100                                      T,HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                                                                 if the danger of invasion by the Nazis is imminent
                                                                 (of which I personally am not at all ipersuaded), it
                   E d i t o r i a l s                           must be granted that it is the height of folly in our
                                                                 present world for nation or government to act as if
                                                                 we live in a peace loving world and to fail to prepare.
            Our Boys And Conscription                            There can be no principal objection against conscrip-
                                                                 tion and universal military training.
       Conscription in peace time is something new in our           Some have objected that conscription in peace time
country.                                                         is not "democratic".
       We are,. of course, acquainted with conscription             But this is a poor objection.
from the time of the World-War, when for a time                     How Americans who always boast that the demo-
voluntary enlistment was replaced by tLhe draft. But             cratic government is a government "by the  people"
as a regular and permanent institution conscription as well as "of the  ipeople and for the people", can raise
was not known in America until recently.                         such an objection is hard to understand. Can there
       It is true that even now conscription was resorted        be privileges without obligations? Surely, if it is really
to as something special, as a defense measure. We are true that we are all equal, and that we all have an
told that the present war in Europe also threatens our equal share in this "government by the people", if this
shores, and that, if the Nazis should be victorious in is really the idea of democracy, it must follow that it
their war  iwith  England, it is not impossibie that they        is thoroughly democratic to impose on all alike the
conceive of the idea of aIso invading our country. And obligation to defend the country in time of war.
it is argued that such an invasion must not be con-                 And universal  mibtary  service is certainly to be
sidered as lying outside of the range of possibilities. preferred above voluntary enlistment. Not, indeed,
Hence, we should be forewarned. And being fore- because, as the editor of The Banner argues, one who
warned we should prepare for the worst. We must                  enlists as a soldier voluntarily is himself personally
become strong and become armed to the teeth, so that responsible for those he might kill in battle, while the
our very strength may discourage the enemy from conscript can justly put all the responsibility upon the
even making the attempt of invading America. A de- shoulders of the government that called him to the
fense program has been prepared. And to this de- colors. The soldier, as long as he merely obeys orders
fense program also belongs the present conscription in battle, is never a murderer, whether he volunteers
measure, according to which all young men between or is drafted. Does the hangman become responsible
the ages of twenty one and thirty six had to register            for the execution of the death sentence, merely because
and are liable to be drafted into military service.              `he applied for the position ? Of course not. Were the
       The result is that severa of our boys, and I now' soldiers that came to John the Baptist drafted? Not
mean our Christian boys, particularly of our own very likely. The armies of those days consisted of
Protestant Reformed-young men, may soon  have  to                hired forces, as is  we11 known. Yet, John does not
leave us for a period to receive their training.                 tell them to resign from their post. No, the soldier is
       Some of them, that had enlisted' in the National          no murderer. Whether he enlists or is drafted, he
,Guard have already departed and are even now in employs not his own sword, but that of the higher
Camp Beauregard.                                                 powers. And these are responsible, not he.
       For them this means an important change in their             Yet, conscription, and especially universal military
way of life.                                                     training is preferable to voluntary enlistment.
                                                                    First of all, because it is more just. Why should
       There is, it is true, a favorable side to this change.    not all the young men,  rich and poor, be held respon-
       Let it be said, first of all, that a Christian can have sible for the defense of their country in time of war?
nothing against the conscription law.           Those theo-         Secondly, because it improves the general calibre
logical students about whom we recently read in the of the army, and is apt to make army life more bear-
papers, who refused to register because the whole idea able, more ;pleasant, if not a certain class of men, but
of the draft was in conflict with the "teaching of all must enter the service.
Jesus", and who `were tried in court and sentenced to                However this may be,  Iwhen  our young men are
imprisonment, certainly must have imbibed a wrong called, they need have no scruples or have conscientious
kind of theology. The government certainly bears the objections. In their obedience to the  ,higher  powers
sword according to Scripture. And this also  i,mplies            they may serve their Cod.
that it has the calling to punish any foreign power                 Then,  too, from certain viewpoints life in the army
that might attempt to invade our country. But if this may be considered to have its favorable aspects. The
belongs to its calling, it stands to reason that it must physical exercise a young man gets in camp will
whet its sword for the task. And whatever one may straighten his body and steel his muscles, make him
think of the propaganda that would make us fee1 as               strong and *healthy. The discipline of $he army may


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          101

have a salutary effect on many a youth, who at home          have the confidence that he is walking in the Lord's
probably never learned to order his life according to        way, and that, therefore, he may seek and expect God's
strict rule  ; and there is no better place than the army grace to strengthen him. But with the young conscript
to learn by experience what it means to bow before this is different. The call came and he obeyed. In the
authority and to obey blindly.                               camp he is where God stationed him. And the sa.rne
   But, of course, there are many disadvantages con- Lord that (placed him there is able to sustain him and
nected with life in the camp.                                to give him grace to be faithful and to be a light in the
   The conscript will be away from home, away from midst of the world.
his  peqple,  and away from the sphere of influence             Hence, mindful of *his own weakness, and of the
exerted by the Church.                                       power of the grace of the Lord Jesus, he should seek
   And this means a good deal.                               His grace and Spirit daily in prayer.
   Especially is this true in our country and in our            He should, of course, not forget to take his Bible
own age. Those of us who are acquainted with con- with him to camp, and to read it daily. Take time to
scription and military service in old Holland, know read it. The Word of God is a lamp unto our feet, a
that even there, especially if a Christian young man light upon our path. There is nothing to be compared
were stationed in the southern part of the country, with the influence, the spiritual strength and comfort
there were spiritual disadvantages connected with a and guidance we receive through faithful reading of
soldier's life. Yet, Holland is not large and there are and meditation upon the Scriptures.
many churches,. and usually one could  find one of his          He should try to get as much wholesome and
own churches where he might worship. But in our spiritual literature from home as possible.
own country this is quite different, especially in our          And he should keep in correspondence with his
day. When one is away from his home church it is             Church, his pastor, his former society friends and
generally difficult, and often impossible to find a fellow members, as well as with his home.
place of worship (where the gospel of Jesus Christ is           All these means may  heIp him as he wears the
still preached, and I am not,thinking now of specifically American uniform, also to put on and to keep on the
Reformed preaching. And how much it means to be              whole armour of God, that he may be faithful and be
separated from the influence and fellowship of the able to stand in the evil day !
Church and of the people of God ; not to be able to fmd         And thus there will be a spiritual blessing, streng-
a place of worship where one may be instructed in the thening of our faith and steeling of our spiritual
Word of God and receive a spiritual blessing, one muscles in the battle we are called to fight in our new
usually does not realize until ,he is forced to be away surroundings and while standing on our own feet in
from home.                                                   the midst of many temptations.
   And the religious atmosphere of the army can                  May the Lord grant it!
hardly be-expected to be very healthful.                                                                   H. H.
   Recreation and amusement will be offered to the
young conscript, but hardly of a sort that will tend to
spiritual edification.                                                                 -
   Even the influence of the army chaplain will not be
of very great benefit to the Reformed young man.
   And, no doubt, he will come into contact also with                      Het Gezag Der Kerk
the "world" in its worst sense. He will, probably, be
in the company of those that are accustomed to take             De bespreking van de kerkelijke ambten leidt als
God's name in vain. And he may be shocked often vanzelf tot de vraag de macht, de autoriteit, het gezag
when he discovers the moral standard according to            der kerk betreffende. Niet  alleen   tech is geen ambt
(which many walk and speak.                                  denkbaar zonder gezag en macht, maar ook is de kerk
    In a word, while the young Reformed conscript een instituut, en geen instituut kan bestaan zonder
must miss the influence of home and Church and of macht.              Een ambtsdrager is drager van gezag, ver-
the fellowship with God's people, he will be in a differ-    tegenwoordiger van het gezag van Hem, die hem in
ent ,world, surrounded by many temptations.                  het ambt stelde ; in de kerk is hij vertegenwoordiger
   And in the midst of these he must stand alone,            van Christus a.ls de eenige en eeuwige Koning Zijner
on his own feet.                                             akerk  op aarde. En de kerk in de wereld is maar geen
   What to do about this?                                    gemeenschap der heiligen zonder meer, de  leden  waar-
   First of all, he should feel confident that the Lord van zonder eenigen vorm van regeering samenkomen
has placed him in that position. If a young man tot onderlinge stichting, maar een instituut, en door
deliberateIy  leaves home and church and goes into the       Christus  alzoo gewild en ingesteld. En evenmin als
world, the matter is quite different. He can  ,hardly        een land zonder overheid bestaan kan, en geen overheid


ii0                                      T H E   STANDARD   BEARER

                Gehazi And His Seed                                fathers are indeed visited upon the children, so that
                                                                   these  are punished  for them, the children themselves
                                                                   also partake of  the  sins  of their fathers. We must
       From the Ladies Aid Society of the Sioux Center not overlook the fact that in the second commandment
Church  `we received a question about the punishment we read, that God will visit the sins of the fathers
meted out to Gehazi  and  his  seed for the former's sin           upon the children in the third and fourth generation
of covetousness and lying.                                         of them  that  i&e  Him.  Not only the punishment,
       The problem the society faced and could not solve also the sin pertains to the generations. We must re-
satisfactorily was, how it is possible, seeing that the            member here, of course, that by nature no generations
Bible teaches that the children shall not be punished are righteous and innocent. We are apt to forget this,
for the sins of their fathers, that not only Gehazi but            when  *we discuss this problem. When the question
also his seed is punished.                                         is asked: how can God punish innocent children for
       We all know the history.                                    the sins of their fathers, we forget that according to
                                                                   Scripture there are no "innocent children". We are
       Naaman, the Syrian, was cleansed of his leprosy all lost in sin, damnable before God, and worthy of
through the instrumentality of  foIlowing up the word eternal death outside of the grace of God. This nar-
of Elisha, the Prophet, directing him to wash seven rows down the question to this: how, if children are
times in Jordan. In gratitude he offers the prophet not punished for the sins of their fathers, can God in-
a present, which the latter refuses. Gehazi, the ser- flict certain punishments upon the children for certain
vant of the prophet, tempted by his covetousness, runs sins which the fathers committed? My answer would
after Naaman, invents a story that two young men be: by let&g also the sins of the fathers appear in the
have come to Elisha and that the prophet would have generations of them that hate Him.  And by this
Naaman give a talent of silver and two changes of punishment upon their seed the damnation of the
garment for these sons of the prophets to Gehazi. The fathers is made the heavier.
Syrian gives him two talents of silver and the re-                    Secondly, in as far as the consequences of the sins
quested garments, and Gehazi returns. Faced by Elisha of the fathers for the children are mere consequences
and questioned concerning his absence Gehazi lies once and no judicial retributions, God is able to sanctify
more, but is rebuked by the prophet. And then we temporal misery and suffering unto the hearts of them
read in II Ki. 5  :27: "The leprosy therefore of Naaman that love Him unto eternal salvation. Suppose that
shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed forever. ten descendants suffer with a certain misfortune or
And he went out from his presence, a leper white as disease because of the misdeeds of their ancestors.
snow".                                                             Suppose that two of them are regenerated and re-
       Now, it is certainly true that Scripture teaches deemed by the grace of God. In that case God does
that the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, not punish the sins of the fathers upon them, even
but that the soul that sinneth shall die.
                    .                                              though they suffer because of their sins. And He is
       Yet, the matter is not quite as simple as it might          able to cause their suffering and misery to be con-
appear. It is also true that in the second command- ducive unto their salvation and eternal glory.
ment we are warned that God will visit the sins of the                Now, apply this to the case under discussion.
fathers upon the children in the third and fourth When you read in II Ki. 5:27 that also Gehazi's seed
generation of them that hate Him. And it is evident shall be leprous, we must remember that this does not
from experience that often the children suffer the necessarily mean every individual descendant of Ge-
consequences of the sins of their parents in many hazi. In Nu.  16:31 ff. we read that Korah  ati  his
ways.       To a certain extent this is always the case in howehold *were punished for the former's rebellion.
#the organic development of the human race. When a                 Yet later we read of the children of Korah ; Nu. 26 :58
father squanders his money the children must share and often in the Psalms. The implication is that not
in the poverty and social misery that is the result. all the children of Korah perished in, the catastrophe
Certain diseases due to the immoral life of the ,parents           upon him and his house. That may have been the case
reveal themselves in generations. It would seem then, with the seed of Gehazi. Not all the descendants need
that children often suffer  the evil consequences of their have been leprous to fulfill the word of Elisha. If this
parents' misdeeds.                                                 were the case, I would say that only they of his seed
                                                                   bore the punishment of leprosy that hated the Lord
       Now, how can this be harmonized with the principle and were partakers with their father of his sin of
that children are not punished for the sins of their covetousness and lying against the Holy Ghost. But
fathers, that the former do not bear the iniquity of if this were not the case, if all the seed of Gehazi were
latter, and that only the soul that sinneth shall die?             meant, I would reply to the question that either all
       I think that we must remember two things.                   were wicked like their ancestor, or if not, only for
       In the fnst,,,,place,  that in as far as the sins of the    the wicked would the leprosy be  punishm&.


                                     TCHE  S T A N D A R D  BEARER'-  I-  -                                         111

   The sin of the fathers is not punished in the child- "we knew something was wrong with our mother,
ren ; but both the sin and the punishment often runs the Church which we left, but we were not able to
in the line of generations.                                  explain the cause of it all. Spiritual life was at low
    I hope that 1 succeeded to throw some light on this ebb, a change had to be made sooner or later."
question.                                                       That change did come when our missionary, Rev.
                                              H. H.          B. Kok, was sent to Manhattan by our Mission Com-
                                                             mittee and the Fuller Ave. Consistory, who are the
                                                             parties appointed by our Churches to care for the
                                                             Mission Field. Rev, Kok arrived here in the summer
                                                             of 1938 to begin his labors. He followed the same
                                                             honest method by informing the people in these parts,
             From Manhattan, Montana                         as  &well  as the consistory and pastor of the local Chris-
                                                             tian Reformed Church, of the purpose of his coming.
   We are writing this little epistle.                       That purpose was and always has beela and is to cham-
   To begin with, `the weather. was and is very cold pion the cause of the Reformed truth and to show how
and reached up to (I should say, down to) 15  beIow          the infamous Three Points are a departure from the
zero and lower in some places.                               faith of our fathers. I don't think that it is necessary
   Of course, the brethren, Rev. De Wolf and elder to relate concerning the reception brother Kok received
Flikkema,  who welcomed me at the train in Three from the brethren of the Christian Reformed Church.
Forks, Montana, claimed that it was real Minnesota Debate the question they will not and can not, and
weather, because it was also snowing. Well, be that care not. At its best they seem to worry much more
as it may, we did not expect such weather and therefore about the things that have nothing to do with the issue
did not prepare for it; hence, it felt rather chilly when at stake. One thing however is sure, they make them-
we arrived in Manhattan in our top-coat and our sum- selves guilty of slander, as was ,proven  by Rev. Kok
mer underwear, minus also the necessary rubbers.             in an article in our Standard Bearer some time ago,
   However, the brethren assured me that this was also in Manhattan. That is always sign of weakness,
only "one of those spells" that will make room for for it has no positive fruit for their own flock nor for
some warm *weather. But they did not say when this their denomination. These statements I am making
warm weather was to come, soon or sometime next can be proven and are proven over and over again.
spring. We therefore left it an open question.                  Remember the Pantlind Hotel meeting?          *
   Besides, my trip to Manhattan was not meant to be           -Yes, Rev. Kok is the most hated and detested man
a pleasure-trip.                                             of all our ministers. At the same time, we love him
   Some work *had to be done, as assigned to us by and remember him in his labors before the throne of
Classis West. We were appointed  "Consulent",  that grace.
is advisor, as long as this little flock was without a          The Lord prospered the labors of Rev, Kok. In-
minister of its own. However, after several calls were deed, there were people, who liked to hear about the
extended, the congregation called Rev. H. De Wolf pernicious doctrines embodied in the Three Points
and received, about three weeks after, the glad tidings,     and `were willing to compare them with the Scriptures
"I have prayerfully considered your call and have de- and the Reformed Confessions.
cided to become your minister". Therefore we were               Was there any fruit upon his faithful labors?
called to travel to Manhattan, Montana to install the There was ! A congregation was organized, consisting
Pastor-elect.                                                of 13 fami.lies. Rev. Kok remained in their midst and
   Let me state right now, that it was a pleasure to helped the brethren in every way, according to the
be in the midst of our people at this place for ap- testimony of the consistory. Plans were made for
proximately five days. Again we witnessed the zeal a basement church and the work began. Also a parson-
and warmth of our people for the old and tried Reform- age was built and is now being occupied by the first
ed truth. Some of you are ,perhaps  wondering what           pastor of our Church in Manhattan, Montana. In the
I mean when I say that we  ugacirc felt the zeal and         meantime, to keep in line with the history we were
warmth of our people for the Reformed truth. T mean relating to you, several calls were sent out by the  con-
this, also in my own congregation in Edgerton, I felt        sistory and congregation to obtain a minister of their
the same thing and still enjoy the warmth and zeal own. The fourth time a call was sent out to Rev. H.
for the truth as we champion it. We did so in 1924           De Wolf, who accepted the caIl and arrived with his
and as a rule we always feel it again when a new             family in Manhattan in the week of the third of
congregation appears in our denomination. Our Man- November.
hattan people, in their conversation, make it  the topic.        On Sunday, November 10, we preached twice in
It means  SO  much for them and their children. We Manhattan and installed'brother De Wolf in the after-
found the same complaint as is found everywhere, noon service, In the evening we delivered a speech,

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

while on Monday evening we spoke once more for our              In the middle of the park we stopped at Kart's
Manhattan people. Tuesday evening the congregation Ranch, a  ,pIace owned by very rich people. They keep
came together with their pastor and his family to a record book, so that anyone visiting this place may
welcome them in their midst. Upon the request of the write his or her name in it. We were asked whether
consistory, we presided over this meeting. On this `we were of the HolIand Settlement. The question was
meeting a fine  ,program was rendered and enjoyed by         really the answer. Thereupon we were told that a
us all.     Even some friends, who regularly worship man from Holland had visited this place and also
with our people, but who as yet are not members were signed his name in the book. This man, so the lady
present. Refreshments were served and the congre-            (the owner)  toId us, "I can never forget. So inter-
gation and its friends `were given the opportunity to estingly he spoke and so many questions he asked me
get acquainted with the Rev. and Mrs. De Wolf. (In about the mountains and the ranches. The least little
passing let me say, that the son of Rev. and Mrs. De         thing did not escape his attention. I", she said, "will
Wolf, who was stricken with Infantile Paralysis, is never forget this interesting stranger."
getting along well. There is hope for a complete re-            After looking through the book, you guessed it al-
covery, although this will be along the way of a slow ready, we found the name of "Prof. Dr. K. Schilder,
process, according to the testimony of the M.  D.`s.)    . Kampen, Nederland." We were asked to place our
   I am at the end of my writing, but I would Iike to names on the same page. But how her face fell when
make a few remarks.                                                                                             `.
                                                             we told .her that Dr. SChilder is at present m a con-
   ,Our people in Manhattan built a church basement, centration camp.
neatly finished and spacious,  it will accomodate  about'       The brethren will take me to the train, the `Olym-
`200 people. However, the foundation is strong enough pian', tonight.
for a future church building: Our people also  buit             It is still Minnesota weather in Montana.
and finished their parsonage ; a fine home with all the         I hope, we will upon our arrival, have real Montana
city conveniences. The Rev. and Mrs. De Wolf appre- weather in Minnesota.
ciate it very much and because their furniture arrived                                                     w. v.
and was brought to the new parsonage, they are enjoy-
ing their new home in Manhattan.
   But that is not all.
   Lacking 1000 or 1200 dollars, both the Church and
the parsonage are paid for. Something that never
happened before in any of our churches. It shows a                      The Levitical' Priesthood
fine spirit and a willingness to sacrifice. And I may
safely say, the brethren have sacrificed without mur-           Holiness, so it was pointed out, was one of the
muring. They refuse to be a burden to our churches properties of the Levitical Priesthood. As was said,
and instead they intend not to burden our churches, however, a distinction must be made between Aaron's
but will do to the utmost of their ability to carry the person as such and this person as vested with the office
load themselves, helping others.                             of priest. The character of Aaron's holiness as priest
   I have enjoyed my short visit and also enjoyed the was  soIely  ceremonial, symbolical-typical. It was this
work, which was to be done; to the full. I cannot but as the office of highpriest into which he was inducted
firmly believe, that there is a future stored away for through  suitable ceremonial rites was symbolical. But
our Manhattan congregation.         Distance makes the Aaron was also commanded to bring himself forward
heart fonder-well brethren, we  a11 will remember you 2s the living realization of the grace of God betokened
with your pastor and hope and pray that Rev. De Wolf by his office. This too was Aaron's calling. It was
may bring to you the riches of the GospeI of our Lord the calling of the priesthood and in the final instance
Jesus Christ.                                                of the entire tribe of Levi. And, as'was shown, for
   I may add to these remarks, that Manhattan is situ- this calling Levi in his generations had also been
ated at the east slope of the Rocky Mountains.               spiritually qualified.    Evidence was produced from
   Elder Flikkema was so kind to take me to  Pe?low-         Scripture that showed that during the Egyptian period,
stone Park. I am not able to describe the magnificent this tribe had undergone a  remarkable+spiritual  trans-
scenery of this national park. How beautiful are the formation, so that, when the time was at hand for the
mountains and what a variety ! The mountains were elevation of Aaron and his family to the  sacerdotal
covered with snow and so were the trees. All in all office, this tribe was known in Israel as surpassing all
it looked like a fairy-land.                                 the others as to its holy zeal for God's house.
   We also noticed the many deer, elks, moose ?.~d              Let us now consider the remaining properties of
mountain-sheep.     They ran in droves of fifty to a the Aaronic priesthood, as set forth by Moses' word to
hundred.     T,he hunting season being open, we saw Korah and his company, on the occasion of the latter's
many a deer being trucked away.                              rebellion, "Tomorrow the Lord will show who is his,


                                                 T;HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                   113

 and who is holy ; and whom he will make to draw near priest-possessed by the Aaronic family in distinction
 to him ; and him whom he chooses will he make to draw from all the other Israelites. Now this is precisely
 near unto him" `(Num.  `16:5). There are in  a$ four what Korah and Zis company denied. They insisted
 proI+%ieq  made mention of in this scripture, to wit, that "all the congregstion  are .holy,  every one of them",
 being the Lordls  ("the.  Lord will shew who, is, his"), that thus so far was Moses's  seIection of Aaron for the
 being. holy, being ca,us&  by the Lord to dr,aw  near to office of priest from being the execution of a command
 Him, and being, the object of the Lord's choice. Aaron of God that it was representative of a carnal lust of
 was the possessor of these properties,                                           power.  *.  "
                                                                                           And apparently they had right on their side.
    Aaron, being holy, was. the, chosen of the Lord. On For in the ages preceding all God's people had, done the
 this account he was the  Lord,`?. These tyo, chara&?r7 *work  of a sa$rificer. And on the occasion of the ratifi-
 istics are  essentiaJy  one.  T,hey  can be distinguished cation of the covenant the Lord had s&d not mereiy
 between but are not to be separated. They stand to to Aaron and his family but to the entire congregation,
 each other in  the,  re!atipn  of  cause and
                                                       . .   effej. For "Now therefore, if you will obey my `voice indeed, and
 through the Lord's, choosing, Aaron, He made him His keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure
own, took him to Himseb?,  t&t he should 
                                                 .*L..,,.* e@t for ,Gpd.          unto me above all people; for a!1 the earth is mine:
 This the Lord had right te; do,  a+, Aaron  was God's and ye shall be unto me a kingdom `of priests and a
 property even apart from .his election  to,the. sy@$ical-                        holy nation" (Ex. 19 :6). It was without a `doubt on
 typical highpriestly  of@e. He was this as.he k$mw! the ground of this communication that  Korah  and his
 to  a pw+----the pepp'e .of ,Godryhop).  GP$ had rn+,de allies  branded the  Levitical  priesthood an invention of
 His own through His choosing it, from among all the
                                                                , .  _  _..       Moses and thus an innovation unwilled by the Lqrd.
 nations of the ea+&. And @is, too, was. God's right. But what these insurgents were willingly ignorant of
 For Israel wag God's p&&rty  (not His, people) even is that as the people of  Israel  were  G"op's   p.e@iar
 apart from its  e+tio,n  on account of its
                                    ___-  .                            be&girig treasure among the nations, so Aaron (and his family)
 to a  f$nespt$F   fulness   og  i&e  earth-th+t
                                              . _ .w._..-.`             was the was God's peculiar treasure in Israel and was thus
 Lord's creature and  `thus His exclusive possession-
            ." -a_.                             "  _. . . ,  _.,  _.              in distinction from them all the Lord's possession in
 a creature therefore  with whom  God may do accordin-g a peculiar sensein the sense that the right to draw
 to  His good pleasure. Of this ground of His,  @q&t
                       ..--.                                                      peculiarly near to the Lord to make atonement for the
 to  choose Israel,. God  made   special   mention  shortly sins of the p,eople  with the blood of his sacrifice, be-
 after the arriv_a!  of the peo@e  of Israel at Sinai. If longed only to him. So, what these  rebeis refused
 Israel  would. obey God's voice and keep, His covenant,
                                       ,.  , -. -                                 to consider is that the  Israeli&h people were holy not
 then it should be a peculiar treasure unto God a&v?
          ^  .,                                                                   in themselves but only in Aaron and in Aaron as the
 all peopje ; for "al! the earth is mine" (Ex. 19 :5). So, appointed highpriest of atonement, that thus it tias
 as the  peopie  of Israel by  r,easop of its  electim  was only in  .him as their representative that they could
 God's peculiar treasure among  t-be nations, so the
                                ` .i. . .              *  s.  ..-                 tread the sacred precincts of God's house, tread these
 Aaronic family also by reason of its  eJection  vqas, as                         precincts only as far as the door of this house.
 compared with the rest of the  Israelitish  families,                                But  what real evidence was there that the aforesaid
 God's peculiar treasure in  Israe].`   TheUreason  why God right was possessed by Aaron alone? The very act of
 chose this family` is not that it & it&je'*&~elled
                                                                     ^.___   ,1 the Moses that .had consisted in his vesting Aaron, through
 others in true gpodness. The reason  qvgs,  sqI$y  God's appropriate ceremonies, with the priestly office. How-
 sovereign good pleasure. Hence, the thought conveyed
                                                        ,-                        ever, to the rebels this action formed no evidence.
 by Moses' word to the rebels, "Tomorrow  the Lord will Their contention was that Moses had acted on his 0~
 shew who is holy. .  ,,  . and him whom He  cho.os,es                            initiative, and thus not as under the necessity of a
 ,will He make to come near unto Him",-is not that command of God. This was indeed the charge  im-
 God chose Aaron  oa  accourzt  of his  being  hoIy.  The plicite in their hard s,peech.  And a terrible charge it
 thought conveyed is that mm whom  the Lord chooses                               was. For it was equivalent to an outright  denia1 of
 is holy by virtue of his being the Lord's chosen. Now Moses' calling. If the charge were true, Moses was an
 this choosing-the choosing of  Which the scripture imposter and all the laws ,which he .had promulgated
 under consideration makes mention-has reference in
                                      . . . .                                     had originated not in God's but in his mind and had
 the first instance to Aaron and is therefore to be
                                      .I..                                        thus to be taken as the expression of the will of a mere
 defined as God's good pleasure to consecrate Aaron man.
 to the office of highpriest through His cleansing him
                                                               ."                     But how could they reasonably deny that Moses
 (symbolically) from  all his sins and through His vest- had been sent of the Lord? They could not. For the
 ing him, Aaron with the garments of glory especially evidence that God was with him and that God was his
 designed for the highpriest. And it  was through His so dwelling place and that in this place he had learned
 cleansing him that the Lord made him to draw near to                             God's secrets had been so amazingly conclusive as to
 Him, the Lord.                                                                   render any challenging of his divine sending and
    Such, then, were the properties possessed  by God's authority altogether irrational. This being true, the


114                                 T,HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

uprising of Korah and his company must be construed symbol-unsanctified by the  bIood  of Christ's blood.
as springing from sheer hatred of God, and of His              With the rebels destroyed, God once again spake.
sacred institutions and in particular of the vicarious In obedience to God's instruction, Moses laid up twelve
atonement of Christ as prefigured by the office of high-    rods before the Lord in the tabernaole of witness.
priest and the service that belonged to it. What there- Each rod represented one of the tribes and bore the
fore these rebels meant when they in their carnal rage name of the tribe it represented. The rod of Levi with
protested that all the congregation was holy is that the name of Aaron carved upon it, was among them.
it was holy by itself and thus had no need of its being     "On the morrow the rod of Aaron for the house of
sprinkled with the blood of Aaron's sacrifice.              Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed
       But that the broader issue in this strife was not blossoms, and yielded almonds" (Num. 17  :8). The
whether Aaron was the appointed priest of atonement rods were brought out to all the children of Israel.
but whether God had actually sent Moses, is plain from They  Iooked  and were convinced, many of them in all
the following language which Moses spake to the con- likelihood against their will. And the murmurings
gregation during the progress of the insurrection,          ceased. Moses was thereupon commanded to bring
"Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept
do all these works ; for I have not done them by my for a token against the rebels.
own hand" (Num. 16  :28). "Hereby ye shall know. .  ."         This blooming of Aaron's rod and of his alone
And they did know. . . . on the morrow. And Moses           had a twofold signification. It denoted that A4amn's
again in token that the Lord had sent him predicted         was the right to tread the sacred precincts of God's
the doing of God by which they hnew "If these men," house and that this right was his  &one.
said he, " die the common death of all men, or if they         Now this right accrued solely from God's choosing
be visited after the visitation of  all men; then the him,  thus from God's good pleasure to consecrate him
Lord hath not sent me. But if the Lord make a new to the office of highpriest through His rendering him
thing, and  the earth open her mouth, and swallow symbolicahy  sinless. And of this choosing and its
them up, with all that appertain to them, and they go purpose (Aaron's symbolical cleansing and resultant
down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that holiness and Aaron's being made to draw peculiarly
these men have provoked the Lord" (Num. 16 :29,30).         near to the Lord through this cleansing) the budding
And  the, earth did  swalIow  them up, them and all         rod was the token and the expression.      So did the
their houses and all the men that pertainedunto Korah Lord actually show whom He chose, who was His and
and all their goods.                                        who was holy. And so, in the fulness of time would
       The Lord on this occasion also settled before the God. again would show who was His, when He would
consciousness of His people Israei the matter of the        send His Son, Christ Jesus, as pre,pared unto every
calling  -of -Aaron to the office of priest of atonement, good  ,work . For the rod-Aaron's rod-its buds and
thus also the matter of whether the congregation was blossoms and almonds, in the last instance had refer-
holy as unsprinkled by the blood of this priest's           ence to Christ, to the fruits of righteousness which
sacrifice.    On the morrow and in response to the He yielded: His consuming zeal of God's house, His
command of Moses, Aaron, together with two hundred perfect obedience of which His suffering and dying
and fifty men of the company of Korah appeared              for the sins of His people were the supreme expression.
before the Lord, each supplied with a censor and a          And as little as the buds and blossoms of Aaron's rod
quantity of incense. Each man took his censor and, -it was by itself but dry and lifeless wood-were of
having put fire therein and' laid thereon his incense,      this rod, so Iittle was Christ in His fruitbearing the
came and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the         product of humanity. For the notice of Scripture is
congregation with Aaron and Moses. Then, simultan- to the effect that he was a root out of a dry ground.
eously perhaps with the earth's opening its mouth And tiis ground is mankind, dry and  1ifeIess  and thus
and swallowing up the rebels, fire came out from the unfruitful on account of its being dead in sin. Christ
Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men was God's Christ exclusively. His fruit was of God,
that offered incense. But Aaron lived. Thus God of the Spirit tchat rested upon Him, the Spirit of wis-
had spoken. And this was His reply to their conten-         dom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and
tion that all the people were holy in themselves and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the
thus apart from the blood of the highpriest's sacrifice. Lord. Therefore was the fruit that He bore the cer-
For it is to be considered that the incense of the men tain indication that He was the chosen one of God, the
of Korak's company had been inflamed by strange fire, Lord's heritage, the holy son of God and thus the one
and not by the fire taken from the  aItar of God's          who of all men was privileged to draw near to God.
priest, thus not by virtue of the blood of this priest's    And draw near He did together with His "people,  chosen
sacrifice. This incense therefore, in its state of con- in Him unto life eternal before the foundation of the
sumption, was impure, as are the prayers and all the world, and therefore also crucified, buried and raised
issues of the life-issues of which this incense was the with Him and set in heaven together with Him, and


                                      T,HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        115

blessed there with all spiritual blessings. Therefore       His revelations not in vision and by dream but by
does His life abound now in His people. And abiding direct discourse, He talked with God as a man with
in Him they bear much fruit. For without Him they a man. Accordingly, we read at Deut.  34:10, "And
can do nothing. And the blossoms that were made to there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto
appear on Aaron's rod betoken also this fruit, betokens Moses whom the Lord knew face to face." And again
that this fruit is solely of Him and thus that also this    in Num. 13 :6-8, "And he said, Hear my words: If
people is chosen of God, His peculiar heritage among there be a prophet among you, I, the Lord, will make
men, made by Christ kings and priests unto God and myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak
thus privileged to dwell with Christ in God's house         unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so,
to everlastingly declare His praises and to be satisfied who is faithful in all my house. With him I will speak
by His likeness.                                            mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark
   Let us now have regard to the position that Aaron, speeches, and the similitude of the Lord will. he be-
in his capacity of highpriest and in conjunction with hold. . .  ."
his sacrifice occupied in the economy instrumentally in-       As a  ,prophet,  Moses was raised to a vantage point
troduced by Moses. Aaron in the aforesaid capacity was of such heights that he beheld the doings of God con-
(symbolically) mediator of God and man, His people. cerning His people to  the'end of all time. The book of.
The above observations have already suggested this. Deuteronomy contains a prediction of the exiIe of the
We are not unmindful of the fact that it is Moses           church to Babylon, of its return to Canaan and of the
whom the Scriptures set forth as the mediator of the        ultimate dispersion of the Jews over the entire face of
Old Testament Dispensation. Yet Aaron, too, was the earth. Besides, the prophetic discourses of Moses
Mediator. But there is a difference to be noticed here. contain statements that are to be construed as directly
Aaron was mediator as $ighpriest  of atonement ; Moses predictive of the blessedness of the church in the
chiefly as prophet of God. And as prophet he towers state of glory. In the Scriptures Moses'stands  before
above all the prophets, ,Christ excepted. Such was the us as the fountain and father of all the prophets and
magnitude of the task  whitih He was called to perform books of the Holy Scriptures. All the history, pro-
that he ranks not with Isaiah or any of the other pro- verbs, prophesy and poetry of  IsraeI is grounded upon
phets but with Christ. What was his task? The ans- his laws and exist in them.
wer is found in Hebrews 3 :l-5 : "Wherefore holy breth-        However, if Moses was mediator as prophet, Aaron
ren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the was mediator as the highpriest of atonement. Now
Apostle and the Highpriest of our profession, Christ our word mediator appears in the New Testament
Jesus, who was  faith&z1 to him that appointed him, .as Scriptures as the translation of the Greek word  me&
also Moses was faithful`in all his house. For this man tees, the primary meaning of which is between. Hence
was` counted %orthy of more glory than Moses in as          in common language the word or name mediator. is
much as he who hath  builded  the house  bath more the signification of one who' interposes between parties
honor than the house. . . . for ever house is builded by at varience  for the purpose of reconciling them, so that,
some man ; but he that built all things is God. And according to the common  conception, to mediate is to
Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant,    interpose between two  hostiIe parties as the equal
for a testimony of those things which were to be            friend of each, thus to act as a go-between, or to arbi-
spoken of after; but Christ was a son over his own trate as the prince that mediates between nations and
house ; whose house are we. . . ."                          prevents war and is thus the benefactor of both parties.
   The Scripture asserts that Moses, as Christ, had a But this certainly is not the signification of the word
house, that of this house he was the builder and the        or' name in the vocabulary of the Scriptures. Gild
faithful servant in it.    Moses' house was the Old and His people are not to be conceived of as two
Testament church, which he instrumentally built and parties originally at variance but now  reconciIed
set in order. This house, with its foundation, occu- through the persistant efforts of a go-between. Such
pants, government, social and religious institutions, a conception is degrading to God. True it is, that this
was the replica of a mass of legislation, which God,        people by nature hate God and that He hates sin in
Israel's supreme lawgiver, had imparted to Moses. them. But His mercy over them is from everlasting
Now whereas it was the execution by Moses of the in- to everlasting. And even while they were yet sinners
struction contained in this legislation that brought into Christ died for them,-Christ, His only begotten Son,
being the Old Testament theocracy-the typical-sym- through whose cross He reconciled not Himself to them
bolical house of God-this house is said to be of Moses but them to Himself in His love wherewith He loved
and he is said to be its builder.                           them everlastingly. This being true the above con-
   As may be expected therefore, the mode of God's' ception of mediatorship will not do when the reference
intercourse with Moses was unique. It was and had is to the mediator of. God and man. And such was
to be congruous with the magnitude of his, Moses, Aaron symbolically. What were the characteristics of
task. Moses knew God face to face, receivedfrom God Aaron  as Mediator? His being of God and man

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

as God's appointee, that is, His representing, as the the power of His love preserve His people in this
gift`of God's love, men with G&i and `-God with `men, world for their heavenly inheritance and protect them
or in the Ianguage  of a scripture at Hebrews 5 : 1, `his       against their enemies in the'midst of which He reigns,
being taken from among men and ordained of God for
                               ..*_          . . . . , 1 -      as one `having received all power in heaven and earth ;
men in  things-Israell's~sins  and their reniovalLper- thirdly, that He rules His `people by His Spirit and
taming  to God, that he - might `offer" both gifts and His Word and lead them by His counsel to everlasting
sa,+fices for sins. " Such was his task, namely to make
                                         .  t.                  glory. Christ did'and  does all this.
atonement for men in the presence ch&ber of `Goti
  .            "I                                                  But if the mediatorship of Christ is to stand out
and to confer `upon men in  behalf `of `God God's blessing:     in our minds in its full significance and glory, we must
Such being.  the charachteristics  of the'mediatorshi`i;`of     have understanding of what Christ meant by language
Aaron, this mediatorship was to the honor' and  m&se            such as this, "Abide in me and Iin.you. As the branch
of `God.
         ,_ %.                                                  cannot bear fruit of itseif,  ecxept  it abide in the vine,
        However, the features of the mediator of God no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine,
and men were but dimly visible in Aaron, and this  f&r          ye are' the branches : ' he that abideth iti me, and I
the  following  reason. Aaron was  `one: his sacrifice in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for with-
was another. In agreement here&th,'  the sins of men; out me ye can do nothing".
Go.d's  people, were-  laid, by imiosition  of hands, `not         If Christ is the true vine then His followers must
upon Aaron but `by Aaron' upon `the sacrificial `vi&im~
 "`:  "-;                                                       nee&  adtie in Him, that is, remain in Him everlast-
Tms victim and not Aaron,  Yther!efare,  died `for sin.         ingly.  ' For,  being the true vine, He is  the'seat  and
And with `its" `blood was the  '  m&y&at sprinkled.             ch&n@  of their .iife; Such was the good pleasure of
Aaron further was'not men&  true bread The'life'that            the Father, namely, that `*in Him should dwell and
 abounded in men dwelt" not bodily'in him: He  w&
              ,.t .                                             dwell everlastingly, the fulness bodily. And this ful-
 not men's true vine and they hi's branches. Aaron'& ness includes  e&.-y  heavenly' blessing, all grace. And
mediator' of  `atonement  was  syn&ol,~  type. He was
       I  ..*  .*                                               it dwells in Christ now and forever. For in Him His
 thus food for' men's soul's indeed, but -`for the same followers are enjoined to  ab$e. Without Him they
 reason that all the Scriptures are this. The Scriptures can do, will ever be able to do, nothing. Should they
 set forth the promise, Christ, the heavenly. so, to ,be, ever be, separated from Him, they  ,would  again
 despise Aaron was to despise +&-very Word of God.
       I._                                                      stand before God in all their sins and instantaneously
 It was thus to perish  eve&astingly.  For Aaron was p'erish. For He is the true vine; true bread, the living
 the mediator of `&onement.            ene could not therefore water, the way the'truth  and the life, righteousness
 rejecthirh and have peace with God, as it was through and `sanctification and  re"dem$,ion,  the hidden manna,
.  God% causing the speech that this' symbol declared to the morning s&r, the tree of `life. He is, in a word,
 dwell ri&ly `in the hearts of His people,. that He justi- all and everything for His peppie  now and everIasting-
 fied `them before `their own consciousness:                    ly. For in Him dwells all fulness.
       Aaron then was but symbol. The' true mediator of             However of  th-is fulness not He but the Father
,God.  and man is Christ. It is to Him that our `attention is the creative fountain. From Him, that is, from
 must be directed, would we have understanding `of the His will (not from His being) it flows, a river of
 full `significance of the mediatorshin of the Mediator grace, fu-st into Christ and from Christ into His people.
 of God and man. Christ is .the true Aaron. He was And this peop!e by the mercy of God, abide in Christ;
sacrifice and `sacrificer. So, being  comet  an highpriest and Christ abides in the Father. This was the truth
 of good things  ta come, by a greater and more perfect to which Christ gave expression when He prayed,
tabernacle-His very own nature in which He atoned "That they may all be one ; as thou Father art in me,
the sins of His  geople,  thus a tabernacle, not made with and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the
 hands, that is to'say, not of this building-neither by world may believe, that thou hast sent me. And the
 the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood glory which thou gavest me I' have given them ; that
 He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained they may be one, even as we are one ; I in them and
 eternal redemption for us (,Heb,rews  9 :`Yl.l, i2). How- thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one. . ."
 ever `Christ's mediatorship did not end when He had                So is then Christ the mediator of God and men.
 done obtaining  IegalIy  redemption for His people: His In Him God reconciled His peo,pIe to Himself. In Him
 task as Mediator  `inciuded   much  mor,e  than His' aton- they  *have redemption. The heavenly gifts that He
 ing His people's sins on `the cross. Firstly, that He,         merited they  reCeive from God only through Him.
the glorified Saviour, as the representative and agent Through Him is their  fe$owship  with God. In His
 of the Father, the Triune Jehovah, pour out upon His           face do they see God and see Him as He is. He is
 body, the church, His Spirit, and so cause His people the likeness of God by which they are everlastingly
 to partake of the heavenly gifts that accrued from His satisfied.
 sufferings and death and that now dwell bodily in Him,             The mediatorship of Christ is thus eternal. It will
 the base and channel of all grace ; further, that He, by not have served out its purpose when the church will


                                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D  BEA-,RER                                            115

      have appeared with Him in  .glory.                 For Christ  ob-
     tained a more excellent ministry, by how much `also                             Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery
      He is the mediator of a better covenant, a  tiovenant
      that is eternal (Heb. 8). Hence, He must abide as                         There are several Scriptures contained in the Law
      Mediator.           The more  excehent  ministry which He of Moses which bear on this sin and related sins. We
      obtained He will forever retain. He will abide then as quote them here as to their sense and `meaning.
                                                                                                                    .
      the true bread of His people and everlastingly feed                       The general prohibition reads, "Thou shalt not
      them. Never will He be separated from His people,                      commit adultery," that is, Let no Israelite be unfaith-
      for then His body were without a head .and the church                  ful to the marriage vow and enter into illicit relation
      of God without a cornerstone.                                          with another.
                 In the light of the above observations, it is plain Death the penalty for adultery. Deut. 22~22-24.
      that Christ is Mediator according to His threefold
      office of priest, prophet and king, and thus `also ac-                    If a man be found committing adultery with a
      cording to all His works. He is thus not Mediator                      married woman, both shah be put to death, that the
      nrtd but us priest, prophet, king, the way, truth and the              Israelitish people may be free `from this evil. Like-
      life, the resurrection, the true bread, the living water. wise if the woman be a maiden betrothed to another
      It means that us Mediator  He is the ful6llment  of the                man, if the act was committed  within the city, both
      whoIe  law, the body of every shadow, thus of Moses                    shall be rjut to death by stoning, she becanse `it was
      and Aaron alike.                                                       possible for her, being in the city, to offer  effectua1
                 In the first paradise there was not the Mediator resistance through her crying out, and he because he
      of God and man. There was no need. Created in the humbled his neighbor's wife.
      image of God, Adam was righteous  initialIy in the Rape. Deut. 22 :25-27.
      way of his own obedience.  God.was  His life immediate-
      ly and directly, so to say. Ill-deserving, man was not.                   If a man find a young woman, betrothed to another,
      Guilt he did not have. Of salvation he had no need. aIone  inan uninhabited place and ravishes her, the girl
      But if this state continued, man would never experience shall be innocent, for  she had no way of resisting,
      the power of God's redeeming grace, and `thus see God but the man shaI1 be put to death.
      ,as He is, and seeing say to his soul, "Bless the `Lord,               Penalty for  seducing a virgin. Ex. 22 ~16, 17.
      0 my  sou1: . . . . who forgiveth-  all thine jniq~uites ;                If a man `seduce a virgin not betrothed, he must
      who  heal&h  all thy diseases." Therefore before the                   pay the usual marriage dowry and take her as his wife.
      foundation of the world, God .was choosing the Medi-                   If her father refuses to consent  to the marriage, the
      ator and in -Him His people that the latter should' be man shall simply pay the dowry.
      holy and without blame before God. For God wanted
      with Him in His sanctuary a people who should see Restatement of this penalty in Deut. 22 ~28, 29.
      Him in the face of Christ and thus see Him as He                          If a man seduce a virgin not betrothed, he must pay
      is that they might give Him greater glory. And such her father a marriage dowry of fifty shekels of silver
      a people God now possesses-a people redeemed from and must take her as his wife and shall not put her
      sin and curse and hell, a people who find themselves away  all his days. (The right of the father to refuse
      in the embrace of a God-the God and Father of ,his daughter to the seducer is not here repeated).
      Christ--Who took them to His heart in Christ, Who
      cleansed them from all their sins in Christ's blood and Seduction of a female slaue: Lev. 19 :20.
      Who gave them all things with Christ. And they bless                      If a man seduces a female slave, even though she
      His name according as they see Him. And they see                       is betrothed to another, but not set free, both shall
      Him as He is, for they see Him in Christ's face.                       be punished as the authorities determine, but not with
                                                           G. M. 0.          death, for she was a slave and therefore subject to
                                                                             specia1 laws.
                                                                             Makriuge  w4ith stepmother.  Deut.  22:30.
.                                                                               A man shall not marry his stepmother, for it is an
                 The Young Men's Society of the First Protestant Reformed    act of impiety toward his father.
      Church herewith wishes to express its sympathy to the
      family of                                                              A curse upon certain forms of incest.  Deut.   27~20,
                              EDWIN J.  HXZENBERG                            22, 23.
      in the Loss of .their son and brother.                                    In the public ritual of imprecation the priest shall
                 1M.w the Lord comfort them in this bereavement.             soIemnIy  declare: "A curse upon every man who mar-
                                                                             ries his stepmother, or mother-in-law, or sister or half-
                                                A.  Haan,  Pres.             sister," and all the assembly shall say, "So shall it
       `3, --                                J. Veltman, Sec'y.              be."

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

 Persons. between  `whom marriage  .is  illegal. Lev. Pe??dty for secret prostitution. Deut. 22 :13-21.
 18 ~6-18.                                                        If a man soon after his marriage alleges that his
        Marriage is forbidden between near kinfolk. It is wife, when he married her, was not a vergin, her
 illegal for a man to marry his mother, his stepmother, ,parents shall lay before the elders of the city, as they
 his full sister or half-sister, his granddaughter, his sit in judgment at the <gate, the evidence of her virgin-
 aunt, or the wife of his uncle, his daughter-in-law, ity. If they establish their claim the elders shall punis%
 his sister-in-law, his wife's child or grandchild (,by a the husband with strips and impose u:on him a fine
 previous marriage), or two sisters, while both are liv- of one hundred shekels of silver which shall be paid
 ing, lest they be jealous of each other.                      to the father of the girl whose reputation he has falsely
 Punishment.  Lev.  20:11,  12, 14, 17, 19-21.                 attacked. The husband must also take back his. wife,
        If a man marry his stepmother or daughter-in-law and he may not put her away all his days. If how-
 both the guilty parties shall be put to death. If a man ever the charge was true and `the wife's innocence
 marry both a mother and a daughter they have co-m-            cannot be established, the men of the city shall stone
 mitted a shameful crime. All three shall be burnt to her to death at the door of her father's house, for she
 death, for such an unnatural act cannot be tolerated in became a prostitute in her own home and only by these
 Israel.      If a man marries his half-sister, they shall severe measures can the social purity of Israel, which
 both be destroyed and their punishment shall be a just was endangered, be preserved.
 reward for their sin. A man shall not marry his aunt, Making a daughter a, prostitute. Lev. 19 :29.
 for they are near of kin and the consequence of their
 guilt shall be upon their heads. If                              Let no Israelite degrade and disgrace his daughter
                                         a  man marries his
 uncle's wife or  sister-Saw- childlessness shall be the `by making her a public prostitute, lest the Israelitish
 punishment of their sin.                                      nation become morally corru~pted  and an example of
                                                               shamelessness rather than of righteousness.
Sodomy. Deut.  23 :17, 18 ; Lev. 18 :22 ; 20 :13.              Penalty2 of  speciad cases.  Lev.  21:9.
Prohibit&m.  Deut. 23  :17, 18.                                   The daughter of a priest who becomes a public
 * No Israelite shall prostitute himself-as do the prostitute, disgraces her father and his sacred office.
 immoral Canaanites-in the service of a deity, nor For her sin she shall be burnt with fire.
 &al1 the gains of that vile. practice be brought into
 Jehovah's temple in payment of a vow.                         Indecent  assaudt.  Deut.  25:11,  12.
 Qeath the `penalty. Lev. 18 ~22 ; 20 ~13.                        When two men are fighting together and the wife
        For-one man to have intercourse with another as of the one, in attempting to help her husband, resorts
 between the sexes, is an abomination to Jehovah. Both to indecent measures, her hand shall be cut off as a
 shall be put to death. The consequences of their guilt punishment. The authorities shall show no leniency,
 shah be upon their own heads.           *                     but vigorously carry out the sentence.
 TJnnuturd  lusts. Ex. 22 :19 ; Deut. 27 :21; Lev, 18 ~23 ;       These are the laws that bear on the sexual side
 20:15;  18:19,  20:18.                                        of Israel's  dife. In their totality they show how  a11
                                                               uncleanness whether in holy wedlock or in single life
 Bestiality. Ex. 22  :19.                                      is accursed of God. As to adultery, it was a practice
        Whosoever has sexual intercourse with a beast shall that had to be punished with death, if fully proven.
 be  ,put to death.                                            And for guilt that could not be fully ascertained was
 A curse upon bestiulity. Ex. 22 ~19.                          prescribed the ritual respecting the trial and offering
        In the public ritual of imprecation the priest shall of jealousy. Num. 5  :12-27.
 solemnly declare : "A curse upon any one who has                 If a husband suspects on good evidence that his
 sexual intercourse with any beast,"' and all the people wife has secretly committed adultery with another
 shall say: "So may it be".                          *         man, although he is unable to present any witnesses
                                                               of the sin, he shall bring her with the proper offering
 Death the penalty of bestiality. iev.  18:23; 20 :15.         to the priest of the sanctuary. Then the priest shall ,
        The man or woman who so far violates the laws of seat her in the sanctuary before the Lord with her
 nature as to have sexual intercourse with a beast, hair unloosed and with the meal offering in her hand.
 shall be put to death together with the beast. If a           In an earthen vessel he shall mix dust gathered from
 man has sexual intercourse with a woman during her the floor of the sanctuary with `holy water; and before
 recurring period of sickness, both shall be cut off from he,gives  to her to drink, he shall cause her to subscribe
 among their people.                                           to the following oath: "If no man have lain with thee,
 Prostitution. Deut. 23 :17, 18; 22 :13-21;  Lev. 19 :20 ;     and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with
 21:9.                                                         another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this


  .                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                      119

bitter water that causeth the curse ; but if thou hast secret violation of the marriage vow, and the certainty
gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if with which He would avenge them".
thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee be-                                                G. M. 0.
side thine husband, the Lord make thee a curse and an
oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy
thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; and this water
that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make
thy belly to swell and thy thigh to rot. And the woman
shall say amen, amen."
 After the woman had taken the oath and it had                               Sons Of Zebedee
been recorded in a book by the priest, he shall offer the
meal offering and cause her to drink the potion. Then            Christ is on the track of the company from the
if she is guilty, it will effect her as specified in her north, who are going up to the Passover, that is to be
oath and she will be despised by all because of her           celebrated at the close of the following week. The
guilt; but if she is innocent, then she shall be free and     time, the company, the road, all serve to bring up to
shall not be harmed and shall conceives  seed.                the Saviour's thoughts events that are now so near,
       This whole rite concentrated itself in the oath.       to Him of such momentous import. A spirit of eager
If there was freedom of guilt, it announced exemption impatience to be baptized with the impending baptism
from punishment. This on the one side. On the other seizes upon Him, and gives a strange quickness and
side, it denounced the woman, if guilty and imprecated forwardness to His movements. His'talk, His gait,
evil upon her-evil that should correspond to the sin His gestures all betoken how absorbed He is ; the eye
which she had committed, nameIy, the decay of those and thought away from the gresent,  from all around,
parts of the body which had been surrendered to the           fixed upon some future, the purport of which has
service of lust. The bitter water symbolized the bitter- wonderfully excited Him. His hasty footsteps carry
ness of the curse as operative in the body of the tried Him on before His .fellow-travelers. "Jesus went be-
one, if there was guilt. Therefore the water was  cdled fore them"; St. Mark tells us, "and they were amazed ; '
bitter and also because it betokened the mental anguish and as they followed they were afraid." There was
which the consideration of beinlg subjected to such a that in His aspect, attitude and actions that filled them
humiliating trial would occasion. Because the bitter with wonder and with, awe. It was not long till an
water signified God's holy reaction against sin, it was explanation was offered them.          He took the twelve
also to be holy water.  Purther, it was to be mixed aside, and once again, as twice ,before,  but now with
with the dust of the sanctuary in token of its being still greater minuteness and particularity of detail,
used with regard to a curse. In the Scriptures dust told them what was about to happen within a few
and curse ,appear  as associate. The serpent, having days at Jerusalem, how He was $0 be delivered into
tempted Eve, was doomed to go on his belly and to eat the hands of the Jewish rulers, and how they were to
dust all the days of his life. At Psalm  72:9, it is          deliver Him into the hands of (the Gentiles, how He
said of the enemies of God that they shale1 lick the dust.    was to be mocked and scourged, and spit upon and
And at Micah  4:17, the nations appear as destined crucified, till all things that were written by the pro-
to lick the dust like a serpent.                              phets concerning Him should be accomplished, and how
       Of course, the fulfillment of the prediction of cor- on the third day He was to rise again. Everything
ruption and unfruitfulness was dependent solely upon was told so plainly that we may well wonder that any
the will of God. But was the bitter water the bearer one could have been at any loss as to Christ's meaning ;
of the operation of the will or wrath of God in the but the disciples, we are told, "understood none of
bodily organs cursed. Did, in other words, the divine these things, and the  sayipgs  were hid from them,
wrath operate in and through the water as its instru- neither knew they the things that were spoken." This
ment of working? It seems so from the following only proves what a blinding power preconception and
statement occurring in the imprecation, "But if thou misconception have in hiding the simplest things told
hast gone aside under thy husband. . . . this water           in the simplest language-a blinding power often exer-
that causeth the curse, shall go into thy bowels to make      cised over us now as to the written, as it was then
thy belly to swell and thy thigh to rot." But perhaps exercised over the apostles as to their Master's spoken
the implication of this language is that the bitter words.             The truth is that these men were utterly
water merely represented the curse. If more is im- unprepared at the time to take in the real truth as to
plied the bitter water  was  more than a symbol,-it was what was to happen to their Master. They had made
then the very means by which the curse was realized. up their minds, on the best of evidence, that it was
Eie this as it may, the whole service was designed the Messiah. He had Himself lately confirmed them
to convey "a deep impression of the jealous care with in that faith. But they had their own notions of the
which the holy eye of God watched over even the most Messiahship. With these such sufferings and such

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

 a death as were actually before Jesus `were utterly know as they stand gazing upon the central cross
 inconsistent.    They could be but figurative expres- of Calvary. "Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of?
 sions, then, that He had employed, intended, perhaps, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized
 to represent some severe struggle with His adversaries with?" They say, "We can". From this reply it woGld
through which He had to pass before His kingdom appear that, the disciples understood the Lord as ask-
 was set up and acknowledged.                                 ing them whether they are `prepared to drink along
        One thing alone was clear-that the time so long with Him some cup of sorrow that was about to be put
 looked forward to had come at last. This visit' to into His hanas, to abe baptized along with Him in some
`I Jerusalem was to witness the erection of the kingdom. baptism of fire, to which He was'aboiit  to be subjected.
 All other notions lost in that, the thought of the partic- They are prepared, they think that they can follow
 ular places they were to occupy in that kingdom entered him, they are wilhng to take their part in whatever
 again into the hearts of two of the disciples-that suffering such following shall entail. Through all the
 pair of brothers who, from early adherence, and the selfishness, and the ambition, and the great ignorance
 amount of sacrifice they had made, and the marked of the future that their request revealed, these shown
 attention that on more than one occasion Jesus had out in this prompt and no doubt perfectly sincere and
 paid to them, might naturally enoegh expect that if honest reply, a true and deep attachment to  the%
 special favors were to be dispensed to any, they would Master, a readiness to suffer  with  H,im or for Him.
 not be overlooked. James and John tell their mother And he is far quicker to recognize the one than to
 Salome, who has met them by the way, all that they condemn the other. "Ye shall indeed drink of the cup
 have lately noticed in the manner of their Master, and that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am bap-
 all that He had lately spoken, pointing to the approach- tized withal shall ye be baptized." You James, shall
 ing Passover as the season when the manifestation of be the first among the twelve that shall seal your
 the kingdom was to be made. Mother and sons a&ee testixnony  with your blood. You John shall have the
 to go to Jesus with the request that in His ,kingdom         longest if not the largest experience of what the bear-
 and glory the one brother should sit upon His right ing  of the cross `shall bring with it. But to sit on
 hand and the other uijon His left, a request that in all my right and on my left in my kingdom and my glory,
 likelihood took its  particuItir shape and form from ask me not for that honour as if it were a thing in the
 what Jesus had said but a few days before, when, in eonfeiing of which I am at liberty to consult my indi-
 answer to `Pete&question, "Behold, we have forsaken vidual will, taste or humor. It, is not mine so to dis-
 all, and followed thee ; what shall we have, therefore? pense. It is mine to give but only to those for whom
 And Jesus said unto tliem,`Verily  I say unto you, That ,it was prepared of my Father, and who by the course
 ye which have  follibwed   ke in the regeneration, when of discipline through which he shall pass them shall be
 the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye dully prepared for it.
 also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve          James and John have to be content with such a
 tribes of Israel." What could these thrones, this judg- repIy. Their application though made to Christ when
 ment be? Little wonder that the apostles' minds were alone, soon after became known to others, and excited
 set a-speculating by `what still deaves  us, after all spec- no small stir among them. Which indeed may cast the
 uIatin:g,  about as much in the dark as ever. But while first stone at the two? They all had been quarrelling
 Salome and James and John were proffering their re- among themselves,  .as to which of them should be
 quest, and trying to pre-engage  the ,places  of highest the greatest. And they shall all erelong be doing so
 honor, where was Peter? It had not come into his again. ,Christ's  words of rebuke as He hears of this
 thoughts to seek  a. private interview with his Master rontention  is for all as well as for James and John.
 for- such a purpose. He had no niother by His side to He tells us that no such kind of authority and power
 fan the flame that was as ready to kindle in His as as is practiced in earthy governments-the authority
 in any-of their breasts. That witholut  any thought of of men, rank or power carrying it dictatorially and
 one whose natural claims were as  good,& theirs, James tyrannically over subjects and dependants-is to be
 and John should have gone to Jesus and made the re- admitted among the disciples; greatness among them
 quest they did, satisfies us at least of this, that it was is a thing to be measured not by the amount of power
 not the understanding among the twelve that when the possessed but by the amount of service rendered, by
 Lord had Spoken'to'Peter  as he did after his good con- their greatest likeness to the Son of Man", who came
 fession, He had assigned to him the primacy, or, in- not to be administered unto, but to minister, and to
 deed, any particular pre%-&ence over the rest.               give His life a ransom for many."
        "Ye know not what  ye'ask". They did  it'ignorant-     ' The contention is thus momentarily hushed, to
 ly, and so far they obtain mercy of the Lord. What it
 was to be pIaced  on- the right and on His left in the       break out again, when it shall receive a still more im-
 scenes that waited Him in Jerusalem, two at least of pressive rebuke.
 the three petitioners, John and Salome, shall soon                                                    G. M. 0.


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                                                                                lying in a manger"; and sG.lE they believed, and still
                                                                                they rejoiced ; and in turn they became witnesses of
                      Medi'tation                                               the "thing" they had seen and of what they had heard
                                                                                concerning it.       `And they returned, glorifying and
                                                                                praising Cod for all the things they ' had heard and
                                  Great  Joy                                  * seen! . . . .
                                                                                     Do we so hear this gospel of great joy?
                            And the angel said unto them, Fear                       0, apparently all the Christian world hears and
                        not : for, behold, I bring you gooa. t&                 rejoices. Who does not celebrate Christmas?
                        ings of great joy. . . .               Luke B:fO.           But are they rejoicing in the "word" that is come
    The Word of joy!                                                            to pass in Bethlehem? Have not men's wicked imagin-
    Good  tidings of great joy!                                                 ations changed also this Word of Cod into a word
    a0 you hear this Word, and does the joy of it fill of man ; have they not changed  this "thing" into an
your heart?                                                                     idol after their own desires? Have they not so changed
    Thus, indeed, is the meaning, and this is the pur- the manger and the babe, that even in Bethlehem the
pose of this brief but wonderful sermon preached by "world" might *preserve  its self-respect, its goodness,
the angel to the shepherds in that Night of nights. its righteousness, the righteousness of Man? . . . .
A "thing"h%  happened, a "word" has come to pass.                                   No, the world as "world", not even the "Christian"
No, it is not a word of man that is realized,-how could world, not even the "modern" Christian world, cannot
it be the cause of great  joy?-but a Word of Cod,                               and does not rejoice at this "thing" that is come to
in fact, the Word of Cod b bscme; and this "thing" pass !
that has hap,pened  is really a cause of great joy ; and                            And the question isan important one : Do we really
we would never believe it, we would never be able hear the Word concerning the "Word" that is become
to see the great joy this "thing" really is, so wholly in Bethlehem?
unlike it is to any human thing of joy; and, therefore,                             The Word of groat joy indeed !
the angel is sent to preach this joy unto us, that we
may hear and believe, and that the great joy may be                                 Let us go, then, to Bethlehem!
kindled in our hearts. . . .                                                        And let us see this "thing" or "word" that has
    Do we hear? . . . .                                                         come to pass!
    And hearing do we believe?                                                      But go there, not to see  whether  this Word which
    And believing does the great joy fill our hearts? the Lord hath made known unto us is come to pass ;
And we are quite sure that our joy is, indeed, caused go- there not in the expectation to have your hearts
by this "Word" that is to come to pass in Bethlehem? filled with joy by what you see with your earthly eyes ;
   Yes, the shepherds heard. And they believed. And but go there, simply to see the "word" that is become,
their hearts thrilled with joy. And they immediately believing not because you see, but because the Word
responded to the Word that was spoken unto them that was preached unto you !
night.      Having heard the tidings concerning this                               8omething, indeed, you may see in Bethlehem!
"Word", and being directed by the angel as to the                                   Something might be seen there by any reporter
place where it had come to pass, they said: "Let us for the "Jerusalem Press", something that might, in-
now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this "word" deed, be good material for a "front page story", if
which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made viewed merely with our earthly eyes.
known unto us". And they went and saw; "the babe                                   For, on the previous day, in the evening, while the

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

  setting sun was already flooding the Western sky with poral. The Infinite is also wrapped in swaddling
  glowing glory of gold and purple, two strangers had clothes. The sovereign Lord of all also  .came under
  made their weary way up the terraced hills and olive the law. The Holy One of Israel is also in the likeness
  yards to the ancient City of David. Long and weari- of sinful flesh. The Supreme Potentate is also ser-
  some had been their journey from Nazareth through vant. . . .
  the trans-Jordanic regions and again into  Judea  to             The heavens were rent and God came down unto US !
  Bethlehem, and the hope that soon they  wou!,d  find             And there is no room for Him in the inn. We
  some place of repose had lent strength to their aching cannot, we will not receive Him!
  limbs to finish the last stretch of the way before dark-         Nay, do not speak ! Above all do not contradict !
  ness overtook them. But in this hope of rest they were Do not object that it is a mere accident that this babe
  to be disappointed.       Crowded to capacity the little is born in  that miserable stable, that his bed must be
  town was, and even in the inn they could find no room. a manger, that all the world, and especially the world
  And  So; fearful lest they would have to spend the            of today, the modern world, the civilized world, the
  night under the open firmament, in the chill of that philantropic  world, the "religious" world, will  gIadly
  `winter's night, they returned to one of the grottoes send aid to this stable; that, as soon as it is only known
  in the outskirts of the village, where often passing that this ChiId is, indeed, the holy `child Jesus, the Son
  caravans would lodge, and find stables for their beasts.      of the Highest, ,God of God, it will exchange the stable
  There they determined to spend the night, still hopeful for a palace, the manger for a (canopied bed, the swad-
  that they might tid more convenient lodging on the            dling clothes for royal  Qurple.  Do not say that, had
  morrow. . . .                                                 the world only known, it would gladly have celebrated
         And there the woman that was a virgin brought the advent of God, even as it now .celebrates  Christ-
  forth her firstborn son.                                      mas. . . .
         And she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and             For, then you speak your own word !
  laid him in the manger!                                          Then you  onIy  contradict the Word of God!
         All because there was no room for them in the inn !       For, this stable and this manger and these poor
         Go there, then, because you have heard the Word swaddhng clothes are the Word of God, which you
  ,preached  and have believed !                                may nat change.
         Above all, go there not to pity and to  help. Go          Through them God speaks! Are they not "the sign
  there, not to take this silent mother out of this stable, unto you"?
  and to lift that babe from his  mangeribbed,  in order           And He says : the world  aiways  meets `me with its
  to show them your human philanthropy. Do not call No! Four thousand years before this Christmas night
  in an agent of your social  wdfare, to remove these I was in the world, and ye would Me not! Ye con-
  circumstances that bespeak deep misery and abject tradicted My Word ; ye rejected My commandment ;
  poverty,. for by doing so you would only obliterate ye vioIated My covenant; ye despised My friendship;
  the "sign" of this "thing" that is come to pass, you and ever since ye `hate Me above all that is to be hated ;
  wouId silence the "Word" of God that would bring ye cast Me out to make room for the devil ;, ye pre-
  unto you good tidings of great joy. Do you not re- ferred darkness to light, sin to righteousness, corrup-
  member that the angel said unto you : "-And this shall tion to holiness, death to life ! And I come into the
  be a sign unto you: ye shall find the babe wrapped in         world on this Christmas night, not because I expect
. swaddling cIothes  and lying in an manger"? . . . .           that you wiI1 hail My advent, but witnessing by this
         To Bethlehem let us go, having heard the Word sign of the manger that you will make no room for Me,
  preached, not to pity and give aid, not to act at all?        that even the "wisest" and most "civilized", the
         Only to see the Word of God, the Word which the        "noblest" and most "religious" of you will crowd me
  Lord hath already spoken unto us !                            out of your city and out of your worId, wiil presentIy
         And these circumstances, this stable, this manger, say : "This is the Son, come, let us kill Him  !". . . .
  this misery and  ,poverty,   al1 belong to the Word which         This shall be a sign unto you !
  God speaks to us in Bethlehem !                                   You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling
         Let us worship and hear!                               clothes, Iying in a manger!
         For, indeed, God is come down to us! He is there,          It is the Word of God concerning your No!
  wonder of wonders !-in that Babe in the `manger !                 Do you hear?
  He came to us, mystery of mysteries !- as the first-              Nay, but you will not and cannot hear. And you
  born Son of that silent virgin ! The heavens did rend, wiI1 contradict and make yourselves pious, and speak
  and He came ! He, Himself. No idol of our imagina- of the *`beautiful Jesus", and celebrate your Christ-
  tion, but very God, God Who is GOD, came in the               mas. . . .
  flesh, in human nature ! God became also man. The                 And know nothing of the great joy !       I
  Unchangeable was also born. The uncaused Absolute                 For as Iong as you wrap yourselves in cloaks of
  became also relative. The Eternal became also tem- self-righteousness and religion and piety and "CoWXlOn


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          123

grace", you shut your hearts to the streams of pure             But He, that child in the manger, is a Saviour
joy of which the angel spoke !                               unto them!
   And again, you will indeed hear, if but the almighty         He saves!
Word of God makes its way irresistibly into your in-            And let it be repeated with all emphasis: He saves!
most soul !                                                     He delivers from all the power of sin and death,
   And hearing you will tremble before Him. And and He makes us heirs of al1 the glory of righteousness
trembling you will acknowledge that His Word con- and life ! He takes us out of darkness and translates
cerning yaur No is, indeed, the truth. And acknow- us into the `light! He redeems Us from the guilt of
ledging you will repent in dust and ashes. And repent- sin by His p.erfed  sacrifice, and He clothes us with
ing you will ask Him to make room for Himself in your eternal righteousness, that makes us worthy of eternal
inmost heart !                                               glory. He finds us enemies and He makes us friends.
   And He will hear and come ! And coming He wi11 He finds us slaves of the devil and He makes us ser-
flood your hearts with the light of life!                    vants of the Most High. He cuts the shackles of sin
   Pleasures forevermore ! .                                 and sets us  ,into the perfect liberty of God's covenant.
                                                             He comes into our death and brings us  ,with Him into
   Let us go, then, unto Bethlehem !                         the glorious life of His resurrection. He finds us in
    Not, indeed, to see  ,with  our earthly and carnal Ihell and lifts us up into the highest glory of God's
eyes what anyone may see of this "thing" that is come heavenly tabernacIe  !
to pass!                                                        A Saviour  ?
   Not in order to speak our own word, the word of              He saves!
man, `concerning this child, wrapped in swaddling               Do not change this gospel into a word of man ! Do
c1othes  and lying in a manger!                              not say, that He is indeed willing to save ; that, when
   But with the Word preached by the angel in our He descended into very  hell, He intended to save ; that,
heart. In the light of that Word let us consider the in, His Word He declares unto all men His willingness
swaddling clothes and the manger. Above all, believ- to save; but that the actual realization of this salva-
ing that Word let us look at the Child and rejoice !         tion depends upon man's consent. Do you forget the
   For, He is Saviour, Christ, the Lord !                    sign of the swaddling clothes and the manger? Do
   Saviour He is, because He shall surely save His they `not bring the Word of God, testifying that we
people from their sin ! It is from sin they must be have no room for Him, cannot, will not and never shall
saved, in order to be saved at all. Apart from re- make room for H.im'? If to the slightest conceivabIe
demption and deliverance from sin, there is no salva- extent His salvation depends upon our "yes", the case
tion. For, sin is their guilt, that rises up against them, is hopeIess,  He cannot be a Saviour, for we will always
that accuses- them day and night before the face of .say "No" !
God, that condemns them and makes  them worthy of               Yes, but He is Saviour, because He saves !
damnation, of death and hell. And sin is also the               He is ordained to save, for He is Christ, the
power that keeps them in bondage, that has dominion Anointed.              He is God's Christ, the Friend-servant
over them, that shackles them from within, so that of the Most High wr exce&?elece!              Ordained and quaIi-
they love the Iie; contradict the Word of God, follow fied to be Heir of a11 things, `the Head of al1 creation,
after corruption and iniquity, hasten to destruction. and therefore,, empowered in the Name of God to de-
Held in the power of sin, burdened with a load of guiit stroy the power of the de61  and a11 the dominion of
they are9 because in themselves and by nature they, darkness and to renew them into the eternal Kingdom
His people, are of this present world. Children of of heaven, wherein the tabernacIe  of God shal1 be with
wrath, even as the others. . . .                             men. God's Prophet, God's Priest, God's King is He.
   And from that bondage of sin they must be saved ! Christ, the Lord!
   Themselves they can nevermore redeem nor deliver.            The right to save is His !
As far as they can see their condition is quite hopeless.       And He saves to the end ! For, He saved us by-
There is no way out. Atone for their guilt they can- the blood of the accursed tree, tasting death for every
not, for to atone is to satisfy, and to satisfy is to pay, man; and He saved ,us by the power of H,is resurrec-
and to pay is to bring the perfect sacrifice of love. tion, the justification of  al1 that are given Him by the
And how shall they, who are dead through trespasses Father. . . .
and sins, who can only increase their guilt every day           And He saves us by the grace of His good Spirit,
2nd every moment, ever bring that  sa&%ce  of perfect overcoming our "no", and making us willing subjects
obedience?     Nor could they ever break the shackles unto His "yes".
of corruption and darkness that  hoId  them bound,              Unto you is born a Saviour, which is Christ the
and deliver themselves from the dominion of the devil. Lord !
They have not the right to `be delivered, neither the           Glorious gospel of glad tidings!
power or the  wil1 to deliver themselves.       j..'            EverIasting  joy !                         H. H.


124                                      THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
I                                                                and the ungodly had bIood  to drink; and the fourth
                                                                 upon the sun, so that men were scorched with fire.
II
                       E d i t o r i a l s                       I call attention to these to point out that there is no
                                                            II reason to allegorize these judgments of God in na-
                                                                 ture. Just how they will be realized we do not know,
              The Battle Of Harmageddon                          but we may be quite sure that Scripture here speaks
                                                                 of literal plagues in nature. The purpose of them,
        About this subject a question was delivered to me however, is to remove the very basis of prosperity
from the Men's Society of our Church in South Hol- from the Anti-Christian empire, from Babylon. This
     land,  Ill. The exact wording of the question I know again is closely related to the flfth vial, which is
     not, because the question ,was delivered orally, but I poured out upon the throne of the beast, the result
believe that the Society is interested to know especially being that his dominion is darkened, and instead of
     ,whether  that battle must be conceived of as a real, carnal joy there is now despair in his kingdom. Again,
literal battle, or whether the text in Revelation refers. just how this. will be fulfilled we cannot tell, but there
to something spiritual. The possibility of conceiving can be no question about the fact, that there will be a
     of it in a spiritual way was suggested, I believe, by literal worldpower of antichrist, a literal throne and
the mention of the three unclean spirits that proceed. dominion and that by this fifth vial its glory will be
     out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast and the darkened.
     false prophet.                                                 And thus things are prepared for *`the battle of
        But let us briefly consider the matter in order.         Harmageddon".
        We read about the battle of Harmageddon in Rev.             The sixth vial is poured out on the great river
     16 :12-16  : "And the sixth angel poured out his vial Euprates. And the effect of `it  `is that the way of the
     upon the great river Euphrates ; and the water thereof kings of the east is prepared and that the kings of the
     was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east earth, of the whole world, are gathered to battle. The
     might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits day of that battIe  is the great day of God Almighty,
     like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and the day of His wrath and judgment.
     out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth            Now the river Euphrates is the ideal boundary line
     of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils of the land of Canaan, separating  IsraeI  from the
     working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of heathen nations (Gen. 15  :18). Symbolically it  ,is
     the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to         represents the line of demarcation or separation be-
     the  battle of that great day of  ,God Almighty. Be- tween the outwardly Christian (at that time of the
     hold, I come as a thief. ., Blessed is he that watcheth sixth vial:  antichristian)   world and "the kings of
and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they the east", the heathen world, the  gowers which Scrip-
     see his shame. And he gathered them together into ture elsewhere calls "Gog and Magog". That the
     a  pIace  called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon". river Euphrates is dried up signifies, therefore, that
     The remaining verses of this chapter tell of the pour- every obstacle for the kings of the east, the heathen
     ing out of the seventh vial, picturing evidently what nations, the nations of Asia and Africa and from the
     takes place on the scene of that battle of Harmaged-        four corners of the earth, to come against the anti-
     don.                                                        christian powers for battle, is removed. The drying
        We must remember that the text tells us of the           up of the great  river-is not to be realized literally,
     judgments symbolized in the pouring out of the vials, of course. That would have no significance. But it
     and refers  US,  therefore, chiefly to the time immediate- symbolically represents the  remova of a final obstacle
     ly preceding the end of the world. For, although even       (whatever that may be) in the way of "the kings of
     what is signified in these vials is always upon the earth the east" to come for battle.
     in a sense, yet in their full significance the vials are       Now, surely, "the kings of the east" (vs. 12) and
     poured out shortly before the second coming of the          "the kings of the earth and of the whole world" (vs.
     Lord.                                                       14) are kings or powers of flesh. and blood. They
        The battle of Harmageddon (or Armageddon) is, are worldly powers in the literal sense of the word.
     DO  doubt, the chief subject here. All the vials cul-       There can be no mistake about this. This would also
     minate in  that battle. Already the first four vials Iead to the con&don  that in vs. 14 and 16 a literal
     are preparatory to that  flnai struggle. These are pour- battle is meant between these forces from "the east"
     ed out upon the physical urnverse. The first is poured and from "the west".
     out on the earth, the soil, and the result is a grievous       But as this sixth vial is poured out, John sees
     sore upon the men that worship the beast ; the second something else. Three unclean spirits, whose unclean
     upon the sea, so that it became as blood and every nature is further apparent from their likeness to frogs,
     living creature in it died; the third upon the rivers and who are spirits of devils, proceed from the mouth
     and fountains of waters, so that they became blood, of the dragon, the mouth of the beast (antichrist from


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R ,                                           125

      its political aspect, as a world-power) and of the false meenachap met onze kerken. We reiken u de hand
      prophet, and they go forth to the kings of the whole          der broederlijke liefde in  Christus Jezus  onzen  Heere.
      earth to gather them to battle. It is evident: 1. That           "Maar hoe zal het ooit tot eene verzoening komen,
      these three spirits are  one. in nature and purpose als de  dingen, die we in  dit schrijven gereleveerd  heb-
      (they proceed from the devil-beast-false prophet)  Z i.e. ben, niet uit den weg geruimd worden?  En hoe zul-
      antichristian. 2. That they represent the influence of len ze uit den weg geruimd ,worden,. tenzij ze vergeven
      "the word" (they proceed of the mouth of the dragon worden? Maar hoe zullen  we u kunnen vergeven,  ten-
      etc.) both spoken and written: false philosophy, so zij ge vergeving begeert, nadat ge het verkeerde van
      called "religion", modern "missions", also treaties etc. uwen weg hebt ingezien?
      3. That it is not the .purpose  of the antichristian power       "Het is juist omdat we u gaarne de `band der ge-
      to gather the whole world to battle, but that this is,        meenschap toereiken, dat we u bestraffen over deze
      nevertheless, the purpose God accomplishes through uwe zonde, dat ge herhaaldelijk gepoogd hebt de  zaak
      these unclean spirits.                                        Gods  te verwoesten om persoonlijke redenen. Het is
         And this everything is prepared for the battle of in denzelfden geest, dat wij u vermanen om u te be-
      Harmageddon. Everything we studied thus far leads keeren, en om niet voort te gaan in dezen zondigen
      to the conclusion that this battle will be a literal con- weg van scheuring, dien ge opzettelijk gekozen hebt,
      flict between tremendous forces (the kings of the whole en voor welke keuze ge nooit verantwoording zult kun-
      world) that will be gathered in Harmageddon. The rien doen voor God en-ons.
      name Har (Ar) Mageddon means Mount Megiddo. It                   "Hebt niet  den indruk, dat het in onze bedoeling
      was a mountain situated in the territory of Issachar,         ligt onszelven boven u te verheffen, omdat we het onze
      in ;the plain of Esdraelon, near the valley of Jezreel. roeping  achten u deze bestraffing en vermaning te doen
      Some interpreters insist that we have here a direct toekomen. We vermanen u als broeders in Christus,
      indication of the place where the last world-struggle we1 bewust van onze eigen geneigdheid tot struikelen
      will take place, and where the nations of the world en zonde. En omdat we onszelven onzer zwakheden
      will be gathered for the final battle at the time when bewust  zijn, wenschen we met nog twee apmerkingen
     Christ shall appear to judge. But this is not neces- dit schrijven te besluiten. In de eerste  plaats,   ver-
      sarily the case, neither is it essential to the right zoeken  we u, bijaldien ge zoudt meenen, dat er ook bij
      understanding of the passage. The name refers, un- ens schuld ligt voor de bestaande  breuke, ons hierop te
      doubtedly, to the victory of Deborah and Barak over wijzen. En ten tweeden  laten we u weten,  dat we ten
      the Canaanites, Judges 5. It represents the place allen tijde bereid zijn, deze dingen  met u te bespreken,
      where all the enemies of the Lord shall suffer their en dat we  eene  commissie  voor dit  doe1  hebben  be-
      fmal defeat.                                                  noemd.
         I reach-the conclusion, therefore, that the "battle                                  De uwe in Christus,
      of Armageddon" is to be  a hteral,  fmal battle ; at least                   De Synode der Prot. Gerf. Kerken,
      in Armageddon the nations shall come together from                                   Rev. ,Gerrit  Vos, Pres.
      the east and from the west for the purpose of batt$e,                                Rev. M. Grit&s, Scriba.       1
      while at the same time. if; is God's purpose to gather                               Rev. P. De Boer, Tweede scriba."
      them for judgment.                                              `* Op dit schrijven ontving onze "Stated Clerk" het
                                                     H. H.          .volgende  antwoord, dat we maar niet vertalen, uit              .
                                                                    vrees den zin er van niet juist weer te geven :

                                                                                                     Kalamazoo, Mich.
                                                                                                     July 30, 1940.
                  Van Onze Eerste Synode                               "To the Protestant Reformed Church
                                                                       924  Worden  Street
         Het slot van het schrijven  onzer Synode aan de Pro-          Grand Rapids, Michigan.
      testeerende Eerste Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerk               Atteution - Rev. D. Jonker.
      te Kalamazoo luidt als volgt :
         "Broeders, wij begrijpen, dat dit harde  dingen  zijn         "Esteemed Brethren in the Lord:
      voor ons om te zeggen, en voor u om te hooren. Maar              "The Consistory of the Protesting First Christian
      ze zijn de waarheid, zooals uit al de act&x&ken  blijkt.      Reformed Church of Kalamazoo acknowledges receipt
      En wij verzekeren u, dat we ze hier niet ophalen, of Your communication of May 28 and after carefully
      omdat we er behagen in hebben dit te. doen,  noch ook reading and considering the contents of same has come
      omdat we door  een  gee&  van bitterheid  worden  be- to the following conclusion :
"     wogen, maar omdat het onze ernstige begeerte is om               "a. The Consistory  does not accept any of the accu-
      te verzoenen, en om u te doen  terugkeeren tot de ge-         sations mentioned in your missive and feels that if

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

any contact is to be made these will have to be re- antwoord zijn op onze Iaatste  opmerking, dat we ge-
tracted.                                                     willig zijn om deze  dingen  met den Kerkeraad van
       "b. The Consistory has shown its willingness in Kalamazoo te bespreken, en hiervoor eene commissie
the past and also now is willing to confer with the hebben  benoemd. Dit sluit natuurlijk de deur. Onze
Protestant Reformed Church regarding a possible commissie heeft geen  macht om de beschuldigingen
union if same can be accomplished on a reasonable te herroepen. De zaak is dus afgedaan,  althans tot
basis  an.d with the aim of ultimate success.                aan de  volgende   &mode.  Hier  verschanst  de  Kerke-
       "c. If your church also desires to confer with us raad zijn zwakheid. Hij aanvaardt onze beschuldigin-
on such a basis the Consistory sees a possibility of gen niet. Daarom oordeelde de Kerkeraad, dat het  maar
union.  '                                                    het voorzichtigst was, om geen contact toe te staan,
       "d. The Consistory  feeis  the need of a stronger totdat die beschuldigingen herroepen worden.  Echter
unity with brethren that are one in their striving for geeft de Kerkeraad  ook geen enkelen grond aan, waar-
more clearness of doctrinal truths -and therefore asks op zulk eene herroeping zou kunnen geschieden. De
that you  wi;l prayerfully consider the contents of this deur is gesloten.
answer".                                                        Op ons verzoek om  aan te toonen,  waarin. wij
                                                             schuldig staan  aan de  bestaande  breuke,  geeft de
             CONSISTORY OF THE PROTESTING                    Kerkeraad geen antwoord.
             FIRST CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH.                  De Kerkeraad beweert verder, dat hij `zich'in het
                       Yours very respectfully,              verleden  gewillig  betoond heeft om te confereeren met
                       Henry Danhof, President,              onze Kerken over een mogelijke vereeniging; en dat hij
                       Peter Dijksterhuis, Clerk."           daartoe  ook thans gewilbg  is.
                                                                Dit beteekent natuurlijk niets, nadat de Kerkeraad
       De leden der commissie, die de Synode benoemde eerst duidelijk te kennen gegeven heeft, dat hij juist
om deze  zaak te behartigen gelieven dit ook de beschou-     geen bespreking wil van de  oorzaken,  die tot de  scheu-
wen als eene kennisgeving aan hen van dit antwoord ring van KaIamazoo's  gemeente leidden. Die  gewillig-
van den kerkeraad van Kalamazoo.                             heid in het verleden betoond zal zeker duiden op de
       Ondergeteekende meent, dat de commissie hier  geen correspondentie, die  Kalamazoo  eens  gehad  heeft met
verder werk verrichton kan. Ze heeft daartoe geen &n onzer  kerkeraden.  Overigens is zeker niemand
opdracht.                                                    zich van eenig betoon van gewilligheid van de zijde
       Indien een der andere  leden  hierover van hem zou van Kalamazoo bewust. En ook thans ware het beter
verschillen,  hij late het ondergeteekende slechts weten,    geweest,  dat de  Kerkeraad  van  KaLnazoo zijn  ant-
en deze  zal gaarne een vergadering der commissie  be- woord maar besloten had men de conclusie ,onder  "a".
,Ieggen.                                                        Want het wordt niet  beter. De Kerkeraad zoekt
       Ik vind dit een vreemd antwoord.                      vereeniging op een "reasonable basis and with the
       Aangaande den inhoud der vermaning, die we den aim of ultimate success". Een "redelijke basis"! Wie
kerkeraad deden toekomen, antwoordt deze, dat hij de kan zeggen,  wat  de  Kerkeraad  hiermee  bedoelt?  Wil
beschuldigingen daarin genoemd niet aanvaardt, met .het zeggen, dat we maar niet over bet verleden con-
aanneemt.                                                    fereeren, de dingen  maar "blauw blauw" laten? Mis-
       Dat ze niet waar zijn, beweert de Kerkeraad niet. schien is dat  we1 "redelijk",  maar Schriftuurlijk is
ZuIk een bewering zou dan ook met bewijzen gepaard het niet. En hoe een Kerkeraad eener Cereformeerde
moeten  gaan. En zulke bewijzen zou hij niet kunnen Kerk kan meenen, dat dit zou kunnen uitloopen op
lever-en.      Integendeel, die leden van den Kerkeraad `.`ultimate  success", gaat mijn  begrip  te boven. Waar-
aldaar,  die op de hoogte zijn met de geschiedenis, weten om wil de Kerkeraad  geen vereeniging op een Schrif-
maar al te goed, dat hetgeen onze Synode schreef waar tuurlijken grond en in den Schriftuurlijken weg? Dien
is van het begin tot  bet eind. Maar de Kerkeraad heeft wezen  wij immers  aan ? Waarom meet daarvoor in
blijkbaar  gemeend, dat hij  aan de klem kon ontkomen de  plaats geschoven  worden  "a reasonable basis"?
door eenvoudig te zeggen, dat  hij onze beschuldigingen Welslagen van een poging tot vereeniging mag alleen
niet aanvaardt. Maar onzerzijds, last de Kerkeraad in den Schriftuurlijken weg verwacht  worden.  Dien
dit goed  verstaan, zijn we volkomen bereid,  om hetgeen wil Kalamazoo niet !
we schreven met de stukken en met vele getuigen te               Het laatste is misschien nog het vreemdst:
bewijzen. Wil de Kerkeraad ze dan niet aanvaarden,              De Kerkeraad spreekt name!ijk uit, dat hij behoefte
dan  wii dat eenvoudig zeggen, dat hij'de waarheid  niet     gevoelt  aan sterkere eenheid met broederen, die &en
 wil aanvaarden. En dat  ligt voor zijn  verantwoor-          zijn in hun streven  nsar meerdere  helderheid  van
 ding.                                                       Ieerstellige  waarheden !
       Maar de Kerkeraad zegt meer. Hij  last ons ook            Als dit eenigen zin heeft, dan moet net we1 betee-
 weten,  dat  .hij eenig contact met ons weigert,  tenzij     kenen,  dat  -er bij den Kerkeraad te Kalamazoo een
 die beschuldigingen  worden herroepen. Dit zal een streven is naar meer helderheid in Ieerstellige  waar-


138                                 T,HE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                           point and say, "There is God." At the altar he  ta!ked
             The Levitical Priesthood                      with God. There he confessed by word of mouth and
                                                           through his sacrificing that  ihe was guilty and con-
       In our previous article I raised and answered the demnable before God, that thus he had need of an
question: what was the position of the Levitical priest- innocent substitute to atone his sins by its death and
hood and in particular of Aaron in the divine economy that only with his sins atoned, could there be to him
instrumentally inaugurated by Moses? And the ans- forgiveness and life.  Tlhere at the altar and in re-
wer was to the following effects: Aaron in his capacity sponse to his confession, the Lord witnessed in his
of  sigh priest of atonement was mediator of God and heart that he was righteous. There at the altar, the
man.      What this implied was adequately erplained. believer saw God-his mercy and compassion and
We must now inquire after the reason and purpose of righteousness-in the face of his sacrifice.
Ctid's instituting the office of high priest and of His       Still it would be improper to say that before the
selecting from all the families of Israel the family of    rearing of the tabernacle there `was to the church a
Aaron for the work of sacrificing, and for the right house of God, a definite place to which believers could,
tlhat went with it, namely, that of drawing particularly repair and stand before their own consciousness in
near to `God.                                              the immediate presence of God. Before man's  fa!l,
       Attention has already been directed to the fact the  san&uary  of God was the garden of Eden. That
that the book of Genesis and the first twenty-four chap- God's believing people took up their residence near the
ters of the book of Exodus make no mention of a priest- garden, after man's expulsion from it, indicates that
hood in the holy line of Seth and of Abraham, that is, until tie deluge the hope of the church continued to be
make no mention of an individual or class of individuals that sooner or later it would again be dwelling with
vested with the office of priesthood as an e&u-&e  pre- God in this sacred region. Thus not the altar but this
negative,  thus of a class of persons whose exclusive garden was to the church the one place on earth, where
right it was to perform the duties of a sacrificer. The man stood in God's very presence. After the deluge
first person to appear in Scripture as bearing the name the church continued to .build its altars. The patriarchs
of priest is Melohizedek,  who is described as "king of did so. But that the place where their altar stood,
Salem and priest of the most high God". But he was was not to them the very house, sanctuary, of God, that
a Canaanite. There are two other persons with whom even when standing in this place, they were still stand-
the name of ptiest  is associated, to wit, Potipherah, ing at a distance from God, is evident from Jacob's
the father-in-law of Joseph, and Jethro, the  father-in- reaction to his vision of the ladder. Awakening out of
laww of Moses. But the former was an Egyptian and his sleep, he said, "Surely, the Lord is in this place
the latter a Medianite. Now the silence of Scripture and I knew it not." And further, "And he was afraid,
respecting a distinct order of priests in the epoch pre- and said, How dreadful is this place: this is none other
ceding the deliverance of the church from Egyptian but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
bondage, warrants the conclusion that in this epoch This language shows that Jacob deems ihimself  as hav-
there was no such order .and that thus the right of ing been where he had not been before, namely, in
offering oblations was that of every believer. But God's own house and thus in His presence. But it is
it is only natural that in process of time the privilege to be noticed that even in the vision, the Lord, in com-
of the exercise of this right was, though not by direct municating with Jacob, stood at a great distance:
command of God, conferred upon the heads of families for He stood above a ladder, the top of which reached
and persons of highest rank in the communities. After to heaven. (Gen. 28  :12)
the deluge, it is Noah and later on Abraham, Isaac, and       So, though there was during the patriarchal period
Jacob who appear in Scripture as doing the work of a of sacred history no distinct class of persons vested
sacrificer in behalf of themselves and their respective with the office of priesthood, it is amiss to say that
families. Of the patriarch Job it is stated that he during that period it was the prerogative of all be-
offered burnt offerings, according to the number of lievers to bring his offering so near to God that before
his sons and daughters, when the days of their feasting their consciousness they stood in His `immediate pre-
were gone about.                                           sence and had thus by the blood of their sacrifice
       Now that in the period that preceded the coming entered the holiest place. If this view were true, the
of the law there was no class of persons whose ex- institution of the priesthood and the rearing of the
clusive right it was to do the work of sacrificer means tabernacle would have spelled not progression but re-
that in that period it was the prerogative of every trogression. Yet some have so regarded the institu-
believer to come to the Lord and to stand in His pre- tion of the priesthood, namely, as loss. One writer,
sence. And as the Lord then met the believer at the delineating on the matter under consideration, ex-
altar, the believer before his own consciousness stood presses Ihimself to the following effect, "But t his being
in the presence of God when he stood in the place the case, does it not seem like a  travelling in a wrong
where he bad reared his altar. To this place he could direction, to institute at last an'@ order of priests for


                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                    139

      that purpose (the purpose of ministering in holy `God. If it did, then did aIso God's sending His Son;
      things) ? Was not this to mar the simplicity of God's for He was the true priest. As the representative of
      worship, and throw a new restrtint  around the free- His people, He, too, sacrificed in their behalf and in
      dom of access to Him? In one sense, unquestionably it their stead. But His gift was His very own self.
      was; and separating, as it did, between the offering          The institution of the order of priests must be re-
      and him in whose behalf it was presented, it introduced garded as all gain. For the priest was the representa-
      into the worship of God an element of imperfection tive of God's people. In this capacity he abided in
      which cleaves to all the sacrifices of the law. In this God's house. The high priest was even privileged to
      respect, it was a more perfect state of things which enter annually the very room of this house-the `holiest
      permitted the offerer Ihimself to bring near his offer- place-which God occupied, so that the institution of
      ing to God, and one that has, therefore, been restored the order of priests marked the beginning of a period
      under the gospel dispensation. "But in other respects", during which God's people came, as man in the state
      so this author continues, "the worship of God made a of integrity had come,  cinto the immediate presence of
      great advance under the n-nnistration  of Moses, and an God. But not locally and actually but only in, through
      advance of such a nature as imperatively to require and with its representative, the high priest, thus solely
      the institution of a separate  priestihood. So that what by representation, did the ancient worshippers at any
      `was  ,in itself an emperfection became relatively an time enter into the Holiest place. They did not after-
      advantage, and an important handmaid to something wards join the high priest in this place. Instead, He
      better."                                                  returned to them, so that during  the entire dispensa-
         Rightly considered, it is not true that the intro- tion of the *law the church stood at `a distance. ,For
      duction of an order of priests threw a new restraint the blood that was then shed was that of bulls and of
      around the freedom of access to God and thus intro- goats. It sanctified to the purifying of the flesh only.
      duced an element. of imperfection into the worship of The shedding of it could merely serve as the meritorial
      God.       For a contention of this kind implies that, source of the right to traverse solely by representation
      through the institution of the priesthood the church the recincts  of a worldly sanctuary. But such is the
      was deprived of a right and privilege which it had virtue of Christ's ,blood  that now God's true worship-
      previous!y  possessed. What may that right have been? pers themselves may enter the holiest in heaven to
      Not the right to draw near to God's altar, to bring near abide there everlastingly,-enter by a new `and living
      to Him oRerings?  This right the church did not lose way, which He hath consecrated for them,through  the
      as a result of the institution of the priesthood but veil, that is to say, His flesh. And the evidence that
      retained. Consider the following. In the outer court suah is the virtue of His blood is that He himself,
      of the tabernacle stood the altar of burnt offering, by this blood-His very own-entered into the holiest
      accessible at all times to the common Israelites. To -entered with His people,  iwho together with Him
      this altar they brought their offerings and thus brought were quickened, raised up, and made to sit in heaven
      them near to God, as near as did the believers of the in Him: that "in the ages to come Be might shew the
      preceding epoch. *The common worshipers even had exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us
      a share in the work of sacrificing his gift. His was through Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2 :6, 7).
      the task, on ordinary occasions, to transfer his guilt        Herewith has been disclosed the principle rea-
      from himself to his animal sacrifice, which he would son of God's bringing into being the priesthood and
      do by imposition of hands. By him ,and thus not by the tabernacle. They were the instruments, con-
      the priest, was the victim slain. The  pniest's  task was ceived of and created by Himself, through which He
      to present to the Lord the ,blood  of the victim for a could and  d.id take up, before the consciousness of His
      covering of the sin of the #worshipper. This was done people, His abode among them. They were instru-
      by his sprinkling the blood on ordinary occasions upon ments, further, through which He, as dwelling among
      the altar round about and on the day of atonement by them, could set them at a distance from Himself, and
      [his carrying it into the sanctuary and sprinkling it at once gender in them the confidence that He, despite
      upon the mercy seat and upon the altar of incense.         His holding them, as He diia; at arms length, so to say,
      Now this action with the blood was unknown to the          was the God of their salvation and that eventually
      church of the preceding epoch. It cannot be said there- therefore they would be. with Him in His house.
      fore that the right to engage in this action was one          That God brought into being tihe tabernacle (and
      that had been transferred from the common worship- the priesthood) with the express purpose of enabling
      per to the priest. Finally, it was at the altar and not Himself to  t.ake  up  before the  con.wioumeas  of  His
      in the holy places of the sanctuary, that sin was ex- peopb His residence among them, thus with the pur-
      piated.                                                    pose of rendering His presence among them real and
          In the light of these observations, it is hard to see actual, is evident from the following notice at Lev.
      how and why  tihe institution of an order of priests 40:33-33, "So Moses finished the work. T*hen a cloud
      threw a new restraint around the freedom of access to covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of
I-


140                                   *T.HlX  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able standing". The affirmation is not to the effect that
to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the then the way was not, but that it was not manifest.
cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled The way was virtually existent, but not actually so.
the tabernacle. For the cloud of the Lord was upon Christ had not actually expiated sin, offered Himself
the tabernacle by day, and tie was on it by night, in to God. Yet because He should without fail make
the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all atonement for sin in tie  fulness of time, the benefit of
their journeys."                                               His atonement was applied to the Old Testament be-
       The tabernacle then stood for an action of God that lievers.     Though they had no access to the world-
consisted in His holding His people from a distance ly sanctuary, they did have true access to God. Of
from Him. As was said, the Lord had begun to do #his           Noah and Enoch  it is said that they walked witi God.
immediately upon the disobedience of our first parents. Yet that boldness and freedom that believers now have,
His expelling them from Eden was His setting them was not theirs. For the sacrifice of Christ, though
at arms length. And when He had lead the Israelitish promised and shadowed, was not in itself made mani-
people at Sinai, His first act was to set this people-         fest. And tihis is equivalent to saying that Christ had
His people-at a distance. Moses was commanded not yet sacrificed Himself.
to set bounds to the peopIe  round about the holy hill            Now this, namely, that the way, Christ crucified
and to warn them to take head to themselves that they and resurrected, was not yet made manifest, the Holy
,go not up into the mount or touch it. For whosoever Ghost  signified, declared, through the high priest's
would touch even the border of it should  sureIy be going into the Holiest place alolce  not without blood,
stoned or &hot through,  w,hether  beast or man. The thus signifies that the way, Christ and Him crucified,
following day the Lord again ,by the mouth of Moses was not yet manifest and that thus what was manifest,
charged the people, "Lest they break through unto "what could be seen, namely, the slain bull or goat by
Him to  gaze.  and many perish." The priests might whose blood the high priest entered alone was not tihe
draw a little closer to the Lord, but "let `them sanctify true  way, sacrifice, atonement. So, what the Holy
themselves lest He break forth upon them." Thus at Ghost also by implication  a.f?irmed, through the people's
the very outset, God set Israel at a distance ; and standing at a distance and the High Priest entering
through the `subsequent ages of the Old Testament alone, is that God is holy and that man is unholy, sinful,
dispensation, this people was kept standing before dead in sin, that thus he cannot otherwise enter the
the  closed  door of God's  <house, being permitted to presence of God than by the blood of a true sacrifice.
enter only by representation, in and through the  hi&h That God's people might  shave understanding of this,
priest.                                                        God, for so long a time caused the high priest to enter
       Why was this? The answer is found at Hebrews alone.
,9:7,  8, `t-But into the second went the high priest alone    (I  wil1 enlarge on this thought in a following article.)
once every year, not without blood, .wihich he offered                                                 . G. M. 0.
for himself, and for the errors of the people: the Holy
Ghvst thus signifying, that the way into the holiest
of all was not yet made manifest, while as tlhe first
tabernacle was yet standing: , . . ."                                      _ WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
       The  holies  is the gracious and immediate presence
of God, to which believers draw near in the assurance On December 8 our beloved parents,
of the atonement made for them, and of their accept-                        1Mr.  and Mrs. F. A. BRUNSTING
ance thereon. The atonement being made, believers do commemorated their 30th wedding anniversary.
now under tJhe  gospel have boldness.to  enter into the
gracious presence of God. This  bddness  is now theirs            That the Lord, Who has blessed them during these many
because the way into the hvliest is made manifest. years, may continue to be with them in the years which He
This  way  is the sacrifice of Christ, the true highpriest may yet graciously give them according to His infinite wisdom,
of the uhurch. The manifestation of the way consists is tde prayer of the grateful children.
in the actual exhibition of Christ in the flesh and His                                    Mr. and Mrs. Henry Blankespoor
sacrifice of Himself. It consists further, in the full,                                    Mr. and Mrs. Albert Brunsting
plain declaration of Christ and Him crucified, of the                                      Rev. and Mrs. John Bhnkespoor
nature of His person and work in and through  the                                          John
Gospel.      It consists finally in the revelation in the                                  Louise
gospel of the privileges which the believers now pos-                                      Raymond
sess.                                                                                      Ruth
       Thus the way is Christ. "I am", said He, "the way,                                  Edyth
the truth, and the life." 0.f this way it is asserted that                                 Lawrence
it was not made manifest while the first tabernacle was                                        and 6 grandchildren.


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D  BEA.RER                                                  141

                                                             to speak on either of these subjects is to speak on them
     The Causes--Of The Disintegration                       both. Yet I announce of my subject:  ,,
            Of The Christian Home                                      The causes of the disintegration of the
                                                                                   Christia%            Fam$y
    This is the sentence element that forms the subject
w'hich  was assigned to me by the Men's League to                  Now it is not possible, to be sure, for a truly Chris,
                                                             tian family to disintegrate 
speak on. In treating this subject, it is well that I                                             essentially. Yet,  also  a
                                                             Christian family deteriorates in its conscious life into
set out with defining terms. The primary meaning a house divided against itself, when its members are
of the word home is village, that is, the place where        unspritual.
one resides. Thus the word                                                   Fact is, tit it is only the Christian
                               home is the signification     farruily that can, `(relatively) disintegrate. This will
of one's dwelling-house ; the house in which one re- be made plain in the sequence.
sides, the place or country in which one dwells. The               In tracing the causes of the disintegration of the
home is the place to which one resorts when retreating Christian family, I must set out with the question,
from the world. But the word stands for much more "What is the family? The family is not a machine
than one's dwelling-house, if by house is meant merely but a body, an organism. It, is a being of which the
the material structure in which one resides. The word
denotes also all that pertains to that structure. In tie     parts (members) partake of a common life of which
                                                             the body is the seat.
vocabulary of a married man with a family it stands                                    Let us shed some light on this
for his wife and children, for the life <which he in con-    proposition. A tree, to  sllustrate, is such a being;
                                                             likewise  the human body and also the family. The
junction with them leads within the confines, of tihe
~family's  dwelling-place, thus for his `fellowship with tree, its, trunk and branches, partake of a common life
                                                             of which the trunk is the seat.
his wife and children, in a word for the sum and total                                               Hence, the branches
                                                             are `the outgrowth of the trunk and partake of its
of all those actions and relations that constitute family life.
life. Now  t&s life may be one sanctified by the grace               The evidence of this is that, if the branch
                                                             is separated from its trunk, not the trunk but the
of Christ and thus consecrated to God. If so, the word
home in the mind of a family man is associated with branch perishes for lack of life. The branches there-
all that is truly good and lovely, and his home is to him    fore must abide in the trunk that they perish not.
the dearest and the loveliest spot on  e&h,  &he one As to the family, the branches of this  organism-
                                                             the sons and daughters in the home-are the off-.
place where  he.most  desires to be. On the other hand
the dwelling-house of the family may be the precinct spring of the parents and in their embryo state
                                                             partake of a common life of which  tie parent-mother
of strife and contention and discord. It may be, in
a word, a-veritable house of trouble. If so,  the life is the seat. However, of all natural organisms, the
                                                             family is the highest in the scale. Thus unlike the
of the family is a most wretched one and then the word
home  dn the mind of the family man is associated with branches of a tree, the child is separated from its
                                                             parent-motiher  at birth and thereupon ceases to draw
all that is mean and wretched. To such a man the
lhome is a place to be shunned.                              from her its life. Yet the parents remain bound to
                                                             their children and the children to their parents by
   The other term to be defined is the word diSi+nt6grcG     psycho-physical ties-the ties of love, filial from the
tion. The word is a compound of the preposition  dti         side of the  child and parental from the side of the
and integrate. Now d,is,  denotes separation, a parting parents. The family, then, is an organism but it is
from, while integer is from the Latin integer, untouch- not, like the body of Christ, a heavenly entity. Con-
ed, whole, entire, and thus denotes a complete entity. sider that the true church, too, is an organism. Its
A tree, composed, as it  (is, of trunk, root and branches, members partake of a common life of which Christ is
is a complete entity, integer; likewise the human body. tlhe seat and channel and Christ's God the creative
So, to disintegrate is to separate into parts ;  to, break source. Said Christ to His people, "I am the vine and
up  tihe cohesion of. A human body that breaks up ye are the branches. Without me ye can do nothing." _
into its parts disintegrates. Now since the verb dis- Unlike the offspring of the earthy parent-mother, be-
integration has this meaning, it is better to speak not lievers abide in Christ after their spiritual birth and
of.  the  disintegration  but of the destruction of the      tihus continue everlastingly to draw from Him their
home, that is, of the life of the family  and of the dis-    life and entire existence. But the church is a body,
integration of the family. The family can disintegrate heaven&t. Its members are born of Christ's God, come
and when it does its life, is destroyed. ,230 I must speak forth out of His creative will as new, fiat is, heavenly
either on the subject of the causes of the destruction creatures. And the tie that binds them to Christ, the
of the home or on the subject of the disintegration of true vine, is not one of blood but of aliving fait@ the
the family. Which will it be? I need not choose here. essence of which is a Iove that springs from thelife
For, as I see it, tfhe family and its life cannot be separ- of regeneration. The family, on the other hand, is
ated, Family-life is the family in its functioning. So, an earthy organism ; it is earthy as Adam, the father


l-12                                   T H E .   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

of the human race, was earthy even in the state of In general it is to acknowledge a being to be what he
integrity. More must be said. The family is now is as God's creature and to give expression to this
sinfully earthy, totally depraved, dead through tres- acknowledgement by word and deed. Thus to honor
passes and sin. The parents are this. And the child- God is to acknowledge Him to be what He is, namely,
ren they bear are as corrupt as they. Of the first God and none else. It is further to give expression to
parent of the human race, we read in the Confession, this acknowledgement by word of mouth. To do SO is
"Man after the fall begat children in his own likeness. to praise Him. And to give expression to this acknow-
A corrupt stock produced a corrupt offspring." This ledgement by deed is to hear His voice and do His
applies to all parents. It means that the family, as it words by walking in the way of His commands.
is by nature, cannot in the spiritual sense disintegrate ;       So when the son (daughter) honors father and
composed, as it is, of members dead in sin, it is in a mother, he acknowledges them to be to him what they
state of disintegration. The members of a family with actually, according to the divine ordinance, are, name-
a lfe unsanctified by grace are in the heart of their ly, his parents, thus the persons who intrumentally
dispositions evilly.  ,disposed  also toward one another. brought him into being and who were therefore vested
There is, to be sure, what the Scriptures call a natural from on high `with the right to rule and to train him.
love. It is there, between husband and wife, parents The son honors his parents further when under the
and children, brothers and sisters. But this love;too,        impulse of love of God  ,he gives  exm-ession  to this
has been Wholly corrupted by sin. It is not therefore acknowledgement by *his crying "father" and `!mother",
a love in which  the members of the family can be truly by  .his reverently and in love addressing them and
one. The truth of this statement is borne out by  ,the referring to them as father and `mother. The son
history that the human race has made and is today who refers to his ,father .as "the old man" is ill-disposed
making. Only the members of a family that is truly toward ihis father and diskronors  him by word of mouth.
Christian are united. Thus a Christian family is one But the son shall also honor his parents  ,by deed, which
whose life has been sanctified `by the blood of Christ. Ihe does through his obeying father and mother. Now
It is a family whose members are children of grace.           to obey means to hear. The son obeys his father and
        The family, I said, was an organism. And an mother through his hearkening unto their voice, doing
organism was defined as an entity composed of parts their words, receiving their instruction and counsel.
partaking of a common life. This is not all to be said,          It ought to be plain now what are the chief causes
In an organism each member has its God-appointed of the disintegration of  the family. The family dis-
place and function ; and the functioning of each mem- integrates  wihen*its  members in their Carnality refuse
ber is essential to the well-being and even the existence to know their God-appointed place in it and refuse to
*of the organism. So it is with the family: In the            function in that place as God has ordained. The
family t&e child has its own ulace and function ; and family is in a state of disintegration when the son
likewise the parent-father and the parent-mother. The is not  a,beying,  hearing and is thus risen up in re-
child's place in the family is precisely that of child, bellion against his parents. But the son must hear.
son, daughter. And the child's calling is to function He commits a great sin if he does not. For, in the
in its appointed place as child. But  t&e God-appointed words of tie apostIe, "there is no power but of God:
legal head of the child, (children, sons and  daughtersr      the powers that be are ordained of God." Also the
are the parents. For the command reads,  "HWT thy parental power, authority, right of rule, is, as was
father an& thy mother." Yet the family has but one said, of God.                       For there is no power but of God.
head, as the woman is included in the man. And to "Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth
her also he stands in the relation of head. The word the ordinance of God: and they t&at resist shall receive
head,  then,  is the term that denotes the father's posi- to themselves damnation." Rom. 13 :l, 2.
tion in the family. And in this place he, as aided by            `Ihe family disintegrates further when the father
the parent-mother, must function according as God has         (mother) refuses to know his God-appointed place in
ordained, namely, as head, that is, as ruler, trainer, the family or when he refuses to function in #hat place
educator, of the child. This is his right, duty, and as God wills.
privilege. But this right he had not of himself. It is           So the fault of the family? disintegrating may lie
a right with which parents have been vested by God with the children or with the parents or with both.
by virtue of their having  i~tmcmentally brought the             The fault lies  with the parent-father when he fails
child into being. This right to rule and to train the to take his divinely appointed place in the family to
child constitutes the parental authority.                     fuiction as the family's head in that place. Then the
        Wherein precisely does the functioning of the child family is without a head to rule it and each member is
-and I speak now not merely of the very young child doing'that  which is right in his own eyes and without
but  also of tie grown-up son and daughter in the home fail, what is wrong in the eyes of some or all of the
-wherein does the functioning of the child consist? other members. The result obtained is endless dispute,
In honoring father and mother. What is it to honor? bickering, violent and bitter quarreling, in a word,
                                                                  - .*.iass " `II - .~ "


                                                                                                       J
                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             143

a family divided against itself. Such a family was the father  who sets himself up as absolute owner over his
people of Israel during the period of the judges. At child is a thief. Is not the banker who runs off with
that time the nation was being torn by internal dis- the depositor's money a thief even before civil law?
sensions and destroyed by civil war. And  tie reason, By nature we are all thieves. What God places in
as given by the sacred writer, was that every one was our hands as a trust, we insist on holding as things of
doing that which was right in his own eyes and this                 wlhich we are absolute ownem,  an'd thus as things to be
on account of there being no king in Israel. Let me                 spent not in the service of God but in the service of
quote this passage found at Judges 21:25  : "In those self, of the lust of the flesh, of  Baal. And this ex-
days there was no king in Israel: every man did that                plains our. holding on to these things so tenaciously.
wthich was right in his own eyes." So when headless, It also expIains  our sinful reaction, our murmurings
the family is certain to go astray, as then it is without and rebellions, when God, in spite of what we do to
a head to rule, lead, guide, counsel and instruct it better our hold on these things, forcibly takes them
and by this guidance and instruction to lead its life from us. But let us return to the child. That child
in the proper channels. Further, if the parent-father is God's  *creature. Hence, the will to be imposed upon
fails to function as head of his family, one of the  other          it is His will as revealed in the Scriptures. But this
members eventually will. And that member is cer- cannot mean that the parent-father, in his attempt to
tain to be the son or daughter-now no longer a babe,                induce  i&e child to `obey him, should introduce his
but a young man or young girl-with the loudest ordinances for the child, the sons and daughters of
mouth, the sharpest tongue, the strongest will and his household, by the declaration, "Thus saith the
penhaps  the most violent temper,-a child therefore Lord". Let me make my meaning clear. At 1 Peter
to whose every whim the others are instantly ready 2 : 13 we read, "Submit yourselves to every ordinance
to cater, even the parent-father-for he is a weakling of man for the Lord's sake: whetlher  it be to the king
-just to keep peace in the family. All this son (daug- as supreme ; or unto governors, as unto them that are
ter) does is to raise his eyebrows, and ,lo and behold, sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for
all the rest stand at attention, ready to hear ihis orders the praise of them that do welsh . . . ." The apostie
and to do *his (or her) bidding.. And -he rules with an here speaks of the ordinances of t!he civil magistrate.
iron hand. Now this certainly is  a nice state of affairs !         Such ordinances are rules of action established by the
And it is the parent-father's fault. This father should authority of the civil magistrate for the insurance and
take home to  his heart what king Solomon-the wisest promotion of order among the people that reside under
of  al1 men-says, "Woe to thee, 0 Land, when thy his jurisdiction. Such ordinances are essential to the
king is a child" (Eccl. 10 :16b).                                   well-being of i&e body-politic, and. to every organism
   Further. The fault of the family`s disintegrating or body thus also to the family. It is only the family
lies with  the.  parent-father, when, though functioning with a well-ordered  ,life that can endure. Hence, the
as tihe family's head, he is willingly ignorant of this:            parent-father makes ordinances for the family, for the
that the child, though his child, is God's creature, and sons and daughters of his household. He rules, to
this by reason of the fact that the parents are merely illustrate,  tiat his smaI1  children shall be in bed by
instrumental in bringing the child into being and  trhat            eight  o%lock in the evening and that all shall rise
thus the child's `creator  is God and not the parents.              at seven in the morning and be at the  breakf&t  table
Woe unto the child  w,hose  parent-father is willingly at half past seven. He rules further that when his
unmindful of this and who thus, in functioning as  tie children of high-school age go out for an evening they
child's head, acts from the contrary principIe,-from                shall make it a point to be home at eleven o'clock.
the principle, namely, that the child is his creature.              These are some of  this ordinances. Should  ,now  the
Woe unto the child with a parent-father addicted to children  f!ind,  them irksome and openly question their
this view. For such a father does with his child  as he             reasonableness,  it would not do, to be sure, for the
wiZZs  instead of as God wills. Now what man wills is               parent to silence this opposition by solemnly declaring,
always without exception corrupt, so that what is                   "So  saitlh the Lord", namely, that when you go out
being imposed upon tie child is the corrupt will of a for an evening you shall be at home at eleven o'clock.
mere man. I affirm therefore, that, though God places Through his so declaring, the ,parent  would be telling
the child under the  purisdiction  and in the care of the his children that his order to the effect that they be
parents for them to rule and to train the child,-the hnne at the time he specified is the very word of God.
child is and remains God's creature, His absolute pos- This, needless to say, it is not. However just and fair
session and He its sovereign Creator. The parent pos- it may be, it is and remains an ordinance of man.
sesses the child merely as a trust, thus in the same Only when the parent imposes upon the son (daughter)
sense that a banker possesses a man's money, namely, a command that is literally contained in the Scriptures,
as a deposit. Bow could God so give as to cease to O~Y  when he quotes to the child from Holy Writ, may
be the absolute owner of what He gives if the creature be prefix  to his. mandate, warning, admonition, the
lives and moves and has his being in God ! The parent- declaration,  "t[hus saith the Lord". And the same
                                          ., .v-- a="*<." ".  .,

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

must be said of the sermon. Being what it is, man's to which he must go in obeying his parents.
exposition of the Word of God, it is, however sound, the          But must not God be obeyed more than  man? He
word of man. It must therefore  Ice tested by the Word. must be. There can be no question about this. So if
So except when, in commanding, erhorting, and ad-             the parent places  tlhe child under a command that
monishing their children, the parents quote from Holy         militates against the will of <God  as revealed in the
Writ, #hey' come to trheir children with the word of a        Scriptures, the child is in duty bound to refuse to sub-
man.      But let there be no misunderstanding. The           mit to it. If the parent, to illustrate, should command
parental mandate to the effect that the son (daughter)        the child to steal or to blaspheme, the child would find
be at home at a stated time is the word of man. Like- itself under the necessity to refuse to submit. The
wise the sermon. Yet there is a vast difference. The          child submits to the unjust command only when his
sermon is meant to be a portion of the Word of God            doing so does not involve, him in sin. The parent, to
explained, interpreted, and in the measure tihat it is        iIlustrate,  orders the child to its room for two whole
this, it is binding upon man's conscience. The parental days on account of its having committed some minor
mandate just cited is not the word explained. It is a offence.           The punishment is way out of proportion
mere ordinance of man. Now such parental ordinances to tIhe offence.  It is thus unjust. Yet the child would
of which some are much more important than others,            have to submit and could do so without doing wrong,
must be just, fair and reasonable. Their sum and total as to remain in a room for such a length of time is
must be permeated by principles of truth  containelf  in not an.act  that as such is sin.
the Scriptures. Parents must ever be on Vneir .guide              So are the parents then,, as governors of their
against provoking their children to anger by mandates         children, the appointees of God. They have right to
unjust, unduly severe, unnecessarily irksome. Let the govern their children; but this right is not of them.
father's ordinances be as few in number as is feasable.       It is of God. The failure on the part of parents to
Let his mandates be the weightier things of the law,          make this pIa& to the cihild may be the cause of much
and let the yoke under which he brings tie child be the of the flouting  of, parental authority. The child must
yoke of Christ.                                               be told what it is doing  w&hen it resists this authority
       Now it is to such ordinances-ordinances of man-        through its disobedience, through its refusing to be
that the apostle had reference when he said, "Submit ,lead,  instructed by father and mother.
yourself to every ordinance of man. . . ."                        The exercise of the right to govern the child must
       The word  r)z1(Ln  in this exhortation denotes all non- conform to the child's age.. The grown-up son leaves
ecclesiastical authorities in the word, thus kings, his father and his mother and cleaves unto his wife.
governors and also. parents. To every parental ordi- But the parents retain their legal authority over their
nance the son (daughter) shall submit.           On what children as long as they, the parents, live.
ground  ? On the ground that, having subjected the
ordinance to lhis judgment, he finds it to be fair and        (We will shed some light on this last statement in
just? Assuredly not. The child will, to be sure judge. an article to follow.)
Children very soon begin to do this. Being what they                                                               G. M. 0.
are, rational-moral beings, they cannot refrain from
judging. And they also arrive at  def?nite concJusions.                                      -
But thhp:r deeming the parental mandate just is not
the ground on which  they  submit to it.  `I'?% ground
is that the parents have been vested by G,4 with the                                     IN MEMORIAM
right to rule the child, the right to order and give              The Priscilla Society  of the  Protestant  Reformed Church
direction to its life. If they had not this right, if they of Hudsonville, Michigan, hereby wishes to express its sympathy
had it not of God, the child might flout them to their        to our fellow-member, Mrs. H. A.  Schut, in the loss of their
very face and do as he chose. And so absolute is this little son,
right of the parents to govern the child, that even if
it could be shown that the parental mandate is unjust,                                        JAY
the child would still have to submit. This thesis .finds      who passed away on Saturday, November 23 at the age of
the clearest statement in Scripture, "Servants, be sub-       4 years and 8 months, as the result of an automobile accident,
ject to your masters  with all fear; not only to the good suffered three days previous.
and gentile but also to the froward." The Greek word
translated                                                        May our coven,ant  God surround the bereaved family with
               froward  means perverse,  unfair.  Consider    His grace and 
that the servant can submit himself to a perverse                               comfort.  them in their sorrow.
master only through his subjecting himself  to this                                              The Priscilla S,ociety,
master's perverse mandate. This stands to reason.                                                    Rev. J. D. de Jong, Pres.
NOW the status of a son is not tihat of a servant. Yet                                               Mrs.  J. A.  &hut, Sec'y,
he differs not from a servant in respect to the length        Hudsonville,  Dee, 1949


