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184                                                                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARESR

                                The Sfcmdard Bearer
       Semi-Monthly, except Monthly in July and August                                                                                                                            EDITORIALS
                                                             Published by
                    The Reformed Free Publishing  Associatien
                                             1101  Hazen  Street, 5. E.                                                                                                Dr. C. Ebuma Still Misunderstands
                                      EDITOR - Rev. .H. Hoeksema
  Contributing editors--Revs. J. Blankeepoor,  A. Cammenga,                                                                                                              Dr. Clarence Bouma, who informs us in Cdvindia,
  P. De Boer, J. D. de Jong,  H.  De Wolf, L. Doezema,                                                                                                                The Banner,+ DEC. 24, 1943, that he specialized in philo-
  M. Gritters, C. Hanko, B. Kok, G. Lubbers, C. M. Ophoff,                                                                                                            sophy at the time when he was  Ipreparing  himself for
  A. Petter, M.  Schipper,  J.  Vanden  Breggen, H. Veldman,
  R. Veldman, L. Vermeer, P. Vis, G. Vos, Mr. S. De Vries.                                                                                                            apologetics, in spite of this  spedal  preparation appears
                                                                                                                                                                      to have special difficulty properly to evaluate any view
  Communications relative to contents should be addressed                                                                                                             that differs from his own. And the result is, )not on!y
  to REV. H. HOEKSEMA, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand                                                                                                                that those who disagree with him often become the
  Rapids, Michigan.                                                                                                                                                   victims of a pen-lashing administered by him, instead
  Communications relative to subscription should be ad-                                                                                                               of receiv,ing  appreciative, sympathetic, and properly
  dressed to MR. R. SCHAAFSMA,  11131   Hazen  St., S. E.,                                                                                                            motivated criticism, but also that the criticism he
  Grand Rapids, Mich.                                         All Announcements and Obituaries
  must be sent to the above address and will not be placed                                                                                                            does offer is frequently vague, and beside the point.
  unless the regular fee of $1.00 accompanies the notice.                                                                                                                A fair example of the pen-lashing, breathing a
                                           Subscription $2.50 per year                                                                                                spirit of intolerance, I consider the editorial on  !`WiI-
        E n t e r e d   aa  s e c o n d   c!naa  m a i l   a t   G r a n d   R a p i d s ,   M i c h i g a n                                                          son and Roosevelt Vindicated," in the Calvin Forum
                                                                                                                                                                      of December last. And a striking illustration of his
                                                                                                                                                                      failure to understand and properly  .to evaluate a view
                                                                                                                                                                      he criticizes one may find in the January number of
                                                                                                                                                                      the same paper. I refer to the following paragraph:
                                                                        -                                                                                                "Nor is a truly realistic approach found by many
                                                                                                                                                                      who repudiate Modernism and Barthianism both. The
                                                              CONTENTS                                                                                                `orthodox' are ever in danger of an unrealistic ap-
                                                                                                                                                                      proach to the truth of the Word of God, though their
MEDITATIE                                                                                                                                             Page            ,distortion  is orientated quite differently. The denial
  DER HEIDENEN AANBIDDING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._.._......_._...............  131                                                                             of common grace by some and the. dreaming of Judais-
       _ Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                                             tic-chiliastic dreams by others-all of them very `or-
                                                                                                                                                                      thodox'-is but another form of idealism run rampant
EDITORIALS  -                                                                                                                                                         for lack of integration with a truly biblical realism.
  DR. C. BOUMA STILL MISUNDERSTANDS  .._.............._..  18.1                                                                                                       Thae d*iffer from the modernists in that their ideal-
  AS TO THE DAY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . lS5    istic, optimistic onesidedness is not grounded in the
         Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                                             belief in the inherent goodness of man in his present
                                                                                                                                                                      state (as was the case with the humanist and modern-
THE TRIPLE KNOWLEDGE                                                                                                                                                  ist), but in a divorce between .the wicked world and
                                                                                                                                                                      the ideal as God sees it  am3 as it will be realized only
  EXPOSITION OF THE  HEIDELbBERG   CATECHISM....186
        Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                                              among the elect, whether on earth or ultimately in the
                                                                                                                                                                      future.    There lies an essential Anabaptism at the
  DE SMARTEN DAVIDS. ... . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 bottom of the denial of common grace as well as at the
       Rev. G. Vos                                                                                                                                                    base of all Dispensationalism. When the true  reahsm
                                                                                                                                                                      of the Scriptures is not grasped, a distorted form of
  CRUCIFYING CHRIST AFRESH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192                                                Christianity -results also among the orthodox."
       Rev. J. Blankespoor                                                                                                                                               Now we may, first of all observe, that .a11 these
  CONFESSIONALISM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . .  .-. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
                                                                                                                                                          194         sweeping statements, by which we, who believe that
       Rev. L. Doezema                                                                                                                                                what Dr. Bouma  conceiv,es  to be  .the true realistic
  ALL CAME TO PASS ._..............................................................  196                                                                              view of the present world is a pure dream, are  classi-
  THE DISMISSAL OF THE TWO AND HALF TRIBES....193                                                                                                                     &fied as Ananbaptists, who present "a distorted form
                                                                                                                                                                      of Christianity," that is, besides, characterized by an
  JOSHUA'S PARTING DISCOURSES TO HIS  PEOPLE..l'.)R                                                                                                                   "idealistic, optimistic onesideness," and that is, more-
         Rev. G. M. Cphoff                                                                                                                                            over, "grounded in a divorce between this wicked world
                                                                                                                                                                      and the ideal as God sees it,"--that all these sweeping


                                      THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             1'85

generalities are offered by the editor of  Calvin  Fo~mm        elect." It is the realization of the original creation
with absolutely nothing to support them but the au- ordinance. .Hence,  I may safely say, that his common
thority of the writer, which may have weight with grace theory cannot help him to develop a proper con-
himself, but means nothing to us, and should have ception of the relation between the present world and
no  significance  for the readers of his paper. Ho-iv- the world to come. The former is surely going to bi:
ever, let us examine them somewhat more closely.                utterly destroyed in the final world-fire. And it is
   The heart of the matter appears to be that Dr.               only the Wonder of grace that can save God's world
Rouma ascribes to us a view that fails to understand            out of the present world.
and to evaluate properly this present wicked world,                Of course, I know that Dr. Bouma beIieves  in the
and that separates it from the ideal world as God               philosophy of common grace. And I can very well
sees it-. And all this is supposed to be due to our de- understand how this changes, and distorts, his view
nial of common grace.                                           of the reality of the present world and its culture.
   But reading this, and bearing in mind that this is           He certainly has a different conception of the efforts
written with the tacit assumption that Dr. Bouma's              of certain "Christian gentlemen" than .I have. But
conception of the relation between the present world this is not to be attributed to the fact that I do not
and the ideal "as God sees it," is certainly the only           grasp "the true realism of Scripture," but rather to
correct view, one cannot help but wonder what his con- the fact that Dr. Bouma wears the colored spectacles
ception of this relation may be.                                of the common grace philosophy, the result of which
   We may assume that by "the ideal as God sees it," is, not only that he,cannot  grasp "the true realism of
he means the ideal workl  as it will be realized in the         Scripture," but also that he has a distorted view of
future. It also appears rather certain that he has in           reality of present day history, the trend and signifi-
mind the ideal of the new creation, that is to come cance of which are otherwise sufficiently plain to all
after the Iparousio, for he writes : "as it will be realized    that are able and willing to see.
only among the elect." Zt is, therefore, the ideal of                                                       H. H.
`%peciaI  grace," to speak in Dr. Bouma's terms, .that
he has in mind. Now, it is not entirely correct, in
fact, not at all correct that we divorce this present
from that world to come. Dr. Bouma may know better
than that, and as a professor of apologetics he. ought
to state the views of those whom he wants to criticize                        As To The Day
correctly before he offers his criticism. But we con-
ceive of this relation thus, that the "ideal as God sees                         (cont. from p. 165.)
it," can be realized from and through  thjs  presen'u              As we already stated, there is a rather  difficult
world, not by way of gradual development, but only question connected with the day of Jesus' death, the
by fhe Wonder of grace. And one is rather curious to difficulty arising from the fact that there appears to
know how as a Reformed man Dr. Bouma can  possibiJ              be a difference between the synoptic gospel narratives
have a different conception of this relation. Really,           and the gospel according to John. It is the question,
this is a very important question, and Dr. Bouma, iP            whether our Lord celebrated the  passover  with His
he has some new light on this point, could do Reform-           disciples on the day fixed for this by the law (the
ed theology a service if, instead of writing in  high           14th of Nisan), and in that case died on the 15th 0:'
sounding phrases on  th,e proper realistic approach., that month, or whether He ate the paschal supper a
and telling everyone that differs with him whem he day earlier, and was crucified on the 14th. But this
errs, would inform us about his  ow,n  conception of  the       does not effect the answer to the question concerning
relation between t.he present world and the world to            the day of the week on which the Saviour died. The
come.                                                           unanimous answer to this question was from tha
   Strictly speaking, "common grace" has no!hing to earliest times of the New Testament Church that the
do with this.                                                   Lord was crucified on Friday. And this answer was
   For the line of "common grace" runs dualistically not an invention of a kind of higher criticism, but
alongside of the line of "special grace," according to          derived from Scripture.
Dr. Bouma's conception, unless he is of the opinion                There is no question about the fact that the Lord
that our modern "culture" and its products, our                 arose on the first day of the week. This does not
science and ar,t, our automobiles and airplanes, our mean, as the author of the pamphlet that was sent to
telephone and radio, our tanks and guns an'd bombs, us seems to think to be our opinion, that the Lord
are to be carried into the New Jerusalem. The "com- arose at sunrise on Sunday morning, but  that He
mon grace" ideal is `strictly different from the "ideal arose at any time between six o'clock Saturday even-
as God.,sees  it, as it will be realized only among the         ing (the end of the sabbath) and sunrise Sunday morn-

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

ing. The writer of the pamphlet makes a good deal              prove this, as the writer of the pamphIet  thinks, but
of the argument that Jesus had specifically stated that corroborates this position. We read there: "for that
He would rise again a.fter.  three days. A young second sabba.t.h  day was an high day." Now, according to
grader can figure it out, so he writes, that three days the pamphlet-writer, both, sabbath tiy and high day
after Friday evening would be Monday evening. And, mean  feast day  or  feast-sabbath  in that sentence.
to be sure, this is true. But the writer forgets to men- But in that case the words have no sense, for the sen-
tion that the usual designation of the time of Jesus'          tence then means :  "for that feast day was a feast day."
resurrection is not "after three days,`" but "the third        But the words have a real meaning if the first word
day." Cf. Matt. 16 :21; 1'7 23 ; Mark 9 :31; 10 :34 ; Lu. sabbmath  denotes the weekly day of rest, and the words
9 :22 ; 13 :32; 18 :33. And the sojourners to Emmaus,          "high day" have reference to the sabbath of the pass-
on the first day of the week; the very day of Jesus'           over. Because the latter fell that year on the weekly
resurrection, recall that "today is the third day sin,ce       sabbath it was a special "high day."
these things were done." Lu.  24:21.  Now, a young                Although, therefore, we do not attach the import-
second grader can also figure out that, if Jesus died          ance to the exact day of Jesus' death which the author
on Friday, this would be the first' day, Saturday the          of the pamphlet sees in  i.t, the tradition that Jesus died
second, and Sunday the third. If, as the author of             on Friday is based on rather incontrovertible Serip-
the pamphlet alleges the Lord died on Wednesday, the tural grounds. And the "three days and three nights"
third day would be Friday, and not Sunday. He after of the sign of Jonah shall have to be interpreted in
all  remembrs that Scripture speaks  of  the  Lord's           the light of these historic data, so, that parts of  days-
rising on the third day. He even refers. to the book           and-nights are taken for the whole, and not vice versa.
of Gene~:is  to explain-to us that a day is a period of                                                       H. H.
light and darkness, and that "the third day" was
finished when three such periods had passed.  Am-l
we may well agree with him. But I challenge him to                                       -
figure out for us, how  n$ter  thres  duys can possibly
mean the third day. If I say that God created the dry
land and the world of vegetation on the third day, I
certainly  #cl'0  not mean  after three  duys. For that ij        The Triple Knowledge
already the fourth day. And if .t.he Lord was in the
grave exactly seventy two hours, as the writer of the
pamphlet insists, He did not rise on the third, but on
the fourth. Hence, Jesus suffered and died on Friday,          An Exposition Of The Heidelberg
was in the grave Friday (part of it) Saturday, and                       *          Catechism
Sunday (part of it), and, according to His own word,
on that third day He arose.                                                           PART TWO
   The same follows from the notices concerning the                              OF MAN'S REDEMPTION
sabbath  .that  .followed.upon  the day of the crucifixion.
Mk. 23:42: "because it was the preparation, that is,                                 Lord's Day X.
the day before the sabbath." Lu. 23  :53: "And that                                Chapter 3. (cont.)
day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on."
Lu.  23:56: "And rested the sabbath day according to                          The End Of God's Providence.
the commandment." John  19:31: "The Jews there-                   The consummation of all things will certainly usher
fore, because it was the preparation., that the bodies         in the perfect world, the New Jerusalem in the new
should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day,           creation in which  rightreousness  shall dwell, and in
(for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought which the tabernacle of God shall be with men. But
Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they that state of eternal perfection and heavenly glory, it
might be taken away." All these passages prove be- must be remembered, does not lie in direct line of
yond doubt that the day following the crucifixion was development and progress with this present world.
the weekly sabbath. We have .no dispute -with the It is the kingdom of heaven. It is the world in which
author of the pamphlet that also important feast days all things shall be for ever united in Christ, as the
are called Sabbaths in `Scripture. But when we simply Head of all, the Firstborn of every creature, through
read of the sabbath, "the day before the sabbath,". . . Whom and unto Whom all things were created. From
"the  sabbath drew on,". . . -"and rested the sabbath,"        our present world it differs, not only in that sin and
only the weekly sabbath can be meant, and the "pre-            death, suffering and sorrow shall be no more, but also
paration" was .the preparation for the weekly ,day of in its heavenly character. It is elevated to a place of
rest, a+d nothing else. And J&n I9 ~31 does not ,dis- existence as much higher than our present  Barthly


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        187

 universe as Christ is higher than the first man Adam.          deveIopment  may be subservient to this purpose of the
 The first Paradise was an image of that eternal state antithetical revelation of the wonder of God's blessed
 of heavenly perfection, but it was not its beginning, in       covenant of friendship, and shall have served that
 the sense that the latter is the final development of purpose, vc'hen the fulness of Israel and of the Gentiles
 the former. And, therefore, it is not the direct goal          shall have come in, the measure of the suffering of
 of the providential government of God as it is dis-            Christ shall have been fulfilled, and sin shall have
 cussed by this tenth Lord's Day of the Heidelberg become fully manifest as sin,-that is the-end of God's
 Catechism: it will be realized only through the wonder providence, and the meaning of history. When that
 of God's grace. To be sure, the general providence of end is attained, the fashion of this world may pass
 God, according to which "as it were by His hand, he            away, the glorious liberty of the children of God may
 upholds and governs heaven and earth, and all crea-            be revealed, and also the creature may be delivered
 tures;  so that herbs and grass, rain and drought fruit- from the bondage of corruption to which it is sub-
 ful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sick- jected in order to participate in the glory of the saints
 ness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things, come not        in the new heavens and earth.
 by chance, but by his fatherly hand,"-this general                Unto this end the world was adapted from the  be-
 providence may not be separated from the wonder of ginnmg, and is preserved and governed by the hand
 God's grace, whereby He raises all things to the high- of the Almighty ever since.
 er  *level of heavenly perfection,  an,d that, too, through       For in the beginning the God and Father of our
 the deep way of sin and death and the final catas-             Lord Jesus Christ created all things, with a view to
 trophe. The counsel of predestination and the counsel          Him, Christ, and to the realization of the wonder of
 of providence, though they may be distinguished, are His grace and His everlasting covenant, through the
 one counsel. God's providential government is such             way of sin and death, and along the antithetical lines
 that all things in the present world are subservient to of election and reprobation. For Christ "is the image
 the realization of His eternal covenant and kingdom.           of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
 But this may not be understood as if the providence For by him were all things created, that are in heaven,
 of God as such leads up to the world that is to come.          and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether
 Between our  &vorld and the eternal world of heavenly they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or
 perfection stands the Christ, the incarnation, the cross, powers: all things were created by him, and for him: *
 and the resurrection. And even as the Church must And he is before all things, and by him  all things
 pass through death into the glorious resurrection, 80 consist. And he is the head of the body, the church:
 the present world must pass through the de&u&ion               who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead;
 of the final.. catastrophe, in which the very elements         that in all things he might have the preeminence. For
 shall burn, into the perfection of the new heavens and         it pleased the Father that in him all fulness should      *
 earth, in which righteousness shall dwell.                     dwell."    Col.  1:15-19.  And it was "the mystery of
    Hence, the meaning of history, is not that all things his will, according to his good pleasure, which he
 tend to make progress in the direction of the perfect          hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation
 world, as evolutionistic philosophy would have us be- of the fulness of times he might gather together in
 lieve. Nor is the end of God's providence the realiza- one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and
 tion of the original creation ordinance, the full de- which are on earth." Eph.  1:9, 10. He created the
- velopment of the original paradise, in spit,e of the op- world a  kosmios,  not a mere aggregate of many separ-
 position of Satan, and through a certain power of ate creatures, but one organic whole, interrelated and
 common grace. Again the meaning of history is not inter-dependent, rising in an ascending scale from the
 that this world develops in the direction of the king- anorganic to the organic, the brute to the rational
 dom of heaven, so that it will finally merge into the          creature, and with its center in man, who was created
 glorified creation. But it certainly is the proper stage after the image of God, and in whom the whole crea-
 that is set for the realization of God's purpose of pre-       tion was united to the heart of God. For man, thus
 (destination, election and reprobation, the revelation formed after God's image, stood in covenant-relation
 of the Son of God, the cross and the resurrection, the of friendship  to. his Creator, in his heart was the
 cause of God's covenant, the bringing forth and the spiritual-ethical center of the kosmos, and through him
 gathering of the Church, the wonder of grace; and all creatures were comprehended in the covenant of
 that, too, in antithesis to sin and darkness, the devil        God. They found in man their priest-king, and all
 and his host, the man of sin culminating in the anti- must serve him, that he might serve his God. (Nether-
 christ of the latter days; and through it all for the land  ,Confession,  Art. XII).
 highest possible revelation of God's own covenant of              But this original state of earthly perfection was
 friendship, the glory of the life of the triune God. not destined to  continne.  A breach was struck  into
 That  all things in their  cosmical  unity and organic harmonious relation of the kosmos to God by sin.
                                                                                       ~\

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

We say that it was vlot &dined  to continue, by which        Him and His revelation the stage of the present, fallen
we mean that it was not the purpose of the good pleas-       world is set.  .A11 things become vanity, but even in
ure of God. `For, to be sure, even though  ASdam fell        their vanity, or rather exactly in  their  yanity,  thev
by his own willful disobedience, he fell according to        must serve the purpose of God's counsel of predestina-
the eternal  Furnose of God, and under the all control- tion in Christ, the firstborn of every creature. Tem-
ling direction of God's providential government. If          poral dleath, the return of his, physical nature to the
it be confessed that God', "as it were by his hand,"         dust, is inflicted upon man, in order that generation
upholds and governs all things, it dare iiot be denied       after generation may disappear from the stage, after
that He did so from  t.he beginning, and that it was. by they have served God's purpose. The "sorrow and
His providence that the breach of sin was struck into conception" of the woman are made  very.great,   which
the original relation of creation to  HimseIf. This does      (if the expression is taken literally, and not as  .a
not deny man's responsibility, but it does make him,         hendiadys,)   means that the reproductive capacity of
even in his ethical life and choice, dependent `upon God.    the race `i's greatly increased, .sa that all things hasten
Even when the devii'beguiled' the woman, and she ate         to  t.he end.' And the "sorrow" of the  Toman  does,
of the forbidden fruit, and sh,e gave to Adam, and he        indeed, witness of the fact that we can only bring
fell, God was governing all things "as it were by his        forth children of wrath by nature, yet,. for the be-
hand." However, we must remember that the breach             lieving woman this sorrow is not without hope, for she
was of an ethical ,natur,e  ; it was struck in the heart     is still blessed in bringing forth children when she
of man. Sin did not, and could not possibly destroy bears her sorrow with her eye on the promise. Even
the essential, organic relation and unity of all crea-       the relationship between the man and the woman is
tures.    Even though man violated the covenant of           placed under a curse, for while. the .woman's  desire
friendship with his God, and became an enemy of God,         shall always be to her husband, the latter shall rule
loving the lie, perverse of will, unclean in all his de-     over her. Gen. 3 :16. This sentence can hardly have
sires and inclinations, God still continued to uphold        reference to the fact that the man is the head of the
and to govern "as it were by his hand," the universe         woman, for this .is' not due to the curse, but to crea-
as a .kosmos,  and that, too, in such a way that man         tion : "For Adam was first formed and then Eve,"
stands at the head of the earthly creation even in his I Tim.  2:13.         But this  otiginal  relationship is now
sin, and all creatures must serve him.                       placed under a curse, so that mans rule becomes ,on.e
   However, quite in harmony with  th.e altered spirit- of pride and boastful cruelty and tyranny. While  th.2
ual-ethical relation of man to God, he and the whole         woman violated the proper relation to her husband by
creation with him were placed under the curse. God's deci,ding  the matter- of the forbidden fruit by herself,
government of the  nrorLd'.  in sin is such that all things and by tempting and deceiving. him, everything that
are "vanity and vexation and spirit.`"        And also       concerns her relation to him after the fall is now sub-
through this governmental act of God's providence jected to suffering and humiliatio,n.  Her desire shall
the present world becomes the stage for the enact-           be to her husband even in her sorrow and subjection.
ment and revelation of the wonder of God's grace,            And, quite in accord with the sinful `and cursed con-
and the realization of His purpose of predestination,        dition  .of fallen man, all creation is put under the
election and reprobation. The judgments of God upon bondage of corruption. The ground is cursed. And
the fallen world that are pronounced immediately af- this implies that it shall henceforth bring forth thorns
ter the fall, may'not be considered as merely punish-        and thistles, representative of all obnoxious weeds,
ments for sin. For, first of all,  the  punishment of so that the' toil of man in eliciting the necessary sus-
sin is eternal death in hell, not mere temporal suffer- tenance from the soil is greatly increased. Man shali
ing. And hell could not be prepared immediately after        eat thereof only in the sweat of his face, an,d in "sor-
the fall: God's counsel of salvation must first be           row ail the days of his life."     Gen. 3  :17, 18. The
realized, and the root-sin of  ,Adam  must have become       cursed earth shall henceforth produce corruptible food
fully manifest in ail the horror of its iniquity in the      for his corruptible body, so that in the sphere of
ripened fruit  .borne by the  `whole human race. Be- corruntlon  he eats and drinks corruption unto death.
sides, it must not be forgotten, that the temporal pun- But this" also-refers to all the suffering of the groan-
ishments mentioned in Gen. 3  :15ff. are announced ing creation, to earthquakes and volcanoes,. hail and
after the promise of redemption, the protevangel, had        fire, destructive winds and floods, scorching heat and
been proclaimed : "I will put enmity between thee and drought: locusts and other p&s that destroy all `the
the woman, and between thy seed and her. seed; it            toil. of the husbandman in one day. And the creature
shall bruise thy head, and  thou, shalt bruise. his heel." is made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason
Adam fell upon Christ, and the covenant that was             of him who hath subjected the same, i.e. by the wiif
violated by the first man, is maintained, established,       of God,  Rom.8':20.    Thus creation: ."is ,systained  a&
and raised to a higher level in the second Man. For. goyerned by God, in rts cosmical  coherenie and'unity;


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEA.RER                                            189

     a.nd directed in `its course of organic development,.  in ,the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, fully
     the sphere of vanity, and bearing the curse.  And jconfldent  that nothing shall separate him from his
     thus the Hei$delberg  Catechism rightIy  speaks of this      love, "since all creatures axe so in his hand, that*with-
     present world as "this valley of tears," and in describ- out `his will they cannot so much as move." For he
     ing the government of God in the present Lord's Day iknows that all things in ,thhe present world, all things
     mentions rain, but also drought, fruitful, but also bar- ,literally,  in  h,eaven  and on earth, and -more especially
     ren years, health, but also sickness as coming "not by ialso the things that appear evil, must work together
     chance but by his fatherly hand."                            for his eternal salvation.' For he knows that it is the
         And thus the stage is set for th.e antithetica  reve- ;etexnal  Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  aad that too,
     lation of the wonder of grace in Christ and of the cove- Ias the eternal Father of Christ our Lord, who made all
     nant of God's friendship. God reveals' Himself, not things out of nothing, and according to His sovereign
     only as the Creator, Who calls the things that are not ,good  pIeasure;  and that  ns the Father of oux Lord
     as if they were ; but also as the Redeemer, Who quick- :Jesus Christ, with ,a view to Him and His Church.
     ens the dead.     He  calls  th.e light out of darkness, and with a view to the antithetical revelation of His
     righteousness out of corruption, life out of death,          covenant of friendship, He upheld and governed the
     heavenly glory out of the desolation of hell. And all universe from the very beginning, so that nothing
     this He realizes through Christ, the cross and the iever thwarted or frustrated the  reahzation  of His
     resurrection, the exaltation at the right hand of God, `eternal counsel; and that He still upholds and governs
     and the coming again in power; and in the  elect ,the same. by His almighty and omnipresent power.
     Church, chosen unto everlasting life, that they might `He understands that+he worId to come is not the final
     be to 4he ,praise  of the glory of His graae in the be- bevelopment  of the present world but  t.he final revela-
     loved. With His elect He realizes His eternal cove- tion of the wonder of grace; and refusing to be  de-
     nant of friendship. But at the same time there  is [ceived by any theory of common grace, as if some
      upon that world in sin and vanity an operation of God's kind of a perfected paradise, the realization of the
     anger and fierce wrath, along the line of reprobation, `original creation ordinance, were still to be expected,
     whereby the ungodly are given over unto foolishness `he will have nothing of the idealistic philosophy of
                                                                  "the world, loves not the world, neither the things that
     and ungodliness, unto religious and moral degrada-
     tion, and the vessels of wrath are fitted unto destruc- :are in the world, but seeks the things that are above,
     tion.  A,nd thus arises the antithesis, not of nature ,whene Christ sitteth at the right  haad of God. In the
     and grace, but of sin and grace, of light and darkness,      meantime, he understands his calling, and by grace
                                                                  he is willing to serve God's purpose even in this world,
     of Christ, and  Belial, of righteousness and unright-
     eousness. Fox  th.e creatures are upheld and governed that he may represent the cause of the Son of God to
     by God in their  cosmical  coherence and unity, elect `the praise of .the glory of His grace in, the beloved,
     and reprobate are of one blood, and they have all            and that, too, over against a  wocId that Iieth in dark-
      natural things in common.      But they differ funda- ness.        And unto this purpose he  makles all things
     mentally in their spiritual-et.hicaI  relation to God. And subservient, in Church  an,d State,  in, home and school
      while the ungodly develop and Iive and act from the `and .society.  ,He does not go out of the world, but in
      spiritual-ethical principle of sin, using all things as `the world he serves the Lord Christ,
      means to give expression to that  princtple,  and creat-       Tn this attempt and  hurpose  it is sometimes given
      ing a world full of the lust of the -flesh, and the lust `him to prosper.       He may live as a believer in his
j' I of the eyes, and the pride of life, they that are called Ihome, with his wife, and children. He may establish
I     to fight the good fighlt of faith, are living fxom the prin- jhis own school, where his children are educated ac-
      ciple of regeneration, representing the cause of the `cording to the principles of the Word of God. He
      Son of God in the world, strangers and pilgrims by          may promote the  procIamation  of  the true gospel.
      virtue of their heavenly  calling, and seeking the things He may even exert some influence in society and in
      that are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand the State. God gives him the means and the power to
      of God. This is the meaning of history. And thus the realize the purpose of his calling. And in this pros-
     ,twofold harvest of the world grows and ripens: the perity he is thankful. More often, however, he shall
     tares and the wheat must grow up together. And jmeet with ,the power of opposition, and he shall have
      when the harvest is ripe, the  Lord of the harvest will $0 fight  th,e battle of faith, suffering with Christ in
      come and reap, will gather the wheat into his barn, $hat battle. Moreover, he too, partakes of the suffering
      and destroy the tares with unquenchable fire. Then          of this present time in general, of drought and barren
      the stage may also disappear, in order to make room years, of sickness and sorrow and death, of war and
      for the eternal House of God in the new creation  I         .destruction,  of famine and pestilence. But in all these
      Such is the end of God's providence.                        things he may be patient, and give thanks  in all things,
         And thus the believer may place his firm trust in `confident that "all things come, not by  chance,  but

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

by his fatherly hand," that "nothing shall separate doen  gedenken, toegepast op David zelf, allereerst.
us from his love," that.  "al1 creatures are so in his         En dan ook,  dat wij er een  les uit leeren.
hand, that without his will they cannot so much  as               Ook merken we een zekere  hartstochtelijke  haast.
move," and that further "he will make whatever evils `t  Kas zijn, dat David daarom een vroegere ontboe-
he sends upon me in this valley of tears turn out tci          zeming neerschrijft en klagende  tot God zing-t.
my advantage ; for he is able to do it, being Almighty             Die haast ontmoet ge door den geheelen psalm
God, and willing, being a faithful Father." That is heen. Inplaats van "Davids Psalm" lezen we het
the comfort and victorious  power.of faith in God, the         haastige  :  "Davi.ds."    Inplaats dat David bier begint
Father, Almighty Maker of heaven and earth !                   zooaIs  in psalm 40 met: "Het behage U Heere, mij
                                            H .   H .          te verlossen; Heere haast U .tot mijne hulp!", lezen
                                                               we: "Haast U, o God ! om mij te verlossen, o Heere !
                                                               tot mijne hulp." Het zachter "Het behage U!" moot
                                                               plaats  maken  voor een dringende schreeuw om hulp.
                                                               Dat dringende is duidelijker in het oorspronkelijke
               De Smarten Davids                               dan in onze Hollandsche vertaling. Letterlijk  staat
                                                               er: "0 God ! om mij  te verlossen ! 0 Reere ! om mij
                                                               te helpen  ! haast U !"
                         (Psalm 70)                               We hebben het  roepen  van Jezus maar  eenmaal
       Psalm 70 is op eenige weinige uitzonderingen na gehoord. Dat was aan het einde van de bange duister-
gelijk  aan  bet laatste gedeelte van den  veertigsten         nis op  Golgotha.   Doch wie zal zeggen hoevele malen
psalm, de verzen 14 tot 18.                                    en hoe hartstochtelijk Jezus den Heere gesmeekt heeft
       Daar in den  veertigsten  psalm zagen  we den  ver-     ter Zijner hulpe. lk moet altijd weer aan denken  aan
losten  Christus  die van  Zijn groote lijden  zingt  en dien  bangen tekst in Hebre6.n  waar staat: "Die in de
God  Iooft  vanwege  Zijn verlossing. Doch in het laatste dagen Zijns vleesches, gebeden en smeekingen tot Den-
g&&x van dien psalm  vie1 Hij  weer terug in `t gene die Hem uit den dood kon verlossen, met sterke
klagen. We hebben toen  opgemerkt, dat de  verlbssing          roeping en tranen geofferd hebbende, elr verhoord zijn-
een proces  doorloopt, even ala bij ens. Hij was  ver-         de uit den vreeze. . _ ." Dan denken  we onwillekeurig
lost doch moest nog verder verlost worden.                     ook aan de Evangelie-verhalen  waar ons gemeld word!,
       Dat die veertigste psalm  we1 waarlijk een  e&t         dat Jezus opstond als het nog donker was om  Zich  naar
Messiaansche psaIm is kan men duidelijk zien in het het woeste en het dorre te spoeden. Dan vonden zij
feit, dat twee teksten  letterlijk overgenomen werden Hem later in den woestijn. Daar was Hij heengegaan
door  Pauius en op den  Christus toegepast.                    om te bidden. Ik denk, dat  als we die gebeden  op
       Schokkend was het begin: Wachtende heb ik den papier  zagen, zij veel overeenkomst zouden hebben met
Heere verwacht! Dat  ziet op het wachten in den de smarten van David die ons in den psalmbundel  ge-
eeuwigen dood van den Mess&. Doch  God kwam en boden werden. 001~ zaagt ge dan dezen psalm.
heeft Hem verlost.                                                Zoo kunnen we ook het haastige, dringende,  hart-
       Het laatste gedeelte van Zijn klagen komt ons nu stochtelijke van dezen psalm benaderen. I Wat we hier
weer voor in  dezen  zeventiger. Doch waar er sprake hebben is maar geen bloot  bidden. Gewoon bidden
is van blijdschap en verlossing in dien anderen zang,          doen we  als  alles gewoon is, als er  geea,  bijzondere
zoo is het  h&r  alles smart. De smarten van David, groote nooden zijn. Dan schikken we, ons kalmweg
doch zoo verstaan, dat David die smarten tot op om de oogen te sluiten, de handen te vouwen en in
zekere hoogte vooruitleed, terwijl Jezus  die smarten goeden  regelmaat vloeien de woorden van onze lippen  :
uitgeput  heeft.                                               daar spraken we gewoon tot God.
       Waarom dit stuk in den psalmbundel herhaald                Doch ?t wordt anders als we bedenken hoe ons  iief-
wordit?  Daar  zullen  we naar  moeten gissen.           Het lijk Zoenoffer stond in de felle hitte van  onuitspreeke-
wordt  ons niet met zoovele  woo&en  verhaald.  Tech lijke smarten. Er was de duivel die Hem geduriglijk
is er  we1 eenige  verklaring  van. In psalm 40 staat besprong. Daar  waren de valsche, vijandige menschen.
boven den psalm eenvoudig weg : "Davids Psalm  voor            Doch boven alles, was er de vreeselijke hitte van een
den opperzangmeester."' Hier staat letterlijk : "Davids, eeuwige last des toorns Gods.
voor den opperzangmeester, om te  doen  gedenken."                Zie, geliefden,  als we dat bedenken, dan kunnen we
In die laatste toevoeging :"om te doen  gedenken,"  lezen er eenigzins bij als dit arm+e Lam, dat Zich wringt in
we een soort verklaring ,van David zelf, waarom hij           de eeuwige slachting zoo hartstochtelijk kermt,  schok-
deze woorden  w.eer gebruikt. Mijns inziens wil David kend en doordringend : "0 God ! om Mij te verlossen !
ons  melden,  dat bij een huidig lijden, hij  herinnerd        0 Heere! om Mij te  helpen  ! haast u  !"       0 Vader 1
werd aan een  ~vrc&gere smart. Dus moet dat : om te            Laat Mij  tech niet langer onder de honden, .de stieren

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

      Daarom zegt Jezus : Laat die vroolijk en verblijd           words from the above mentioned viewpoints. We be-
  zijn !                                                          lieve  in the perseverance of the saints and, deny all
      Dat beteekent, dat Jezus bidt voor hun geheele  ver-        common grace. This passage. speaks of peopIe  who
  zadiging. Alleen  als alle nooden en behoeften  vervuId         once were in the church, but later fell away and evi-
  zijn, dan kunnen we verblijd zijn. Dus moogt ge den dently severed all connections, and became open de-
  iekst aldus lezen: Laat de liefhebbers van Uw naam              niers of Christ. But while in the church they received
  U vinden. Want. God te hebben bet.eekent  geheeie  vcr- and apparently enjoyed certain things, showing that
  zadiging. Zoo kunt ge het verstaan  dat Lazarus stihe           the natural man may come in very `close contact with
  ligt aan den poort  des rijken. Kruimels, kruimels  !           the truth and yet not partake of it. The writer says
      Doch  Ik', Zegt Jezus? Ik?  2k ben  ellendig  en that, they were enlightened, not only so that they un-
  nooddruftig !                                                   derstood the. truth of God's Word  wht:h their- natural
      De&t daaraan, gelief den !                                  mind, but also that they tasted and had .a certain
                                                                  natural liking for the good Word of God'. They un-
      Als gij U verblijdt in den Heere, denkt er dan  aan,        derstood the teachings concerning  Chri& and Him
  dat al die blijdschap en verblijding gekocht is door de         crucified and tasted the sweetness of it.      And so
  armoede  en smart en vertwijfeling van Jezus. Hij they tasted the heavenly gift, all with their natural
  ontkleed,   opdat,  gij  overkieed   mocht  worden.  Sieraad    taste. And they were made partakers of the Holy
  voor  asch! Het zij zoo. Maar  Jezus ontvangt danrom            Ghost: This expression must undoubtedly be taken
  asch voor sieraad !                                             in the specia1  sense in which the New Testament fre-
      0 de diepte !                                               quently speaks of the reception of the Holy Ghost
                                                   G. V.          through the laying on of hands by the ,apostIes.     In
                                                                  Acts 19 :6 we read : "And when Paul had laid his hands
                                                                  on them, the HoIy Ghost came on them, and they spakn
                                                                  with tongues and prophesied." Thus the natural man
                                                                  may receive several gifts, so that he speaks with ton-
                                                                  gues and casts out devils and prophesies through an
            Crucifying Christ Afresh                              operation of the Holy Ghost, and his heart will still
                                                                  be far from God. Think of  Balsam,  Caiaphas and
      Most of us have at some time of other heard or Judas. To express it in the language of our day they
  read these words. A few of us have perhaps  giveu               are people that attend church, listen to the preach-
  them some thought, inquisitive as to- their meaning. ing and  apparentIy  enjoy it, partake of the Lord's
  How is Christ crucified afresh? How is He crucified supper, probably serve in different capacities of the
  today? But we are a11 the more interested in the ques- Church, may even be a minister of the Word. Out-
  tion:  who  crucifies Him afresh? Are Christians also wardly they walk in the way of repentance  and sancti-
  guilty of that sin? That He is crucified by the world fication, but their hearts are unregenerated. But
  we readily believe, but what about the church? Many finally they come to manifestation. (perhaps that is
  a child of God, yea every one, often denies His Lord            always true of these people) and they fall out. This
  in .His walk and ways, not seldom is He ashamed of may take place and be  0:casione.d  by  different  circum-
His Savior, and frequently he lives as if a stranger stances, perhaps persecution, or refusing to admit R
  ,to Christ. But is that crucifying Christ afresh? Or certain sin, or in `some other way. Then the dog has
  is this sin committed only by the chaff among the returned to his vomit.
  wheat, those in the church but not children of God?                Such people usually become hardened sinners, bit-
      These words are taken from the well known  6th              ter enemies of the truth, and all their apparent zeal
  chapter of Hebrews, verse 6. In verses 4-6 we read:             for the church now turns into the opposite. They
  "For it is impossible for those who were once enlight- openly deny Christ, hate and despise Him and the
  ened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were            Church, trample under their feet the Son of God and
  made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted               count the blood of the covenant whkerewith  they were
  the good word of God, and the powers of the world               sanctified an  unhoIy  thing, and swear and curse with
  .ta.bon&,  if they shah  fall away, to renew them again His name. !Heb. `19 29. That according to this Scrip-
  to repentance ;  see&g  they  cx-ucify  to themselves the tural' passage is called: Crucifying Christ afresh.
  Son  of  Gold  afresh,  and put him to  an open shame."            The question is what does it mean to crucify Christ.
; ,iThese words are often quoted to prove the possibility What did the Jews really .do when they did such?
of  saints..falling  away, or also the theory of common The word necessarily implies more than a mere put-
;,~ meace, God being gracious to those outwardly bearing ting to death and severing all contact with this world.
 ;,the name of  chri~stians  but in  reality  are not.  At        True it is that the word sometimes has this connota-
 "this time, however, we are not interested in these tion, in GaI. 5 24, e.g. where Paul speaks of the chris-


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               I93

tian crucifying the flesh with the affections and lusts, you find the greatest sin. The greatest sinners are al-
and in Gal. 6 :14 that the world is crucified unto him ways found in  the, sphere of the covenant. Think of
and he unto the world, in these texts the words de- Ju,das and the Antichrist.
notes a mortification, becoming dead to the flesh  aml          In the second place this sin is unpardonable. They
the world. But when Christ was crucified much more           cannot again be renewed to repentance. Not because
took place. From God's viewpoint His death was the God is not able, but because of His righteous will and
ignominious death of the cross because such was curs-        avenging justice. This` sin, too,. is a sin against the
ed of Him. But the Jews, through Pilate of  course,          Holy Ghost. It is the sin that against better  know>.
wanted to make His death an infamous and  disgraze-          ledge and conviction of the truth despises Christ  and
ful one and therefore lifted Him up on the cross so          His ,Word. Knowing that Christ speaks the truth and!
that all could see Him. He must become a public shame        is the Son of God they  again& better consciousness'and
and disgrace. Crucifying Christ theerfore means to           conscience tread under foot His name as though He
put Him to shame and to defy Him before th,e world.          were a deceiver, brand His blood shed for redemption
    This  .the Jews literally did with Christ, and the as the blood of a transgressor and scoff at the Spirit
above-mentioned kind of people do the same thing,            of grace as a spirit of falsehood. Christians  neve%
`though not physically. The disposition of heart and         fall away from mere weakness, or a mere wavering
behavior towards Christ is identical. Hence Christ `s of conviction. And he who has a broken and contrite,
crucified afresh throughout the ages by those who            spirit need not fear that he is guilty of this sin for:
with the mind know *Him, have been brought up in it in reality is exactly the opposite of crucifying Christ.
the church, but who later reveal that they are not of, afresh. The former is characterized by humility and
but through  their actions defy Him, curse with His          love to Gold, the latter by price and utter contempt..
name, and make Him an object of public disgrace and And this is found with many today. But let us not be
shame. Hence, Christ is crucified thousands of times of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them
e v e r y   d a y .                                          that believe to the saving of the soul.
                                                                                                                J.  B.
Conclusions

    In the first place it has become evid:ent  that this
sin .is committed by those born in the sphere of the
covenant. The text teaches in no unplain terms that
this sin is committed by those who have come in con-                              IN'  MEMORIAM
tact with the Word of God, with the Church  Institute.~
Therefore this sin must be  for.eign  to the heathen and         Den laden  Januari behaagde het den Heere in Zijne he&-
to those who have never heard of the Divine revela- lijkheid op te nemen onze dierbare echtgenoote, moeder, groet-
tion or have come in touch with Christ's church. But moeder en over-groetmoeder,
those born in the sphere of the covenant have. They
in name bear the.name of Christians, have been bap-
tized, perhaps received some secular education, re-                                MRS. H. HYMA
ceived catechism or at least attended Sunday School,
and when small led by father tid mother to the Di-           in den ouderdom van 88 jaren.
vine services.         From this it becomes apparent that        Wij zijn den Heere dankbaar dat Hij haar zoo lang  voor
this circle is very big. Perhaps that would include ons heeft gespaard en wij gelooven dat ook zij nu deelt in de
most' everything that is called church or Christian.         zaligheid dergenen die in den Heere zijn ontslapen. Wij zijn
In our country there are millions of such people, who bedroefd, maar niet als degenen die gecne hope hebben.
in youth or some other time have been in close con-
nection with the church. When they have reached the                                     H. Hyma,
age of adolescence, however, many of them, even most                                    Kinderen, behuwd-kindersn,  klein-
of them go astray and forsake the church altogether.                                    kinderen  en achter-kleinkinderen.
They go into the world seek the pleasures of the world,
curse with the namte of (perhaps- we can even go so,
far as to say. that all revealed covenant breakers are
guilty of this  .sin) Christ and despise Him. They
crucify Christ afresh. How many are there not in our                  Redeemed by Thee, I stand secure
lday who have had at least a little christian instruction                   In peace and happiness;
by their somewhat conservative parents but now have                   .And in the Church, among Thy saints,
forsaken  even that? Millions. With those people                            Jehovah I will bless.                    "

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

       "     ,'    Confessionalism                             of private interpretation and, in instances, to ignore
                                                               the confessions.    They deny therefore any binding
                                                               force to the Confessions.       I
   ,This word is seldom used in our country as far as              Wherein lies the correct conception of Confession
Iknow. However, it is very easy to understand how so that we may determine what is or is not the element
it is used and can be used. To the noun "confession?'          of truth in the indictment of Confessionalism?
an ism .is attached. Whenever an "ism" is attached as              Confessions are necessary for the Church because
a  sufllx to a noun it is usually  int,ended not only to       it is according to the clear implication of Christ's
designate a doctrine or system of thought but also to          words, "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before
disparage adherence to such a doctrine.                        men, him will I confess before my Father which is in
 .We often speak of Isms. We speak of  Arminian-               heaven."    (Matt.  10:32)    In Romans 10 :9 we read,
ism, Pelagianism, Quakerism, and other sorts of here-          "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
sies which we condemn. ,On the other hand there are            Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
those who believe in Arminianism and such doctrines            raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Al-
objectionable to us, and who- although they have not though this refers to individual confessions of the be-
first used the word will nevertheless maintain their lievers it also is a duty for the Church. If we consider
belief in Arminianism.       There are also those who          the words of Jesus to Peter, the duty of the Church
speak of our doctrine and belief disparagingly. They to make a confession ought to be very clear. Upon
speak of our doctrine as Calvinism to cast a slur upon         Peter's confession, Jesus said about it, "Thou art
it. The opponents of the Reformed truth stigmatized            Peter and upon ,this rock (his confession, L.D.) I will
it by calling it Calvinism, yet we now will maintain build my church."
Calvinism, just as we maintain Christianty  whch was              For necessary practical purposes and because of
a-name first used by the enemies of Christ's followers.        the solemnity of the action no one can deny the neces-
These are what we would call well known "isms".                sity of committing this confession to a written record.
   There are also new attempts to stigmatize some-             It is therefore erroneous to contend, that our confes-
one's or some group's contribution to an understand- sions should be spontaneous a.nd not literal, for the
ing of the truth by coining a new term containing an written record preserves the spontaeity.
"ism." Such terms have not attained to the category               What is a  cmfession?   P.  Schaff  gives us a very
of recognized and accepted usage. And to this group,           good definition in his Creeds  of  Christendom,  p.3. vol.
it seems to me, beloeg  such terms as Biblicism and            I, "A Creed, or Rule of faith, or Symbol, is a confes-
Confessionalism. Biblicism is  a term that has been sion of faith for public use, or a form of words setting
used against those who allegedly in some measure ig- forth with authority certain articles of belief, which
nore the Confessions, or who in some measure do not are regarded by the framers as necessary for salva-
use a correct  metlhod  of Scriptural interpretation.  Con-    tion, or at least for the well-being of the Christian
fessionalism is a term which is used against those who         Church."
allegedly ignore the Bible in some measure or who do.               The zralue of Confessions for the Church can easily
not make a proper use of the Confessions. I am not             be seen from the history of the Church. Where would
aware of anyone who would admit that he is a Bibli-            the Church be without her Confessions? It is plain
cist or a Confessionalist. It is the contention of those from past history that the Church  ha,d a valuable
of us who hold to the Bible and the Confessions that           means in her written confessions to combat heresy.
we are not Biblicists or Confessionalists.                     They were an excellent means for the Church to guide
   Limiting ourselves to Confessionalism, we can think her members to find the truth of God's Word in the
of two instances in which the term is used. 1. The midst of so much error, and unitedly to combat` that
term is used against those who have creeds or con-             error.
fessions. Those who reject any written creed for  n               .A formidable objection is made against t.his con-
church, use such slogans as, "back to the Bible," or tention of the value of the written Confession for the
"the:Bible is our only basis for unity," or "no creed          Church. It is made in the question, isn't the Word
but Christ." They see no value in creeds and even suflicient to combat error? and.  isn't it the sword
consider them detrimental.       In their opposition to which is sharper than any two-edged sword? This
those who make and adopt and maintain confessions,             question is pertinent, and it should warn us from too
they make the false accusation that such  defencders  of much emphasis upon Confessions to warrant the in-
the confessions ignore the Bible as sufficient' authority dictment of Confessionalism. This  .bbjection,  it seems
and basis of unity.       2. Confessionalism is applied to me, is not based upon the proper conception of the
against those who allegedly do not properly use the relation of Confessions. to the Word of God. They
Confessions. That is, there are those who, although must never .be consid.ered  separately .from  the Word
they value con,fessisns?  believe that they have the right     Their power to `combat error  does  not lie in  them-


                                    T H E   STAN.DARD   B E A R E R / - - : : '                                                                      l-95

selves as Confessions but in the Word.  OnIy as the              It should be considered that a writer or speaker
Confession speaks with the Word is it a guide and I% has the right to express his own meaning in different
power to combat error. It is also true that as the            words and attach his meaning to them.' So it is the
Word is caused to be confessed and preached by the right of Scripture to express its own teaching- in' the
Spirit  ,it is a power. It follows too that a Confession Old Testament in different words in the  .-New I  Tests-
which is not confesse'd  by a living Church is ,dead,  iir    rnent and with its own meaning. NoVlone-elee.~has:the
not a power to combat error.                                  right to such use of a writer or speaker's w,ords.  `So
     What  a.uth,oritjy  do Confessions have?  To be re-      also the Church has the right and can demand  `a literal
cognized as Confessions for public use there must be          inlterpretation  of its own Confessions and words; ~Thct
some authority ascribed to Confessions. It is espec- Church as she makes the Confession .again.  in asrfnr:
ially upon this question that misunderstanding arises ther development may also express the  satie  truth.  i?r
and the charge of "Confessionalism" is made. All              entirely different wosds. But that does. not givethe
Reformed people agree that the Confessions do not right to private individuals to change the Confessions
have the same authority as the Scriptures. The Bible or interpret other than a literal  interpretatiod:.d&
is the only infallible rule of faith and practice. The mands.           There can be no private regulation of the
definition given above by P. Schaff does not imply            Church's Confessions. It is the Church which. must
that confessions have the same authority for faith as         interpret its own Confessions.
the Word of God has. It is often stated that the Bible           In our esteem of the Confessions and denial, of the!
is the rule of faith; the confessions the rule of doc- indictment of "confessionalism," we must at  the. same
trine. This is made by Schaff and Bavinck and is a time beware of the pretentian, of the apostate. dt will
correct statement of the matter. What is meant is not always be that the Church, the outward Church
that the Bible only can tell us w,b.at we are to believe ;    with its majority, will preserve the truth in the Con-
and the Confessions only regulate what is taught, the         fessions, even when it so loudly proclaims them. For
public teaching of the officers of the Church.                in the nam;e  of the "Confessions," and in the name of
   If we deny to the Confessions the authority to tell the Word of God, Christ and His followers in history
us what to believe, what authority have they for us?          were cast out.                                                                           ^
Are  t.hey binding. then at all? The answer is that the                                                                                   L . D .   L
Confessions do not unchangeably bind us in faith and
obedience. The Church binds no one with  ,the Con-
fessions. She only binds with the key, the Word of
God. The Confessions are subject always to examina-
tion and revision because they are the word of man.
And the only  bindin.g force  conne&ed  with the Con-'
fessions  is the individual's own subscription to be
bound by the Confessions, subject always, to the au-                                  A N N I V E R S A R Y                                                 .
thority of the Word of God. They are therefore bind-
ing for  everyone'who  voluntarily lives in Church com-          On Monday, January 24, 1944,  our dear parents,
munion. They are not a yoke for his conscience or                                                         .
faith, for the momen,t  he disagrees, he may leave the                               FRANK BATTJES                                                                          .
Church communion. At the same time the Church is                                                   a n d
open for honost objection based upon the Word against
her own Confessions.                                                            D,ENA              BATTLT%S--Poitema
   If this is the conception of the authority of the celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary.
Confessions, and it is the Reformed Protestant con-
ception, then it follows that the charge of  "Confes-            We thank the Lord for His many blessings. through these.
sionalism" cannot be launched against it..                    many years.
                                                  s                                                                                                               .'
   In the main, these consideration answer the ac-                                    The Children:
cusations against. us who maintain the Confessions.                                           Mr. and Mrs. Henry F. Battjes                                            7
There remains the matter of interpretation of the Con-                                        Mr. and Mrs. Evert Van Kuiken                                            '
fessions. It is the contention of the second' class of                                        Mr. and Mrs. Peter Feringa
those who bring charges of  `YJonfessionalism,"  that                                         Mr. and Mrs. Herman Battjes . . . .
they have the right of private interpretation of the                                          Mr., and Mrs. Louis. Battjes                                       ".
Confessions.    This of course leaves room for over-                                          -Mr. and Mrs. Clarence  Battjes"
throwing the very purpose and .meaning of,.the  Con-             .                                 and 13 grandchildren.
fessions. When private interpretation is denied such            -`!%XZBatesSt.,S.E.~                      .*                   11.                                     .
                                                                                                                                                                 I .-
contenders, they object that. sutih is too binding.              Grand~Rapids,:`Miohigin      .           .       
                                                                                                                 `.  t=  .'  1 :.*  `:         " . . ,- _
                                                                                                                                             +  If  I*.1


  1%                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                 All Came to Pass                             tachment for ,the jovial, generous, but profane Esau,
                                                              he was willingly ignorant of the purpose of God ac-
                                                              cording to the election until rebuked by the Lord
        The warfare for the possession of. Canaan has been    through the fraud of Jacob.
  finished. The land had been partitioned among the               How frightful the riotings  of. unbelief in the house
 people of Israel. Before proceeding with his narra- of Israel of <the desert period ! When Pharaoh becom-
 tive, the sacred narrator declared the covenant fidel-       es unspeakably exacting,  as a result of his having
 ity of Jehovah. Israel possesses the land. and dwells been commanded to release his slaves, the people
 therein. It has rest round about. Their stands not           charge Moses with having made their savour to be
 a man of all their enemies before them ; the Lord has abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh. Driven to distrac-
 delivered all  their enemies into their hand. There tion by, their reproaches, Moses accuses the Lord of
 failed. not  oughlt of any good thing which He had           ill&eating His people, demands to know why the
 spoken to the house of Israel; all came to pass, Jos.        Lord sent him, and ends with upbraiding God for not
 21143-45.                                                    having delivered His people at all. Over and over,
     This language plainly reposes upon the foundation (during those forty years, the people accuse God of
 of the truth that Joshua, his military genius,  Ithe         having led them into the wilderness with a view to
 force of arms and the courage of his troops, were but        killing them; once at Elim, in the wilderness, when
 the creations of God, through whom He had wrought;           there was no bread,, and when the Lord, in response to
 that *thus the conquest of Canaan was God's work and,        their murmuring, gave them manna from heaven ;
 on this account, the evidence and perfect demonstra- again at Rephidim, on account of there being no water
 tion of His faithfulness. The three verses of our pas- for them to drink and despite the fact (that they we!1
 sage form a monument, which the author erects upon `knew that the Lord stood ready to meet also this ne-
 the battlefield and on which he inscribes but one (cessity,  which He did by fetching them wster  out of
 name,-the name of Jehovah. This is proper, certainly. the rock; once again at Kadesh, upon hearing the dis-
   ' How often, in the past, had the Lord's loyalty  bea      couraging report of the spies. But this is not all. In
 `questioned ! How often had unbelief complained that (Horeb  they made a calf and thus changed the glory
 He was failing His people, was thus not holding Him ,bf their God into the likeness of an ox. At Taberah,
 to  ithe promise made to the house of Israel. Truly, loathing the manna, they lusted for flesh. Torah and
 there had been many such complainings  through the his company despised the priesthood and with it the
 ages of the  past,-complainings  rising from the un- yicarious atonement of Christ. At Kadesh the people
 belief not only of the carnal seed but of the true pea,      ;again accused God of wanting to kill them in the wil-
 ple of God as well. Even faithful Abraham, the found         :derness.    In the plains of Moab, they "joined them-
 er of the house of Israel and 4he first to hear and tc       selves also unto  l&al-Peor,  and ate the sacrifices of
 receive the promise--the Abrahamatic promise-was Fhe dead." And this was the new generation!
 not above reproach in this respect. In the <disquietude i        What a terrible record they had made for them-
 of his soul, he must call the Lord's attention to *the selves through their unbelief, murmurings and  rebel-
 fact that he had no seed and that one born in his ilions. But as to the Lord, there failed not ought of
 house was his heir. When Sarah, using as her argu- fany good thing which He had spoken to the house of
* ment that the Lord had given her no seed, urged him IIsrael  ;  all came to pass.          The provocations of His
 to go into her maid, he hearkens. Subsequently,  a.5 ;people  could not cause Him to swerve from His pur-
 troubled by his own sterility and the sterihty  of his ipose; for, being God, He hath mercy on whom He will,
 wife-he was a hundred years old and she ninety at hnd whom He will He hardeneth. This being  true,
 the time-his prayer was that Ishmael might live be- {the wickedness of man could not throw Rim off bai-
 fore God's face. When he so acted and prayed, he had lance,  so that, as discouraged and frustrated by the riot-
 the promise. There is even more of unbelief discern- !ing of unbelief, He should have concluded that he had
 able in the lives of the other two great-patriarchs. better forget about the good thing that He had spoken.
 Distrustful of the Lord's ability and  ~willingness to       The wicked are not unpredictable to Him. However
 achieve His purpose, Jacob, the heir of the promise `Ideceitful the human heart, He knows that heart and
 by divine election, seized upon the profanity of his ihas determined all its issues. And from everlasting
 brother and used it to trick him into s.elling his birth- to everlasting He is our God. And He doeth all His
 right. Later, under the impulse of this same distrust good pleasure. His promises therefore could not fail.
 and as relying upon the infirmatives of old  age- LHe did keep mercy for thousands. Forgiving iniquity
  Isaac was partially blind-and dissimilation  to carry bnd transgression and sin, He entered them into His
 him through,. he got his father, confused and per- irest. (And also other thousands who feared Him not;
 plexed by his son's (deceit, to bestow upon him the Tar the rest of Canaan was but typical). The others
  ble@ng.  Aer to Isaac, giving way  ta his strong  at- perished in the wilderpess because of unbelief.  For.


                                              I

                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       197

whom He will He hardeneth.                                   The fire consumed their young men ; and the maidens
   Just because these doings of God-His giving His were not given to marriage. Their priests fell by the
people rest, the rest of the  itypical  Canaan-so wonder- sword ; and their widows made no lamentation" (Ps.
fully demonstrates the unswerving loyalty of God to 78-. These reverses spelled the end of the peace and
His promise, the narration of these doings, the Scrip- rest associated with the city of Shiloh.
tures that set them forth, have greatest significance           Thus the fulfillment of the  promise+the scepter
for us. As has already been explained, "the whole shall not ,depart from Judah until Shiloh come+till
congregation of the -children of Israel  assembied at lay in the future. So the Lord sware truth unto David
Shiloh and set up the tabernacle of the congregation to the effeclt that He would set up his seed after him
there." The significance of this doing must be grasped. and  wouId estabIish  the throne of his kingdom in Zion
It may be set forth in this language: Jehovah, who fs for ever. Thus "He refusad the tabernacle of Joseph,
the God of peace and rest in Himself,  (the  war?            the sanctuary of Shiloh, and chose not the tribe of
Shiloh means peace and then also rest) entered with Ephraim but the tribe of Judah, ;the mount Zion whi&
His redeemed  people_into  His rest, the rest of Canaan. he loved" (Ps!. 132). In initial fulfillment of this pro-
And  .He gave them  His rest i.e., He satisfied them phecy, "the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like
with His likeness which they beheld in the typical a mighty man shouted by reason of wine. And He
institutions of the law there in Shiloh and made their smote His enemies-the Philistines-in the hinder
enemies in Canaan their footstool so that they ha3 parts : Be put them to perpetual reproach" (Ps. 78).
rest round about "according to all He sware unto This has reference to the return  of, the Ark of the
the fathers."    (The concept  re& is rich in content.       covenant from the  Iarid of the Philistines, and its
It is equivalent to salvaaion  in all its glorious impli- conveyance  fiast to Kiriathjearim, where it rested for
cations). It is evident that the doing of the people  of twenty long years in the house of Abinadab, and second
Israel in Shiloh was indicative of the initial fulfillment (to mount Zion, .where it was placed in the midst of II.
of the prophecy of the dying Jacob, "The sceptre shall tent that the king had pitched for it.
not depart from Judah. . .  .until Shiloh come ; and            The capture of the  *Ark-the Lord's delivering His
unto him shall the gathering of the people be." The          strength into captivity-the return of' the Ark to
true Shiloh is the triune Jehovah as revealed in the Mount Zion, was pIain.ly  prophetic of the humiliation
face of Christ. Preindicating Him were Moses and of Christ and of His subsequent exaltation at the right
Joshua, the pilalr of cloud an,d ithe angel of t.he Lord     hand of Gad. But the return of the Lord to Zion had
and finally king Solomon. And preindicative of the direct. significance for the people of  IsraeI. It  be-
heavenly land of Rest-the new earth to be peopled {tokened the restoration of the people to the favor of
by the redeemed  OP God-was the land of Canaan with God and thus presaged the subduing of the hostile
Shiloh (and later on Jerusalem) as its religious an3         nati,ons by King David. Mindful of this, the king
political center.    There, in the holiest place of the danced before the  Lol:d with all his might: and Israel
tabernacle set up in Shiloh, Jehovah dwelt. There, shouted and sounded the trumpet.
in Shiloh, He satisfied, in the language of the psalmist,       David was  st.he  king of successful warfare, who
the poor with bread, and clothed His priests with sal- ended his reign  wilth all Israel's enemies his foot-
vation. And there the saints shouted with joy.               stool. Solomon was the typica  king of glory and the
   But the rest just described was but a  shadoTT*. prince of peace,  who built God's temple. With  :;is
For true rest is the blessed state of just men only, thus ascension to the throne, Shiloh had again come. But
of men truly redeemed from sin and wholly conse- Solomon, too, was but a shadow. Hence, his glorv
crated unto their redeemer-God. As to the  chiIdren          faded; the peace ,that characterized his reign gave way
of Israel, they were evil. And they did evil "in the to strife and revolution from within and without.
sight of the Lord, and served Baal. They forsook  thp Shortly after his death, his kingdom was rent in twain
Lord God of their fathers, who brought them up out through the ten itribes  breaking away from the house
of the land of Egypt, and followed afiter  other Gods."      of David and the service of God. `Eventually these
When God heard this "he was  .wroth-in the words  3f tribes disappeared by a dispersion that was perman-
the psalmist-and greatly abhorred Israel: so that he ent. Judah went into exile. City and temple were
forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which ho destroyed by  4he heathen.  Bnt the exiles returned
placed among men; and delivered his  Wength into under the leadership of  Zerubbitbel. City and  templc
captivity, and his glory into ,the enemies hand." Th? w,ere rebuilt. It  `meant that  ShiIoh  again came. But
fact of the matter .is, that Shiloh was destroyed and also this rest was without substance. The  true Shiloh
the ark of the covenant---Jehovah's throne--taken by was still to come, and to Him the fmger  of prophecy
the Philistines. This was God's doing, a giving of His now directly pointed. And He came, did Christ.Jesus
strength into captivity.     He also "gave his people -He came in the likeness of sinful flesh. Through
unto the sword; and was wroth  with his inheritance.         His atonement He meri,ted the true rest, into which


198                                  &THE'  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

 Ife also entered with His own. For He was raised
.unto their justification, and they with HIim were set        The Dismissal'uf  the Two and a half
 in heaven and blessed with all spiritual blessings.
 And by (the power of His redeeming love, they cease                                  Tribes
 from all :&heir evil works  23 the days of their life and
.yield"themselves  to the Lord to work by His Spirit in           Joshua now sends home the two tribes and a half
 them:., and thus begin in this life the eternal sabbath.     with a  biasing.  Joshua  ackotiledges  their obedience
 .&& when He comes again, His people, whose life is           to Moses and to his own commands, and further that
:hid&n  with Him,in God, will appear with Hm in glory they had faithfully sttood by their brethren and kept
 on, the new earth, the land of everlastng rest. And          the  commandments  of God. And now Jehovah had
 they will" possess the. land an.d dwell therein and see ,given  rest to the `ot,hers,  they might return to their
.God as He is in the face of Christ. They will be their tents in the Iand of their possession already given to
 rest.. And they will say,  ",TruIy  there failed  no& ought them by Moses beyond the Jordan. To this he adds
 of. any good thing which He spake to the  hogse  qf the admonition that .they should continue to observe
,Israel;  all has come to pass."  $And with the  fulfiil- the commandments, to serve God in u,nchanging love,
nie.nt of t&e promise, with His loyalty to His people,        with their whole heart and their whole soul. Still fur-
s:tan,ding  out in their mind against the background of ther they are called upon to share their booty- with.
all  kthe  sins, of, all the murmurings and rebellions, their brethren.
carnal doubts and fears and questionings  from which              Thus they had b7&av6d  welt. They had kept their '
He saved them-how they will bless His name. But               word, remained with';their brethren during all Joshua's
certainly they ,do not wait with this praise until (then.     campaign, and taken their part in all the struggles
For Shiloh came once and again through the ages, through which the host had passed. They are now
in  <token   -of the  i?utability of  His+ promise.    The dismissed with honor, and they receive as their reward
promise is in process of fulfillment. His goodness a substantial part of  lthe spoil. "Return," said Jo-
and mercy follows them  all  &he days of their life shua, "with much riches unto your tents, and with
until they dwell in His house forever.                        very much cattle, with silver and with gold,  and with
                                           G. M. 0.           brass and with iron and with very much raiment;
                                                              divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren."
                                                                  Thus two  counseis was pressed upon them. One
                                                              was that they must divide the spoil wi,th those of their
                                                              brethren that had remained at home. Though they
                                                              had borne the burden" and the heat of the day, they
               NOTICE  - SUBSCRIBERS                          should not alone enjoy its reward. For there had been
                                                              good reason why a portion had remained at home.
        Please send me your postoffice district number The women and the children had to be defended. The
when you send in your .&b,scription  renewal.                 flocks and herds had to be looked after. The produc-
                            R. Schaafsma  - Treas.            tion of food had to be pro6ded for. The men at home
                                                              had been doing the duty assigned to them. They could
                                                              establish a claim in justice to a share of the spoil. Ac-
                                                              conding  to Num. 1112'7, one half of the booty of war
                                                              belonged to them.
                                                                 The other counsel of Joshua had reference to that
                NOTICE CONSISTORIES                           which was of greatest possible significance-loyalty
   `Classis  ,West  of  bhe Protestant Reformed Churches it0 God. "Take  diliged heed to do the commandment
nieets in regular session' March 1, 1944, at the Hull of the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charg-
church, D. V. AFyone  desiring lodging please contact ed you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all
the Rev; A. Cammenga at Hull, Iowa.                           his ways, and to keep all his commandments, and to
                               M. Gritters  - S. C.           cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart
                                                              and  wi.th all your soul."
   s                                                             Joshua poured his whole soul  i&o this counsel.
                                                              He evidently feared that, as separated from their bre-
                                                              thren, they might drift away from the true worship
                CHANGE OF ADDRESS                             of God and become Idolaters. It was west of the Jor-
                                                              dan that the taber.nacle  had been set up. Well might
 Rev. George Lubbers has accepted the call extend-            he earnestly exhort them. For their whole well-being,
ed to him by the congregation at Randolph. His new their very life itself, hinged on their being fai,bhful to
,address  is now Randolph, Wisconsin,                         Jehovah. Their separation by the river Jordan-a


                                 `THE  SPANDARD   BEARER                                                          ct99

rapid stream that could be `forged only with  dBiculty,        worship of Jehovah, even to future generations,  ,that,
-was, undeniably a source of weakness. The eastern if ever the case before supposed should occur,' they
tribes did somewhat drift away from the western.               might point to .this altar fashioned after the pattern
The only bond that could knit the two divisions to- of the ahar of Jehovah. With this reply Phinehas and
gether was the similarity of relation to God,  .their be-      the princes declare themselves satisfied ; for today
ing one in a commonfaith, a common love, and a com- have they learned that Jehovah is among them, from
mon obedience. All will be one if they love an3 obey whose hand *the children of Rueben,  Gad, and Manas-
the Lord.                                                      seh have saved Israel.
   .On the way home the returning two and a half                  Phinehas and the princes return from the land of
tribes reared an altar, "a great altar to see to," that is,    Gilead to Canaan, and bring back word which is ac-
an altar so high and broad tht it could be seen from a         ceptable, so that the people thank God, and all thought
great distance. They believed *that they were acting of going to war against the eastern tribes is dropped..
in goog faith, as also they af.terwards  with a good con-                                               G. M. 0.
science testify. Had not Moses once raised such an
altar to commemorate his victory over Amalek? The
children of Israel west of the Jordan heard of khis ;
and the whole congregation of the children of `Israel
gathered themselves together at Shiloh to overrun the
two and a half tribes with war. This zeal was  juati-               Joshua's Parting Discourses
fiable. The altar, though not built for sacrifice, might
easily be perverted to this use.  IAt all events, the  .two                   To The People
and a half  ,tiibes should not have undertaken the build-
ing of this altar without the  consen,t of Joshua. It             A long t,ime  has gone by since the Lord had given
seems that it was characteristic of these tribes to do         rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about.
the  u.nexpected  thing. The congregation now sent Joshua has waxed old and is stricken in age. If he
Phinehas the son of Eleazer the priest, and ten princes        is to address them before his passing, now is the
to their fellow tribes beyond the Jordan, to demand ,time. So he calls for all the representatives of the
an explanation of their doing.                                 people-for their elders and judges, heads  and officers
    The messengers come to the children of Reuben, --and exhorts them before his death.  .The place of
and .the rest, in the land of Gilead, and earnestly re-        convocation is Shechem.     There are two addresses,
monstrate with them. The spokesman of the delega- but they form one whole, and in this whole the climax
tion, who in all likelihood, was Phineas, assumes from is reached when Joshua declares: "And if it seem evil
the first that the altar was built in bad faith by the         unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom
two and a half tribes, and that the question is one of ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers
rebellion against Jehovah. He further asks  them if have served that were on the other side of the ,flood,
the iniquity of Peor wasnotenough, of which the peo- or the gods of the dmorites,  in whose land ye dwell:
ple were not yet purified, that they should call forth but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
against them  ,the wrath of Jehovah anew.          He ad- The whole people with one consent reply, that they will
monishes them, if the land of their possessions seemed not forsake Jehovah: "God forbid that we should for-
unclean, should the brother tribes cross over into the sake the Lord, to serve other gods." (vers.' 16-18).
land of Jehovah's possession, but not rebel1  against That the people answer as they do, could be expected;
Jehovah and apostate by building them an altar be- They would be guilty of the most brazen affrantery,
sides the altar of Jehovah. The speaker ends with an should they have answered otherwi.se  than they do.
impressive reference to the crime of Achan who per- For Joshua. has built up in favor of Jehovah an argu-
ished not as an individual man but likewise brought ment amazing in its power. And every word of what
God's anger on the entire congregation.                        he said is true. The first discourse presents to the
    The two and a half tribes defend themselves. With Israelites what Jehovah will do for them to bring
1 an appeal to God, whom Israel worshipped, these them into full possession of the land. Joshua begins
tribesdeclarethat  they have built the altar not to turn       by reminding them that he is become old, but that
away from Jehovah and establish a new worship,  but,           they have seen all that Jehovah has done to all these
rather from solicitude lest the posterity of those who nations before them, for he has fought for them. He
`dwelt in Canaan proper should sayto their posterity:          remarks that he had divided by lot for them the.re-
You have no part in Jehovah ! and so should restrain maining nations also, in .t he country lying between
their children from worshipping him. This,  h,ad led           the Jordan on the east and the great sea on the west.
.them to the thought of building an altar., not as an The Lord their God shall expel these nations from be-
altar of sacrifice, but as a witness to their common fore them, and drive them out of their sight, and. they


200                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   `BE'ARER  '

shall possess their land. And one man of them shall            reply as they do: "God forbid that we should forsake
chase a thousand, for t he Lord fighteth for them.             the Lord, to serve other gods. For <the Lord our God,
       However, that will Jehovah do only in the way of he it is that  .brought us up, and our fathers out of the
their being very strong to keep and do all that  in            land of Egypt, from the house-of bondage and which
written in the book of the law of Moses, of their lov-         did those great signs, in our sight, and preserved us
ing the Lard their God.        Should they forsake God,        in all ihe way wherein we went, and among all the
ehoul,d  they  fractinize with the nations that remain         people whom we passed: and the Lord drave out be-
among them, make mention of their gods and swarm               fore us all the peopIe.  . . ."
by them, the Lord, they may know for a certainty,                     So Joshua has his misgivings. He distrusts their
will not drive out any of these nations from  before           enthusiasm and wonders whether their is true sub-
them; but they shall be snares and traps unto them,            stance to their religious, ardour. Are they perhaps
and scourges in their sides, and thorns in their eyes being carried away merely by the eloquence and the
until they perish from off this good land. The Lord            power of his argument as unaware of their natural
will bring upon them  all  eviI things,  unti1 they be         and- strong inclination towards idolatry and `as un-
.destroyed.                                                    mindful of how holy, righteous and exacting God is?
    The second discourse calls to mind, in powerful                   Joshua has his doubts. So he says to them: "Ye
words, what Jehovah, since the time of the patriarchs,         cannot serve the Lord ; for He is an holy God ; `He i?
has already done for them. Joshua holds up before the a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions
people what the Lord has done for Abraham, Isaac,              nor your sins if ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange
and Jacob. The Lord took Abraham from the other                gods, then He wil1 turn and do you hurt, and consume
side of the Euphrates and led him throughout all the you, after that he hath done you good."
land of Canaan,  muItipli,ed  his seed and gave him                   "Ye cannot serve the Lord."
Isaac. To Isaac gave Jehovah Jacob and Esau, who                      A.hard speech, apparently ; a speech well suited to
received mount Seir for a possession. Jacob alone was discourage faith and thus .to drive men away from God
to have Canaan for himself and his posterity. Israel's         and the church.
dehverance  out of Egypt is next  fouched  upon, the                  But this speech is entirely proper; it is calculated
chief incidents of which are enumerated, namely, the to chill zeal only if it be false and to cause the relig-
lsending  of Mosos and Aaron, the infliction of the ious enthusiast to reflect. How Joshua's method in
plagues upon Egypt, the destruction of the Egyptians preaching the gospel differs from your modern  so-
in -the Red Sea. Next, mention is made of the victory called winner of &auks, who insists that it is the eas-
over the Amorites and the turning away of Balaam's             iest thing to accept Christ and to serve the Lord.
curse from Israel.      Then Joshua touches upon the                                                               cr.  M .   0 .
passage of the Jordan, capture of Jericho, and victory                                     (To be continued).
over the Canaanites. He concludes his historical re-
view by again emphas.izing  the fact, that it was God                "  I
who inspired the Canaanites, pdrticularly  Sihon and
Og, with terror, and who has given the Israelites a
rich and cultivated land. Thus Israel has, through                           Amazing grace! how sweet the sound
God's power without merit on their part, received a                            That ssved  a wretch like `me !
gIorious land, a land which he has not worked with the                       I once was lost, but now am found,
sweat of his brow. Let them therefore forsake idol-                            Was blind but now I see.
atry, so Joshua continues,, and cleave to Jehovah alone.
       The point to the argument of the first discourse                      `Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
is, that it will be to the people's greatest advantage                         And grace my fears relieved ;
to cleave to Jehovah and that forsaking the Lord in                          How precious did that grace appear,
favor of the gods of the heathen, they will certainly                          The hour I first believed!
~perish.  For Jehovah  is the living God among them.
The deities of the heathen are vanity,  .the work of                         Through many dangers,  toiIs and snares,
men's hands, idols with mouths that speak not and                               I have already come ;
eyes that see not.                                              -            `Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
    The point to the argument of the second discourse                           And grace till lead me home.
is  piainly,  that, should the people apostatize from Je-
hovah, they will be showing Him grossest ingratitude.                        Yes. when .this flesh and heart shall fail,
It can be expected, therefore, that the people, if only out                   And mortal life shall cease ;
of solicitude for their own future well-being and from                       I shall possess:. within the veil,                      ,.
`respect for Joshua their beloved and revered leader,                          A life of joy and peace,


                                                                                                                _'      1`
VOLUME  XX                                     FEBRUARY 15, 1944                                          NUMBER 10
                                                                                              .
                                                              men of this world ; of anger, and wrath, ,of  desolatim
          M E D I T A T I O N . a& itrouble; ~ in. the .midat ,of. which-.and  .und&. the
                                                              oppressing `power of which we pine away. I. Depths;in
                                                              which all is vanity and vexation of spirit, and  `.in
 -.                                                           which men labor and toil without ever beinrr  abIe to
               Remember, 63 Lord                              leave the track of the vicious circle in which t?ley  run:
                                                              vanity of  vani,ties.  . . .
                                                                 Depths in which all human power and  wisdom.are
                Remember the word unto thy  ,yey-yant,        exposed as utter impotence and foolishness.
             upon  which thou  has?  mused me to  hope.           Through those depths it pleases God 30 lead--His
                                       Psalm  119:$9.         children to.the iblessed  heights of eternal life and glory,
       From the depths!                                       of righteousness,  and the resurrec.tion  from. the dead,
       Always from the  depth.s  the cry of the  ;Ileople of of perfect fellowship in His heavenly tabernacle, in
God in  !this present world ascends unto  Jehovah   ,their    order th& His glory may appear, an:d they may taste
God.                                                          that the Lord is good I
       It must needs be en.                                      O,ut of those depths He redeems them,  when.there
       For such is the good pleasure of Him, Who work-        is no human redeemer ;. He Idelivers  (them,  when. there
eth all (things after the counsel of His own will, that       is no deliverer; He calls them and shows them the way
He should reveal  Himself as  the Highest  unto  Sthose out, when all escape is curt off.
that are in <the depths, as the Blessed to them that are         And while they are still in the depths, though they
in misery, as the Light to them that are in darkness, are already delivered;  whil,e they are still in sin, though
as the Li,t-ing  to the dead, as the mighty Lord to them they are already justified; while they are still in, the
that have no hope of de!iveranq  as the Justifier of the midst of  Ideath,  though they have already been raised
ungodly, as the One that quickens the dead, the Lifa from the dead; while they are still in this world, aud
and the Resurrection., the glorious, ever  bles:eJ   Gold  f the world hates them, and-in this  ,worid  they must still
       Hence, He leads many children to glory through suffer tribulation, though they are already in heave n ;
sin and death.                                                while Qhis strange and paradoxical situation exists?
       His may leads through the riepths!                     ithey cry to Him out of the  Idepths. For as children
       Real deplths ! Depths of darkness in which there of God in the body of this  de&h  they  a!ready  taste
is no ray of human hope, from which there is no way that the Lord is good,. and they long and hope ,a~.3
out, in which `ao possibWies  of escape present them- groan for Ithe perfect deliverance,, far the ligh;: of tl:e
selves, from which no human power can deliver.                perfeet  day, the beauty of which they  see  afar off,
Depths of sin and guilt, for the which there is no aad in which they shall see face to face. . . .
atonement among men, from the dominion and power                 And to those children, still in the depths, though
of which no human might can liberate ; and of death, in  principIe  deIivered  from .them,  Jehovah. gives  .Fis
irrevocable, implacable death,  4he shackles of which Word !
are unbreakable for ever. Depths of suffering and                His blessed, precious  Word  !
misery, of affliction and sorrow, from whiich ,there  is         Blessed, because in and through it  lthe pilgrims  .of
no escape, and for which there is no comfort; of prob- the night behold the glorions light.of final salvation:
lems and questionings for the which there is no SO~LI-           Precious, inidee,d,  because it is all they have,.-y&rile
Lion, .and tha& never receive an answer from the wise?        they are still in the .depths. There is !lothiqg  else? .in

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

all the world ito which they can cling. Everything else designated by different names, such as law, judgments,
is against :them, contradicts ,them,  opposes them, would statutes, precepts, name of Jehovah, or simply  Word of
destroy their faith  an,d hope. That Word is the sole God. But always it is essentially promise, gospel, the
ray of light in the darkness of the depths!                   Word of God concerning His Son, our Lord Jesus
   God's Word unto His servants!                              Christ.    It is the promise of final and complete de-
   The  Word upon which He causes them to hope  !             liverance from all sin and death, from all the oppres-
       And hoping upon that Word, they cry out of tile sion of the enemy, and from the fury of the forces of
depths :                                                      darkness; the promise of perfect and universal justifi-
   Remember, 0 Lord, that Word!                               cation and victory, and of eternal life and glory in
    Come, Lord Jesus !                                        God's heavenly tabernacle, through the cross and the
                        -            -                        resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord 1
   Remember the word !                                           The Word unto *thy servant!
   That this is the meaning of the Word of God in this           It is the Word  *of promise of which God is the
itext from the one hundred  and nineteenth psalm, is          Author and Finisher,  rthat is rooted in Him, grounded
very plain from the context.                                  on Him, and that is as sure as the oath of Him that
   The Psalmist is in &he depths, representing all the carmot  lie !
children of God that lie in the midst of death "outside          It is the Word God spoke to His children in the
of Christ."                                                   depths, to His servants in ,the night of their pilgrim-
   Does he not, in this particular section  of the psalm, age, from the very b,eginning of the world, which He
speak of his comfort in his affliction, vs. 50; does he       declare3 again and again, enlarging upon it, opening
not complain that the proud have had him greatly in           it up to exhibit always greater riches, through patri-
derision, vs. 51;  and that horror hath taken hold upon archs and prophets,  ,through  types and shadows  ; which
him, because of the wicked that forsake the law of athe       He fulfilled and fully declared through Jesus Christ,
Lord, vs. 53 ; is he not referring to his present position    His Son in our flesh, crucified and slain as the Lamb
in the world as the house  .of his pilgrimage,  an,d does without blemish, raised, from the (dead on the thirl
he not speak of remembering the name of Jehovah  ia day, and exalted at the right hand of the Majesty in
the night? vss. 54, 55.                                       4he heavens; the Word  .that was preached by the
   0, indeed, he is in the depths!                            apostles and evangelists, and that is still preached
   And in those depths he haid heard and does hear through the Holy Scriptures by the Church of Jesus
the Word of God ! Of that Word he speaks in every Christ in the world until He come ! . . . .
single verse of the section. It is the Word on which             The Word of promise u&o God's servants in the
he hopes, the Word that has quickened him and that depths !
is his comfort; it is the law of Jehovah, from which he          And they hear it!
does not decline, or it is the "judgments" of the Lord,          0, indeed, they hear the promise as the Word of
through the remembrance of which he comforted him- God to them!
self. That Word, now conceived as the "statutes" of              Thus the psalmist speaks of it: the word unto thp
his God, has been the theme of his song in the house          servcwt.   There is a Word of God for him, and he
of his pilgrimage, and as he kept the precepts of the knows it. The Word of promise is addressed to him
Lord, he found consolation and strength in the remem-         personally, and he hears it. There is no doubt in his
brance of His name.             -             j               sou1 that the Most High has spoken t.o him.
   In the  depths he hears the Word of God !                     But how?
   And so he cries, representing all the children of             How di,d the Word of God address the psalmist, and
God of all ages: "Remember the word unto thy ser- how  did he hear it? Does he, perhaps, have reference
vant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope  1"              to a very special and particular  .revelstion,  through
   Evidently, the Word of God is here conceived as a          which Jehovah delivered a personal promise of sal-
word of promise.       For it is as such that  it is the vation to him? This would seem very improbable, for
ground of his hope, and that he desires the Lord to           always he speaks of the Word of God in general terms,
remember His word. And a promise, the promise is as the law, the precepts, the judgments and statutes
the Word of God unto  H,is servants in the world of Jehovah. Lt is no doubt to that same Word of God.
(throughout. For it is not to any particular promise .as it had come to the heirs of the promise in the world
or part of the Word of God that the  psabnist  refers in from the beginning, and as it had been preserved in
these words. It is  the  Word of  God to His servant. the Old Testament Scriptures, that the poet refers also
of which he is speaking. That Word to him is one and i.n this prayer.
always the `same. It may be manifold in riches. It               Yet, he heard it as addressed to him, and believed!
may have many aspects. It may- come to God's ser-                For, first of all, this `Word of God, as to its con-
vants in many forms, And accordingly, it may be :tents was not a vague and general offer to all men,


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                           203
- . -
addressed to no one in particuiar,  but very definitely waiting in vain, and that we forsake #the good things
a promise  ~to the heirs of salvation, to those that seek of life and endure suffering and reproach as the most
and find, that pray and receive, to the hungry and miserable of men, but still we wait. We may inot be
Ithirsty after righteousness that shall be filled, to the able to see that for which we hope, for the object be-
poor in spirit, whose is the kingdom of heaven, and                longs to those things which eye hath not seen, and ear
to the mourning that shall be comforted, to the weary hath not  heand, but still we wait. And waiting we
and heavy laden that shall be given rest, to the called long. And counting .a11 other things but dross, we set
that believe, to the servants of Jehovah that cry unto our hearts on the thing hoped for. . . .
Him from the depths. . . .                                    '        !A11 ithrough  the Word of God unto us!
    Thy Word unfo Thy stwva~t!                                         For that Word reveals to us a, ghmpse  of the glory
    Secondly, that very Word, addressed to him through of  that.%or which we hope, but that glimpse is sufficient
the Scriptures as he knew them at that time, had been to cause+&  `to forsake a11 things, that we may attain to
applied to his own heant,  was addressed to him by the the object of our hope.  L
Spirit. It had calIed him out of `darkness into God's                  And thatWord  assures us that our hope shall be
marvellous light, had :t.ransformed.  him from being Y.            realized, and that, ,too, .unto us?
servant of sin into a servant of Jehovah, so that he                   Ik is the group~,,,t~e,.sole.grouad  of our hope !
found his place among the company of those to whom                     And that. .we fur our hope u~xr that Word, is the
ithe Word of the Lord was addressed. And there, work of God's marvellous  grace!
among the saints that were called, he heard the Word                   By nature we cannot, wse will not, we dare not hope
of promise as the Wond of his God addressed to him                 on the Word of God: it is to us a word of condemna-
personally: the Word unto thy servant!                             tion !
    And, .thirdly,  he walked in the way of God's pre-                 But by the reveIation of Jesus Christ our Lord, His
cepts, and did not dechne from lthe stat.utes  of his God.         cross and resurrection, that Word of God is become a
    God's servant he was indeed !                                  word of salvation !                        .
    And so he heard, and so we do still hear the Word                  And by the  won.der of grace in our hearts we hear
of God as His promise of salvation. to us !                        that Word, are assured that it is addressed to us, trust
   Through the Scriptures, by the Spirit, in the com- in it, and wait for its realization!
pany of the saints, and walking in the way in which                    The word upon which thou  ha& caused me to hope !
His servants walk, we hear His Word, and <believe.                     Blessed word !
    And believing we hope!
   Wonderful Word !-                                          Remember, 0 Lord!
    Word of hope !                                                     For the sake of the glory of Thine own name, re-
    The word "upon which thou  hast caused me to member Thine own word, upon which Thou Thyself
hope !"                                                            hast caused me to hope !
    The servant of the Lord in this world, as yet in the               But does He ever forget?
depths, hopes  ; and that, too, he ascribes to  the work               God forbid !
and grace of God : thou ha& caused me to hope !                        He is the eternal One ! And as the eternal God
    And, therefore, he has a sure ground for his prayer He is the Immutable! He never changes. For He
that the Lord may remember that word. He may not !does not live in ,time, but inhabits eternity. His being
forget it! For this hope, which is grounded on His and nature are ever the same. And so is His memory.
own Word, and which is wrought in the heart of His He does not remember as we do. With us to remember
servant in the world by Hi,mseIf,  so that it is a11 His means that we do not completely forget, that somc-
own work, may not be put to shame !                                where in our subconscious mind we store away that
    He hopes.                                                      which we once experienced, learned, spoke, or per-
   The original word emphasizes the idea of waiting formed, and that on occasion we are able to recall it
for something. To hope is to wait. And this implies                into our consciousness. With God, however, to re-
expectation. We wait for something, because we ex- member means to be constantly mindful of its object.
pect iIt. We know that the object for which we wait,                   He is ever mindful of His Word!               ~"
in this case the final salvation and victory in glory, is              Nor does His servant doubt this.                    . :w.^
                                                                                                                           .
coming, and that it is for us, that we shall participate               But knowing that God  aIways remembers His
in its blessedness when it comes. And so, we wait, Word, and will surely Eulfill  it, He prays for the revela-
wilth. patience. The vigil may sefm long, but we wait. tion of this faithful remembrance- of the Most High in
There may be many things all about us in the world the reahzation  of the promise! . -
that would induce us to cease from waiting any longer,                 Remember constantly and finally, 0 Lord!
but still we wait. Scoffers may mock that we  are                      Gome, Lord Jesus!                           1-r. -Ix


204                                                                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             .--- -- _,

                             The Standard Bearer
       Semi-Monthly,  except   Monthly  in July  rend  August                                                                                            EDITORIALS
                                                      Published by
                  The Reformed Free Publishing  Aosociatien
                                       1101  Haren  Street,  S. E.                                                                              And Nuw: "A Narrow Bridge"
                                 EDITOR - Rev. .H. Hoeksema
  Contributing  editors-Revs. J.  Blankospoor,  A. Cammenga,                                                                                    Recently, as our readers will recall, the editor of
   P. De Boer, J. D. de Jong, H. De Wolf, L.  Doczems,
  M. Grittcrs,  C. Hanko, B. Kok, G. Lubbers, G. M. Ophoff,                                                                                  The Banner wrote about a hymn and a latch. I:I  th!r
  A.  Petter, M.  Schipper,  J.  Vanden   Breggen, H. Veldman,                                                                               issue of Jan. 14 he a3evotes.  an editorial to "a narron-
  R. Veldmnn, L. Vermeer, P. Vis, G. Vos, IMr. S. De Vries.                                                                                  bridge."
  Communications relative to contents should be addressed                                                                                       That narrow bridge is the truth. "He who would
  to REV. H. HOEKSEMA, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand                                                                                       know the  ltruth must walk on this narrow bridge. On
  Rapids, Michigan.                                                                                                                          either side is a deep abyss from which there is no re-
                                                                                                                                             turn."
  Communications relative to subscription should be ad-
  dressed  to MR.  R.  SCHAAFSMA,   1101  Hazen  St., S.  E.,~                                                                                  Although the editor i,nforms  us that this figure of
  Grand Rapids,  Mich.  All Announcements and Obituaries                                                                                     speech is derived from an  old.lArab story, the phrase-
  must be sent to the above address and till not be placed                                                                                   ology reminds one rather strongly of Barth  an3 his
  uniess  the reguiar  fee of $1.08 accompanies the notice.                                                                                  dialectic performances.      We say this without even
                                     Subscription $2.50 per year                                                                             remotely intending to accuse the editor of  The  &wma
                                                                                                                                             of any form of Barthianism. Only the similarity is
                                                                                                                                             striking. Barth prefers to ,think dialectically. In fact,
                                                                                                                                             it is Ithe only way one can think about God. And he
                                                                                                                                             loves to illustrate this dialectic method by referring to
                                                                                                                                             the figure of a man walking on a knife-edge mountain
                                                                                                                                             ridge, on which he must continue to walk,  and cannot
                                                                                                                                             stand still, lest he fall into the abyss on the right 01
                                                     CONTWTS                                                                                 on the left. And not only is there a striking similarity
                                                                                                                                             in the figures employed by the editor of Tfie Banner
MEDITATIE                                                                                                                        Page        and Karl Barth, but also the actual method of ithinking
  REMEMBER, 0 LORD *. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . , . . . . . . . , .  ., . , . . . . . . . . . . . . .
                                                                                                                                    202      about God recommended by the former is similar t.o
       Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                      that of the latter. Barth thinks dialectically. He al-
EDITORIALS  -                                                                                                                                ways moves on between the Yea  an3 the Nay, and re-
  AND NOW: "A NARROW BRIDGE" ~ . . . . . . . . . ~ . . . . . . . . . . . * ..,........  204 members that the truth lies beyond b&h in Qd, the
       Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                      only Yea and Amen. We can state the trtith only in
                                                                                                                                             :t,he form of question and answer, and always in such a
THE TRIPLE KNOWLEDGE                                                                                                                         way that the answer  coztains a question; or in the
  EXPOSITION OF THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM . . . ...207                                                                                        form of a dialogue, with the two sides opposing each
       Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                                                      other, a conflict.    Somewhat similar to this is the
  HET GEBED EENS BEJAARDEN f . . . . . ..*......*...................... 210                                                                  method the editor of  The  Bnmer   recommends to us in
           Rev. G. Vos.                                                                                                                      thinking about the matter of salvation. He speaks in
  ADIAPHORA                                                                                                                                  the form of a conflict. The matter of salvation is Yea
                                     * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*................  * I.......... * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 and Nay, and, therefore, Bt is neither sbsolutely  Yen,
           Rev. L. Vermeer.                                                                                                                  nor absolutely Nay.  And the editor would have us
  THE PROBLEMS OF A CHRISTIAN SOLDIER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214                                                                        walk on the "narrow bridge" of these dialectics in
           Rev. J. Blankespoor.                                                                                                              order to abide in the truth. On the one hand, there
  WHY OUR DELAY ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  21F are those  ithat insist on saying only Nay, and they fal!
           Rev.  H.  Veldman.                                                                                                                into the abyss on the one side of the bridge; on the
  THE SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THE BOOK  OF PROVERBS .  ...21&                                                                                      other hand, some would say only Yea, with the  resuit
           Rev. C. Hanko.                                                                                                                    that they plunge into the abyss on the other side. We
                                                                                                                                             must be careful, however, to remaiil on the bridge, and
  J#S,HUA'S PARTING WITH THE PEOPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220                                                          balancing ourselves by constantly saying Yea and Nay,
  THE NATIONS RIZXAINING  TO SERVE ISRAEL . . . . . ...222                                                                                   keep ourselves from dashing headlong  i&o the abyss,
           Rev.   G. M.  Ophoff.                                                                                                             "from which there is no return."


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                  `LzO8

    In  bthe article referred to above the editor first        sinners to do what they cannot, what He alone can do,
says  Yea.    And  we like to hear him say that, even          He does plead with them to repent: and believe, imply-
from  .the depth of the abyss into which we have plunged       ing that they can do the latter. And that this is, in-
according to him. For when he says that, he is soundly deed, his meaning, is sufficiently evid&t from hia quot-
`Reformed, leaves the latch on the outside, and con-           ation of II Pet. 3 :9 in this connection: "not wishing
demns the Arminians  :that are singing their hymns in that any should perish, but that all should come to rig-'
the abyss opposite from  vs. Just listen to, this:             pentance."       And does the editor here purposely quote
   "Our contention is that the latch is on the outside. from the Revised Version, and prefer  the weaker trans-
No person who is Reformed in his creed and holds :tha!         Man "wishing" to the better and stronger "willing?"
the gospel of `sovereign grace' believes otherwise. OU;        No doubt, the Revised Version had the Arminian inter-
doctrinal standards stress that man is by nature an pretation of this passage in mind when they so  trana-
enemy of God, not subject to ,the law of God neither lated it, for the original (boulomenos) does not usually
able to be (Rom. 8  5') ; that he is unwilling  40 believe mean "wishing" but "willing deliberately."
and be saved unless Christ first makes him willing by             And does not the author of The Banner know? that
sending the Holy Spirit into his `heart to regenerate Reformed men never  interpt.%t that passage in this
him; in other words that Christ must open lthe door Arminian sense?
to the aincer's heart, take possession of it, and awaken          I might offer him my o\vn exegesis of this passage,
a true saving faith. He who ,puts the sinner's act gf but, lest he refuse to  listen  to a voice out of the abyss
faith before God's act of  ,regeneration  - a doctrine         Jpto which he beholds us as hopelessly precipitated,'
clearly contradicted by what  1y-e read of in Acts about T will quote from  ,the very exponent  of "common grace"
Lydia, namely, that God opened her heart in order 7:.ho,  in his earlier ,days -wrote about this passage as
that she might give heed to the message of Paul -- ir;llows. (I translate) :
makes the  wor'k of sinner rather ,than of God  pl*imar:+r        "And to demonstrate this, I will, in regard to II
in salvation. Such a one can not consistently say that         Pet.  3:9, leave it to the judgment of my opponents
we love God because he first loved us ; that we sought         themselves, whether they will accept the inner con-
him because he first sought us."                               tradiction one must face if one makes This Scriptural
   And we, from the depbh of our abyss, when we hear           passage say what they put into it.
him ,thus pronounce his Yea, shout our Amen of agree-             "For about the context and  ithe way of  al-gumentn-
ment; and from the other side of the bridge, in the            tion in II Pet. 8  :9 there can be no difference of opinion.
Arminian abyss, we hear loud exclamations of protest              "In this passage, all admit this, the only subject  is
about this "deluded minister" on  t.he bridge,  !that goes the long tarrying of the return of the Lord upon the
"hayv:ire"  about  election.                                   clouds.
   But, alas! no sooner did we express our agreement,             "The church of those ,clays had long expected this
but we hear acclamations of great joy from the  :depth         return. . . .
of the Arminian abyss, for now they hear ;:he "walker-            "And when they were disappointed in ,this expecta-
on-the-bridge" speak his Nay! For hear him: "Now', tion, and one year after  another   passed  by, without
all this is but one side of the gospel. There is another heaven being opened and the Lord descending,  unstable
side which the Scriptures `stress not less strongly;           souls in the church began to murmur and to ask,
namely, that the offer of salva;,`ion  comes to all who        whether what the apostles had told them was the truth,
hear the gospel, to ,the reprobate as well as to the elec5.    and whether they had not published as a promise of
We must hold to both sides if we would preserve OUL            Jesus' return what {T-as  after all only the product br^
balance on the narrow bridge of truth." And all this their own imagination, and, therefore,  false  pophecy.
.mould not be so serious, if the. editor merely meant             "Now, if in this  connection  and argumentation  i
that the gospel is preached pro&scuously to all, and           insert the conception : "Ye yourselves, and not God,
that the "call to faith and repenltance  comes to every are (the cause of this tarrying about which ye murmur.
person who hears the message of salvation," if the             For why do ye not hasten your repentance? For  this
editor would only explain that according to the good-          ye surely do know, that first the last of the elect mxt
pleasure of God this preaching is a savor of death             come to repentance, before  th& day can  come,--then
u&o death to the reprobate, as well as a savor of lift:        the whole argument runs perfectly smoothly, the chain
unto life for the elect. But this he does not mean, of thought is unbroken, and everyone understands why
neither believe, still less teach. On the contrary, what and for what purpose the apostle employs exactly these
he now means is the very opposite of what he first             terms.                                             ,
taught, viz., that God seriously wills the salvation              "But note now, how all this is lost, and the sense
of all men, and well-meaningly offers it to them.              becomes completely unintelligible, if I, for other rea-
which is in full accord with what he wrote in a pre- sons, try to carry  Ithe.idea  of common grace- into this
vious article, that although Christ does not plead with        passage.                                                .        I

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

   "Then I must come  *to the following  unreasonable                    in the above quotation opposes: the Arminians.
argumentation: `Jesus cannot come as yet, for the will                      The editor makes his usual appeal to "mystery."
of God must be fulfilled, and according to this  wlil And about  Ithis I hope to make a few closing remarks
all men must first come  it0 repentance  !'                              the next time, the Lord willing.
`.,  .33ut. . . .if  .Jesus cannot  ret.urn  beforc  all  omen,             But in closing this time, I would like to point to a
have come to repentance, then He .wilE never come!                       patent fact.
"For,,  in the first place, thousands upon  thousacria                      The editqr of The Banner FxhoFts  us to stay on thp
have already died without repentance, for whom ,t-his                    narrow bridge, and in his editorial he supposedly gives
pdstponement  of Jesus' return is of no avail.                           us a demonstration how to accomplish this.
 "Secondly, there are millions upon millions  thaS                          Instead, however, he tries to show how a man may
will die to-morrow, or the day after, or next year, with- perform the wonderful stunt of jumping off the  bridg?
out ever having heard of Jesus, for whom :this post-                     (as he presents it) on  b&h sides, frantically and
ponement neither is any profit.                                          crazily hopping from one side to the other, and still
        "And finally, if God without fixing a definite num- stay on it.
ber, constantly causes new men to be born, and if the                       I like to see a man perform that  stunt on au a&al
return of *Jesus must wait until also Ithese  have come bridge.
ito repentance, the return of Jesus may be postponed                        But neither can it be done on the "narrow bridge"
indefinitely. And this is the more serious in view of                    of truth !
the fact  Ithat the population of the world increases                                                                  11. H.
every day, and it becomes more probable all the  time
that not all m.en come to repentance.
        "Hence, this does not jibe. This does not harmon-
ize.       That is  $he most unreasonable  argumentation?
conceivable  ; it has neither sense nor solution.
        "No, if I want to demonstrate why the Lord God,                                      Contributions
humanly speaking, fulfills the promise of Jesus' return
somewhat later than we had imagined, then this c.an                         Dear editor:
become intelligible only. if I start to figure from  a
definite starting point.                                                    I wish to show you where I feel your iriterpretation
        "For if the  ,number  of men-that  must be born is of Matt. 19:9  is hardly in harmony with  Ithat which
determined; and if God knows for whom out of all                         the Lord seems to imply.
men a place must he prepared in heaven,-then, in-                            For the Lord states that there is an exception to
deed, I can understand perfectly well, that Jesus' can- prohibition to leave one's wife, and :to marry another.
not return until they all have been brought in; and                      The exception is fornication.
and then the process of thought is perfectly pure, clear                    The text, therefore, it seems to me, could be read
and lucid, if  T say: `God tarries, for there still are this way: "Whosoever shall put away his wife for
some unconverted of those that are elect,  aed God                       fornication, and marry another, does not commit
surely will nat that any, be.;+&ey  ever so few, shall be                adulltery."     Now, your illustration does not include
missing from the number of His elect, .but that they this exception as applied to the wife, whose husband
all shall have come to  repen;tance  before Jesus ap- has left her, and intends to remain permanently  in this
pears. . . .                                      I                      state of  adultery.  Therefore, the implication of the
        "There is, therefore, nothing left of this objection, Lord's  iteaching  in Matt. 19  :9 methinks would apply
and the meaning of  `II  Pet.  3:9 can be nothing else                   the exception of fornication to the wife as well as
than this: `Jesus cannot return until !he  number  of to the husband, and she would be free to marry again.
the eIect is complete,. and while there are at present                                         A reader of the Standard Bearer,
still many elect t.hat have ~oct. come. t6 repentance, Hr,                                                Anthony Langerak.
postpones His coming  in'.  longsufferiag,  not willing
that through His .early  coming  sotie'  should perish,                   i: Geachte Redakteur :
b.ut willing that all shall first be converted'." Uit  Hst                   Get is niet, omdat ik het met uwe verklaring niet
Woord  Iv, pp.  33-86.   `:                ,":.:  .,,.;  J  ,)  ,i':.    eens  ben, maar degenen, ldie het er niet mee eens zijn,
        `Although we might, perhaps,  follo;jv another method komen met het  volgende  argument.
of exegesis in some respects, the point Dr.  Ktiyper                         Ds. Hoeksema moet eerslt duidelijk maken, .dat onze
here.makes  is perfectly clear: AU in II Pet. 3 :9 does verklaring niet opgaat, voordat wij de zijne  aan-
not denote all men head.for  head,  but:uZZ the elect..                  nemen. Hun verklaring is dan als volgt : De man ver-
        ,'  And  the,  .&erp&ation   the  editar..o.f.   The  Ba.nner    laat zijne vrouw anders dan om hoererij,  ad.w.z.,  de
offers is the explanation of those whom Dr. .Kuyper                      man en vrouw hebben  geen..  van beide hoererij  be-


                                             T H E S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           207

dreven.      Nu gaat die man  later  we1 weer  trouwen,               Mediator of God and men. This second main division
maar die vrouw, waar hij weer mee trouwt, was niet                    covers articles two to seven inclusive. And although
de oorzaak van het verlaten van zijne vrouw.                          it is very brief, it is remarkable for its fulness of ex-
   Nog eene vraag in verband  hiermee.                                pression, mentioning as it does all the chief points of
   Mogen wij  I Cor. 7  :10, 11 verklaren als  voi&  :                doctrine concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. It speaks
Paulus heeEt het hier over menschen, die hoererij be-                 of His person and work, of His divine and of His
dreven, en gebiedt hen om ongetrouwd  te blijven. Want human nature, of His conception by the Holy Ghost
als hij allerlei oorzaak bedoelde, behoefde hij niet tc               a&d of His virgin birth, of His humiliation, His suffer-
schrijven : ge  mod  ongetrouw,d  blijven, maar  een-                 ing, crucifixion, death, burial and descension into hell,
voudig : ge moogt niet scheiden ; en als ge het tech                  and of His exaltation, resurrection, ascension, sitting
doet, en ge u niet bekeert, wordIt ge van de kerk afge-               at  :the right hand of God, and return to judgment;
sneden.                                                               and it mentions His names: Jesus, Christ, Lord, Son
                                     U `dankend,                      of ,God. In general, we may say that this part of the
                                             B. J. Meelker.           Ap&oliczLm  speaks of our Lord's names, His natures,
   Reply next time, the Lord willing. Ed.                             and His states, while under the name Christ  4he
                                                                      Heidelberg Catechism naturally explains the offices of
                                                                      tie Mediator. Three Lord's Days are devoted to a
                                -                                     discussion of the names of our Lord, as contained in
                                                                      the second article of  lthe Credo; three Lord's Days
                                                                      cover the state of humiliation as described in articles
                                                                      three and four; and, finally, three Lord's Days discuss
   The Triple Knowledge the state of exaltation of the Saviour, mentioned in
                                                                      articles five to seven of the Apostles' Creed. In  thha
                                                                      present Lord's Day, the eleventh, of the Catechism  :`L
                                                                      Ibeginning  is made with the explanation of the second
 An Exposition Of The Heidelberg article : "And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son,
                                                                      our Lord."
                        Catechism  -                                     "Why is the Son of God called Jesus, that  is
                          PART TWO                                    Savior?" With this question the Catechism introduces
                                                                      its explanation of the names of Christ. The question,
                   OF MAN'S REDEMPTION                                and that, too, exactly in this form, is significant, and
                                                                      may well demand a moment of our attention. Especial-
                        Lord's Day XI.                                ly in modern times it is  impor-tant to put the question
               Q. 29. Why is the Son of Gud called Jesus, that        concerning the Saviour precisely thus, and before any
             is a Saviour ?                                           other question. One may also ask: "Why is Jesus
               A. Because he saveth us, and delivereth us from        called the Son of God?" And in the thirteenth Lord's
             our sins; and likewise, because we ought not to seek,    Day we may find the answer to this question. But be-
             neither can find salvation in any other.
               &. 30. Do such then believe in Jesus the only          fore we can properly discuss why Jesus, the historical
             Saviour, who seek their salvation and welfare of         Jesus of Nazareth, the man Jesus, is called the Son of
             saints, of themselves, or anywhere eIse ?                God, u-e must ask this: "Why is the Son of God called
               A. They do not; for though they boast of him in        Jesus, that is Saviour?" To ask this question first,
             words, yet in deeds they deny Jesus the only de-         and to put i(t in these words, is the method of faith.
           liverer and Saviour; for one of these two things
             must be true, that either Jesus is not a complete        Philosophy, and modern theology, would strenuous!y
             Saviour; or that they, who by a true faith receive       object to this method. They would refuse to begin
             this Saviour, must find ail things in him necessary      with this question. They  tiould object that it is guilty
             to their salvation.                                      of begging the question. They would have no objec-
                               Chapter 1.                             tion to begin with the problem of Jesus' being called
                                                                      the Son of God. For then, thus they would argue,
                       The Only Name.                                 we $ake our startingpoint in a historical fact. Jesus
   In this eleventh Lord's Day the Heidelberg Gate- was a historical person, as we may learn from the
chism begins the discussion of the second article of gospe1  narratives. Aad it is certain, too, that he was
the Apostolicurn,  and thereby introduces the discussion called the Son of God. Now, we must first of all in-
of the second main part of that Confession of fa$th,                  vestigate the meaning of this  faot not that He is, but
the part containing the profession of what the Church that He was called the Son'of God, and determine just,
of old believed concerning "God the Son", but not now                 in how far this claim is true, and what  is the exact
as *e second Person of the Holy Trinilty,  but as the meaning of this claim. And having ;thus investigated

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

the meaning.of;.  and. given definite content to the name      furnish us with the necessary material to construe n
Son of Gad, we may, perhaps, also ask why this Son             biography of our Lord, nor <do they offer us a sketch
of God is. called Jesus. But to ask first of all "Why is of His character. In the Bible we have four gospel
the Son of God called Jesus?" is begging the main              narratives, and they together record the gospel of
question and. proceeds from the supposition that He            Jesus Christ, but in all of them together we have no
really is the  Son-of  God, and that, too, even before He "life of Jesus," and as far as they are concerned our
is Jesus. However, the Catechism is not proposing :t           Lord may have had no "character" at all. If YOU read
philosophical question,. but discussing  t.he  0edo  of these gospel narratives with a view to finding out
the Church. It.does  not employ  :the language, neither .what sort of man Jesus of Nazareth was in regard to
follow  th.e  metho:d  of rationalism, but speaks from His physical stature and psychological inclinations,
faith, And for the faith of the Church it is an  iI?-          whether He was tall and powerful or weak and of j):
dubitable truth ,that Jesus is the true, essential, on&-       frail frame, whether he had blue eyes or brown, was
be.gotten.Son of God. He is this first. He is not first strikingly beautiful or common in appearance, whether
Jesus, a man who somehow was called Son of, God. On he was of a phlegmatic or sanguineous tempetiament,
(the, contrary, He is first Son of God. :ln fact, unless       whether He  vgas an accomplished student and pro-
He is first Son of God, the  e'ernal God begotten of the found thinker, or a man of average mentality ; or evei1
Father, we are in  no wise interested  iAl His name with the end in view to discover what He accomplished
Jesus. Son of God He is in et,ernity;  the name Jesus to make this  worId better, and to advance civilization,
brings Him to us in time, but still as Son of God.             -you will not only search in vain, and find the gospel
The question, therefore, is not at all how it came narra,tives  very inadequate, but you will also be deeply
about that Jesus was called the Son of God, but is very disappointed at every step of your investigation. What
really this : "Why is the Son of God called Jesus ?"           they narrate about His birth is so strange, tha', you
  _ Besides, .`w.e must. understand. that the Catechism. can deduce nothing from His *c'escent  wi::h  a view to
in asking this  questionsdot-s  .not `express -a certain       His character. Of the first thirty years of His life
curiosity.as:to  the reason w.hy `men c&l'led this Son of ,they tell you next to nothing. What influence His
God Jesus,  for then the q,uestio:l, would have no signifi-    early training had upon His life and career seems to
cance whatever. We are dealing here with the con- be of no concern  ;to these gospel writers. His birth,
tents of the Christian faith, with one of those matters three years of activity and teaching, His death  an?  '
that are "necessary for a Christian to believe." The           His resurrection,-this appears to be all that matters.
Heidelberger would.  instruct us in the knowledge of And any attempt  :to construe a "life of Jesus" from
the holy gospel, of the Meditator that can and does these gospel narratives, or to determine His character,
save us from our sin and deliver us from all our misery. must needs fail. He does not appear as a mere man
That is the reason why this question is asked. It is among men, but as the Son of man. THis does not
based on the assumption that the  at,swer to this mean that He was no specific individual, and  +hat He
question will inform  us about the Saviour, that His had a sort of "general human nature," but it ,does mean
name answers the question Who He is.               Modern that the Scriptures are not interested in His individual
theology  ,would  probably  smiIe somewhat sympa- life and character, but give us Ithe revelattin  of Jesus
thetically at, this, obsolete method of attempting to          Cbist, the Son of God in the flesh, the God of  OUY
elicik knowledge about  th.e Christ from a study of salvation.  llnd if this is understood, it will also be
His name. It would consider this method altogether plain that we are not concerned with what  rrLen called
inadequate.      How can, you find out anything about Him, but with what God revealed to us of Him. G o d
a ma'n by asking for his name? And what good does              called Him Jesus. And if God called Him Jesus, there
it do to  .make  a study of the- names of Christ?  W:e         is significance in the name, and there is real se;lse in
must, gather all the facts we can about this Jesus of the question : "Why is the Son of Gpd called Jesus,
Nazareth, compare them and study them critically, that is  Saviour?"
IeaTn Ito know, what He did, what was His tea:hing,               Great significance is attached  cto a name in Scrip-
how,,.He reacted toward His contemporaries, and then ture. In fact, the name of anylihing  is its real essence,
write His biography, a "Life of Jesus," especially also its sense, its meaning, the denotation of that which i,t
in ol-der that we may bring out His "character." Then          is in itself and with relation to everything else. With
we have something. The result of such a thorough               us this is different. A name of a person or !thing is
study will be the knowledge of a real Christ, Whose hardly more than a sign by which we distinguish one
Iteachings  may be -to our advantage, and Whose ex- person or thing from others. It is one of the effects
ample may be followed! But to study His names is               of sin that we no longer discern the real nature and
vain and fruitless;                                            meaning of things, and are no longer able to express
 ' .s%owwer,  .faith is not at all interested i-n. a "Life the true sense of anything in a name. We see some
bf .Je.sus."    And..  what is more, the Scriptures do not external phenomena, and from these we deduce some


    -  c       a .  -.  ...          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   ..  a                                    209

 characteristics of the objects to which these phenomena in which it speaks of the Name of God. God's Name
belong. We `discern the difference between one object is Himself as He is revealed to us. By His name He
and another, between a bird and a tree, a lake and a came down to us, is near us, surrounds us on all sides.
 river, between one star and another, between a sheep          His name is in all the works of His hands as the
and a lion, an animal and a man. But we do not in- psalmist sings in Ps.  8:1-9.  And that His name is
 tuitively discern the essence and nature of anything, near, His wondrous works declare. Ps. 75 : 1. To fear
 even ,though we bring it within the range of our tele-        His name is to fear Him, it.0 glorify His name is to
scope, or minutely examine and analyze it under lthe           glorify Him, to trust in His name is to trust in Him,
microscope.        And so, our names at the very most to believe on His name is to believe on Him. The
 express some external characteristics of the object Name of God is revealed. Besides, that the Scriptures
 named. But originally this was different.  Adam*in            use "name" in its  origina  sense, may also be gathered
the state of rectitude intuitively looked in the essence from [the fact that names are sometimes changed in-
of things, saw their real meaning, and was able to ex- tentionally so as to have proper meaning. Abram' is
 press this sense of all things in their proper names.         changed to Abraham,  Sarai to Sarah, Oshea to  Je-
This is very evident from the fact that God brought the hoshua. The name denotes the essence. And it is .on
animals to him, ito see how he would name them, "and ,the ground of this truth that the Catechism asks the
 whatsoever Adam  *called every living creature, that question concerning the Christ: "Why is the Son of
 was the name thereof." And the real ScripturaI  mean- God called Jesus, that is Saviour?"
 ing of a name is exactly that it is the denotation of the        The meaning of this question, therefore, is, rthat
true nature of the thing named.                                God called His Son Jesus, and that because God called
    The underlying reason for this is evident. For Him thus, Jesus is His name. We may, and by grace
 all things were called mto existence by lthe Word of          do also call Him Jesus, when by the intuitive know-
 God. God, Who calls the things that are not as if they ledge of faith we discern Him in His real significance.
 were, spoke creatively, and by that creative Word of And when we do so that Name becomes to us the only
 God all things received being. And when God speaks,           name given under heaven whereby we may be and are
 even when He speaks creatively, He always speaks con- saved. Then `we believe in that Name, trust on that
 cerning Himself, so Ithat His Word is His self-revela- Name, find our only comfort in life and in death in
 tion. It follows that the real essence of any creature that Name, have all our salvation in that Name, love,
 is that Word of <God ,by which it was called into being, worship, and adore it. But all this is only true and
 azd through which it continues to exist. Not its out- has sense only if it be true that God called His name
 ward form, not its m-.terial  substance, not its chemical     Jesus. If God did not call His only begotten Son Jesus,
 composition, not its biological structure, but the Word otir faith and trust and adoration have no basis, no
 of God in the creature is its real nature. Its sense, its sense, are vain. And that God called His Son Jesus,
 meaning, is its essence. And that meaning it derives          signifies that from all eternilty  the triune God so called
 only from the Word of  ,God,  [through which every Him.               It means that the name Jesus, revealed in
 creature is but an integral part of the speech of God time, has its roots in eternity, that it is eternal, that
 concerning Himself in all the universe, and all crea-         the Son of God is eternally called Jesus. It signifies that
 tures together unite in spelling the Name of God. That the Son of God is  caIIed  Jesus by a free act of the
 Word of God in every creature is its real name. And           sovereign God, and by the determination of the good
 that name man in his original state of righteousness          pleasure of God "who worketh all things after the
 could read, in order that thus he might read the Name         counsel of His own will." Even as the act of creation
 of the Lord his God in creation, and glorify Him in           is not the necessary effluence of God's being, but the
 adoration. In this light we can understand what the free and determinate act of His sovereign will,  roatc3
 Scriptures  #declare  in such passages as Eph. 3 :14, 15 :    in His counsel, so also this naming of the Son of God  ::s
 "For  :this cause  I bow my knees  unto the Father of         Jesus is the eternal act of God's good <pleasure. And
* our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in           as all God's works are acts of the triune God, so also
 heaven and earth is named." ;A11 things are names.            this naming of the Son of God. We may not so present
 because God has put His Word in them. And origin- tithe matter as if the first Person of the Holy Trinity
 ally all these names were interpreted intuitively by caIIed the second Person Jesus, for all God's works are
 man, that he might behold and declare cthe glory of :the      of the Father, `through the Son, and in the Holy Spirit.
 Name of his God. But this power is lost through sin. All the three Persons of the Godhead,  ,each  according
 Nor can it be regained even by means of telescope or to His own place and relation in the economy of the
 microscope. However, though in the world of our Holy Trinity, willed from eternity that the Son should
 very dim understanding the "name" has no longer its be called Jesus! "Why is the Son of God called Jesus,
 original significance, the Bible still speaks of the name that is Saviour?" Because from all eternity He was
 in that sense. This is especially evident from the way so called according to a free and sovereign  determina-

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

tion of God triune ! And on the basis of the revelation
of that ekernal  act of God, we, too, may call Him Jesus!                Het Gebed Ems Bejaardaw
       That this is true is evident not only from Scripture
in general, and from the revelation of this Jesus in the                             (Psalm 71)
old dispensation, but also very  specitically from the            Men moet  we1  wat g!imlachen als  er van  dezen
(testimony of Holy Writ concerning the way in which psalmdichter gezegd wordt, ,dat hij zich achter `t schiid
the Saviour received His name in time. Exactly be- der anonimiteit verborgen heeft.
cause the child Jesus had a name (before He was con-              Anoniem beteekent: geen naam, zonder naam.
ceived in the wom,b  of the virgin Mary, the giving of            Doch wij zien Christus, in smarten en angst zidi
His name to Him in time may not be left to the de- wendende tot Zijn God. Indien  ergens,  dan zien  we
termination of Joseph and Mary: His eternal name hier een profeet die naarstiglijk onderzoekt.  . . .aan-
must be revealed, and by that name He must be known gaande het lijden dat op Christus komen zoude. 001~
to men. And so, when Joseph, naturally misinterpret- ietwat van de heerlijkheid daarna volgende.
ing the condition of his espoused wife, contemplated              Let op  ,de verzen  6 en  1:' en vergelijk  ze  met de
putting her away privily, "the angel of the Lord ap- verzen 10 en 20 van den twee-en-twiatiger!  Ge hebt
peared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of daar dezelfde zaak. Bijna dezelfde woorden.
David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for              Christus, de bejaarde? Jezus in den tijd ,des ouder-
that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.           doms ?
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou  shal,t  call           0 zeker, David heeft dit alles vooruit  geleden. En
his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their David zal dit gedicht we1 in zijn ouderdom gezongen en
sins." And mark you well, "all this was done, that geklaagd hebben.  Doch  als de Heilige Geest veel late:
it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by          dit lied op de lippen van Jezus legt,  dan is die ouder-
the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with dom geen moeite en de bejaardheid  past bij den jam-
child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall Cal!        merlijken  Zooa..
his name Emmanuel which being interpreted is God                  Hij  rek-t die bejaardheid en veelheid der dagen  uif:
with us." !And so, Joseph "did as the angel had bidden tot in der eeuwigheid.
him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not                 Zoo begint Hij al: "Op U, o Heere ! betrouw Ik,
till she had brought forth her firstborn  sou: and he laat mij nie.t besahaamd worden  in eezmigheid!"
called his name Jesus." Matt.  1:19-25.  And also the             Het, haar des hoofs van Hem die was als de ge-
gospel according to Luke refers to this revelation of stalte des Zoons des menschen was wit gelijk  sneeuw
the name in ch. 2  :21: "And when eight days were in  "t gezicht op Patmos.
accomplished for the circumcising of the child,  h'.s             Laat Mij niet beschaamd worden  in eeuwigheid.
name was called Jesus, which was so named of the                  `t Heeft ons lang genomen om de diepte van `t lij-
angel before he was conceived in the womb." For not den van Jezus eenigzins na te denken  ; en er in te
only to Joseph, but also to iMarry, who preferred to           komen,-  dat Hij ,den eeuwigen dood in een korten tijrl
keep things "pondering them in her heart," it was heeft geleden.
revealed by the angel Gabriel that the name of the                Hij was jong, slechts drie-en-dertig jaren  toen Hij
Son, whom she should bring forth, must be called stierf. - Doch die Jeugdige was tot ontzetting toen we
Jesus. Luke.  131. And so the apostles can preach Hem aanzagen-alzoo verdorven was Zijn gelaat, meer
that "neither is  .there  salva&ion   iu any other: for dan van iemand, en Zijne gedaante, meer dan van
there is none other name under heaven given among andere menschenkinderen. Jesaja  ,52 :X4.
men, whereby we  must be saved." Acts  3  :I2. The                Ge moet niet alleen jaren tellen  om dan voorts te
name Jesus is of divine origin, and is the revelation oordeelen. Tk heb jonge menschen gekend en hun in
of an eternal purpose and act of God. The question is, de oogen gestaard toen ze, nEt de operatiekamer kwa-
therefore, a perfectly proper one: `Why is the Son of men. De vraag is : hoe zwaar zij n de jaren Uws levens
God called Jesus, that is Saviour?" And the true geweest ?
.answer  to t.his question is indeed the gospel of God            Hij heeft Zijn  jaren vervuld gezien met gal en
concerning His Son. He is called Jesus because He  & alsem. Zijn dagen waren lange dagen, zat van vloek
Jesus;`the  God of our salvation reaching down to us in en verdoemenis.
our  misery~to  redeem us, and to deliver us from death !         .Dat liet zijn sporen achter.
                                                H. H.             Als we- Hem dan voorts aanzagen, dan achtten wij
                                                               Hem dat Hij geplaagd, van God  geslagen.en  verdrukt
                NOTICE: - SUBSCRIBERS                          was. Soms was die aanblik te erg. Dan  waren  wij
        Please send .me your postoffice district number verbergende  he-t aangezicht voor Hem.
.%-lien you,send'in~$ir `subscription renewal.                    In het lijden en klagen van Jezus zat de ,eeuwig-
                              R. Schaafsma  - Treas.           hei,d . Jesaja  64:5. Die tekst in Jesaja  werpt  een

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

bidden, blijft Hij afhankelijk van God en moet al de zonder hoop in de wereld en onuitsprekelijk ongeluk-
hemelsche  zaligheid  v~or Zichzelf en voor Zijn volk en kig.
het geheele Koninkrijk, uit God als de Bron hem toe-             En dat zijn de vijanden van Jezus.
stroomen. Als mensch is Jezus geen Rotssteen. God                Ook zijn ze verkeerd.
dieen is de Rots, Wiens werk volkomen is. Jezus Bls              Dat beteekent, dat zij al hetgeen  van God in hun
mensch is geen Rots. Jezus heeft  ;behoeft.e  om door .bereik komjt,  verdraaien, krom maken  en verknoeiea.
den Geest alle kracht en gave en schoonheid en  heer-        Dat ,toont ons het slangachtige in den mensch.
lijkheid onophoudelijk uit den  Dri&enigen  te  trekken.        ,God  is  recht.  Doch wij verdraaien en verkeeren
   Zoo kan m'en de  bede van Psalm  71 verstaan, waar alles. Let er op : er .&at de hand :bij.
Jezus tot God bidt.                                              En  eindelijk,  de vijanden van Jezus zijn  opgc-
   Hoe zoud,t ge anders ,die schreeuw aan het kruis          blazen.
kunnen verklaren? Go.d is nooit van God verlaten.                Vreeselijk ironie.
   En als er staat geschreven, dat God Zijn eer aan              Ge hebt allen  gehoord van het blazen des duivels in
geen anderen zal geven noch Zijn lof den gesaedenen          de eerste verzoeking.
beelden, dan moet ge dat ook toepassen op de mensche-            Gij zult  als God zijn.
lijke natuur van Jezus.                                          Dat heeft zijn viezen  vrucht gevonden in het blazeu
   We besluiten dan ook: Jezus als mensch is niet de van den mensch.
Rots.:                                                           Moet ik het aanwijzen voor u ?
   De Rots is God alleen en tot in eeuwigheid.                   Luistert naar Uw eigen hart, en siddert.
 Daarom is Hij ook de Rots voor Jezus.                           Merkt op de woorden, en beeft.
   En daarom bidt Jezus om dien. Rotssteen, aller-               Zie uw daden,  en schaamt u voor God en menschen.
eerst voor Zichzelf.                                             Dat hart, die woorden en zulke  daden  richtten zich
    En dan voor U. Want Hij leeft eeuwiglijk om voor op ,de geslagen Onschuld. 0 God, verlos Mij van dat
ons  allen  te bidden.                                       slangengebroed !
    En op het gedurig gebed van Jezus komen de stroo-            En wat zullen  wij tot deze dingen zeggen?
men van zegeningen  aan. ".Heer,  ik  hoor van  rijken           0 God, wees mij, den zondaar, genadig !
zegen !" Het is alles om Jezus wil.                              Toen hoorde God: Hij is mijn liefde waardig!
    Voorts hooren we de klacht vanwege het  lijden dat           En onze God ontfermt  Zich op `t gebed.
Hem geschiedde van de goddeloozen.                               Op `t gebed van Jezus.
    Dat  volk  word$t  hier omschreven. Zij zijn  godde-                                                     G. v.
loos;  ze  handelen verkeerdelijk; en ze zijn opgeblazen.
 Ziedaar Uw  beeld,  zoods ge van nature zijt.
    Goddeloos.  God-loos.  Zonder God.
    En  tech geschapen naar Zijn beeld en naar Zijn
gelijkenis.
    Als er niets  aan veranderd wordt, dan vraagt dat                             Adiaphsra
om onnoemlijk lijden. Zal het schepsel dat naar Zijn
beeld geschapen is gelukkig zijn, dan moet ge  uit-              It. is very necessary to introduce the tvord before
eindelijk in Zijn  armen liggen. Luistert, ik  zd het 1 write of the contents embodied in, <this word. The
schetsen in woorden die de Heilige Geest geschreven reading public will otherwise pass this essay by, think-
heeft.                                                       ing it is meant only for a group of students. !At least
    "Niemand is er gelijk God, o Jeschurun, die op den       I too thoughit  it strange when this subject was assigned
hemel vaart tot uwe hulpe, en met Zijne hoogheid op me by our editor-in-chief, who is appointed to assign
de bovenste  wolken.  De eeuwige God zij u tot  eene         us these subjects. Strange it was for me, because I
woning, en van onderen eeuwige armen ; en Hij ver-           never thought at first I could write more than Ithree
drijve den vijand voor uw aangezicht en zegge: Ver-          lines on if: until I got to study it further. So it must
delg! (Dat is de hel.) Israel dan zal zeker alleen also at first appear to the reading public. And I may
wonen,  en Jakob's oog zal zijn op een land van koren add that I would never have thought of writing on a
e3 most; ja, zijn  hemel  zal van dauw druipen.  Wel-        subject as this, if it had not been assigned me. But
gelukzalig zijt gij, o Israel, wie is u  gelijk? Gij zijt    please, Standard Bearer readers, ,do not be afraid of
een volk verlost door den Heere, het schild uwer hulpe,      this word.
en. die een zwaard is uwer hoogheid ; daarom zullen              The word ADIAPHORA, as far as I know, does not
zich uwe vijanden geveinsdelijk aan u onderwerpen,           appear in the Bible. However it has been used to
en gij zult op hunne hoogten treden."  Deut. 33 :%X9. express things indifferent, or neutral. For instance,
    Met minder kunt gij niet toe, o Mensch !                 when used by medical men, then adiaphora refers to
    Die minder  heeft dan dat is god-loos, zonder God, medicines that' are incapable. of doing harm or good.


                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                               213
    ,"_                          _  _    _ - -.-                             _..              --.         I.,-  ,_^.  ._  -
Or when this word is used in religious circles it per-        shall all that is in part be done .away with and he.
tains to matters of ei,ther  doctrine or practice that may    shall know as he is known. But that is not yet his
be regarded as non-essential or indifferent. Adiaphor-        portion here below.
ism is therefore religious indifference. It refers to all        Bearing the aforementioned distinction in mind,
matters that are regarded as non-essential ; things  ithat we believe there are surely adiaphora for human  betngs
can do neither harm nor good, wherein men cannot              in (their relations with other human beings, even in
judge us or condemn us;  things  that are of such a           the church world. The Scriptures also teach that in
non-essential nature that Et is for every man himself eestain  matters, such as eating and drinking, or re-
to  decidte  whether they are good or evil. As for in-        garding another man's servant, or esteeming one day
stance in a human body there are members that are above another, we can.not  and may not judge one an-,
absolutely essential to the life and existence of that        &her. See in this connection the whole of chapter 14
body, so there are also members in the body that can of Romans. Surely we have obligations toward our
very well be mksed and that the body still functions          neighbour, even in those things that can be reckoned
and exists as well as before. One can have his or her adiaphora. As for instance Paul says in 1 Cor. 8 : 13 :
tonsils removed, or lose a finger, without essentially "Wherefore if meat make my brother to offend, I will
impairing the body. So at least it is explained. Then eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my
these non-essential members of the body are called brother to offend." But then Paul does not refrain
adiaphora, n.l., belonging to the non-e+ssential  and in- from  eatin,g  meat  because the meat  `~3, not good or
different things of the body  anid consequently can also      because  it is evil to eat mt in itseZ[, but simply be-
be viewed more or less indifferently. And so adiaphora cause it. would offend the brother, who is weak. "Let us
refers to things  non-essential and indifferent to our not therefore judge one another anymore; but judge
fai'th and salvation. During the days of the Lutheran this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an
Reformation, there were certain things and practices, occasion  $to fall in his brother's way. I know and ain
yea, even dogmas, which Luther regarded as very sin- persuaded by our Lord Jesus Christ, that there is
ful and heretical and which he therefore condemned irl        nothing unclean of itself; but to him that esteemeth
the strongest terms possible. But Melailchthon and a anything to be unclean, to him It is unclean." Rom.
few other Germaia theologians held these things which X4:13,  14. We must remember t.hat Paul is speaking
were so thoroughly condemned by Luther, as non- in that passage of the relation of the one to the other
essential and therefore viewed them more or less in- and of the judgment of one brother over another in
differently. Thus these German theologians were call- things that should not and cannot be judged. We could
ed Adiaphorists.                                              multiply  t.he things mentioned by Paul and apply the
    Now  the question we see ourselves placed before is :     same rule as Paul ddes to us. We would mention smok-
4re we to be adiaphorists, yes or no? Is there any-           ing, drinking, eating, etc. For any man, in his attitud&
thing pertaining to our faith or walk that can be view- and relations to other men, there are certain thin&
ed indifferently or of a non-essential nature? Are pertai,ning  to his walk and way of doing things that;
there things that cannot and may not be judged by may be considered adiaphora. He cannot and may not
others? Are $there  things neutral? Ls there anything judge his brother. This is due not only becuse of the
in our lives, practically or doctrinally, that can do fact we but know in part and therefore our judgment.
neither good or evil, and wherein men cannot judge            is imperfect, but it is also <due to the fact of sin within
or condemn us? That is the question we must answer.           us. Because of sin that dwells in  .even the most holy
In answering that question we believe that we must            saint on earth, it is often difficult to bring a brother
distinguish between divine and human authority. Not before the bar of our human judgment. For in our
that t,here  is really a difference between the two, for judgment over the other we are plagued  wilth the sins
afiter  all the authority that humans exercise over others of prejudice, or of jealousy, or of pride, or of favorit-
may only be the authority derived from God. A human           isms because of blood ties or of friendships or other
being may only exercise the authority that God gives likes and dislikes. And though it is true that in all our
him. So that there is essentially no difference between relations to one  anot.her and when we are judging one
the  authorirty of the Almighty God and that of the           another, we should be mtiTated exclusively by the
human over against other humans. But there is never- truth and love of God in  Ch.rist  Jesus, yet the fact  Ee-
theless a distinction.    For is God not the Absolute mains that there are many such inconsistencies in life
One? Is He not Everlastingly Perfect and does He that contradict (that love of Jesus Christ. And even
not, Know all things? Can a mistake ever be attributed though it is true that only the Word of God may and
to the all-knowing God? God forbid. But with human must be the norm of all our everyday activities and
beings this is different. The most perfect of the practices, and even though that word of God is perfect
saints on earth, must confess that he knows in part and clear and draws a very sharp line through our
only. Only when he  shall have  &ained  perfection            whole life, yet the fact is that human beings do not


214                                     TEIE  S T A N D A R D   BEAREB

always measure up to that perfect word. They do not Him? It was, as Jesus Himself teaches over against
always expound  that  word   perfecltly  and correctly. So the Pharisees, that there is essentially but one principle
we believe that there are adiaphora, things non-essen- of obedience, which is love, to God and the neighbour.
tial and indifferent, in the sphere  .of human relations,        Therefore the answer of our Lord to the `Pharisees
whether they be religious circles or non-religious circles plainly taught. that there is not a great and greater or
and therefore of the world.                                      greatest commandment, but that there is but one &%x!
       But we  `must not forget that even though  oftea          comma& and that is to love the Lord your God with
man must say: "I do not know and therefore cannot all your heart., mind, soul and strength.  And the second
judge or say anything", yet this can never be attributed commandment is like unto the first. There is no dif-
to the Almighty Lawgiver Himself. God knows of no ferenze  at all. And of that. one commandment (n.1.
adiaphora. There are no non-essential Ithings in the to love) all the precepts of Jehovah are products. The
whole of God's Word or law. Never  can anyone as- entire Word of God is given to us in God's love, but
sums an indifferent attitude toward things that are also can be obeyed by us, only in that same love of God.
plainly revealed in God's Holy Word. Human reason- If there is not that necessary love, <then  we disobey all
ing may fail, and due to various infirmities, we must the  law of Jehovah. We may seemingly be  obedient
often put our hand to our mouth and keep silence, yet            to many precepts, and break only a few of them, yet
the unchangeable Word of  God.suffers  no compromise the word of Jesus tells us that anyone breaking any of
or indifference. For every circumstance of our lives, the  precepits  of the  law, is a transgressor of the whole
for  all situations, for all conditions and every con-           law of God. Therefore only Christ fulfilled the law of
ceivable sphere, the law of God has a definite, circum- God. All others are transgressors of the whole law
scribed demand to do this or do that in obedience to and are therefore also worthy of eternal death and hell.
God. NoNthing  in life may be considered by the child But to those in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation.
of God as merely technical and thus non-essential.               Born. 8 :l. And that love of God in Christ Jesus knows
Every law of God, whether pertaining to our eating of no  adiaphor,a.  Oh, it recognizes infirmities and
or drinking, or whether pertaining to our daily work much sin that remains in the saints on earth. As such
or our obedience to father and mother, or magistrate, it will restrain itself, also in judging the brethren, but
is essential. It is God's demxznd. That settles it.              it recognizes no adiaphora in God's law. Therefore it
       0 it is true that various forms of difference have        will not rest in a leave-it-alone attitude, or in an atti-
been ascribed to the laws of God. There are some tude of indifference toward anything in life, whether
that are very important. There are some less import- of self or of the neighbour. But it will seek the per-
ant. There are some that are essential and others fect law of Jehovah and strive after its attainment,  iu
less essential. There are some that may be considered himself and in others.
as Chief, as the main laws, in distinction from other               Thus the child of God lives out of faith. His faith,
laws, that we may consider more or less indiffer- which rests not until it rest in the God of our com-
ently.     Thus also the Pharisees sought to biad the            plete salvation, will strive after perfection, even  in
consciences of the masses of the people. They taught this life. Faith will not be complacent. B,ut living out
that the law of Jehovah could be variously divided and of the love of God whE2.h is the fulfillment of the law
subdivided, into great, greater and greatest laws. of Jehovah, the child of grace will seek in all the de-
Therefore also they come to Jesus with the deceptive tails of his life to be pleasing to Jehovah, and reject
question : "What is the greatest. commandment?" A any so-called adiaphora in the perfect law of God.
question which Jesus does not even literally answer.             Psalm 1 and 19.                                L. v.
Simply because Christ recognizes no great, greater an2
greatest commandment of His Father. With Chris!
there is no more or less. With the Christ no iota 01                                         -
titiel  of the law shall pass away until it all be fulfilled.
       But with Christ there is not merely a technioal ful-
fillment of the precepts and laws of Jehovah. This was The Problems of a Christian Soldier
exactly  t.he sin of the Pharisees. They tried to rele-
gate the law of God to technicalities. They hindered                My topic implies that  t.his article is written mainly
the children from entering the kingdom of heaven.                for our young men now serving in the armed forces of
Why? Because they taught disobedience to the Laws our country. Therefore I consider it quite appropriate
of God? Of course not. They instead taught strict to address this article directly to them. Perhaps you
obedience. But  4hey taught technical obedience to the young men say: What does a spectator or one who
letter of the law, and not spiritual and divinely pre-           stands on the sidelines know about our problems?
scribed obedience. For what was the divinely pre- After all there is no comparison between the views
scribed obedience to the Law of Jehovah, which pleased of one sitting in an easy chair and one who is con-


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             215

fronted by these things in actual warfare. My answer            before us which we must overcome. For the Christian
to this is twofold. In the first place I would readily it means that he must strive to overcome them, other-
admit to be at a complete loss if I were to write on ithe       wise he's no Christian.      Now you young men un-
problems of an ordinary soldier. But the problems doubtedly have obstacles placed before you so big that
of a  ,christim soldier are to a certain extent known           it seems we11 nigh impossible to master and conquer
to all of us, partly from your reports but above all            them.    One of these, to my mind, is to love your
from Scripture itself. Essentially every Christian has enemies in your particular work. Almost impossible,
the same problems to face and solve, even though their and yet a ,demend of God. Difficult that is for every
nature and degree may radically differ. In the second Christian in civilian life. But in times of war it  is
place this article ,does not come to you young men as a.lmost beyond our reach and apparently very im-
from one superior in faith or experience, as if I'm             proper. Moreover, you young men are trained to kiil ;
going to tell you something new. I can come only with all kinds of methods an,d devices are employed unto
the Word of God, and in the light of that Word 1 can            this end, and all kinds of propaganda is spread to make
at least know some of your problems and difficulties.           you hate the Jerry and the Jap. And the more you
    If you therefore are not a Christian soldier. this hate and despise and revengeful you become the better
arti,ole  has nothing for you. But the question is: who soldier you are supposed to make. Yet God says : Love
and what is a Christian soldier? In short he is a your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to
soIdier (or sailor) who is a Christian in  ,the various         them that hate you and pray for them that despitefully
spheres of life. It implies not merely that he was use you and persecute you. Matt.  5:44. You must
such merely at home, but that. also now in the armed love the German and the Jan. Love them who try to
forces of our country he  .tries to be and live as a kill us? Be kind to those who are out. to kill. you, who
Christian. And this he must do not only in respect to commit the most ruthless and atrocious deeds. with
his walk, in his relrations  to his buddies, but also in innocent men, women and children, ancl raise havoc
respect to his God. A Christian soldier is one who in           and destruction`! This stands  diame%rically  opposed
his particular place, with the cross he has to bear, the to our nature. What an obstacle ! But try to overcome
battles he has to fight lives as a Christian.                   it you must. Indeed a problem of a ch&ti~,n  soldier.
    You understand then that when I now speak of his               In close connection with this stands the problem
problems, I am not referring to all the difficulties of of doing our work in  obedieeze  to our government.
army and navy life from the natural viewpoint, the              The command comes to ~1s: Thou shalt not kill. Never
h.orribleness  of battle, the monotony of army life, or may man kill. i.e. as man. God has given the power
the manifold adverse conditions with which you have of the sword and punishment to the government. The
to cope. But I am referring to your problems as a government of each countrv  wages  war, hence the re-
Christian.    Such problems you al1 undoubtedly have. snonsibilitv  of waging a righ'eous or unrighteous war
They are legion in number. Every Christian has proh-            lies upon her shoulders. It is the American govern-
lems throughout his entire life, but your problems ment that kills Germans ard *Taps. Or do you do .so.
undoubtedly far exceed ours both in number and  difl?           or intend to do so? If you  hate them and are filled
culty.  IAt this point however, you perhaps ask a ques- with revenge then you rertainlv are committing mur-
tion. Of what avai,l is it to have someon,e  tell us our der. Bu.t right we stand with God as Christians only
daily problems in the Standard Bearer?  Don? we when we do our duty out of obedience to our author-
know  t.hem only too well? Which Christian  sol,dier            ities. But again well nigh imrossible for the flesh.
does not experience problems in respect to the many, So big are your problems. How hard it must be to do
many temptations surrounding him, to pray not my such when in the midst of bursting shells, whistling
will but. Thine be done, *to confess his Lord at all times      bullets, the roar of the cannon and the screeching
even in, the face of open mockery, to pray all alone at dive-bomber ?
the table, to let his  l,ight shine, to bear up with all the       Moreover another big  problem for you men is to
cursing, gambling, drinking and immorality of many bear your cross submissively unto the end, whatever
men perhaps in his own barracks? These things you that may be. Many of you who have participated in
have all undoubtedly experienced. Therefore I don't actual warfare have  undoubtedlv  catered to the desire
have to tell you about these problems. But the pur-             to die  ra.ther  than go and  e.jdure  untotld misery, toii
pose of this article is to speak about some problems and grief. The future yeems  dark. You would like to
which you yourself perhaps do not see. Don't consider returns home where your heart is, but there's no siIver
this strange because many people at home don't even lining in the dark clouds to that effect. All you see
see their own problems, nor feel themselves confronted before you is war, blood. miserg and toil. How easy
by them.      Perhaps the biggest  probIem of all is to it is for us here at home to understand your words
make people see their own problems.                             that you'd rather die than  go on. And how we suffer
   A problem now is an obstacle or hindrance placed with you! Besides, how blessed it is for men in the

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

youth of life to have the desire to be with their Lord,       nothing but eternal death.
and be delivered from all the misery of this life. In            These obstacles  can be overcome, Christian soldier,
those things we see how our God through His Word by living close to your God, being redeemed by the
and Spirit has applied war with all its realities unto        blood of the  Lamab. For him who seek and serves sin
your hearts. But. . . .is it right to cater to such de- it will forever be impossible to solve these problems.
sires ? In  Zhe final instance we must give a negative "No man that warreth entangleth himself wi,:h the
answer. In reality those desires are resignations to affairs of this life; that he may please him who bath
the service of our God. Elijah too fled from his scene chosen him to be a soldier." II Tim. 2:4. A good sol-
of labor. H-e was totally discouraged and wholly dis- dier has his mind fixed on the one thing he is called
satisfied with the service of Jehovah, and therefore to do, no,t on the things of this life. Therefore,  chris-
desired to hand in his resignation to ,the Lord. But tian soldiers, you are and can be when you seek not
such we cannot do with God. When our work is done the things below but are single-eharted, seeking the
He calls us home,  ,not before. So too the Christian things above. And finally remember that the fervent
soldier must bear his cross. The way of the Lord with         prayer of a righteous man  availeth much. May you
him and for him is through war, fighting, and all kinds daily meet one another before the throne of God's  grace?
of difficulties. Through and by .means of *these  things to live, to  fighit and to die if necessary as  christiau
God is preparing you. May you then resign when you soldiers.
get tired of it? Of course not. But 0 how hard when                                                          J. B.
physical and spiritual endurance seems almost im-
possible! I'm sure that we at home here have but an
inklin,g of the difficulty of being willing to bear that
cross submissively unto the end.
   And finally you must find a tremendous problem in
being able to view your life and cross as given in God's                    Whv. Our Delay?
grace. You know Scripture tells us that all we have
and receive is given in  gratze.    The good things are          It is possible, as I address you tonight, that my
given in that infinite love, but also those that we call      subject is somewhat beside the point. I am now a
adverse.     The apostle Paul says that it is given us stranger in Jerusalem, particularly since the untimely
(in grace) not only to believe in Him, but also to suf-       death of our Church News. It is possible that you are
fer for Him. Phil.  1:29." All things are given the           not delaying at all. If so, my subject for tonight's
child of God in His grace, be it a way of prosperity talk is wholly beside the point.
or of suffering, sickness, pain and sorrow. Even war             However, it is my opinion that my subject tonight
with all its horrible implications is for the Christian       is timely. This child,  ithat of our own  school move-
grace of God. It is the grace of God when He leads ment, is now some four years old. It seems to me that
YOU  through ways of combat and suffering and grief.          its growth is painfully slow, that it has not advanced
But can you imagine that? Can you believe  t.hat and very far beyond the state of infancy. I have conse-
view your life in that light? Again almost impossible! quently resolved to ask you this question tonight : Why
What a problem !                                              our delay? And I would view this question from n
       The solution of all .these problems is to be found three-fold point of view:
in the Word of God. "And this is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith". I John 5:4b.                I. Is it because this school is not sufficiently im-
Through Christ and faith in Him are we able to do                        portant?
these things. In Him we see God's love to us and what             II. Is it because we have an abundance of time?
we have deserved, namely, eternal death and d,esola-             III. Is it because we lack the means to go ahead?
tion. With this no war or battle is to be compared.
Sometimes we hear say that war is a living or minia-             I. Because  it is not Sufficiently Important?
ture hell. The truth is however, that the most terrible          I fear that this is the heart of the matter. We may
war is not even to be compared with hell. Such ter- say, on the one hand, that our Christian schools of 4o-
rible punishment we have deserved. How great then day are good enough for our children. Or we may
is the grace of God given us in Christ Jesus: Through         assert, on the other hand, that we are not interested in
the means of faith it is possible in principle to love our    Protesftant  Refnrmed principle-i  z-s we ought  ?s: be.
enemies while we by nature hate, be obedient to those Is it not a fact that, in either case, we have said the
above us whicle we by nature are disobedient, be willing same thing? I say that I  fear that this is the case.
to serve our God who has redeemed us while we by              I fear this not in the sense that I am doubtful as to
nature live for self, and finally can view all things as      the present state of affairs. But I am very much
given in His grace realizing that we have deserved            afraid of this attitude. I fear because so little can


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be done about it. To have lost our first love, to lack at the root, the heart of the conflict. Years before
the fervor and enthusiasm to go on is a serious ai!-         1924 this spirit of broadmindedness was already pre-
ment, an almost incurable disease.                           sent and working in the churches in which we former-
   Permit  met nevertheless, to ask and also answer the ly had a name and a place. The Jansen-issue simply.
question in our midst tonight: Is a school of our own accelerated the controversy.              Fact is, the spirit of
sufficiently important? In general we may say that worldlymindedness is fundamentally always the reason'
to instruct  our children in ,the lie is worse than not to why the li,e creeps into the church, whatever may be
instruct them at all.    With this statement as such, the garb in which it appears. And it is because we
none, I am sure, will disagree. To be sure, the various held to the view that God's people are a distinetive
doses of poison may differ as to their amount, and will people, with a distinctive calling, that we also today
th*erefore  also differ as to their effectiveness. I am stand alone.        It is this truth which constitutes  thl?
sure that we would rather have our children, for ex- very heart and fiber of our churches-it alone is our
ample, receive no Bible instruction at all in our schools only right and hope of existence.
than to have them receive a distorted interpretation            But, is iit not true that the school is. exa&ly  that
of Holy Writ. However, the question which we must sphere where the error of  Common  Grace is most pre-
answer is this: Are conditions such that a school of valent and dangerous? Common grace and the Chris-
our own is a necessity, sufficiently important?              tian School are  mutuahy  exclusive. We all know the
   At this moment I would remind you of the theory purpose of the school. In the church we prepare our
of Common Grace-what is Common Grace? I am seed to assume their place in the midst of the church,
not at this moment asking the question: What is `$0 be able to partake consciousIy  of the means of grace,
Arminianism? Arminianism, in distinction from Com- such as the preaching of the Word and the sacraments,
mon Grace, deals with salvation, with the things eter- and to walk consciously as members of the body of
nal, corrupts God's counsel, the cross, the efficacy of Christ. But in the school we prepare the same ehildreu
grace, the assurance of eternal glory. And, to be sure, to assume their place in the midst of the world. It is
,4rminianism,  too, is not found lacking ia our schools      therefore of the utmost importance that we teach them
today-we need but attend to the Bible instruction in such a way that they, in that world, may be a dis.
and the songs which our children learn to sing.              tinctive people, an wholly other people, walking in the
   But what is Common Grace? Briefly, Common world but not as of the world. Feed my child the
Grace is that theory which would teach us that con- poison of Common Grace and I have utterly failed in
cord, agreement, fellowship between the, church and my Christian calling, in my Protestant Reformed call-
the world is  poss.ible  in  a11 things earthy and civil.    ing. Our beginning as a  Pratestant'Reformed  people
It speaks of a restraining operation of the grace of urges us to hold fast that which we have, especially
God upon the hearts of men, checking  evi1 and sin. with regard to the Christian School. The principles of
It speaks of a positive operation of the Spirit of God our churches acnd the antithetical instruction of our
upon the hearts of men, rendering them able  to do in children are inseparably  connect,ed.
thiags civil that which is good before God. Common                                         .
Grace lauds Athens and minimizes Jerusalem, speaks              II. Because we have an Abundance of Time?
of the children of darkness as putting the children of          First of all, time waits for no man. Time always
God to shame, speaks of God's common covenant with marches on, never  pauzes  or stops, never. retraces its
the world as represented by Noah, wipes out all lines steps, moves irresistibly forward. Time is that steady,
of distinction and demarcation between the Church irresistible stream which, as soon as we are born;
and the world, nullifies the antithesis, destroys our takes us up into its arms, carries us ever forward until
distinctiveness, defends and nurtures a worldlyminded-       `we have reached our life's end. That .time waits for
ness which is the death of the church of God in the no man, does not retrace its steps, leaves'things  undone
midst of the world. Also on this point we are, of which have not been done. Upon that stream of time
course, all in agreement. We have surely learned to you come into contact with  thin'gs  only once-for a
hate and fIee from and eschew this pernicious teach- moment they stand before you and. then are forever
ing.                                                         past. Upon that stream of time children receive their'
   But, if this be true, how pertinent is  tie question: parents  an8 these parents receive their children-also
Why the delay? It is on this issue of Common Grace, only once. Quickly these children glide through their
is it not, that we today  canstitute  a group of Pro- years. Each successive year is extremely important.
testant Reformed Churches. I know that the error of And each successive year is also irrevocable; `cannot"
Arminianism was also involved, that the famous "Three be recalled.
Points" are a mixture of Kuyperian Common Grace                 Apply this, if you will, to the question whether, in
and Arminianism. But we are all aware of the  fa?t the instruction of our children, we have an abundance
that, practically, the issue of  worldlymind,edness  lay of time and can therefore afford to wait.. So  oftex$

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

we adopt the attitude: What is not done today can           He not, to have such schools which are Christian,
Ibe done. tomorrow. This is not true for the simple whohy distinctive. He surely commands us, does He
reason that today does not come tomorrow but to- not, to come out from among them and be separate,
morrow today will be gone forever. What we do not to hate and flee all synthesis, worldlymindedness, all
teach our children today cannot be taught tomorrow, is common grace obhteration  of the boundary lines and
a  ,du;ty  sadly neglected, a task undone. Time is not of all marks of distinction. He surely commands us,
at our service, does not  accomodate  us, does not adapt does He not, to feed our. children that nourishment
itself to our plans, but moves irresistibly forward. ,Al- which can be conducive to their healthy growth so
ready 4 years we have waited;  durin.g those years our that they will be able to conduct themselves as a dis-
children have received instruction, instruction in the tinctive people in the midst of this evil world which
very things we have learned to hate and flee; these         is rapidly  developmg  in iniquity and darkness. And
years constitute half of a child's instruction prepara- I repeat: The Lord does not demand of us the mpos-
tory for high school-these years are gone, and, as far sible-it can be done, by His grace and Spirit, through
as these children are concerned, can never be recalled prayer, and by putting our shoulder to the wheel.
or replaced.    Therefore, I ask: Why do we delay?             Let us then proceed and go on. Do we lack the
Why do we wait? Time does not wait for us.                  means here? I am sure that we in Grand Rapids are
   Secondly, may I in this connection call your atten- certainly in the  p.osition to make  ,this project a reality
tion to the fact that the days are evil. They are evil and instruct our children in the way they should be
now. Not only is this true from the viewpoint of i 2 strutted.
natural, physical hardships. To be sure, this war leaves NOTETIThis article is a speech which the undersigned de-
much pain and sorrow and heartache in its wake. But livered at a school meeting of our Protestant Reformed School
the days are evil  especilly from a spiritual point of movement in Grand Rapids on Jan. 20, 1944.
view. Also in these days it is becoming increasingly                                                    H. V.
ditiult for the church of God to assume her proper
piace and position in the midst of the world.
   We must bear in mind, however, that the days shall
become ever more evil. We must not, of course, listen
to the siren songs of peace and good-will and thereby
foolishly deceive ourselves. Let us rather hold fast          The Significance of the Book of
to the Word of God which proclaims unto us that
the end of all things is at hand, that, in the measure                          Proverbs
that  that final moment approaches the driving force
of that end of all things causes things to move forward        The book of Proverbs, as the name expresses,  is  a
ever more rapidly and irresistibly. Storms and break- collection of proverbs written by Solomon, who was
ers  lie ahead, for us and for our children. How urgent     especially endued with the Spirit of wisdom as the
therefore, how extremely timely comes to us the ex- preacher-king of Israel. It is made up of three main
hortation that we lose no time, that we delay not, parts plus two short appendices. The first section of
but that we work while it is day and instruct our ehild-    the book includes the first nine chapters, and serves
ren in the fear of God, in the doctrine of the antithesis, as an extensive introduction inlto the main theme of
so dear to us and our only comfort in the midst of a the book. Here Wisdom is presented as the one great
world which lieth in darkness. Let us therefore not good, which calls us away from the seductions of sin
wait, but go forward-there is no time to lose.              and urges us to enter her portals and feast on her
   III. Because we Lack the Means to go Ahead?              bounties. (See, for example, chap. 9 :I.-6). The second
                                                            section  exbtends from chapter ten to twenty-five under
   Do we delay because we lack the means to go ahead? the general heading, "the Proverbs of Solomon". Here
Understand us correctly. We do not mean to suggest Wisdom proceeds to instruct all those who enter her
that perhaps we can or may wait because we lack tha house in that true wisdom which is rooted in the fesr
means to go on. The question is not whether we can go of the Lord, overagainst the follies of sin. The third
on. But the question is emphatically whether we must section consists of four chapters under the heading,
go on. And permit me to say in this connection that "These are also proverbs of Solomon, which men of
God does not demand of us the impossible-He does            Hezekiah king of Judah copied out." The instruction
not command us to do something which, by  His yrace,        is continued to give knowledge to the simple and to
cannot be done. And God surely commands us to pro- turn fools from the folly of their sin to the paths of
ceed with this, does He not? He surely commands us life. The last two chapters containing the "Words of
`to instruct our children in the truth of His Word and Agur" and the "Words of king Lemuel, the prophecy
testimony, does He not? He surely commands us, does that his mother taught him", conclude the instruction


                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            219

of Wisdom, always assuring that "blessed is the man           estranged from all humanistic philosophy and worldly
that heareth me, watching daily at my @es, wailing            wisdom, for it deals only with spiritual-ethical values.
at the posts of my doors, for  whoso findeth me findeth       The wise man is placed overagainst the fool, the subtle
life and shall obtain favor from the Lord. But he that overagainst the simple, the prudent overagainst the
sinrmth against me  wrongeth his own soul; all they slothful, the righteous over against the wicked. Wis-
that hate me love death." (9 :34-36).                         dom, instruction and understanding, justice, judgment
   The "proverb", or Mashal, of Scripture, has a much and equity, subtility knowledge and discretion, mercy,
broader connotation than our word suggests. Although truth and purity are mentioned in one breath witli
it is generally a short, pithy statement,  forcefuIly  ex-    righteousnesn as altogether rooted in the fear of the
pressing some definite truth, as is chiefly the case in Lord.         While foolishness, simplicity, scorning,  fro-
Proverbs, it may also appear  i.n the form of an ex-          wardness, mischief, hypocrisy, pride and fornication
tended allegory, or a didact.ic poem, or an instructive       are all set forth as rooted in wickedness. Although
piece of prophecy. The prophecy of Balaam is called seemingly the proverbs are loosely strung together;
a proverb (Num.  22:7), as also Job's answer  ,to his frequently without any discernable bond of connection;
friends (Job  2?:1), likewise the taunting satire of there is a definite unity of thought in the main ,theme,
Isaiah against the king of Babylon (Is.  14:4), and which teaches that. the  f,ear of the Lord is the under-
some of the prophecies of Ezekiel (Ez. 1'7 :2, 20 :49).       lying principle of wisdom, even as wickedness is the
Because of this broader significance of the word, a root of all folly.
Mashal is sometimes called a parable, as in Psalm 78 :2,         "Wisdom" is the key-word  ,throughout  the entire
which is quoted in Matthew 13:55 to show that this            book. But wisdom is presented as being, first of all,
word was fulfilled when Christ spoke to the people -in        hypostatically divine. God is Wisdom, even as He is
parables. Thus even the parable is placed under the           Truth, and Light,  and Life. The Son of God, the
proverbs.                                                     Word, is the revelation of Wisdom even as the Son took
   According to the root meaning of the word, the             an active part in the eternal thoughts, or counsel of
Mashal is a comparison or  simihtude,  either expressed God.  Wisd'om  says: "The Lord possessed Me in the
or implied. An example of the former, where the com- beginning of `His way, before His works of old. 1, was
parison is expressed, we find in the words: "As snow set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever
in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honor is not            the  ,earth  was." (8  ~22, 23).  .And it was by Wisdom
seemly for a fool." I,n the following passage the com-        that God formed the earth, for: "When He prepared
parison is implied : "The name of the Lord is a strong the heavens, I was there, when He set a compass upon
tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe." A the face of the depth. When He established the clouds
proverb may even appear in *the form of a dark saying,        waters should not pass His commandment, when He
or enigma, almost like a riddle, demanding of the             deep. When He gave the sea His decree, that  ,the
hearer to pause and ponder on its interpretation. An waters should *not pass His commandmen, when He
example is found in the pithy statement, "the horse-          appointed the foundations of the earth. Then was I
leach has two daughters ; give, give." Because of this by Him, as one brought up with Him, and I was daily
peculiar character of the proverb it readily lends it- His delight, rejoicing always before Him; rejoicing in
self to become a saying, an adage, or a maxim.                the habitable parts of His earth. And My delights
   The silgnificance  of the book of Proverbs can only        were with the sons of men." (8 :27-31).
be understood if we constantly bear in mind its place            True Wisdom, the wisdom of Proverbs, is from
in the canon of Scripture. Tt can never be relegated to       above, a gift of God. Only God by the regenerating
the level of the writings of worldly sages since it is a      work of the Spirit can give knowledge to the .simple
part of the inspired Word of God. It is a definite form and wisdom to fools. Mere natural wisdom is earthy,
of divine revelation to instruct the foolish and give         sensual, devilish. (James 3 : 15). For i.t is not rooted in
subtility to the simple.     Its primary Author is the the fear of the Lord. A man may be efficient and even
Holy Spirit, Who endued Solomon with spiritual wis- prudent in his business, he may be a farmer who knows
dom SO that he could discern the things of the Spirit as how to cause his fields to produce an abundance of
a teacher in Israel, as a father giving instruction to grain and wisely builds storehouses to preserve it: but
his son. In that sense Proverbs also belongs to pro- if that is the extent of his wisdom he is still the fool.
phecy, as the light which shines in the darkness of this He refuses to acknowledge God as God and lives. in
present time to lead us into the perfect day. Its inter- open rebellion against Him, exalting himself as god
pretation is only possible in the light of all the Scrip- before the face of the Living One; He never realizes
tures.                                                        nor acknowledges his emptiness and depravity in the
    For that reason Proverbs is not a mere collection of sight of God. He simply does not reckon wi*th the true
maxims teaching outward morality and promising a reality of things. Even though he is aware that storms
mere earthly, temporal reward for obedience. It is and winds are sure to come, he builds his house upon


220                                    T H E S'T A N D

the sand. Not reckoning with God, nor with His Word,         increase in learning; a man of  unders:anding  will
nor with eternity, he staggers in wickedness toward his attain to wise counsels. He takes a firm hold on in-
destruction. "The way OF the wicked is darkness, they structioa and will not let her go; he keeps her for  sh?
know not at what they stumble."  (4:19). But  over-          is his life. The Mashal  becomes engraven  in his heart,
against the way of the wicked is  <the path of the right- is life to his soul, and an adornment about his neck.
eous -as a "shining light that shineth more and more Happy is the man who finds wisdom and gets under-
unto the perfect day." For the wisdom of the wise is standing.
founded in the fear of the Lord. The wise man has                                                          c. H.
`learned to build his house upon a rock. By grace he
knows Him Whom  *to know is eternal life. He  IOVPA
Him and acknowledges Him as God. He is aware of                                       -
his own emptiness, guilt and corruption., confesses it
before God, and seeks his salvation only in Him. "He
seeks the pathway of life and binds the commandment           Jafshua'e  Parting With the People
upon his heart. For when he' goes it leads him, when
he sleeps it keeps him, when he awakens it talks  wit?1         As was said, some years have gone by since the
him. The  commaadment  is a lamp, and the law is             Lord had given ,rest unto Israel from all their enemies
light, and reproofs of instruction  are the way of life."    round about. Joshua has waxed old aiid is stricken
(6 :22, 23). Happy is the man that finds wisdom and in age. If he is to address them before his passing,
gets understanding. She is life to his soul and graio now is the time. So he calls for all the representatives
to his neck. She is more precious than rubies, and all of the peopIe  and exhorts them before his death. The
the things to be desired are not to be compared to her. place of convocation is Shechem. There are two ad-
Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths dresses. The first discourse presents to the Israelites
are peace. For even as the curse of the Lord is in the what Jehovah will do for them to bring them into full
house of the wicked, so He blesses the habitation of possession of ,the land. He will expel these nations
the just. Shame is the  nromotion  of fools, but the         before them and drive them out of their sight. But
wise shall inherit glory. (2 :13, 17, 22, 23, 34).           this He will do only in the way of their being very
       The purpose of the book of Proverbs is to instruct strong to keep and to do all that is written in the book
in the ways of wisdom.  (1:2-6). By pithy statements, of the law of Moses. The second  discourse calls to
pointed comparisons, sharp contrasts and often by mind, in powerful words, what Jehovah, since the time
dark, enigmatic expressions it forcibly demands the of the patriarchs, has already done for them. As was
attention of the reader. Even as the parable, the said, the  point to the argument of the second discourse
proverb serves to enlighten those to whom  i,t is given is plainly, that, should the people apostatize from Je-
to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, but for hovah, they will be showing Him grossest ingratitude.
those who are without these things are spoken, that             The two addresses form one whole and in this
seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing whole the climax is- reached when Joshua declares:
they may hear and not understand, lest at any time           "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose
*they  .shouId  be converted and their sins should be ye this day whom ye shall serve; whether the gods
forgiven them. The proverb serves as a savor of life which `your fathers have served that `were on the other
unto life, but also as a savor of death unto death. It side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose
does not cast its pearls before swine, nor does it re- land ye dwell: but &s for me and my house, we will
buke the scorner, lest it get itself shame. It does not serve the Lord." The whole  peopIe  with one consent
ans.wer the fool according to his folly, but speaks words    reply, `that they will not ,forsake  `Jehovah, to serve
of wisdom to confound him in his  foolishness.        Yet other gods. Vss. 16-18.              '  ?
it does answer the fool according to his folly, exposing        But Joshua has his  misgivin.gs. Are they perhaps
and condemning him, Iest he be wise in his own con- #being carried away merely by the eloquence and the
ceits  -., (26  :4, 5). Even the scorner is brough,t face power of his argument as unaware of their natural
to face,with  the Mashal. If he refuses to hear it and and strong inclination towards idolatry and as unmind-'
to ponder on its significance, it condemns him for de- ful of how holy, righteous and exacting God is?              I  '
spising the way of life; if he seeks to escape it by            Joshua has his doubts. So' he says to them: "Ye
applying his own fancied interpretation to it, it also       cannot serve the Lord ; for he is an holy God ; He is
condemns him by leaving him in the folly of his sin. an jealous God ; He will not forgive-,your  transgression
There is no escape for anyone, except for him who nor your sins if ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange
receives grace to hear it, so that he takes it into his      gods, then He will turn and do you hurt; and consume
heart-with a godly sorrow unto repentance. The wise you, after that he hath done  -you good." As was said,
pan, endued with wisdom horn above, will hear and. Joshua's reply  ,is proper ; it is calculated to chill zeal


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           221

only if it be false and to cause the religious enthusiast their redeemer-God (typically) and they His redeemed
to reflect.                                                       people in dut.y  bound to obey His voice and justly con-
    He is holy God, only, other, the absolute One, the sumed by His wrath, if disubedient. Joshua's making
inclusion of all perfection, wholly consecrated to Him- with them a covenant consists in his preaching to them
self under the impulse of love of self, a jealous God, Jehovah, His (typical) redemption, the obligation of
brooking, as the husband of His people, no division of His people to serve Him, further in his (Joshua's)
affections on their part between Him and the idol and exhorting them to receive the covenant and to assume
thus demanding that they love Him alone, love Him their obligation in it, which they also do through their
with all their soul, and with all their strength, and vowing to serve the Lord, and finally in his writing his
with all their mind. God can be satisfied with nothing discourses in the book of the law of God. Through
less than perfect devotion. What hope is there then these acts Joshua makes with  t.hem a covenant, "and
for the godless among this people-the godless, dead sets them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem,"
in their sins and thus without strength-if even the               what should be with them law and right, to wit, that
faithfu1 must perish in their sins if they are to live            they cleave unto their God and serve Him only.
in the things of the law through the doing of these                  Still Joshua is not satisfied that he has done all he
things in perfect love. Yet, all insist that they will can to make it most difficult for them to break their
serve the Lord. And when Joshua tells them that they +bow,  and to deprive them of every excuse in the event
are witnesses against themselves that they have chosen they should deny God.                 So he takes a great stone
&hem the Lord, to serve Him (vs.  22), they as un-                and sets it up under an oak that was by the sanctuary
afraid reply, "We are witnesses", and thus agree that, of the Lord. This sanctuary was not the tabernacle.
in the event they should apostatize, they would be                since this stood in Shiloh,  put a sacred place that had
obliged to condemn themselves and justify God in de- been hallowed by the altar that Abraham and Jacob
stroying them and this on the ground of their having had formerly built there. Joshua finally explains the
chosen God and rejected the idol and through  this                meaning of  ,the stone. As the stone,  EO to say, has
doing having  decIared  that God alone is good. But if heard all the words which the Lord, through His
they are so bent on serving God, what mean& hose servant Joshua, has just spoken to them. it is to wit-
idols in their midst, which many a o;le, we must as- ness against them in case they forsake God. And what
sume, in secret, worships. "Now  therefore", he says a terrible  wi,tness  that will be, how utterly condemna-
to them, "put away the strange gods that are among tory of their apostacy. For was not Jehovah the  Lord
you, and incline your hearts unto the Lord God of their God, who had brought them out of ELgypt in ans-
Israel." Idolatry, it seems, has not disappeared from wer to their cry an,d who had given them a land for
them, with the dying out of the generation condemned which they did not labor? Had it not been demon-
at Kadesh . Thus he has reasons for exhorting them                strated to them over and over that to obey God is' i,?
to choose this day whom they will serve. But for the              live and prosper and achieve? On what conceivable
third time the people aver that, they will serve the Lord grounds could it be evil to them to serve the Lord?
and obey His voice. It must be assumed that several Yet  und.er the constraint of  t.heir carnal lusts theg
or  perhaps many in this vast audience are sincere.               eventually will choose the idol. What an abominabIe
The others, who are not, keep silence, or if they do thing depraved man is ! How foolish, irrational, fright-
come out for Jehovah, it is because among the older fully  si,nful, how unfair and dishonest! Joshua finally
generation the sentiment in favor of Him is still too dismisses the people and  e.-ery  man returns to his in-
strong to be publiciy  opposed. But after the passing heritance. Not long thereafter Joshua died (vs. 29).
of Joshua and the elders that outlived him, who had one hundred and ten years old. and was buried'  in
seen all the great works of the Lord, they will forsake Mt. Ephraim. And now fohows the notice, "And Israel
God and serve idols and expect God to condone their served the Lord ail the days of Joshua. and all the days
sins and continue  blessing them, But God will not of the elders that outlived Joshua, and which had
forgive their transgressions and their sins, Joshua tells known  all the works of the Lord, that he had done
them, but He will turn and do them hurt and consume for Israel." However strong their inclination toward
them, the reprobated, devoid of the fear of God. Still idolatry, the people of Israel, in particular the new
Joshua uses every possible means to bind their' oath generation, was held to an outward show of religion
upon all t.heir hearts. First he makes a covenant with            from sheer dread of the living presence of the Go?-
them that day i.e., he vows with them and they with fearing Joshua. In his 1:wo discourses, Joshua stands
him to be God's peojle and to serve Him only  asd this before us as a great man and a great saint. He loved
with respect to the covenant that God had concluded God. His loyalty to God's cause was deep and abiding,
with them at Sinai.                                               his insight into God's dealing with His people profound
    This covenant is Jehovah's, and is to be defined  as as also his knowledge of the deceitfulness of the human
.fh,h.a wlat,ion  between .Jehovsh  and Israel in wh,ich He is    heart. He is a truly humble man. The victory that


 222                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             ._

has overcome the world in Canaan, is the Lord's, He
 knows and acknowledges it. Loving God, he would not             The Nationfz  Remaining to Serve
 have it otherwise. Being so disposed, he gives God al!
 the glory. God has fought for them, he tells them.                                    Israel
It was He that has driven out from before them ali the
 people, those great and strong nations. He makes no              The book of Judges relates the earliest history of
mention of his own meri,t,  for he knows that he has Israel ia Canaan. The death of Joshua has deprived
none, being, as he is, but a sinful man, whose breath         the people of their second and last national leader so
is in his nostrils, even now stricken in age, about lo        that the administration of the affairs of the theocracy
go the way of all the earth. It can be expected that now rest solely on the judges which, according to the
Joshua, being the man that he is, has in,fluence even         command of Moses (Deut. 6:18), the people were to
with the younger generation, the new generation that make them in all their gates which the Lord their God
will eventually  apostatize.  They admire his sterling should give them. This is indicated by the very name
qualities, his transparent honesty and dependability which our book bears: Shophetim,  Judges,  and further
for fair dealing; are impressed by his moral courage          by its opening verse: "Now it came to pass after the
and the power and the constancy of his faith anld the         death of Joshua, that the children of Israel cmked  thn
genuineness of his zeal ; and they suspect that he is Lord. . .  ." Compare with this the first verse of the
capable of greatest indignation should they turn to book of Joshua, "And after the death of Moses the
their idols under his watchful eye. So, under the re- servant of the Lord it came to pass t.hat the Lord spc&e
straining influence of his presence among them, they unto  Joshuu." These judges formed under Jehovah,
follow the example that  ,he sets them. They serve            IsraeI's invisible king, the highest civil authority, who
the Lord all the days of his life. They  decilely walk        watched over the observance of the law. The book of
beside.their  elders in the precepts of God                   the Judges, accordingIy,  narrates the history of the
                                                              times in which the governing authority in Israel was
    Thus we see .just what the significance is of this exercised by the judges.
transaction at Shechem. For Joshua it has this sig-
nificance that  i,t is now on record that the  apostaq            But what is the design of our book? What is its
that will set in after his death with its resu!tant  chaos    lesson, its instruction? The book of Judges is the be-
and conflicts are not chargeable to him as he all the         ginning of the fulfillment of a prophecy first uttered
days of his life moved in the steps of Moses and              by Moses and repeated by Joshua in his partmg dis-
abided in the spirit of the law in the presence of his        courses, the prophecy to the effect that denying and
people and before his  passi,ng inspired the congre- forsaking the Lord their God and serving the devil
gated heads of the nation to consecrate themselves gods of the heathen, the people, by the curse of their
anew to the service of their God. And for the new             God, will fall into discord, want, bondage and oppres-
and faithless generation the transaction has this  $g- sion. The first  t.wo chapters are an  imroduction  to
nificance that there now exists a document that re- -the history of the book as a whole. They explain why
cords..words  that the Lord has spoken. through Joshua the events about to be related take place. It was in
directly to this generation, words that set forth all the what the tribes did after the death of Joshua that the
works of the Lord that He had done for Israel, his foundation of their troubles was laid.
threats and. promises and the covenant obligation and            The book has still another design. It teaches that,
their vow to obey the Lord, thus words that will wit-         by reason of the  inabihty  of the government of the
,ness against them when they deny God and deprive judges to cope with the evils just referred to, the
them of excuse in the days of divine visitation. The hereditary kingship had to be set up. In the book of
great significance of this transaction is known prezise-      Deuteronomy provision is made for this immediately
ly from this: that Joshua  wrote these things,  i.e., all     after the insti.tution  of the judges in all the gates of
which had happened there at Shechem, in the book of Israel : "When thou art come into the land ,which  the
the law of God.     With all that has taken place in          Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and
Shechem now on record, no one in the future will be           shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a  king over
,able to deny the fact of the transaction and thus de- me, like  all the nations that are about me, then shalt
stroy its usefulness and potency as a witness.                thou set him king over thee whom the Lord thy God
                                                              shall choose." The need of the kingship arose from
   After Joshua, died Eleazar also, the son of Aaron. the  sinfumess  of the people, from their inability to be
How long afterward  camrot  be determined. They one in a common faith in Jehovah their God. What
buried him in Gibeah-phinehas, the city of his son,           was therefore needed is a visible and central authority
which had been given to the latter ou Mt. Ephraim.            to curb the liscentiousness  of the people, con,strain  it
                                                              to obey God's voice and to abide in the spirit of His
                                           ,G.- -M. 0.        law and thus to `serve as a compelling center of unity


                                      T H E S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              223

 for the whole  nat.ion.  Without a king, the people of          holds, ready to do  battIe  with the Israelites, if attack-
 Israel were like a flock without a shepherd. They ed, and prepared to defend their cities, within whose
 went astray. They turned every one to his own way.              walls they had entrenched themselves. Thus the task
 The author of our book calls attention. to this over  and       that remained to the nine and a half tribes east of the
 over in this language: "In those days there was no king Jordan was to prosecute the conquest by freeing their
 in Israel: every man did ,what  was right in his own respective allotments from the  remnants of these hea-
 eyes." A family of which  ,the word of each member              then tribes. The tribe of Judah did so. The other
 is as authoritative as that of the other is a house di-         tribes (west of the Jordan.) made the attempt. Some-
 ,vided  against itseIf and cannot endure.                       thing was also accomplished, but not nearly enough.
    The `institution of judges could not meet the neces- The  folIowing statement tells the whole story: "And it
 sity with which we here deal. For they were but local came to pass when Israel was strong, that they .,put
 magistrates, whose authority was restricted to their the Canaanites to tribute and (but) did not utterly
 respective gates. As to the heroes whom the Lord                drive them out." This applies to every one of  th.a
 raised up to regain the lost liberty of the people, they nine and a half tribes with the exception of Judah.
 bore no other title than that of judge. Their authority That they put the Canaanites to  tribu,te  indicates that
 was the authority of a common judge. I,t extended they gained the complete mastery over them,  so, that
 throughout limited territories. It was ilot recognized these heathen, to which the statement applies, w.ere
 throughout all Israel. Whatever unity may have re- entirely at their mercy an3 could have been expelled or
 sulted from the effort of these judges, was not perma- destroyed. But this these recalcitrant tribes failed to
 nent.    Their accomplishments dissolved themselves do. In violation of the command of God (Deut. 7  :lff ;
 at their death. What was needed to gather the stray             12:2ff) they concluded a covenant with these heathen
 sheep of Israel is the hereditary kingship. But the and,  accordin*g  to the articles of this covenant, spare3
 best of the kings that God eventually  chcse  `or  Hi3          their lives, and allowed them to continue in the posses-
 peop&  were not equal to the task that had to be per- sion of their cities, on the condition that they pay them
 formed, if the people of Israel were to bz Lruiy one.           tribute. What is even much worse, they  cndoned their
 For  they,  1:hese  kings, were but  mtn.  a~:d  s;nPu!  men    pagan religion, permitted them to continue in the
 at that. The unity which king David effected through            Fublic  worship of their idols instead of destroying
 his efforts had no substance to it. It could llot have.         them. We learn all this from the  complai;It  of the
 For at the bottom of all the troubles of the nation lay         angel of the Lord contained in the second chapter.
 sin,  whichhad  to be atoned  and removed, if God's             This complaint reads : "I made you go up out of Egypt,
 people were to be truly one. For true unity springs             and have brought you unto  the land which I sware unto
 from a pure love of God. What was needed therefore your fathers ; and I sai3, I will never break my cove-
 is "one who is  very man, and perfectly righteous; and nant with you. And ye shall make no league with the
 yet more powerful than all creatures; that is, one who          inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw  downs their
 is  very  i;od." Such a king is the Mediator, our Lord altars ; but ye have not obeyed my voice : why have ye
 Jesus Christ: who of God is made  uil,to us wisdom,             done this?" Israel, at this juncture, has progressed
 and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. far in the way of disobedience to the .command of God ;
 The condition of the people of Israel, in their  kingless       but it has not as yet gone all the way. The angel did
.I state, is certainly a vivid type of what the condition not accuse them of joining the heathen in their pagan
 of God's people would be,, if their were no Christ tz           worship and of making  marriages  with them. This
 gather His church. So, too, is the condition of the             came later. It was ntot until after the passing of t+.
 people of Israel under the rule of king Solomon a type          old generation, which had known all the works of the
 of what the people of God actually are `under the rule Lord, that He had done for Yis people. that Israel falls
 of Christ.    With Christ in them and His Father in into the gross sins last mentioned. It was that other
 Him, they are made perfect in one. For through His generation, that knew not the Lord, nor yet the work;
 atonement every evil to which His people are subject,           which He did, that denied God and served Baal, chap.
 has been dissolved.                                             2:12. Doubtless, the men of the new generation were
    Let us now take up the first deflection on the part greatly in the majority when Joshua died, so that al-
 of the people as narrated in the first chapter of the ready then their word was law in Israel. This woul-!
 book of Judges. The Canaanites had been subdued,                account for those initial violations rebuked by  t.hc
 i.e., their military might had been so crippled by angel in chap. 2. That Israel, afrter concluding a cove-
 Joshua's victories over them on the battlefield, that nant with the heathen, for a time refrained from adopt-
 they had n.either the courage nor the man-power t,g             ing their pagan religion, may be ascribed to the re-
 initiate another war with Israel. They were a  con.             straining influence of the older  ge&ration,  that  had
 quered  people, who kept themselves to their strong-            not yet wholly died out,

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

    The angel added to his rebuke a sad message indeed, order that they might know it who had not yet experi-
By reason of their disobedience, He will not drive the enced it. It was not for technical ins:truction  in mili-
heathen out from before them; but they shall be as            tary science that He left the heathen nations in the
thorns in their sides, and their gods shall be a snare land, but that the  people of Israel-the spiritual  seed-
un:o them. Israel has thus laid the foundation of  all might become proficient in spiritual warfare. Israel's
its later troubles.       I                                   wars with the Canaani&s  were at bottom spiritual con-
    It is to be observed that what the angel of the Lord flizts, a choosing between Jehovah and the idol, a being
holds against Israel is not .that they failed to expel the    pitted against the flesh and the devil and the devil-god
Canaanites from their cities but that they made a             in loyalty to Jehovah under the impulse of a saying
league with the inhabitants and did not destroy their faith. Israel had to know what it is Zo wage this war-
pagan worship. What God required of  Israel is not fare and had also to wage it in Canaan through the
that they consume the inhabitants at once. This tias          ages.  It  means that Israel in Canaan was still, the
expressly forbidden them, as it was only "by little and church militant and had thus not yet entered the true
little" that God would put out those nations, lest the rest. The glorified church does not fight. Its warfare
                                                              is accomplished.
beasts of the field increase upon them. Deut. `722.
What was all impofitant  to the Lord is that Israel re-           As was said, the heathen nations were left in
main loyal to Him in conscious, deliberate and abiding Canaan by reason of Israel's sins, in punishment of
                                                              their sins but also to prove, Israel and to teach them
opposition to the heathen in t.heir  midst and to their war. There is no conflict here. It simply  .goes  tq
devil-gods, in a word, that they continually choose show how that God achieves His purpose through thn
Jehovah in rejection of the idol. If they do so, the sinfulness of men and not in spite of it and that thus
Lord through the agency of His  peopl@,  will gradually alao through' iin He knows how to promote the en&
expel the enemy from Canaan's borders. Fact is that -of  Hi's  kin,gdom.
He left these pagan remnants in Canaan "that through                                                            G. M. 0.
them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep We
way of the Lord to walk thei-ein,  as their fathers did
keep it or not. Therefore the Lord left these nations.
without driving them out hasti!y  ;. neither deliver&A
them into the hand of Joshua." chap. 2:20, 23.        The                                IN MEMORIAM
author continues : "Now these are the nations, which
the Lord left, to prove Israel by them, even as many              Na eene ongesteldheid van lenkele  wekcn behaagde het den
of Israel-as had not known all the wars of Canaan; Heere den 4den Februari tot Zich te nemen,
,Only that the generations of the children of Israel                                  MR. SAMUEL SMEDING
might know, to teach them war, at least such as before
knew nothing thereof." chap. 3  :lff.                         in den ouderdom van 64 jaar.
                                                                  De Hollandsche Vrouwen Vereeniging, "Dient den Heere J?'
   "That He,might prove Israel. . .  ." The trial of wcnscht hiermede aan Mrs. S. Smeding en aan Mr. John Smed-
God is made possible by reason of the presence of ing en gezin hana hartelijke deelneming in dit hun smartelijk
pagan worship and its powerful appeal to sinful flesh. vex-lies  te kennen te geven.
The trial becomes  adtual through God's demandihg that            Wij mogen gelooven dat de broeder ingegaan is in de
Israel serve Him in denial of the Baa1 worship with ecuwige ruste die er overblijft voor het voik van God.
its' pIeasures  of sin. The spiritual seed chooses God in         Moge de Heere de bedroefde  familite  met zijne genade
rejection of the idol. The carnal seed chooses the idol       rijkelijks troosten.
and the sinful pleasures connected with its worship in                                    Namens de Vereeniging,
rejection of God. So is the purpose of the trial achieved                                         P. De Boer, Pres.
which is to bring t6 manifestation both the carnal and                                            Mrs. P. Kooiman,  Seer.
the spirit.ual seed in the one nation; and to make it
possible for each to serve the God of its choice anti-
thetically. These pagan nations therefore' had to be
there in Canaan through the centuries-these nations :
"the five lords of the PhiIistines, and all the Canaan-                        NOTICE CONSISTORIES
ites, and the Sidonians, and the Hevites, that dwelt in           Classis  West of the  Protzetant  Reformed Churches
Mt. Lebanon, from Mt. Baal-hermon  unto the entering meets in regular session March I, 1.944, at the Hul!
of Hamath" (Jud., 3 :3). They were left there by rea- church,. D. V. Anyone desiring lodging  pIEase contact
son of  Israel'ssins  but also  t.o prove Israel-the genera- the Rev. A. Cammenga  at Hull, Iowa.
tions to come, and to teach these generations war, in                                            M. Gritters  - S. C.


