Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Do not trust a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend. Even with the woman who lies in your embrace guard the words of your lips.

• Micah 7:5

Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?

• Job 4:6

The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:
“‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours?

• Isaiah 36:4

Egypt will no longer be a source of confidence for the people of Israel but will be a reminder of their sin in turning to her for help. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.’”

• Ezekiel 29:16

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God

• 1 John 3:21

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,

• Hebrews 10:19

Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

• Hebrews 10:32-35

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

• Ephesians 3:12

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 was concerned about how I related to the pain that people coming to the food bank might have.  But this week, she seems to be concerned about me, and my confidence.

We were at our little table in the hotel room.  She got her usual comfy chair with the ottoman to prop her feet up.  I got the office chair.  But this was different.  Babs had a pair of reading glasses on, which she did not need.  She just wanted to look professorial.  Really, she looked even more attractive.  And in full disclosure.  We have given each other little kisses, but never anything romantic.  We have gone dancing a little, but we are more like brother and sister.  I started out still in mourning for my wife, but as I have learned Babs’ true character and her passion for Jesus Christ, I would never think of making a pass at her.  But I was starting to fear what she had been saying about having to leave as soon as I was not traveling anymore.  I did not understand ‘other living’, but now that I was used to her company, I did not want her to leave.  So, I guess I am saying that while there was no romantic attraction, I seemed to find her someone that I loved like one of my children or a sibling.  And she was easy on the eyes.

Babs giggled, “Today’s lesson, class, is on confidence.  Do you have confidence in your job?”  I nodded, but I looked around.  When she said, ‘class’, it sounded like I was not alone.  She giggled, “Okay, then, do you have confidence in talking about Jesus?”

I shrugged, “Well, I have spoken about Jesus.  I went to that food bank last week.  Nobody hit me over the head with a frying pan, but that was probably more a matter of no one having a frying pan handy.  They were hurting, and I think what I said helped.  But I am not thinking that I am cut out to be that sidewalk evangelist.  There are a lot of angry people out there.  I might get angry in return.  After all, I am trying to help them cope with the adversity they are suffering.  Why would they get angry about it?  I hear about that kind of thing, but I did not see it last week.  So, this is a long answer to say, ummm. 1, 2, 3.”  Then we both sang, “I don’t know” to the tune of my doorbell.

Babs said, “In Micah 5:7, it says that we should not have trust or confidence in neighbors, friends, any other person.  People have that sin nature that I do not understand.  They may help nine times in a row and then when we really need them, they don’t answer the phone.  Right?”

I nodded, “Micah?  We are starting this Bible study in Micah?  I am impressed Babs.”

Babs sighed, “Harold, I used a search engine.  I learned from you.”

I shook my head.  I have seen her recite entire chapters as we ride down the road from memory when she had read that chapter while I was sleeping the night before.  But maybe she used a search engine to refresh her mind.

Babs smiled, “So, if we cannot fully trust someone else, we are the someone else for them.  What did Eliphaz say was Job’s confidence?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know off the top of my head?  Do you have a chapter and verse?”  She giggled, but she held up four fingers and then she turned her hand around held up five fingers, adding another from the other hand.  I wonder what would have happened if the verse was in chapter 30.  I looked up Job 4:6.  “Okay, his piety and his blamelessness was his hope.  But Eliphaz was saying that in mockery.  We might have confidence in our piety, if we could really pull it off.  Of all the men on earth, Job was not perfect, but he was very faithful.  But I get your teaching point.  We tend to have confidence, a false confidence in ourselves.  No one else can perfectly trust us as Micah 7 says, but then when we look toward God, we expect Him to forget our misdeeds and see how wonderful we are.”

Babs nodded.  She was enjoying this arrangement.  “Okay then, Harold, Isaiah 36:4 is the story of the commander of Sennacherib’s Assyrian army coming into Jerusalem and shouting in Hebrew that they were all going to be destroyed the next day unless they surrendered.  He taunts Hezekiah, saying that there is no army that can save him, so where is the source of his confidence?  What happens next?”

I shrugged, “The people that Hezekiah sent to talk to the commander came back to him.  Hezekiah talked to Isaiah, and there was some prayer involved.  Then Hezekiah got the message that everything was taken care of.  The next morning, they expected the attack, but they heard nothing outside the gates.  They sent out people to investigate and over one hundred thousand soldiers had been killed by one of God’s angels.  Sennacherib saw he had no army, so he ran back to Assyria where he was killed by his own family sometime later.”

Babs giggled and scrunched her nose.  “That was great from the standpoint of you not looking it up, but it was one hundred and eighty-five thousand soldiers.”

I shrugged, “Oops!  I missed eighty-five thousand soldiers.  I said more than a hundred thousand, you know. What’s next?”

Babs smiled, “Ezekiel 29:16 says that Egypt will not be a country that the Jews will have confidence in.  What is that all about?”

I smiled, “In Jeremiah 37, Egypt is allied with Judah and they come out to protect them, but they run back to Egypt, afraid of the Babylonians.  Then when the appointed governor says that they are going to escape to Egypt instead of doing what Babylon told them to do, Jeremiah says not to go there.  If they stay, they live.  If they do not stay, they will die in Egypt.  So, they left and died in Egypt.  That covers Jeremiah 37 through 41 sort of.  And, yes, I flipped to those chapters, but I did not read them word for word.”

Babs laughed, “Thank you for that confession.  I will accept that answer.  So, Ezekiel is written during the exile, and this might be near the same time.  There were multiple exiles, and from what we know about Ezekiel, he probably left with the first exile when the bulk of the leaders and the elite educated people were taken.  But Ezekiel is in Babylon and Jeremiah is in Jerusalem.  Their lives may have overlapped, but Ezekiel probably wrote this after Jeremiah was in Egypt, maybe after he died there.  So, it was not that much ancient history there.  You cannot have confidence in other people, nor in a world superpower of the day.  But Hezekiah had confidence in God, and the army commander was basically mocking God in Jerusalem.  Not a smart move on his part.”

I asked, “So, we need to have our confidence in God, not in the strength that He gives us.  Right?”

Babs scrunched her nose, “Since you used my conclusion, does that end the Bible study?”  I laughed and shook my head.  “Okay, then, what is a verse that talks about having our confidence in God, my smarty pants?”

I laughed, “Without looking it up, there must be something in 1 John, maybe the third chapter.”

Babs huffed, “And now, you, the student tonight, are putting the teacher to the test!  Oh, my, my, this classroom has gone down hill fast.”  She paused for dramatic effect.  She had everything written down in her notes. She snickered, “Verse 21.  But 1 John 4 and 1 John 5 also talk about having confidence in God.  But turn to Hebrews 10:19.”

I did as instructed, while she laughed.  I asked, “Do you want me to read the verse?”

Babs shook her head, “Not out loud.  It says we have the confidence in entering the Most Holy Place.  What was this Most Holy Place, and what is the significance that any believer can do that?”

I smiled, “The Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies, could only be entered by one designated priest, once each year.  It was the place where the priest was most closely connected to God.  But, when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place ripped from top to bottom.  This was a heavy curtain, more like a thick rug and it ripped completely into two pieces.  That signified that with the coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell within each Christian, we have direct access to God from wherever we are.  Anywhere can become our Most Holy Place.  We do not need to use a priest or a Saint that went to glory before us.  We can talk to God directly.  That should provide us with a lot of confidence.”

Babs smiled and nodded. “And then later in that chapter, it talks about the suffering of the believers.  It says their confidence was earned.  They should not throw their confidence away when they had paid such a price.”

I sighed, “And are you telling me that I am throwing away my confidence?”

Babs groaned and looked at the ceiling, “No, Harold, but you could have a lot more confidence.  You have great potential.  You just need to take that next step.  I will not be around forever.”

I now groaned.  “There it is again, Babs.  I am not planning on retiring.  My sales have increased since you have been my travel buddy.  I used to struggle with the quota, that minimum amount of sales to have a bonus at all, but I got the maximum bonus last year and I will this year.  The company is doing great profit wise, and several people have been hired to handle the projects I sold.  Why would they want to get rid of me?”

Babs sighed, “Sometimes, bosses make stupid decisions.  Sometimes the good times lead to bad decisions.  I am ‘other living.’  I don’t know everything, Harold.  You already do the one right thing.”

I asked, “And what is that one right thing?”

Babs had tears in her eyes when she said, “You go to God for your strength and wisdom.  You will make the right decisions.  I just wanted to build up your confidence a bit.”

I said, “Thank you, Babs.  Do you have one verse that says it all as a summary?”

Babs wiped a tear and smiled, “ ‘In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.’  Do you know where that verse can be found?”

I shrugged, “It sounds like the Apostle Paul.  Do I get a clue?”

Babs rolled her eyes and groaned, “It’s in a book starting with the letter ‘E’.”

I shrugged, “Wow!  Now, I’m stumped.  A letter of Paul that starts with an ‘E’.  That’s a hard one.”

Babs growled, “Quit playing around, Harold.  There is only one book in the New Testament that starts with an ‘E’!  Ephesians!”

I laughed, “Okay, Babs, how is Ephesians 3:12 sound?”

Babs huffed, “You knew it all the time!  What is with you tonight?!”

I got up, leaned over her and kissed her on top of the head.  “I am making up for the lack of an apple for the teacher by being playful.”

Babs brightened, “You don’t have to give me one.  Thanks for the reminder.  I have one in my purse.  I picked it up for my lunch and I forgot to eat it.  I was too busy working on the lesson.  Is that why humans give their teachers apples?”

I laughed, “No, we used to do that a long time ago.  As you would say, back in the stone ages when I was in school.”

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.

I have some of the same reservations that Harold talks about.  These days, people can fly into a rage for just mentioning Jesus.  In the workplace, the other person had to bring it up and as the years went along, there were more and more rules about not bringing it up.  So much for free speech.  But I have been verbally attacked in church settings.  You would think you would be safe there, not just professing Christians, but Christians that are supposed to live by the same doctrine, but then again, I guess I was silly by reading all that stuff.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.