau, “Kua whai pono tō pononga i a koe; kua rapua nei koe e ahau” (Aperahama 2:12).
Kua hipa ngā tau manomano mai i tērā wā, engari kua whakahokia mai tēnei kawenata i ēnei rā. Kei te whakatutukia nei i roto i te oranga o ngā iwi o te Atua. Kei te piki te kaha o te whakatutukitanga o te kawenata i ēnei rā i a te mahi a te Atua e koke tonu ana, e manaakitia ana ngā whānau puta noa i te ao. Ā, ko te tangata, pērā i a Aperahama, e hiahia ana kia kaha ake tana whai i te tika—ko te tangata e whai pono ana i te Ariki—ko ia te tangata e whai wāhi atu nei ki taua mahi.
He Aha te Tikanga o te Kawenata Aperahamika ki Ahau?
He tamaiti koe nā te kawenata. Ka meatia e koe tētahi kawenata ki te Atua ina rumakina koe. Ā, ka whiwhi koe i tētahi raneatanga o te kawenata me ngā tikanga tapu o te temepara.
Mā roto i ēnei kawenata me ēnei tikanga tapu, ka meinga tātou hei iwi nō te Atua. Kua herea tātou ki a Ia “me ngā herenga mau tonu.” “Ina meatia tētahi kawenata ki te Atua,” tā Tumuaki Russell M. Nelson i ako, “ka wehe atu tātou i te whenua noa mō āke tonu atu. E kore te Atua e whakarere nei i Tana hononga ki te hunga nā rātou i tuitui i te taura here ki a Ia. Koia, kei te hunga katoa kua meatia e rātou tētahi kawenata ki te Atua te āheinga ki tētahi momo aroha motuhake. … Kua whakaaria mai nei ki a tātou, “Nā tō kawenata ki te Atua, e kore Ia e ngenge i Tana mahi āwhina i a tātou, ā, e kore e pau i a tātou Tana manawanui ki a tātou.” Ka kite koe i tēnei i roto i te hītori mō te iwi kawenata a te Atua i roto i te Kawenata Tawhito, ā, ka kite koe i tēnei i roto i tō ake oranga i te mea ko koe tētahi o Ana tamariki kawenata.
Kaua e Wehi, nā Dan Wilson
Koinei te māramatanga whakamīharo kua homai nei ki a tātou he mea nā te Whakahokinga Mai o te kawenata Aperahamika mā roto i te Poropiti Hōhepa Mete. Nō reira, ina pānui koe e pā ana ki ngā kawenata i roto i te Kawenata Tawhito, kaua e whakaaro ki te hononga a te Atua ki a Aperahama, Ihaka me Hākopa anake. Kia huri ō whakaaro ki Tana hononga ki a koe. Ina pānui koe e pā ana ki te whakaari mō ngā uri tē taea te tatau, kaua noa e whakaaro ki te hunga anake e kīa ana ko Aperahama tō rātou tupuna. Kia whakaaro ki te whakaari a te Atua ki a koe mō ngā whānau mau tonu, me te whiwhinga mau tonu. Ina pānui koe e pā ana ki te whakaari o te whenua tuku iho, kaua e whakaaro noa ki te whenua i whakaaria mai nei ki a Aperahama. Kia huri ngā whakaaro ki te huarahi mau tonu o te whenua nei—he whiwhinga kua whakaaria mai nei ki te hunga “māhaki” e “whanga ana ki te Ariki” (Matiu 5:5; Ngā Waiata 37:9, 11). Ā, ina pānui koe e pā ana ki te whakaari e mea ana mā te iwi kawenata a te Atua e manaaki “i ngā whānau katoa o te whenua” (Aperahama 2:11), kaua e whakaaro noa ki te minitatanga o Aperahama, ki ngā poropiti rānei e heke iho mai ana i a ia. Kia huri ō whakaaro ki tāu e taea ai—i te mea he tangata ū ki ngā kawenata a Ihu Karaiti—kia ai hei manaakitanga ki ngā whānau e karapotia nei koe.