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, “Can we ring in the New Year in June?  Is that allowed?  But wait!  I cannot drink any alcohol while breast feeding.  Stinker, can I make a resolution to double down on next year’s New Year’s Eve Party?  Can you go with me next year and pour me into my bed so that I am not left on the sidewalk, unable to walk?”

I mused, “B.B., even before you became a Christian, I have not known you to overindulge in alcohol.  Is this New Year’s tradition something that you have hidden from me?  Now that you are a pastor’s wife, you are afraid of the skeletons in your closet?  Let me tell you that I am impressed if you have hidden this secret from me for this long, but then again, you have only been a preacher’s wife for a week.  I have been a preacher’s kid all my life.  Not the same preacher.  But maybe I am not your best friend forever like you keep telling everyone.  So, maybe we should not be meeting like this.”

“Meeting like what?” came a familiar voice from the center stall.

B.B. laughed, “Arabella, I thought you were going to the restroom in the conference center since we use this restroom as our green room.”

Belle moaned, “Jim Kaiser has one of the ladies’ rooms shut down for maintenance, and you would be surprised how crowded the other one can get.  The cider house started back on full operation Saturday, but Mr. Kaiser has the contractor staying over to do some other maintenance and upgrade stuff.  They were supposed to be finished, but not that one restroom.  This is the executive restroom, so the shift workers feel weird coming in here to do their business.  So, I thought since we are friends, I might have a better chance of going with you two watching me.”

I cringed, “Fireball!  That is just gross.  But wait.  Open the stall door and let us watch you.  You keep imagining we are watching you and you cannot go.  So, let’s do it for real.”

“Really?!  You know, Aunt Jemima, I thought you were cool, and a really good friend, but that has sick written all over it. …  Ummm.  …  Wait!” We heard some familiar noises.”  Belle opened the stall door.  She was red in the face.  “It was not a pleasant experience, but you threatening me like that scared my bladder into action.”  She ran past us to wash her hands and start to escape.  Then she stopped.  “Wait.  Aunt Mary or whatever I am supposed to call you now that you are a pastor’s wife, you never answered my question.”

B.B. asked, “You mean the question that you asked while eavesdropping into a private conversation between two best friends?”

Arabella curtseyed.  “Yeah, I didn’t think that one through.  See you in class.”  With that, she was gone.

I groaned, “Never mind what we were talking about.  We are best friends, regardless of the secrets we might keep.  We obtain a New Year, once each year like clockwork, whether we drink a toast to it or not.  Come to think of it, I have not had my 21^st birthday celebration drink.  Stormie was five months about that time, and still breast feeding some.”

B.B. looked at me like I had lost my mind.  “Stinker, you do not drink alcohol.”

I moaned, “Yeah!  I got pregnant before I was old enough to drink the stuff.  Now, I find out you have a drinking problem.”

B.B. growled, “I do not have a drinking problem.  I sip one sip of champagne to ring in the New Year.  I have only been drunk once and that was on my 21^st birthday, the main reason that I had no best friend when I met you on that fateful storm chase.  My old friend was the one that got me drunk!”

I shook my head, “You do know that you and Joseph could ring in the new year in a different way.  Hint.  Nudge.  Hmmm.”

B.B. reached for the door, “Stinker, how dare you make such suggestions.  I am a preacher’s wife you know.  Even if we did such things, I would not be kissing and telling.”

I smiled, “I was thinking of something more than a kiss.”

B.B. snickered. “I will not talk about such things, but if I did, I would say that our present New Years tradition is great!”  She opened the door, and we went to the den, laughing.

Joseph led us in prayer.  He announced to the class that he was blessed.  Rev C.S.L. said at the party here last Sunday afternoon that he was going to preach this morning, but as you could see, he was in class as usual.

Emmett had all the band members and singers.  They sang and played We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder.

I asked, “Emmett, do you have a resolution to sing children’s songs?”

Emmett smiled, “No, but if I had a resolution to get more audience participation, it worked.  I don’t know if it was the familiarity of the song or if it was that each verse sings the same line over and over until you get to the Soldiers of the Cross, which ends every verse.”

Sophia looked at her little android.  “Amy, your Daddy really picked this song because it’s your favorite.”

Samuel asked, “Aunt Jemima, can we have a moment of quiet reflection.  We have to turn our children back into the principal tomorrow morning.  All four of us are torn between wanting our old life back and hating to lose the little one that was thrust upon us.”

I laughed, “Yes.  And I think Stormie wants her bedroom back by herself.  So, the four of you are not the only ones wondering what will happen next.”

Emmett sighed, “Do not worry about it for long.  We are not going to do anything to replace our androids.  But I think it had the opposite effect that Mrs. Ballester intended.  We got in the groove of incorporating the child into our lives.  We are more convinced than ever that we are ready, but we also know that we need to get that education first.”

Joseph led us in a moment of silence and since we were not in a stadium filled with drunken patrons, we remained silent until he said, “Amen.”

I nodded, “We were looking at Jesus in Genesis last week.  And I missed an interesting bit of Scripture.”

I said, “I will read this one. (Genesis 14:18-24) “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
    Creator of heaven and earth.
And praise be to God Most High,
    who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”
But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich. I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.”

Joseph asked, ”How does this fit?  I will admit that some think this is a Christophany, but most theologians think Melchizedek to be a real person, maybe even the king of Jerusalem at the time.  The text says Salem, but then the Jebusites might have changed the name to Jeru-Salem, Jerusalem.”

I smiled, “But this is a foreshadowing.  Jesus was Priest, King, and Savior.”

Blaise (Hebrews 5:5-10) “In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,
“You are my Son;
    today I have become your Father.”
And he says in another place,
“You are a priest forever,
    in the order of Melchizedek.”
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.”

Blaise said, “This was not in our assigned reading, so I am not totally prepared, but I remember talking about this with someone a few years ago.  Melchizedek was not a descendant of Aaron, thus not of that priestly line.  In fact, Melchizedek predates Moses, who is a Levite and Melchizedek predates Levi’s grandfather, Isaac. Melchizedek was simply a devout man of God.  So, Jesus becomes a priest after the order of Melchizedek.  He is not a priest by being a descendant of Aaron, but just like Melchizedek, Jesus is priest by His godliness, even perfect compared to Melchizedek’s humanness.  And instead of making an offering on an altar like a priest, Jesus offered His own blood and body.”

Brenton (Hebrews 7:1-3) “This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means ‘king of righteousness’; then also, ‘king of Salem’ means ‘king of peace.’ Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.”

Brenton smiled, “This sure sounds like God, with no beginning or ending.  If this is not a Christophany, then what is it?”

And Joseph asked, “The no beginning and no end could be that he appeared and then disappeared from historical records.  Nothing else is written about Melchizedek other than Genesis 14, Hebrews 5 and 7, and then in Psalm 110:4 which is what Hebrews 5 quotes about He will be after the order of Melchizedek.  A great deal of mystery here.”

I said, “So let’s get to something that is a bit different, and still not a Christophany.”

Carla (Genesis 28:10-22) “Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: ‘I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’
When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.’ He was afraid and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.’
Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.’

Carla said, “I looked it up and Bethel means the house of God.  So, this says that the Lord was at the top of the stairs.  I guess why this is not a Christophany is because it was in a dream and the Lord stayed in Heaven and talked to Jacob.  But then, what the Lord said is prophetic.  He will not leave Jacob.  And the Lord repeats the promises that God made to Abraham and Isaac.  And then God says that Jacob’s descendants will be a blessing to all the earth, and that sure sounds like Jesus.”

Boaz (Genesis 32:24-30) “So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’
But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’
The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’
‘Jacob,’ he answered.
Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.’
Jacob said, ‘Please tell me your name.’
But he replied, ‘Why do you ask my name?’ Then he blessed him there.
So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.’”

Boaz said, “Jacob struggled with God, and the man made that claim.  So, this must be a Christophany.  An angel would have not made that claim.”

Hannah (Genesis 49:9-11- Luther Bible) “Juda ist ein junger Löwe. Du bist hoch gekommen, mein Sohn, durch große Siege. Er ist niedergekniet und hat sich gelagert wie ein Löwe und wie eine Löwin; wer will sich wider ihn auflehnen?
Es wird das Zepter von Juda nicht entwendet werden noch der Stab des Herrschers von seinen Füßen, bis daß der Held komme; und demselben werden die Völker anhangen.
Er wird sein Füllen an den Weinstock binden und seiner Eselin Sohn an die edle Rebe. Er wird sein Kleid in Wein waschen und seinen Mantel im Weinbeerblut.”

Hannah giggled, and now in English

Hannah (Genesis 49:9-11) “You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.”

Hannah said, “This has so much in it.  Judah is the lion.  Lions are associated with kings.  Also, a scepter is what a king uses.  The scepter will not depart along with the ruler’s staff until the one to whom it belongs, and that would be Jesus.  But Paddy has an old King James Bible and that says until Shiloh comes.”

I smiled, “Shiloh means the Messiah.  It literally means the peaceful one or the one of peace.  So, this is an early Messianic prophecy, and it ties the Messiah to Judah’s family.  And isn’t it interesting that the donkey and the colt are mentioned.  This speaks of an abundant harvest to allow the donkey and the colt nibble on the choice vines, but remember what Christ rode into Jerusalem for the triumphal entry.  The disciples looked for a donkey and a colt.  Grannie Fannie, it’s benediction time.”

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 laughed.

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 are the Cedarmont Kids singing We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.