Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“Do not allow a sorceress to live.

• Exodus 22:18

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God.

• Deuteronomy 18:9-13

“But you—come here, you children of a sorceress,
    you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
Who are you mocking?
    At whom do you sneer
    and stick out your tongue?
Are you not a brood of rebels,
    the offspring of liars?
You burn with lust among the oaks
    and under every spreading tree;
you sacrifice your children in the ravines
    and under the overhanging crags.
The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion;
    indeed, they are your lot.
Yes, to them you have poured out drink offerings
    and offered grain offerings.
    In view of all this, should I relent?

• Isaiah 57:3-6

“In that day,” declares the Lord,
“I will destroy your horses from among you
    and demolish your chariots.
I will destroy the cities of your land
    and tear down all your strongholds.
I will destroy your witchcraft
    and you will no longer cast spells.
I will destroy your idols
    and your sacred stones from among you;
you will no longer bow down
    to the work of your hands.
I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles
    when I demolish your cities.
I will take vengeance in anger and wrath
    on the nations that have not obeyed me.”

• Micah 5:10-15

Charging cavalry,
    flashing swords
    and glittering spears!
Many casualties,
    piles of dead,
bodies without number,
    people stumbling over the corpses—
all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute,
    alluring, the mistress of sorceries,
who enslaved nations by her prostitution
    and peoples by her witchcraft.

• Nahum 3:3-4

Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.
The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and set up camp at Gilboa. When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.”
“There is one in Endor,” they said.
So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one I name.”
But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?”
Saul swore to her by the Lord, “As surely as the Lord lives, you will not be punished for this.”
Then the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”
“Bring up Samuel,” he said.
When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”
The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?”
The woman said, “I see a ghostly figure coming up out of the earth.”
“What does he look like?” he asked.
“An old man wearing a robe is coming up,” she said.
Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.
Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”

• 1 Samuel 28:3-15a

When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?”
“How can there be peace,” Jehu replied, “as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”

• 2 Kings 9:22

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” In both courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.

• 2 Chronicles 33:1-6

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

• Galatians 5:19-21

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

• Galatians 5:22-26

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.

In her leaving, she said someone would come.  I had thought that was Jesus, in His second coming, but a new Babs, a little older, the model for the posable action figure arrived.  While I had no desire to start over with romance, Morrie helped her move in, thinking she was the other Babs who had returned.

This Week’s Question

Last week, Babs had invited the wedding party to a party at Lily the Pink.  We had roughly 40 people there, but there were a lot of children involved.  And Babs pulled off a Bible Study at each table.  Everyone enjoyed it.

But this week, she was chasing the youngest of the wedding party all around the kitchen and Janelle was screaming with delight.

I was in the dining room where I kept my computer and other things for my makeshift office.

The kitchen door suddenly burst open.  Janelle screamed, “Save me, Pake!  Grababs is going to throw me in the oven.”

Babs was leaning against the kitchen door frame with her arms folded.  “Don’t you put words into my mouth.  I said that you were so cute that I was going to eat you up.  I said nothing about cooking you.  I was going to eat you up raw.”

Janelle shouted, “No!  I’m on the base.  I’m safe.”

Babs scrunched her nose.  “I don’t know what you are talking about, Janelle.  Pake likes the taste of cute little girls too.”

I picked up Janelle and started making raspberry sounds along her neck.  She laughed and screamed at the same time.  “No, no, no!  Don’t throw me in the oven!”

I asked, “What is all this about an oven?”

Janelle said, “It’s all in the story Jayke told me.  The itch wanted to throw Handsome Gristle in the oven after the itch fattened him up on cookies.  But Handsome was really hungry ‘cause somebody ate his breadcrumbs.”

Babs mused, “Hmmm.  Does she selectively choose to mispronounce words?  Or did Jayke mispronounce the words when he told the story?  Or are her ears clogged?”

I picked up Janelle and put her on my knee.  Babs came over and sat on the other side of Janelle.  I said, “Let’s checkout her ears.  Babs, you look from that side and I’ll look from this side.”  We each grabbed an ear.  “Hi, Babs!”  Babs replied.  “Oh, Babs, Janelle does not have clogged ears, but you have something in your teeth.”

Babs giggled, “How embarrassing!”  And then she took a tissue and wiped her mouth.

Janelle giggled, “You can’t see through somebody’s head.”

Babs asked, “Well, how did Pake see the parsley that I had stuck to my teeth from the bruschetta we had for lunch?”

Janella giggled, “I think you made that up.  Maybe you are an itch!”

I corrected her.  “Janelle, do not call Grababs a witch.  That is the way you say that. Witch.”

Janella concentrated, “Witch!”  She practically spit into my face, but she said it right.

Babs suggested, “Let’s have a witch Bible study.  Is there enough in the Bible for that, Pake?”

I nodded, “I think there is.  Mommie should be here soon.  And the corndogs should be ready to come out of the oven.”

Janelle gasped, “Corndogs!  They’re my favorite!”

Babs moaned, “So, that’s why we are having corn dogs for dinner.”

At that moment, the front door opened.  “Is anybody home?”  It was Willie’s voice.

I yelled, “Back in the dining room.  If you take the corndogs out of the oven on your way, we can have dinner.”

Willie replied, “Corndogs?  You are spoiling that child.  She is going to not fit in her dress for the wedding.  What has she been eating all day?”

When Willie came in with the food, and plenty of mustard and cheese sauce.  Janelle said, “We had hagelslag on toast for beckfus.”

Babs scrunched her nose.  “She pronounced hagelslag perfectly, but she butchered breakfast.  I think she has selective enunciation syndrome, if there is such a thing.”

I asked, “And what does hagelslag mean?”

Babs snickered, “It means hailstorm, but hagelslag is oblong and made of chocolate.  You Dutch people take liberties when naming things.  Hagelslag looks nothing like a hailstorm.”

Willie sighed, “Hagelslag!  You start off by getting her high on sugar.  Now corndogs.  What was for lunch?  Bon bons?”

Janelle giggled, “No, Mommie, we had brush eat ‘ums.  It’s ‘talian bread with veggies.”

Willie nodded, “Okay, bruschetta for lunch balances out the junk food a little.  What is the Bible study going to be tonight?”

“Itches.” Janelle said eagerly.

I corrected, “Janelle, we talked about that word.”

Janelle huffed, “Okay, w-w-w-w-witches.”

Willie groaned, “Okay, Janelle, you can say witches, but you do not have to spray me with cheese sauce.”

Licking her fingers, Babs asked, “Do not get me wrong.  I love the cheese sauce, but I thought mustard was the only condiment for corndogs.”

Willie shrugged, “If the Dutch cannot put chocolate on it, they go for the cheese.”

I groaned, “Except for French fries.  They go for mayonnaise.  That is not my favorite.”

Babs snickered, “I’ve tried it.  It’s not bad.  Weird, but not bad.  But, since Janelle told us the story of Handsome Gristle who was hungry because someone ate his breadcrumbs.  So, Handsome goes to the witch’s house and she fattens him up on cookies and stuffs him into the oven.  So, now are witches bad?”

“Wait,” Willie scratched her head.  “If that is the way she told the story of Hansel and Gretel, I am hearing Jayke’s version of the story rather than Janelle pronouncing a few words wrong.”

Babs smiled, “I wouldn’t know.  I was an only child.”

I asked, “And what are Gil and Jayke going to have for dinner?”

Willie shrugged, “I have no idea.  Probably a Murphy’s burger.  With that option, I prefer the corndog.  But I am like Babs, can a witch be good?  You know, like in Oz, with good witches and bad witches?”

I shook my head.  “I doubt that.  Exodus 22 says to not allow any witch or sorceress to live.”

Babs said, “Ouch!  That’s harsh.  Even the palm readers and card readers and such?”

I nodded, “In Exodus 22:18, it only said they should not live.  In Deuteronomy 18:9-13, it goes into detail about casting spells, divination, sorcery, interpreting omens, and speaking to the dead or evil spirits.  The whole point here is what is controlling how you go through the day.  Do you turn to God?  Or do you grab the newspaper to read your horoscope?  If you cannot leave the house without turning to that page in the paper, then the sorcery is your God.  None of it is good.  None of it is innocent fun.  Consulting a Ouija Board can lead to trouble.”

Willie groaned, “I agree.  I think I saw that movie once when Dad was out of town.  And Janelle, don’t even think about seeing that kind of movie.”

Janelle was doing more licking of the cheese sauce than eating the corndog, but she stopped to say, “Yes, Mommie.”

Willie asked, “What do the prophets say about it?”

I nodded, “In Isaiah 57, he is talking about how Israel needs to clean up their act, and he looks at the wicked and says that they are like the children of the sorceress.  They are rebels, liars, and idolators.  Micah gives a Messianic prophecy that the witches will be destroyed, no more casting of spells, and the idol worship will be gone.  Then in Nahum’s curse of Ninevah, he characterizes their evil as lustful after a woman of ill repute engaging in witchcraft.  That covers a lot of the Ten Commandments.”

Babs watched Janelle, corndog consumed, but now dipping her fingers into the cheese sauce and licking them.  Babs shoved the bowl over to her, less cleaning of the tablecloth.  Babs asked, “And there have got to be some people who messed up.”

I nodded, “Yeah, the first is the most famous, the witch of Endor, but modern translations call her a medium.  Still, the act of witchcraft was calling the spirit of Samuel.  That chapter starts with Saul not being able to use the Urim, dreams or prophets.  God was fed up and refused to talk to Saul any longer.  So, Saul was in so much trouble, why not add to the sinful life?”

Babs asked, “What the Urim?”

Willie smiled, “That is part of the Urim and Thummim.  It was basically a set of dice that was blessed for the purpose of asking God what they should do.  When you read about how King David consulted God before going into battle, that means David turned to the priest, the priest casts the lots, and then they either attacked or they withdrew from the battle.  Before you ask, this was not gambling.  When they went to God in this fashion, in faith, God used the Urim to communicate with them.  And from what I remember, after Saul got the bad news from Samuel, or some apparition claiming to be Samuel, Saul went out to die.  But who else?”

I said, “Second Kings 9 talks about how Jehu greeted the king of Israel with taunting him about his mother’s witchcraft.  Jezebel was the mother of Joram, the king.  It was at that encounter that Joram was killed, along with the king of Judah, Ahaziah, who was Joram’s nephew on his mother’s side.  And then in 2 Chronicles 33, Manasseh’s evil life is detailed with sacrificing children and other detestable practices as part of witchcraft.  It is sad.  Manasseh was twelve when he became king, so he did not have the right experience with good King Hezekiah dying when he was young, but that is still the lifestyle Manasseh chose.”

Babs asked, “And do you have anything from the New Testament?”

I laughed, “Let’s end with Galatians 5.  The acts of the flesh are detailed from verses 19 to 21.  Sexual sin and witchcraft are dominant.  But then, Paul talks about the fruits of the Spirit.  That is what we should focus on.  There are no good witches.  We know they are liars.  So, why believe them, and if we consult their opinion, we get lies, but the biggest thing is that we take our eyes off Jesus.’

Willie sighed, “I wish I had recorded that, Pake.  That would make a good sermon.  We have a lot of people who read their horoscope daily and never open the Bible except on Sunday.  And the line forms at the palm reader’s caravan, and there are members of every church in town in the line.  But now I am wondering if I should hose down Janelle before we go to the car.”

Babs suggested, “Let’s clean her up as a tag team.”

Janelle only laughed.

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 no idea whether people of the Netherlands use cheese sauce as a condiment for corndogs, but the explanation of hagelslag on bread or toast is that they love putting chocolate or cheese on everything.  And cheese toast sounds really good about now.  And yes, the Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of France put mayonnaise on “French Fries.”  Some local suppliers add some spices to the mayo as a “Fries Sauce.”  But back to the corndogs, cheese sauce is sometimes used in this very American dish as a change of pace.

And after hearing the testimony of several former “spiritists” or “witches”, they say that in playing around with the occult as an innocent diversion is not innocent at all.  You open yourself up to the powers of the underworld.  God is still stronger, but pulling you back out may be quite painful.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.