Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I’m Jemima L. Yeggs, a.k.a. Stinker.  Pink Lady Apple Yeggs, my landlady and my auntie, wants to read about how younger people, especially couples respond to what the Bible says.  And she wants to know how God is at work at Lily the Pink.

B.B. and I were in our “green room.”

B.B. said, “How do you like this job, Stinker?  As long as you are not away from town chasing a storm, your primary job, this job has no breaks to it.  How does that feel?”

I mused, “B.B., I have been in churches where the Sunday school teachers had the summer off, just like regular teachers, but being a Christian is a full-time thing.  If we took a week off, just think about all the trouble we could get into.  No, I want to be that beacon of light, and if I get a bright idea to have another child or go on a long vacation, I know my best friend in the whole wide world will fill in for me.”

B.B. laughed, “Yeah, I think Professor Angus does a good job.”

I groaned, “I meant you.”

B.B. looked at me like I had lost my mind.  “Stinker, you know when I accepted Jesus as my Savior, not even three years ago.  I cannot even spell Beeble.  Or is it Bauble?  And we are starting a new series today, ‘Jesus in Genesis.’  Isn’t Genesis a luxury car?  The class would be a disaster if I took over, just for a week.”

I moaned, “My bright idea failed in its infancy.  My grand scheme was to have B.B., who will be the wife of a pastor in a few hours, fill in for me.  She lays an egg, and then I look a lot better as a teacher when I get back.”

B.B. growled, “What a terrible thing to say!  You would be throwing me to the wolves?  My best friend?  At most times, my only friend?  Besides, if you are having a baby, I will be at the hospital with you.  What else are friends for?  And if you go off to some grand location to relax, I want to be there with you to videotape the entire thing.  That way, I can learn what relaxing is.  Heavens to Betsy!  I have married a man whose main job will be to work on Sunday.  Just think about it.  I work eight days a week, and Joseph will work on Sundays.  That sends some false signals somewhere.  Have someone else in mind.  I am a basket case thinking about it.”

I shook my head, “You are too much, bestie.  Eight days a week?  That reminds me of a report that I heard on television news, and the report states that five out of every four people in America have trouble with fractions.”

Joseph led us in prayer.

Emmett had all the band members and singers.  They sang and played Creator.

I asked, “Emmett, there are fifty chapters in Genesis, and you picked something about the first two chapters?”

Emmett smiled, “Rev C.S.L., your Dad, did not give me much time off this week.  I am just filling in until Don Sanderson gets back.  I’m not even getting paid.  And because Sophia and I have to take care of Amy for a couple of weeks, she came along while I worked with your Dad’s plan for music for the next month.  Actually, we mapped out his sermon plan for six weeks.  That way, when school starts back up, I won’t be running around trying to invent something week by week.”

Sophia looked at her little android.  “Amy, don’t listen to your Daddy right now.  He has had a hard week.  You are a joy and not a burden at all.”

Menzie looked at her android, “And that goes for you, Ralphie.  You are loved, and we can forget that burden thing.”

Samuel asked, “Aunt Jemima, I am confused.  What are we studying today?”

I laughed, “We may not get very far into this.  Many of these books of the Bible can be slim pickings, but we can find a lot of Jesus in Genesis.  How do we ‘see’ Jesus in the Old Testament?”

Tamara said, “By Christophanies?”

I nodded, “Heavenly beings often appear before people in the Old Testament, but an angel will say something usually.”

Catherine smiled, “Fear not. I am a messenger.”

I smiled, “Yes, Catherine.  Angels will not accept someone worshipping them either.  But what if the human says, ‘Lord.’ And the heavenly figure does not correct them.  Lord is a word of worship, not just a word to discard carelessly.  So, what events come to mind?”

“God walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.” Margie suggested.

I laughed, “You picked one that I did not send out for reading.  The rules might have been different in the Garden, but I will accept that.  God did more than talk to them.  He clothed them.  But what are things that point to Jesus in the Old Testament?”

B.B. said, “Prophecies?  Messianic prophecies?”

“Yes, B.B.” I replied.  “And what about things that Jesus said?”

Blake said, “He quoted the Old Testament, but anybody can do that.”

I nodded, “But when Jesus did so, He was reminding the biblical scholars and religious leaders of what they should have already known.  We need to look at context for those quotes.  And what if a disciple quotes Scripture or the Apostle Paul?”

Joseph said, “All Scripture is God-breathed as Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, but again we look at context.”

I nodded, “What does the writer of a book in the New Testament mean by quoting the Old Testament?  In many ways, the quoted passage relates to teachings of Jesus.  To know someone better is to adopt their teaching.  We may not have all four of those in each Bible book.  And we may have a lot of Scriptures that have been quoted.  But some weeks we may have a lot, and this is one of those weeks.  Margie already mentioned God in the flesh in Genesis 3, but some of that is assumed.  Adam and Eve were frightened when God was present, but was it just the voice of God?  I think Margie is right, but the chapter is rather vague.  Yet, we have a prophecy in that chapter.”

Margie said, “But it is more than just that.  Genesis 1:26-27  “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” So, since God the Father is a spirit and does not have a body, then could we at least consider that Adam was made in the physical image of Jesus?”

I smiled, “Yes, Margie.  That was in the study guide, but I chose to skip that one.  We know from John 1 that Jesus was at the beginning and nothing was created without Him.  Thus, a person of the Trinity that has physical form would be a good model for Adam to be created in God’s image.  But I think the predominance of that image of God is that we have the ability to choose.  But I will admit, with your tenacity on this point, I might ask you to teach the class when I go out on my next storm chase.”

Margie reddened, “Oh, no, Professor Angus did a great job.  I was just talking to my Dad about Jesus in Genesis, and Dad suggested that I think about the first three chapters, knowing that Jesus was there, like you said from John 1.  And when I asked my Dad the same questions, he just smiled.  He never said whether I was right or wrong.”

I nodded, “I think you are right about the whole thing Margie.  Your Dad is a theology professor.  He knows that people raise arguments against it being definitive, but he might not have wanted to steer you toward one way of thinking or the other.  I think he smiled because you chose wisely.”

Brooke (Genesis 3:14-15) “So the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.’”

Brooke said, “This is the curse of the serpent.  Obviously before the Fall of Mankind, serpents did not crawl on their bellies, so that leads some people to believe that the serpent in this case was what we would call a dragon.  But there is enmity set up against the serpent and the woman, so women that love snakes are kind of unnatural.  But then we get to the Messianic prophecy.  A male offspring of the woman will crush the head of the snake, and the snake struck His heel.  Well, Jesus was tortured.  Jesus was crucified, and He died.  But Jesus claimed victory over Satan, sin, and death on the cross.  And I think God has not started the End Times because there is someone out there that still needs to be saved.”

Joseph smiled, “Excellent, Brooke.  Are you thinking about being a missionary?”

Brooke shook her head, “I wanted to be a therapist of some kind, but I want to play softball for as long as I can.  We can be missionaries in our own neighborhoods.  You do such a good job of it right here, Pastor Joseph, and you don’t have to leave the building.”

Joseph smiled, “You are wise beyond your years, Brooke.”

“Making stupid mistakes can make you wise, Pastor Joseph.”

I said, “Genesis 9:27 says Japheth will live in the tents of Shem, but in some translations, it says ‘He’ thus the pronoun might relate to Jesus.  The book’s author thinks so, but the latest translators do not.”

Goober or is it Booger (Genesis 13:14-17) “The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, ‘Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.’”

Goober smiled, “I will answer to either Goober or Booger now, but I think I heard Kanok call me ‘Goober.’  The Booger comes from the announcer calling a ‘snot booger’ tackle.  But this isn’t the only time God tells Abram and later Abraham that he can walk the land, but it will be given to his descendants.  And this will be forever.  So, with forever, that sounds like Jesus.  So, this promises the land of the descendants of Abram and that promise of the land is forever.”

And Joseph asked, “Goober, if Brooke goes on the mission fields, would you go along?”

Goober said, “Sure.  We can both teach them athletic skills while teaching them the Word of God, that is years down the road.  I already have professional scouts asking for tapes of the games.  At this point, there are too many variables, and other than you asking, I don’t know if either of us has heard a call.”

I smiled, “I think Pastor Joseph is thinking about answering some questions this afternoon himself.  Maybe he doesn’t want to be the only one from this class.”

Irusya (Acts 7:5) “He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.”

Irusya said, “This, Stephen speaking to Sanhedrin.  It say close to same thing Goober read in Genesis.  And it say God say this when Abram have no child.  I wish God say about Elroy.  We keep praying.”

I said, “This gives us the first of our quoted verses, partially or not.”

But I thought, ‘Ouch!  I hit a nerve with that one.  Joseph’s prayer list should include Irusya getting pregnant, but until now, we did not know they were trying.  They are having their hands full with three guard dogs.  And Elroy with two jobs, really both of them with two jobs since Irusya does a lot of the dog handling.’

Elroy (Genesis 16:7-13) “The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, ‘Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?’
‘I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,’ she answered.
Then the angel of the Lord told her, ‘Go back to your mistress and submit to her.’ The angel added, ‘I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.’
The angel of the Lord also said to her:
‘You are now pregnant
    and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
    for the Lord has heard of your misery.
He will be a wild donkey of a man;
    his hand will be against everyone
    and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
    toward all his brothers.’
She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’”

Elroy said, “Blaise, you are not being singled out for the long ones.  But this one is strange.  Hagar calls the angel of the Lord the One who sees her.  The ‘angel’ never says for Hagar to not be afraid, but then maybe not being afraid was part of her nature.  Are these commands of God to go back or just a message, like an angel would do.  So, I can see some people not thinking this to be a Christophany, but the angel does not make any claim to be just an angel.”

Joseph laughed, “I think Christophanies are real, but some theologians disagree on any of them being God in the flesh.  But I like the way you dissected this passage, Elroy.  This is what we should do with all of these.  I think it is healthy to think of both angels and Jesus appearing to people in Old Testament times.  As many describe it, there is just a thin veil between us and God.  But if you meet someone that does not believe in Christophanies, it may be a variety of things that causes them to stumble.  I do not think this is a foundational belief, but since Jesus has been around since forever, then why not get involved?”

I said, “Great! So, now we can get to one story that has a better definition of a Christophany.”

Paddy (Genesis 18:1-5) “The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
He said, ‘If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.’
‘Very well,’ they answered, ‘do as you say.’ ”

Paddy said, “This is clear that of the three men who visit Abraham, one is referred to as the Lord.  He certainly speaks for the Lord later in the chapter where Abraham negotiates with the Lord over how many righteous people in Sodom can there be for God to not destroy the city.  And since only two went into Sodom to eventually rescue Lot and his family, the Lord was not among them.  God had talked with Abraham, and a number was established.”

I said, “Thank you, Paddy.  I think there is still enough to stay in Genesis next week.  This week, we had two possible Christophanies, two Messianic prophecies, and one quote made by Stephen.  There is a lot more in Genesis, but then again, there are a lot of our favorite Bible stories in Genesis.  We have more prophecies.  We have hardly scratched the surface on quotations.  And there is one major Christophany.  Yeah, I think we will have fun next week.”

Grannie Fannie (Galatians 6:18) “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.”

Lauren ran up to Grannie Fannie and hugged her.  “Are you ready to drive us?”

Brooke picked up Stormie as usual.  She talked to Stormie all the way.  Stormie cooed.

Credits

I start with a study guide by Marilyn Hickey called Seeing Jesus.  But she does not discuss Christophanies.  And I also did a search for prophecies and got a slightly different list.

Here is Phil Wickham singing Creator.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.