300                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

           The Middle Wall Of Partition                       and rituals. For now  lby the Word of preaching ap-
                                                              plied by the Spirit of Pentecost the citizens of Zion
       We received the following communi.cation  :            can be gathered from every race, color and condition
Rev. H. Hoeksema,                                             with no other means than faith in the ,Christ who can
Editor of the Standard Bearer,                                be perceived by all. Cf. Peter 1:20-21.
                                                                 Now we ,would like your judgment on the <meaning
Esteemed Editor :-                                            of the passage.
   The  Menfs Society of Oskaloosa has appointed: me                                    Your brother in the Lord,
to lay before you a question  Iwith the explanations                                            Rev. A. Petter.
necessary to illucidate the question.
   I shall do my best.                                        REPLY  :-
   The passage is Ephesians 2 :$J-19. The question is :
"What ~was the real nature of the enmity and also of             Let me first of a11 make a remark or two about
the peace here spoken of and what was its deepest             the question.
cause ?                                                          1. `I have been reading repeatedly the question
   1. We reject the explanation that the partition was        as stated for the Men's Society of Oskaloosa by Rev.
caused by the hopeless obscuration of the Old Testa-          Petter, and still I am not satisfied that I clearly see
ment Gospel by the formalistic Jews.                          the point. Oslraloosa does not ask a specific question,
   2. We also consider it impossible that the "enmity"        but rather states its own v'iews of the matter in con-
was caused by  tig*e absence of the legal righteousness       trast to various other  possi,ble  views,  which it rejects.
merited by Christ's blood and Cross, since that right- And then it requests my judgment of the whole matter.
eousness was evidently available to, at least, the Jews I should, therefore, clearly see tihe point at issue. But
and even to an occasional exceptional Gentile in, the         I have a vague notion that I don't. Especially do I
Old Testament dispensation.                                   fail to grasp the distinction between "the revelational
   3. And we also considered that the enmity or separ- purpose of God and His "legally being bound Iby and
ation caused by the law of commandment in ordinances          to Himse!f"  to maintain the middle wall of partition.
is surely a relative and superficial enmity and par+&         What is the implication of this last expression, and
Ition compared with the spiritual enmity that alienates       why cannot both be true, that God sharply revealed
us from God and from one another in the deepest pos- His purposes of election and  repro'bation,  and that He
sible sense.                                                  was "legally (bound" (by and to HimseK)  , supposing
   4. Therefore we considered it  possi(bIe that the          this expression can be used?
enmity and estrangemen*t  was due to the Old Dispensa-           2. It appears to me that the society in the course
tional form of revelation which built up an external,         of its discussion raised a question, which may be sug-
visible people and domain of grace and salvation, from gested  ,by the text, but is not immediately stated-in. the
wliiieh the "others" were externally, visibly excluded.       text, nor answered by it, and cannot, therefore, be ans-
   This served as no verbal teaching could have done ,wered  on exegetical grounds. The question I `refer to
to manifest and demonstrate grace and Iwrath;  election       is: *what was  SGod's purpose in maintaining the middle
and reprc,Sation  ; .the sphere, t&e land, the people of His twall of partition? And  to this question there may be
pleasure a.nd ditto of His abhorance.                         more than one answer that do not exclude one .an-
   So this Old Testament middle wall and enmity was other.
maintained by God rather for  recelational  purposes             3. But as I say, I do not feel as if I clearly grasped
than from bga& b,eing  bound -by and to Himself to the point at ,issue. The trouble is, perhaps, that the
do so.                                                        Oskaloosa  society  must have discussed the problem
   That this wall could fall away and the enmity he rather thoroughly and that I was not present to follww
removed was therefore due to fulness of relevatiun the discussion. I would like to have more light, there-
that became possible in the dispensation of full revela- fore, before I venture to express my judgment.
tion as seen ,in the life-ministry, death, resurrection,
ascension of Christ,  pentecost  and the indwelling  ipre-
sence of His Spirit in the world.                                I can make a few remarks, of course, on the passage
   That, then, the "blood" "flesh" "cross" is mentioned       (Eph. 2 :ll-19) itself. Let me suggest the following:
in the passage is not because they remove the legal              1. Although all through the passage the apostle sug-
separation and  incompati'bility  of Jew and Gentile, gests the background of a deeper enmity and peace, he
but rather because His blood is the legal meriting is, it seems to me, nevertheless,, writing about a former-
power for the revelational fulness of  the New Dispen- ly existing enmity xbetween  Jew. and Gentile, .and of
sation during  which it is no longer necessary to teach the remova of that enmity and ,the establishment of a
by means of a great object-lesson  /formed  by laws peace relation.


                                  `"`i T H E S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            301

     2. This enmity is the middle wall of partition. It              The Standard Bearer is either one of two things:
 seems to me that there can be no doubt that vss. 14 and         either a luxury or a necessity.       Is "The Standard
 15 ought to  lbe read thus, that "enmity" stands in             Bearer" a luxury, or is it a spiritual necessity for the
 apposition to "the  mi.ddle  wall of partition" as follows :    Protestant Reformed home and heritage? If we place
 "For he is our peace,  iwho hath made both  one'and             the Standard Bearer on the same level  iwith auto-
 broke  down'  the middle wall of partition, the enmity, mobiles, electric refrigerators, radios and what have
 in His flesh having abolished the law of commandments           you, then, to be sure, we can relegate it to, the  group
 in ordinances, in order that He might make these two of non-essentials. If, on the other hand, The Standard
 in Himself into one new man, making peace".                     Bearer means to enhance, to foster (which it does pur-
     3. This enmity between Jew and Gentile Christ               pose) the intellectual and spiritual growth of the  indil
 removed, therefore, by His death (applied, of course,           vidual, the family, `the church and God's, Kingdom in
 through,His  Spirit), by which He abolished the law of          general, then it would become very evident that the
 commandments in decrees, "slew  the enmity" and made paper is essential. As long as folks can afford to drive
 one new people: neither Jew nor Gentile, but be- a car, which is a  Iuxury,  they certainly should be  abble
 lievers.                                                        to subscribe for The Standard Bearer which is a spirit-
     4. As I said, the baAground and basis of this peace ua1 necessity. Not to provide for the necessities first
 is certainly the peace with God established by the death ,before  purchasing luxuries is poor economics. Not to
 of Christ and realized through His Spirit, so  that the secure lfor oneself and his family things which have
 Gentil,es  are no longer aliens, but fellow citizens with eternal value means an under-estimat%on  of spiritual
 the saints and of the household of God, something things. Such a condition speaks vohunes.  . . . A sub-
 which  `was certainly impossible as long as "the law scription to The  Stanlard Bearer, it appears to  ;me,
 of commandments in decrees" twc"s not abolished. Yet, !is on the same level as our children attending s&ouIS
 in the text, he refers to tine relation between the for Christian Iinstruction.
 Jew and the *Gentile.                                              Possibly there are those who don't subscribe be-
     5. To an extent, therefore, I can offer my judgment cause they have already reached the apex or the zenith
 on the conclusion reached ,by the ,Oskaloosa society. of Reformed thinking  :and are satisfied  witi them-                   I
 I believe that it is correct to say that "the enmity" and selves. This would be assuming an attitude of spiritual
 estrangement was due to the Old Dispensational form and intellectual complacency. Or there may be some,
 of revelation which built up an external, visible people who are so superficial in their sthinking and in their
 and domain of grace  and salvation, from which `the spiritual aptitudes that the content of The Standard
 others' were  externaIly,  visibly excluded". For, this         Bearer is far beyond them.
 is exactly what "the law of commandments in decrees"               After al1 there must be some reason for the positive
 did.                                                            attitude of disinterest, or indifference.
    But  ,for the rest, I would like to have a little more          ,The "Meditations" found in this, paper are spiritual
 light from  Oskaloosa.                                          gold-mines. Facts are that these are worthy of more
                                                 H. H.           extensive publication. They are better .thanany found
                                                                 in any other religious periodical, *whether here, ,or in
                                                                 the old country. If there is no. desire  to,read and
                                                                 to enjoy these, then +we have already reached the state
                                                                 of spiritual lethargy.
                     Contribution                                   The "Editorials" are pointed, pithy, scho!arIy,  in-
                                                                 spirinlg, refreshing and up-to-date.  AI1 your articles
 Dear Rev. Hoeksema,                                             are upon such a delightful, instructive, inspirational,
    The undersigned would greatly appreciate to have and intellectually high level, that they are a joy to read.
you .place this article in "The Standard Bearer".                The language used certainly is not above the level of
                                                                 the common people, unless their intellectual  abihty to
                    A SUGGESTION                                 grasp and to grapple with Ifundamental  truths is about
     lt is rather inconceivable that there are among our as superficial as `we find it generally in other churok
 people those who do not subscribe to nor read *`The             periodicals.
 Standard Bearer". And yet,  ,from the various  corn-               God forbid, that The Standard Bearer should ever
 me&s read in this paper of late, and from the verbal            have to stoop to the intellectual and the spiritual level
 comments as I heard them, it is no doubt true that of those who hide behind such a screen of alibis, and
this condition is a horrible reality.' And then to note of those who desire superficial things in a superficial
 the excuses offered. One of th,e most common ones is : manner. We are confident however that'such a cater-
 "I cannot afford it." Now it seems that this is an ing to the masses will never occur.
alibi, entirely unfounded.                                          However, Mr. Editor, I ,believe  ,that this paper for


its own betterment should assume a different garb.                 from David's lips at this occasion. The matter is
A garb in harmony with its ideals and standards.                   urgent.
Much constructive work can and should  lbe done.                      It is also evident in the opening strophes of this
Many talents, now inactive, could be utilized. It is               song that Jehovah had been silent. There was no help ;
obvious that you yourself should and  ough,t  to remain the wicked that were around David seemed to have the
,not only the editor-in-chief, but also its guiding spirit.        ascendency  over him.
Your ideals can and may then be realized if you re-                   And David is horribly afraid of a silent God. Such
main at the helm. If this paper would be put into a God is the God of wrath over the wicked. Of them
departments with regular editors and contributors, the Lord says :. I am silent; and the wicked go down to
many now dormant talents could (be used and stimu- the pit under the roaring of .the Almighty ,when His
lated into action. If you could combine all these powers           silence is explained.
and talents <which are now idle to do some constructive               0 Jehovah, when I cry unto Thee, do not treat me
studying and ,thinking,  its result would not only be              as Thou dost treat the wicked. In all the crying of
for the  ,intellectual  and spiritual growth of young the wicked in their distresses there is no answer from
and old  :in our denominational life, but would extend,            the heavens, because Thou art far from them.
I am sure, far .beyond the limits of our denominational               But do not treat me thus when I raise the voice of
sphere. The Standard Bearer would realize its objec- my supplication unto Thy inner sanctuary.
tive more  ef%ciently ; its high standards would be                   David has his face turned to the place where the
maintained and  possi,bly realized to  ,a greater degree ;         Lord dwelled: the holy of  holies. Such is the meaning
its future from a financial point of view would become             of verse 2.
more secure, and the spiritual level of our denominai                 David is horribly afraid of being treated like the
tion would be raised.                                              wicked. It seems as though there was a conspiracy
                                       A. C. Boerkoel.             against the anointed of the Lord. There were wicked
                                                                   people that spoke peace to David while evil was in
                                                                   their heart. And David was under condemnation ; he
                                                                   seems to have .been the victim of a vile plot, so that he
                                                                   groaned under the accusation of being "ungodly and a
                    Supplication                                   worker of iniquity". Vs. 3.
                         (Psalm 28)                                   Now if only Jehovah would have shown that He.
                                                                   understood, that He knew that David was innocent:
    There is a difference between prayer and suppli- he could have borne it. But Jehovah was silent. There-
cation.                                                            fore we hear that  anquished  cry: "Carry me not away
    Prayer is that activity of faith whereby you turn with the ungodly and with. the workers of iniquity."
your soul to God as the Fountain of all good things,               For that is exactly the way which God holds with
thirsting for Him and very desirous to be filled by Him            the wicked. For a long time it seems as if there is
with all the good things you need for time and                     no God in the heavens: they multiply evil and are
eternity.                                                          pregnant with unrighteousness. And the heavens are
    Supplication is all that, but it is prayer coloured            silent. Until the Lord comes and takes them away ;
`by your distresses, woes, miseries. Also herein that then they are carried along as with a flood  ; a swift
you turn yourself tempestuously toward Him.               If  I    recompence  is their portion at the time of God's right-
was writing in the Holland language I would say:                   eous anger.
supplication is that "ge ,Hern aanloopt als een water-                David dreads this. Therefore his supplications are
stroom" !                                                          heard, with a strong crying and tears.
    Well, the latter you find in this psalm.                           Certainly, it would  be Divine equity when the
    David is in trouble;                                           evildoers were destroyed from the face of the earth.
    As such, it is also a prophecy of the Christ of God,           They had deserved it. Their behaviour testified  of
Who poured out His supplication unto God. A fit                    their hellish origin. Notice: they spoke peace with
commentary on that truth you will find in Hebrews 5 :7. their neighbours while evil was in their hearts. That
His `prayers and supplications were characterized by action characterized them. That is exactly the  be-
"stron~g  crying and tears unto Him that was able to               haviour of the devils: deception, foul lying and dis-
save Hiam from death".                                             simulation: their deeds were wicked.
    Surely, supplication is tempestuous prayer.                       Accordingly, David calls for a swift punishment
    And exactly that you will find in this psalm.                  on such evil men. And notice that David  a&s the
    Attend unto the opening: To Thee, 0 Jehovah, do                Lord for punishment according to strictest justice.
1 cry! It is no serene, calm restful  ,prayer  that  flo,ws        He will delight in righteous recompense. Therefore he


                                        T H E   STAMDARD   B E A R E R                                               303
 - .  I  "  .I  _._  "..-  .."-.
pleads that God give them according to their evil                  He will pull them down: it shows their lofty pride
deeds.                                                          and  arrogancy.    But  &d will pull them down and
     And the deepest reason is that these wicked men will not build them up. IHe will ,build  up all those that
do not regard God. They have no eye for all the                 pour out their supplications  abefore  Him.
wonderful work of Jehovah                                          This last truth as confessed by David in verse 6
     Such is also the greatest sin of all. It shows how seems to bring him to the wonderful outburst of faith
much they despise God. They act and speak and walk and trust in the last verses of the ,psalm.                  It is the
as though there is no God at all, while all things are          transition of strong crying to the jubilant song of
a loud testimony of Him. The heavens and the earth praise and adoration.
and all the host of them <is like a veritabie  chorus of           Note how different is the tenor of his song from
voices. They all sing of His wonderful virtues. Even verse 6 onward to the end.
the bodies and souls of the wicked join in with this               Even whiIe David is writing down his strong cry-
concert of God's praises. They have occasion to view ing to Csd, he begins to experience the answer from
the work of God's hands .in their very being and yet the God of his saIvatiop.
they act as though  ,He is not. It shows the devilish              Blessed  ,be Jehovah, because He  bath heard the
pride of these enemies of David.                                voice of my supplication. That is the experience of
     And iif the voice of created things is glorious so that every soul that pours out his &heart to God. The faith-
not even the  sbblindest  heathen is without excuse, how        ful Covenant God never slumbers nor sleeps.' How
shall it fare with them if they have not regarded the           could it be otherwise?  IHe has  given the Spirit of
works of His hands in salvation? Remember that it prayer and supplication to David. And that Spirit
is David, the anointed of the Lord,  <who cries out always prays according to the will of God.
against these evildoers in this psalm. Note that in                Now the tenor of the song goes upward  and on-
verse 8 David is exulting in the fact that God has been         ward.
the defense of him, the anointed of the Lord. ,It shows            Jehovah is my defence and my shield. Yes, the
that these evil people have attacked the work of sal- wicked will shoot  their poisonous arrows to the pure in
vation in Israel.                                               heart, but God is their defence. He is always as a
     `That  work  of salvation is above all things gIorious.    strong tower round about those that fear Him. He
These evil men, whoever they may have been, knew defends them because it is His own cause for which
about salvation. The `beloved of God, for that is the they are suffering. Listen to the song of the church of
meaning of the name David, was their hing. Against              all the ages: For %b,y  sake are we killed all the day
him they piotted and meant his hurt. And doing so long! We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
they had no regard for the work of the Covenant God,            Therefore God will defend them. And that defence
Jehovah.                                                        is first of all experienced in the heart. David felt this
     That,  my  brethren, is a grievous sin.                    defense even before he looked up from his document.
     And that sin is full-borne when Jesus pours out His        As he poured out his soul unto God on the written
supplications unto the  Cmd of His salvation.          This     page; God came to him and caused him to sing: In Him
psalm fits the complaints of Jesus entirely. `He has re- my heart  trust&i and I was helped-therefore my heart
lived this psalm so many centuries later.                       greatly  rejoieeth   ! And with my song will I praise
     Jesus, our Lord, was in the midst of just such             Him !
people who would not regard the- works of Jehovah's                Incidentally, that is also the reason  why the Lord
hands. They acted as iif God did not exist, although            seemed  fmst to be a silent spectator. The Lord will
He surely did not leave Himself without witness.                send all these trials and temptations to His children
Christ, the beloved, could work miracles, do good, bless so that they may be helped by IHim and return to Him
and save-but they acted as though Jesus was a male-             in praise and adoration. The Triune Covenant God
factor. They spoke peace to Him. but evil was in their wants to be all and in all. Through the deep way of
heart. Think here of that devilish kiss of Judas, the sin and grace He #brings His church to the inner sanc-
foul mouth of the Sanhedrin.                                    tuary of His heart so  that they will everlastingly
     Yes, `WZ can understand how David calls down remember it and confess it: Salvation belongeth  to the
God's righteous judgments  upon  them. Give them. T ,ord ! And that is heaven. It is supreme happiness
o God, according to their work! And we see  also that for the church to stand around the throne and cast
David was experiencing before the strong supplications their crowns ,before  Him and tell Him that all majesty,
of Jesus, standing in the midst of those that hated Him         strength., power, dominion, glory and honor belong
and His Father who sent Him.                                    to Him.
     And because they will not regard God who works                And finally, David's heart is enlarged  ; he beholds
all this beauteous salvation, David knowg that God will the whole church in the midst of their misery and
pull  them down  and not build  them up.                        struggle with the "wicked,  Bnd seeing the  trials  of


304                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D ` B E A R E R

the body of Christ, he prays for them: surely, David              else who once wrote, "we waren  maar met ons twinti-
is the anointed of the Lord. He is roncerned  about the gen." In other words, halif of us make tilde same num-
people of God and acts as their representative: 0 help            ber, as all of us at that certain time ( 1928). You say,
Thy people and (b'less Thy heritage. And feed them,               "Net gaat niet bij het pond", brother you are  absolute-
and bear them up forever!                                         iy right, but if all other things are equal, I, for o,ne,
       This final prayer of David again directs us to the         like to see our churches increase to do;.ble the num-
fulrfillment  of David, Jesus Christ the Lord !                   ber.
       Such prayers are uttered by our great High Priest.            The Californian Churches sent only one delegate,
       Such prayers are uttered by Him when hanging on the respective pastors. Oh, yes, before I forget, we
the accursed tree.      It seems as though we hear it             also had in our midst the Morgenthau (on a small scale
again : Help Thy poor  Ipeople, 0  Fat!iier ! Forgive of course) of our churches, Mr. Fred LaGrange.
Thine heritage : they know not what *they  do !                       And let me say at the outset, again we had a
   Such prayers are uttered even now, my brother!                 splendid meeting and that from every point of view.
He ever lives, this better Dav,id,  this, bel&ed  of the
                                             ,,  !.'                 To begin with, the president of the former  Classis,
Father, to pray for us.                                           Rev. A. Petter, opened the meeting after the customary
       At the  ri,ght  hand of God, Jesus  p&ys. And is           preliminaries.    The credentials were handed in, the
always heard.  When'the  nighk is so dark that `you names of the delegates were read and our meeting was
cannot pray `any more,' (He sends His Spirit to pray              declared constituted.
within  yoir?%th   groanings that cannot  (be uttered.               The chairman of this meeting was Rev. J. Vander
`/ So'that  you may be helped, lifted up upon  the Rock           Breggen lwho acquitted himself with grace from his
of God's salvation and everlastingly may be to `the task. Rev. Petter wrote the minutes.  Tlhe brethren
praises of God !                                                  attending our Classical meeting for the first time,
                                                   G. V.          signed the Formula of Subscription, whereupon the
                                                                  Chair extended a word of weicome  to these brethren.
                                 -                                    It  IS not my  plurpose to give a detailed report
                                                                  cnf all  that was transacted. In the first place, this is
                                                                  done  iby our Stated Clerk and secondly, I am writing
               Classis Meeting  - West                            from memory. To malke  sure of our writin,g,  we will
                                                                  only give the highlights in a general way (in order
       Why don't you write about the CIassis Meetings             that we may play sa%) , if my rcvriting  is a little at
a&more,  some of our people asked me? And honestly, variance with that of  ,our Stated Clerk, please re-
1  didnot  know $what to answer. For no reason at all,            member, his is correct and official.
ewe no longer- wrote about our Classical meetings,                   First of all, the overture of Oshaloosa was taken
s&e we became (as  ch.urehes)  `East and West. Be-                off the table and the answers of our consistories were
sides; we did not consider our writings on that parti-            read. This overture dealt with  the question, whether
cular point of great import. But, we thought, perhaps it was desirable (wenschelijtk) to seek (as to the ulti-
this time, for I do not make any promises as to the               mate purpose) connections with other churches. Two
future, we abetter have a few lines on our last Classical         denominations were mentioned. A lengthy discussion
meeting.                                                          follow,ed  and finally it was deci'ded to place this matter
       On the 5th of March we came together as Classis in the hands of a committee for further study and to
in-our Sioux Center, Iowa Church.                                 report its findings at a future Classis. Of course, with
       From sunny California and wintry Montana (the              2 view (if accepted)' that it may be sent to a future
brethren assured me it  was really spring out in Man-             Synod.
hattan-spring, I surmise, as we have it uut here in                  Another important point  `was placed before us
the middle-west) as well as snow-bound Iowa,  South-              when the Sioux Center consistory asked  `Classis  to
East and North-West, and ice-covered Minnesota, we share. its view in re "the printing of books  of Rev.
were  delhgated  to attend  to the matters  Ipla,ced before Hoeksema, that his work may be "preserved for the
our Classical meeting.                                            future generations". Quite a lively discussion fol-
       Always a fine opportunity we receive through these lowed. The *brethren  agreed without exception, that,
meetings, `to be together and inform about  each, other's with a view to the `future, we must by all means try to
wellbeing and that of our congregations.                Meeting have  th*is   material  in print. However, the objection
twice a year is sutIicient  to make one long for these            was raised, whether it was correct to have  Classis
occasions. I am sure that has been, until now and let             (or Synod) do this work.        Did it really  belong  to
us hope it will continue to be, the desire of all of us.          Classis or Synod proper? We came to the conclusion,
Yes, we are one. Blessed tie that binds us together.              that this was not the case. Besides, such a fund has
 We were twenty  .strong.        Wasit  -Vos or someone
                          r..                                     been established and whereas such a fund already


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         8OS

exists and many of our churches have contributed for         made. First, and let us call a spade a spade, because
this cause; Classis  ruled to the contrary in re Sioux the  consistory;  without discussing or bringing the
Center's overture.                                           matter before the congregation, simply fills in the
   Another point of the Agendum was the report of            blank, the well-known form for  subsbdy, and year
our annual Church-visitation. On the  ,whole every           after year the same amount lis asked.        I can even
report given was favorable. There is  ,harmony  and          conceive of the fact that in some of the congregations,
unity and zeal for the cause. The labors of our minis-       receiving  Synod&i1  help, most of the members, if not
ters are blessed and appreciated. But also in this           all, do not know about it, except for the fact that they
respect we have not attained to perfection. In fact heard it from others. The proper .way is, to discuss
there are weak spots, weak local conditions, that ought      these matters at the annual congregational meeting and
to  the taken care of with a steady hand. The cause of to &mpress  upon the minds and hearts of the peep-e
Christian instruction is far, very far, rfrom perfection.    the neaessity of self-support. An open and  franik dis-
We know, there are a few exceptions. Redlands, of            cussion on these things will bring the desired result
course, is our best example and should be our ideal,         i n   t i m e .
for Redlands  is ,the only congregation with a school of        Another reason is, that some congregations do not c
its own. True it is, certain circumstances made it (pay their obligations. In other words, they do not
necessary to take hold of a school of their own, but         ask, but simply take the support. And as the ,years
then, perhaps other circumstances ought to make all          roll by, the debt increases more and more, until the sum
of us move in the same direction. And that for Qur reaches  such great proportions that ever catching up
principle's sake. At any rate, we should nvt wait for with it is out of the question. This method is as bad,
the same  circumstarmes  to appear in our congregations if  not  worse, than the one mentioned above. In that
in re the Christian School.                                  way the other congregations pay for the ones who do
   We are in perfect accord with Rev. Qphoff when            not accept their responsibility.
he wrote: "But what we must also understand is that
Iwe may be satisfied with nothing less than  s,chooIs           If the question is asked: "Why are all these things
in which the instruction is rooted in and permeated          not taken care of and what could possibly be done?
by the truth as we, people of Reformed persuasion,           `pdy answer is, that one of the reasons can easily Ibe
confess it. This should be with us a conviction. If it       found in the way of our financing. We take a note or
were,. we would soon have our own schools. For then mortgage and agree to pay the annual interest. Some-
                                                             times six, seven and in some cases eight percent. When
no sacrifice would be too great.-We and our children
can thrive only on pure food. Isn't it true that then the time for the interest is due (and not before) the
we find ourselves under the moral necessity of having congregation is canvassed and the sum necessary is
our own schools? I can't see it otherwise. The will collected or just about collected. Another year's inter-
of Go! is plain. If Ewe all would only admit this, we        est is (being paid and we are safe again until ,next year.
{would soon have our own schools." That is the truth         In that way, I know it to be a fact, some of our
and nothing less will do. And therefore, let us get churches, as ,ti their actual cost (the actual (price  of
,busy and do it, *that is, form your own societies and       the buildings) have been paid on interest and nothing
preach and pray and spwk to our people.                      `was paid off through the years. The better way of
   Another weakness, according to the reports of our course is this, to make a contract Iwith a loan company
Church-visitors, is the fact that some of our churches and let the contract (at six percent) run for a period
make light of the obligations in re our  Synod&l assess- of ten or fifteen years and by monthly payments at
ments. We find quite a number of them, both in  Classis      the end of that period the property will be clear.
West and East in arrears. When we go through the                Needless to say, the ladies took good care of us at
congregations the remark is quite often made,,  "Why our last meeting. Sioux Center entertained us in a
is our denominational budget so high"? As was point- splendid way. And needless to say, that the dinner
ed out by our  Synodical  Treasurer, one of the reasons and supper hours, as well as `de koffie recess' was well
is (perhaps the  ,main  reason) because too many of our made use of by the delegates. "Dat hoort er natuurlijk
congregations are lax in paying the assessments. Some ook bij, zal de Classis  werkelijk  compleet  en  een.suc-
of our congregations, I am afraid, have  become   ,ac- cess zi jn".
customed  to their yearly subsidy. Subsidy from year            At this ,meeting the delegates were e?ected  for the
to year without ever diminishing the requested sum.          coming Synod. The Revs. Lubbers, Petter, Vander
Of course, I do not forget the fact that some congre-        Breggen, and Vos will go to the next Synod, D.V.
gations will never the able to be without support. But The lfollowing  elders were elected : Jager, Buyert, Mes-
there are aIso those who should try in earnest to get man and Ryken.
away from it and stand on their  vwn  .feet. To  ,my            For the -first  time the CIassis was to give advice in
mind   there are several reasons why no change is ever re the sabsidy for the coming year. About $4900.00


 306                                          THti  STAXDABD   B E A R E R

 wa% asked for and $3700.00 advised. The final decision
  lies, of course, with the coming Synod.                                  Moses' Reactions To The Peoples'
        Thus  .lwe came to the end of our meeting.  The                               Wailing For Flesh
 customary questions according to Art. 41 of the D.K.Q.
 were asked and one of the con&tories asked advice                        God heard and answered the prayer of those weep-
 concerning a peculiar situation. Some of our people,                 ing Israelites. For that is w.hat their crying for flesh
 twhile living much closer to the church other than t,hey             was-a prayer, "And the Lord said unto Moses, . . . .
 attend, nevertheiess  belong to the congregation further             say unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-
 away. And to our surprise, something was revealed                    morrow, and ye shall eat flesh; far ye ha.ve wept in the
 we did not know or had not heard of before. If the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat?
 parents of certain parties  Irive,  let us say ten or twelve         For it was Iwell with us in Egypt: therefore the Lord
 miles away, their children, in order that they may                   will-give you flesh, and ye  shall  eat."
 pay them a visit, remain or will join the congregation,                  Truly, they had prayed ; but their prayer was a
 although they are  much  closer to the other. Question taunt, which, though not directed to God, was never-
i was asked, what should and what could ibe done to theless meant for God's ears. They had wailed, mark
 remedy this peculiar situation? Of course, besides, you, not, "0 God, we pray thee, give us flesh," but
 there are some, who for some reason or other do the                  "Who~shall  give us flesh to eat". . Their reasoning is
 same thing.  Th.is cannot be called the orderly way.                 clear, "Woe unto us for we are famished, there being
 To our mind; we should not cater to. it, but if at all               nothing tfor us to eat except this manna-a food upon
 possible, admonish and teach our people in regard to                 which no man can thrive. The pitiableness of our
 this evil. Classis expressed itself on this matter and plight ! We are starving! Who, o rwho `is there to give
 although no forthnight decision  `was taken, the con-                us flesh! There is no one to ,give. Our plight is hope-
 sist&es  `were admonished to labor and correct this                  less. We are doomed to perish of (hunger." Such is
 disorderly way of living. We do not  [know  what the                 the thrust of the speech they sobbed out in .&d's ears.
 result will be, but we firmly believe if the cunsistories            This is the language in which they couched their
 are willing to take hold of it, much improvement will                prayer for flesh. What ,they meant to say to God is,
 be the result.                                                       "0 God, our souls are wasted away". Yet rather than
        We came to the end  of another of our pleasant give us flesh, change our diet, thou wouldst see us per-
 meetings. Much labor was done and although; we are ish." And God? He had heard. They had cried for flesh.
 in an imperfeot  church, yet, we firmly ,believe that the            It is well. He will give them what they demand. LiIe
 Lord is blessing  our Western Churches. It was de- will give them flesh.. He will answer their viIe prayer,
 cided to meet ne,xt tilme D.V. at Pella.                             but-to their own hurt and destruction. "Therefore
     Until then.                                                      the Lord will give you flesh, and ye  shall eat. Ye
                                                        w. v.         shall not eat one  `day, nor two days, nor five days,
                                                                      neither ten'days, nor twemy days, but a whole month,
                               -                                      until it come out of your nostrils, and it be loathsome
                                                                      unto you : because that ye have despised the Lord which
                           IN MEMORIAM                                is among you, and have twept before Him, saying, Why
        Na een bijna vijftig jarige echtvereeniging, is den  13den    came we forth out of Egypt?"
 Maart,  na een geduldig gedragen lijden, in den Heere ontslapen,        They had despised the manna, the heavenly, life
 mijn geliefde echtgenoot en onze broeder,                            with God in Canaan. Th,us they had despised, rejected
                                                                      the Lord. Despising Him, they had, as  .to their inten-
                         PIETER  PASTOOR                              tion, returned to Egypt and (her flesh~pots. They had
 in den ouderdom van 73 jaar.                                         said thtat they loathed the ,manna.          They had meant
                                                                      that it was malking them physically ill, so that they
        Zwaar   vnlt  ons dit verlies, maar de verzekering dat hij    could no longer eat of it.. But they  ihad lied. So He
 inging in de zalige rust die er overblijft voor God's volk lenigt    ceased sending them `manna for  a  whole  month
 onze smart. Zalig-zijn de dooden die in den Heere sterven.           and simultaneously brought them quails from the sea,
                                        Mrs. P.  Pastoor,-Bos         by a wind that went forth from the Lord. And "he
                                        Mr. en Mrs. B. Pastoor        let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey
                                        Mr. en Mrs. 3'. W. Pastoor    on this side, and as it `were a days journey on the other
                                        Mr. en Mrs. C. Pastoor        side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits
                                        Mr.  en  Mrs. G. Pastoor      on the face of the earth. And the people stood up all
                                        Mr. en Mrs. H. Pastoor        that day, and  all that night, and  all the next day, and
                                        Mr. S. Douma                  they gathered the quails: he that gathered least
     Grand  Rapids, Michigan,                                         gathered ten homers  (spproximately  a hundred


                                        T H E   S ' T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        307

bushels) : and they spread them  all abroad for                    ' The plague was doubly deserved. For bef*Jre  it w:<s
themselves round about the camp. And while the sent and even before the wind had dropped the quails
flesh was yet between btheir teeth, ere it was chewed, about the camp, the Lord pointed. out to them their
the wrath of the Lord  `was kindled against the people,          great sin and called them to repentance.  "Ye  ha:e
and the `Lord smote the people with a very great                 wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give
plague."                                                         us flesh to eat? For it  `was well with us in Egypt."
   `The plague began immediately, right  i,n the begin- So the Lord had spoken by the mouth of Moses To
ning of the period of their eating flesh. In  a11 litkeli-       this He had added, Ye shall eat flesh until it come out
hood it continued only a few days, and must  Ihave               of your nostrils. Hearing this, the people should have
taken a  .great toll of lives. Those that died not of the considered. They should have feared and cried to the
plague were smitten with nausea followed perhaps Lord for mercy and pardon. But they did not. Instead
by vomiting. This in all likelihood is the thought of repenting of their sin, they hardened their hearts.
conveyed Iby the language, "Ye shall eat. . . . even a They kept silence, and through there silence, continued
&whole month,  .tintil it come out  bf  gour nostrils, and it    to demand flesh. And when they sighted tihe quails,
be loathsome to you." Yet they had to eat the flesh              they stood up and seemingly without any compunction
the whoIe  mon%h,  because there was during tibia time           of conscience, went forth to gather, for two whole
nothing else for them to eat. They had said that the days and a night, and so persisted in showing their
manna had been making  them ill, so Qhat they could              contempt for the manna.  -
no longer eat of it. But they had lied. They were                   Having set before our minds the.viIe  reactions of
now  actu&ly  nauseated every time  ithey ate of the those weeping Israelites at Eibroth Hataavah, let us
S&-r. So  lwas their prayer answered  ,but to their own not say that kf we were to fall into temptations similar
great discomfort and destruction.                                to those into which they had been led, we would make a
   To seek in prayer  not God, but ourselves, to have            different, a much  .better showing than they did. For
in prayer our affections set not upon His will but upon $&hen we speak (the language of pride. With their sins
our own, ito cry in His ears for uhe earthy instead of Qzefore  our mind, let us rather cry out, "0, the hardness
for the heavenly, for the things below instead of for            of the hu'man heart, of their hearts, of our hearts !
the things above, is extremely dangerous. God might These things  `were *written that we might know  ihow
answer that prayer-to our own hurt and perhaps to vile we are. And if we may be enduring, let us ascribe
our eternal doom.                                                it only to God's mercy, and praise Him.
    "And he called the name of  &at place Kibroth                   The reactions of Moses.
Hataavah (meaning, graves of lust) because ticere  they             The people  we& in the door of their tent. Pur-
buried the people that *lusted."                                 posely were they making an open show of their tears,
    The people did not die because the  f&h of the               so that Moses could see as. well as hear them weep.
quail was unfit for human consumption. The plague (He knew the cause of their agitation. The notilze that
was worked  immediately by God. The evidence of the anger of the Lord was greatly kindled is  immedliate-
this is that it began to riot ere lit was chewed and thus ly follvwed  by the statement, "and it was evil in the
ere any,of it had been eaten or even any of its juices           eyes of Moses." So the text reads in the original.
had entered their stomachs. So did the Lord provide This raises the question what Moses regarded as evi?,
the people with the  unmistakeable  proof that the plague        the kindling, of the Lord's anger or the carrying-on
was of Him. And through His waiting with smiting of the people? The latter certainly. The madness of
them until  t,he flesh  *was {between their teeth, He            the people drove Moses to distraction, as .is evident
established before their consciousness a certain con-            from the language that he allowed to pass over his
nection  [between their lusting and the plague.                  lips in addressing the Lord, "Wherefore  ha& thou
    The plague must have done .its work swiftly, so afllicted  thy servant? and wherefore have I not found
that soon there were few tents not housing a corpse.             favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all
The people, it must be imagined, were panic-stricken this people upon  me? Have I conceived all this people?
and cried, as they were wont to do in such crisis, to            Have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me,
Moses to pray for them, so that the iplague was soon Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth
stayed. With the encampment suddenly being con- the suckling child, unto the land which thou swarest
verted into a morgue, the living, in their consternation,        unto their fathers? Whence should I have flesh to
must have flung the meat from them,' resolved not to             give unto all  ,this people? For they weep  ,unto me,
eat of it, lest they be overtaken by a like fate. But            saying, Give us  flesh, that we may eat. I am not able
the Lord had said, "Ye  shall eat. . . . not ten, nor            to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for
twenty but thirty days". So `for want of other food, me. 4nd if thou deal thus wi.th me, kill me, I pray
they were driven to eat of the flesh, until it came thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight;
out of their nostrils.                                           and let me not see my wretchedness."


308                                    m-133   STA~~DARD   BEARER

       This language forms a prayer, ,but a prayer that And the Lord? Without in the Ieast condoning the sin
was sinful. Let us consider the facts in the  `ease.  I,t      of His servant, He  pitied.Qim  in his anguish and bore
was as Moses said. The Lord had laid the burden of with his weakness.
all this people urmn him. That Moses was not exagger-             In countering the riotings of sin in himself and in
ating is plain from the Lord's repIy, "And they (the           others, the believer, who stands in his faith, (groans in
seventy men of the elders of Israel) shah bear the             his spirit and is troubled. Troubled is he out of love of
burden of the people with thee." Here the Lord in-             God, on account of the consideration that all sin is a
directly declares that He indeed had laid  upsn Moses          transgression of God's holy will. But a man may also
th&burden of "this people".                                    groan merely on account of the consideration that
       And now every man stood in the door of his tent         wrongdoing in others disadvantages him and forms an
wailing in his ears for flesh. Their demand impressed attaok  upon his person. All such groaning is not in
him as being amazingly stupid and unreasonable.                the spirit but in the Aesh. What then was the char-
Were they utterly unwilling to consider that they were acter of Moses' anguish of soul, of his perturbance?
demanding of him the impossible? "Whence should                Though there must have been an element of true good-
I have flesh to give to all the people", he asked. What        ness in it, yet it :was  largely sinful. "Have  I conceived
has come over them? Were they seeking occasion all this people. . . . that thou  shouldest  say to me,
against him? It seemed not to occur to Aim that with           Carry them in thy bosom? . . . *And if thou deal thus
God all things are possible.                                   with me, kill me, I pray thee.' This certainly is not
       Their doing formed for Moses a most severe trial.       the language of true love but of carr$ self-pity. Moses'
Did he endure? Not as he should have. It was a great grief was that the people could  ,be so unreason-
sinful speech that he poured in Gods ears. He said to able as to Ibe lwailing in his ears for flesh. And when
God in effect, "When  thou placed this people in my            the Lord let it be known that He would answer their
care, thou didst me evil. Thy doing- betokened, that           cry, Moses replied, "The people among whom I am
thou wert ill-lpleased with me and cwert bent on afflicting are six hundred thousand footman; and thou hast said,
my soul. Take back this people, I implore thee. They           I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole. month.
belong not to me  abut to thee. For thou didst conceive Shah the flocks and the herds be sIain for them? Or
and beget them, not I. Was it then  right of thee to           shah all trhe fish of the sea (be gathered together for
place them in my bosom? Take back what is thine.               them, to suffice them?' This is not the  language  of
The weight of it-the burden of this people-is crush-           faith but of  scepticism.  The task  orf providing  a!1
ing me. ff the only condition on which  thou'wilt  pro- those waihng Israelites with flesh seemed to Moses
long my life is that I continue to father this people,         to be one too great even for  `God. Moses had again
then kill me, I beseech thee". Such is the thrust of           uttered words that merited censure. This time he had
his complaint. The shepherd disowns his sheep, the             almost spoken profainly.  Attend to the Lord's reply,
father his children. Now plain that Moses as meliator          "Is the Lords hand waxed short? Thou shalt see now
was but a type,, a shadow.                                     #whether  my *word shall come to pass'unto thee or not."
       Moses was in a sinful mood. And in this mood he            Moses, it is plain, had been sinfully perturbed by
despised his calling and reproached God for having their murmurings. It shows, that, however tigh the
sent him. So <bitter  was he at that juncture that he spiritual level upon which he dwelt might have been-
preferred death above life.  .Such was We affect of and this level  .was high-and however close his fellow-
their  viie doing upon his soul. Such was his reaction ship with ,God, he too Ihad daily to contend with the
to their doing. And this reaction was sinful. It be-           flesh and its works. And how could it be otherwise if
tokened carnal anger, yet not anger so much as pro-            even the hohest  of men-and such a man was Moses-
found disgust, unspeakable anguish of soul, utter de- have in this life only a small principle of true obedience
pression bordering on despair. What was he to `do and thus continue to lie in the midst of death until the
with such a people-a people so unreasonable, so con-           moment of their translation.
trary, so impudent, so stiff-necked. What to do? Love             However, we must be more definite in explaining
them, bless them, and pray for them. But .of this he how Moses could  ,be so thoroughly upset, so perturbed
`was incapable at that juncture, as he stood not in his -sinfully perturbed-by their  complainings.  Mention
rfaith. Their perversity of mind and heart  ihad thrown has already been made of the ,burden of the people, by
him off spiritua1  balance, so that he had lost his equiii-    which is to  ibe understood the aggregate of all We
brium. He was not weighing words, while sobbing out people's spiritual and physical needs and requirements
his,heart to God. He could not. The emotional strain           in the wilderness.     The people had to be fed and
under  `which  he iabored was too great, But this did not clothed, instructed in the Iaw of Jehovah their God,
excuse that speech of his. Yet the  peopIe  had greater trained to walk in the way of Bis precepts, encouraged
sin. Their wicked and senseless complaining had con- when  .disheartened,  comforted when depressed in spirit,
fused his soul and `completely disordered his reason. admonished and rebuked when dissatisfied and  com-


                                       THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          309

plaining because of their trials, shielded against the         prayers, instruct and lead. And he, himself, was a'
wrath of God that they might not be destroyed when sinful man, by nature devoid of love, thus altogether
corrupting  dheir way'before Him, led thru the  Iwilder-       incapable of bearing with them in their sins and.weak-
ness, given  Vae victory over their adversaries, and nesses. His casting his *burden upon the Lord iwould
safely  brought to the promised land of their abode. then have to consist in his realizing and confessing
This ,was the burden of the people. And it included            that, -whereas it is God who worketh in His servants
their rebellions and murmurings, in a word, all the both to will and to do, his, Moses' burden was properly
expressions of their carnality. What a burden ! And            God's, and that therefore God would have to sustain
the whole of it the Lord lhad laid upon Moses. He had him by His grace continually, if he, Moses, was to
actually placed this people in his bosom that he might stand up under his burden. It is apparent, however,
carry it as a nursing {father beareth a suckling child.        that at the time of their wailing  :for flesh, Moses was
By this burden Moses, such was his complaint, was              not mindful as he should have been of his need of the
being crushed. What was the reason? He failed to sustaining power of God. For the murmuring of the
cast his burden upon the Lord as he should.                    people so aggravated his soul that, instead of inter-
   Let us try and .understand  Moses' shortcomings. ceding for the people,  the, in his great vexation of
`The Lord had actually laid "this  peopIe'  in  his bosom. spirit, actually cast them from him in his mind and
But as. lying there, they were still reposing in the  e?er-    thereupon (besought the Lord to free him through death
lasting arms of Jehovah their God. It was He who               of his responsibilities. It is clear that  ihe had not
was caring for them. He gave them Ibread, caused the braced himself in the Lord for this crisis. So, when it
rocks  ,of `bhe wilderness to yield their water, that they came, it found him not as prepared as he should have
might drink ; preserved their raiment;so  that it *waxed       been. The result was that his soul was thrown into
not otd upon them  ; kept their foot; so that it did not       confusion. Great was his anguish. And it was this
swell (Deut. 8) ; created in His choosen ones a new anguish, this perturbation, and thus not properly his
spirit, so ,that they feared Him; binded His laws upou         burden that formed his af?liction  and that was crushing
their hearts, so that they walked in  the (way of His him. When faith flowers ,God's burden does not op-
precepts. Et was He who was leading them to their press. It is only when faith weakens, that this burden
destination and sustaining them in the way. It was of His takes on weight and becomes unbearable.
His Angel who was encamped around about them.                     The Lord, as was said, bore with the weakness of
It was  the who was their sun and their shield. These His servant. He placed at  Moses?  side seventy assist-
`were works which He only could perform. For Moses ants. He instructed Moses to gather to Him seventy
to cast his burden upon the Lord was for him to ac-            men of the elders of Israel, whom he, Moses, knew to
knowIedge,  -to confess as moved by faith that these be elders of and officers over the people; and to bring
*works  formed a burden that the Lord alone could them to the tabernacle of the congregation, that they
bear. And he did acknowledge  this, to be sure. Yet            might stand there with him, adding that He wouId
the way he reasoned, while the people were crying-for come down and talk with Moses and would taike of ;His
flesh. betokens that the thought had taken root in his         Spirit and put it upon them, that they might bear the
soul that it was for Qim to answer that cry. "Whence,"         burden of the people  :with  him. When the Spirit
sai.d he, "should  I,"  ma& you, "I have flesh to  give rested upon the elders, they  prophesied, and did not
unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying,           cease. By Spirit is certainly to :be understood the Holy
Give us flesh, that we may eat." True, the pec@e  wept Spirit, thus the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
unto him. But why should that have so disquieted of zeal of God's house ,of holy ecstacy,  of love of God
him? Was there no God in Israel? Moses fault was and His word and promises, of patience, of meekness,
that for the moment he had assigned to himself a task of power to endure and to bear the renroach  of Christ.
that was not meant for him, that he imagined that This Spirit was put upon them. As a result, they
his carrying "this people' in his bosom was supposed prophesied, that is, by word of mouth praised God,
to consist in his doing the Lord's work. So realizing declared.His  works, blessed His name in the audience
his human limitations, the cry of the people completely of the people, exhorted to obedience, gloried in His
upset him.                                                     promise.    And -they prophesied under impulses so
   But what was properly Moses' burden? Whit was rowerful  that they did not cease. So it is recorded.
his task? To intercede for "this people' in love. bear The meaning is, no doubt. that the prophetic gift re-
them on the wings of prayer, to stand in the breach,           mained with  them.  So were these men qualified to
give them Gods word, and continually sanctify God be- bear with Moses the burden of the people, which they
fore their eyes. This was Moses' calling. It consti- did through the example they set, through bheir walk
tuted his burden in the proper sense. Now it was a of Iife among the people, through their enduring  with
stiff-necked people, whom he was  caIled upon to carry him the contradiction of sinners and in various  05er
in this bosom, t,hat is, to love, cherish, shield with his     ways.


 310                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

        The sacred narrator goes on to tell that two of the    all the beasts in this that it. had ten horns. In the
 seventy elders, instead of collecting  ,with the others at    place of three of these horns, plucked up, the prophet
 the  tibernacre,  remained in the  -amp and thaf also         saw coming up a little horn with eyes, and a man's
 upon them the Spirit rested  with the result that they        mouth set against heaven. To each of these beasts  was
 prophesied in he camp. A young man, perceiving this,          given dominion to destroy in  agreemeat  with their
 ran and told Moses. Joshua, the son of  NLIH, hearing         weapons  for destruction.
 what -was reported,. advises Moses to forbid the two             Thereupon the prophet saw one w::.o  he calls the
 men, who were prophesying in the camp. His concern            ancient of days with white garments and hair like
 no doubt was  Wat these two elders would contend that,        unto pure wool. To the flame which issued from his
 whereas they had not collected with the others  ai the        throne the slain body of the ,beast, with the little horn2
 tabernacle, they had received  the Spirit independent of was given.         Also the rest of the beasts lost their
 Moses and that, in agreement with their contention,           dominion, yet their  lives were prolonged for a season.
 would bring tihemselves forward as Moses' equals in-          Then to one like the Son of Man who came to the
 stead of his assistants. lMoses puts Joshua at ease           Ancient of Days `was given dominion and a kingdom.
 with the words,  "Enviest  thou for my sake? Would               As to the interpretation, the four 13easts are four
 God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that kings, but til?e kingdom shall be taken by the saints.
 tihe Lord would put His Spirit upon them.". Then  aIi
 Moses troubles would end.
                                              G. M. 0.            In his vision the prophet saw a ram with two horns
                                                               of unequal Iength. The longer of the two came up last.
                            -    -                             The animal was seen to push in  all  directidns   Bs it
                                                               pleased him and thus to become great. Next, he saw
                  The Book Of Daniel                           a goat coming (from the West with a horn between his
                                                               eyes which smote the ram, broke his horns, and tram-
        Having been compelled to seal the  mouK?  of the p1ed him under foot. When the goat had waxed mighty
 den of lions, into which Daniel had been cast, the king,      his great horn was broken. In the place of it came
 with a heavy heart returned to his palace, which by his       up four other horns each growing in one of the four
 order is converted into a house of gloom. He refrained        directions. And out of the one .of the four horns came
 from calling for `:7,is musicians. The solitude of death      forth a  Iittle horn  ti?at also waxed great in  all  fotir
 f&d the palace., The king retired to sleep shut sleep         directions. One of these horns even reached to heaven
 went from him. Early dawn found him at the den.               and cast down some of the hosts there and trampled
 Against hope, and with a lamentable voice he cried out them under foot. He even enlarged  himseIf against
 his inquiry into the darkness of the den whether the prince of hosts, removed %e daily sacrifice and
 Daniel's God ihad been able to deliver him from the           destroyed the temple. By the hosts that were given
 Iions.     There was actually an iinmediate response:         him he cast down the sacrifice because of its transgres-
 "0 king live forever". Daniel lived! Daniel now goes sion and cast  down  the truth to the ground. The
 on to speak. He describes his  deIiverance  to his inno- prop?& ncnv hears one saint say to another that the
 cence and to his obedience to his God. The king is            desolation  wil1 <be prolonged for 2300 days and that
T elated beyond measure. Daniel is lifted up out of the thereupon the sanctuary  wouId be cleansed.
 lion's den. The decree now strikes at the plotters.               The meaning of the vision was made tnown to
 By order of the king they are thrown as food to the           9anieI  by the angel, Gabriel. The ram with two horns
 lions, toget&er  ,with  their wives and children.             rignified the kings of Media and Persia; and the goat,
        Then the king wrote and published a decree in the  <king of Greece whose great  [horn stood  tfor its  first
 which he ordered all men to tremsle  before Daniel's          king. This king would  be destroyed. From his ruins
 God  Wsho is living, and whose kingdom shall be to the        would rise four kingdoms but not in his power, not  in
 end as is evidenced by ,His signs and wonders.                the power of the dethroned king. The four kingdoms
                                                               in turn after having filled their measure of iniquity
                                                               would be ,destroyed  by  a (king of fierce countei?ance,
        It was seen in the first year of  Belshazzar,  king with amazing  powers  of destruction. He  shaI1 mag-
 of Babylon. The prophet sees coming out of the sea nify himself in his heart. The hei$ght  of his profanity
 four beasts: a  Iion with eagle's wings, and with a           will lbe reac?nd  when he shall set himself against the
 man's heart; a bear with three ribs in his mouth be-          Prince of princes,  ,by  wh.om  he shall be destroyed.
 tween his teeth ; a leopard with four wings upon his          after the vision, which he couId  not understand., Daniel
 back and four heads ; a  fourtih beast, strong and exceed- was sick  Zor days.
 ingly terribIe. It had great iron teeth with which it             Daniel learns from the prophecy of Jeremiah that
 devoured, broke and stamped. It was diverse from              the exile would last 79 years. As the mouthpiece of


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                      811

       the elect remnant, Daniel engages in a confession of Iips were touched by one like the Son of Man so that
       sin, consisting, so he declares, in rebellion and in de- he could again speak. Daniel now complains that the
       parting from the Lord's precepts and in the refusal to       vision  Q+s  ooccasioned  him sorrows and sapped his
       hearken unto  the Lord's prophets. To his people             strength. That he  comd not therefore talk to the Lord.
       belong, as a result of their  apostacy,  confusion, but to `The :prophet  however was again touched (by one having
       the Lord, mercy and compassion and forgiveness. The the appearance of a man. As a result of this touch his
       Lord, so the prophet continues, has realized his th.reat-    strength., that he could not therefore talk to the Lord.
       ening word in bringing upon the apostate peaple  all the     The voice now informs the prophet that he will return
       eviI predicted by Moses. The Lord did so because He          to fight with %e king of Persia; that when he is gone
s      is righteous. The prophet thereupon pleads with the          forth, the king of Greece shall come and that there
       Lord to let His anger be turned away from the city of        will be none that will stand by him but the angelic
       Jerusalem, His +o!y mountain and to cause His f&ce to        Michael.
       shine once more upon His sanctuary.                             The league and conflict of the kings. TI:?e  tyranny
          Having done with praying, the angel Gabriel in-           of the Romans.                           `i
       forms Daniel that in answer to his supplication he was          The voice continues to say to Daniel that he
       sent to explain to him the meaning of the vision. The had strengthened Darius the Mede. Further, Persia
       seventy  aweeks were determined upon the people to           wouId  have three kings,  folIowed  by a  fourtlh, of
       make an end of sin and to introduce (inaugurate) an          surpassing riches and strength by which he `would
       everlasting righteousness. The time intervening be- institute a general insurrection against Greece. There-
       tween the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem, and the          upon a king of great might shaI1 arise who will do as
       appearance of Messiah shal1 Ibe seven weeks and sixty-       he `pleases, but his kingdom  will be broken and
       two weeks and one week, together seventy weeks. The divided toward the four directions by others beside
       Messiah shall be cut off and the city together with the those of his own dominion. The king of the Southern
       sanctuary shah be destroyed with the princes of the          division will come into  the possession of great domin-
       people. The end shall be with a flood and there shall        ion. There will be an alliance between the king of
       ~be desolation to the end of the war. The covenant shall     the south and the north effected by $he daughter of
       ,be confirmed with many for one week by the  Slessiah.       the kingdom of the south.. Out of the branch of her
       In the midst of the week, Ihe shall cause the desolation roots shaI1 arise one with a great army and prevail
       to cease and make it desolate for  the abomination `even     against the kingdom of the- North and carry its gods
       to the consummation and what was de termined shall           and its  `great  weaIth  to Egypt. Thereupon the king
       be poured upon the desolation.                               of t~he South shall return to his dominion. The war
                                                                    between the North and South kingdom will continue
                                                                    and finaIIy issue in the subduing of the king of the
          Of this vision Daniel has understanding. The vision South by the king of the North. But against the ,king
       came to him after he had been fasting for three 4weerks.     of the North shall come another one who shal1 do as
       In the 24th day of the month, when standing by the he pleases. He shall turn his face to the isles and shall
       river Hiddikel, Daniel  sa~w a man clothed in linen, with taike many. But a prince shaI1 cause his reproach to
       loins girded with gold, with a body like  beryl,   with      cease. Then he shall return to the strtinghold  of his
       a face that had the appearance of lightning, with eyes       own land. There he shall stumble and  fall and be
       as lamps of fire, with arms and feet like polished brass, no more.
       and with words lirke the voice of a multitude. The spec-        Then  shal1 stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes
       tacle  Ieft Daniel without strength and reduced his          in the glory of his kingdom, but shall be destroyed. In
       comliness unto corruption. When he heard the voice           his stead shall stand up a viIe person to whom they
       of words, he was in deep sleep, lying with his face to-      shall give honor.    He  shall obtain his kingdom by
       ward the ground.      While in this posture, a hand flattery. He  sIra11 be successful in his military ex-
       touched him and set him upon his knees and his               ploits. He `shall deal deceitfully with his allies. He,
     _ palms and bade him to attend to the words that were          shal1 invade peaceful and EertiIe  places  and practice
       spoken. The voice further bade him not to fear as great cruelty upon the people. He shall attack the king
       he had set MS heart to  understan.d.  In response to         of the South.     The latter will rise in defense of
       the chastening of self, God Ihad sent the speaker to         his kingdom, but shall not stand. His army shaI1 be
       him. He, the speaker, had been withstood by the king slain, and `his own people shall conspire against him
       of Persia Ifor twenty days. In the struggle he had been and he shall be destroyed. The king reigning in his
       aided by Michael, one of the anigeIic chiefs. He now stead shall alIy himself to the king of the North. To-
       descended to  DanieI to make  h,im understand what gether they shall sit at one table and devise mischief
       shall ~befall his people `in the later days. When he had which  shaI1 be brought to nought. The king of the
       done speaking, Daniel sanlk to the ground mute. His          South shall return to his Iand Iaden with riches. He
                                                                         1


312                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

shall dis-hallow the holy covenant. At the appointed           prepare them for great crises. They did so by their
time he shall again return to the PJorth (bent on rob-         messages. These various messages have in common
bery. He shall not *however, carry  o& his design for an- that they all foretell : 1. The destruction of the wicked,
other power shall come against him. He shall there-            the oppressors of God's' people. 2. The deliverance
fore return in great vexation of spirit and vent his           of God's people through'the destruction of the wicked.
spite on the holy covenant in conjunction with  the            t:. The triumph of Jesus Christ and the appearance
apostates of his realm: IHe shall pollute the sanctuary of His eternal kingdom in which God is a11 and all.
of strength and remove the daily sacrifice; but the               Though all these messages are fundamentally alike,
people of God  shaII be strong.                                each has its  rpecuIiarity  which sets it off from the
       The (king  of this new power shall do as he pleases other. This difference has to do with fulness of eqo-                  f
according to his ,will. He shall exuIt himself and mag- sition and rcvith the application of what is fundamental.
nify himself above every god, and shall speak  marvel-         Differing times, circumstances and  8conditions  necessi-
lous things against the God of every god. He shall             tated from  trhe very nature of things differing advice,
honor the god'cnf forces. A. strange god he shall ac-          counse's,  and exhortations.
iknawledge  and increase with glory ; but eventually the                                                            G. M. 0.
king of the South and North shall push against him
and come against him like a whirlwind. Edom and
Moab and the chiefs of the children of Ammon shall
escape out of his hand, but the land of Egypt shall not                                    IN  MEMORIAM   .
escape. Over Egypt and its treasures he  &a11 have                  Op den `Iden Maart  is een onzer  getrouwe leden,
power as assisted by the Lybians and the Ethiopians.
He shall be troubled however by tidings from  the East                                MRS.  J. HOKSBERGEN, Sr.
and from the North. Agitated he shall go fofih and             zacht en stil in haar  Heiland ontslapen.
destroy with great fury and plant his rule between the
seas. In the end he shall come to nought.                           Onze bede is dat de Heere de familie mag vertroosten  door
       There shall  *be a time of trouble such as never was    Zijne Geest en genade en 0x1s  alIen doen  uitzien mar dien dag
since the beginning of time. But Michael, the defender waarin Hij in heerlijkheid terug brengen zal, die in Hem ont-
of God's people shall stand up to deliver them. The            slapen   2ijn.
dead shall arise, some to eternal life and some to ever-                                Namens de Vrouwen Vereeniging der
lasting contempt. The just shall shine as the [brighi+                                Hull Protestantsche Gereformeerde Kerk.
ness of the firmament.                                                                             Ds. A. Cammenga, Pres.
       Daniel  is instructed to shut up the words and to                                           Mrs. G. Blankespoor,  Seer.
sea1 the <book even to the time of the end. Then Daniel             Hull,  Iowa.
saw and heard one on one side of the river ask the
man clothed in linen on the other side. of Dhe river how
long it would .be to the end of these wonders. And the
answer came back that when God shall have done scat-
tering the .power  of the holy  peapIe  all  %&se things                                      P R A Y E R
wou1.d  be accomplished. But Daniel, though he heard,
understood not  ; and therefore asked what would  ,be the                 Lord,  teach us how to pray  aright,
end of these things. Daniel is told to go his way, for                           . With reverence' and with fear ;
the words are cIosed  up and seal,ed unti1 the time of                    Though dust and ashes in Thy sight,
the end. Many shall be purified by trial but the wicked                            We may, we must araw near.
shall do wickedly and none of them shall understand.                      Give deep humility ; the sense
From the time that the daily sacrifice @halI be taken                              Of  godIy  sorrow give ;
away, and the abomination that maketh'   desol'ate  set up,               A strong desiring confidence
there shall be 1980 days. Daniel is again told to go his                           To (hear  Thy voice and live.
way until' the en*d be, and further that he shaI1 rest
and stand in his lot st the end of days.                                  Patience, to  watch,  and wait,  and weep,
   XsraeI  was- in exile. During and immediately pre-                              Though mercy long  deIay  ;
ceding this crisis the Lord raised up prophets to speak                   Courage, our fainting souls to keep,
in His name both to the Gentiles and to His people.                                And trust thee, thou,gh thou slay.
The four great prophets of this time were Isaiah, Jere-                   Give these, and then thy will be done ;
miah, Ezekiel and Daniel.                                                          Thus, strengthe'd with all might,
   All the prophets had in the main one' task to per-                     We, through Thy Spirit and Thy Son,
form ; namely, to comfort God's peopie in' af&ction  and                    ,_  &al1  `pray, and `pray  aright.


                                                   A   R e f o r m e d   S e m i - M o n t h l y   Magpine
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                                                                                               imagination wouId  still pIainIy  bear the mark ~of the
                                                                                               earthy; of the Ithings  that are below. Were he a scdp-
                                M e d i t a t i o n                                            tor, he would have n&de  of the risen Lord a touchable
                                                                                               reality ; were he a painter, the resurrected Jesus  LwouId
                    The Risen Lord And Thomas                                                  always  have remained an object of sight; were he  a
                                                                                               word-artist, he would? have brought Jesus@tbat  died
                                   But Thomas, one of the twelve, was not                      back to us, into our world, into a position in which He
                              with them when Jesus came. The  oth.er                           could nevermore draw us to Himself and save us. One
                              disciples  therefwe   .said unto him, We  have                   and  alI they would have presented the resurrection as
                              seen the  Lard. But he  sa@ unto them,  Ez-                      real, very real, historically real, but never as ~re.sur-
                              cept I  shall.  see in  hi+  hcmLds  the print of                rectio-n. . . .
                              the  naib, and put my finger into  .the  pr&t                        For, indeed, the resurrection of the Lord is real:
                              of the nails, and  thru$  my  hati  into his                     the Lord is risen indeed! Such is the qu,intessence  of
                              side, I  uvill not  be&e.  A&  after eight                       the gospe1. If it were not so, there would be no resur-
                              dnys  agaik his disciples were `within, and                      rection of the dead we  wouId  be of all men most.
                              Thomas with them. . . . etc.                                     miserable. But He is raised on the third day, as He
                                   -.                               John  20:2&29.             had told His disciples. We are no longer i.n our sins,
            Marvel'lous  resurrection of the Lord!                                             and we rejoice ,in hope!
            Historically real, yet far transcending the ithings                                    But just as true it is that He is raised.  `A  rea2
        than eye can see and ear can hear, and that can                                        resurrection, yes,  shut a'  resurrection  nevertheress.   A
        arise in the heart of man !,                                                           resurreotion  of the body, to be sure, but a resurrection
        * Leaving its tr&es,  its evidences on "this side", in                                 of the  ,body.  And resurrection is not merely to live
        the world of our experience, in order that we may                                      again, it  is more : it is victory! Victory it is over
        surely beIieve that He is risen indeed, and believing                                  death and the grave, over corruptik~leness and mor-
        may have life in His name ; yet, itself beIonging  wholly                              tality, over flesh and  bIood  and over the image of the
        to the "other side", <beyond the scope of our senses and                               earthy. Resurrection is no return, ii, is su& a passing
        understanding boti                                                                     through death that its jaws must forevermore remain
           Visible in its evidences, yet invisible  4n its reality.                            apen,  parabzed  ; it is an emergence on the other side,
        0bjey-t  of the experience of those that heard, and saw the heavenly, the side of the Kingdom of heaven. . . .
        with their eyes, and looked upon, and handled with                                         That the resurrection of the Lord is real must be
        their hands what could be seen and heard and handled                                   revealed, witnessed, procIaimed  to all the Church!
        of the Word of life ; yet, always so that I this very                                      That this reality is resurrection must be made
        experience carried with it the assurance and conscious-                                evident !
  .ness,  that the "thing  itseItf"  lay beyond their present                                      That ,both these conditions are penfectly  satisfied.
' -experien,ce,  could be appropriated onIy  by faith, could by the gospel narratives of the resurrection. of Jesus
        be rejoiced in only through hope. Blessed is he that                                   Christ' is their marvel.
  ~  tbefieveth  ! . . . .                                                                         Yes, indeed, these resurrection narratives are the.
.:.:            Marvellous,  too, are for this pery  reasan the. rock of the gospel narrative, upon which aI1. the at--
resurrection narratives in the Scriptures.                                                     tempts of unbeheving  mockers to disprove them and.
           No human artist, be he of the most consummate                                       to ,deny  the resurrection of the Lord, must needs be
.: skill, could ever have designed them. For*% boldest and always are completely wrecked !


314                                  -?!  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

       No doubt, the apostles, those faithful `witnesses,         in the gospel according to John.
recorded what they saw and heard.                                    Thomas it was, who proposed to accompany Jesus
       *There  was the silent testimony of the empty grave,, to Bethany  where Lazarus {had died and to die with
and the place where He had lain, and the linen clothes,           Him, when the Lord had declared His intention to go
the marvel -of those linen clothes and of the napkin              thither in order "to awake him out of his sleep", in
rolled  u,p in a place by itself. The disciple whom               spite of the fact that the Jews sought to kill Him.
Jesus loved saw and believed !                                    John 12  :16. Thomas it was again, who spoke w!?en
       There was the message of the ange!s,  pointing them the Lord revealed to the disciples that He would de-
to the place where He had lain, preaching to them the             part from them, and added: "Whither I go ye know,
gospel of the risen Lord, reminding them of the word and the way ye know". Emphatically Thomas had
He had spoken to them, which they had forgotten in                contradicted this Iast statement: "Lord, we know not
their overwhel,ming  grief at His death had forgotten,            whither thou goes& and how can *we know the way?"
that ,He Iwould go before them to Galilee.                        And once more it is Thomas that assumes a unique
       And then they saw Him !                                    attit.ude  after the death and resurrection of the Lord,
       The Magdalene and the women returning from the distinguishing himself from all the rest of the apostles.
grave, and Peter and 8he sojourners to Emmaus, and                He is not with them, when the Lord appears. And
aI the disciples. . . .                                           when the  othei  disciples report to him that they have
   They saw Him, five hundred brethren at once !                  seen the Lord, he rephes: "Except I shall `see in his
       They saw Him, yet they were conscious that He was Ihands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the
more than what they saw of Him.                                   print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I
       They *believed,  they doubted, they marvelled. . . . <will not believe".
       Wonderful resurrection of tie Lord !                          Do these three touches in the picture of Thomas
       Indeed, He is risen !                                      harmonize? Do they point to a common traitt?
       He is risen!                                                  Is it correct, perhaps, to say that Thomas was a
                                                                  sceptie, that the most striking characteristic in his
       &t Thomas. . . . and Thomas!                               spiritual disposition was doubt? Thus he is usually
       Eight days had elapsed between these  but. . .  .und!      presented. To speak of a "doutiing  Thomas" has be-
       On the evening of the resurrection day the Lord            come customary. The "doubting Thomas" has become
had appeared to `His disciples, when the doors were               proverbial. Yet, t&is would hardly seem to explain the
shut  (for fear of the Jews, and He  had spoken His               situation.    `It is true, Thomas. not only  dou'bts,  but
familiar "Peace be unto you" to them. And they had positively refuses to believe ; but hardly can it be said
Ibeen  glad.when they saw the. Lord.                              that in this respect he distinguished himself from the
       But Thomas had not been with them.                         rest of the apostles. For they too believed `not when
       Very little, beyond Iwhat is told us in this narrative,    they had been told t!hat Jesus was alive. Mark 16 :ll.
do we know of this disciple. His name suggests noth- And when the women reported their experiences at
ing about his characte,r,  nor does his surname Didymus the grave to them, "their words seemed to them as idle
afford any information. ,&art from his being called tales, and they believed them not". Must we explain
as an apostle there seems to be very little noteworthy            that Thomas'  chief characteristic was that he was
about him.        Besides, even this particular narrative         melancholy, always inclined to  look at the dark things
of the appearance of the Lord to tie disciples when               of life, a born pessimist ? Thus others would  ex@ain
Thomas was with them, is not chiefly interested in                this apostle. There appears to be truth in this evaIua-
Thomas, but  ,in the risen Christ that here appears               tion of his character. He  could discern  the extreme
especially to him. Only in as far as knowledge of the             calamity rather  easily. "Let us go and die with Him",
disciples serves to shed light upon the appearance he proposes. "We know neither ,whither  thou goest
of the resurrected Lord is it of importance to cknow              nor the way thither", he declares. And, no doubt, &he
anything about him.                                               fact that he is not with the disciples on the evening of
       Not Thomas the man, but Thomas as the  recipient           that wonderful first day of the week, must be' explained
of this particular revelation is significant.                     from the same consideration on his part: tie Lord had
       Who was he? What was his spiritual makeup?                 died, all was lost! And yet, this really  expIains noth-
What is the meaning of this manifestation of the Lord ing as far as this narrative is concerned. Why does
to him? What is its message? Why does the Lord add Thomas so emphatically insist on putting his hands
so significantly  at  the close of this manifestation:            into the print of the nails before he  will believe? And
"Thomas, because thou  Iha& seen me, thou  hast be-               wb,y  that *peculiar application of the incident by the
lieved; blessed are they that have not seen and yet               Lord : "blessed is he  .that hath .not seen, and yet hath
hare believed" T                                                  believed"? . . . .
       A few bits of information we receive about him                 Thomas would base his faith on the experience of


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               315

     his senses! . . . .                                           of the resurrection; and he had been impressed  by the
         He would live by what he could see, hear, touch!          power and glory of the  risen Lord. That Jesus was
        This, no doubt, explains all ! What lay within the raised indeed, and that He was raised had been estab-
     scope of his experience he would believe; what he could       hshed beyond a shadow of doubt. He saw, and what
     not see, or touch he refused to accept! This explains, he saw brought him face to face with 8hat which he
     why there `was in his conception of things, especially could not see: the power and the glory of the resurrec-
     in his view of the kingdom of heaven which Christ tion, of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead. He
     came to establish, no room for the death of the Lord.         believes and worships !
     That is the reason why Be so emphatically denies that            The reality of the resurrection he Qad witnessed.
     they could know the way whither Jesus was about to               For he had seen the Lord. And he had heard Him
     go. And this certainly makes this narrative of Jesus' speak.                When, after eight days, the disciples were
     manifestation and its  appli'cation  intelligib!e.            assembled once more, and again met behind eiosed
         Unless I touch Him I will not believe!                    doors for fear  of  the Jews, and Thomas  *was also with
         His condition during those days that he was not them, Jesus came and stood in the midst of them!
     with the disciples, and even after they had told .him         And Thomas saw that it was He ! Iif there stil1 lingered
     that they had seen the Lord, was one of utter hopeless- a shadow of doubt that it was the Lord, it was at once
     ness!                                                         dispelled by the familiar voice that said ; "Peace be
        !He could not see things!                                  unto you !" Nor had he felt need of further verifica-
         The things that had taken @ace were utterly in- tion. The Lord, indeed, invited him to *approach Him
     explicable Ifrom  the vrewpoint  of things that are seen and to [put the finger into the print of the nails, and
     and  ,touehed  and experienced in our world. Jesus had to thrust his hand into  ,His side, but Thomas  feIt as if
     been taken captive by the enemies, had been con-              it would have been sacrilege to act upon  tihalt invitation.
     demned to death, had been cruelly naiIed  to the cross,       Upon sight of Him all his heart cried out with joy:
     had been destroyed. . . .                                     it is the Lord ! He is risen indeed !
         This Thomas had seen !                                      The "otherness" of therisen  Lord, too, h,ad been sug-
         The enemy had triumphed. The cause of  #he Lord gested to, had been impressed upon him.  -
     was a lost cause !                                               Not only had the Lord revealed that He knew everv
         Why should the disciples still meet after He, Who         word he had spoken in his boast that he would not
     was the very bond of their fellowship, had been taken lb&eve unless he  wouId  first put his  fmger  into the
     away?                                                         print of the nails, and thrust  hlis hand  ino  tJhe  pierced
         And so Thomas was not in t!hair midst, when the           side of the Lord ; but the suddenness and marve1 of this
     Lord manifested Himself to His  aisoiples on the  even-       manifestation plainly testified that the Lord was risen.
     i,ng of the resurrection day.                                 He came and stood in their midst, though the doors
         And, although he permitted himself to be per-             were  &hut ! How had He come? Whither had He appear-
     suaded to meet with them eight days later, his spiritual ed in their midst? To ask these questions is to show that
     attitude was unchanged.                                       still we do not understand that Jesus Christ is  ?+isen.
         What could be` ascertained by  `his senses he  wou1.d        Yet, so it was : Jesus is raised from the dead !
     believe !                                                        His body had been sown  iin corruption, it was raised
         unless. .  *  . I will not believe !                      in incorruption ; it was sown in dishonour, it was raised
                                                                   in glory ; it was sown in {weakness, it was raised in
         My Lord and my Cod !                                      [power;  it had been sown a natural body, it was now
         Such was the glorious  confession  wrung from raised a spiritual body. In glory and power and life
     Thomas' heart and mouth by the wonderful manifesta-           He is exalted far above the first Adam. The latter was
     tion of the risen Lord to him.                                a living soul, of the eartlh earthy; the risen Lord is a
         What is its significance?                                 quickening spirit,  theLord from heaven!
         Had Thomas seen and was this confession the re-              My Lord and my Cod !                        ,f
     sult of what he had seen? Was the object of his faith            Thomas believed even then far more than he could
     still  limtited  by the  s.cope of the things he could see    perceive by his senses. And still more of that risen
     and touch? Yes, Thomas had seen, and he believed.             Lord  is hid from our perception, can be appropriated
     But  surely,  what he believed and expressed in his only by the faith that does not see.,
     confession far transcended the limits of his experience.         For He is our justification, our  Gfe, our eternal
        My Lord and my Cod !                                       hope !
        Though the contents of this marvellous  confession            BIessed,  therefore, is he that  bath not seen, yet
     were somehow suggested by what he had seen, they              believed !
     could themselves not possibly be the object of his sense-        For, that faith is  saIvation!         "
     perception.    But he had been witness of the reality            FuIness  of joy !                                 H. H.
I


316                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                                                                   I wish to add only a few remarks.
                                                                   First of  ah, let me state that the letter from
                    E d i t o r i a l s                        Kalamazoo's consistory was not "intercepted". To
                                                               intercept means that someone takes possession of any-
                                                               thing before it arrives at is destined place. That was
       A Second Letter From Kalamazoo                          not the case here at all. Kalamazoo sent the letter
                                                               to our Stated Clerk. It was duly received by him.
       Our Synodical  Stated Clerk received a second letter He delivered the letter to undersigned, which was also
from the consistory of the "Protesting Christian Re-           quite  .proper,  for  undersi,gned  was chairman of the
formed Church" of Kalamazoo, Michigan,  the pur- committee appointed by our Synod in this matter.
pose of which is, evidently, to repeal the first letter And the consistory of Kalamazoo might have known
in regard to the same matter.                                  and did know all this, because  i$t `was plainly stated in
       The Stated Clerk, Rev. D. Jonker, delivered the         our letter to them that our Synod had appointed such
Ietter  to undersigned as chairman of the  commiltiee          a committee. There was, therefore, no "intercepting"
in this matter, appointed by our Synod ; and under- of the letter.
signed hereby gives notice to the other members of                 Secondly, personally  I cannot see anything con-
the same committee of the receipt and contents of trary to Reformed "law" or to good order in the publi-
this letter.       I do not consider it necessary to con-      cation and discussion of this ;ietter  in the Standard
voke the committee.        However, if they should think       Bearer.     Matters that are to be, brought b the at-
otherwise, let them inform me and I  wil1 gladly call a        tention of a synod are not private. It is quite custom-
meeting.                                                       ary to discuss certain matters that are to appear on the
                                                               synod&l  program and to shed light on them before
       The letter here follows:                                the Synod meets. Our letter  to the  Consistoy:  of
                                                               Kalamazoo had been published in the  Acta of our
        "To the Synod of the Protestant Reformed               Synod, as well as in  The  Standard  Bearer.  And all
        Chupch.                                                our churches certainly were interested to know  swhat
                                                               Kalamazoo would answer. Hence, I cannot agree with
        e/o Rev. D. Jonker, Stated Clerk.                      t%s opinion of the  consisttory  of Kalamazoo in this
          "Esteemed <brethren  :                               matter.
                                                                   Thirdly, suppose that my action in the matter was
          "The consistory of the Protesting Christian          improper, how could the consistory of Kalamazoo
        Reformed Church of Kalamazoo has taken                 blame our churches for this and refuse to have their
        notice of the fact that the letter written to          first letter received and acknowledged? This certaimy
        the Protestant Reformed Church and address-            is a very peculiar interpretation and application of
        ed to their Stated Clerk on July 30, 2940 has          Reformed Church "law".
        been openly published and discussed in the                 Finally, in my judgment matters did not obange
        Standard Bearer by one of its ministers, Rev.          much, for the simple reason that the Consistory of
        H. Hoeksema.                            3              Kalamazoo does not withdraw very much of importance
          "The consistory, at its regular meeting of           (except  of negative importance) by withdrawing t%e
        December 23, 1940, decided that, whereas this          complete contents of its first letter.
        letter was addressed to the  Frotestant  Re-                                                                 H. H.
        formed Church, it is entirely contrary to Re-
        formed Church law and good order  that this
        letter was intercepted and publicly discussed
        by one individual, this letter being an answer                                 IN  MEMORIAM
        to a missive received from the Synod of the                Met dezen betuigt de Vrouwen Vereeniging der Prot. Geref.
        above mentioned church, and the consistory-            Kerk te Hull, Iowa, haar deelnemen met de familie Gritlcrs  in
        withdraws the complete contents of their               het overlijden van
        letter sent to you on said date.                                       CROOTMOL'IDER  J.  GRITTEPS
             Gonsistory  of the                                    Moge de Heere de bedroefde familie  troosten en bun smart
             Protesting Christian Reformed  Ghurc?:."          ieenigen   door de  venekering  dat  zij  is ingegaan in de vreugde
                                                               haars Heeren, op Wien zij deze vele  jaren  mocht  hopen.
          Respectfully yours,                                                            Namens de Vereeniging,
             Was signed: Pres. Henry Danhof                                                         Ds. A. Cammenga,  Pres.
                            Clerk G. Joe W. Hendriksen.                                             Mrs. G. Blankespoor,  Seer.


                                             THE   STANDARD   BEARER.                                                    327

algemeeiie welvaart der wereld, dan het Individualisme
van het Individu. Het menschelijk ras was nu 6&n                                   A Time To Plant
geheel geworden, en het droeg een ontzettende verant-
woording voor zichzelf; er waren geen  prive rechten                  Spring, what a beautiful time of life!  All nature
meer. . . . De christenen bewezen eer aan een denk-               has been roused from the dead of winter's sleep. Bleek,
beeldig  boven natuurlijk  wezen.  De Christenen,  schei-         barren, fieIds are again car,petted with mossy green.
den  zich dus  vrijwillig af vanahet  Lichaam, zij war-en Forests are alive with the chirp of Ifeathered  songsters
als afgestorven ledematen, die  zich  lieten  overheer-           as they gayly lhop from limb to twig. Babbling brooks
schen door een kracht  van buiten, die hun Ieven zelf             go singing along as frozen ponds are changed to mir-
in ge;aar bracht  en daardoor het geheele Lichaam in roring pools.
gevaar  tbrachten.      Moord, diefstal, onteering, zelfs             W'ith nature all astir with life, how can man be left
anarchic,   waren geen misdaden te noemen, vergeleken             unstirred? Impossible!' Old and young cannot react
bij die monsterlijke zonde; want waar de anderen het alike to ithe stimulant of Spring's new life. Here  some
Lichaam lkwaad  ,berokkenden,  deden zij tech nog geen            prod in a little garden plot; there another turns  f,urrow
aanval op het hart-hierdoor leed alleen  het individu  ;          upon furrow on seemingly endless plains. Here the
maar het leven zelf was niet aangerand. In het chris- seed is carefully planted inch by inch ; there the whir
tendom schuilde een absoluut doodelijk vergif. Iedere of a machine speedily drills in {bushel after bushel.
ceI, die er mede besmet werd,  tastte  dir& het leven             Thus  hope is renewed, ideals climb  high-Sl&-ing's
aaq. Dit en dit  a&en   was  de misdaad van  Hoogver-             dawn promises more than all the  .yesteryears  ; for
raad tegenover den mensch-en  slechts  het absoluut ,Spring is the time of life-Spring is a time to plant.
uitroeien  was een gepast middel. Met deze argumenten                 So, too, there is a Springtime in our life. A time
gewapend  trokken de sprekers de wereld in, en  bet               when life knows nought of winter's death ; neither of
succes was aanmerkelijk groot geweest" (R. H. Ben- barren fields or Ifutures bleak because of an eye that
son, De God Der Wereld).                                          is dimmed and spirits gone. A time when fiie 18' new
    Afgeclacht nu of we het z.156 in alles zullen  nazeggen, and young and fresh, the body strong, the mind alert,
ligt hier tech i&s in, dat ons doet denken  aan d& toe-           when the spirits are high and tasks seem play. That
komst,  zoowel   als het  heden.   Aan het  heden,   wan-         time is-YOUTH-the time of life--the time to plant !
neer het zoogenaamde Ariaansche .bloed (Hitler's An-                 As the `green world of the forest and  (the fields are
tropologie)  vergelij'ken  met wat de schrijver hier under the dominion of God's law of seasons, when life
boven aangehaald  zegt van den Staat, de  mensche-                is new and strong and we must plant, so, too, our lives
lijke staat  vlak voor het einde. En met het oog op het are under a similar law. There are seasons in our
einde en den`dienst der zonde zijn de hierboven  trek-            lives when certain things mu& be done, and can be
ken we1 aan te nemen wanneer we de strijd ons zien                done most fittingly and with the greatest success. And
geteekend  tusschen den Christus en Zijn tegenstander. for us the secret of success is the discernment of those
                                                    w. v.         God-given seasons in which we must accomplish certain
                                                                  duties, and-the promt performance of them.
                             -                           \           What could be more important, therefore, than to
                                                                  discern in what season of our life God `has arranged for
                 `WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                             us to plant?  It is wisdom on the part of any man,
    On April  11, 1941, our dear parents,                         woman or child to know the season of life in which one
                      JOHN  RYSKAMP                               must `prepare oneself for one's task and calling; when
                              and                                 he must labor and toil to lay up ability and energy to .
                 HATTIE  RYSKAXP-Ratts                            be able to do his duties successfully when once he shall
commemorated their 35th Wedding Anniversary.                      be stationed at Ihis post in life.
    We, their grateful children, extend our hearty congratula-       Nothing of value developes of itself. Great men
tions  to them, and thank our Lord for His  grace and  loving     of the world do not gain their achievements by simply
kindness in sparing them for each other and us these many         watching and waiting, wishing and `woulding.          The
years.    We pray that He will grant them many more years         old proverb still holds true in all spheres of life:
together, surrounded with His blessings.                          "wishers and woulders are poor housekeepers". Men
                                Mr. and Mrs.  Neil  J. Ryskamp    and women of fame have toiled  tirelessIy to gain their
                                and 5 grandchildren :             end. Men of invention have taxed ,their mind to the
                                     Donna H.                     verge of insanity to perfect their inventions. Before
                                     Lois V.                      any harvest, comes the time of ,patient  planting, (while
                                     Cari  J.                     the manner of sowing and the quality of the seed shall
                                     Neil G.                      also determine the future  fharvest,  for: `Whatsoever
                                     Howard D.                    a man soweth, that shall he also reap".


' 328                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

         The planting time  of  man's  life is youth. Youth towa@ the knowledge of Scripture. It may. be that
 contains the years best suited ior the preparation of you are' getting false ideas which later YC~U will hold
 our calling. The years  b&wee&i   ,childhood  and one-, for t.he truth. Such false ideas are  easiiy obtained in
 two-, and three twenty years will for almost every some faulty church, society, school or by reading only
 young man or woman determine their history. What such material which &ases  our carnal desires.
 the young man makes of himself to-day and what the                  Considering the seriousness of youth, should we not
 young woman makes of herself to-day-that he or she ask ourselves in all sincerity: "am I  planting  the right
 shall be in the years of to-morrow. When young, one kind of seed"?
 should remember in all one's activities that there are             To answer that question you would first of all need
 things,  w-g important things,,  which,  uniess one does to  iknow what kind of harvest . yod expect to reap.
 them now, the overwhelming probability is that one             What is your goal and aim in life? "What do you con-
 will  never do them at all ; and the certainty is that         sider your duty.? What  are you  living for?
 later it  -will be done half as  Iwell.                            Fbr the covenant youth there can only be one goal,
    The reason for this is that youth is that season in         one aim in life, and that is the honor and glory of our
 life when one can acquire and accumulate very easily Covenant  God. We do not live afor ourselves, but for
 fore one's needs in future years. The Lord has so our God. Therefore, first of all, we should be inter-
 created man that in these years he can learn easily anii       ested in His Kingdom, the Church of  J&us Christ.
 quickly. And not only this, but he retains what he And we should now prepare ourselves for our place in
 has Iearned  when young. Life itself proves ithis truth : ithat Church. How could `we better prepare ourselves
 Set down  8 man who has never learned his alphabet, for it than by a faithful church attendance, a  bvely
 to learn his letters, and see what' a task it is for him ;     interest in our society, catechism, etc.
 or if he takes a pen in his hand for the first time, look          Secondly, we should .prepare  ourselves for our place
 how difficdt the stiff ,wrist and knuckles find it to bend.    in everyday life. In youth we often  ibecome so careless
 Listen to the aged recite the poems they learned in            about etiis  question. Aimlessly we go through school
 their youth, but notice too, that the  hwpenings of            or quit school, or look for a job paying the most or
 to-day  are  forgotten+                                        offering the most  leisure. Should we not ask ourselves :
    Youth, too, is the  plan!ting time of our life because how can'I'best  serve God with the talents I possess . . .
 there are no old and false ideas and practices which and then do it with alI our power?
 must first be gotbten  rid of to make room for the new             Let us not be ,misled  with the mistaken notion that
and the .true. Someone has correctly remarked: "An godliness and piety belong to old age. How often the
old person's mind is like grandmother's home, if you            remark is heard : "YOU can't put old heads on young
 give her a bit of new furniture she must first re- shoulders'!. Referring to some misdeed of the youth
 arrange or get rid of some of the old to  maike  room for      it ,is easily remarked : "Young men twill be young men",
the new".                                                       or, "They must sow  their wild  oats:`.  But let us re-
    If you are in the planting season of your life it member that as  ,covenant  youth we have received new
,may  be well  to ask, {what are you planting? Probably shoulders under an  o8d head. For beneath those shoul-
some may say: "I'm not planting anything, I really ders there beats a heart renewed by the power and
 haven't started yet". Rut this is never true.  Lf  by Spirit of regenerating grace. Therefore, though with
the grace of God and through the power of regenera- our mind we may sometimes think that there is joy
tion we are not planting that which is good and right, in the ways of the world, the new life within assures
then it can only mean that the garden of our life shall         us: "To live apart from God is death, `t is g& His
yield t&at  which is evil. Our life is like any field or face to see". Being governed by that new life, we will
garden, if the husbandman does not conscientiously walk in newness of life ; and through the power of the
cultivate and plant the good' it till naturally yield           Spirit of Christ it  (will become evident that virtue and
thorns and thistles. So, too, with you, whether you             religion belong to youth as well as to the aged.
,wilI recognize the fact or no, you are planting!                   As covenant youth let us not permit the cares, the
    Certain it is `that we are planting habits, either enjoyme&,   the pleasures and duties of this life to
good or bad. Habits, it is said, "are actions hardened, crowd out religion and godliness. It is so easily said:
like  the juice that erudes from a pine tree, liquid when "If I had not so much to study for school, or if I would
it comes out, and when it is exposed to air, is sohdi-          not be so tired of my day's work, I would have more
fied and tenacious". Or it may be likened to: "a man time for religion, for church, catechism and society",
making a *track  wi'th great diffiiculty across the snow in     Such remarks reveal only too well that you are putting
the morning,  butt every time he travels it the track last things firs& andtoo,  that you are pushing godliness
becomes a little wider, and it is easier walking": Pas-         and piety to the time of old age or among the medicine
sibly you are forming the habit of irregular church,            bottles.
society or catechism attendance ; or a carefree .attitude           At all times let us remember that the strength of


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                     329

youth is in  ,the Word of God. Only that Word is a harving  ,been otherwise instructed. But I cannot under-
power unto salvation tfor those that believe, by it we     stand #how a man who reads and studies Ithe Word of
shall be armed against any temtptation,  through it we     God, can approve of such a poem, and rejoice instead
shall be warned  ,against seductive ways, and in keeping of grieve, to have music composed to such words.
it there is a great reward. Now-in our  youtth  is the        "What will you do with Jesus?" is the first line.
time to become armed with the knowledge of that "I will reject and crucify Him" is the only answer the
Word. It is ,no time to look for our (weapons when the natural man can give. "No man can come to me, ex-
sudden temptation leaps upon us. God's Word and cept the Father which hath se& me, draw him" Jesus
will should be so familiar to us that we shall be ready tells us. And if God draws him, he does not boast, and
at a mirmte's notice.                                      say "i will take His <hand" as `the poem hmas it, Jbut he
   Youth-the time to plant!  .Let us make  ,use of it says, "He will take my h,and, and strengthen me to `hold
through the grace of God ! Let us not put it off because His hand. I have not chosen Him, butt He has chosen
it requires giving up some aim or pleasure, but: "If me".
thine eye offend thee, pluck it out". And the  *promise       "Will you  `pass by and forget Him?"  .the poem
is ours; "He that will lose his life for My sake, shah     reads. Yes, I will, unless He, by His irresistible power
save it".                        Rev. A. Cammenga.         stops me, so that I  cannat pass by and forget Him.
                                                           But then I do not say, "I remembered Him", but He
                                                           remembered me, and I love Him only because He first
                                                           loved me".
                                                              "Jesus is tenderly calling", we further read. Yes,
                      Contribution                         He is tenderly calling. Who? His sheep, and they
                                                           "near His voice and they follow Him, they cannot do
Rev. H. Hoeksema,                                          otherwise, because He is their Shepherd.         "What-
Dear Editor  :-                                            soever  the Father giveth me,  shalI come  ;tO me", Jesus
                                                           teaches us.
   T&e article of Mrs. P. D. B., "By `Their Fruits Ye         Patientiy  waiting each day", we read next. God
Shall Know Them" in Our Church News of March 28, is indeed patient and longsuffering toward His people,
with which I  w~holeheartedly  agree, prompts me to but He is not patientIy  waiting each day, as He is here
write tiese lines.                                         represented, as a helpless God, who is dependent upon
   I was Iparticularly  interested in Mrs. D. B.`s article, men  b come to Him. Surely this is an Arminian
since the poem referred to, which appeared in  Tlhe view.
Banner, also especially drew my attention as being            "Give Him your heart, oh sinner", we further read.
very Arminian.                                             Surely we read in Proverbs, "My son, give me thine
   I ,wrote an article to Mr. R. Postma "Uncle Dick",      heart", but not as it is represented here, as a God who
w.ho is editor of the children's page, on which page the is begging and pleading to give your heart to Him,
poem appeared, and who approved very much of but we  Ihave here a command to' His child, "My son",
the poem, and asked him to place my article in a command from Him, who speaks and it is done, and
The Banner. After waiting for about a month and then He does not ask, "will YQU",  but he makes us will-
receiving no  reply on my article, I contacted Mr. ing ,and ready, and the son in whom that new life has
Postma and also Rev. H. Kuiper, The Banner editor, *been implanted can do nothing else, and wi,ll do nothing
who refused to place my article, and I had quite an else but give Him :his heart. It is a necessity for him
argument with both of them . The reason why the to serve God Iwith `his whole heart, and he walks in
article was not placed came down to this, "It was not those good works which God h&h before ordained that
in accord with the Three Points. It was one-sided". he  shou1.d walk in them,  an,d again,  all boasting is
"Not their-sided, of course",                              excluded.
   I requested again to have i.t placed and to have           And so we can go on with the other stanzas. Surely
Mr.  Postma  write an article stressing "the other side", these words being sung by our covenant children,
aad refuting my arguments, which  they refused to do,      cannot be to the praise of our God, who is a jealous
so I am asking you, dear editor, to place my article in    C&d, zealous  lfor His honor and glory. May we never
The Standard Bearer.                                       in any wise ascribe any honor to man, but let him that
                                                           glorieth,  glory in {the Lord.
   Dear Mr. Postma:                                           In all sincerity I would like to ask you, "What is
   It grieved me to read in The Banner of February there in the poem that you like  SQ well?"
21, the poem of Mary Van Ho&n, and it grieved me              May we as covenant parents and teachers be found
still more when I read your article above the poem.        faithful in the instruction of our covenanlt children,
After all the child cannot be blamed, very likely never and teach them sound hymns which are based upon


330                                          THE  STANDARD   BEARER.

that word, as these, "Not what my hands have done",
"On Christ, the solid rock I stand", and many more.                           Our Own School - A Promise?
Then alone can  Iwe and our children  rhave comfort,
when we know that our salvation is sure, because  itt is            " W H E T H E R   Y o u   P R O M I S E
not dependent upon us, for then we would be lost, but                   and intend to see these  children,  when come to the
upon our Almighty CZd, who will surely perfect that                 years of discretion,  instructed and brought up  in the
which concerneth us, and will not forsake the work                  aforesaid doctrine,  or help or cause them to be in-
of His own hands. He is faithful that promised, and structed therein, to the  utmost  of  `your power?"
He talkes  our hand and leads us all ,the way.                           Wshat is your answer?
       Surely God deals with us as moral, rational crea-                "y&B, I I"
                                                                                . .
tures, and we work out our own salvation with fear                      This promise all, who have received children of the
and trembling, but we can be admonished to do so only               Lord, have made at one time or another. It is the
because it is God that worketh in us both to will and               pledge elicited from Reformed parents when a child
to ,do of !His good pleasure, and then we respond, we               is presented for baptism. The. "Yes" is the inevitable
must respond, and we again confess that it is all of reply.
grace. We can be pleasing to Him only when we com-                       How easily this pledge is given!          Who answers
pose poems which make us nothing, and God all, when anything  bu,t "Yes". .The child must be baptized !
we teach our children to sing, "Nothing in my hand I And if this demands the making of a 8promise;-a  prom-
bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling". Then we and our ise must and shall be made. Few pledges, to my mind,
children are on the right track, but we can never say to            are more easily, more superficially, more wreoklesdy
God, "Look what I've done, I've given my heart to made. One wonders how many parents, when uttering
Thee", but in true humility let us sing, "All that I am their invariable "yes", are fully conscious of the im-
I  owe to Thee."                                                    plications of the promise they are `making.
       May God gilve us much light and wisdom in order                   How easily, too, it is broken! When taken in its
that we may train our covenant children according  ,to              deepest significance this is always true. Who is auda-
His precepts, and ever give Him the praise which  is cious and spiritually ignorant enough to think that
due unto His Name.                                                  he keeps the  batptismal  pledge perfectly? However,
  I am writing these lines as a seeker of  Zion's wel-              also in its more external significance it is conveniently
fare. Please receive them as such.                                  forgotten when parents become lax toward church at-
                                          Sincerely yours,          tendance and catechism and  school.
                                      Mrs. Marie Jonker.                 Yet, how vital to the welfare of us and our children
       It is really deplorable that "The Banner" refuses that this covenant promise  .be faithfully kept.
space to its own readers for articles of this kind. "The
Standard Bearer" is not afraid that open discussion W H A T   Y o u   P R O M I S E -
will ever injure the truth.            Hence, if Mr.  Postma             These children!
should feel inclined to defend  lxls position over against               We must instruct these children ; all whom we thus
Mrs. Jonker  (w,ho,  by the way is none other than present for baptism; all our natural seed. `Historically
"Mr. M. J." about twhose  identity we were wondering they all belong to the covenant of Cad. All are not
a few numbers  baok),  we will be glad to  ,pla,ce his              true children of God's covenant.  '  All do not belong
contribution.                                          H. H.        to  ,&he promised seed, for there is always in ;the church
                      *                                             on earth a two-fold seed, that of the woman and that
                               -                                    of the serpent.             The covenant is established with
                                                                    "A.braham  and his seed", and these are the believers
                           I N   MEMORIAM                           only. Nevertheless, historically all our children belong
       The Priscilla Society of the Protestant Reformed Church      to  the sphere of the covenant as it manifests itself  .in
of Hudsonville, Michigan, hereby wishes to express its sympathy     the world.         Wherefore all must and do receive the
with two of our members, Mrs. H. Kuiper and Mrs,  W. Kuiper,        sign and sealof the covenant of God.
who recently received word from the Netherlands that their               Besides, a covenant  parent can and may never do
mother,                                                             otherwise than instruct all his natural seed in the
                      STIENTJE DE HAAN                              same way of Jehovah's precepts. For the Christian
has passed away at the age of seventy-one years.                    another course would be impossible.             The godless,
       May the Lord comfort the bereaved in the assurance of a      reprobate seed as well as the children of the promise
heavenly reunion. Blessed are the dead who die in the  Lord.        must be instructed in "the aforesaid doctrine".
                             In name of the Priscilla Society,           Finally, we can instruct the true seed, which are
                                     Rev. J. D. de Jong, Pres.      the children of the promise, only by training all our
                                     Mrs.  3. A.  Schut,  Sec'y.    children, We are neither able nor called to separate


                                             TH%  STANDARD   B%ARER                                                 381

     between the spiritual and carnal seed.                      spect to God, man, the world, God's' counsel, provi-
        We must instruct and bring up these  children.           dence, creation, sin, grace, the covenant, the church,
        The life of man begins with the period of childhood, heaven, hell, and all things. ,How much of that "afore-
     characterized by passivity and simple receptivity. The said doctrine" can be found at the basis of much
     child is blessed with a clear, impressionable mind ; a so-called Christian instruction today?
     strong, retentive memory; a keen, sometimes wild               In the sphere  *of that doctrine these children must
     imagination. The child is trusting, too. It does not be  instructed  and brought up.  Not only must this
     easily question the integrity and trustworthiness of its "aforesaid doctrine" be the direct contents and object
     instructors. It readily imbibes what it is taught. What of the instruction and training we give our children.
     an age for instruction and training in the aforesaid The latter must not only be faithfully indoctri&&d.
.    doctrine !                                                  All the training and instruction our seed receives must
        This period all too soon passes on into that of be in the sphere of, in harmony with, on the ,basis of
     adolescence.      O'ur passive, trusting child is growing the specific Reformed truth, the doctrine "taught here
     up. The young man is no longer merely passive  and in this Christian. church."
     receptive. In fact, he is more apt  to assume a critical       Mind you, you promise. The instruction and bring-
     attitude toward all he is taught. The period of adole- ing  ap of children is  pr.imarily  and principally the
     scence, is  not  without its element of conceit. Y&,        task of the parents whose children they are. It  is
     the adolescent has not attained to much stability, nei- natural and  Iogical that this should be the "case.
     ther in conceptions nor in walk of life. The period Parents know their own children, their .characteristics
     of adolescence, therefore, is fraught with dangers. and disposition an.d temperament and ability, as no
     Also  ,here I would say: what an age for instruction other person can know them. And parents love their
     and training in the af0resai.d  doctrine ! But a&o, how children, .whatever  <their  faults, as only parents can.
     necessary that this be begun before, long before  this      It is reasonable, therefore, that the bringing up of.
     delicate period of life  &S reached.                        children should be primarily and basically the duty and
        A few fleeting years in this critical period and task of the -@arents. That responsibility parents  pro-
     your boys have become men, your girls women. Your rfess to have assumed when they repIy  affirmatively to
     passive, impressionable children ; your still  pliabIe      the third baptismal question. And note, as far as the
     young men and women have grown up. More or less parents themselves are concerned, they o&y are re-
     suddenly and  Ipainfully  you come to the  realiza&ion      sponsible for the bringing up of their children. This
     that the time of  instruSction  and training has gone does not mean that others in the church, who have no
     by,-forever. The man is less easily impressed, more children, shoulder no responsibility in the matter of
     matter-of-fact. Ris opinions are formed, his  till is Christian instruction and Christian school.  They1 too,
     set, his conceptions have ripened, whether right or have a calling. The covenant school is their school,
     wrong. The tender sprig may be bent in any direction too. From their point of view the covenant children
     or shape. K may ,be tied into a knot. But once it has instructed in those schools are their children, too.
     become a branch it defies every attempt at reforma- The let-the+psrents-take-care-of-their-own-children  at-
     tion. As long as cement is soft and fresh impressions titude, which so many who have no children of school-
     are readily made in it. But, once  i,t has hardened going age have assumed, must certainly, be condemned.
     nothing less than extreme force can make the slightest Nevertheless, from the viewpoint of the parents the
     impression on it. Need it be greatly stressed how responsibility can and may never be shifted to others.
     essential it is, with a view to the training of our child- neither as far as the instruction proper is concerned,
     ren, that these things be remembered?                       nor as far as the financial obligations go. Whether we
         Our baptismal pledge speaks of the aforesaid doc- instruct and train ourselves or cause or <help them to be
     trine.                                                      instructed, "-we pledge to bring up our children in the
         The second baptismal question makes plain what "aforesaid doctrine".
     is meant.       "Whether you acknowledge the doctrine          To the utmost of our power.
     which is contained in the Old and New Testament, and           Parents, in how far are we bringing our "yes", so
     in the articles of our Christian  Ifaith, and which is easily, often inadvertently uttered, into actual prac-
     taught  here  &z this Christian Church,  ;t;o be the true tice ?
     and perfect doctrine of salvation."
         Hence, the Scriptural, Christian, Reformed, Pro- THE  SCHOOL-
     testant Reformed Doctrine is meant. The "aforesaid             This instruction of our children involves three
     doctrine" is not a general,  colorIess, indefinite, super- distinct spheres or agencies, the home, the church, and
     ficial Christianity such as many people are content  to *the school. These are closely related. Ultimately they
     have as a basis for Christian instruction. It is the have the same purpose. All three must be based
     distinct, colorful, specfic Reformed doctrine with re- on and proceed from the same religious, doctrinal


332                                    T H E S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

principles. And only then is the instruction and train- one moment that sending children to the public school,
ing of the child as it should be when home, church,        the school of the world, wi,th its hatred for God and
and school cooperate to the fullest extent. However,       His people, its systematic  excIusion of all  sectarian
they are not mere  reduphcations.  They are and re- teaching, where the Word of God is trampled under
main distinct. The home is the place where the child foot, where the teachers are enemies of the covenant
is  realIy  trained, brought' up, although the element of of God, where the ape comes in the place of the Creator,
instruction is by no means excluded.        Church and where accursed modernism and atheism and consequent
school emphasize instruction, though training is not godlessness reign supreme, where antichrist is on
exch$ed. And these, in turn, have their peculiar eall- the throne, principally,-hardly allows of the qualifi-
ing and task.    Indoctrination proper is the  task of cation of constituting a breaking of the baptismal
the church. She must  watch over the flock of God,         pledge." To me there is a direct relation. The one
preserve sound doctrine, develop and defend the truth.     demands the other. The breaking of the one imtpllies
This never is and never should be made the task of the the breaking of the other.
school. The class-room must not be made into a cate-          In the school we parents "help and cause our child-
chism class. On the other hand, in the school we help ren to be instru&ed". In reality it is only an extension
and cause our children to be instructed in the aforesaid of the home, having arisen of practical necessity from
doctrine with a view to their  @lace as covenant child- the development of life in general. The school is not
ren in this present life and world.                        given with creation, as was the home, neither was it
   Does any one doubt the necessity and importance specifically instituted, as was the church. it is simply
of the school as an agency in the training and intel- the practical result of the development. and increasing
lectual and spiritual development of the child? And        complexity of life itself.    As long as possible the
can any one fail to see what tremendous influence a        parents did all the instructing. As  htfe progressed
teacher can and does have on the child? 30 weeks out the educational requirements of the child increased.
of each year, 5 days out of every week, 5 hours every      Finally the parents had neither the time nor the means
day our children are under the care, influence;training    to  ,give  their children adequate instruction along secu-
of their teachers. Some 1,000 hours! For every hour        lar lines.    Thus the school came into being and
in the catechism room they spend 50 hours in school !      teachers were hired ta care for this Iparticular  phase
How vital to the welfare of the child that its instruc- of the child's bringing-up.
tion in the school be in perfezt harmony, principally,        In this school the children are instructed in the
with that in the home and the church. And how im- subjects essential to prepare them for their place `in
portant, that the teachers do not counteract, but com-     this world, and that on the basis of and in harmony
plement the work of home and church. A Christian           with "the aforesaid doctrine". At least, so they must!
home and--church must of necessity be complemented If things natural and spiritual, earthly and heavenly,
by a Christian school ; a Reformed home and church  by     temporal and eternal were unrelated this wouId  not
a Reformed school; a Protestant Reformed home and be true. In that case we should not need a Christian
church by a Protestant Reformed school.                    school, except, perhaps, for reasons of environment.
   I want to emphasize, that the baptismal pledge and Certainly, we should not need a school based on "the
the Christian school are directly related. The former aforesaid doctrine". Bult things natural and spiritual
makes the latter mandatory. I do not believe what are ,related,  as means are related to the end and the
Prof. Kromminga wrote in a Banner of some years ago.       way to the destination. Therefore a Christian is called
"If Christian parents  tfaiichfully  indoctrinate their to live in all things from the principle of regeneration
children and faithfuily  send them to catechism,  their and by the light of the Word of God. The Christian
failure to send them to a Christian school may certain- must be a Christian always and the truth of God's
ly be qualified as a deficiency in their performance of Word must be the lamp before our feet and the light on
their Christian duty in this respect,  but hardly allows our pathway in all things and always. Thus we feel
of the qualification of constituting a breaking of their the need af a `Christian school, which is not a public
baptismal pledge. The proper procedure in such a school plus some Biblical instruction and religious
case is educational. This will be all the more because exercises, but a Christian institution throughout. Thus
the duty of sending children to Christian  schools is we see the need, too, of doctrine in our s,nhooIs; sound,
only inferentially ,and indirectly required by the bap-    unadulterated, Reformed doctrine.
tismal pledge." To this view I  take  exception. The          That doctrine must be the basis of all instruction
professor himself  ksows how enemies of "Christian in- in our schools. Mind you, the true doctrine, Reformed
struction have quoted this same passage to their ad- doctrine, Protestant Reformd doctrine. Nothing less
vantage. I refer especially to that enemy of the Chris- will do. Some peopIe  are content with some general
tian school, the Rev.  L. Brunsting of the Reformed        Christian teachings. They would speak of a Christian
Church of Sioux Center, Iowa. I do not believe for         school, but not a Reformed school, still `less a  Pro-


                                     THE  STANDARD   BEARER                                                      333

testant  Reformed school. God forbid that such be our .the editor-in-chief of The Banner these instructions we
conception of what our children should have. With are willing to retract. That propaganda would consist
such a general, lukewarm Christianity you have sacri- solely of emphasizing "the one side", election, particu-
ficed all that is worth while. That attitude is proving lar atonement, grace for the elect only, total depravity,
to be and will prove to be the death of the Christian      etc., w,ithout including "the other side". Such an
school. And church and home as well!                       article the broadminded Banner may not receive. That
                                                           does not mean that articles will not be published which
THAT  OTHER  SIDE.                                         stress  only  "the  other  side". They will be received,
   Speaking of Reformed truth and Reformed prin- even though they make wholesale propaganda for
ciples which must form the basis of all instruction,       Arminianism and modernism. Do the brethren feel
who has not heard of "the other side", meaning: the        the weakness, perhaps, of always saying to their
other side of the truth. Sinlee  1924, in fact, that "other hearers and readers, "we cannot  <understand,  we cannot
side', has received the lion share of attention.           harmonize, we know it seems contradijctory,  it is not
   The one side, then, is the truth as we confess and      logical,-but we  .believe  it just the same"? As soon
believe it as Protestant Reformed churches and people. as our editor-in-chief refuses articles for The Standard
To this side  belonag  such doctrines as election and Bearer "because they make propaganda for the Chris-
reprobation, grace for the elect only, the preaching tian Reformed Churches", in slpite of the fact that he
of the Word of God as it intends to save only God's        is  at liberty to criticize them as he sees fit, please
elect, constant development of the world in sin, total discontinue my subscription. Any doctrine that can-
depravity and related doctrines. To quite an extent        not stand that, test is not the truth.
our Christian Reformed brethren also believe these            IIt is .reasonable  to assume, that "that other side",
truths, so they assure us. That's the one side. How-       so dear to our Christian Reformed brethren, must also
ever, they hasten to add, "you Protestant Reformed find a place in the Christian  schools.  The teachers
people are onesided". There is also "the other side". are saturated with it from Sunday to Sunday, while
That "other side" teaches, that there is grace for all our churches and principles are constantly condemned.
men, that  &d loves even the reprobates, that the          That must bear its fruit in the field of education. God
presehing of the Word offers redemption (which was         is gracious to all ! He desires the salvation of all men !
not merited for them' by Christ, and which God, there-     Toward all men He assumes an attitude of love and
fore, does not even possess) to all men, that there is a good. will, ! The Spirit restrains sin from the begin-
constant restraint of sin by the operation of the Holy ninlg! Man still has remnants of the righteousness he
Spirit in the hearts of all men, and that as a result of had in Paradise! By virtue of it he can still please
this gracious- operation all men are still able to per-    God in many things ! All these are principles which
form that which is `good before God. Can you har- must become manifest in school, whether the teachers
monize the "one side" with "the other side"? No. do so Iconsciously  or sulbconsciously. Those who might
Apparently, in fact, they contradict each other. But feel inclined to teach "the truth" are hamstrung,  and
we believe both, they say. Amazing faith!                  too few to make any appreciable difference to us.
   Now that "other side" is precious to our Christian          Must our children be instructed in "that other
Reformed brethren with whom we thus  lfar cooperate side" from' day to day? Remember. it makes a great
in the field of education and whom we until. now per-      deal of difference whether our children get their his-
mit to have charge  of the instruction of our children. tory in the light of common grace and "the other side"
So dead is that "other side" to them, that brethren or whether it is in the light of the Word of God. The
who fail to emphasize it must be expelled from the one interprets all history in the light of God's love and
fellowship of the Christian Reformed churches.  That grace to all men, chedking  of sin and "the good that
doctrine, .which our people have received an,d loved for sinners do". The other explains men and events and
these many year, can have no place in their midst. historical trends in `the light of. the antithesis, total
Mind you, men who preach that "other side" and are depravity, constant deveIopment  of the world in sin,
Arminian in so doing are not molested. Men who             the covenant. The same holds for civics, science, phsy-
*have always been known as Iiberal remain in good chology, geography, etc. Moreover, there is the life,
standing.  Rut woe to those who dare lay too much discipline, and devotionals of the school to be consider-
emphasis on "this side". So dear is "that other side" ed. Even our Christian Reformed brethren will realize
to them, that the editor of The Banner has been for- tb.at it makes a difference'to  us whether the prayers
-bidden to receive articles which do not contain "that     that are offered by our teachers, the songs that are
other side". At least, so I have been given to under- learned and sung by our children, the programs ren-
stand. By all means he must not allow The Banner dered on many occasions, are Reformed in character
to make prapaganda for the Protestant Reformed or saturated with "that other side", which to us is pure
Churches. If it is not true that the. board has given ~-Arminianism and principally modernism,


334                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

       Yes, to my mind Arminianism  and modernism al-          it is, if it is only the fervent desire of our parents and
ready have eaten deeply into the education and life            people  in'general.  Neither would our financial burdens
of our `Christian schools. As a rLsu1t they are doomed. be increased to any apprciable  extent.
Thanks to "that other side".                                       Is such a school a spiritual possibility? That is
                                                               the question. Are the rprincipIes at stake vital and
OUR SCHOOG-                                                    dear enough to us? Are we conscious of the need?
       What, then, is the ideal for which  *we must strive?    Is our love of the truth equal to the task?
What ds our calling according to the pledge we made                The matter of our own school is before us these
when our children were presented for baptism?                  days. Another mass meeting will soon be held. Let
       We must have schools of our own. That is the al1 who favor a school of our own be there, one and all.
ideal.     We  must begin by acknowledging this fact.          Let those, who fail to see the need or possibility be
How we can deny this and call ourselves Protestant             there to state their objections. They owe this to the
Reformed is a mystery to me. How some acan fail to             others. In this way an open, brotherly discussion of
see that the present set-up is detrimental also to the issue can  ~ultimately  lead to a definite  deision.
church and home I cannot understand. Home and                      "The churning of milk bringeth forth butter".
church and school are so closely related, that they  be-                                               Rev. R. Veldman.
come stronger or weaker, together.
   We should have schools which we as Protestant
Reformed parents can control. Today our children                                mDDING  ANNIVERSARY
are taught in schools controlled by those who cast
us out and detest the doctrine for which we hope to                Zoo de Heere wil,  hopen   onze   geliefde  ouders,
fight unto death. Even our Christian Reformed  breth-                                  JOHN KLAVER
ren will expect that we cannot be satisfied with this.                                         en
   We should have teachers who instruct our children                           MRS. LENA KLAVER-Hetjes
on .the basis of the doctrine so dear to us. That is not den  22sten  April, 1941, hun 55sten echtvereeniging te gedenken.
the case today. Either the teaching is saturated with              De Heere die hun deze jaren  goed  en nabij is geweest, zij
"the other side", and then the Christian school is a hun verder tot troost en sterkte.
Ghristibn Reformed school, or it is not distinctive at                                           Mr. en Mrs. Peter J. Klaver
all, and then the so-called  Christian school is in reality                                      Mr. en Mrs. John T. Klaver
only a public school with a veneer of Christianity. In                                           Mr. en Mrs. Cornelius Klaver
either case what is our position? Sometimes we cdm-                                              Mr. en Mrs. Teunis Klaver
fort ourselves with the thought that there is little                                             Mr. en Mrs. Joseph Braaksma
religion of any kind in our schools. We tell one an-                                             Mr. en Mrs. Henry J. Van Dyken
other: most of the teachers do not know enough doc-                                              Mr. en Mrs. Marcus Faber
trine to make them overly dangerous for our children.                                            Mr. en Mrs. Manning Klaver
What a comfort ! When things have reached the point                                              Mr. Harry Klaver
where  We, `seek consolation in ignorance, what do you                                           Mr. en Mrs. Jacob C. Stroo
suppose  is our calling with respect to our children?                                                 34 kleinkinderen ;
Resides, when such instructors attempt to become  re-                                                  `7 achter-kleinkinderen.
ligious it will invariably be in the direction of Armin-           Grand Rapids, Michigan.
ianism. We should have teachers who know sound
Reformed doctrine and are able to make that doctrine
the basis, the heart and soul of al1 their instruction.                         WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
That, by the way, also rpoints to my greatest difficulty.                                 1911  - 1941
Do we have such teachers ? Will we have a compIete                 On April  15, 1941, the Lord willing, our dear parents,
staff that wilI set this as its ideal? Lf not, the saleri-                        LAMBERT  DOOORNBOS
fice of time and energy would be useless .                                                     and
   Those teachers, in those schools,  would then have                    MRS.  LAMBERT  DOORNBOS-Van Dyke
to see to it that all the instruction of our children is       hope to commemorate their 30th Wedding Anniversary.
thoroughly Reformed, Protestant Reformed in  char-                 We extend to them our sincere congratulations and pray
acter. Their history and geography and science and that the Lord may continue to bless them and to spare them
civics, the songs they learn and sing, they prayers            for each other and for us for many years to come.
they hear their teachers offer, the programs they  ren-                                    TKeir  grateful children,
der, all their instruction and training should be per:                                           Mr. and Mrs. George Moerman
meated with that truth.                                                                          Mr. and Mrs. Peter Doornbos.
   Is such a school a fInancia1  possibility?, Of course       1%~ Alamo Ave., Kalamazoo,  Mich.


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         336

                                                              main  ioyaI to Jehovah, as apart from His will the
               The Book 0,f Daniel                            adversary can do nothing. Daniel does not promise
                                                              that the Lord will exempt *His people from suffering,
THE CANONICAL SIGNIFICANCE.                                   but that in the fire of persecution they are the Lord's
   As to Isaiah, his specific ,task was to prepare Israel and therefore cannot perish. They pass through suf-
*for the crisis of the exile. His comforting message fering to glory.
was that the Lord's anointed was at hand (Is. 44  :28),          Daniel practiced what he ipreached  and thus rose
and that the days of bondage had its limit. Thou'gh  he before the eye of God's people as the living proof af
prophesied before the exile, he speaks of the bondage his awn message. At the courts of the pagan kings he
as a  thing accomplished. He declared first  that the obeys God more than man, both he and his friends.
king *of Babylon and his golden city to which Israel For this, they were persecuted. Daniel was & into
was to be transported would soon become a proverb the den of lions ; the three friends into the fiery fur-
in the mouths of them whom he had oppressed (Is.              nace,  *but the Lord delivers them and elevates them to a
52 :2), "and say ye: The Lord ha& redeemed His ser-           position of honor `and glory in *$he I,and of their exile.
aant Jacob" `(Is. 48 ~20). His prophecy ends with a They who had plotted against their lives fali into the
prediction and  descrirption  of the expansion and glorifi- very pit they had dug ,for him.
cation of God's kingdom.                                      NEBUCHADNEZZAR`S DREAM:
   As to Jeremiah, he prophesied immediately before
and after the *destruction  of Jerusalem. The nucleus            The parts of the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar
of his whole message is : Humble yourselves under the represent four kingdoms: 1. The Babylonian, under
hand of God and live:                                         Nebuchadnezzar  (ithe head of  geld). 2. The Persian
   As  b Ezekiel, he  dwe& among the exiles in Babylon. and Median, under Cyrus and his successors (the
One day,  &when  he  (was among the captives, the heavens     breast and arms of silver). 3. The  Macedoni?n,  under
were opened and he saw visions of God. tHe under- Alexander the Great (<the belly and thighs of brass).
stood now the meaning of calamities that had over- 4. The Roman power, (the legs of iron and feet part
taken God's people and he spent the days of his cap-          iron  land part clay). The stone cut out of the rock
tivity by the waters in explaining them to his breth- without hands is Jesus Christ and His kingdom. Tthe
ren.    Everything earthy-typical had been made to rock out af which He is hewn is the Old Testament
disappear.  :&d's  [people  must now set  their  hearts theocracy. That he was hewn ,without  hands signifies
upon something better, even the eternal spiritual good. his supernatural conception and birth.
He set before them the vision of the true Zion, the              The Vision of Chapter 7.
ideal commonwealth, having ;the imperishable glory               The prophet saw successiveIy  four beasts arising
of God (Ez. 8 :3,4). In due time Jehovah would gather from  rMte sea (of men) : 1. A lion with eagle wings.
His scattered sheep and feed them on  ,the mountains 2. A bear. 3. A leopard. 4. A fourth beast so dread-
of Israel <by the rivers (34 :13). A new heart He would ful and ,terrible  and strong as to defy all description.
also give J3is people so that they would walk in His          The four  Ibeasts  represent the same four kingdoms
WHYS (34  :26, 27). 1 The-prophet. Ezekiel sees the  whole    represented by the four parts of the image ; namely,
commonwealth of God as a community of priests in the Babylonian, the Persian-Median, the Macedonian,
its uniwersality.                                             the Roman. The ten *horns of the  four%? beast corres-
   As to Daniel, he ;tao dwelt among the exiles, and.did      pond to the ten toes of the image. Peculiar to this last
not return to Pa,lestine.    He ,was a high of%al at the beast was Ithe little horn that grew in the place of
court of the king.     His task was to  comfort  God's three-of  the horns rpluoked out. What is presented  %A
!peonle  `by showing them ~that thev must not fear the        us is a complete double image of the ' Anti-Christian
earthly or pagan powers, for he sees in a vision that         world power in its  ihistorical  development from the
these powers repose on clay: are as weak as is man ; beginning~of   &ne to the second coming of Christ, that
that one after the other they would be destroyed, that        is, to the end of time. The ten toes and the ten horns
ultimiately the kingdom of God. would appear and crush represent in both cases ten [kingdoms. The number 10
the earthy kingdoms; that, finally, this heavenly king- is here in all likelihood a representative number, and
dom is eternal. The vision of the rise and fall of thus signifies the aggregation of kingdoms of Europe
earthly kingdoms and the triumph of the kingdom of and America that arose after the destruction of the
God-this is peculiar to the book of Daniel. The               Roman Empire. The Ancient of days of Daniel 7 is
nucleus of the message of Daniel is "the Lord reign&h         God Himself, who through Jesus Christ realizes His
in the midst of his enemies," and will through His counsel. Rightly considered the Ancient of Days is
destroying them, realize His gracious purposes with           the stone cut out without hands.
I-Es  people. The people of God in the city of Babylon           The seven horns that remain after the three were
?m~t nut fear this anti-&ristian  power, Qut must re-         plucked up, is again in the last instance representative


 336                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

 of the fulness  of Anti-christian power in this "world, the wicked a&ions  of the little #horn in Daniel `8. Of
 now< assuming  t&e appearance of the kingdom of God,               the littIe horn it is said that Ihe waxed great even to
 which -in tie vision af John (Ro /. 13) is seen as the the host of heaven. The Sacred narrative continues,
 lamb with seven horns.             Counting the little horn "and"?t  cast down some of the hosts of the stars and
 there were eight horns on  tihe beast, the little horn stamped  *upon them. He magnified himself even to the
 however was at once like the seven.                                prince of the host and by him the daily sacrifice was
        In the little  ..horn `were  eyes like the eyes of a man    t&en away and the place of the sanctuary  was cast
 and a mouth apeaking  great things. The eyes repre- down". Antiochus Epiphanes' ravings ,were  a fulfill-
 sent depraved human  ,genius in distinction from re- ment of this prophecy. Under  Antiozhus  the Great
 generated and sanctified  ihuman genius. The  mouth                (died 187 B.C.) Palestine became a province of Syria.
 is the organ through which the Anti-christian world-               Epiphanes was the youngest son of Antiochus the
 power glories not in God  ,but in'  i,ts own achievements Great. His wickedness bordered on madness. His
 and blasphemes God. It is not difficult to see that relation to the lpeopIe of Israel was marked by a brutal
 this hi& beast, this terrible <beast with the 3ittle  horn and savage cruelty. Epiphanes formed the idea of
 is the Anti-Christ. This last kingdom, the kingdom dominant state religion as the best means to give
 represented  by  Itie last beast has its beginning in the, unity to the empire. So he attempted to compel the
 Roman Empire and"continues  in the ten toes and horns adoption of the  (Greek  Polytheism. A large section of
till the second return of Christ, when it will be burned.           the apostate Jewish people were not  onIy prepared to
 Also the image of the fourth beast teaches  that tie acquiese in his plans but to even further his purs;ose.
 Anti-ohristian  world-power is a  com,bination  of  ting-          Antiochus in return gave them the upper hand in
 doms. For the fourth beast with his ten horns (later Judea. The apostate Jews however, had misled Anti:
 8) comprises an organic whole. It  &n easily be seen ochus when they  #told him that their country was ripe
 that this. fourth beast is with us today.                          for  *helleniz&ion.  Strenuous opposition was offered
                                                                    by <t-he people of God., This made Antiochus furious.
        The Vision of Chapter 8.                                    Jews. This hatred was intensified by the news that
        In this vision the prophet saw a ram with two               It  genered  in his heart a deep-seated hatred of the
 torns and thereupon a he-goat with one great horn Jerusdem had rejoiced upon the reception of a false
 which. was  brdken;'  In its  stea'd   appeared  four notable rqort of his death in Egypt. He marched  ,upon  tie
 horns, and out of one of these four horns, came a little           city of JerusaIem,  took it by storm and slaughtered
 horn that waxed great even to the host of heaven.                  40,000 peophe  and carried a like number away as slaves.
        There is a similarity to be noticed between this He  r&bed the temple of its treasures, tread the most
 visionand  the foregoing one. According to Gabriel's sacred precincts of the holiest of all. He sacrificed swine
 own interpretation of the vision, the ram is the bear on the aItar, and defiled the sanctuary by sprinkhng.
 of  *the former vision, and thus represents the kingdom the broth all over it. Re next issued a command to
 of the Medes and Persians. The two horns of the exterminate the whole Jewish race. The command was
 ram represent the kingdoms of Media-Persia respect- only partially executed. lHe finally ruthlessly enforced
 ively. The rough he-goat is  the leopard of the former the adoption of  Greek  manners  .an#d customs. All who
 vision and represents the kingdom of Greece. The resisted were put to death. The blood of the saints
 he-goat came from the West with marvelous swiftness flowed  freely. The people of God hid themselves in the
 and came  ag&nst  the ram with his two horns and                   caves and dens of the earth. The prophecy of Daniel
 smote  him until there was no power  Ieft in him. Let was 1iteraIly fulfilled. For the daily sacrifice ceased.
 us briefly explain the first section of the vision.-  The          Any copy of  *the law that could b-6 found was burned.
 great horn of the  he&goat-the  kingdom. of Greece--is                                                        G. M. 0.
 Alexander the Great, who destroyed tthe ram, that is                           -..
 completely vanquished Darius and `his- army of the                                          -
 *kingdom of the Medes and Persians. The ram before
 he was overcome .by the he-goat ,pushed in three direc-
 tions, toward the West, Lybia ; toward the North,                                     A N N O U N C E M E N T
 Babylonia ; and toward the South, Egypt. The great                    Young men seeking admission into our Theological
 horn of the he-goat was broken. This refers  tb the                School are requested to appear before the Theological
 death of Alexander the Great. After his death the                  School Committee at their  ne.xt meeting, May  `19,
 empire, he by conquest `had established, was divided               1941, in the Fuller Ave. Church parlors. Aspirants
 into four kingdoms : Macedonia,  Thrace,  Syria, Egypt. must have in their possession a  certif-lcate of member-
 The httle horn is one of the kings of Syria, namely,               ship and recommendation from their consistory and
 A&o&us  Epiphanes. The  lhistory of this king, made also a certificate of health from a reputed physician.
 with wickedness, corresponds to the description of
                 1.                                                                                    C. Hanko, Sec'y..


