56                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
_-....__                          --..."--..          -" ____ ^----_                                                 ---...--
       The Lawful Calling to the Office                            notice that under the direction and guidance of the
                                                                   apostle Paul, believers, who by the preaching of the
      The last subject treated under the above caption Gospel had been drawn out of darkness into light,
was the "examination of prospective ministers of the organized by choosing themselves office-bearers. Such
gospel." We now pass on to article 5 that deals with an organized group of Christians is a church. Nearly
ministers already in the ministry of the Word, who are in every place where the gospel had been preached
called to another congregation. The article reads:                 could be found a Christian church.       Especially the
                                                                   churches in the gentile world were placed in the care
            Ministers already in the Ministry of the Word, who     and under the supervision of Paul. Of this he, too, was
       are called to another congregation, shall likewise be
      called in the aforesaid manner by the Consistory and         keenly aware. For once he wrote, "Besides those things
       the Deacons, with observance of the regulations locally     that are, without, that which  cometh upon me daily, the
       practiced or made for this purpose by the consistory        care of all the churches." These churches the apostle
       and, of the general, ecclesiastical ordinances for the      shepherded by letter and by personal visits. To the
       eligibility of those who have served outside the Nether-    church at Ephesus he gave himself for three consecu-
       land Reformed (Gereformeerde) churches, and for the
       repeated calling of the same Minister during the same       tive years. In Paul, then, we have an outstanding
       vacancy; further, in churches with not more than one        example of a servant of God giving himself now to
       Minister also with advice bf the classis or of the coun-    one church then to another as the Spirit would dictate.
       sellor  appointed by the  classis where this usage until    The question is whether this action may be cited as
       the. present has been followed; and further, in all         proof that the custom among us of calling the minister
       churches with the approval of the classis to which the      of the gospel to another congregation is of God. Our
       ministers called show good ecclesiastical testimonials
       of doctrine and life and with approval of the members       answer is that it may. Consider that Paul was a serv-
       of the Reformed (Gereformeerde) church of the. place,       ant richly endowed by the Spirit and thus eminently
       when, the name of the minister having been announced        capable of strengthening and feeding the flock. That
       from t.he pulpit two successive Sundays, no one appears     more than one church might profit from his gifts, the
       who hath alleged anything lawful against him; where-        Lord besides sending him forth with the gospel in new
       upon the minister called shall be installed with appro-
      priate stipulations and prayers agreeably to the Form        regions attached him now to this then to that brother-
       for this purpose.                                           hood. Through their epistles the apostles became the
        h                                                          infallible teachers of the church universal. Upon the
       The practice this article regulates consists foundation they laid, every true church reposes. They
in a minister laying down his office in one church to be were the infallible channels of truth. The ordinary
ordained ,to the same office (same as to kind j in an- pastors speak their word. The apostles must therefore
other. This article says nothing as to the right or be placed in a class by themselves. However the
wrong of the aforesaid customary action. The fact, diversity of gifts remain. Then, too, there is the pastor
however, that one finds in the Church Order an article with the one or two talents and he with the ten.
of this kind is by itself sufficient proof that our fathers Further, there is such a thing as a development of
were of a mind that a minister may be called by an- power and a growing capacity for work. And the aging
other congregation. But let us dissociate ourselves pastor may be in need of a smaller charge. The con-
from the view or conviction of the framers of this clusion is warranted therefore that today as well as in
article and consider the matter by itself. And then we the first epoch of the history of the Christian church,
set out with the  affiation  that the practice is no the Lord actually calls ministers to other churches.
innovation of man but the very action of God Himself Consider also that the number of devout men who have
and therefore must be right. It is God who calls to the insisted that they heard this call as coming from God is
office in another church as well as to the office of the great enough to place the genuiness of it above all
first church served.  .And this settles the matter.                suspicion. This, of course, is not saying that in every ,.
      Here the question arises, however, whether we can instance such a calling is of God. Nor should the con-
show that it is actually the way of God to call to an- clusion be drawn that the ordinary pastor may be
other congregation. Is it not possible that the  min- called by another congregation because as the apostles
ister, though called by another church, is in no case he has the care of all the churches. Paul, to confine
called by God through the church, so that the action is ourselves to him, was vested with a singular office that
after all a human invention and the conviction of being with the death of the last apostle disappeared. A  so-
called anew a deceptive notion. With those who insist called apostolic succession is an invention of man. The
on taking this view of the matter, nothing can be done. twelve (disciples) were the infallible teachers not only.
But for those who are of the conviction that God's of the churches cared for by them during their lifetime
ways with his servants of the apostolic age has norm- but of the aggregate of churches of every age. The
ative value and that after the death of the last apostle ordinary minister on the other hand is ordained to an
God continued to lead His church into paths of right office that inheres in the local church to which. he
conduct, we have a convincing argument.                            attaches himself as pastor. Of this brotherhood only
       In presenting this argument we set out with the is he the official teacher. There is no such thing as an


                                      PHii:  S T A N D A R D   BEAR~~R                                             57
   ___I__-_.-   "ll__-..-^.                                                                      ---."...           -
   office inhering in a denomination of churches. But the Credential. "When a minister accepts a call to an-
   point that we wanted to make is that in the light of other church, he requests of his consistory proper cre-
   the action of the apostles, it must not be doubted that dentials testifying to his faithful service and to the
   also the ordinary minister is actually called to another acquiescence of the consistory in his departure. These
   church.                                                     credentials are sent to the Classical Committee of the
      The number of reasons why God calls to another Classis in which he labors for examination and ap-
   congregation are admitted to be limited. A lazy and proval, and are by them to be forwarded to the Clas-
   shiftless minister, incapable of sustained effort in his sical Committee of the Classis  in which he labors for
   study, soon arrives at the end of his recourses and be- examination and approval, and are by them to be for-
   gins soliciting a call. It is debatable, however, whether warded to the Classical Committee of the Classis  of the
   the call he finally receives can be of God. It is much church whither he is going. After examination and
   more likely that he was never called at all. When a approval, this committee sends the credentials to the
   minister as a result of his worldliness and unfaithful- counsellor  who, upon finding the document in good and
   ness looses his savor so that the sheep pray to be de- regular order, proceeds to his installation. The partic-
   livered of him and he himself longs for the hour when ular clause in article 5 demanding this action reads:
   he can bid his charge adieu, it is a question whether he "and with the approval of the classis or of the dele-
   should be permitted to leare for another church or be gates appointed by the  classis, to whom the ministers
   made to return to the ordinary persuits of life. This called show good ecclesiastical testimonies of doctrine
   raises the question whether a minister of the Word, and life . . . .  " The credentials a minister, having
   once lawfully called is bound to the service of the accepted a call from another church, receives from his
   church for life. He is, if the action of the servants of consistory bears the name of "Consistorial Credential."
   the Word of the apostolic church is of normative value. In case the minister is deserving, the credential reads:
   Consider that there is no case on (sacred) record of an "The consistory (of the church last served)' declares
   evangelist, teacher or pastor leaving the service of the that the Rev. N. . . . . has ministered in the office of
   church to enter again upon a secular vocation. It fol- Minister of the Divine Word faithfully and diligently,
   lows from the very nature of things that a teacher in adhering in doctrine and life to the Word of God, as
   the church must enter upon his career with the con- interpreted by our Forms of Unity and the Church
   viction that it is God's will he follow his calling for Order.  W7e therefore unhesitantly recommend him to
   life. For the active ministry is preceded by several the  Classis of and to the Church of . . . . .  " But if
   years of preparatory study. After the ordination the need be this credential could also be made to read:
   minister must engage in several more years of vigorous "The Consistory . . . . declares that Rev. N. has not
   study of the word if he will attain to even a relative ministered. . . . . . faithfully and diligently  s . . . We
   perfection as a feeder of the f-lock of Christ. The cannot therefore recommend him to the  Classis  of and
   Word of God is a mine of truth the Christian church to the Church of . . . . " If upon a thorough investiga-
   after all these centuries had not been able to exhaust, tion it should appear that the testimony is true, a min-
 _ so that there never comes a time in the life of a student ister should not again be ordained to the office. But
   of Scripture that he can say, The Word has yielded to the  Classis  must make sure that he is not being made
   me all its riches. It means that one -entering upon a a victim of by a congregation to unspiritual to tolerate
   ministerial career has. occasion to become a life-long      in its midst a faithful servant of the Word.
   student of the Word "ever leaving the principles of the        A minister worldly in the sense described above will
   doctrine of Christ to go on unto perfection" (Heb. 6:l).    turn out to be the ruination of his church.  -And the
   It can be expected therefore- that ordinarily one is tragedy of it is that he lives not in a sin for which he
   called to the aforesaid office for life. Perhaps the sole will be apprehended. What consistory would have the
   exceptions are they who as servants of the Word courage to expose such a one in the credential with
   deteriorate into unsavory salt "fit neither for the land which it supplies him. The man is no thief, drunkard,
   nor for the dunghill but ready to be cast out."             or robber; no despiser of God, liar or perjured
      But how? A worldly - worldly in the sense of lazy, person, but a minister in good standing in the church!
shiftless, easy-going, loose-living, glutinous, viscid, Were he a robber, a thief, or a drunkard! He would
   gluey - minister cannot very well be deposed from tiot have greater sin and could be disengaged from
   office. For the aforesaid sin is not being defined as service. .As it is, the consistory helps  ,him to another
   "a gross sin, disgraceful to the church and worthy of place; and his colleagues stand ready to again ordain
   punishment by the civil authorities" (Art. 79 of the him to the  office. There is no more sorry and dis-
   Church Order). Only a sin defined as gross calls for gusting spectacle in this whole world than a healthy
   deposition. There is, however, an instrument which and strapping individual living like a lord on his hard-
   the churches could use to rid themselves of such who working parishioners, practically doing nothing, grow-
   plainly show that they have no love for their calling ing fatter and lazier as the days go by, and all too soon
   and who therefore should not again be ordained to the retiring from service on the grounds of an alleged
   office. This instrument is the Ministeds  Con&stotial nervous exhaustion brought on by overwork- What

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

     will tell a minister whether he is actually called of be solicited outright. A call may also be solicited by a
     God is not the number of calls he with the help of his kind of speech and manner designed to convey the im-
     obliging colleagues is able to solicit, but his habits of pression that a call is greatly desired and if forth-
     study and living, the number of solid hours of real coming would be accepted. A candidate who tells  th6
     work he each day puts in. By real work we mean consistory what a splendid type of a structure its par-
     earnest and intensive and prolonged searching of Scrip- sonage is, so convenient, so spacious, so well situated ;
     ture. It is this engagement  that constitutes the back- who after  *a service  chatt.ers  and smiles and clasps
     bone of a successful ministry. If a minister of leisure hands as though he were a creature of rarest loveliness,
     discovers that even at the eleventh hour he must be yearning to take the flock in whose midst he tarries to
     driven to his study by the distressing thought of an his very bosom,- should know that he might be solicit-
     approaching Sabbath,  ,let him engage in some earnest ing a call. Let the candidate or minister also in a cir:
     heart-searchings and began to question whether he was cumstance of this nature keep himself to normal and
     actually called.                                                sober conduct. The aforesaid practice is unscriptural.
            However, the momentary loss of the consciousness Christ calls to the office through the congregation. The
     of being called to the office is by itself no indication practice betrays a lack of trust in Christ. The secret
     that one has not actually been called. It is with this
+                                                                    fear is that if left entirely to Him, no call might be
     calling as it is with the  .irresistible calling to the serv- forthcoming. The solicitor, therefore, takes the matter
     ice of Gpd that comes to every "elect; the former, too, out of Christ's hand. To it he will now himself attend.
     goes hand in hand with a lively sense of being called The solicitor of a call usually involves himself in great
     if there is fruit bearing consisting in a faithful difficulties as when a promise is made to or an under-
     attendance to the duties belonging to the office. But if standing reached with two or more congregations.
     the spiritual life of the minister deteriorates and he             The next ordinance contained in article 5 reads:
     ceases to bear fruit, he necessarily loses for the present Ministers already in office should be called with observ-
     the conviction that he is called of God to feed the flock.      ance of the general ecclesiastical ordinances for the
     However, if actually called, the Lord will humble him eligibility of those who have served outside the Neth-
     by His grace. Repenting, the wayward one's sense of erlands "Gereformeerde" churches. This should be
     being called will return, and he will again be seen a changed to "outside the Protestant Reformed churches
     tree that, planted by the rivers of water, bringeth forth in America." A Protestant Reformed church may call
     his fruit in his season. It is the minister who regards a minister of another denomination of churches. A
     his office as a license for a life of perpetual idleness, few years ago the  Protesta.nt  Reformed church of
     who should in all seriousness inquire not merely Oskaloosa, Iowa, extended a call to Rev. P. De Koek-
     whether he is called to the office but whether he pos- koek',  pastor of the Christian Reformed church of the
     sesses in his heart the love of God. For rightly con- same place. And the Rev. J. De  Haan, Jr., now pastor
     sidered the call to the office of minister of the gospel is of the Broadway Christian Reformed church, Grand
     but an individualization of the  irresistibIe calling that Rapids,  IMich., received a call from the Roosevelt Pro-
     reverberates in the soul of every elect. Every believer testant Reformed church of the same city. Both de-
     hmows  the urge to confess the name of Christ and to clined.
     witness for the truth. The reason that he failed in his            From which denomination of churches may our
     youth to prepare for a ministry of the gospel was not churches call? We have as yet not ruled on this mat-
     that he felt no love for the .office but that he had not ter. One feels, however, that it would not be wise to
     the conviction that he was called of God to witness for call a Unitarian minister converted to our faith and
     the truth in the pulpit. A minister incompetent and desiring a pastorage in one of our churches. Not that
     ignorant through his own wilful neglect is not wit- he should be told that our pulpits are permanently
     nessing. De may question therefore not merely whether closed to  him. But what he should be requested to do
     he is in love with his office but whether he is in love         is to first  persue the required course of studies at our
     with the Lord.                                                  school. If, after having done with this, he was found
            The manner of calling to another congregation is intellectually and spiritually competent, he could be
     the same as that of calling to the office for the first declared eligible for a call.
     time: "shall likewise be called in the aforesaid manner            The Netherland "Gereformeerde" churches extend
     by the congregation and the deacons . . . .  " The calls to ministers from "Gereformeerde" churches out-
     article continues : "with observance of the regulations side of the Netherlands, to Netherland "Hervormde"
     made for this purpose by the consistory . .  $  . " These ministers, to ministers from the "Christelijke  Gerefor-
     re,gulations  have already been considered in connection meerde kerk," and' also to ministers from churches of
     with article 4. But a matter not yet touched upon in looser formation. The Netherland "Gereformeerde"
     connection with the clause last quoted is the "soliciting churches have ruled that any such minister, in case the
     of calls" by the candidate and by him already in office. call is accepted, shall come supplied with proof respect-
     One soliciting a call, asks or canvasses for a call, invites    ing his call to the office, confession and walk of life,
     a call, entreats a congregation to call him. A call may a.nd submit to an examination of life and doctrine.


                                        * T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            59
                            ..--....                          .-.._^.                                         -.-. __"I____-.-
   AS was said, we as churches have no ruling on this sary. But the change shall not be made without the
matter, there having been as yet no occasion. PerlLTps advice of the Classis.
the proper thing to do would be to rule that we as                       For the  stlme reasons (the reasons presented
churches  ordinarily  refrain from extending a call to above)  consistories  should refrain from calling min-
ministers of, other denominations, and to let them come isters that have been laboring in their charge but for
on their own initiative preferably with all or pa,rt of a short time. Consider that a minister's resolve to
their frock if after an examination of life and do:trine change his pastorage springs from reasons ordinarily
they were found ta  be truly one with us. It is always not removed within a year or two. The syond of Dord-
a poor sign when a minister who comes to us comes recht, 1893, therefore, declared that, as a brief min-
alone. The question always arises why he comes alone. istry in a church is usually contrary to her best in-
Is it because he failed to show himself up as one suffi- terests, consistories should not call ministers that have
ciently grounded in the truth to captivate by his                been  labbring in their charge but for a year. The
preaching the hearts of the people of God? If so, it synod of Groningen,  1899, changed this into: "nog
were better for him and for us that he remain where geen twee jaar." This ordinance ought to be observed
he is and prepare himself by diligent study of the also by our own churches.
truth as we confess it for making an intelligent choice.                 For the consideration of a call or calls received,
He will then leave in all likelihood with a following.           the candidates are granted a period of six weeks and
The Reformed churches  o.f the 16th century stipulated ministers already in the ministry of the Word a period
that a priest eontemplating breaking with the Roman of three weeks. The reason for the time allotted to
Catholic church should bend every effort to persuade each is apparent. Unlike the call received by the min-
his flock to likewise quit this church. Only in the             ister already in office, the call extended to the can-
event he failed in this, was he told that he would be           didate is often followed by two or three others in,quick
received.                                                       succession. It requires more time to consider several
   Article, 5 further states that ministers shall be calls than to consider one.
called to other congregations .with the observance of                    The next statement of article 5 is that "ministers
the general ecclesiastical ordinance  for  the  repented        already in office shall be called in churches with not
eallixg  of the same  ministar during the  sawe   vncanoy.      more than one pastor also with advice of Classis or of
   In the Acts of Dordreecht; 1893, art. 164, we find the counsellor appointed by the  classis where  this
the following ordinance : "A second call to the same until the present has been the custom." The advice
minister during the same x'acancy may not be extended with which the counsellor serves a church when calling
without the  sdvice of Classis."                                must not be confused with that classical action bearing
   To this ordinance the Christian Reformed Synod of the name of "Hand-opening."  This latter action
1906  (Acta, Arts. 35, 36) added "within a year."                (hand-opening) was originally a request for minister's
Churches should  o&i?zarily  refrain from  calling the salary the  classis as the spokesman of this or that
same minister during the same vacancy at least witZn            church directed to the civil magistrate. This could
a year. For there are usually certain definite condi- and had `to. be done in that the Netherland "Hervorm-
tions of the minister himself and of the churches               de" church was and still is the state church and there-
directly  involved,   cert~~&c@cumstances  and situations fore lived and still lives  out of  the--treasury  of the
wherein the parties concerned (the minister called, the state. I explained this action in my previous article
church whose call is declined and the church in  n-hlch         yet not sufficiently. I therefore add a word to what
the office is being administered) find themselves that was written. The churches of the Secession, 1834,
constrains the minister to decline the call. Indeed it is threw oE the yoke of the State and were thus under
in and through these circumstances that the Lord de- the necessity of providing for themselves financially.
clares, "So is my will." Now the fact is that  ordinarily Those churches of this group not  able to properly sup-
a year's time does not effect  a change big enough to port a minister now applied to the  classis for aid. The
justify a reverse decision.  ,It means that a minister rule among us, too, is that as was said the consistory
accepting a call that a year ago was declined acts for of a vacant church requests hand-opening of classis
his own consciousness contrary to the Lord's will. I when calling for the first time since the question arises
leave, of course, out  Qf consideration ministers  who in whether the calling church is able properly to support
their actions are swayed solely by  the dictates of a minister. The hand-opening has to do solely with
the flesh ; who change their pastorage as often as op- this question, so that when asked for by a  self-sup-
portunity affords for the sole reason that after a year's porting church, it is merely a request that  classis take
time they through their own neglect arrive at the end cognizance of the financial competency of this church
of their resources. The  Bale is a storehouse of mate- and grant it permission to call. But hand-opening,
rial for sermonizing so great that a minister who can- when asked for by a needy church, is a request that
not remain fresh for at least two or three years ought classis supply what is lacking and thus make it
to conclude that he missed his calling. Yet a change of possible for this church to call. Apart from this ques-
pastorage  within a  year may in rare cases be neces-           tion of the ability to support a minister, a brotherhood


60
-_^.--- __-__.__ _____.__             T H E   STANDAkD  BEAkEti
                                                   ..--._.              -.".-^.-.-.-                        ..-- _.........   -
need not secure from classis the right to call. It has isters of these churches, called to another congregation
this right by itself in virtue of the fact that Christ is this "Testimony of Doctrine and Life" also known as
instituted in His church offices. And the brotherhood a "Consistorial Credential." But the ministers of the
is in duty bound to ordain fit persons to these offices. "Gereformeerde" churches of the Netherlands must
But in view of the denominational tie the duty of produce for appraisal: (1) the call-letter with the
classis is to give to the calling church the spiritual letter of acceptance ; (2) a certificate of dismissal from
support that is needed. It therefore appoints a coun-          the consistory of the congregation last served ; (3) the
sellor  to advise the brotherhood at the calling of a min- Consistorial Credential ; (4) a certificate of dismissal
ister that the procedure may be orderly and legal. The from the classis within whose boundaries they func-
classis also ascertains whether there is ability to sup- tioned; (5) a declaration of the consistory whose call
port a minister and if not supplies what is lacking.           was accepted that the call has been approved by the
As was said, this latter a&ion  is the "hand-opening."" members of the calling congregation.
      The ordinance under consideration contains a                It is plain that, when the election of a minister
clause implying that a church with more than one takes place as among us, all that is needed is the  Con-
minister need not apply for a counsellor. The reason sistorial Credential; for in approbating the nomina-
for this is plain. When one of the pastors leave, this' tion, the calling church virtually approbates the call.
church is still in the possession of one to lead and           Then, too, the Consistorial Credential as approved by
advise it. Another clause in the need of some explana- Classis renders superfluous both the consistorial and
tion is the one that reads : Churches (without a  gastor)      the classical certificates of dismissal.'
shall call "with the advice of the counsellor . . . where         Let us pass on to the next ordinance: "Ministers
this until the present has been the custom." This already in the ministry of the Word shall be called
seems to imply that the custom varied and that only with the approval of the members of the calling con-
those churches following this usage were in duty gregation, as stated in article 4." When the election
bound to observe the above ordinance and apply for a of ministers takes place as among us, this particular
counsellor. We observe that in the 16th and 1'7th cen- ruling is without force.
turies the counsellor was unknown. The duties the                 The last clause of articie 5 reads: "Whereupon the
re&ed Church Order assigns to him were then per- minister called shall be installed with appropriate
formed by the  classis or by the pastors of two or three stipulations and prayers agreeably to the Form for
neighboring churches.        The Christian Reformed this purpose." This together with the "laying on of
churches in America have omitted the two above-cited hands" installation or ordination has been dealt with
clauses. In their Church Manual the ordinance in ques- in a previous essay. Enough, however, has not been
tion simply reads: "further with the advice of Classis said of these actions. We purpose to make them an
or of the counsellor appointed by the classis." Accord- object of more thorough study. The fruits of this
ing to this ruling every vacant'church without a single study will comprise the following article.
exception is in duty bound to apply for a counsellor.                                                         G. M. 0.
This is proper. For in virtue of the denaminationa!
tie, it is the right and duty of the  classis to supply the
leadership that a church with one minister looses when
it becomes vacant. The counsellor as was said repre-              What a strength and spring of life, what hope and
sents the  classis. In general his task is to advise the
vacant church in all eventual  dficulties  and in partic- trust, what glad, unresting energy, is in this one
ular to supervise the calling of a minister. The vacant thought, - to serve Him who is  "my Lord," ever near
church should go to him with their problems and  ditli-        me, ever looking on; seeing my intentions before He
culties. He may be asked to attend the consistory meet- beholds my failures ; knowing my desires .before  He
ings. Doing so, he functions not as a member of  con- sees my faults  ; cheering me to endeavor greater things,
sistory but merely as the consistory's advisor or  coun- and yet accepting the least; inviting my poor service,
sel1o.r. His vote is advisory and not decisive.
      The next ordinance found in article 5 to be consid- and yet, above all, content with my poorer love. Let
ered reads : "Ministers already in the ministry of the us try to realize this, whatsoever, wheresoever we be.
Word shall be called with the approval of the classis          The humblest and the simplest, the weakest and the
to whom the ministers called shall show good eccle- most encumbered, may love Him not less than the
siastical testimony of doctrine and life . . . .  " The busiest and strongest, the most gifted and laborious.
synod of Utrecht ruled that this testimony be approved If our heart be clear before Him ; if He be to us our
upon the meetings of the two  cIasses involved ; but in
exceptional cases if there is haste, by two neighbor- chief and sovereign choice, dear above all, and beyond
ing churches. For these exceptional cases a Christian all desired ; then all else matters little. That which
Reformed Classis  in America appoints two delegates concerneth  us He will perfect in stillness and in
from its own number. All that is required of the  min- power.


66                                   .THE  STANDARD  BEARER
                                           _p___"....."l__                      ..--.-.- -- _.-.
nen  zich uitspraken in onze tegenwoordigheid  aan-           An Open Letter to the Office-bearers
gaande de dingen  die onder ons volkomen zekerheid                of the Christian Ref. Churches
hebben. Hoe ze verlangden om in het gelid te treden
van de slagorde der Protestantsche Gereformeerde                   Esteemed and Worthy Brethren :-
Kerken !       Ze hebben genoten in deze weken zooals           Many of you will recall that a few months ago I
nooit  te voren, naar hun eigen getuigenis. En er zijn published in our paper an "Open Letter" addressed to
er daar meerdere..  Ons is de verzekering gedaan, dat your Churches as they were then assembled in  synod-
er binnen het jaar, onder Gods zegen, we1 dubbel zoo-        ical gathering in Grand Rapids,  Mich. In it I called
veel zullen zijn.                                            their attention to my labors among their sons and
      En dan nog gisteravond in Bellflower! Da&r  kwa- daughters, reported to them what I found to be the
men 130 menschen van Gereformeerden huize samen conditions among them and earnestly admonished and
om Ds. Hoeksema te hooren. En daar had ook ik het exhorted them to repent from their evil way. I assured
voorrecht om nog eenmaal meer die onvergelijkelijk           them of my earnest-prayer for the true, spiritual well-
schoone rede te hooren over "De  Stmyd  aJler Eeuwen."       being of the Church of Christ in the world, as repre-
Ademloos luisterden de menschen toe en naar de ge-           sented by them, as I also may do in this second Open
sprekken te oordeelen genoot men weer zooals in de Letter in all sincerity. It was not at that time, neither
dagen van ouds, vooraleer de. duisternis der  mensche-       is it now, our purpose to sow discord and contention
lijke filosifie  het vergezicht van Gods lievelingen ver- among the brethren, even though they need to be
donkerde. En ik ben verzekerd, dat ook daar er een rebuked because of their departure from the truth of
groep van volk is, dat niet Ianger wil buigen voor de the Word, both in doctrine and practice. To that first'
vervloekte Baalsgodsdienst der gemeene gratie met al letter I received no direct answer, though there were
zijn  vuige.aankleving  der Arminiaansche ketterij,  zoo- many indirect indications that it was read with pro-
als die neergelegd is in de beruchte Drie Punten,  on- found interest by some, I  centure  to hope by many, of
zaliger gedachtenis !                                        the brethren. This failure to answer my address to
      Heeft God geen groote  dingen  gedaan hier in Cali- your Churches I interpret to signify that, while yo,u
fornia? Het besterve u op de lippen. De Heere rekene must privately admit the truth of its contents, you
u die zonde niet toe en doe u met ons buigen voor Hem,       are not as yet ready openly and publicly to confess this.
om: "nauwkeurig op  Zijn werken en derzelver  uit-              Circumstances similar to those under which I wrote
komst te merken." En dan zal `t gaan.                        that first letter now prompt me, or are, at least, for me
      Let wel, God zette ons hier neer  - Hij plantte ons an occasion, to write a second missive. At the time I
hier met de liefde van Zijn Trouwverbond in het hart. wrote my former address I was laboring in California,
 Om te getuigeh  van `t.eeuwig  welbehagen!                  so I am at the- present time. Then I labored, preach-'
      Slaan we de oogen naar de oneindig schoone bergen      ing and teaching both publicly and privately, among
 heen  ; klimme slechts onze ziel op tot Hem die woont the sons and daughters of the Christian Reformed
 boven zonnegloren en der hemelen trans en weerklinke Churches ; the same is true at this time. Then I had
 tech onze bede : 0 ! God schraag dut vermogen !             come to  Redlands  not at my own initiative, but at the
      En dan zal `t eeuwig gaan !                            occasion of an earnest request of some of the brethren
                                                 G. V.       there to preach the truth among them ; now I am in
                                                             Los Angeles at the occasion of a similar request. And
                      KERKNIEUWS                             again I feel obliged and urged to address this letter to
      Viertal Oak Lawn: Cand. H. Kuiper, Dss. A. Cam-        you, both because I know that you are interested in
 menga, C.  Hariko, R. Veldman.                              my labors among your sons and daughters and, there-
      Beroepen te Doon, Ia.: Ds. L. Vermeer van Oska- fore, should report them to you, and because I feel thnt
 loosa, Iowa. .                                              you should be acquainted with spiritual conditions
                                                             among your own people in these parts. And I do this
                                                             the more gladly, because I have nothing to hide from
      Cast all thy care on God. See that all thy cares be you and have no desire whatsoever to work in secret.
 such as thou canst cast on God, and then hold none In fact, nothing would cause me to rejoice more than
 back.      Never brood over thyself; never stop short in to see your ministers present at our meetings, even as
 thyself; but cast thy whole self, even this very care they are invited, and gladly would we give them the
 which distresseth thee, upon God. Be not anxious about right to speak if they felt urged to do so. Suffer me,
 little things, if thou wouldst learn to trust God with therefore, to address this second epistle to you and to
 thine all.    Act upon faith in little things ; commit thy request you to read it carefully and prayerfully, seeing
 daily cares and anxieties to Him; and He will that I have at `heart God's cause and the true, spiritual
 strengthen thy faith for any greater trials. Rather; well-being of the Church of Christ in the world.
 give thy whole self into God's hands, and so trust Him          Permit me, then, first of all, to write a few words
 to take care of thee in all lesser things, as being His,    in explanation of the fact, that now as in the past, we
 for His own sake, whose thou art.                           have  selekted your Churches as the field of our labors,


                                        THE  STANbARD  BEARER                                       I                 67
-.... ~._-.-             .---.. I__ .._ -- ._...- --_..""ll-                          -        _-.._           --__--_
why we have not yet directed our work into the high- expel us from your fellowship that we are fundament-
ways and hedges, but are preferably laboring among ally Reformed ! But we have not changed one whit,
your sons and daughters. Often we have been and still worthy brethren, neither in doctrine nor in our sincere
are rather severely, yet unjustly, criticized because of love of the Christian Reformed Churches. Only our
this. The worthy and esteemed Rev. D. Zwier thought external position and relation to you as Churches has
to find in this our method of laboring a reason to changed. While formerly we labored  within  your
characterize our Protestant Reformed Churches as a Churches for their spiritual well-being, we now work
sect or as schismatic churches. The erudite and other- for the same purpose from  witt~out. I realize that, for
wise well-mannered Dr. C. Bouma in a radio-speech, reasons which I can never make my own, you would
according to reports of several ear-witnesses, ridiculed rather present the matter as if our calling and obliga-
our idea of mission-work, because of the fact that we tion to youward ceased as soon as we were expelled
chose the Christian Reformed Churches as our field of from fellowship. That is your viewpoint. But think
labor. .And do I not remember that also the broad- again, esteemed brethren, and you will readily see, that
minded Dr. Beets, though he certainly must have a this is not and cannot be our viewpoint. To assume the
warm spot for us in his heart, expressed the same attitude of indifference with respect to you and your
opinion? It is said that we should turn our attention Churches, their sons and their daughters, would be a
to a foreign field, to China or Africa ; or, if we cannot manifestation of enmity and hatred, not of true love.
at this time stretch our wings so far, that we shou!d           Believe me, therefore, brethren, it is in sincere Chris-
labor among the masses that have weaned away from tian love, with an anxiety in our hearts for your true
the gospel, in the highways and byways, but the very and eternsl  good, that we labor in the midst of your
notion that we feel it our calling to labor in the domain Churches. it is our calling before God. Your expulsion
of the Christian Reformed Churches is considered of us did not alter that calling in the least. We do
ridiculous.                                                     deplore, indeed, that fa:t that we must bestow this
    Yet, worthy brethren, let me call your attention to labor of love upon you from without, .but for this yo:~,
the fact, that our position in this respect is thor- not we, must assume the whole blame. But do you not
oughly Scriptural and is, from a spiritual and his- see, how our origin cannot be ignored by us, how it
torical viewpoint, the most natural thing in the world. determines for us our calling, God's calling with respect
    To begin with an elucidation of this last statement, to us, and how it is, from this viewpoint the most
let the brethren bear in mind, that we have our origin natural thing in the world for us to dire-t oxr attention
in the Christian Reformed Churches. This origin can- first of all and constantly to your Churches?
not be ignored. Its influence upon us cannot be denied.            Besides, worthy brethren, bear with me a little
It stands to reason that we feel how those Churches further, if I call your jttention  to the fact that there
are closer to our heart than any other denomination. still is a closer spiritualaffinity between your Churches
We sincerely love them, even though they did and still and durs than between our Churches and any other
do despise our love. In the past, before they so cruelly denomination.          For, we are Reformed in doctrine and
and unrighteously expelled us from their fellowship, life. You know this. You yourselves admitted this
we always w,ere  profoundly interested in their spiritual when you cast us out. Not only do we stand, as a
well-being. The brethren know this. They themselves matter of--form, on  the. basis of the Reformed Con-
can easily recall many a fact that would corroborate fessions, but we maintain them, we teach and preach
this statement. May `I remind you of our struggle for according to their principles, nor do we ever preach
the maintenance and improvement of Christian In- anything contrary to these, as you well know. Even
struction ; of our constant and hard battle for the after eight years of historical progress we stand ready
defense of our Reformed principles; of our part in the to be examined on the basis of the Word of God and
Bultema-case and in the Janssen-question? And may I the Forms of Unity. Never did we violate our pledge
not also call your attention to the fact, that we have made when we placed our signature under the Formula
finally been thrown out of your Churches be%ause we of Subscription. It was necessary for you to formulate
were maintaining the Reformed truth of sovereign and and adopt three points of doctrine that `are not only
particular grace over against those that advocated extra-confessional but contra-confessional in order to
common and general grace, because we maintained the find any excuse for our expulsion. You, worthy breth-
Reformed truth of total depravity over against them ren, and your Churches violated our common basis of
that would ascribe to the natural man the power to do agreement as found in the Forms of Unity and the
good? These things, worthy brethren, you cannot deny Church Order of Dordrecht. For, you added Three
and I am confident that many of you privately and in Points of doctrine to the Confession and you attempted
secret deplore what your Churches did with respect to to lord it hierarchically over legally ordained  office-
us. The Janssen-men you not only tolerated but you bearers and whole Consistories. You, therefore, de-
put them in high places and assigned to them positions parted from the truth, not we. I pray you, that you
of trust and importance ; us you cruelly and unjustly admit this, that you confess it before God and us! 0,
cast out, even giving us the testimony while you did how it would be for your own spiritual prosperity to


6 8                   1              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
_______                                            -     -                          -"-
make this true confession and to make it truly ! But, tain the Reformed truth. We have  seen  the growing
worthy and esteemed brethren, although you thus de- apostacy of your Churches. We have testified against
parted, we nevertheless feel that of all the denomina-        it. We have been cast out on account of our testimony.
tions in our land, you are nearest to us, especially too, `Is it, then, not historically correct and justifiable, is it,
because there are in your Churches many sons and in fact, not the only possible and proper course of
daughters that still love the Reformed truth and that action, that we labor among your children and make of
are ignorant of what took place in 1924. We feel that the Christian Reformed Churches our chief field of
here is a closer affinity between you and us than be- mission-work?
tween us and other Churches. There is a point of con-            Finally, brethren, what is of more importance than
tact between us and many of your children. These are all I have said thus far, this position is thoroughly
for us rather easy to reach. And they call for us. Scriptural.              Surely, the Lord enjoined upon His
The very best of your Reformed sons ask us to help Church in the world, that she should be a witness of
them. This would not be the case if in 1924 you had His name even to the end of the world, that she should
expelled heretics. The flower of your sons and daugh- preach the gospel to every creature and make disciples
ters will never flock to Rev. Bultema and embrace mill- of all nations. With this we have no dispute.  If we
ennialism. And Dr. Janssen had to leave the Church had sufficient power to carry out the truth of the Word
alone, even his friends forsaking him. But with us it of God even to the uttermost parts of the world, I
is different. We are Reformed, you yourselves giving assure you that we would gladly fulfil this calling. But'
us testimony to that fact. Do you not readily see, then, such is not at present the case. Also in this respect we
that from a spiritual point of view it is the most must follow the Lord and wait for His direction of the
natural thing in the world, that we should be drawn, way. But even then we would never be justified in
even without any effort on our part, into the domain of preaching the gospel to the heathen while neglecting
your Churches and choose it first of all as our field of the sons and daughters of Zion at home. That is not
labor? The best of your sons and daughters form the the Lord's will. Personally, for instance, I have never
best material for the-constituency of a Protestant Re- thought very highly of the Christianity of those mis-
formed Church.                                                sion-enthousiasts that were filled with the love of
       Furthermore, brethren, does not the history of the Hottentot and Chinese, but could hate you if you men-
Christian Church teach you clearly, that our course of tioned the Christian School ! Israel first ! Jerusalem
action was always the course taken by the true men of in the center, also of our mission-activity. The Lord
God, that loved the truth and battled to maintain it? sends His disciples to the lost sheep of the house of
What have all the reformers done in he past? What; Israel before they may return to the Gentile world.
if they loved the truth and were overpowered by its The proper guests must `be invited before the servants
testimony ; if their eyes were opened so that they saw may go into the highways and hedges. And even after
and deplored the growing apostacy in doctrine and life His resurrection He calls His disciples and His Church
of the Church in the world, - what course of action to be witnesses of Him, of His cross and resurre:tion,
did they take? What did they do, when, after for a of repentance and remission in His blood, first in Jeru-
while they had seriously attempted to reform the salem and Judea, then in Samaria and even unto the
Church within the Church, they were cast out because ends of the world. On the day of.,,Pentecost  the Church
of this attempt? Did they direct their eyes to other, to was gathered from the Church chiefly. And this rule
foreign fields in order to establish a new Church from remains to this day. And, therefore, worthy brethren,
wholly new material? Did Luther and Calvin turn you must not be surprised, still less provoked to anger
their eyes to Africa or China? Did De Cock in 1834?           when we continue to labor among you and your sons
Did Kuyper in 1886? Do you not see that this would and daughters first of all. It is not only the most
have been their condemnation? Do  ,you  not understand natural thing for us to do, but it also stands justified in
that they would have denied their calling had they done the light of Scripture.
so? But you know that they did not follow that course.           As to &y work in Los Angeles, you know what was
On the contrary, they chose as their field of labor the the occasion of my coming here. As early as last spring
very Church from which they had been expelled, in a brother that has been living in this large city for a
order that she might be liberated from the bondage of number of years corresponded with me. He asked me
men and from the imiuence  of error and stand in the whether it were not possible to come and organize a
liberty wherewith Christ had made her free. Think Protestant Reformed Church in Los Angeles, how
not, worthy brethren, that I consider the movement of many families would be necessary for that purpose,
the Protestant Reformed Churches equal in scope and and whether, in case they should organize, they could
importance to that of the Reformation of the sixteenth have a minister or student here to preach the Word
century, of the Secession of 1834 or of the "Doleantie" to them. I replied, that it did not so much depend
of 1886. I realize that we are small according to the upon the number of families, but upon the question of
standard of the world. But principally this makes not principle and love for the Reformed truth, whether or
a particle of difference. We love and desire to main- not a Protestant Reformed Church should be organized
                *


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         69

  in Los Angeles or anywhere else, and that it would             As to conditions here in Los Angeles from a spirit-
  probably be advisable that I should first come and         ual point of view, they are, indeed, very sad. A' few
  speak, in order that the people might become there are also here that understand and love the Re-
  acquainted with the truth as maintained by us, before formed truth and that are, for that very reason, dis-
  the question of organization was broached.        Then, satisfied with the condition of the Christian Reformed
  when upon a similar request from Redlands  I labored Church. But their number is not large. There are
  in the latter city, I came into contact with some people others here that have fallen asleep and that, on being
  from Los Angeles, that invited me to come here too and awakened out of their slumbers, still evince a longing
  labor among them. At that time I thought it more to be instructed in the truth. They do no more under-.
  expedient to confine my labors to Redlands; however, stand Reformed doctrine but are willing to learn. They
  partly because I had plenty of work to do there, and have never heard of the controversy about the question
  partly because I found that the field in Los Angeles of common grace and they are not aware that the
  was too unprepared and too vast to begin work there. Church in 1924 adopted three points of .doctrine  and
  in the few weeks of leave of absence I had obtained added them to the Confession.              Neither are they
  from my Consistory. During the past summer, how- acquainted with the Confessions. Yet, they are and
  ever, I received a couple of urgent requests from the always have been members of the Christian Reformed
  brethren here, complaining of the sad spiritual con- Church. And there are still others who are apparentiy
  ditions here and expressing a longing for the old Re- beyond redemption. They are being swallowed up by
 formed truth. I placed these before my Consistory and the world as they clearly reveal in their walk. Do not
they decided that I should gqand preach the truth in think, brethren, that I am exaggerating matters. On
 Los Angeles. From the Classical Mission Committee the contrary, I am expressing myself very mildly. The
 I received power to act in case it should be advisable brethren in this vicinity that love the Reformed truth
 to organize a Protestant Reformed Church in this city. and deplore these conditions, would paint the picture
     Whether it will come to organization of a congrega- in darker colors than those I am using. And I bring
 tion or not, it is too early at the time of this writing these conditions to your attention because I feel that
 to report. I have been laboring hard, preaching and you are responsible. Pray and labor, therefore, worthy
 teaching, both publicly and privately, according to the brethren, for a return of God's people to the old paths,
 best of my ability, diligently and prayerfully. But the that they may know .the truth and be  ,found h.oly and
 field is vast and the work is not easy. Los Angeles is a' blameless in the midst of the world, children of light in
 large city, as you know, and the people live over a the midst of a crooked and perverse generation!
 widespread area. Till now I have been confining my             Lastly, in order that I may not close this second
 labors chiefly to Los Angeles proper. On Sunday we epistle to you with this unspeakably sad picture of the
 have services three times, twice in the English and         Church in these parts, let me assure you, esteemed
 once in the Holland language. And during the week I brethren, that the Protestant Reformed  Churoh of
 lecture as often as possible. We meet in one of the         Redlands  is rejoicing in spiritual prosperity. It is a
 Seventh Day Adventist Churches. The audiences have joy to spend a day among them. It is surprising to
 not been  largeand the work is necessarily progressing notice  how*they  feel themselves one with the Protestant
-- slowly. But gradual1y.I~  am becoming more acquainted Reformed Church. They number at present fifty-one.
 with the field. Rev. G. Vos of Redlands  has offered me or fifty-two families and have, therefore, also grown
 his help and is with me a few days this week. Both outwardly. A real delight it was to me to preach for
 because of his energetic nature and because of his auto them at the occasion of the installation of Rev. G. Vos,
 he has been a great help to me already. Yesterday who is laboring among them and whose labors are
  (Oct. 12) we visited people in Belflower that had regu- greatIy  appreciated by the flock. Will you not rejoice
 larly attended our services here, with the result that with me, brethren, when I close this letter by calling
 we had a little gathering last night representing five your attention to this Protestant Reformed Church of
 families, and that it was decided that I should speak Redlands, that is glad because it feels liberated, that
 and labor there, the Lord willing, next week. Grad- rejoices in the truth, that is growing in the knowledge
 ually I begin to see, that although the work is vastly and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ?
 different here from that in Redlands, the Lord is bless-       Yours sincerely in the cause of Reformed truth,
 ing our labors and there is room for a Protestant Re-                                            H. Hoeksema.
 formed Church also in this vicinity. My time is too            P.S. Before I sent this Open Letter to the printer,
 limited to assure the brethren that this will be  accom-    I am glad to report to the brethren, that the Lord has
 pIished  during my present visit. Neither is this really been blessing my labors in these parts in Los Angeles,
 the chief question. The Word has been preached, the that a group of brethren and sisters have decided on
 hearts of many have been comforted and strengthened the fifteenth of October, that they can do no otherwise
 in the truth, the eyes of others have been' opened and than organize into a Protestant Reformed Church, and
 for the rest we will commit the work of ,the Lord to that, the Lord willing, this organization is to take place
 Him, Who will give fruit in His own time.                   on Monday, Oct. 24. - H. H.


     70                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                           --  -..-..  -- ..." ..."  ".                                    - .  .._..                          ---
                                  J u d a h                           was this very son of his - Judah. He had been con-
                                                                      stituted a shadow of the Christ by God's grace. As a
              Judd~,   thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise:
           thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; thy        result, he could utter on the occasion of Joseph's  self-
           father's children shall bow down before thee.              disclosure a speech from which animates a true nobil-
              Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey my son thou      ity. "0 my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak
'          art gone up: he stooped down, he crouched as a  Iixx,      a word in my lord's ear." How, as moved by a gen-
           and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up ?               uine  filial and fraternal love, he had pleaded with this
           With a soul filled with horror and disgust, occa- Egyptian lord to suffer not only with the lad but even
     sioned by the recollection of crimes long since per- in the lad's stead. "Now therefore when  I come to
     petrated, Jacob shifts his gaze from the two sons he thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us;
     had been addressing to Judah. The sight of this son seeing that his life is bound up with the lad's life ; it
     sets his mind to  persuing lines of thought that are shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not
     pleasant. He is full of words which the Spirit within with us, that he shall die ; and thy servants shall bring
     him constrains him to speak. So with a voice vibrant down the gray hairs of thy servant, our father, with
     with holy elation he declares, "Judah thou art he whom sorrow to the grave. For thy servant became surety
     thy brethren shall praise:' How fraught with convic- for the lad unto my father, saying, if I bring him not
     tion his speech ! They  s?zuZZ  praise  - Judah.                 unto thee then I shall bear the blame to my father for-
           Why him? Was he more praise-worthy than the ever., Now, therefore I pray thee, let thy servant
     `others? Had he not joined them in their wild reveries abide instead of the lad a bondman  to my lord ; and let
     in the days of his youth when away from home grazing the lad go up with his brethren. For how shall I gb
     the flocks of Jacob? Had his soul in those days refused up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest  per-
     to come into their secret; and his honour unto their adventure I shall see the evil that shall come of my
     assembly?        Had he been the one to bring to Jacob f a t h e r   ?"
     their evil report? What had he done to deliver Joseph               So he had spoken. Observe the language .of this
     out. of their hands beyond suggesting that instead of reply: tender and earnest. His words show that he is
     slaying him outright they sell him to the merchants? reconciled to the preference of Rachel and her sons in
     Had he not stood silently by when they had bidden the heart of Jacob. With the utmost tenderness he
     Jacob to inspect the blood-stained coat of Joseph? Had calls Benjamin the lad, the youngest child, the little
     he spoken when he heard his father draw the desired one. Cannot the man see that their father would die
     conclusion? Had he in the  assembIy  of his brethren should he lose this son also? How decisive his words.
     raised his voice in stern protest when they plotted to How earnest his entreaty that Joseph receive him in
     extirpate the Shechemites for having outraged their the room of the one who had incurred the sentence of
     sister? Had he not helped them execute their mur-                slavery. He prefers to die a slave in Egypt before see-
     derous designs  ? In all likelihood he had. Forsooth, ing the sorrow of his father. So does he volunteer to
     though he evidently had not been one of their ring- humble and to sacrifice himself for his brethren.
     leaders, essentially he was as wicked and guilty as
                                                           .             What a noble prefiguration of the" self-sacrificing
     they.                                                            Christ. How close to those speeches of Jesus setting
           How  then,is it to be explained that this son stands forth His firm determination to  identifyHimself  with                -
     out in Jacob's mind and prophesies as the one to be              the  &wilt of His brethren and to stand in their room to
     praised? Why does this father's visage become bright suffer their penalty does this address of Judah come.
     with joy when his gaze shifts to him? The sole reason Consider further that Judah was less guilty than the
     is that Judah was tile choice of a redeeming grace of rest, Benjamin, Reuben and Joseph excepted. Judah,
     God. And the characteristic of this grace is its ador- no doubt, had remonstrated with them. But the sons
     able sovereignty. It resolves to redeem and to bless of the concubines had  clamoured  for Joseph's  crue1
     without any consideration of what a man by himself dismissal with a fierce persistency that neither Reuben
     is. Therefore its gifts comprise a fulness that dwelleth nor Judah had openly dared to resist, it seems, with
     in Jesus Christ, one who in distinction from the any degree of firmness. Reuben had suggested casting
     child of grace is by Himself just and the just Saviour him in a pit, that he might have opportunity to secretly
     of men. He is the Judah - the Praiser of God, the deliver them out of their hands. Judah, ignorant of
     Extoller of His virtues, whom His brethren, those He Reuben's plan, and perhaps supposing that he, too,
     loved unto death, shall praise through Him their Re- intended to let him die in the pit, prevails upon them
     deemer.                                                          to at least spare his life. If they are so set on disposing
           This agrees perfectly with the utterances of  this of him, let them turn him over  to' the merchants.
     dying prophet. He says not, "have," but,  _"shall praise Judah's acquiescing in the sale was, it is certain, a con-
     thee  - Judah." He is looking in the future.                     cession and, of course, even as a concession a cruel sin.
           But is it correct to say that this prophet at this The others, nevertheless, were in the supreme sense the
     early date has Christ as the direct object of his vision? culprits. Yet when Judah stands before Joseph, he so
     Nay, not Christ, but Christ's shadow. And this shadow thoroughly identifies himself with the rest as to speak


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                      71
.--- ^....-.. ".I-__ - ..-...... ,..... .-                                                -. --.^ ^ ..-..-.................  ^ ..-......  ^ .
of "our iniquities." And his proposal to abide in the ments. His sole dictator is his very own good pleas-
lad's stead will set them all free, not because the Egyp- ure. For he crouches as a lion, and as an old lion ; who
tian had threatened to retain them all but because none shall rouse him up. He reigns, and he reigns supreme.
of them dared to return without Benjamin.                        What the lion is among the beasts of the field, he will
    It was this self-sacrificing spirit of his, this willing- be upon his throne. Unquestioned dominion will be to
ness to give his life as a ransom for others that con- him as king. If Jacob saw in Judah the shadow the
stitutes him a shadow, be  ii ever so faint, of his great faint outIines  of the Judah to came how is it to be ex-
Descendent. It was this that was seen by Jacob as the plained that he (the  Juda,h to be) rises before his
finger of God pointing him to the son to whom he now mind as a lion's whelp? Had Judah in the past shown
declared, "Thou art he whom thy brethren shall himself up as a personage of warlike prowess with an
praise." This mind of Judah, this Spirit, of meek- aptitude for statemanship ? The very reverse is true.
ness and humility and self-effacement will again be In the hour of Joseph's self-disclosure he had come to
seen in his saintly  descendents  who in turn will do the fore  as  a man with a remarkable capacity for  self-
service as so many shadows of His who is the true                denial. He is ready to lay down his life that the rest
Judah. But these shadows including Judah himself might live and that his father might again rejoice in
together with the corresponding reality  - Christ the possession of his favored child. The two sons that
Jesus  - rose before Jacob's eye as being one. True had given evidence of possessing the warlike qualities
perspective was lacking unto him. He saw them all - demanded in the conqueror were Simeon and Levi.
type and reality  - as standing on the the same hori- Yet they as to their anger are cursed and the meek and
zontal line. So conceived, it may truly be said, and self-effacing, Judah in his generations will be
must be said, that Jacob saw the Christ.                         elevated to a position of honour and glory among them.
   But how is this prophetic action of Jacob to be ex- Consider that Simeon and Levi had. lived by their
plained. Why did he prophesy. How is it to be ac- sword and therefore, unless  grace  intervened, had died
counted for that, having directed his gaze toward the by their sword. Simeon's anger is carnal. It springs
future, there arose before his eye - the Judah to be from pride and therefore ends in man. Essentially it
praised by the brethren. Were these utterances of his was an anger like unto the anger of the heathen who
the issue of human reflection? Was he giving espres-             rage, of people who imagine vain things, and of the
sion to a notion his mind by itself had created. Was kings of the earth who set themselves, of the rulers
his prediction a mere conclusion based on past events. who take counsel together, against the Lord, and
Or was he perhaps, as some say who will have nothing against his anointed saying, Let us brake their bands
of a God who also through the agent of revelation sees asunder, and cast away their cords from us. Therefore
the end long before that end as an event in history, the Lord through Jacob cursed Simeon's anger. He
makes its appearance,  - was he then speaking solely that sitteth in the heavens had laughed, the Lord had
of things that had already happened? In a word, was held them in derision (Ps. 2 :4).
he rejoicing in matters that the eye sees, and the ear            It is exactly the dispositions of a Judah that in the
hears, things that enter into the heart of man? `Nay. counsel of the Almighty and thus in the mind of every
Fact is, that Jacob here  speaks  of things the notion of true prophet of the Lord is associated with a blessed
which no man can. attain to-by-human reason. The holy dominion. And this, to be sure,.was rthe aharacter
Spirit of prophesy was upon this dying prophet, the of the dominion of which Jacob prophesied. For the
Spirit of revelation, inspiration, and illumination. This scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a law_giver                                    ,
Spirit was operative in him in conjunction with the from between his feet, until Shiloh come ; and unto him
type which he had been urged to ponder. But the Spirit shall the gatherings of the nations be. The meek in-
deposited in his soul the thought that the type, the. herit the earth. The just shall reign with Christ,
shadow - his very son Judah - was the replica of the those losing their lives and thus saving their lives.
Judah to come.                                                   Christ Himself, the true Judah, God hath mightily
   There is indeed evidence here (for the believing exalted, given Him a name above every name that at
mind) that what we now deal with is rightly consid- the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
ered the very speech of God. Consider the reason why heaven, and things in earth, and things under the
Judah will be praised: "thy (Judah's) hand shall be earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
on the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. For
shall bow down before thee. Judah is. a lion's whelp: Christ made Himself of no reputation, and took upon
from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped Him the form of a servant, and was made in the like-
down, he crouched as a lion, and as an old lion ; who ness of man: and being found in fashion as a man, He
shall rouse him up . . . . "                                     humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death,
   In this speech Judah appears, wonderful to say, as even the death of the cross. He was the true Judah,
a warrior, conquering, invincible, the supreme power the fulfllment  of Jacob's prophesy.
both in war and in peace. The majestic strength of                  In the mind of Jacob all those dispositions that en-
the lion is his. He is therefore sovereign in his  move- tered into the make-up, the construction, of Christ's


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72                                                T H E   ST'ANDA.RD  B E A R E R
              --__I  ..__........ - . ..--_    " ..__" .._._ ^ -._..-. -...--.-.-.         ----..-...-.  --  .-..........   "111"  -_._"                        . .._ --__
mind -- meekness, humbleness, obedience to God,                                                                                  BEKENDMAKING
trust in God, love for the brethren and the `Father -
were associated with a biessed, eternal, kingly rule.                                             Op de laatstgehouden Jaarvergadering van de Re-
For he cursed Simeon's anger; but catching sight of formed Free Publishing Association werden gedachten
Judah he jubilantly exclaims : "Judah thou art he . . ."                                   areopperd,
                                                                                           a                    om te trachten onderafdeelingen van  onze
This knowledge, too, was of God.                          The Lord had vereeniging te krijgen waar immer mogelijk; de rede-
taught through past events to make the proper associa- nen hiervoor zijn om meer belangstelling en voordeel
tions. Had he not seen this mind of Christ and domin- voor onze Standard Bearer op te wekken.
ion associated in the life of Joseph, at the age of                                               Aan  bet bestuur werd opgedragen om hiervoor een
seventeen the one champion of righteousness in plan te ontwerpen en dit in November voor de  vereeni-
Jacob's family, the prophet of "God, the friend of ging  te brengen; de gedachte om afdeelingen in het
Jehovah to whom the Lord had revealed His secrets,                                         leven te roepen  komt het bestuur niet wenschelijk voor
and who for his confession had been hated and de- om de volgende  redenen:
spised by his brethren, misunderstood by his father                                                       le. Zulke afdeelingen houdt in, dat we
and finally delivered by wicked brethren to the heathen
because he had rebuked evil and prophesied. All these                                            een  centraal  bestuur moeten hebben, bestaan-
trials had but served to bring him into relief as a man                                              de ,uit bestuursleden  der verschillende afdee-
of meekness, of humility, and of subservience to the                                                 lingen en dat zou groote onkosten met zich
counsel of God, by which he, such was his conviction,                                                brengen vanwege de groote afstanden ;
was being led on the way everlasting.
      He trusted in God, for this he was elevated to a                                                    2e. dat het veel moeite zou veroorzaken
position of honour and glory. And Jacob understood.                                                  omvoorkomende  zaken  in verband  met de uit-
His eye had opened to the fact that the mind of the                                                  gave van ons blad op  tijd te beslissen, daar het
saint and true dominion go together; but that the men                                                voor het bestuur nu noodig is eens per maand
of violence, of carnal prowess is cursed, and will be                                                te vergaderen.
scattered when God arises to drive away as smoke his
enemies.                                                                                           Daarom komt het bestuur met het voorstel om  aan
      To this conviction Jacob gave utterance when he ,de leden  te adviseeren hulpvereenigingen op te richten,
cursed Simeon's anger and declared to his fourth-born daar deze opzichzelf staande lichamen zijn met eigen
son:  Judah, thou art he . . . . The sceptre shall not                                     gekozen bestuur en hun dan adviseerende stem te  ge-
depart from Judah. "Thy hand shall be in the neck ven in zaken  van de R. F. P. A.
of thine enemies." There will be enemies to Judah.                                                Het doe1 dezer vereenigingen is :
This is not strange ; for Judah is meek, and in his                                                      a. Onze beginselen te verspreiden binnen
meekness, praises God, confesses His name, witnesses
for the truth.                                                                                       en buiten onze kringen ;
      Therefore the world, the men of carnal prowess                                                     b. Niet alleen  leden  der Standard Bearer
will revile him, but he will not revile again. He will                                              maar zooveel mogelijk leden  der R. F. P. A. te
suffer ; but instead of threatening will commit. him --~~ krijgen, daar de. kostende prijs  vanons- blad
self to Him that judgeth righteously. Therefore he
will gain the ascendancy. His hand will be in the neck                                               $3.50 per jaar bedraagt en het leesgeld slechts
of his enemies. Of this Jacob was certain. Such, too,                                                $2.50 is;
had been the unmistakable testimony of the prophets                                                      c. Om gelden te verzamelen.
through whom the Lord in the preceding ages had
spoken. The Lord himself had been the first to say:                                               Ieder lid heeft het recht  hierop aanmerkingen te
"I will set enmity . . . . ; It her seed, shall bruise thy maken  of verbeteringen aan te brengen en, indien men
head." And had not Enoch the seventh from Adam, niet op de vergadering kan komen, dit te zenden aan
prophesied of these saying, Behold, the Lord cometh                                        ondergeteekende.
with ten thousand of his saints to execute judgment                                                                             Uit naam der board,
upon all . . . . "' Had not the righteous  Noach  fallen                                                                                    Frank Vander Laan,
heir to the world?
      And so Judah will continue to reappear in every                                                                     1019 Dunham St., Grand Rapids,  Mich.
saint raised up by the Lord to rebuke evil and to de-                                             Deze speciale  ledenvergadering van de Reformed
clare His glories. In particular he will reappear in Free Publishing Association zal gehouden  worden,  zoo
David, in Solomon, and finally in David's great son, de  .Heere wil, Donderdagavond,  7:45,  November 10,
Christ Jesus. He is the Lion, whom no one rouses, 1932, in the basement van de Fuller Ave. Protestant
Lord supreme, unto whom was given all power in Ref. Church.
heaven and on earth, because He stood in the breach.                                              Zeer waarschijnlijk zal Ds. H. Hoeksema dien avond
                                                                   G. M. 0.                een speech voor ons houden.

                                                                                      -                                                      ~~~ __I. .-  ."._  ---. --  .I-..


                                               A   * R e f o r m e d   S e m i - M o n t h l y   M a g a z i n e ,
                               PUBLISHED BY THE REFORMED FREE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION, GRAND RAPIDS,  MICH.



                    AlI  money  matters should be addressed

                                                                   Entered u recond  clear  mall matter  at Grand  R~~ctidr, MIMI.
              -.               "-_--                           .--..... -.".._I_                            -..                .._^_                -____I__
              Vol. IX, No. 4                                                          NOVEMBER 15, 1932                                 Subscription Price, $2.50


                                                                                                       Lord, saying: 0 Lord God, thou hast begun to shew
                            MEDIT'ATION                                                                thy servant thy greatness and thy mighty hand; for
             P--c
                           ---                                                                       I what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do
                                                                                                       according to thy works, and according to thy might?
                                   Let It Suffice Thee!                                                I pray thee, let me go over and see the good land, that
                                                                                                       is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain and Lebanon?
                                           But the Lord  was wroth  tit&  rpe  for                        How perfectly proper seems the request!
                                        your sakes, and would not hear me; and the                        For, was he not simply asking that the Lord  might
                                        Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak                  crown the labors of His servant, labors that had been
                                        no more unto me of this  .matter.
                                                                                    Deut. .3 :26.      accomplished according to the very calling wherewith
                                                                                                       Jehovah had called him, with fmal success ?
                    0 Lord God, suffer me, I pray !                                                       How proper, how whqlly in accord with Moses' call-
                    How frequently it occurs in the life of God's people ing this last request would appear! For, although this
             in the world that they earnestly  pray the Lord for is not  eirpressly  mentioned in the prayer of Moses,
             what would appear perfectly proper and even  God- although he apparently merely requests the Lord that
             glorifying, while yet their prayers  are  refused !                                       he may be permitted to see the land beyond Jordan, it
                    It was so with the prayer of Paul, when he is evidently implied that he would fain lead the chil-
             earnestly besought the Lord three times to remove dren of Israel into their promised rest and see them in
             from him the thorn in his flesh, to deliver him from the possession of their inheritance. For, he would see the
             angel of Satan that was buffeting him, and when the end of the mighty works of God. He longed to see the
             sole and ultimate answer he received was: My  grBce--   fulfllment  of" the promise. He desires that he may be
             is sufficient for thee !                                                                  instrumental to lead the people of God's covenant into
                    And a similar prayer left the lips of the man Moses, the land of promise. ,4nd such had been his calling !
             almost at the end of his life, when he impIored Jehovah For this purpose the Lord had revealed Himself to him
             to revoke His sentence and to suffer him to pass over at the Mount of God and sent him to deliver His people
8'         y Jordan.                                                                                   from the bondage of Egypt! The prayer, therefore,
                    Still the people of Israel were encamped in the was in harmony with God's own calling of His servant.
             plains of Moab. It was now the first day of the eleventh                                     Proper, too, the prayer appears, in consideration of
           month of the fortieth year after the deliverance of al the previous labors and sufferings. of the man
             God's people from the house of bondage. And the man Moses ! How arduous, how humanly impossible had his
           of God, who all these years led the covenant-people task been, during the forty years that he led the people
             through the dreary desert, is addressing them and  re- through the desert, judged them and revealed to them
           viewing their history before them as one great  testi-                                     the will of God! How heavy had been the burden he
      6      mony to the faithfulness of their God. And he recalls was called to carry, as he bore the people in his bosom!
             how he implored the Lord to forgive and be merciful What shame and reproach he had endured, what con-
             to him, his servant, and let him pass over Jordan with tradictions and threatenings  even from the very people
             the people. At that time, just about the time when he he so guided, he had suffered in the terrible desert!
             prayed the Lord to, appoint a successor that might lead What deprivation and misery had been his lot for their
             the children of Israel into the promised land, just bei sake ! Was it not on account of their sin and rebellion
             fore he was commanded to anoint Joshua the son of that he, too, must wander with that wicked generation
             Nun, as captain of his people, Moses had besought the in the  wildmuss? And had he not shown himself

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

patient and humble, the meekest of all the children of        Our apparent piety may evoke His holy dis-
men? Had he not repeatedly mediated for them before pleasure !
the face of the Lord, imploring the Lord that for His          HOW evident this is from the prayer of Moses and
name's sake He would not destroy the people ? . . . . its being denied by Jehovah! Evident already this
      And now? . . . .                                      must be from the very fact that the Lord refuses the
      Must he see the people go over this Jordan and        request of His servant. The Lord would not hear him !
inherit the promised land without him? Must he re- This would point to the fact, that the servant had re-
main behind and die on this side of Jordan ? Is he to peatedly and earnest sought the face of the Lord in
be refused a request that his labors be crowned with this matter and that he had-failed to find it! The Lord
the final blessing of the  Lcrd and he may see them so did not incline His ear to the petition of His servant!
crowned? . . . .                                           He, that had so frequently mediated for the people,
      0 Lord God, let me, I pray, go over !                that had talked to the Lord face to face, whose earnest
      How proper the prayer! . . . .                        prayers. had been heard even in the .darkest ,hours,  of
      And how pious the motive !                            sin and rebellion, now fails to find audience with. his
      For, the Lord had just begun to show His great- God! This is evident, too, from the final answer he
ness and His mighty hand. The promise was about to receives.               When the Lord finally does answer the
go into effect. Sihon had been defeated and Og had prayer of His servant, it is not merely to refuse, but to
been overcome and their land had been taken in posses- command him to speak no more of this matter! The
sion by part of the tribes of Israel. And this begin- Lord is not pleased with the prayer of His servant and
ning of the realization of the promise had created with- Re will hear no more of it! And, lastly, this is evident
in the servant of the Lord an inexpressible longing, an from the testimony of the servant, that the Lord was
irresistible desire to behold the whole of God's mighty angry with him for the sake of the people ! He had
work, to see the promise in its glorious and perfect experienced that anger of the Lord, when he refused
fulfilment.      Heretofore he had born his sentence in to speak to the rock and struck it in hot anger with the
silence, though with grief of heart. Now he could no people. Now, at the time when he beseeches the Lord
more subdue the longing that has always smouldered to let him go over this Jordan, he feels that anger of
in his bosom like a fire that would not be quenched . . . Jehovah once more ! . . . .
      Lord, let me go over, I pray! . . . .                    The displeasure of Jehovah is revealed in answer to
      `Let me lead thy people into their promised rest and what appeared a proper and pious prayer of His  .eerv-
crown the labors of thy servant with thy blessing ! . . . . ant Moses !
      For long years we have been a spectacle, when in         The Lord was angry wit.h me for your sakes !
the desert it seemed as if Thou wouldest destroy thy           This cannot and does not mean, that Jehovah was
people and as if they would never inherit the promise. angry with His servant because of the sin and rebel-
Now Thou hast begun to ehew thy greatness and thy lion of the people in the desert, as if the man Moses
mighty hand ! . . . .                                      would here lay the blame of his failure to enter into
      Let me see the end of thy work!                      the promised land on the people of Israel. For, not be-
                                                           cause of the'sin of the people, but because of his own
                          -         -                      sin was Moses denied the privilege of leading the people.
                                                           into their rest. Besides, this is not the meaning of the
                                                           expression : for your sakes. For David's sake  means :
      Speak no more unto me of this !                      for the love of David ; for M~J mme's sake means : for
      Such is the answer from heaven ; decided, final is the love of My name ; and for your sakes can only
the refusal !                                              signify: because the Lord loves you ! . . . .
      The answer leaves no room for doubt; cuts off all        The Lord was wrotb with me because He loves you !
hope; will not suffer the petitioner to ask again. It          How well the servant knew the nature of his sin
even reveals an element of displeasure.                    and the reason for the anger of the Lord upon him!
      -What appears proper and even very religious and         He had refused to bring forth water out of the rock
pious to us, what seems to us to be in perfect harmony for the  rebelhous  congregation ! He had forgotten for
with the will of the Most High and to His glory, even a moment, that the people were God's people, the ob-
in our prayers, is not infrequently contrary to His holy jects of His sovereign love, chosen to proclaim His
will and displeasing in His sight.' Our thoughts are not glory and praises. Part of the people, the carnal ele-
,His thoughts! He is so wholly different from us! He ment of them, had murmured and rebelled against .the
is so spotlessly holy, so unchangeably righteous, so  un- Lord because of want of water and the Lord had com-
searchably divine in all His ways, that we must always manded His servant Moses to speak to the Rock that
again learn to be silent before His sovereign majesty. followed them and thus to intercede for His people.
His ways are infinitely above ours ! . . . .               But Moses had been angry with the people and had
      What we would judge to be pure and just may be lost his patience and meekness, had forgotten that he
wholly damnable in His judgment! . . . .'                  was called to lead the Church of God, had insulted that

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-l...l_l__.l           _......      _    THB  S?ANbARD  B E A R E R                                                    75
                                                                                                        ..-.^.I_______
Church, the beloved of God, refused to intercede for            Such is, no doubt, the implication of the answer the
them anymore and, striking the rock in hot anger, had servant of Jehovah receives upon his earnest petition to
said: must we bring forth for you water out of this be permitted to cross the Jordan with the people of
rock, you rebels? . . . .                                   God: Let it suffice thee ! For, in these words the Lord
     At that time the servant of the Lord had failed in does not mean to say: this is enough, thou hast asked
his mediatorial calling!                                    often enough about this matter, speak no more of this ;
     Very patient he had been, humble and meek in the but: what I gave thee of my grace and glory is suffi-
midst of the stiffnecked people, more than any man. cient for thee ; let it suffice ! . . . .
But once he had been oblivious of the fact, that Israel         And,  0,  what a different conception this answer
was the people of Jehovah, precious in His sight.           gives US of Moses' calling and labors, of his struggles
     In one moment of hot anger he had revealed that, and sufferings, and of his final prayer and the Lord's
meek though he was, he still fell short of that perfect r e f u s a l   !
meekness that was necessary to be the perfect Mediator          We would be inclined to judge, that the Lord is
of God's beloved, yet sinful, people.                       severe with His servant when He refuses this earnest
     He could not bring the people into the rest!           request! True, Moses had sinned once, and the Lord
     Also in him the type was glorious, yet imperfect, had justly sentenced him. But he had been so faithful
pointing in its very imperfection to Another, that in all things, he had labored for the Lord's cause so
would be perfectly meek and lowly of heart, that would hard, he had suffered so much, he had endured so much
love the Church of God even unto death, yea, the death shame and contradiction for Jehovah's sake, that this
of the cross, that through death He might lead His last request might well be granted him. We are in-
brethren into- the eternal rest, our Lord Jesus Christ! clined to judge that by all his ardent zeal for the Lord
     It required another to finish the work Moses had Moses had merited the granting of this one and last
been called to begin.                                       petition ! . . . .
    The type in Moses called for Joshua! And both to-          How faulty is our judgment! . . . .
gether they call for the better and perfect Joshua!            Let it suffice thee! Let what I bestowed on thee
    Moses may see the land' from afar, but he cannot thus far be enough for thee !
lead the people into it.                                       For all had been grace ! His calling at the mount of
   * His petition in this matter, proper and pious though God, His position as mediator of the old dispensation,
it may appear, is not pleasing in the sight of the Lard.    his labors as such among the people of God, in Egypt,
    The refusal is final and decisive.                      in the desert, his struggles and sufferings in behalf of
    Speak no more of this ?                                 the house and covenant of God, his meekness and
                                                            strength to endure and be patient more than any man,
                                                            so that he  couid bear the heavy burden he was called
                                                            to carry these forty years, - all this had not been a
    My grace is sufficient for thee !                       gift of Moses to God, but Jehovah's grace bestowed
    How often must this needs be the sole answer we upon Moses. And now he might look for the recom-
receive to our earnest petitions !                          pense of reward, eternal glory ! . . . .
    And how frequently must this answer serve us to            Let it suflice thee !
change our own mind and our own judgment about the             For, it is given us of grace, in the cause of Christ,
ways and the work of God, that we may know Him and not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer with Him !
abide in His will !                                            That we may also be glorified with Him in His day !
    My grace is sufficient for thee, even though it is a       Grace for grace !
grace that reveals itself in an angel of Satan that must                                                      H. H.
buffet thee, in a sharp and troublesome thorn in the
flesh  ; the thorn we would have removed becomes, as                                --1_1
soon as we have understood the Lord's answer to our
prayers, a gift of His grace !                                 We never have more than we can bear. The present
    My grace is sufficient for thee, even though the way hour we are always able to endure. As our day, so is
leads through fire and through water, through suffer- our strength. If the trials of many years were gath-
ing and affliction, through shame and reproach, through ered into one, they would overwhelm us; therefore, in
prison and through death, from the threat and suffer- pity to our little strength, He sends first one, then an-
ing of which we would fain be delivered; the very way other, then removes both, and lays on a third, heavier,
of suffering and pain becomes a token and means of perhaps, than either: but all is so wisely measured to
God's grace unto us, as soon as we have become accus-       our strength that the bruised reed is never broken.
tomed to the way of the Most High and understood We do not enough look at our trials in this continuous
that, as far as His ways are above our ways so far and successive view. Each one is sent to teach us
are they the better.                                        something, and altogether they have a lesson which is
    My grace is sufficient for thee !                       beyond the power of any to teach alone.


                                           THB  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            81
_I-..               -                                    -.-.                       -.-  "-                              -
                              Judah                                 old." The true house of David was the remnant accord-
                                                                    ing to the election with Christ as the nucleus.
         The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-           So then, when Christ came all those aspects of the
    giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come;  and            royal lineage of Judah that were typical had been made
    unto him shall the gathering of the people be.                  to disappear. But through the ages this line continued.
         Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto    Its end appeared as a hewn-down trunk in the person
    the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and
    his clothes in the blood of grapes: his eyes shall be red       of one Mary, who as overshadowed by the Spirit
    with wine, and his teeth white with milk.                       brought forth her tist-born child whom she called in
                                                                    obedience to the instruction of the angel, Jesus. Ii`or
   Judah is the king. A royal lineage is to run through He was the branch. He was the true king with the
his  tribe  that  will  tetinate in  the  Christ  who in this       promise of a heavenly kingdom. Both were at  first
specific prophetic utterance bears the name of Shiloh, without form and comeliness. There was no beauty
meaning the prince of peace, the Judah. In the final that anyone should desire Him. He was despised, and
instance it was He who rose before the eye of Jacob.                rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted
This is plain from such" utterances as, "and unto him with grief; for He had come with the kingdom within
shall the gatheiing of the people be." A saying of this Him. And this kingdom He preached ; its laws He
kind cannot be made to apply even to the mightiest and lived and declared. Therefore men esteemed Him not.
most noble prefiguration of Christ, to wit, king David. Thus the humiliation of Jesse's house continued for a
In fact, all of these statements if taken absolutely season.                 But when He had done with bearing our
could find their fulfilment only in Judah's great De- griefs and with carrying our sorrows, He was exalted,
scendent. Lived there ever a mere mortal who, be- and with Him the fallen house of David. Then He
cause of his great power could rightfully live in the took on form and is seen by faith as a King glorious.
dread of no one? But such a one is Judah: "he He when He shall appear we, His kingdom, shall, ap-
couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse pear with Him - in glory.
him up"? What Old Testament saint, however worthy,                     In view of this temporary eclipse of Jesse's house,
found such favor with the Lord that men in their en- how could it be said by the dying prophet that from
deavor to adequately describe the greatness of the Judah the scepter would not depart? The truth of
abundance he received in token of that favor said of the matter is plainly this: the true Shiloh had not yet
him, "He washed his garments in wine."                              appeared, but was concealed in Judah to be born until
   In our previous. essay we showed that in the the time appointed by that holy line diverging from
economy of grace the dispositions of the typical Judah him. The prediction in question then can only mean
and the royal dignity that was to be his in his genera- that this lineage would be made to extend itself
tions go hand in hand, that therefore dominion was to until in the person of Mary it brought forth the
be to Judah.                                                        Christ. The scepter and the Christ  `were by divine
   Let us now attend to these elements of this prophesy decree so associated in the lineage-of Judah that the
not yet touched upon. "The scepter shall not depart former could not appear should the latter fail to make
from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, its appearance. It means that the scepter would have .
until Shiloh comes:" This prediction has given com- departed from Judah at that very juncture this lineage.
mentators considerable trouble. The prevailing view had lived itself out and ccme to an end, - departed
seems to be that Judah's typical throne would abide not to be ,deposited  in another family or tribe but to
and be occupied until the advent of Christ. But with be gone forever. Judah therefore will be made to per-
this interpretation of the utterance in question, latter petuate himself until Shiloh comes. The Lord hath
prophesy and history does not agree. Judah's typical said it. The lawgiver therefore shall remain between
throne fell some four hundred years before Shiloh his feet.
made His appearance.             And even before this the              "Until Shiloh comes , . . " That the name Shiloh
typical scepter had several times departed from Judah. in the final instance signifies a person is the only view
Often in that pre-exile period the Judaic dynasty was that can be gotten out of the utterances of this prophet.
overthrown and completely shorn of its  splendour.                  The gathering of the nations shall be unto him, and he
The royal family tree of Jesse as to its power, majesty, shall wash his clothes in  vvine. Such sayings must be
and glory was cut down, so that all there remained of made to turn upon a definite personage or they yield
it was a mere stem or stump ; but a stump firmly rooted no sense. The true Shiloh is the Christ. As, was said,
in the ground. Out of these roots grew a branch, out however, His visage was seen not directly but as re-
of them a rod. And this rod was Christ. And the fleeted  in a glass comprised of a number of successive
promise of that group of prophets of which Isaiah was prefigurations that the Lord in the centuries preceding
perhaps the most illustrious representative, was :  "In His coming caused to appear. A study of Israel's his-
that day will I raise up the house of David that is tory brings out that the word Shiloh as a proper name
fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will must be made to apply in the first instance to at least
raise up His ruins, and I nil1 build it as in the days of some of these prefigurations. The first of these was


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     82                                    THli  STANDARD  B E A R E ' R
_I-----_-- .-._._..-.                                                 -         -                            _................... ^^"._ll___-
the event of Jehovah entering with His people the the land among the tribes. YI'he Lord gave unto IsraeI
typical rest of Canaan.                                            all the land which He sware to give unto their fathers ;
'          Canaan was the Shiloh land and Jehovah the rest and they possessed it and dwelt therein."
and peace (such is the signification of the word                      And in this land the Lord with His people came to
Shiloh) of His people. True peace is not to be sepa- rest. He gave them rest round about "according to all
rated from His person ; for He by Himself is perfect that He sware unto their fathers: and there stood not
rest and peace and the Meritor,  Source and Giver of a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord de-
all rest, so that they only whose portion He is come to livered all their enemies into their hand. There failed
rest. Such have peace toward Him through the blood. not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken
And they appear before His face and come to rest in unto the house of Israel; all came to pass." Joshua
the light of His countenance.                                      21:43-45.
           Before His face . .  .' . they appear.  ,If so there       Canaan was the Shiloh land, a country of rest and
must be a place rendered particularly bright by the of a peace that consisted in God reigning in the midst
radiance of His blessed countenance, a definite place of His enemies by Himself and through His people  -
to which they who thirst for God can repair and be a peace therefore that was at' once a state of mind to
with Him. In Paradise this place was the tree of life.             be defined as a blessed inward quietude springing from
When sin entered the, world, the altar became the                  t,he nation's consciousness that it was reconciled to
meeting place between God and the penitent sinner. God through the blood of the offering, that God there-
Later the altar was stationed in the sanctuary of the              fore was on its side with His hand on the neck of the
tabernacle, constructed by Moses under divine direc- adversary. And as to this rest, what was it as to its
tion for worship. Wherever this tent with its  aItars positive side but a hallowed activity that never wearies
and ark was pitched, the symbol of the presence and and that consists in perpetually contemplating His
the glory of the Lord - the cloud - was seen. During glories as seen in the works which He had wrought and
the wanderings of Israel in the desert, the cloud cov- in unbroken praise of His name.
ered this tent and the glory of the Lord filled it. Ex.               Of this rest and of this reign of peace, the city of
40 :35.                                                            Shiloh was the very seat and center for a season. This
           So then, in His holy tabernacle near the altars that was His rest. Here He dwelt and satisfied the poor
stood in its sanctuaries, the Lord  - the King of peace with bread. Here the priests were clothed by Him
and rest, the Shiloh - dwelt and exercised His rule. with salvation. Here the saints shouted aloud for joy.
On the arrival in Canaan, this sacred tent was  finally It is plain that with the coming of the Lord to Canaan
pitched at Shiloh. And whereas this structure housed and in particular to the city of Shiloh - that seat of
the throne (the ark of the covenant) and the altars of blessed reign of peace - Jacob's prophesy went into
God, it follows that the placing of it at Shiloh signified initial fulfilment. What in the first instance had risen
that at this spot Jehovah now took up His residence, before the eye of this prophet when on his dying bed
and by His presence the very center and seat of His he jubilantly exclaimed, "The scepter will not depart
gracious government over a people with whom He from Judah until Shiloh comes," was the spectacle of
now, after the holy warfare had been wared,  took up Jehovah entering His rest and tabernacling with his
His-abode in a -land converted by His might into a                 (Jacob's) seed in. Canaan the Shiloh land. It shows
region of rest and peace. The city of Shiloh in dis- how deeply the promise, "And I will establish my cove-
tinction' from all other places  (Gilgal, Nob, and nant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in
Gibeon) where the sacred tent was placed actually ap- their generations for an everlasting covenant . . . .
pears in the sacred record as a place so favored. It And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee,
was it Shiloh were the host of the Lord was encamped the land wherein thou art a stranger . . . . for an
while Joshua divided the land unto the children of `everlasting possession  ; and I will be their God,"  - it
Israel. To Joshua and to the host at Shiloh, yea to the shows how deeply this promise had embedded itself in
Lord Himself, the spies who had passed through the Jacob's soul.
land (of Canaan) and described it returned. Here                      It is to be noticed that even in the centuries pre-
at Shiloh the lots were cast before the Lord in token ceding Judah was elevated to a position of pre-
that the rest now entered into was Jehovah's                       eminence among his brethren. His position in relation
           Jehovah's rest it was. For the battle had been His. to the tabernacle at rest was foremost among the tribes
Israel had gained the ascendency  because the wicked during the period of their wanderings in the desert
tribes infesting Canaan had been delivered into its                (Num. 2:3, 4). In Nashon  his descendant he led the
hand by the Lord. The victory gained had been His tribes in offering for the tabernacle (Num. 2:3, 4) ; the
gracious gift-and  the promised inheritance the spoil standard of the camp of the children of Judah occu-
taken in a war He through the sword of Joshua had pied first place in the Israelitish host when marching
waged. The prize gained therefore belonged exclusively             (Num.  10:14). He was singularly honored in Caleb
to the Lord. As a consequence it was He Who through another decendant  of his (Num. 13 :6). When as the
the instrumentality of His servant Joshua distributed result of the evil report of the spies, sent out to search


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                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                       83
            -_--.        - ..__.  ^_       -_         -...-_.                ...__I        __--              -.-
the land, the congregation murmured against Moses reality of which lied in the distant future. "For," in
and Aaron, Caleb and Joshua rent their clothes, and the words of the writer of the Hebrews, "if Joshua had
rose up in defence of the Lord. Said they, " . . . Rebel given them rest, then would He not afterward have
not against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the spoken of another day." There remained therefore a
land ; for they are bread for us : their defence is de- rest, a keeping of the Sabbath, to the people of God.
parted from them, and the Lord is with us, fear them The true  city-of Shiloh is the Jerusalem above.. Unto
not." Marking Caleb's faith, the Lord openly declared this city and unto Him  ivho would reign there the
that He would bring him into the land whereinto he gathering of the nations would be. The heavenly Jeru-
went; and that his seed should possess it. The car- salem Christ would enter with His people redeemed by
casses of the murmurers on the other hand would  faI1             Him to God by His blood out of every kindred and
in the desert (Num.  14:6-10, 24). As to Caleb, he tongue, and people and nation.
was assured that the very land he had trodden upon                    So then, this initial coming of Jehovah with His
would be given to him and to his children  (Dem.  1: people unto the  earthly   Shfiloh  was but a token of
36). This promise had a meaning  also` for Israel in better things to come. Slhiloh,  together with the reign
the way of a pledge that the Lord would do unto His of peace and rest of which it was the seat, belonged to
people as He had spoken, so that eventually it would the things shakable and was therefore destined to
come into the possession of the promised inheritance. again disappear from view to make room for an even
On the arrival in Canaan after the extirpation of the more glorious prefiguration of the eternal kingdom of
Canaanites Caleb was the first to receive his promised peace of Jesus Christ,
portion. He is given the mountain where formally the                  Fact is therefore that Shiloh's rest was disturbed;
Anakins dwelt with the cit,y of Hebron, which before its peace soon gave way to tumult and strife. A cloud
was called Kirjath-arba (Joshua  6:!4).  The next settled upon Shiloh and its glory departed with the loss
event recorded is the +receiving  of the inheritance on of Jehovah's throne - the ark of the covenant. Israel
the part of Judah. His lot extended to the border of ceased to dwell safely in the land. The reason for these
Edom;  the wilderness of Sin southward the uttermost reverses was Israel's sin, its failure to keep covenant
part of the south coast. This notice is immediately fidelity., The written record of the  apostacy  of the
followed by the record of Caleb's successful attempt nation and the woe that overtook it is the second half
to expel by force of arms the Canaanites from his in- of the second chapter of the book of the Judges  :, "And
heritance (Joshua 15). Then Shiloh comes. Joshua the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord,
18:l: "And the whole congregation of the children of and served Balaam. And they forsook the Lord God
Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the of their fathers, which brought them up out of the
tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land land of Egypt, and followed other Gods, of the gods of
was subdued before them." I-Iere Joshua now cast the people that were round about them, and bowed
lots for the remaining seven tribes (Joseph had already themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger.
received his inheritance with Judah) in Shiloh before And they forsook the Lord, and served Baa1 and Xsh-
the Lord and divided the land unto them according to taroth. And the anger of the Lord was* hot against
their divisions (Jos. 18 53-10).  Thereupon forty-eight Israel, and He delivered them in the hands of spoilers
cities were given by lot, out of the other tribes, unto that spoiled them, and He sold them into the hands of
                                                                 -__  ~-
the  Levites.  The record closes with the notice that their enemies round about, so that they could not any
God gave the land and rest unto Israel according to longer stand before their enemies . . . . and they
His promise.                                                      were greatly distressed. Nevertheless the Lord raised
   In the  final section of Jacob's prophesy, Canaan ap- up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of
pears as a land of marvelous furtility and Judah as a those that spoiled them. And yet they would not
figure of rich enjoyment : "Binding his foal unto the hearken."
vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine ; he washed             Besides the incursions of the enemy, the nation was
his garments in wine, and his clothes in the bIood  of torn by internal strive. Chaos reigned. Every man
grapes: his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth did that which was right in his own eyes, there being
white with milk."      The territory of Judah was no king, no centralized government, to impress its
distinguished for a great abundance of vines "so little pious spirit upon the nation (Judges  21:35).  There
cared for that the traveler tied to them his beast." was to begin with the affair of the Levite who went to
Wine was produced in such abundance that it could Bethlehem to fetch home a wife abused to death by the
be used as a substitute for water in which to wash Gibeathites. The Benjaminites refused to repudiate the
clothes.                                                          crime and to punish the evil doers and with the excep-
   Thus their stood out before Jacob's mind the main tion of  six  hundred were destroyed by their brethren.
features of Judah's future  - his pre-eminence, his The Danites left the territory assigned to them in
struggles and victory, his entering into Jehovah's rest quest of an inheritance. Winning Laish, they con-
- the coming of Shilok This aggregate of events, verted it into a center of idolatry: The climax was
however, was but a type, a shadow, the corresponding reached when the ark was conveyed from its resting


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84                                  TBE  S T A N D A R D   BKARKR
                 Ix__~                     "  .._                          ---.l-.ll                 -"--l_l_
place in the sanctuary of Shiloh to the scene of battle, likely destruction of Shiloh had been pitched at Nob,
captured by the Philistines and set up by them in the the Lord temporarily takes up His residence first at
house of Dagon. Then the  gIory departed from Israel Bethshemesh, in the tribe of Judah, then at Kiriath-
and permanently from Shiloh. The city itself was in jearim in the house of Abinadab. Here He remained
all likelihood destroyed. It was a period of great stress. for e period of twenty-one years with the tabernacle
Israel groaned under the yoke of the adversary  - the now at Gilgal. This separation between the ark and
Philistine. Chaos reigned within Canaan's borders. the sacred tent was the signification of a breach be-
Thus was the first prefiguration of the true kingdom of tween the Lord and His people - a breach that was
peace and rest destroyed from the face of the earth.       not mended until David took the ark and deposited it
But the promise remained. And it was this promise in in a tent he had pitched on mount Zion. As can be
conjunction with the destruction of the picture or type expected the grief of the pious in this period was in-
that did service as the instrument by which'aehovah        tense. They would betake t.hemselves to Gilgal, where
taught the true believers' to conclude that the true the priest performed the service, with the distressing
Shiloh whose appearance  t.hey loved was still to come. thought in their souls that the Lord had withdrawn
Such was His method for training His people to Christ. Himself, was keeping Himself at a distance and  hold-
The Shiloh in Ephraim, therefore, had to be destroyed. in His people at arm's `length from Him because of
The typical peace and rest for which it stood could not their past and present sins. He was not in His holy
be permitted to long endure. The church, then in its tent. Communion between Him and His people through
infancy, must direct its gaze to the future. Israel must the officiating priest was therefore but a memory to be
continue to live by the promise.                           cherished instead of a blessed reality to be enjoyed.
      However, the gape between the destruction of the "And all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord"
Shiloh in Ephraim and the advent of Christ was too         (I Sam. 7 :lb) . However, the pious were not without
great. To relieve the strain on the faith of the true a comforting word in this dark period. "The Lord  bad-
Israel, the Lord constructs and subsequently destroys chosen David. His servant, and taken him from the
a second type of the Christ and His Kingdom - a type sheepfolds: from following the ewes great with young
that surpasses the first in completeness and splendour.    He brought him to feed Jacob His people, and Israel
This second picture-Shiloh was. king Solomon and his His inheritance" (Ps. 78 :71, 72). The Lord had sworn
reign of peace. The events that led up to his appear- truth unto David; He, would not turn from it; of the
ance can be briefly stated. As was said, the ark, fruit of his body He would set upon his throne (Ps.
Jehovah's throne, had fallen into the hands of the 132:ll).           Even the prophet Samuel had before .this
Philistines. Jehovah, however, bad not suffered defeat. spoken unto the people of Israel, saying, If ye do re-
His deportation was a voluntary departure. They had turn unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away
provoked Him to anger with their high places, and the strange Gods and Ashtaroth from among you and
moved Rim to jealousy with their graven images. prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve Him
"When He heard this He was wroth, and greatly ab- only ; and He will deliver you out of the hand of the
horred Israel: so that He forsook the tabernacle of Philistines (I Sam. 7:2, 3). In their grief, therefore,
Shiloh, the tent which He placed among men; and de- the people of God could look forward to a mending of
livered His strength into captivity, and His glory into the breach, to a restoration of communion between the
the enemyIs  hand ; He gave His people over also unto Lord and His people.
the sword ; and was wroth with His inheritance. The           The voluntary exile of Jehovah lasted, as was said,
fire consumed their young men ; and their maidens some twenty-one years. This punishment was com-
were not given to marriage. Their priests fell by the mensurate with the nation's sin. Jehovah had been
sword ; and their widows made no lamentation. Then rejected. The most blattend  exhibition of the carnality
the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty of the people was their clamoring for a king to rule in
man that shouted by reason of wine. And He smote the room of the Lord. The desire was granted, Saul,
His enemies in the hinder parts : He put them to a per- however, turned out to be the scourge of God. His
petual reproach (Ps. 78 :60-66).                           great sin was that he refused to function as the vice-
      With His hand upon the neck of His adversaries, gerant of the Lord. During his reign therefore new
the Lord returns to Canaan. However He refused the calamities overtake the nation, and the Lord con-
tabernacle of Joseph, the sanctuary of Shiloh, "and tinues to keep Himself in hiding. In the hard school
chose not the tribe of Ephraim: But chose the tribe of of experience Israel learns that a nation with the kind
Judah, the mount Zion which He loved" (Ps. 132  :ll) . of king it had desired and now possessed must needs
      Here then it is expressly stated that the Lord had come to grief.
done with Shiloh in Ephraim. Returning from cap-              However, though Israel deserved to be destroyed,
tivity, IIe sets His face toward Zion, one of the three Jehovah in His adorable sovereignty sware truth to
mountains upon which Jerusalem was build. Jeru- David, who in distinction from Saul "wrote him a
salem, however, was still occupied by the heathen. But copy of the law in a book out of that which was before
instead of returning to the tabernacle that after the the priests the Lovites,  and who read the law all the


                                    THE  S T A N D A R D  B%!Aiiai!?                                                   s5
                     -.--.-_."."__l_-l-        .-_--111                 -..__I___                               .....I___
days of his life that he might learn to serve the Lord deported to Babylon. It returns completely shorn of
his  God and to keep  all the words of His law and         its power and glory. A new temple rises on the ruins
statutes to do them" (Deut. 17  :18, 19). The Lord of the old. But in its inner sanctuary was placed a
therefore left His hiding a.nd went to dwell with His stone, for the ark had been lost. So was the type again
righteous servant in Zion. David was Israel's  prophet-    destroyed. But instead of placing before the eye of
king and as such the vicegerant of God. Thus through His people another prefiguration, the Lord now raised
him in conjunction with the bIood  of the offering  - UP  prophets to iterate the promises and to set forth by
jointly the type of Christ - God reconciled His people a living speech the blessed realities foreshadowed. This
to Himself. The breach was mended by Jehovah; for word was the staff of life to the pious in that dark
David and the blood were His gifts. It could be ex- period intervening between the death of the last
pected therefore that when the ark was being brought prophet and the coming of Christ.
up to Jerusalem, David's joy was boundless. He danced                                                     G. M. 0.
before the Lord with all his might. And Israel shouted
and sounded the trumpet (II Sam.  6:14,  15). With
the ark placed in the midst of the tabernacle that had
been pitched for it, David offered burnt offerings and              Los Angeles Georgtiniseerd
peace offering before the Lord. It was a great day in         Het mag gerust een wonder geheeten. Een wonder
Israel and the pious know it. The refusal of Jehovah pan God den Heere.
to be joined to David in Jerusalem would have spelled         Een gemeente der Protestantsche Gereformeerden?
doom for the nation. But He could not refuse; for in In die stad? Waar het leven  der menschen zoo onbe-
His sovereign mercy He had chosen Zion. He had schaamd-openbaar goddeloos is ? Waar de kerke  Christi
sworn to abundantly bless her provision, to satisfy her zich zoo  ongeevenaard  lauw openbaart? Een  openba-
poor with bread, to clothe her priests with salvation, ring der Gereformeerde Kerken, waar men de  ver-
to make a horn of David to bud, to ordain a lamp for bondsjeugd nu al voor  jaren verwaarloosd heeft, waar
His anointed, to clothe his enemies with shame, but to men liever des Zondags aan de "Beach" ligt te blakeren
cause upon His anointed His crown to flourish (Ps. in de zon, dan onder de feestvierende menigte optrekt
132). And the Lord kept His oath, so that His saints naar Sion's zalen? Een verschijning  van het lichaam
shouted aloud for joy.                                     van Christus, waar men de bediening des Woords zoo
   David was a man of war. But he fought a good walgelijk maakt, dat men rich afwenden moet? Zelfs
fight of faith. Ile  wared  the warfare of Jehovah as het feit, dat het volk van God zich door de jaren heen
the type of the exalted Christ. The flower of  his right- niet meer groepeerde rondom het gebouw, waar men
eous reign was the typical glory, prosperity, peace and den Heere placht  te dienen, doch zich verspreidde in
rest that characterized the period of Solomon, and cen- die wereldstad, ver, zeer ver van het Godshuis af, was
tered on his person. Indeed, Shiloh had again come. teekenend.
Solomon is the (typical) prince of peace who causes           Neen, hoe langer we daar arbeidden hoe  meer.  we
the Lord's temple to rise.                                 vreesden, dat  tech hier het niet gaan zou.
   In the aggregation of the aforesaid events, we see         Doch hoe werden we verrast ! Toen het er op aan-
as in a glass Jesus humiliated and exalted with His kwam, kwam er een krachtig  belijden, een onversaagd
people ; we see Zion ; we see the glorified Christ on the het-aandurven-met den Heere ! Op de vraag : Wie wil-
throne at the right hand of the father, reigning, ruling, len zich organiseeren ? gingen de  handen omhoog, niet
praying, blessing, declaring the decree, saving, smiting wijfelend, aarzelend, doch be&t,  kalm, overtuigd.
by the breadth of His mouth; we see, in these events,         Het was Zaterdagnacht, den vijftienden October.
the temple of which He is the builder, rising; we see         We  waren vergaderd ten huize van een der broeders
that to Him raised up the gathering of the nations are; in die wereldstad ; een voorloopige vergadering waar
we see the flower of His reign - glory, peace and rest de beslissing zou vallen:  Zal Los Angeles geteld worden
eternal, on a new earth, inhabited by men with whom onder de steden en dorpen, waar het liefelijke Kruis-
is the tabernacle of God.                                  evangelie weer gepredikt wordt, zonder vermenging
   Solomon's kingdom of peace also belonged to the van het vervloekte venijn der Pelagiaansche Drie  Pun-
things shakable. It was after all but an imperfect ten?
type. Its glory soon faded. Its rest was permanently          Neen, het was geen groote  massa. Het waren ver-
disturbed. Wars and internal strife destroyed its tegenwoordigers van  slechts negen gezinnen. Dat.
peace. But the grief that again overtakes the nation kwam ook nog  ter sprake voor een oogenblik. Hoe
is at once punishment for sin. Solomon himself had groot moeten  we zijn om een gemeente te heeten? Hoe
turned to idols. Shortly after his death the kingdom groot? Eilieve, de geheele Kerk van  Christus telde
is rent. The ten tribes break away from the house of slechts  vier huisgezinnen ten tijde van  Noach in de
David and from the service of God. Their career in ark. En een van hen was een duivelskind. Ze zijn
Canaan ends in permanent dispersion. The tribe of daar in Los Angeles Noach's kerk ver vooruit in getal-
Judah, too, f&s its measure of iniquity and is finally sterkte.


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                                                  T H E   S ' T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                 93
                                                               -." .,_._____"  --.. -- ..-.. ^ "."              _......_-  -__- . . ..." ---. ^ ..-_.-  I____
     der Kerken moest medewerken ten goede om te  refor-
     meeren. En de Heere geeft temidden van fellen tegen-                                       Sovi+ism In Russia and Its`
     stand altijd Zijne rijke genade te zien.                                                         Hotbed In America
                     Heilig zijn, o God, Uw wegen;
                     Niemand spreek' Uw hoogheid  tegen.                                Under the caption "Russia's Ban On God" the
                       Wie. wie is eeti God a.ls Gij,                              Literary Digest of Nov. 5 publishes the following:
                      Groot van  ma& en heerschappij ?
                    Ja, Gij zijt een God, Die d' ooren                                  "God must  be  out of Russia in five years. The decree
                    Wondren doet op wondren hooren;                                has been signed by Stalin and others who have such
                      Gij hebt uwen roem aIom                                      matters in charge.
                      Groot gemaakt bij `t heidendom.                                   "The expulsion is the ultimate objective of a `five-
        Een blijde vergadering was het, dien avond toen year plan of atheism,' reported by a special corres-
     onze gemeente werd georganiseerd. Nadat de kerke-                            pondent of the London  Momimg  Post. As the corres-
     raadsleden gekozen waren,  werden deze in hun ambt pondent quotes the decree, it runs:
     bevestigd door Ds. G. Vos van Redlands, Calif. Onze                                " `On May 1, 1937, there must not remain on the
     Martha's  hadden ons nog eene verrassing  bereid en territory of the U. S. S. R. a single house of prayer to
     onthaalden ons en al de aanwezigen op ververschingen.                         God, and the very conception `God' will be banished
     We  waren nog een oogenblik genoeglijk bijeen. Een from the boundaries of the Soviet Union, as a survival
     der gekozen ouderlingen, J. Zoetewei, sprak een woord of the Middle Ages which has served as an instrument
     van dank en afscheid tot Ds. H. Hoeksema, liet ons                           for the oppression of the working masses.'
     hem toezingen uit Fs. 121:4, waarna zijn eerwaarde                                 "The Soviet Government has been struggling
     met dankzegging sloot en we verblijd huiswaarts  keer-                       against God for some years, and has destroyed unnum-
     den.                                                                         bered churches and made bonfires of symbols and icons.
        Tevens maakt ondergeteekende van deze  gelegen-                           Apparently the battle is far from won.
     heid gebruik om alle Gereformeerden, die van plan
.                                                                                       "In the first year of the fresh campaign, the cor-
     zijn, om naar Los Angeles te komen, hetzij om zich                           respondent tells us, it is proposed to suppress all relig-
     daar te vestigen of om vrienden en familie te bezoeken, ious schools and to deprive all the `servitors of religious
     uit te noodigen  zich in verbinding te stellen met de cults' of their allowances of food and the necessities of
     Eerste  Protestantsche  Gereformeerde Kerk  te Los life. In the capitals of the Soviet Union all the churches
     Angeles. Wij vergaderen  aan 6308 So. Broadway. and prayer-houses of all religious communities are to
     Voormiddags en des avonds hebben we dienst in de be closed by May 1, 1934..
     Engelsche, des namiddags in de Hollandsche taal.                                   "A `shock campaign' will be launched in the second
                                                         T. Feenstra,             year against `religious centers' in family life and the
                                                                                  officially  registered  `communes   oft the faithful' (the
                       6819 So. Broadway, Los Angeles, Calif. former monastries)  . Special attention will- be devoted
                                                                                   to the inculcation of `reasonable unbelief' among the
                                                                                  masses.
                                                                                        "The second half of the plan will be devoted to the
                                    FAITH                                          consolidation of the results achieved by the `activiza-
                  0, for a faith that will not shrink,                            tion of the anti-God units,' and to the conversion of
             h      Though pressed by many a foe  ;                               former churches into clubs, picture-houses, and other
                  That will not tremble on the brink                               places of `reasonable recreation.'  "
                     Of poverty or woe.                                                 Terrible, you say? Indeed, it is. Communism,
                                                                                   Sovietism, it shows, is more than a practical attempt
                  That will not murmur nor complain                                to improve the system of society; it is more than the
                     Beneath the chasening rod,                                    overthrow of the existing system of Capitalism; it is
                  Eut in the hour of grief and pain                                atheism, it is enmity against the living God,' belief in
                     Will lean upon its God.                                       Whom is branded as the source of all evils.
                  A faith that shines more bright and clear                             It is antichristian in principle and practice.
                     When tempests rage without;                                        Children of God, believers in Christ, they that hold
                   That when in danger knows no fear,                              the testimony of Jesus have no place, cannot be toler-
                     In darkness feels no doubt.                                   ated in the Soviet-state.
                                                                                        But for this very reason the hotbed of Sovietism
                   A faith that keeps the narrow way                               must, in our own country, as well as in the countries
                     Till life's last hour is fled,                                of Western Europe, not be sought in the uprisings of
                   And with a pure and heavenly ray                                the masses, the hunger-marchers and malcontents
                     Lights up a dying bed.                                        among the common people, but `rather in our  modern-


94                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                   - ..__.._  _ "l_l____l___lll_-l_~            ..-._-                    - - - -   ..___.._.                ___...-
istic schools, universities and pulpits, in modern
agnostic philosophy, in the preaching of a religion                                              I n g e z o n d e n
without the Christ of. the Scriptures, in short, in                                  Zeer geachte Redacteur !
Modernism in general.
      Modernism sows the seed ; Sovietism is the ripened                          Gaarne zou ondergeteekende het volgende in de
fruit.                                                                    S. B. zien opgenomen.
      Quotes the same number of the Literary Digest                               Op onze Juni Classis-vergadering kwam, naar ik
from The Churchmun  Afield  :                                             meen van Kalamazoo, een instructie om de jonge  man-
                                                                          nen,  die onze Theologische School  hadden doorloopen,
      "The divorce courts, the criminal courts, the break- vrij te stellen van het  classicaal  examen, opdat de
up of families, the half-filled churches, the* loss of vacante gemeenten  zooveel te eerder zouden kunnen be-
faith, the preaching of pagan doctrines, in pulpits once roepen.
consecrated to Jesus Christ and His Gospel, the teach-                            Hoewel er op den vloer der  Classis werd  toege-
ing of agnoticism,  even atheism in colleges endowed stemd, dat dit een afwijking van Art. 4 onzer Kerken-
with funds earned by hard labor and given by Christian orde zou zijn, niettemin werd een voorstel sang&omen
believers  - these and many other things tell their om voor ditmnal af te wijken van de Kerkenorde en
own story.                                                                onze jonge mannen  vrij te stellen van genoemd examen.
      "All this has a distinctly religious aspect. The con-                       Nu valt het zeker in alle kerkelijke vergaderingen
ditions show a slump in Christian idealism and a state we1 eens voor, dat men om de een of andere reden,
of immorality, the steady increase of which means the tijdelijk afwijkt van een of ander artikel der Kerken-
destruction of our system of government, the downfall orde. En wdnneer  zoo iets tot profijt der kerken is,
of our civilization, and possible anarchy where every dan is daar ook niets op tegen, mits er geen beyirtsel
man's hand will be against every other man."                              opzij gezet wordt.
      This is certainly true.                                                     Ik meen  echter  dat dit met het voornoemd besluit
      Eut while Sovietism in Russia is feared and con- we1 het geval was, en geloof  daarom dat de  Classis  een
demned, Modernism in our own land is put in high fout beging door dat voorstel aan te nemen; De reden
places.                                                                   die Kalamazoo aanvoerde, had gemakkelijk  onder-
      God makes the wisdom of the world foolish.                          schept kunnen worden  door een vervroegde  Classis..'
      His wrath is revealed from heaven upon all the un-                          Doch  nu komt onze Eerwaarde Ds. Ophoff in de
righteousness and ungodliness of wicked man, that hold S. B. van 15 Oct., indien ik het goed  begrijp, datbe-
the truth in unrighteousness. It was revealed from of sluit met alleen  goed te keuren, maar zelfs te verdedi-
old upon men that knew Him and refused to acknowl- gen ook voor de toekomst,
edge Him as God and give Him thanks. They became                                  En zie, geachte Redacteur, daar kan ik mij niet in
foolish and bowed down before man and beast and vinden.   Ik sprak van beginsel. En is het dan met
creeping things. For God gave them over in their own waar, dat wij als Prot. Gereformeerden het heeler
wickedness. They became still more foolish and cast harte uitspreken, dat de  Gemeente  vnn  Christus  het
themselves in all the mire of sin and corruption of werk van haar Zender verricht in alle kerkelijke ver-
which the natural man is capable. And thus they richtingen?
worked out  their  own destruction.                                               De gemeente predikt  bet Woord, bedient de  &&a-
      It is still revealed.                                               menten,  oefent tucht, enz., enz., maar mijns inziens de
      For, also the wisdom of the Modernist is made fool- gemeente mzdt  ook z&it.
ishness with God.                                                                 Nu  zegt Ds. Ophoff in zijn  stuk.dat  waar we  als
      If the light that is in us is darkness, how great is kerkengroepen nog zoo klein zijn, het genoegzaam is,
that darkness !       In that light, which is darkness, dat onze candidaten  voor den Heiligen  Dienst, geexa-
Modernism walks and develops itself. And in that same mineerd worden alleen voor het Curatorium. Dat Cura-
light, which is darkness, your Modernist preacher and torium  tech,  zegt Ds. O., bestaat uit ambtsdragers  on-
teacher and professor would lead the world.                               zer kerk, en diezelfde  mannen zijn ook afgevaardigden
      Follows to the inevitable end : destruction !                       naar de Classis.
      May God give us grace to be faithful, that we and                           Wat is echter  het Curatorium en wat is haar werk?
our children may walk in the light of Him, the foolish- En dan versta ik het zoo: Het Curatorium is, wat men
ness of Whose cross is the wisdom of God!                                 op z'n Amerikaansch noemt, een "Board of Trustees."
                                                          H. H.           Hadden  we geen Theologische School, we hadden  zeker
                                                                          geen Curatorium noodig. En hun werk is: toezicht op
                                                                          het onderwijs en op de leer en het leven van onze  Pro-
              No sinful word, nor deed of wrong,                          fessoren en Studenten, en rerder om in  overleg met den
                 Nor thoughts that idly rove ;                            Penningmeester der School, de tiancien  te beheeren,
              But simple truth be on our tongue,                          enz.  Herder  de Curatoren `zijn altijd  lang  niet  afge-
                 And in our hearts be love.                               vaardigden naar de  Classis. `t  &s waar,  onze  don-he's


                                                                                                                             _ _. ..,....... --I-
                                                        ---      ~-.       ---


                                                T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       95
                           -" ..-...... ".- _. ".                                                  -.-.._                 - -
Zijn meestal Curator. Een Curator wordt benoemd dispense with the  peremitory  examination. What we
door de Classis op voordracht van den kerkeraad zijner managed to do is to dispense with this examination as
gemeente.                                                          a distinct institution standing by itself. We are there-
    DUS op een Curatorium-vergadering zijn de gemeen-              fore not under the necessity of  e'rasing  the  second see-
ten feitelijk niet vertegenwoordigd door haar  afge- tion of art. 4 of our Church Order."
vaardigden. Daar komt bij dat ook van een  vacante                     Volgens deze voorstelling van mij werd besloten om
gemeente met meer dan twee ouderlingen de Curator voortaun,  de voornoemde examens te vereenzelvigen.
altijd  geen afgevaardigde naar de  Classis is, en in Feit is  echter, dat er besloten werd zulks te  doen
groote gemeenten,  b.v. Fuller Ave. met 17 ouderlingen slechts voor &n keer. Het besluit is dus niet, zooals ik
kan `t best gebeuren dat men drie jaar als zoodanig eerst meende, permanent.
dient, zonder een beurt te krijgen om als  afgevaardig-                NU  ter zake.  f3r. Cammenga schrijft:  "Hoewel  er
de naar de Classis te gaan.                                        OP den vloer der classis werd toegestemd, dat dit een
   Zoo dan ook het Curatorium verstaande, dan ligt afwijking van art. 4 onzer Kerkenordening zou zijn,
het zeker voor de hand, dat bij het examen  van a.s. niettemin werd een voorstel aangenomen  om voor  dit-
Candidaten men nimmer kan ingaan op "Practica," om maal af  te wijken van de Kerkenordening en onze
onder meer onderzoek te dden naar persoonlijke  gods- jonge mannen vrij te stellen van genoemd examen."
vrucht, de drang en reden  waarom men het predikambt                  Waarlijk, dit is voor mij nieuws. Ik meende,
zoekt en begeert en  naar inzicht van het herderlijk dat het besluit opzettelijk gesmeden werd in een vorm,
werk.                                                              die juist niet indruischt tegen de Kerkenordening. Men
   Verder, het Curatorium vergaderd met gesloten besloot immers om het examen, dat het Curatorium af-
deuren, zoodat aan gemeenten als zoodanig niets be- neemt, te beschouwen als het  classicaal   examen. De
kend wordt aangaande kennis en  geschiktheid  van de Classis  onderzocht door het Curatorium.
a.s. Candidaten.                                                      Br. Cammenga: "Alles bijelkaar genomen, geachte
   Alles bijelkaar genomen, geachte Red., dat niet het Red., dat niet het Curatorium, maar de kerken in Clas-
Curatorium, maar de kerken in  Classis bijeen, onze sis bijeen, onze jonge  mannen hebben te onderzoeken
jonge  mannen  hebben te onderzoeken en uit te  zenden.            en uit te zenden."
Mij dunkt Hand. 13  :2 geeft ons daarvoor  overtuigend                Het staat natuurlijk voor mij en voor ons alien
bewijs. Immers niet tot de Apostelen te Jeruzalem, vast, dat de kerken onderzoeken  moeten.                       Ik schreef
maar' tot de-gemeente van AntiochiG kwam het bevel immers : "It follows from the very nature of  *things
des Heiligen Geestes  : "Zondert Mij af beide Barnabas that the right an duty to conduct the aforesaid examin-
en Paulus, tot het werk waartoe Ik ze geroepen heb." ation (het  classicaal  onderzoek) belongs in the first
   Stel eens het geval dat een der jonge predikanten instance to the consistory of the calling brotherhood.
zich kwam te misgaan in leer or leven, het Curatorium For to this brotherhood the examinee is to be joine,-1
heeft, na hun uitzenden, geen vat meer op hen, zou dan in the capacity of shepherd and teacher. However, it
zulk een niet met alle  recht, indien hij door de  Classis is permissible and proper that the calling church in
ter verantwoording geroepen werd, kunnen zeggen : recognition of the denominational tie examine through
"Tk hen door de kerken diet uitgezonden en behoef der- the classis. This latter body, too, has an interest in
halve ook voor hen geen verantwoording te doen!`?                  the matter and a duty to perform here, ~-.&must appro-
   Daarom, dunkt mij, dat we Art. 4  onzer  Kerken-                priate the call. Will it do so, it, too, must examine and
orde sf;rikt moeten handhaven, omdat er een begirisel appraise: What is more if in due time  any of  the
in zit, dat we1 terdege het idee van Gereformeerd kerk- churches comprising the denomination will have the
recht doet uitkomen. Laten we dit beginsel  slippen,               right to call the examinee anew without being under
dan komen we, mijns inziens, op Undenominational the necessity of again examining in the event a call
standpunt te staan.                                                is actually extended and accepted, all the churches
   Indien ik dwaal, dan zou ik gaarne door Ds. Opho2 must be made to enter into the makeup of the body
worden  terecht gezet.                                             originally examining. In a word, the denomination
                                              J. Cammenga Sr.      must examine. It does so, even when the churches be-
   Grand Rapids,  Mich.                                            cause of their number meet in synod. Consider that
                                                                   every classical examination is  then attended by three
   Voor ik op het schrijven van br. Cammenga inga, of the delegates of adjacent classes, called Delegates
moet ik eerst even reflecteeren op hetgeen ik schreef for Examination, and appointed by synod, one from
aangaande  bet  classicaal  besluit hier in  gedr&ng.  Ik each  classis. It is through these delegates that the
schreef : "`Recently we as churches decided to fuse to- churches other than those found within the boundaries
gether the peremptory and the preparatory examina- of the examining classis may be said to have a share in
tions or, better said perhaps, to regard the latter as the examination.                  For these. delegates at the con-
being equal to the former so that in submitting to the clusion of the examination have the right to  cross-
one, the aspirant submits to the other. What we now question the candidate and to advise  the  classis. If
bave,therefore  is a two-in-one affair'. We did not then the vote of the classis is contrary to their advice and


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      96                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
      - ._^_ ".--.       -..._ -.^.."" .."                           ----_. -^ --____.-."  II____- - -   -.............   --"_
      no agreement can be reached, the question of admission result of the followers of &of. Janssen  having gained
      of the candidate to the office must be decided by synod. the ascendency.
      `IJntil such time the ordination of the candidate shall             "It is a fact that when a denomination of churches
      be postponed, and ih the meanwhile no congregation grows, the difficulty of maintaining purity of doctrine
      of another  classis shall have the right to extend a call in the pulpits increases. There is always the carnal
      to him and no classis be permitted to examine him. seed, multiplying. It is from the ranks of this seed
      These delegates submit a report of all their activities that the devil recruits his potential false prophets.
      to synod."                                                       Dressed in sheep clothing they occupy church pews,
            Zeker, onze kerken onderzoeken. Waar  IN,  goed aspire to and train for the office. For the detection
      beschouwd, de  classis niets anders is dan eene  gecom- of these two thorough examinations on vital doctrines
      bineerde kerkeraadsvergadering, en waar ons  Curato-             and personal integrity by two different bodies of ex-
      rium eene commissie is van de +ClassG,  daar volgt het aminers is surely not one too many . _ . .
      met onverbiddelijke logica dat als olzs curatorium on-              "But aside from this, consider that whereas, as was
      derzoekt, onze kerken onderzoeken. Mag ik br. Cam- said, the members of a curatorium that function as a
      menga  verzoeken nog eens met aandacht te lezen het committee of synod consists of but two delegates
      volgende : "As a denomination of churches we are still nominated by each  classis, it, the curatorium, directly
      comparatively small. Our broadest ecclesiastical as- represents but a very few consistories; that further
      sembly is the classis. The members of this body con- the curatorium as an examinifig  body does its work in
      sist of two delegates elected by each consistory. Our private behind closed doors and thus outside the range
      curatorium is a body whose members consists of one               of hearing (zoo gaat het gewoonlijk toe ; er is  na-
      delegate nominated by each consistory and elected by
\                                                                      tuurlijk niets op  tegen  ook dit  examen in het openbaar
      classis. Both bodies therefore are the direct repre- af te nemen) and observation of the churches. What
      sentative of all consistories. What is more, the dele- does it mean? That the calling churches not peremp-
      gates to our curatorium are the delegates to  classis so torily examining do without a first-hand knowledge of
      that the members of the former body are at once mem-             the fitness of the aspirant called, that these churches
      bers of the latter. The two, therefore, come pretty simply take the curatorium's word for it that he is a
      close to being one and the same body of examiners safe man. This surely is not wise. For the matter of
      directly representative of the consistories. There was admitting to the office is too vital to be entrusted to a
      no  good reason whatever for retaining the peremptory comparatively small body of examiners. The calling
      examination as a distinct ordeal."                               church itself should have the right to directly examine
            Maar ik schreef ook : "However, when the members the aspirant. It should be in the possession of an in-
      of the curatorium consist of two delegates nominated strument for ascertaining by itself whether the one `by
      by each  classis and elected by the synod, the peremptory whom it expects to be shepherded is competent. And
      examination ceases to be a superfluous` addition in the this instrument is the peremptory (classicale) ex-
      above sense. For the curatorium and  classis are then amination."
      two distinct and disparate bodies. The former as a                                                              .
      committee of synod is representative of all churches                Br. Cammenga : "Hadden  we geen Theologische
      and directly responsible not to  classis but to synod, School, we hadden geen Curatorium noodig. En haar
      while the latter is the creation and the direct repre- werk is: toezicht te houden oi het onderwijs . . . . "
      sentative of those churches only over  whi'ch it has              1 De broeder bedoelt te zeggen, dat het niet de taak
      jurisdiction. Rut irrespective of this difference, the is van het Curatorium om examens  af te nemen'.  Waar
      curatorium even as a  comrdittee  of synod is, as well as nu het Curatorium eene,commissie  is of van de Synode
      the  classis, a body whose members consist of  office-           of van de Classis staat dit gelijk met te zeggen, dat het
      bearers in the churches. And whereas all the  con- niet de taak is van de kerken om beroepbaar te stellen.
      sistories jointly through their respective delegates Of is  `t misschien de beschouwing van den broeder dat
      create this body and determine its constituency, it is           de kerken dit niet mogen  doen  door eene commissie ?
      the instrument through which the churches do. func-                 .Cammenga:  "Stel  eens het geval, dat een der jonge
      tion as the exclusive custodian of their school. For predikanten  zich kwam  te ontgaan," etc.
      this reasoh  some are of the conviction, that a classis en-         Ik begrijp deze redeneering niet al te  wel. Een
      gages in a useless business as often as it peremptorily predikant die zich misgaat in leer of leven, wordt im-
     examines an aspirant found competent by curatorium mers ter verantwoording geroepen door den  kerkeraad
      even when this body functions as the arm of synod. die hem riep, in het ambt  stelde,  en op zijne  prediking
      Consider, however, that especially in a large denom- toezicht houdt. Bovendien, door het Onderteekenings-
      ination of churches, the curatorium as a committee of formulier te hebben onderteekend, verklaarde hij te
      synod may deteriorate into a tool of a delinquent clique eeniger tijd bereidwillig  te zijn  zich te onderwerpen
      and thus cease to function as the actual instrument aan een onderzoek betrefFende  den inhoud van de ge-
      of the churches. This happened to the curatorium of schriften genoemd in het formulier.
      the seminary of the Christian Reformed churches as a                                                          G. M.,O.


