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. was again feeding baby Ethan.  She was sitting in the swooning couch while Arabella put the finishing touches on my hair.

Arabella said, “Aunt Jemima, I can see why they call Jeremiah a weeping prophet, but I did not see that he wept that much.  Maybe folks were reading between the lines.”

I snickered, “You might have something there, Fireball.”

Arabella smiled, “I’m not just a pretty face.”

B.B. said, “Fireball, don’t put yourself down like that.  You might not be the prettiest girl in school, but you are attractive.  You lured Michael with your charms.  You have something going for you.”

Arabella moaned, “I said that I was not JUST a pretty face.  I have smarts to go along with it.”

I snickered, “Yep, and you can tell a joke.  We even laugh at maybe one out of a hundred.”

Arabella huffed, “You know, I don’t have to come into the restroom with you two.  I have other friends.”

B.B. said, “I just burped Ethan. Let’s go.”

Arabella opened the door and bowed.  I laughed.

Rev. Joseph led us in prayer and the entire band and choir were ready.  They sang What if Jeremiah 29:11 was a song?  Okay, Dr. Ben sang it with the choir humming or oohing in the background.  But then Menzie sang some of it as a solo.  And then the last bit was in harmony.

I said, “Emmett, you are stretching out with your arrangements.  Dr. Ben, we all knew Menzie had soul, but that was beautiful.  Blues and Gospel fused together.  And Mags, that cello was great.”

They all nodded a thank you.

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

I smiled, “We are looking at the books of Jeremiah and maybe Lamentations. We will see how it goes.  Arabella, do you need Mr. Dictionary?”

Arabella nodded, “Jeremiah?  I heard that he was a weeping prophet, and I am pretty sure that he was a bullfrog…”

Easy, with eyes closed, said, “Belle, please, go no further.  You are just being silly, but I will give you the Where, why, when, etc.”

Arabella said, “That would be nice, Mr. Dictionary.”

Easy said, “Who: Jeremiah was a priest. ‘The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.’ (Jeremiah 1:1-3).  That also takes care of the Where being Judah, but specifically from the tribe of Benjamin.  But not all of Benjamin was in Judah at the time.  And it takes care of the When.  Josiah reigned for thirty-one years.  Thirteen years is about 42% of the way through his reign. Josiah was a good king, but he went against Pharoah Necho when the Egyptian army was just passing through.  ‘Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.’ (2 Kings 23:30).  Jehoahaz was only king for three months, and everything went downhill from there.  The why is that after the death of Josiah, there would be no more good kings of Judah until Jesus.  Jeremiah was called by God to give bad news.  ‘“Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.’ (Jeremiah 1:17-19).  And the How is that the Holy Spirit worked through him.”

Arabella smiled, “Thank you, Mr. Dictionary.”

I said, “There are no really strong Christophanies in Jeremiah.  God talked to him a lot though.  So, let’s move toward Messianic prophecies.

Dr. James (Jeremiah 23:5-6) “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.”

Dr. James Kildare, our department head, said,”Jesus is this branch from David.  He will reign wisely.  The next bit with Judah and Israel being reunited and safe is an End Times prophecy, but that is still talking about Jesus as He will reign at that time.  And Jesus means ‘God saves’ or ‘ the Lord is salvation.’  The Lord Our Righteous Savior is a good replica of the same thing.”

Mags (Jeremiah 31:31-34) “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts, I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Mags said, “I had to double check to make sure I wasn’t reading the same thing again.  My James had a passage that started with ‘The days are coming.’  But that declares this a prophecy.  Again, it speaks of Judah and Israel, so at least some of this is End Times prophecy.  God is saying that they completely screwed up the old covenant and now there will be a new covenant.  Rather than following a bunch of rules that Israel and Judah had proven that they could not keep, the new covenant will be with people who have the laws imprinted on their hearts.  There are still laws, but we have hearts for Jesus, and in the next life, we will be freed from the sin nature and sin will be destroyed.  But in the meantime, we will know when we have done wrong and the primary commandment is to love one another.  So, how do we love one another?  We forgive them and we try the best we can to not harm anyone else.  So, the Old Law is still there as a guide as to how to love our neighbor.  And the second half of this passage is quoted in Hebrews 8.  ‘This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”’ (Hebrews 8:10-12).”

I smiled, “Thank you.”

Mercedes (Jeremiah 3:14-18) “Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.”

Mercy said, “This passage talks about in those days.  We won’t even miss the Ark of the Covenant because Jerusalem will be the Throne of the Lord.  Why have a symbol of the presence of the Lord when the Lord is right there?  This has to be millennial reign at the End Times.  And again, it talks about Israel and Judah coming back together.”

Matthew (Lamentations 1:12-13)  ‘“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look around and see. Is any suffering like my suffering that was inflicted on me, that the Lord brought on me in the day of his fierce anger? “From on high he sent fire, sent it down into my bones. He spread a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me desolate, faint all the day long.”‘  This could apply to Jesus and His suffering, but it might in some way apply to Jeremiah, since people think he wrote it.  Or both.  I guess that is one of those prophecies that has a near immediate answer, a short term answer when everyone goes into exile, and then long term, talking about Jesus.  Sorry, I asked my Uncle Gil for his opinion.”

I laughed, “When you are exhausting all avenues to understand what the Scripture says, then this class has glorified God.  And I think we all want that.”

Maddie (Lamentations 2:16) “All your enemies open their mouths wide against you; they scoff and gnash their teeth and say, ‘We have swallowed her up. This is the day we have waited for; we have lived to see it.’”

Maddie said, “This is talking about Jerusalem, but the way they are scoffing, it could be how they scoffed at Jesus.”

I nodded, “Yeah, this was a borderline verse.”

Mike Kildare (Lamentations 5:21) “Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old”

Mike said, “It’s one thing for Jesus to return.  But then this says we will be renewed and restored.”

I said, “And now I want to do four quotations from Jeremiah.”

Carla (Jeremiah 5:21) “Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear:”

Carla said, “There are two Old Testament cross references.  ’He said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’’ (Isaiah 6:9).  And then in Ezekiel, “Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.’ (Ezekiel 12:2).  So, now we can get to the New Testament, ‘so that, “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”’ (Mark 4:12).  And in Mark 8, ’Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?’ (Mark 8:18). Jesus said a few times that for those that have ears, let them hear.  Well, they had ears, but did they understand and hear it with their hearts?”

Brenton (Jeremiah 7:11) “Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord.”

Brenton said, “And in Isaiah 56. ‘these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”’ (Isaiah 56:7). This is where Jesus turns over the tables in the temple. I’ll just read the verse from Mark. ‘And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”’ (Mark 11:17).”

Brooke (Jeremiah 9:24) “but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.”

Brooke said, “Paul speaks a lot about boasting and pride being bad, but in 1 Corinthians. ‘Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”’ (1 Corinthians 1:31).  And then in 2 Corinthians, ‘But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”’ (2 Corinthians 10:17).”

Goober (Jeremiah 51:45) “Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the Lord.”

Goober said, “This is talking about the destruction of Babylon.  And in Isaiah, ‘Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the articles of the Lord’s house.’ (Isaiah 52:11).  God is telling the people in exile to get out while they can and return to Jerusalem.  Then in 2 Corinthians, ‘Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”’ (2 Corinthians 6:17).  Here Paul is using an Old Testament quote to say that we need to be separate from unbelievers because they would tear us down.  We need to witness to them, but if we eat, sleep, and party with them, we might become more like them and less like Jesus.  I see that on the football team.  We have a prayer after the games while the others are partying on the field.”

I nodded, “Thank you, Goober.  I have noticed that.”

Grannie Fannie (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3) “We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Grannie Fannie laughed, “Are you saying these prayers for us, Jemima?”

I snickered, “Every day, Grannie Fannie. I pray for everyone in this class every day.  And I will be sending my reports to Aunt Pink from Michael Rowe Casey’s resort farm.  The Turtle is going to use that as their center of operations and chase storms.  We leave tomorrow, and we will be gone a couple of Sundays.  Don’t worry, Mamma Missy and Angus MacDougall will lead the classes here.  I will have the same classes down there.  And for everyone’s information, Aunt Pink is getting the people trained here and the normal operations at the farm will begin next year.”

Emmett asked, “And what will you be doing at Michael’s farm?  Canoeing one day and playing golf the next?”

Dr. James laughed, “Maybe.  With it being three weeks down there, the weather a week after we get there is virtually unknown.  It seems that a pattern of short-lived storms here and there, but no big supercell.  We leave this afternoon.  We will not have room for Mike’s tubulum nor Mags’ cello.  So, we might sing acapella.  But we are not taking everyone out on every chase.  At the most, two days out and then shuffle teammates.  And the canoeing and other things are going to be weaved into teamwork exercises.  Hey!  We are trying new things.”

Emmett shrugged, “I was just yanking your chain, Dr. Kildare.  We will be praying for you every day while you are on the road.  And I think that applies to a big chunk of the class.”

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

Brooke picked up Stormie and strapped her into the carrier.

Stormie laughed and said, “Book.”  Brooke leaned in close and said, “We are going on an adventure together.”

Credits

Here is What if Jeremiah 29:11 was a song.  This is sung by Christian Paramedic?  The <more> did not give me anything about the artist.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.