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, “Stinker, you would make a great Esther.”

I replied, “But you are the one that Easy said was drop dead gorgeous.  I would not be pretty enough to be in the running.  Why would I be a good Esther?”

B.B. said, “You are ten times more courageous than I am.  Remember that first time I was ever in a tornado.”

I laughed, “Yeah, Easy and I were looking around to find the distant siren.  It was steady, but faint.  You were about to lose it, but you never did, just a steady whine.  Then, Dr. Ellie started calming you down.  But after that, you have been great ever since.”

B.B. laughed, “I hide it well.  What I cannot hide is the baby bump.  That scares me.  Yes, Joseph and I have taken all the classes, but everyone that I talk to says they get past the first two or three breathing methods and then none of them work.”

I smiled, “And yet, they are alive to talk about it, and they have a baby in their arms to prove that it works.”

A familiar voice from the center stall, “I have been through maybe thirty births, and I have not lost a mother yet.”

B.B. laughed, “Arabella, those births are llamas and goats.  And I think it will be different when you are the mother.”

The stall door opened and Arabella washed her hands, “I don’t know, Mother Mary.  Maybe when we have our first calving in a week or two, you can watch.  It is a natural thing.  Don’t make a big deal out of it.”  With that, Arabella was gone.

I snickered, “B.B., I have seen a kidding.  I don’t know if that kind of thing would help lessen your fears.  You just need to trust God.”

B.B. said, “And maybe Esther wasn’t that brave.  Maybe she just trusted God.”

She opened the door, and we went to the den.

Rev. Joseph led us in prayer.

Emmett had his band and choir.  They sang and played For Such a Time as This.

I said, “I am so glad that Mike got to shine again.  And we have another song with Hebrew words.”

Emmett said, “The title and Hebrew are based on one verse.  ‘For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”’ (Esther 4:14).  It is Uncle Mordecai giving Esther her charge.  She was born for such a time as this.  Only she could protect the Jews from extinction.”

I nodded, “And Esther’s response was to ask all the Jews for three days of fasting.  She and those with her would fast and then she would see the king.  And if she was to perish, then she perishes.”  I paused, “And what would happen if Xerxes had not extended his scepter?”

Tamara had seen a mass murder before her eyes, but she answered, “She would have been the first among all the Jews to die.”

I nodded, “And what might have happened to the bloodline that led to Jesus?”

Bart grabbed Tamara’s hand.  “He might have ended up missing a great-grandfather or two.  The edict to exterminate the Jews went to all the provinces of the Persian empire.  Maybe a few might escape, but there would have been no small remnant that could go back to Jerusalem and rebuild.”

I smiled, “Thank you.  Of all the people here, you two know about a lot of people dying all at once.  So, maybe that resonated with you.  I am sorry if the questions disturbed you.”

Tamara wiped away a few tears.  “No, we need to move on.  But our story is much like the story of Esther.  Haman hated Mordecai and to eliminate Mordecai, Haman decided to kill all the Jews.  Bart was married to Shawna.  She had a lesbian lover, Emma.  Emma designed a way to kill thirty people, just to eliminate Bart.  She did not count on Bart’s weak stomach and him getting sick and escaping the death trap just in time.  But there we were watching everyone else die.  Funny how it seems to be a scene in a horror movie.  You know it’s horrible.  You want to look away, but somehow you cannot.”

Bart wrapped his arms around her, “For those that don’t know, Shawna, Emma, and the truck driver were killed by the Rotten Apples, allegedly.  They got the prison transport to wreck, and they killed those three to cover their part in the first murder.  But Mommie Pinkie and Rev. Joseph have helped us, and we both trust Jesus now.”

Sophia said, “And you have an entire classroom of friends that you can lean on.  Of course, I did not say that just to get free nuts on my next sundae.”

I started texting feverishly, and I got confirmation, “Okay, everyone.  Today is our next luncheon after we all go our separate ways to church.  This being Lent, we have a fish dinner.  Thank you, Darrell and Sally Mae.  I am so glad you still have some fishing connections in Florida.  But after the meal, we will go to the Standish Pharmacy.  We have the designer of the Miles Standish sundae, Tamara.  And a little birdie told me that my husband, Easy, may have done some of the welding on the trough, Blaise too.”

Blaise said, “I was just learning.  Jim Kaiser and Easy did most of it.”

I nodded, “That’s okay, Blaise, you helped.  I just got confirmation that the pharmacy has dry ice and enough time between now and then to chill the trough.”

Tina asked, “What’s a Miles Standish Sundae?”

I nodded toward Tamara.  She answered, “The guys here built a sundae bowl that is the length of the soda fountain bar.  The bowl, or trough as Aunt Jemima says, is chilled in the freezer, and there is a compartment underneath the bowl for dry ice to keep it as cold as possible.  Then, usually Jessy and I fill the bowl with a banana split.  Not any record length, but enough for an entire birthday party.  This time, Jessy will have to do it on her own, but no, I can volunteer to help her.  It is a lot of work, and with all this crowd, we may have to refill the Miles Standish for a second set of people.  It is not a mile long.”

Matthew Dykstra was visiting along with his sister Madison.  Matt asked, “So, why call it a Miles Standish?”

Mercy rolled her eyes.  “The Courtship of Myles Standish is a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Myles Standish was an early leader in the Puritan colony, even though he was not a church member.  The owner of the Standish Pharmacy is Priscilla Standish.  I see the looks.  She married into the family.  People may not remember the poem or what Myles Standish did, but the Miles Standish Sundae is getting to be a big thing at the pharmacy.  They have had to reduce shelf space for more tables at the soda fountain.”

Matt shrugged, “Sorry, when we covered that poem in class, I was probably playing hooky.”

Maddie snickered, “Don’t worry, Mercy.  My brother is cleaning up his act.”

I smiled, “Okay, as many as can come, if we make the Standish soda fountain a regular deal, we can start a tab.”

Samuel asked, “Where are we searching for Jesus today, Aunt Jemima?”

I nodded, “We are looking at three books: Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.  We already talked about the preservation of the Davidic family line, but now we have the remnant returning, the rebuilding of the Temple and Jerusalem.  Arabella, do we need Mr. Dictionary?”

Arabella nodded her head, “Yes, ma’am, but before we get to that, can Tamara tell me who Myles Standish was?”

Tamara nodded, “I came up with the idea regarding the poem, but since I am the head soda jerk, I have to answer that question a lot.  He came over on the Mayflower with the Pilgrims to form the Plymouth Colony.  He was not a member of the church, but he was part of a military presence.  Some argue where Myles Standish was born, but some think it was on the Isle of Man.  I see a confused look, Belle.  If you were to fly from Lancaster on the west coast of England to Belfast, Northern Ireland, you would fly over the Isle of Man.  Now back to Myles Standish.  He was one of the first to sign the Mayflower Compact.  He led the military to fight the hostile Native Americans in a few major battles.  Remember the pageant that you and the children had here a couple of years ago.  For that first Thanksgiving celebration to happen, a treaty had to be established between the Wampanoag tribe and the Pilgrims.  The Pilgrims promised to protect the Wampanoag tribe from aggressive neighbors.  So, Myles Standish provided that protection.  He became assistant governor of the colony and the treasurer.  His first wife died during the first winter that they were in Massachusetts, but he married another woman a couple of years later.  The story in Longfellow’s poem was probably made up.  The poem was written two hundred years after Standish’s death.  Is that good enough for you, Belle?

Arabella nodded, “Now, for my Bible question.  These three books are all during the exile, but reading them, I get confused.  Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”

Without opening his eyes, Easy asked, “Is that your cute way of asking the chronology of these three books?”  Belle nodded, not saying anything.  “I think from the way that your one marble was rolling that you meant ‘yes.’  Ezra comes first to a point.  Cyrus the Great came before Xerxes.  So, Cyrus sent Zerubbabel to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.  They moan about Zerubbabel failing, but he started the process based on how the Holy Spirit had moved Cyrus’ heart.  But Cyrus put it in writing.  That is very important.  But the building was delayed for one problem or another.  The prophets Haggai and Zechariah exhort them to finish and the temple is finally dedicated.  That leaves us at the end of Ezra 6.”

I interrupted, “In case you missed the sound of the marble rolling around, Arabella has nodded.”

Easy smiled, still not opening his eyes, “Roughly thirty years later, we have the book of Esther.  Cyrus is gone, and Xerxes is the emperor.  So, you have the first remnant, unable to defend the rebuilt temple because of the anger of the neighbors toward the Jews.  Haman preys on that anger and hatred to devise a plan to kill every Jew, and Esther steps in to save the day.  She was scared, but she did as Mordecai told her.  The book of Esther never mentions God, but God’s provision is seen throughout the book.  So, now Xerxes dies and Artaxerxes takes over.  It is thought that Artaxerxes (or son of Xerxes) was the son of Vashti who groomed her son to be the next emperor.  Vashti was not killed.  Xerxes just said he never wanted to see her again.  But, you are a few generations from Cyrus by now.  Artaxerxes owes Esther nothing, and he refuses the request of Ezra, who is a teaching priest.  Ezra wants to go back and fix the problems in keeping the temple up.  But then the scroll is found that Cyrus had signed.  Now Ezra went to Jerusalem about fifteen years after the end of the book of Esther. Then Nehemiah follows the end of Ezra, maybe fourteen years later.”

Arabella asked, “Then why is Nehemiah before Esther?”

I said, “Fireball, Ezra starts the story.  Esther falls into a big gap in the story.  Then the story of the remnant returning continues with the rest of Ezra and Nehemiah.  So, Ezra and Nehemiah are connected parts of the remnant returning.  Ezra is mentioned roughly the same amount of times in Nehemiah and he is in Ezra.  So, those fit together.  Then Esther, out of chronological order, shows how there were Jews around so that the remnant could still be in Jerusalem and that the second remnant returning from exile.  Without Esther, the Jews in Jerusalem would be killed and the Jews in exile would have been killed.  The other two books talking about people going home.”

Arabella said, “But when do I get to go home?  We lost our farm in the flood, and now roughly where our house used to be is where Easy’s future mother-in-law has her office is at the university’s southern campus.”

Emmett said, “Mom and Dad are not God’s Chosen People, Belle.  It is okay for us to build a couple of houses at the County Line Farm, probably for you and Sarah.  Mom and Dad already have the plans.  They just have not started building.  Mom and Dad might build one in a couple of years, and they can move there.  It depends on a lot of things.  One is you and the vet making sure those calves get born with no problems.  The Amish are already building the houses for Clyde and Barry to start families on the other side of the creek.  In time, that is going to feel like home.  But be honest, with Michael’s goats out there, and you spending a lot of time there, it must be starting to feel like home.”

Arabella sighed, “A little, but it isn’t where Sarah and I grew up.”

Sarah’s tablet said, “Speak for yourself.  Our apartment here feels like home to me.”  (Sarah has selective mutism.)

Arabella laughed, “Thank you, Mr. Dictionary.  You answered a lot of my questions, but I see Aunt Jemima looking at her watch.”

I added, “No, we needed that historical perspective to set the stage for the imagery that we are going to talk about.  There are no Christophanies in these books.  The Messianic moments are more along the lines of the steps toward fulfilled prophecies rather than making new prophecies.  But we will look at that imagery and a couple of quotations.”

Jethro (Jeremiah 25:11-14) “This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ‘But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,’ declares the Lord, ‘and will make it desolate forever. I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

Jethro said, ”I reckon this talk about punishing the kings that have mistreated the Jews is giving a signal that they might be free to go home.”

Tammie (Isaiah 44:28) “who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.’”

Tammie said, “This says someone named Cyrus was going to tell people to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple.  But was this during the exile?  I thought Isaiah was before the exile.”

I smiled, “Good catch, Tammie.  This is about 150 years before the edict by Cyrus the Great.  The Medo-Persian Empire was not a thing yet.  Assyria was more of a threat.  Babylon was not up to full strength yet.  There was no earthly information that Assyria would fall, nor Babylon would rise and then fall.  The walls of Jerusalem were still standing.  The temple of Solomon was still there.”

Baldy (Ezra 1:1-4) “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’””

Baldy said, “So, what you have said in past weeks shows an Old Testament prophecy being fulfilled in Jesus.  This one is fulfilled in Old Testament times.”

I laughed, “Very good, Baldy.  ‘In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.’” (2 Chronicles 36:22-23).  This is a second source confirming that it was Cyrus.  Jeremiah said 70 years.  Isaiah before Jeremiah said Cyrus.  So, God gets very specific at times in the prophecies that His prophets prophesy.  Cyrus is a striking example of being specific.  The thing is that we can trust God.  And when we start seeing how Jesus fulfills these Old Testament prophecies, we know that Jesus is the one that the prophecies were talking about.  But what was Ezra’s story? Rebuilding the temple.”

Joseph (John 2:19-21) “Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body.”

Joseph said, “God is not just restoring the temple in Ezra, restoring the security of the temple and the city of Jerusalem in Nehemiah, and maintaining the Davidic family in Esther, He is setting the groundwork for Joseph and Mary, not me and my wife, but Joseph of the kingly line and Mary of the Davidic line, through Nathan, brother of Solomon.  They are now in the right place to have the child born in Bethlehem.  Here Jesus identifies Himself with the temple.”

Zuzka (Nehemiah 9:15) “In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.”

Zuzka said, “This talk about bringing people out of Egypt with bread from heaven and water from rock.  But now people have to take back the land they lost.”

Otto (Psalm 78:24) “he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven.”

Otto said, “Okay, here is the manna,”

Dr. Ben (Exodus 16:4, 15) “Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.
And verse 15: When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, ‘It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.”

Dr. Ben said, “And this is when the manna first appeared.”

Dr. Ellie (John 6:31) “Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

Dr. Ellie said, “So, this is saying that God saw to the needs of His people.  He will see to our needs.  And one of our needs is to be saved, and Jesus did that.”

I smiled. “Yes, and this thread shows that the people needed reminders.  We need those reminders.  So, Exodus, Psalms, Nehemiah, and John all remind us that God meets our needs, but if we remembered, should we need all those reminders?””

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.  She had been playing with the other children and Brooke strapped her into the carrier.

With Brooke taking care of Stormie, I went to Emmett.  “Emmett, you said that your parents have two houses planned for the County Line Farm, not counting the two Amish houses on the Amish side of the creek.  You said they were for Arabella and Sarah.  Are you being left out?”

Emmett said, “No, Aunt Jemima, or future Sis, whatever.  Sophie and I are engaged, as you know.  I have two paid jobs, playing at the Snazzy Taz and music director at the First-Third church.  I want to go into some form of ministry, and I thought that youth ministry would be a great way to start.  This opportunity was perfect.  Might my folks change things and build three houses?  Maybe.  But I think Arabella will stick with veterinary school and take over the Dr. V.E.T. practice when he wants to retire.  Selective mutism is a disability.  Sarah may need extra help if she cannot overcome this disorder.  But my two present jobs are in the city and Sophie already has the next twelve months planned.  She takes the first police procedural course this summer, but she has already memorized everything.  Then each semester next year, she takes a double-enrollment class so that she will already have college credits and be ready to walk a beat for the police department after we graduate.  We might need to stay here at Lily the Pink.  Don’t worry.  I think Sophia and I have everything we need financially, and Arabella will have a lot of schooling, and Sarah may need assistance.  As people often say, we got this.  But what is more important is, God has got this.”

I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, “You are going to be a great addition to the family.  And with all of Sophia’s planning, when is the wedding day?”

Emmett shrugged, “We agreed to wait until Menzie was out of high school and have a double wedding.  Now, she wants a year of college to do some things.  I don’t blame her.  Lauren is going to start school soon.  And Sammie is a year behind.  It’s not like Sophia and I have any time to start a family, but I would like children at some point.  And I do not want them immediately after we get married.”

Credits

I start with a study guide by Marilyn Hickey called Seeing Jesus.  But she does not discuss Christophanies.

Here is For Such a Time as This sung by Heart of Worship.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.