Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“We promise not to give our daughters in marriage to the peoples around us or take their daughters for our sons.
“When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day. Every seventh year we will forgo working the land and will cancel all debts.

• Nehemiah 10:30-31

Remember me for this, my God, and do not blot out what I have so faithfully done for the house of my God and its services.
In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this wicked thing you are doing—desecrating the Sabbath day? Didn’t your ancestors do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity on us and on this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath.”
When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day. Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. But I warned them and said, “Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will arrest you.” From that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.
Remember me for this also, my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.

• Nehemiah 13:14-22

They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea. I will put an end to your noisy songs, and the music of your harps will be heard no more.  I will make you a bare rock, and you will become a place to spread fishnets. You will never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.

• Ezekiel 26:12-14

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

• Matthew 6:19-21

Boilerplate

I’m Harold Dykstra.  I’m retired, but I go to food bank distributions all over Tracy and talk to people that need someone who will listen to their story.  My time is well spent.  A police lieutenant suggested that I write down the conversations that I had with an angel.  I did not know she was an angel at the time.  The angel, for a little over a year, indwelled a life-sized posable action figure my children bought me, so that I would not be perceived as travelling alone.  And in a way, she was training me for what I do while talking to the needy.  She probed my heart to find out what I believed and how I express love for others.  She changed my life.  Since she was a doll that had come to life, we came up with the term ‘other living.’  She was not a human, an animal, or even a plant, but she was definitely living, and very vibrant.  Oh, excuse me, angels have no gender, but the angel indwelled a doll named Bountiful Babs.  After seeing the angel in that form for over a year, I cannot see her in my mind in any other form.

This Week’s Question

In the last episode, Babs walked across the Mississippi River and did not get her feet wet.

But this week, I took a day off to go shopping.  On this trip, knowing that Babs was with me, I carried my credit card, not just the company credit card.  Since I had the tap and go type card, I let Babs shop in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, in the Twin Cities area.  If I had not insisted that she get herself something to wear, she would have shopped for Morrie, Willie, and their families, and something for me.  She always thought of others and never herself.  She even got something for Gladys, the lady she sits with at church.

I was not worried about the money she spent, but she put herself on a budget.  Since she had become my travel buddy, I had maximized my bonus from last year and I had already gotten near the maximum bonus that would come my way next January, even though I had no ten-million-dollar sales yet this year.  There were simply a lot of good spare parts orders.  She says that I will need to save that money, but she will not tell me why.

While we were at the Rainforest Café on the bottom level of this huge shopping mall, I asked if she had enjoyed her shopping spree.

Babs smiled, “I love our visits to the wonders of God’s creation, but this place is fun.  The flume ride was exciting.  The stores had a lot to offer.  I got great presents for everyone in the family.”

“And what did you get for yourself?” I asked with a smile.

She laughed, “You saw me try it on.  It’s that red dress.  You kept talking about how I needed something red, white, and blue for the Fourth of July.  I will wear the dress and then the white sweater since the fireworks will be at night.  I will have to think about something blue.”

I winked, “I might surprise you.”

Babs said, “Now, we can have a Bible study while we enjoy this rainforest atmosphere.  But I was in the rainforests around Seattle, Washington, and this is nothing like that.”

I snickered, “Yeah, I think they are going for more of a jungle theme, but it has its charm.  I thought we would talk about merchandise.”

Babs scrunched her nose, “I am sitting here with a half dozen bags of merchandise from all kinds of stores, and you want to talk about it?!  Let’s have a Bible study instead!”

I laughed, “Okay, what about Nehemiah, chapter 10?”

Babs groaned, “An entire chapter on rules about what the Israelites needed to do and not do.  They had been exiled, and they did not want to become exiled again.”

I asked, “And what did Nehemiah say about merchandise in that chapter?”

“Oh!” Babs exclaimed.  “Now, I understand what you meant by merchandise.  Yes, it talks about how their neighbors are going to come into the country and the cities to sell merchandise on the Sabbath.  And the Jews were not supposed to buy anything on the Sabbath.”

I nodded, “That’s right.  Now what they meant by neighbors are the people around them who are not Jews.  And what people brought fish and merchandise on the Sabbath?”

Babs made a bad face.  “Can you imagine someone hanging around until sunset when it was no longer the Sabbath to try to sell the fish?  Who would buy it then?!”

I snickered, “That is one of Satan’s tricks.  Have the merchant sell something that will spoil quickly.  If the merchant cannot sell the fish, then the merchant will be stuck with spoiled fish.  The merchant will probably not come back.  Even though they would tell the merchant that it was the Sabbath.  See, if you can rationalize something that is considered a sin, then it makes another sin less ‘forbidden’ and then another sin is ignored.  All to keep the merchant happy and to get your fish while it is still fresh.”

Babs asked, “But why have these rules about not buying merchandise?”

I nodded, “The commandment for keeping the Sabbath day holy is enough.  God said so, but God gives His reasons.  We need to learn how to rest, and God rested on the seventh day after He created everything.  But it is more than that.  Remember the manna.  They were supposed to take a double portion the day before the Sabbath.  Thus, God was teaching His people preparedness and thinking ahead.  But God was also teaching us to trust in Him.  Could we simply fast one day and not eat anything?  Sure, we could.  But if we plan ahead and have some bread prepared, we could eat that instead.  So, God said to keep the Sabbath holy.  God gave His example of resting on the seventh day.  God wants us to be prepared and plan ahead.  And God wants us to trust Him.  But you did not answer the question about who was selling the fish and merchandise.  You know, in Nehemiah 13.”

Babs giggled, “I answered with a question to give me more time to think.”

I laughed, “I do not think you needed the time to think.  You are really a walking encyclopedia.”

Babs scrunched her nose, “What is an encyclopedia?”

I shook my head, “Before we had the internet and phones that can search the internet for our answers, most families had this huge volume of books with information from “A” to “Z” in the books.  There was a lot of stuff in those books, and when I was in grade school, I used those books to do research papers.  The volumes of books that filled an entire bookshelf were called encyclopedias.”

Babs still looked confused, but she nodded.

I cleared my throat, “And the answer to the question?”

Babs laughed, “You caught me again!  It was Tyre, the island city, so they could easily catch fish.”

I nodded, “And Nehemiah is pleading with God to not blame him.  He was trying to stop what they were doing.  But then, what will eventually happen to Tyre?  Ezekiel wrote about it?”

Babs gasped, “That’s right!  Ezekiel gives God’s curse on the city of Tyre.  They will no longer sell merchandise.  Tyre will be destroyed.  Was it just for selling fish on Sunday?”

I laughed, “No, Babs, they did not worship God.  They lured the people away from worshipping God.  They showed off their wealth as their evidence that they were better than the Jews.  They were a proud people, and God hates pride.  And because Tyre was extremely hard to conquer, they pretty much dictated the market flow of the area.  Sometimes the only place to find something was at Tyre.”

“What about now?” Babs asked.

I shrugged, “When I was little, we had blue laws.”

Babs asked, “They printed the laws in blue ink?!”

I shook my head, “No, one newspaper that spread the word was printed on blue paper.  ‘Blue Laws’ started in the American colonies with ‘blue’ representing the colonies compared to the British ‘red.’  You know about the ‘red coats’ of the uniforms.  Maybe we can go to more museums in the northeast this fall.”

Babs nodded, “I would like that!”

I shrugged, “But some think “Blue Laws” just was a derogatory term for the ‘blue-nosed’ Puritans.  So tight and restricted by so many rules that their noses turn blue.  But blue laws referred to the worship day restrictions for merchants.  Sometimes, it was that you could not sell anything, but in many states today, the only restriction is the sale of alcohol.  Some rare areas of the country will only allow groceries and pharmacies to stay open on Sunday.  But that is rare.  Most places, it is business as usual.  This mall is probably buzzing on Sunday, just like it is today.”

Babs asked, “Buzzing?”

I shook my head, “Buzzing, like bees, who stay busy all the time, buzzing.  But when you just sit quietly, you do not hear one conversation around you, you hear many conversations, and all you really hear is a buzz.”

Babs giggled, “That one I understand!”

I smiled and took Babs’ hand in mine, “It all comes down to where we have our treasure.  I want you to enjoy your new dress.  When I saw you in it, I thought you were the most lovely woman in the store.  But our true treasure is in heaven, Babs.  What we store there cannot be destroyed.  It won’t fade.  The color won’t get dull after a few washes.  In heaven, our treasure will be forever.”

Babs looked into my eyes and said, “And I will treasure each of our Bible lessons, Harold.”

Credits

All these conversations remind me of my conversations with my wife.  We would talk about anything and everything.  And most of the time, it sounded like a discussion in a Sunday school class.

My wife and I were in the Mall of America several times over the years, but we never rode the flume ride or the roller coaster.  We did have a meal in the Rainforest Café.  Sadly, the necktie shop is no longer there.  Men’s neckties are not as fashionable today as they used to be.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.