         b

  292                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                        ~"                                                        - - -            __.---
                           B A B E L                              will of the devil and the service of sin. Because of all
                                                                  these factors there is in all the history. of the world an
     Man is created king, and he was endowed from the             attempt plainly noticeable to realize and establish one
 beginning with power to have dominion over the beasts            grand world-kingdom, a kingdom having sway over all
  of the field and over the fowls of the air and over the fish    things and uniting all men, a kingdom of mere man, of
  of the sea. His kingdom was not the heavenly but an             the power of the flesh, a kingdom without God and
  earthy. Yet, being formed after the image of God, adapted against Him, without Christ and His cross, a kingdom
  to be the friend of God and to live in covenant-com-            of the righteousness of natural man over against the
  munion with  .Him, as His servant he was also clothed           righteousness of God. The kingdom of Antichrist is in
  with royal power and authority to rule. His nature is the making all thru the history of the world.
 a king's nature. In his original state of righteousness he          Of course, this attempt of sinful man is doomed to
  was king in God's service.  He.reigned  in His Name. He         failure, because God is in the heavens and He appointed
  represented Him before all the world over which he was His Son to be heir and King of all the kingdoms of the
 appointed king. And as king-priest he consecrated all world. And in Him will ultimately be united as under
 things to the living God, announcing His will, glorifying one Head, all things, both that are in heaven and that are
  His Name and keeping His commandments. This latter in the earth. And by the power of this God-ordained
 relation was destroyed by his sin. For he violated God's         King of all, the Servant of God, the power of the King-
 covenant. He turned, by an act of his own free will, his         dom of Man will be completely vanquished and de-
 neck upon His divine Sovereign. He  resigne,d  from his stroyed. But even so, this innate tendency of the human
 positipn  as the willing servant of God. And he became           nature, revealing itself in sinful man in his attempt to
 nothing but a willing servant of sin and slave of the devil.     establish a universal kingdom, will culminate for a time
  By this act of his sin he lost ail his excellent gifts and in the kingdom of Antichrist, in which it will appear as
 retained only a few remains thereof, which are  only- if the ideal of Man, if it is never completely realized, is
 evidences of his former glory, and also` sufficient to leave yet approximated. The Word of God clearly reveals that
 him without excuse. Yet, he did not change in `essence. a time will come in the future, perhaps nearer than we
 He remained man. He did not become transmuted into               imagine, in which a kingdom of this world will be real-
 another being. He became neither animal nor devil.  -4nd         ized, in which' the man of sin, the son of perdition, who
 since in a formal sense it belonged to his very nature to opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God,
 be king, to have dominion and to" rule over the things of or that is worshipped, will sit as God in the temple of
 the earth, there is in his heart  +still the innate tendency     God,  shewing himself that he is God  (H  The&  2:3, 4).
 to seek dominion and to subject all the things of the The  .most complete picture of this man of sin and his
 earth under him.      Neither is he satisfied with some kingdom we have in Rev. 13. That remarkable chapter
 semblance of power or with- a certain measure of indi-           presents us with the picture of two beasts,  the'one  rising
 vidual authority. He cannot rest till all things are sub- up out of the sea and the other appearing out of the
 jected to him, till he has established his dominion over earth. There can be no doubt, that in this twofold pic-
 all creatures and over every power of nature. Plant and          ture we have a revelation of the power and reign of
 animal must not only be understood by him, but they antichrist in his final manifestation. For we are told that
 must also be his servants. The power of the sea and the the first beast received his authority from the dragon,
 wings of the wind, and the flashing of heavenly fire must        that old serpent who is a murderer from the beginning
 be subdued into his service. And of this royal dominion          and who speaks of himself when he speaks the lie, a fea,
 `all men must partake. For man is not an individual and ture which marks the beast as the very anointed of the
 the human race is `not simply a multitude of men. For of         Devil, that stands in his spiritual nature and purpose over
one blood God made the whole  race of mankind. They against the Anointed of God. Nor can the second beast
 are related, they are organically connected, they belong be separated from the first. The two belong together.
 together in one great brotherhood and they feel their            In their mutual alliance they constitute one whole, one
 solidarity. True, sin has also in this respect destroyed         tremendous power to deceive men. For the, second beast
 the true relation of love that is rooted in the love of God.     receives his authority from the first and appears as the
 But the physical and psychological basis for the unity of latter's servant; in his presence,  .while  for his sake and
 rhe human race is not removed by sin. Though they are cause, he performs his awful wonders. Together, then,
 spiritually haters of God and haters of one another, the         they present us with a picture of the power of hntichrist
 fact remains, that men feel themselves only small parts as he will ultimately appear.              The beast rising from
 of one great whole and they persist in calling one an- the sea represents the power of Antichrist from its
 other brothers, the human race  ti brotherhood. And even political aspect; the other, rising from the sea rather
 from a spiritual point of view natural men have this in          from its spiritual, its religious and scientific view-
 common, that they are opponents of God and children of point. Neither can there be any doubt, that the power of
 their father, the devil. So, then, there is a friendship of      Antichrist, as here pictured to us, will form one tremen-
 the world,, a friendship that is based on the physical           dous world-power, universal in scope and with sway over
 organic unity of the entire race, and spiritually on the         many nations and over all things in the world. It is the


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                                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                            293
              __-_ __l_l_ ___ - .-...... _^ ^-..- --.^_--...- ~-. ^ .-.... - .-.-.-........_ ^-._.-.       -_.--  _.....__  -_~_.-._^--- .__l_"- _.-... .
 combination of  a11 world-power as its appearance                                   changed. By steam and electricity and thru the air man
 teaches, and at the same time the culmination of travels thru the whole world in a short time. By means
 all the attempts at world-power that have been                                      of telephone and telegraph,, wireless and otherwise,
 made before.       For it appears as a combination of                               messages are flashed from one end of the earth to the
 the'leopard,  the lion and fhe bear and with seven heads                           other, with a rapidity that surpasses the daily course-of
 and ten horns. It embodies within itself the combination the sun. And science does wonders. It  sqpplies man
 and comsummation of all the tiorld-power,  past and pres-                           with marvelous commodities and conveniences and cer-
 ent,. and appears as a world-dominion  ,with power over tainly is able to make hini love the world. It cures the
 all things. All the earth follows the beast with wonder- sick and heals the lame and it already dreams of raising
 ing admiration, and is convinced that he is invincible and                         the dead. And from the spiritual point of view, the
 that no  .power  .is able to war with the beast. He has                            coming of this kingdom is to be heralded by a great
 authority over  every tribe and tongue and nation of the apostacy  from the truth within the bosom of the church
 earth. He works thru the wiles of the second beast.                                in its broadest aspect. For not from the nations of
 Thru this one he controls religion, and all men are made heathendom, not from the midst of those peoples that,
 to worship the beast and his image. He has dominion  of according to the language of Scripture live on the four
 science and art and is able to perform strange wonders corners of the earth, shall this power of Antichristendom
 to deceive men. He controls commerce and industry, for -arise,' but  frofn the midst of Jerusalem in its widest
 but.by his word no one is able to buy or to sell. In a                             scope. Men will be deceived by the phifosophy of the
 word, it is the picture of an awful power, a power that is                         world, will become hard of hearing with regard to the
 universal in its sway and dominion over all things of the
                                                               .                    truth, will become enemies of the cross of Jesus Christ,
 earth.                                                                             and will trample His blood under foot. The religion  of
    If we ask the question: In what way  this power is to                           the false church will be the religion of Antichrist.  :\nd
 be realized? we may perhaps answer, that politically it                            thus rhis final manifestation of the power of  *man will be
 will be established most probably by means of a con- antagonistic to God and His Christ and His people, that
 federacy. It does not seem historically probable, that will refuse to worship the beast and its image. For these,
 one single king or nation will ever by sheer force gain                            they will be times of persecution and terrible oppression,
 world-dominion subjecting all the nations of the  world                            times in which the very elect would be deceived were it
 to itself by force of arms and lording it over all the earth.                      not that, as always, the days will be shortened also then.
This was the attempt of all the great powers of the world,                          For the beast will make war upon the saints according
 ever since the Lord of heaven frustrated the attempt of ro the authority he received from the dragon. As he con-
 first Babel in the valley of Shinar.  But `this attempt trols all things, the saints will be left no standing-room
proved futile and always met with failure. Besides, we                              in the earth. They will be boycotted as fools, as enemies
 do not receive the impression from Revelation 13, that of the new world, as social outcasts, as opponents of all
the beast frqm its political aspect will be a tyrant under                          thar is of man. They will not be able to buy or sell. It
 whose terrible yoke all the nations of the earth will sigh                         will be, for the kingdom of God, the end of its develop-
-for deliverance. On the contrary, they adniire the beast.                          ment in this world.
They seek him. They willingly subject themselves to                                      This kingdom and power in the world is called
him. They worship him and they put all their trust in                               .Babel or Babylon in the Word of God.
him. Then, too, the picture of the beast is rather that of                               Thruout the history of  Go#s covenant and kingdom
 a confederacy, it is a combination of various powers. in the world, in all its stages of development and  mani;
And, therefore, it is far more probable that the ultimate                           festations, it is known as the power of Babylon, whether
aspect of the beast will be the form of a  Ieague,  a volun- ir reveals itself in strictly national form as under the old
tary concentration of  .powers under one central head or                            dispensation, or in international character as under the
government. It is needless to say, that from this aspect new dispensation. Babel or Babylon changes its out-
our age is very significant. It is plain, too, that from. ward form, even as Jerusalem; but it never changes its
the aspect of its power and influence, this world-kingdom                           real character. It is always the opponent  of Jerusalem
will develop by means of all the results of science and                             and its throne and temple.
art and invention, for these will serve as means for the                                 The spiritual beginning of this kingdom of Babylon
beast to perform its wonders. Also from this viewpoint, must be traced to Paradise the first, when the dragon,
our age speaks, with many voices from all sides. For the that old serpent, who is a murderer from the beginning
development of the powers of man is tremendous, and whose real name is Liar, found a place for his lies in
astounding and advances with rapid strides. The world the heart of Eve and of Adam. When he contradicted
has grown very small and the nations of the world are the  lMost High and placed his lie over against the truth
 living in very close proximity to one-another.  -4 few of God; when he  slacdered  the Holy One and asserted
decades ago it would have seemed foolishness to dream that the covenant-God did not seek the good of His cove-
of the possibility of a world-kingdom, for the mere rea-                            nant friends; and when, then, man did not condemn him
son, that the whole world was to large ever to be gov- and expel him from the  gardetl, but listened, turned his
erned by one centralized power.                   Today this has all imagination'to that dark world of the devil, believed,  sub-


294
.                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D '   B E A R E R
                                                 -.__I                          ._         -                        - - .
mitted and acted according to his damnable lies ; then No, Nimrod was rather the idol of his age. His contem-
was the beginning of this kingdom of Babylon established poraries acknowledged not only that he was a man of
in the spiritual sense. For there and then the devil be- great power and undaunted courage, but their hearts and
came the prince of this world and man his subject and minds were also captivated by his being the mighty
slave. It was established in its necessary spiritual  oppo- hunter before the Lord. If a kingdom were ever to be
sition to the kingdom of God, when God maintained His          established, it was not difficult to predict who would be
covenant, cursed the serpent, and established enmity be- its. first king. For Nimrod, the mighty rebel was the
tween him and the woman and between his seed and her choice of all mankind.
seed. And it also fought its battle in that first world,          Now, we may undoubtedly conceive of the history of
when the children of Cain became mighty in the world that period in this way, that this Nimrod first of all con-
and deceived or oppressed the children of Seth, a battle       ceived of the possibility to establish a kingdom rhat
which, however, ended in defeat, for ,the party of the would embrace all, every tribe and family of the earth.
living God had the victory and Noah became heir of the Such a conception was all the m+-e natural because of the
world.                                                         fact that all the earth was of one language. And it was
       But, defeated though it was in that crushing blow of only after that mighty plan of a universal kingdom had
the flood, it  was not destroyed. Its power and repre- been frustrated by the confusion of tongues that Nimrod
sentatives were present in the ark. And before long it         satisfied  his ambition by establishing  individudl  king-
revealed itself in a new form, in the deliberate attempt to    doms, embracing those tribes and nations whose unity
establish the world-kingdom in the valley of Shinar. The had been left intact by the confusion of rhe language.
ingenious conception to build the  tower of Babel was in: Although Scripture does not clearly indicate that the
spired by the innate thirst of mere man to establish the order of events was thus, yet such a conception seems
kingdom of this world. Politically, then, we may say, perfectly justified. First of all, it is perfectly natural to sup-
the power of Babylon has its inception in the attempt to pose that  the immigration into the-valley of Shinar with
build a tower whose top would reach unto heaven.               the purpose to build a tower whose top would reach unto
     Its genius was Nimrod, the mighty rebel.         -        heaven, took place under the leadership of some man, in
     He was, as we pictured him in a former issue of this      whom all had confidence. It is nor very  w'ell conceivable
paper, a humanist, a mighty hunter before the Lord and that all at the same time conceived of the idea of build-
as such benefactor of humanity. And while he was serv- ing the tower and the city. There  `mdst have been some
ing man, the rebel gained a wide rkputation, so that his       form of organization. A?d in such organization there
name was on the lips of all. But this is not all, that is to must have been authority and the leadership of some one
be said about this genius. We also read of him, that he, whom the others were willing to follow. Now in Gen 11
established kingdoms. He was a great organizer. He we have the record of this movement to build the tower
laid the foundations of kingdoms  that,continued   to exist of Babel. And in the preceding chapter we have men-
for ages afterward and occupy a foremost place in the tion of Nimrod, the mighty hunter before Jehovah, rhe
history of the world. Also in this respect Nimrod re- benefactor of humanity, the organizer of men and the
vealed that he was a genius of first rank. It must be          founder of kingdoms. What, then, seems more natural
remembered, that the idea of such a kingdom was un-            than the inference that under the leadership of this
known before his time. There was a pattern of it in the mighty rebel it was, that all moved into the valley of
family with its father and the `tribe with its' patriarch, Shinar with the common purpose of uniting into one
but itself did not as yet exist. Nimrod was undoubtedly great kingdom and world-power? But there are also in-
the first one who conceived of the possibility of a union      dications in the text, that point us in the same direction.
and power and authority other than tribal and patriarchal. We read in Gen.  1O:lO: "And the beginning of his king-
And  in his mighty mind the plan ripened to break the          dom was Babel. . . . in the land of Shinar." Now in the
bonds of the family and of the tribe and to found a king-      following chapter, that narrates the building of the tower,
dom of universal dimensions. And his- success, in this we read: "And it came to pass, as they journeyed east
respect corroborates our view that he cannot have been that they found a plain' in the land of Shinar and they
the cruel and oppressing tyrant he is sometimes pictured dwelt  there" (11  2). And again in vs. 9 of the same
to have been. He was not the merciless hunter  of men, chapter we read: "Therefore was the name of it called
but the undaunted killer of ferocious  beast&'  that were a Babel, because Jehovah did there confound the language
peril to humanity and to the development of the race. of all the earth; and from thence did Jehovah scatter
Individual tyranny and personal cruelty are not the qual- them abroad upon the face of all the earth."  .`i com-
ities that are needed to found kingdoms. Had Nimrod parison of these different passages would seem  ro estab-
been such an` individual outlaw, such a pirate of the lish it beyond all reasonable doubt, that the history
woods, striking fear into the hearts of his fellowmen, of chapter 11 must be conceived of as antecedent
even as a mighty member of the underworld  ioday, he to that of chapter 10.                And further we  find that
might at best have gathered  around  himseIf a small band the name of Nimrod's kingdom was' derived from
of m&n like unto himself, but never would he have suc- the history of the confusion of tongues.              And, there-
ceeded  20 rally all mankind about his person and' name. fore, we conceive of the history of that' period


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                                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                         295
                                _..^ _-.^-- ^ -..._..- I_.    "..____._                                                                ---"----
in this way. First of all, mankind under the leadership                                   EEN NASCHRIFT OP "ERGER DAN DE
of the great Nimrod moved eastward, till they found the                                                         GRIEP"
plain of Shinar. There they settled. There they make
the attempt to establish a universal world-power with its                                .In een `vorig nummer van ons orgaan  wezen  we op
great center in the tower and the city they were to build.                            het ontzettende  zeifmoordkwaad,  dat onder de studenten
Nimrod is the first one in history that appears with the der  hoogere onderwijsinrichtingen van ons land zoo sterk
definite ambition to found the kingdom of man and he heerschte.
tries to realize his ambition in the valley of Shinar.                                   We  lazen  even later omtrent dien vreeselijken  zelf-
   But Jehovah opposes the plan and the attempt to                                    moordwaan, bchalve onder de studenten, ook onder  niet-
realize it. He comes down from heaven to defeat the pur- studeerende jonge en oude menschen voorkomende hier,
pose of men. For there the Lord caused the nations of nog een en ander uit andere  landen,  waar hij evenzeer
the earth to part by confusing their tongue.                                          duizenden slachtoffers maakt.
                                                               H. H.                     Een Russisch blad meldde onlangs, dat de zelfmoord
                                                                                      te St. Petersburg (dat thans Leningrad heet) voortdurend
                                                                                      toenam. De statistieken.  wezen  uit, dat het meestal jonge
                                                                                      menschen, tusschen de 20 en 30 jaar oud,  waren, die zelf-
                                                                                      moord bkgingen, en  daaronder--tweemaal  zooveel van het
                                                                                      mannelijk dan van het vrouwelijk geslacht.
                       A PRAYER                                                          En over  bet algemeen kwam de zelfmoordziekte het
                                                                                      meest-  voor onder de dusgenaamde intellectueelen.  Merk-
                                                                                      waardig was voorts het hooge percentage  politiebkmb-
I love Thee, my Saviour ! I love Thee ! I love Thee  !s ten onder de zelfmoordplegers.
  Strong as a rock is my faith in Thy name ;                                             De meest voorkomende redenen vobr het moedwillig
Nought upon earth I desire above Thee;                                                de hand. slaan  aan het eigen leven  waren:  maatschappe-
My Joy and my Solace, my Hope and my Aim!                                             lijke ellende, familietwisten, en  ideeele  ontgoochelingen.
                                                                                l 
                                                                                         Niet  mind-er dan in Rusland, zijn in  D&schland  de
                                                                                      zelfmborden talrijk geworden na den "wereldoorlog."
I love Thee ! But oh, with a limited measure ;                                           Redroeg het aantal dezer euveldaden in 1925 zooveel
  I trust Thee !    But oh, I'm ashamed of my trust;                                  als 1,524, in het afgeloopen jaar was dit aantal gestegen
I call Thee my All, and I seek for a treasure                                         tot  l,,!Q'G0; en reeds gedeurende de  twee  maanden van dit
  That lies mid life's turmoil, and gleams from its dust.                             pasbegonnen jaar  hadden  in Duitschland 300 menschen
                                                                                      zichzelf van het leven beroofd.
Oh, give me a love that the depths of my being                                           In Frankrijk heerscht dit duivelsche kwaad niet  min-
  Shall stir into life that it never has known;                                       der sterk.
Love mighty in purpose, unselfish, far-seeing,                                           `Daar  vielen in 1926 niet minder dan  12,ooO  zelfmoor-
  Grasping and proving to make me its own.                                            den voor,  tegen 7,889 in het jaar 1919.
                                                                                         In  ItaliE was het niet veel beter.
                                                                                         In Rome bijvoorbeeld, was het  getal zelfmoorden in
Give me a faith that shall ask Thee no question,                                      twintig  jaren tijds meer dan verdubbeld, en bedroeg  nu
  Shudder and shrink at no trial by fire ;                                            1 op de 10,000 personen.
Faith that is patient, that makes no suggestion                                          Hier  zoudknliefdesaffaires   vooral de reden  zijn,  waar-
  Thou its sole Object, its single Desire!                                            om de menschen  zich te kort`deden.
                                                                                         Oostenrijk en Hongarije  staan ook vooraan in de rij
Urge me to ask Thee! Impel me, allure me!                                             der  natien waar zelfmoord  aan de orde van den dag is.
  Penetrate down to the depths of my soul:                                               De juiste cijfers herinneren we ons niet meer, en  zoch-
Thou whose vast pity alone can endure me,                                             ten we een poos lang tevergeefs.
  Take me, oh take me -- the whole, Lord, the whole.                                     Maar 1926  gaf voor Weenen een vermeerdering van
                                                                                      44) percent  aan sedert 1925, en Boedapest kon 100 percent
Oh,  how I hate all my follies and seemings!                                          stijging dezer vreeselijke, gevallen boeken in 1.926.
  Loathe my self-love, my mistakes, and my sins  ;                                       Ook Engeland moet niet  worden  vergeten. `Daar
Strength I have wasted in pitiful dreamings!                                          vermeerdert de "bezetenheid" eveneens in dit opzicht met
  Nursing of fancies and petty chagrins!                                              snelheid.       -
                                                                                         En zoo gaat het door  voor heel Europa (ook naar
                                                                                      "rata" voor kleine  landen), dat zoo heerlijk bevrijd werd
Oh Thou All-Seeing, All-Loving, All-Knowing,                                          door den rampzaligen wereldoorlog van  alleenheerschap-
  Penitent, weeping, I lie at Thy feet!                                               pij en onmenschwaardige slavernij, en dat werd "zalig
Take Thou this heart, wirh Thy love it is glowing;                                    gemaakt" voor den vrede en voor broedermin en  hemel-
  Take this whole life that Thy faith has made sweet.                                 deugd, door de democratic  te brengen alom en overal.


300                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
- -                                                                                 ___II
               `rHE TYPES OF SCRIPTURE                               sin, that we might be made the righteousness  qf God in
                                                                     Him" (II Cor.  5:21). "Christ hath redeemed us from the
                  Principles of Interpretation                       curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is writ-
                                                                     ten, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Gal.
       We were engaged in examining such typical events 3 :13). " . . . . Wherefore in all things it behooves Him to
and transactions in sacred history named by the  inspir.ed           be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a
writers. We were so engaged for the purpose of ascer- faithful and merciful highpriest in things pertaining to
taining rhe principles of interpretation which these God, to make reconciliation for the sins of His people"
typical materials do necessarily exhibit.                            (Heb.  2:17). "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift
       There remained two rules to which we now desire to of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord"
call attention. The first of these may be stated thus: (Ram.  6:23). "He was despised and we esteemed Him
The meaning of the type should nor be confined within not.. . . and with His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah
the limits of the knowledge of the types possessed by the 53 :lO).
ancient believer. It has already been pointed out that the              These"and similar Scriptures set forth the properties
view, to the effect that the believers clearly perceived and of the Christ as well as describing His work. The type
understood the realities of which the types were figures, should now be placed in the limelight of these and sim-
does not have the support of Scripture. Confining our- ilar Scriptures. And the next step is to determine, by
selves to the realization of the typical lamb, Jesus Christ,         the help of this light, to, what extent the type reflects the
it appears that the utterances of the prophets of the old person and work of Christ. How many of the elements
covenant do not indicate that, in rhis epoch, the type was           constituting His mediatorial labors and which of the
being contemplated'in the light of the antitype, that the properties peculiar to Him as the Saviour, have been im-
sufferings of the Man of Jehovah were regarded as having pressed upon the type in question?
meritorial and atoning value.         Hence, the knowledge              In order to arrive at satisfactory conclusions regard-
possessed by the ancient believer cannot very well be                ing these matters our next step musr be to show regard to
regarded as an index to the meaning of rhe types. Doing the type. The following questions must be faced and
so we would, to a large extent, be compelled to disallow answered: What was the value and meaning of the type
the typical character of the shadows of the old dispensa-            in its immediate relation to the church of the old cove-
tion. And, therefore, we now add to the list of prin-                nant? What was the service it rendered? What were
ciples the following rule:  In  contemplating  the meaning the circumstances attending its appearance? What were
of the shadows  -we should institute an inquiry, not into the        the ideas embodied in the type regarded as a gracious
m&d of  omen, but into the mind  of God. We should en-               arrangement between Jehovah and the believers of the
deavor to discover the ideas and principles which the old dispensation? What were the properties peculiar to
shadows, according to the design of God, do embody. In               the type?  Now the number of properties of the total num-
other words, when determining the meaning of the types               ber of properties peculiar to the type, and the number of ele-
we must avail ourselves of the light furnished by the                ments of the total number of elements comprising the service,
typical exegesis of inspired writers and by the realization          meaning and import of the type  - plainly realized in the
of the type in the events of the Gospel.                             person  and work oj Christ, the  antitype   - these properties
       Fairbairn  srates the matter thus:  "ln  de'termining  the and these elements must be regarded as constituting the
existence and the import of particular types,  ewe must be           ,meaning   of the type.
guided, not so mu&h -by any  knowledge possessed, or  slzpposed         Let us now apply these rules to the type in question,
to be possessed, by the ancient  worshippers  concerning their       viz., the brazen "serpent. What were the circumstances
prospective fulfillment, as from the light furnished by their        attending its appearance? The hardships attending the
realization in the great facts and revelations  of the  ,Gospel."    journey from Mount Hor grieves and exasperates the
       Let us illustrate this rule. We have Christ's word for children of Israel. The feeling of bitterness is so intense
it rhat the brazen serpent was  .a type of Himself.' "And            that they unjustly accuse God of having brought them up
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so            out of Egypt with the evil intent of letting them die in
must the Son of man be lifted  LIP;  that whosoever  be-             the wilderness. The people know better and their com-
lieveth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life"             plaint must be regarded as an outburst of hatred for God.
(John 3  :14, 15). It is now the task of rhe typologist to           From the. day that God had heard their cry there had
unveil the meaning of this type. His first step must be              been a marvelous display of Jehovah's mercy. Yet, in
to bring before his mind the various elements constituting the very presence of the gracious manifestations of God's
the meritorial labors of the Saviour. He should, further, power in their behalf, the people accuse God of seeking
acquaint himself with the peculiar properties of the Christ their ruin. The wrath of the Lord is kindled. And He
as well as with the character of sin. In a word, one deal- sends fiery serpents with a fatal bite among them. Many
ing with this particular type should be thoroughly fam-              bitten, die. The people come to Moses and, acknowledg-
iliar with  rhe Christology of Scripture. He should know ing their sin. beseech him to plead their case before God.
the import and meaning of the following Scriptures:                  Moses does so and in answer to his intercessory prayer,
"For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no Jehovah instructs him to make a fiery serpent and set it


                                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   ` B E A R E R                                       301
                                -- -.... _.-_--
upon a pole, adding that those bitten shall live when they voice.. Some typologists of, the past have regarded the
look upon the raised reptile. "And Moses made a ser-                   inferiority, the solidity and the dim lustra of the brazen
pent of brass and put it upon a pole. Xnd it came to pass serpent as belonging to those properties which constitute
that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the the type. The inferior metal was regarded as a prefigura-
serpent of brass, he lived."                                           tion of Christ's outer meanness while the solidity of the
   The fiery serpent, the bite of which meant death to its material spoke to them of Christ's divine strength. Fair-
victim, is, plain enough, an image or symbol of sin. The bairn,  on  the other hand, is of the conviction that it was
sinner himself is likened unto a poison-creature. Paul, of no moment whatever that the serpent was made  of.
describing the moral corruption of man, asserts that the brass. According to Fairbairn the above typical exegesis
poison of asps is under his lips. And John the Baptist, militates against the following -rule: "The religious
addressing the Pharisees and  Sadducees, exclaimed: "0 truths and ideas which were embodied in the typical
generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from events and institutions of former times, must be regarded
the wrath to come" (John 3  :7). Let us now pay heed to as forming the ground and limit of their prospective limit
the following matters : (1) The victim, focusing his gaze .to the affairs of Christ's kingdom." The author means to
upon the brazen serpent, lived. (2) The brazen serpent say that one must confine himself to such properties
was not one of the reptiles having bitten man, instead it which are ideally related to the antitype when engaged' in
was a serpent of pure brass in which there was no poison. determining the meaning of the type. Such properties
(3) This non-poisonous object is raised and exhibits the must be regarded as forming the ground and limit of the
curse of the entire brood of loathsome creatures unto prospective reference of a typical event or transaction  to
which it was made like. (4) The brazen serpent had to its corresponding antitype. A very worthy rule indeed.
be raised and exhibited. (5) The disorder  r,esulting  from It comes down to this that the typologist may not bc
its bite is cured by a serpent of brass made like unto guilty of "inlegkunde." Now then, is the typical exegesis
the living serpent.                                                    found above in conflict `with this  rnle? Fairbairn is of
   Now, then, how many of the above elements may be                    the conviction that it is. Says.he: "What did it avail to
looked upon  ,a so many references to the person and                   the Israelite, or for any purpose the\ serpent had to serve,
work of the antitype,Christ? And the answer is ready: of what particular stuff it was made? A dead and sense-
As many of them as exhibit an inner and worth-while less thing in itself, it must have been all one for those
relation to corresponding properties of the antitype. Due who were called to look to it, whether the material was
to the presence of this inner agreement everyone of the brass or silver, wood or stone. And yet as if it were not
above elements may be linked  up with some phase of the                enough to make mention of these trifling incidents . . . .  "
person and work of Christ. We mention the following:                      To this one may reply that it was not a matter of in-
(1) Christ was not taken from among  men. Hence, in difference from what material the serpent was made. As
Him there was no poison ; He was the lamb of God with- has already been said, the serpent might not be taken
out spot or blemish. Although not taken from among from among the brood of vipers having bitten  the
men, He was nevertheless made like unto His brethren in                Israelite. This is certain, had Jehovah instructed Moses
all things, sin excepted. (2) The sinless Christ exhibited to make the serpent of brass, and had Moses thereupon
the curse resting upon the sinner. (3) Christ was raised               made the serpent of wood no one looking to ir would
up and His elevation was a matter of divine necessity.  He have lived. The question, then,  is  whether the material
had to be bruised in order that by His stripes we might from which the serpent was to be made was a matter
be healed. (4) The sinner who fastens his gaze upon                    upon which Jehovah had failed to express Himself? Fact
the Christ shall live. (5) The sinner is healed by one is that in rhe divine instructions the-term  brazen  is not
made like unto himself, by one who  was  made sin (not found. "And the Lord said unto Moses,- Make thee a
a sinner).                                                             fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to
   It appears, does it not, that the elements enumerated pass, that every one that is bitten, when he lookerh upon
above,. constitute the picture exhibiting the Christ in His it shall live" (Num. 21%). Since the material from which
relation to God and to the elect sinner. Thus the mean- the serpent was to be made is not specified one is in-
ing of this particular type has been discovered.                       clined to conclude that the peculiar properties of the
   Thus we have set forth the principles of interpretation material used are without typical meaning. On the other
capable of guiding the typologist if properly observed by              hand, when God the Holy Spirit informs us that the man
him. Yet it must not be supposed that the observance of                &loses did as he was bidden to do, He, the Spirit, asserts
the above rules enables one to attain to results which, in that the serpent was of brass. "And Moses made a
every detail, will satisfy all. Nor is it true that the appli- serpent  of  brass,  and put it upon a pole. . . . when he be-
cation of these rules is a guarantee that this particular held the serpent of brass, he lived" (Num.  21:9).
field of Biblical science is being cultivated with mathe-                 One should not be too hasty in concluding that a cer-
matical precision, and that the conclusions reached are,               tain property or incident is roo trifling to partake of a
in every detail, infallibly correct and, for that reason,              typical character. Fact is that in the realm of the typical
compel recognition. There will always be the dissenting and symbolical a trifling incident may embody a big idea.


302                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                      ,.

What can be more trifling than the breaking of a morsel                         The Garden of Eden
of bread in Holy Communion. Yet rhis incident was                 We shall now enter upon the practical branch of our
made to signify an event of tremendous significance, viz., subject. It is the old dispensation, inaugurated by the
the  suffermgs and death of our Saviour. Again, the           fall of man, which furnishes us with the `materials to be
Israelite was forbidden to eat the flesh of the  Passover- considered. This period, however, was preceded by an
lamb raw, nor was he permitted to sodden it  wirh water.      epoch sometimes referred to as the golden age  ?n  the
He was instructed.to roast it with fire; his head  with  his history of the human race. The first few chapters of the
legs, and with the purtenance thereof. He might let book of Genesis record the events of this period and
nothing of it remain until the morning, and that which describe the ideal state peculiar to ir. It is related how
remained until the morning had to be burned with fire.        thar in the beginning God-created  heaven  and earth. In
These all of them were trifling incidents yet not without the six days which followed the  ;Umighty  was engaged
a meaning. Further, one of the kinds of animals used in realizing His designs and the result was a cosmos de-
for the sacrifice was the sheep. Now, one of the peculi- claring the wisdom and rhe power of its Maker. But of all
arities of rhe sheep is its submissive temper or disposition. God's creatures none was as lovely as man. Him God
Z-Ilso concerning the disposition of the sheep we may ask, created in His own image. True, God formed him from
What did it  ayail to the Israelite, or for any purpose the the dust of the ground yet breathed into his  nostrils.the
sheep had to serve, of what particular temper it was? breath of life. And unto him God said, "Have dominion
Yet there is rhis passage in Isaiah, "He was oppressed over the fish. of the sea, and over rhe fowl of the air, and
and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His  motith:  He over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." It is
is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep be- recorded that God prepared for man a garden eastward
fore its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth" in Eden where He put the man whom He had formed.
(Isaiah 53).                                                  And out of the ground made rhe Lord God to grow every
   The point that we are making is that these rules must      tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; and
be applied and that the application of them is a matter the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the
of judgment. Barring the types which have the sanction tree of knowledge of good and evil. And our of Eden
of Scripture, the matter to be decided each time is went a river to water the garden. And the Lord God
whether the event, transaction, incident, or property took the man, and put him into the garden of #Eden to
should be regarded as partaking of a typical characted. In    dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded
determining the matter it must not be supposed that the rhe man saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest
indicated principles will, when applied, automatically lead freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and
one to the correct conclusion.                                evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou
   Thus we have arrived at the end of this particular eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. And the Lord God
branch of our subject. We have presented our views of         caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept;
the nature, character and purpose of the shadows of rhe and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in-
oId dispensation. The principles by which the best  typol- stead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had
ogists of former days were willing to be guided, were set taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto
forth. We repeatedly stressed that the offered gifts and the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bone,
sacrifices could not make him that did  th.e service perfect and flesh of my flesh ; she shall be called woman because
as pertaining to the conscience. The shadows were there she was taken out of man. And they were both naked,
to train rhe believers to Christ. The question arises the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
whether the shadows, in their immediate relation to the          The above events we regard as facts in history. We
Old Testament worshiper, were merely the schoolmaster oppose that view which maintains. that all or some of
of the church of that day. Our answer is rhat these the things of Paradise were not' events in history but
typical transactions and institutions had still another merely images of higher truths. This view must be de-
meaning for the worshiper of the old dispensation. Being nounced because Scripture nowhere teaches that some or
covered by the blood of the sacrificial victim the Israelite all of rhe elements constituting this record are so many
was actually just however, only in a ceremonial sense. allegories  instead  of events in history. The view, being
Having been justified he was permitted to retain his posi- without an exegetical basis, is an inculcation. And the
tion in the theocracy. He was ostracized if he refused practice to which it points is a pernicious one. Historical
to attend  ro  the prescriptions of the law. It is exactly    facts are transported from the province of rhe real to the
this ceremonial justification and the subsequent cere- realms of the fanciful. This is done without the permis-
monial good to which the worshiper attained which con- sion of Scripture,            Hence, the view here opposed
stitute the inner agreement between the shadows and point to the evil practice of muzzling the Word of God
their corresponding realities. Due to the presence of in the interests of the imaginations of the heart. The
these elements the symbols were at once prophetic types practices of this school are frought with danger. Let us
of future events. This phase of rhe subject shall receive bear in mind that the very cornerstone of the temple of
an adequate treatment in the sequence.                        God is a historical fact, an event in history. Consign rhis


>                                           T H E   S T A N ' D A R D   B E A R E R                                             303
                                                                                                                       -               -

stone to the unreal realms of, the fanciful and the entire            is gold ; and the gold of that land is good ; there is bedel-
superstructure is bound to collapse.                                  hum and the onyx stone.. . . And he (Adam) said, I
                                                                      heard Thy voice in the garden" (Gen. 2  23-13;   3:l).
       Scripture does not leave us in doubt as to whether the            One cannot help being impressed by the likeness be-
matters related are facts in history or merely images of              tween the holy city and Paradise. Common to both is
higher truths or both facts in history and at once images
of truths of a higher realm.                                          the absence of the curse and the moral purity of the in-
                                                                      habitants. Further, the tree of life is there in the garden
       In respect to the things of Paradise the question as well as in the holy city. It is plain from the record in
arises whether these matters are merely events in history the book of Revelation that this tree is only one of its kind.
or whether they together also constitute a picture of a               In the hoiy city there were several such trees. For we
more glorious world. According to the testimony of read there that rhe tree of life was on either side of the
Scripture the latter is the case. Paradise, to begin with, river. At least in the book of Revelation the term tree is
is a figure of heaven. This is evident from a comparison a common noun implying the presence of a group of trees
of the written record-of John's vision of the celestial city of the same kind. There is no objection in regarding
with the description of Paradise. "And I saw," says the term tree of rhe book of Genesis as a term with a
John, `"a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven            similar implication. In Paradise then as well as in the
and the first earth were passed away-; and there was no celestial city, we find a grove constituted of trees of the
more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jeru- same kind. The tree of life of the holy city yields her
salem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared                   fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for
     as a bride adorned for her husband.. And I heard a great the healing of nations. Likewise the tree of life of the
     voice out of heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God garden of Eden was for food. It kept alive man's frame
     is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall since it nourished that frame of his at the very fountain
     be His people, and God himself shall be with them and            head of its existence. The tree of life of the holy  .city
     be their God.. . . And he carried, me away `in the spirit        was located near the center Jerusalem, close to the throne
     to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great of God. Likewise the tree of life of the garden. It was
     city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from          situated in Eden, a place centrally located. It is stated
     God, having the giory of God: : . . . And the foundations that the tree was situated in the very midst of the garden.
     of the wall of the city were garnished with all  .manner  of This tree corresponds to the throne of God of the holy
     precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the city. Both the holy city and the garden had its river.
     second  saphire; the third chalcedony; the forth an emer- The one proceeded out of the throne of God; the other
     a l d ; . . . . And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, every out of Eden to water the garden. Further, both places
     several gate was of one pearl- and the street of the city had their sanctuary. The temple of Jerusalem is God and
     was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw the Lamb, seated upon the centrally located throne  - of
     no temple therein, for the Lord God is the temple of it. . .     God. Approaching this throne the inhabitants do come in
     And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day; for the very presence of God. The sanctuary of Paradise
     there shall be no night there. . . . ,4nd there shall in no was the garden of Eden. The inner sanctuary, the  holies
     wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither what-        of  holies, was the grove  - the tree of life. It was the
     soever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they meeting-place between God and man. Here man stood
     which are written in the Lamb's book of life. . . . And           in the -very presence of God.
     he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as                 It is worthy of note. how thar both Paradise and the
     crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and out of holy city exhibit the design of the tabernacle. Also rhis
     the Lamb. In the midst of the street of  it,.and on either structure was divided into three compartments : the outer
     side of rhe' river, was there the tree of life, which bare        court, the  holies and the  holies of  holies. In the inner
     `twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every sanctuary of the tabernacle dwelt God.  .Only the  high-
     month : and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of priest was. permitted to meet Him there and that but
     the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the            once a year.
     throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His                There are still other indications in Scripture that the
servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face; e,vents  and institutions of Paradise are at once figures of
     and His name shall be in their foreheads" (Rev. 21, 22). realities of heaven. We turn to Romans 5 :14, "Neverthe-
         Let  US  now turn to Genesis.  ",4nd  the Lord God less, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them
     planted a garden eastward in Eden ; and there Ile put the that had not sinned after the similitute of Adam's trans-
     man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the gression,  who is the figure  of Him  thut was to come."  To
     Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the the murderer upon the cross Christ said, Today shalt
     sight, and good for food; the tree of life, also in the midst     thou be with Me in Paradise.
     of the garden. And a river went out of Eden to water the             But Paradise is not only an image of heaven. The
     garden; and from thence it is parted, and became into incidents and events of this epoch are also facts in his-
     four heads. The name of the first is  Pison: that is it tory. All of them are. This is something which  isbeing
     which compasseth the whole land of Havilah; where there contested today by Dr. Geelkerken and those of like mind.


I

     304                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                               _.^"..^                                                  -...__I___ --_ll_.ll_
     It is maintained that some of the details  7 such as the      dise were very good and therefore did not  suggest to
     speech of  the'serpent and the tree of life  - are events     man that the then existing order of things was but in-
     and facts not having transpired and existed as described      troductory to a state of superior glory and bliss and to a
     in the sacred record. It is admitted that such terms as       life of closer relationship  with God.
     animal, bird, river, gold, man, woman, creation, fall are        The types of the subsequent period, however, were so
     significations of realities like unto the realities known     constituted that they spoke of better things to come.
     by these names today. But the line is drawn when they Their sum total constitutes a language which God was
     come to such written statements as "the serpent said," pleased to use to proclamate unto the church of the old
     and such terms as "the tree of life." The statement  "and `dispensation the good things of the Gospel. They could
     the serpent said" does not signify real speech,  .but serve this purpose because of their inherent imperfec-
     speech as an idea or concept. This idea is then regarded tions and because of certain higher elements interwoven
     as an i&age of some other reality. In other words, the wi"th them. It were these imperfections which suggested
     expression "and the serpent said" does not signify real to the believer that he should look forward to a state
     speech but something else  - who knows what.                  where these imperfections did not exist. And it was
         There are serious objections to this manner of deal- these higher elements interwoven which awakened in his
     ing with Scripture. To begin with, the above distinction breast  .the hope of better things.
     or classification does not have the sanction of Scripture.       Let us now illustrate these matters. The rite of  ex-
     Scripture nowhere indicates that the language of this piatory sacrifice was deficient in that it could not make
     particular record is, in part, merely a signification of him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the con-
     things other than those ordinarily signified by language. science. There were  many  more such imperfections. The
     Hence, the record of Genesis must first of all be regarded    Israelite, practicing the  pr'&criptions  of the `purification
     as a continuous narrative of events and facts on the same ordinances, remained for all that unclean within. T h e
     plane.                                                        worshiper,  jlthough ceremonially just,  was not permitted
         Ii may be objected that our conclusion has for its to appear before God's face in the holiest of all. This
     premise silence. Let us therefore, grant for the sake of      was the prerogative of the high priest only, and that but
     nr,Ttment that the language of the record is in part a once a year. It all declared that the church had not as
     signification of things other than those ordinarily desig- yet attained to the highest good.
     nated by the terms and phrases in question. The problem          There is yet another point of  difFerence  between  `the
     now is to know where to  drati the line. Fact is,  tEat two classes of figures. The ideas, embodied in the shad-
     since Scripture is silent on the  matter,nobody under the ows, were meant to be realized only, to be sure, on  a
     sun can know. The fact that the line has nevertheless grander scale. The holiest of ail was destined to be made.
     been drawn goes to show that the group of expositors manifest  - when Christ being come a high priest of
     referred to above have taken a leap in the dark. What good things to come by a greater and more perfect taber-
     reason could be given for not having denied the  histo-       nacle not made with hands, that is `to say not of this
     ricity of the entire record? None whatsoever. In view building, neither by the blood of goats and calves entered
     of these matters it is well to abide by the rule that the     in once unto the holy place having obtained eternal re-
     terms and phrases of Holy Writ be regarded as significa- demption from sin. The ideas embodied in the shadows,
     tion of things of which these terms are ordinarily sym- let it be repeated, were destined to be realized. This
     bols.     That we do so unless otherwise indicated by cannot be said of the figures of Paradise since all that
     Scripture.                                                    God had made was very good.
        In fine, the thing to do in respect to the record in          Let us now attend to the things of Paradise.
     question is to pass from the word to the reality signified, One of its institutions was the tree of life.. We
     and from there to the realities of heaven. Geelkerken,  on read concerning it: "And out of the ground God made
     the other hand, passes from the Word to the things of to grow every tree that  is pleasant to the sight and good
     heaven and denies the realities that lie between. We con- for food, the tree of life, also in the midst of the garden."
     clude that the things of Paradise are, indeed, events in And again:  "And  the Lord God said, Behold the man is
     history and as such images of the realities of heaven.        become as one of us, to know good and evil. And now
        The question arises whether Paradise and its arrange- lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life,
     ments regarded as a figure of the holy city, shall be and eat and live for ever." According to the written
     placed in a class with the prophetic symbols of the suc- record of  John"s vision the celestial city also had its- tree
     ceeding epoch. Our reply is that this should not be done. of life. As was already pointed out, this tree is but one
     There is a very marked and essential difference between of its kind. This is evident from the fact thar it stands
     the figures of these two epochs. Paradise, it should be in the midst of the street and on either  side  of the river.
     remembered, was a finished product, altogether perfect in The description suggests a grove constituted of trees of
     its way. It was pronounced very good by its Maker. the same kind. The term, "tree of life," is then the name
     Hence, it did not carry in its constitution signs and in- of each tree belonging to the group. This may also be
     dications of better things to come. The things of Pa&- true of the name "tree of life" of the book of Genesis.


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R  L  -                                              30.5
z/.                                                                   _I__-          -I
This grove then stood in the midst of the garden of Eden, came the symbol of grace and the schoolmaster, training
which in turn was surrounded by a territory watered by             the believers to Christ. The fruits of immortality of
the tributaries going out of the garden of Eden.                   which the tree was a symbol, man will again eat. These
       Let it be repeated that Paradise exhibits the design of     fruits will be withheld from him but for a season.
the tabernacle. The grove in the midst of the garden                                                               G. M. 0.
*corresponds to the  holies  of all, the  ~garden itself to the
holies and the surrounding territory to the outer court
of the tabernacle. The grove then being the inner sanc-
tuary of Paradise, was the meeting place between God                 DE ONTWIKKELING DEZER EEUW EN DE
and man, there man stood in the very presence of his                    EENHEIDSZUCHT DER MENSCHHEID
$Iaker. The utterance of disobedient man fleeing from
the presence of God is of significance in this connection. _------___---
i4nd  they heard the voice of God walking in the garden            Wat baat, o  pronkzieke eeuw! Uw  grootsche   Babelstich-
in the cool of the day.                                                                                                    ting?
       The tree of life was also good for food. The fact that Uw opgetaste  schat  v&n wetenschap en kunst,
after the fall man's access to this tree was blocked by the        en  roemverhefling in beschavings hoogste gunst  ?
cherubim with the flaming sword, stationed at the east of          Wat baat het, als uw  schoot met de eigen sapverkwisting
the garden, plainly indicates that the fruit of the tree was de zaden onderhoudt van woeling, wrevel, gisting,
capable of maintaining in man the power of an endless              van ontucht, gif en moord, en zelfzucht, en geweld,
life. Whether this was due to peculiar properties of this in slaafsche  aanhank.lijkhcid   aan de oppermacht van `t
tree cannot be determined with certainty. The fact that                                                               Geld ?
disobedient man, had he been permitted to continue eat-            `41s heel de Maatschappij te  midden  der verrukking,
ing of this tree, would have lived forever, indicates that die uw ontwikkling wekt, door `de ongelijke drukking
physical and'spiritual death are not causally relate-d  SO van  `t machtig raderwerk, .zeeplassen van ellend
that the former is the direct result of the latter. The ter zijde .ontwaart van `t spoor, waarlangs uw wagen rent ;
separation of body and soul is due to the fact that man HIER weelde ontwassen  aan zichzelf, van buiten bloeiend
was prohibited from eating of the tree of life. The divine en schitterend van jeugd, maar innerlijk verschroeiend
threat, "the day that thou eatest therof thou shalt surely en sapverdervend als een kanker, en, of `t waar,
die," must be made to apply to the death of man's soul.            tier  standen evenwicht met moedwil brekend,  -  DAAR
That physical death is not due to the filthy soul dwelling gemor bij  d' arbeid die geen brood geeft, jokdierbanden
in man's frame, is evident from the fact that the biggest geworpen om den hals van  vrijen, waar de  wanden
scoundrel may have a robust body. On the other hand, van hitte blaakren dag en  nacht, en eeuwge rook
the physical wreck does not become suddenly well when de  &eden  zwart verft, en de ziel verstikt in smook?
his filthy soul is cleansed.                                       Of, wilt ge in hooger kring? Verantwoord  die tooneelen,
       When man ate of the forbidden tree he was expelled          (de tempel onzes tijds) herschapen in bordeelen,
from the garden and deprived of the privilege of nourish- waar Dichtkunst  z.ich verlaagt tot vuige boeventaal;
ing his frame with the fruit of the tree of life. Hence, to terwijl voor `t wuft geslacht zelfs de achtbre Rechtspraak-
eat from this tree is the prerogative of the righteous only.                                                                zaal
"To him that overcometh," says Jesus,  "wili I give to eat een schouwplaats werd, waar `t oog met  wellust leert te
of the tree of life, that is in the midst of the garden of                                                            staren
God." And again, "Blessed are they that do His com- op  elken  gruwel, dien uw vorderingen  baren!
mandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, 0, Machtige Eeuwgeest ! in uw hoogheid moogt gij staan !
and may enter in through the gates of the city" (Rev.              Maar spreek  !~ Wat hebt gij met  uw heerlijkheid gedaan?
II:/`).     Physical death is the result of a disobedient and' ------   -____   ----
unrighteous life in that fallen man no longer has access           Ach ! in die mengling, in dat misbruik, voelt ge u leven !
to the tree of life.                                               en zelfvolmaking, aelfvergoding blijft het streven,
       The fact that the way to the tree of life is kept by the    ten koste van wat deugd of heiligheid het zij !
cherubim with the flaming sword, which turned every                Doch op den bodem der ontwijde Maatschappij
way, indicates that this tree was not made to disappear ligt tevens de CCnheidszucht  ! Tot  CCnheid  drijft dc  klem-
with the fall of man. It remained standing in the midst                                                                    ming
of the garden  very likely until the time of the deluge. der opgespannen veer,  - tot  CCnheid,  de bestemming
However, its way was kept. But there was  also  the prom-          maar, buiten God, de vloek der menschheid.  Ja, de Man,
ise of a seed who should gain the  ascendency  over the            c-lie in het middelpunt  zich eenmaal  wringen kan
malice of the devil. Man knew now that immortality van `t weefsel zonder  gi, dat onze leeftijd baarde,
and righteousness was again to be his portion. But he is  meester van Euroop, is  meester van heel de aarde !
was taught to look away from the tree, for the way of the .---  __--__   -                                    -       -        -
tree was kept.       He was made to look for the promised                                        Uit: Een lied in  l&l0
good from different quarters. Thus the tree of life  be-                                             van Isaac  ,Da Costa


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Vol. III, No. 14                                                    APRIL 15, 1927                                           Subscription Price, $2.50

                                                                                   hands of Joseph ; a, last service they had rendered, in the
            M E D I T A T I O N                                                    sad and still funeral procession they had followed, and
                                                                                   they had carefully taken notice where they had laid
                                                                                   the Lord on that gloomy Sabbath-eve . . . .
                          FEAR NOT YE!                     ,                           They had not understood!
                                                                                       They had not known the'meaning of that cross, that
                           And   the  angel   answered   and  said  untq  the      suffering, that death . . . . .
                        women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye
                        seek Jesus  dvhich  was  cticified.'   He. is not              They had lost their Saviour, their Hope, their all!
                        here, for he is risen, as he said . . . . . .  i               And a great sorrow had filled their hearts, a sorrow
                                                                -Mt.  28;5, 6.
    Fear not ye !                                                                  that was, however, perhaps not altogether unmixed with
                                                                                  an inexplicable feeling in their subconsciousness, attempt-
    Jesus, the Crucified One ye seek, I know. .I
    He  .is not here, the grave could not hold Him; death                         ing now and again to break through the darkness of their
                                                                                  despair, that appeared like a glimmer of a new hope . . .
could have no dominion over Him ; He left the grave ; He                               At all events, they could not part from the grave.
 broke asunder the bands of death as though they had                              The preparation for the burial of that precious body had
been slender threads  ; risen He is ! .  .* . . .  '                              been all too hasty  ; it must needs be finished ; they must
    How bristling with significance is this first  Faster-                        still perform a last service to their beloved Master.
sermon, preached with staccato brevity from angel's                                    And then? . . . . . .
 mouth, out of the dark hollow of Joseph's rock-tomb, to                               Thus had arisen early in the morning and made their
a few astounded women, holding their breath in sheer                              way to Joseph's garden to see the sepulchre.
amazement because of things they saw and heard!                                        Anxious they had been about the great stone that
  Early in the morning, preventing the first glimmer sealed the entrance of the grave, for it was very great.
of dawn, they had arisen, these women, Mary of  Mag-                                   Then the wonders had begun and followed one
dala, always eager to render the service of gratitude to                          another in such rapid succession, that they could not
Jesus who had delivered her from the devil's oppression,                          comprehend, that their mind was left in amazement and
the other Mary, the mother of James, and Salome. Rest awe. The stone was rolled away ; the sepulchre they
 they had not been able to find, not in the worshipful                            found empty; as they still looked the angel had revealed*
hours of the Sabbath now  sc&cely past, neither in the                            himself to them and preached to them the joy of  .the
 dark moments of the night; for. their souls had been                             resurrection, briefly, distinctly, yet fully :
troubled and crowding thoughts and emotions had kept
sleep far from their eyes.                                                             Fear not ye ! Ye seek Jesus, the Crucified One!
                                                                                       He is not here1
    They had-been onlookers, when He, Jesus, in Whom                                   Risen is  He1
their hope had been founded, was hanging helpless on
the accursed tree ; they had seen His suffering and re-
proach `and shame ; they had heard the taunting jeers                                  Fear not I
and bitter sneers, the biting jests and  cutting  sarcasms                             Not ye! . . . . .
of the enemy raving in the fury of never-satisfied hatred                              Ye feared and were troubled at the cross, enough of
about the cross ; they had listened to His great outcry                           sorrow then filled your hearts, while the enemy of the
in the midst of that awful darkness enveloping the hellish                        Crucified  .One gloried and rejoiced in their apparent vic-
scene on Calvary and they had watched Him sink into                               tory.
the dark abyss of death, overcome apparently by the                                    Now ye have reason to rejoice for the Lord is risen.
powers of darkness; they still had  waited  till  they  knew                      Let the full light of this great joy dissipate the gloom of
that  rhe dead body had been surrendered into the loving                          your grief as the rising sun sweeps away the darkness


 314                                              T    H    E      ST;\ND.4R.D  BE.\RER  I
 _--" .._ -_. .---.-.                                                         ._-..__                                 -.------
 of the night. And let the enemy now fear and despair                 the incontrovertible proof that He is powerfully shown`
 CJf   their cause !     Fear not ye ! . . . .                        to be the Son of God; and it is the certain prediction
        The enemy had been well represented at the grave              that He still is, that He lives and is not dead, that He is
 of Jesus. The wicked Sanhedrists had not felt at  ease,              in power and that He will come again to judge the quick
 even after this strange Jesus of  Nazaretti had given up             and the dead, even those that pierced Him . . . .
 the ghost before their eyes and the spear-stab in His side              So let them fear, because of the resurrection. They
 had proven that He had actually succumbed to  tke power              have reason to be filled with consternation and dismay!
 of death. Had He not spoken of a resurrection? If                       But fear not ye !
 the disciples in their despairing grief did not at this time            For He is risen!
 remember the words He had spoken about the rebuild-                     Your Lord lives!
 ing of the temple of His body in three days, the enemy                  Hallelujah !
 was mindful of them. Not as if they would acknowledge
 this streak of dark fear in their hearts. But might not                 Fear not ye !
 the disciples. come  ,tb the grave by night and steal the               Rather rejoice with great joy, for He is risen!
 body of Jesus and make' the last error worse than the                   He, Jesus, the Nazarene, who was despised and re-
 first? The grave must be sealed and watched. And they               jected  of men. On Him men thought they might `heap
 had applied to the Roman governor for a seal and guard.             all their contempt, which, hating Him they also did. He
 Xnd although the contrary Roman had apparently curtly               was once without form,  withour majesty, without beauty
 referred them to a watch of their own, yet had he granted           that we should desire Him. He is the Crucified One,
 their request, for Roman soldiers had  been  sent to keep           whb was crushed, broken and cast out'. He is risen!
 watch  ardund  the sepulchre . . . .                                  He, Jesus, concerning Whom the angel spoke at the
     Thus the hostile power of the world was well repre-             beginning that He should  sa,ye His people from their
 sented at  tlie resurrection.                                       `sins. He that was-appointed from everlasting to be the
     The power of that world that hates the resurrection, Captain of the salvation of those whom the Father would
 that must at all  .costs keep Jesus in the grave and root           lead to glory, their Head, their High Priest. He, Who
 out the belief that He is really risen. The power of un-            could  receivi:  the burden of all the sin of His brethren
 belief, that is not ashamed to give circulation to the story,       and carry it on His strong shoulders to the tree of suffer-
 that Roman soldiers slept on guard, and that while they             ing and death. He, not a mere man among men, but
 were sleeping they noticed that the disciples stole the             the Man Jesus Christ, the One for all. He is risen!
 body of the Saviour! The power of an inimical world,                   The Hope of all Israel!
 that would rather support the  sto;? that  Jest& arose                 Risen is He !
 only in the imagination of the disciples, who so strongly              b`nd that He is risen implies the realization of Israel's
 anticipated His resurrection, that they honestly accepted           hope.                                       .
 their own imagination for reality . . . . . .                          It implies that it was fully true what He spoke on
     The power that crucified Jesus once: that would                 the cross a few hours before, when His suffering was
crucify Him again, though now with the sharper nails of              nearly ended and He cried out : Ir iS finished ! Finished
sc&fing criticism; that will crucify Him always, because             the battle against tlie  powers of darkness; finished all
it is of darkness and He  /of light; because it hates Him            that was to be accomplished, in the house of God over
and God that sent Him; that power was represented by                 which He was appointed High Priest; finished the work
that guard . . . . .                                                 of our justification, so that in His blood we may have
    And they had feared . . . . .                                    the assurance of forgiveness and adoption; finished all
     For when the Prince of Life, that was buried in the             that must be accomplished for the maintenance and glor-
rock-hewn sepulchre of Joseph, had taken on His life                 ious realization of God's covenant. It implies that He.
again, the very rocks had trembled and quaked and the                gained the victory over death and hell, that He over-"
earth had split to prepare an exit for the Son of God:               came him who had the power of death!
and a glorious heavenly messenger had descended to                      And what a victory!
witness of Father's approval and to serve the King of                   For He rises with new and glorious life !
kings, rolling away the stone before Him and worship-                   He does not simply  xeturn from  ,the grave, as did
fully making obeisance to their glorious Lord, as vic-               Lazarus whom He once raised from the dead. He does
toriously He issued forth from the dark realm of the                 nor again appear in the likeness of our sinful flesh. His
dead 1                                                               resurrection  is  a rising far above the level of our weak
    They had feared, for what meant Roman swords                     and corruptible existence. Neither does He rise from
against such powerful opposition? And in great con-                  the grave with the glory of that life  wfiich the first man
sternation they had fled. Easy it had been to,.stand  under          Adam once possessed  ,in Paradise the First. His resur-
the cross of the helpless Nazarene and mock. But now                 rection is exalted far above even the glory Adam ever
they became as dead men. And as it was with the enemy                knew or ever could have known, though he had walked
then, so it is with the power of the world always: the               in  the way of obedience. He arose ! He passed rhrough
resuriection to them is a cause of great fear. For it is death, through the grave, and issued forth, with heavenly


                                            T H E   STANDAI&   B'EARER                                                           315
  --"-                                     ._I_-                        -I___--- .______ll___l  ",,"."  .._^^  ^-...- --..-
   glory, with the likeness of the Son of God, with life            Ye seek Jesus, the Crucified One!
  immortal, incorruptible, spiritual, heavenly, eternal . . .       He is risen !
                                                    >     '
       Fear not ye !                                                Fear not!                                               .
       Rather rejoice !                                             Rejoice !
       For presently this glorious, risen Lord will ascend to       A m e n !   I                                       H. H.
   His Father and our Father, and will receive the promise                               ___-
   of the Holy Spirit and be filled as the Head of those
   whom the Father hath given Him from before  the  foun--                DE GELOOVIGEN EN HUN ZAAD
                                                                                                                  -1
   dation of the world with the power to make them par-
   takers of His glorious life, to redeem them from the             Nog altijd ontvangen we vragen in  verband  met de
   power of sin, to deliver them from the power of death,        plaats,  die onze kinderen, de kinderen  der  geloouigen,  in-
   to make them body and soul, forever and ever like unto        nemen in Gods verbond.  We1  bnien verschillende  vra-
   Himself and make them worthy indwellers in the taber-         gers de zaak, waarover ze meer licht wenschen,  uit een
   nacle of God, where they shall be satisfied with Father's     verschillend oogpunt ; de een vraagt naar den kinderdoop -
   likeness  and  presence and behold the beauty of the Lord     en een klaar betoog voor zijn'bijbelschen grond, de ander
   eteinally . . . . .                                           naar de vraag  aangaande de zaligheid der  vroeggestor-
       He is risen  !. Your Captain, your Lord and your God!     ven kinderen, een derde komt met de vraag naar een ver-
       Fear, then, not ye!                                       klaring van het bekende woord van David, dat hij sprak
                                                                 bij gelegenheid van het overleden zijn van zijn kindje,
       Fear not ye !                                             een vierde wil gaarne wat meer licht` over de beteekenis
       For ye seek  Jesus the Crucified One, I know!             van Gods verbond in het algemeen;  doch het is  gemak-
       And, surely, they that seek the crucified  Jesus,  will kelijk te  zien,   dat al deze vragen feitelijk in den grond
   also find the risen Lord. The way of the frightful cross dcr zaak op hetzelfde neerkomen: men vraagt naar de
   is the way to the vacated grave.                              plaats van het zaad der  geloovigen in Gods verbond.
       Thus it always is.                                           Nu is voor een Gereformeerd mensch de vraag  be-
       Thus the women had found the risen Lord.                  treffende Gods verbond met ons en onze  kinderen een
       Nay, they had not understood all. And even now,           zeer belangrijke. Indien we ,uit  di\ oogpunt zouden wil-
   as with amazement in their eyes they stand and listen         len spreken van een Jachin en  Boaz in den tempel der
   to the wonderful Easter tidings  ,the angel brings to them waarheid Gods, dan zouden we zeker  niet,  moeten  spre--
   from the empty grave, they  .?annot comprehend. They          ken, zooals Prof. Van Andel dat  ergens deed, van de leer
   had not been able to comprehend the cross.  .4nd they         der  Algeheene en die der Particuliere  Ge,nade,  maar  we1
   could not fully grasp the significance of the resurrec- van het  stuk  der Souvereine Genade Gods  aan den eenen
   tion. Gradually the light would dawn, and especially          dn dat van Gods verbond  aan den anderen kant. Niet
   when the Comforter would come and bring all things            alsof door onze menschen de vraag betreffende de  geloo-
   to their remembrance the new light of life and hope would     vigen en hun zaad in het verbond Gods juist altijd uit het
   dawn upon their consciousness.                                oogpunt van haar leerstellig  gewicht  geopp,erd   wordt. Dit
       But true it  is? that they had sought Jesus . . . .       Iaatste is  juist niet het geval. Veeleer heeft voor hen
       The  enemies  had despised Him, rejected Him, cruci- deze vraag  e& bij uitstek practische beteekenis. TmmerS
   fied Him.                                                     men zoekt vooral een  antwoord `op de vraag naar de
      `They loved Him, sought Him, fixed their hope on           zaligheid der vroegtijdig gestorven  kinderen des  ver-
   Him.                                                          bonds.  Zijn de  kinderen van  .geloovige  oudeks,  die in
       And as it was then, so it is still.  _                    hunne kindschheid sterven, die door den Heere  worden
       The joy of Easter only follows the  darl&ess of Good weggenomen eer ze nog tot  jaren des onderscheids  geko-
F r i d a y .                                                    men zijn, voor zalig te houden,  ja- dan neen?  Veel, dat
       The way of the cross leads home.                          geschreven en gesproken werd in het verleden over deze
       The Crucified One we  mu& seek `first. Not a noble kwestie, kwam altijd weer voort uit die practische vraag
   man, a wise master, a  perfecr"example,  a model to copy, naar de zaligheid van de  kinderen der geloovigen.  Zelfs
   a leader to follow, but the Saviour of His people, Who zijn er, die er zeer sterk op staan, om op die vraag een
   shed His lifeblood that we might live and live more           positief antwoord te hebben. Voor hen hangt de leer van
   abundantly, the Crucified we must seek. Seek to humble        Gods  verbo?d af van het antwoord op die vraag. Ze
   ourselves in the shade of the cross because of sin and        gaan met  u mee, als ge de leer van het verbond  ontwik-
   corruption. Seek to have our garments washed in His kelt, zelfs tot in bijzonderheden tde. Doch als ge aan die
   blood, to pass through His blood into  the communion          vraag toe  zijr, en daar komt ge  onvermijdelijk,   en`ge
   of God's everlasting covenant of friendship . . . .           zoudt  geneigd zijn om een weifelend of ook een  ontken-
       Then we shall find the risen Lord. Then He shall nend antwoord te geven, ge zoudt  willen zeggen, dat het
   rise within us and make us partakers of the glory and         uit Gods verbond in de lijn der geslachten niet met  nood-
   the life and the joy of His resurrection.                     wendigheid volgt, dat al de vleeschelijke kinderen  uit  ge-
       Then the  Easter-gospel  shall resound in our hearts loovige ouders zalig zijn, als God ze wegneemt in hunne
   too :                                                         prille jeugd, dan  doen ze als die  Friesche koning,  waar-


I
       518                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
       -      -    -                                                      - .__--_II._           ___--..l__                     --___1
       bonds, dat  wil zeggen, alle zaad des verbonds in  natuur-                         A COMPROMISE ON  MOVIE23
       lijken zin, zaligen wil. Dat is Zijn eed. Neen, nog meer.
       De professor maakt niet  aalleen  onderscheid maar ook                  Our readers remember, perhaps, that one of the prob-
       scheiding tusschen het werk des Vaders, die Zijn eeuwig lems that confronted the Synod of the Christian Re-
       verbond opricht, en het werk des  Zoons,, die ons wascht             formed Churches in 1927 was the question of worldly
       .met Zijn bloed  aan den eenen kant, en het werk des  Hei-          amusements. The question was brought to the attention
       ligen Geestes, die ons het  heil deelachtig moet  maken   aan       of Synod by overtures from  Classis Grand Rapids West
       den anderen kant. Het verbond kan door den Vader and  Classis Illinois, while the former overture was  SUP-
       met ons opgericht zijn; we kunnen  Christus ingelijfd ported also by  Classis Pacific. That the question has
       zijn en door Zijn bloed gewasschen zijn; maar dat wil nog           actually become a problem and a very serious problem
       niet zeggen, dat we oak de weldaden des verbonds  wer-              in the churches and that the danger of the church being
       kelijk deelachtig  worden.  Dat laatste hangt af van iets           ruined and swallowed up by the world through the par-
       anders, volgens Professor Heyns, en  dat andere is, dat de ticipation of her members, more particularly of her youth-                   -
       bondeling verplicht  is, die weldaden, die hem in het  ver- ful members, in these worldly amusements, is more than
       bond werden bezworen,  nu.ook geloovig  aan te nemen.               imaginary, was acknowledged by both the overtures men-
              Hoe de professor dit alles leeren kan, als Gereformeerd tioned above.
       mensch is ons  we1 een raadsel.  Maar rot opheldering                   Both signalled danger; both constituted an appeal of
       dient hieraan ten slotte ook nog te  worden  toegevoegd,            Consistories and Classes to Synod for help.
       dat de professor ook aan alle bondelingen een kekere sub-               Classis West' asserted : "An increasing number of
       jectieve genade  toekent. Ze zijn niet  te vergelijken met. our members indulge in these forms of amusement:
       de kinderen der wereld. Ze zijn  niet stekeblink en  stok-           (card-playing, theatre attendance, movies and dancing).
       doof. Neen,  allen,  hoofd  <oor hoofd en ziel voor ziel,               "They are contrary to the Word of God, bear the
       hetzij  -ze uitverkoren zijn en zalig  worden  of niet  uitver-     stamp of worldliness, endanger the spiritual and moral
       koren zijn en niet zalig  worden,  ontvangen  tech iets. Ze          welfare of those who indulge in them, and-have always
     `. ontvangen een zeker  leven, dat  we1  niet het leven  `der         been condemned by Reformed moralists as a whob ;
       wedergeboorte is, maar  tech leven is. Door dit leven  wor-             "If our Synod takes no definite stand in these matters,
       den ze in staat gesteld de aangebodene belofte, het  wezen          the evil will spread and soon become too general' to be
       des  verbonhs, te aanvaarden en  aan te nemen of te  ver-           eradicated."
       werpen. Zoo doende  hebben~ze  dus een Goddelijk  recht                 And  Classis Illinois had it: "It is  the belief of  Classis
       op de zaligheid. Ze hebben ook een Goddelijke belofte,               Illinois that the indulgence in worldly amusements, such
       die zeker en vast is, dat God hun  bet heil in  Christus wil as theatre and movie-attendance is becoming a serious
       tleelachtig  maken. En ze ontvangen ook in den subjectie-           problem in the life of the Church. It is an incontrovert-
       ven zin des woordS een zekere genade, een zekere macht,             ible fact that `these worldly amusements are increasingly
       waardoor ze die weldaden nu ook kunnen aannemen, en                 indurged  in, especially by the youthful members  of the
       derr Heiligen Geest om Zijne genade kunnen bidden. church in the larger cities. That this indulgence is detri-
       (A.  w., pp. 70-75.)                                                mental to spiritual development, impedes religious prog-
              Onze bezwaren tegen deze `verbondsbeschouwing een            ress, undermines individual piety and devotion and' of
       volgende keer, D. V.                                                necessity jeopardizes the spiritual life of the church,
                                                            H. H.          ne'eds  no argument.`,
                                                                               We agree, of course, with the contents of these over-
                                                                            tures, in as far as they state and deplore the facts, though
                                                                            we do not believe that any drastic declaration of Synod,
                   MA HET  LEZEN VAN JOB XXVIII                            or practical measure  synodically decided upon, would
                                                                           remedy the situation or save the Church.
       Welk mensch heeft ooit de Wijsheid afgemeten                            We do not dispute the fact that the Churches have
       en hare  plaats ontdekt, waar (hoog) zij is gezeten?                 their obligation in this respect and that ultimately the
       De afgrond kent haar niet ; der wateren loop,                        persistently worldly-minded must be barred from the
       waar zij  zich zaamlen mogen tot een hoop,                          communion of the Church of Christ. For what agree-
       zal nooit  het God'lijk sier vermogen  te ontdekken.                ment have light and darkness? But it is not true, that
       Een mensch, hoe oud, al zou zijn leeftijd strekken                  a  synodical decision will stem the tide or create a more
       tot over honderd  jaren,  kan' niet zien                            serious religious life, an eschewing of the evil world and
       de oorsprong van haar  ZIJN en haar begin. Misschien a clearer conception of the true relation of the people of
       ZOO  hij  zich  klein  acht, `t kwade schuwt, afhanklijk  zich       God to the world in the midst of which they are called
                                                       wil stellen         to be manifestations of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
       van God, zal het Verstand het hem vertellen:                         If it is true, that indulgence in amusements is detrimental
       Dat vreez' de's  Heeren `t hoogste is op aard,                       to spiritual development and undeimines individual piety
       waaraan  zich tevens hooge wijsheid  paart.                         and devotion, it is surely no less true that this raving
                                   M. J. M.  - Uit "Timotheus"              hunger for things of the world and this insane hankering


                                               T H E   ST:YND.A.RD  R E A R E R                                                                                                319
                                   .." ..." . "." --.. ".-"" -...... --- __.-..-..----.....-......_.-._  --- "_--.    ,- I _--...............  ~  .._.. .._ ._"  .._ " . . .._ ^ .._
  after vain amusement is already a sad symptom of a very                                and pious conversation which is the true adornment of
  serious spiritual disease, of a sad lack of spiritual life,                            the children of God. It views this as an evil that causes
  of blindness and ignorance with regard to the Christian                                many to deviate from the path of piety, retards the devel-
  calling in the world. And in as far as these things are opment of spiritual life, that stifles higher spiritual aspira-
  related to the calling and responsibility of the Church,                               tions, and that fills the hearts of many of the children of
  it is simply one of the fruits the "leaders" are reaping God with sorrow.
  of their own work, partly of lack of their instructing the                                   "Therefore, Synod exhorts all office bearers in our
  flock properly, partly of their own example and attitude                               churches to remind  young.and old  .constantly,  in preach-
  over against the world in general and "amusements" in                                  ing and in giving instruction, in admonitions and in  per-
  particular.                                                                            Sonal  ministrations, and if necessary also  by' means of
     One cannot, forsooth, help to be sarcastic, when `he discipline, of the word of the Apostle: "Be ye not con-
  beholds the Church who sits still and raises no cry of formed to the world, but be ye transformed by the renew-
  indignation, when in her schools, that bear the name ing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good
  "Christian," the youth of the Church are taught that a and acceptable and perfect will of God."
  good movie and a good theatre are not bad ; who lets                                         One cannot help but wonder, why, when a. thing is
  her young men and young women in her own college be                                    as clear to Synod as is evident from this declaration, a
  instructed to  appreciatC  the beautiful things that are committee must seriously study the matter for two years
  played in  the theatre; who banishes her faithful servants, to "solve the problem" of worldly amusements.
  that desire to teach and to maintain the true line of  doc-                                                                * * * *  *
 trine and life with regard to these things of the world;                                      But it was not to this attitude of Synod that we re-
  and who, thereupon, sits serious in  synodical dignity to                              ferred when we wrote above this article "A Compromise
  "solve the problem" of worldly amusements !                                            on  hlovies."
     Once leave the strait way of the Word of God, and the                                     LVe were thinking of something else.
  light of truth as well as the spiritual strength and cour-                                   Dr.  C. Bouma, professor in Ethics in the Theological
  age to walk in it are of necessity lost.                                               School of the same churches prepared a lecture on
     And we think it a sad omen that consistories must, "Uovies"  and with it he appears occasionally in public
  cry to Classes and the latter to the Synod for help in                                 to enlighten the Church with regard to this "serious
  this matter !                                                                          problem."
     And we conceive of it as a symptom, when Synod                                            According to various reports that have come to us
  must look perplexed and is at a loss "to solve the prob-                               from those that attended this lecture, it is his advice to
  lem" of worldly-mindedness !                                                           the people of God, that they must distinguish between
     Synod appointed a committee to make:                                                good  and bad movies. The principle of the movie is
     "The necessary study and investigation of the above                                 accepted by him. -4 movie is not necessarily bad. But
  named amusements in order to determine their true                                      not all movies are good even as not all movies are bad.
  nature and character in the light  of.Scripture.                                       God's people, therefore, must distinguish. They must
     "To advise whether habitual indulgence in these                                     decide for themselves what is good and what is bad and
  amusements becomes a disciplinary matter.                                              take the former.                 I am not sure whether the learned
     "To outline the principles of policy which the Church                               doctor made a plea  for-a Christian Reformed Movie in
  may adopt to combat this particular spirit of worldli-                                 the future. But certain it is, that his audiences every-
  ness.                                                                                  where have understood him to Say about movies  what  I
     "To find ways and means whereby our young people just mentioned.
  may be provided with wholesome amusements.                                                   That this is his conception of the matter and his pub-
     "To submit its findings and recommendations to the lic advice is further corroborated by his endorsement of
  Synod of 1928."                                                                        a moving picture of Dr. Martin Luther offered to the
     And besides this Synod also sounded the following                                   public under rhe auspices of the Young Men's Society of
note of warning:                                                                         the First Christian Reformed Church of Chicago, Ill.
     "In connection with the overtures of  Classis G.  R;                                He not only congratulated the young men of Chicago
  West and  Classis Illinois, relative to participation  i.n because of their good taste and their spirit of enterprise
  worldly amusements, Synod decided to appoint a Com-                                    in this field of Christian activity, but his name also ap-
  mittee to study this matter and to report to the following peared in the advertisement  ih Onze Toekomst announc-
  Synod.                                                                                 ing said moving picture. The movie had his personal
     "Though the adoption of the overture of  Classis moral support and endorsement.
  Illinois virtually includes a declaration of Synod, yet it                                   This we certainly call a compromise on movies.
  feels constrained  tb declare explicitly that it greatly de-                                 The prixiciple of it is: movies are as such good. I
  plores the increasing worldliness in our churches and` the surmise they are a gift of common grace.
  participation in all kinds of sinful and questionable                                        The practical advice of it is: you must distinguish
  amusements. Synod considers this to be in conflict with                                between good and bad movies and choose that which is
  the holiness of the Church, and with that conscientious                                good.


     320                                                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
     ---_"- .---.. "-".--..."  ..-.. """-  -..-l.l." ..-..... -.-."_".._-  ..." "..." -.-..--"  --....-... ^                                         ---.--._  ........I" --..- ._..__
           We differ emphatically from  .the professor in Ethics.                                               a word or two must be said on the growing `participation
            We claim thar he does not understand the matter;                                                    of the Church and of ministers of the gospel in the use
     that his advice is positively dangerous ; that he caters to                                                of rhe radio.
     the spirit of worldlimindedness in that lecture.                                                              Not only do churches broadcast the message of their
            For the movie and the theatre are not essentially                                                   ministers as it is delivered from the pulpit, to enable
     different from each other. The moving picture is but                                                       those that will not  co&e to Church to sit leisurely at
     a photographic reproduction of what is  *presented by                                                      home and "enjoy" a sermon; but ministers also  broad-
     living actors in the theatre. In fact, what is offered on                                                  casr their sermons from some station, when no audience
     the screen must first be played by "movie stars" and                                                       is present and when the Church i's not gathered for wor-
     photographed by means of the  cinematiograph.  There                                                       ship.
     is not as much difference between a movie and a theatre                                                       They pray  ,-and preach they know  ndt to whom and
     as there is between "listening in" to an opera and the                                                     they are not sure if they have `an audience  at all, but
     actual. attendance of one, By defending the principle                                                      presumably the audience is all the world, the modern
     of the movie, the professor in Ethics also defended the                                                    world, the nominally Christian world.
     t h e a t r e .                                                                                               And the  knotiledge  thar the audience is this modern
            But both rhe movie and the theatre are to be con- .world not so infrequently influences, if not determines,
de&ned  princibally.  There is no good movie. A Chris-                                                          the contents of their sermon.
     tian theatre and a Christian movie are a contradiction                                                        A peculiar illustration of this last mentioned  fact'  I
     in terms.                                                                                                  find in a  s.ermon broadcasted by Dr. Henry Beers, direc-
            And'the  reason is,  that you cannot play with life and                                             tor of foreign tnissions in the Christian. Reformed
     be acceptable in the sight of the Lord.                                                                    Churches. The doctor preached on  _the text: "Adam
.           Certainly,  it  must be evident, that no child of God where art thou?" the question with which the Lord ap-
     is able to appear on the stage or on the screen, playing                                                   proached Adam when he had sinned and was hiding from
     the  party of an ungodly man. To be an ungodly man                                                         God.  :How the doctor preached we know not, for we
     and to live an ungodly life in reality is admittedly an                                                    did nor "listen in." But one of the quotations from his
,abominatidn in the eyes of Jehovah. But to play such                                                           sermon is as follows: "Where  art thou might be the
     a part is no less abhorred by Him.                                                                         question which God can ask the sons of Adam who have
            But what is true of sin is no less true of things holy.                                             received  the revelation of God .to mankind, where art
     I do not know how much of the life of Dr. Martin Luther                                                    thou on election day?" Now we know, that Dr. Beets
     was represented on the screen in the moving-picture men-                                                   has a wonderful gift `of explaining  an< applying a text
     tioned above. But I can imagine. Certainly the deep                                                        in all possible and impossible manners, for we had the
     religious struggle of the man of God, his quest for peace                                                  opportunity of ,listening to his orations occasionally. ,Bqt
     with God, his prayers and spiritual struggles, his plead-                                                  this is one of the most strange applications or explana-
     ing with the Lord, his final coming to rest in the con-                                                    tions of a portion of the Word of  Go'd we have yet heard
     scious assurance that the righteous shall live by  faith,-                                                 from his-lips. By no stretch of the imagination can we
     all these or most of them must have been presented.                                                        find in or deduce from the text the meaning which the
     And  before they were thrown on the screen rhey -were                                                      doctor nevertheless found  in it.
     enacted by living men. They played things holy. They                                                          Adam sinhed. With Eve he is in hiding. Fear and
     mimicked repentance.                              They made believe to fall on                             shame fills his heart. The Lord approaches and an-
     their knees and  pray. They imitated the joy of the child nounces His coming. He approaches with the question:
     of God coming to the consciousness that his sins are Adam where art thou  ? Evidently, Jehovah came to
     forgiven. Thus  it.must have been in order to make rhe                                                     Paradise to maintain His covenant, violated by Adam,
     picture real and historical;                                                                               His covenant-friend.  The proper answer to the question.
            And to the Most High, Who desires truth in the of the Lord on his part would have been: I `am in guilt
     inward parts, and in whose eyes all hypocrisy is an abom- and sin and death and misery, I have lost all my excel-
     ination, these things were of darkness, and of the evil lent gifts and am now unable fo do any good and inclined
     one.                                                                                                       to all evil ; I am in corruption and under Thy wrath, and
            And the Christian who can look upon all. these  rhidgs                                              I am in fear of Thy approach.
     and never feel the abomination of it has already corrupted                                                    Now, it may very well be, that Dr. Beets  also  said.all
     his own soul.                                                                                              this.  It is just possible that he condemned the world in
            The ethics of the professor with regard to movies are sin before God, rhat he maintained the doctrine of total
     not those of the  Word of God.                                                                             depravity and of Sovereign grace of God in seeking, not
            We advise him to burn his lecture.                                                        H. H.     all tlie sons of Adam, but His own. out of the world. I
                                                                                                                do not know, for I did not hear.
     L-                            b                                                                               But how he also could elicit from this portion of  the
                             ADAM WHERE ART THOU?                                                               W&d of God, that the Lord asks of all the sons of Adam
            Another thing of the world, rhat is captivating the in Grand Rapids where  they were on election  day,-
     Church in our day is the radio. We will not now write that we confess, we fail to understand.
     on the radio and its use in Christian homes as such. But                                                      Or rather, let us view the matter positively, we do
                                                                                                                                                         .


                                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                321
                                                    ----                                -_-_               _I_                  -^-. -_"----  _._..- -

understand too. We know, that Dr. Beets never did get "TEKSTCRITIEK" GEEN AANRANDING VAN DE
this peculiar application out of the Word of God he was                                                    HEILIGE SCHRIFT !
preaching.
    It certainly was a corruption of the meaning of the                                   ~ In  " De  Heraut,"   waar  Dr.  K. Dijk van `s-Gravenhage
text. And by such corruptions, by such introductions                                    reeds eenigen tijd lang  bezig is om DE HEILIGE
of the words of men into  the,*Word of God, the people SCHRIFT te behandelen, nader gezegd : de onfeilbaarheid
of God are misled and deceived, unless they watch and                                   daarvan, de  goddelijkheid,  en canoniciteit der  Heilige
listen closely and are able to distinguish the truth from                               Schrift,  had in No. 2561 (van 20 Februari 1927) ook dc
the lie.                                                                                hoofdredacteur,  ,Prof. Dr.  W. H. Kuyper, een artikel  ge-
    For certainly, the Lord in approaching Adam with                                    schreven over  "Schriftcritiek en Tekstcritiek," naar  aan-
the above question, and in revealing this to the Church                                 l&ding  van diverse zaken, ter gelegenheid van het  "Geel-
of all ages, never purposed to ask of the citizens of Grand                             kerkcn  proces" voor de  A4sser  Synode op het tapijt  ge-
Rapids where they are on election day.                                                  bracht  door dezen en genen ; en voornamelijk dan over de
    We surmise that the invisible audience had something kwestie, dat hij, Dr. H. H.  I(+ inzake Geelkerken's
to do with this exegesis of Doctor Beets.                                               Schriftverklaring en opvatting van den  SchAfttekst geen
    But whether before the radio or before the Church,                                  recht van spreken had, daar hij zelf eens zou gezegd heb-
also Rev. Henry Beets is responsible to the Most High ben, dat het slot van  Markus  16 in de Heilige Schrift niet
for what he brings as the Word of God.                                                  echt was, maar ondergeschoven.
    And let the Church beware !                                                            In de eerste  plaats zou het zeggen, dat Dr. H. H.  R.
    For further light on this subject see the fine article of dat slot van  Markus'Evangelie  niet voor  echt zou hebben
brother Van Beek in this same number.                                                   verklaard of disputabel gesteld, nier geheel  juist zijn.
                                                                          H. H.         Dr. Kuyper had' eens vroeger, in een gesprek met Ds.
                                     -A
            \                                                                           Netelenbos, er slechts op gewezen, dat men  voor de
                                                                                        echtheid van de Evangelie-verhalen  zich niet beroepen
                                    I N   M E M O R I A M
   I&n                                                                                  mocht  up het slot van  Markus, aangezien  di.t slot in de
            26~1  Maart   1927 behaagde het den Heere van ons weg te
nemen onze  geliefde Moeder en Grootmoeder,                        _                    meeste oude handschriften ontbrak; en ook zeer beslist  -
                                    MRS. A. SCHAT,                                      geloovige  uitleggersdit   slor daarom niet voor  echt  hiel-
in den ouderdom van ruim 74  jaren.  `.                                                 den; en hieraan dus  geen  bewijs  mocht  worden  ontleend.
   Zwaar  valt ons dit verlies, maar wij mogen gelooven dat zij is                         Er was dus geen sprake van, dat hij (Dr. H. H.  K.)
ingegaan in de rust die er  overbIijft  voor het  volk van God.                         zelf, op grond van eigen onderzoek, de echtheid van dit
                                              De bedroefde kinderen,                    slot betwijfelde; hij zelf had  alleen geconstateerd, dat
                               _       Mr. en Mrs. J.  Walburg,
                                                            Grand  Raptds, Michigan     omtrent de echtheid van dit slotgedeelte van  Markus'
                                       Mr. en Mrs.  P. T. De Jong                       Evangelie nog altoos  twijfel bestond. Dat was  alles.
                                                                   Pease,  Min&sota
                                       Mr. en Mrs. Ant. Ruyt,                              En dit had met Schriftcritiek niets te  maken  ; want
                                                            Grand  Rapids, Michigan Schriftcritiek  milde zeggen, dat men, hetgeen in de  Hei-
                                       Mr. en  Mrs. Dick Dykstra,
                                                            Grand Rapids. Michigan      lige  Schrift wordt medegedeeld, betwijfelt of voor  on-
                                                            Xn  Kleinkinderen.          waar verklaart. Zooals  b.v. wanneer men, hetgeen de
                                         -    -     -                                   Schrift ons meedeelt aangaande den val des  menschen?
   Waar het den  Hecre  behaagde; op 26  Alaart  1927, plotseling
een  onzer  leden,                                                                      het optreden van de slang, het spreken van de lezelin  van
                                    MRS.  A. SCHAT,                                     Bileam, of de geschiedenis der Patriarchen, voor een
door den dood uit  ens  midden weg te nemen, daar betuigt de                            mythe,.een  legende, of fabel houdt.
Vrouwenvereeniging van de  Fuller  Ave.  Prot.  Gcref. Gemeente                            Wat de Apostel zegt, dat we "geen kunstig verdichte
te Grand Rapids,  Mich.,  "Weest ecn Zegen," hiermede hare  har-
telijke deelneming  aan de bedroefde  familie,  en bidt haar den                        fabelen zijn  nagevolgd" wordt dan tot een leugen  ge-
troost des Heiligen  Geestes toe.                                                       maakt. En hieraan hangt, zegt Dr. H. H. K., dc  autori-
                              Namens de Verecniging,                                    teit en het gezag van Gods Woord.
                                       MRS.  M. VANDER VENNEN,
                                                                        Sccretaressc       Maar deze  ongeloovige  Schriftcritiek,  vervolgt hij, is
                                                                                        geheel wat anders dan wat men  tekstcritiek  noemt.
                                                                                           De oorspronkelijke geschriften van de Profeten en
                 " G O D ' S   C O U N S E L   A N D   M A N ' S   I                    Apostelen bezitten we niet meer.  `Wij hebben alleen  af-
                              RESPONSIBILITY"                                           schriften, door feilbare menschen gemaakt. Die  afschrif-
                                                                                        ten nu stemmen onderling niet overeen, en het is niet een
is the subject of the lecture which Rev. H. Hoeksema will                               ongeloovige critiek, maar een zeer geloovige, wetenschap-
deliver, the Lord willing, on April 21, 1927, at  7% P. M.,                             pelijke arbeid, wanneer men, op grond van deze afschrif-
                        -_                                                              ten,  nu  tracht te komen  tot: vaststelling van wat in het
in the First Protestant Reformed Church af Grand Rap- oorspronkelijke handschrift heeft gestaan. . . . . .
ids,  Mich., corner Fuller Ave. and Franklin St.                                           Oak Calvijn heeft dergelijke tekstcritiek geoefend.
                                                                                        waarbij hij het onderzoek door Erasmus gedaan ten
                                                   The Lecture-Committee                grondslag  nam.


                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              325
                                                                           - -                                       I     -------A

                  Yli ARE THE LIGHT OF THE  WORLD                           is indicative of the organical oneness of the citizens of
                                                                            this city.
               In a former article, we dwelt upon the words,  "Ye                 The heavenly city, then, has for its king, God. He
           are the light of the world." It  is the Church, so it was is at once the Father of the citizens who in turn are all
           pointed out, to which the statement must be made to              brethren, the one of the other. Together they, comprise
           apply. The children of God are light  And  at once  the          the chosen race whose members live on the very best
           light of the `world. Of-that light Christ is the source. footing with one another. They do not hurt or destroy
           It is He who sets the heart aglow with love for God. And         in all the holy mountain. For the earth is full of the
           the sacred tires of  the heart are fed by Him.        I          knowledge of God as the water covers the sea. And the
               The phrase,  "of the world" denotes the relation which       envy of Ephraim is departed. Ephraim does not envy
           the Church of Christ sustains to the (chosen) world. It Judah nor does Judah envy Ephraim. The ideal, corre-
           signifies that the Church was given unto the world as            sponding to the above description is not found, as yet,
           light. And its light must be permitted to shine. Then on this earth.
           those of the elect, walking in darkness, will come to the              The city of God, to be sure, has an outward form.
           light and be saved.                                              Its citizens are beings with a body and with a soul. They
                                                                            dwell in a locality with streets of gold. This city is
               Let us now show regard to Christ's application of            in progress of being built. It is partly here on this earth
           the figure. "A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.         in its unideal state. Now this city is a great light center.
           Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel          It cannot be otherwise since each citizen is light.
           but on a candle stick; and it giveth light unto all that are           "Now a city set on a hill cannot be hid." What is
           in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they      the meaning of this utterance? Calvin's commentary
           may see your good works and glorify your father which            reads as follows: "This means that they (the apostles
           is in heaven." One immediately senses, upon having and the pastors) ought to live in such a manner, as if
           thoughtfully read these words, that they should not be the eyes of all were upon them. And certainly, the more
           regarded as a complete representation of Christ's                 eminent a person is, the more injury he does by a bad
           thoughts. The  a&ertion "A city on a hill cannot be hid,,,        example, if he acts improperly.' Christ, therefore, in-
           indicates that to Christ's mind the Church is a city.             forms the apostles, that they must be more careful to
           Scripture frequently uses the term City as a signification        live a devout and holy life, than unknown persons of the
           of the Church. "There is a river, the streams whereof common rank, because the eyes of all are directed to
           shall make glad the city. of God,' (Ps. 46  :4). "Great is       them, as to lighted candles; and that they must not be
           the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our endured, if their devotion and uprightness of conduct, do
           God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situa- not correspond to the doctrine of which they are minis-
           tion, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the           ters . . . After  .having  taught the apostles that, in con-
           sides of the north, the city of the great King (Ps.  4&U).        sequence of the rank on which they are placed, both their
           For he (Abraham) looked for a city which hath founda- vices and their virtues are better known for good or bad
           tions, whose builder and maker is God (Heb.  11:lO).              example,  he. now enjoins them so to regulate their life,
           But ye are come unto Mount Zion, unto the city of the             as to excite all to glorify God."
           living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumer-                 Now the assertion that all eyes are upon such as do
           able company of angels (Heb.  1222).  And I, John saw             occupy positions of prominence and that the vices and
           the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God                virtues of such persons are better known for a good or
          ' out of heaven, prepared as a bride, adorned for her hus-         a bad example and that, finally, such persons should, for
           b a n d   ( R e v .   2 1   Q).`,
I                                                                            that reason, be careful to live devout lives is all very
               The Church of Christ is a city, the inhabitants of            true. These sentiments, however, cannot very well be
           which are the redeemed of God. The term city, applied             extracted from Christ's words for the reason that He
           to the Church, signifies that the people of God constitute        was looking at matters from a different point of view.
           a society, a distinct commonwealth, the members of The matter upon which Christ was discoursing was not
           which have been redeemed to God by the blood of the               the conspicuousness of the Church or of- the individual
           Lamb out of every kindred, tongue, people and nation.             Christian as such but the conspicuousness of the Church
           To that Lamb they are vitally related. Together they as a light center and as a light radiator. The plain teach-
           constitute His body, a chosen generation, a royal priest-         ings of these figures are that the Church, being light,
           hood, a holy nation, a peculiar people.                           must emanate its light. The individual Christian, who
               The appellatice  city,  in distinction from such terms as lives an unholy life is engaged in covering his light with
           body,  nation, and people implies that the chosen and re-         his vices. Such a one has placed his light under a bushel
           deemed race is juridically related to God. Its correlative and  ce&ses  to be known as light unto men.
           is the term  king. Further, the  term.city stands for social           There is another popular. explanation of these words
           intercourse. The names race or nation signify that the of Christ. It is maintained that Christ, when He uttered
     r     people of God constitute one big family, having a com-            these words meant to caution His disciples against with-
           mon origin: They are born of God, And the term  body              drawing from life to retreat within the limits of their


   326                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                  .- . . . . . . ..--____                              -           -
   own little world. Doing so they would be placing their          exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness
   light under a bushel. Hence,  it"is the will' of Christ, so     they work  .and ear their own bread (2 Thes. 3  613)."
  it is maintained that the followers of Jesus should make         In these passages the believer is told how he should con-
   themselves as conspicuous as they know how in this              duct himself as a member of society. He may not lead
   world. They must enter every conceivable department            a shiftless life, eating the bread of another. Rut nowhere
   of life and aspire after high places in the world. The         in Scripture is he told that he  .should  strive for a place
   follower of Jesus should enter politics, for example. He       in the limelight for the reason that otherwise the world
   should strive to gain a seat in the State Legislature and - will not know he is there. The matter which Scripture
   join the Labor Union. And if a gifted one should  SUC-         stresses, and that repeatedly, is godly conduct and
   deed in persuading his countrymen to make him presi-           heavenly mindedness. Says Paul: "If ye then be risen
   dent of the United States, the angels in heaven would          with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
   indeed rejoice. For, having been exalted to these heights      Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affec-
  this particular disciple would be emitting his brightness       tions on things above, not on things of the earth. For ye
   over the vast expanse of our land even from coast to           are dead, and your fife is hid with Christ in God. When
  coast.                                                          Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also
      To this we reply that it is altogether possible that        appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your mem-
   th,is one would be hailed by men as a great light. It is bers which are upon the earth . . . . But now ye also
  a matter of doubt, however, whether the light radiated          put off these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy
  would continue to be the light of Christ. Fact is that          communications out of your mouth. Lie not, one to
  the world hates  this  light. There is a great danger that another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with
  this particular disciple will be induced to place the light     his deeds . . . . Put on therefore, as the elect of God,
  of Christ, which he should let shine, under a bushel in         holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humble-
  order to keep peace with the wolves. But however this           ness of mind, meekness, longsuffering ; Forbearing one
  may be, it must not be supposed that our Saviour, when          another and forgiving one another, if  .any man hath a
  He uttered these particular words was enjoining quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also
  Wis followers to aspire after high places in life               do ye  (Cal. 3  :)." But should the believer have no re-
  and that for the purpose of creating for themselves             gard for the world? He should. The apostle has this
  opportunities for letting their light shine. We invite the to say: "Having your conversation honest among the
  exponents of this view to point us to a single scripture        gentiles: that whereas they speak against you as evil
  in Holy Writ which may be interpreted to mean that              doers, they may by your good works, which they shall
  the children of God are duty bound to make themselves           behold, glorify God in the day of visitation (I Pet. 3 :12)."
  conspicuous in this sense. We do not mean to say that           And then this word: "Love your enemies, bless them
  the disciple of Christ should not vote. He should and           that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray
  if elected to office he may serve. This is not the question     for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you
  but this rather, whether  Christ was engaged in admonishing     (Matt. 5 :44) ." We repeat' the matter which Scripture
  His sheep to become prominent in worldly circles. We            emphasizes is a godly walk. Nowhere is it asserted that
  shall make plain that no such admonition passed from            the believer "who enters politics, let us say, is taking his
  the lips of Christ. I repeat, Scripture contains no such light from under the bushel  and placing it on the candle
  injunction. The apostle Paul does have this to say:             stick. How absurd. Yet we have with us roday a group
A "And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own busi-        of enthusiasts who insist that the believer who refuses
  ness, and to work with your own hands as we commanded           to step forward is obscuring his light. And they also
  you; that ye may walk honestly toward them that are             have their scripture, to which they are wont to appeal.
  without, and that ye may have lack of no man (1 Thes.           "Ye are the light of the world. A city that  is  set on a
  4:14, 15). And again: "Now  we command you brethren,            hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and
  in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw          put it under a bushel, but on a candle stick . . . . Let
  yourself from every brother that walketh disorderly, and        your light so shine . . . . .  "
  not after the tradition which he received from us. For             Let us now attend to these words. We wish to know
  yourselves  kn.ow how ye ought to follow us: for we             whether these utterances of our Saviour may be quored
  behaved not ourselves disorderly among you ; neither did        in support of the contention that the light on the candle
  we eat any man's bread for naught; but wrought with             stick is the believer who is occupying a seat in the state
  labor and travail night and day, that we might not be           legislature or directing a bank.
  chargeable to any of you: Not because we have not                  "A  city which is set on a hill &not   be hid." To under-
  power; but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to            stand this utterance it must be borne in mind that a city
  follow us. For even when we were with you, this we              as such is sure to draw attention. There is much which
  commanded you, that if any would not  .work,  neither           a traveler will fail to observe. But a city will not' be
  should he eat. For we hear that there are some which            passed by unnoticed. Especially nor in that day when
  walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are          these words were spoken, for the reason that in Christ's
 busybodies. Now them that are such we command and                day travel was slow and dangerous and the attending


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                                         T H E   STANDPLRD   B E A R E R                                                   327
-.__lll_--..-                                       "......~                                                    -            -
difficulties were many. And the traveler would press              ular and prominent. The Church is advised to gain the
on in the hope that  before sunset the next city would be         good will and the favor of the world-of the masses.
reached. Behind the walls of that city he would retreat           It has taken this advice to heart and goes about doing
for the night, for the walls shut out the beasts of prey          things of which the world can approve. The task to
and the bandit. hdd to this that a city as such is about          which the modern, Church is now given is the task of
as conspicuous as anything possibly can be.  But there            civilizing men instead of Christianizing them. Character
is still another element entering in. It is evident from Juilding  has become the chief business. Any so-called
the passage under consideration that the terms  city  and         noble movement-such as prohibition and woman's suf-
light  were being used interchangeably. In His discourse,         frage-is sure to receive the stamp of approval and the
Christ passes from light to city and from city to light.          support of the Church. And in time of war it goes to
Hence, the two terms signify one and the same object.             praying that the bullets may find the vital spot in the
The city is the light and the light is the city. It is then       frame of the adversary. The Church has been stepping
a light center, shining in the darkness-a lit-up city sur-        ahead but its light is gone.
                                                                                   "..
rounded by a territory shrouded in darkness, which                   And the Pope of Rome is of the conviction that he
Christ had before His mind.                                       ought to be the power behind every throne, the father.
   This city, set on a hill, cannot be hid. PL self-evident       of the dominions of the earth. From rhis elevation he
truth. It should be noticed that Christ does not say that         would be casting, his gleams over the whole earth.
this city cannot be hid. If this is the thought which                Let us now retrace our steps and account for the
Christ meant to convey the admonition "Let your light             fleshly view presented above. A city on a hill cannot
shine" serves  no*purpose.    A city set on a  hill  cannot be    be hid. A Church emitting its light will be seen by the
hid. The conspicuity of the city is dependent upon loca-          world.    History corroborates this assertion of Christ.
tion. Set on a hill it will be seen. Set this city in a           The elect of God, still walking in darkness, see this city,
valley and it will be passed by unobserved. The sur-              and, come to the light. This Church also draws the at-
rounding hills are hiding it from men's view.                     tention of  satan and the wicked, who, infuriated by the
   The same applies to the lighted candle. Nothing is             light assail the Church with  the intent of extinguishing
quite as visible as a lighted candle shining in the dark-         its light. This is a matter of history. Every student of
ness. However, this lighted candle will be seen is deter-         Scripture knows that the Bible is a written record of
mined by its location. It is the lighted candle placed on         God's message unto a persecuted Church. Holy Writ
a candle stick which cannot be hidden. This light is              is meant to be a source of comfort to those buffeted by
obscured when placed under a bushel. Covered by the               a world exasperated by the pure light from heaven radi-
measure it can be seen by no one.                                 ated by the Children of the light.
   Let us now apply these matters. The city on the hill
is an image of the Church, the city of God, the chosen               The fact that the apostolic Church suffered persecu-
race. The Church is light-the. light of the world, the            tion indicates that it exhibited to the world the indwell-
lit-up city, the lighted  *candle,  lit by Christ. When this      ing Christ. Were the-believers of that day people of
light is permitted to shine the church cannot be hid.             high estate occupying places of prominence in this world?
But the church can  ,conceal  its light. It does so when          The very opposite is true. "For ye," says the apostle,
it becomes worldly, when it covers its light by its vices.        "see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men
In a word. the church can deliberately pass from the              after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are
mountain to the valley below. It is then not the city set         called:  Bur  God hath chosen the foolish things of the
on a hill which cannot be hid, but the city in the valley         world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the
concealed by the flesh.                                           foolish things of the world to confound the things which
   And the individual believer, emitting his light will,          are mighty (1 Cor.  125,   26)." And yet it was these fool-
likewise, be seen. Such a one is the burning candle               ish men after the flesh, men devoid of power, ignoble
mounted on the candle stick. He cannot be hid. But and weak things who in that: day were drawing the atten-
when his old man of sin prevails, he is the burning candle        tion of heaven, hell and earth, and that for the sole reason
under the bushel. Taking ones light from under the                that they had mounted their light upon a candle stick.
bushel does not consist in climbing upward in the world,            It appears that history cannot be appealed to in sup-
but in crucifying the flesh.  ' The light mounted upon the        port of the contention that the burning candle on the
candle stick is not necessarily the believer occupying a          candle stick is he whom the world hails as a big and use-
position of prominence in the world. It is he who has             ful man and for whom the world makes room. To the
put on rhe new man.                                               contrary, Scripture has ir that the city on a hill is the
   The view that the city on the hill and the light on            persecuted Church, constituted of such as had trials of
the candle stick is the church or the individual Christian cruel  mockings and  scourgings,  yea moreover of bonds
who has succeeded in making a name for himself in this            and imprisonment. It is a matter of history that the light
world-this view is thoroughly modern. It is the view              of the Church shines brightest when its members are
of the Pope of Rome. The Modernist is of the convic-              occupying humble places in life and when they are not
tion that the church, to be of any influence must be pop-         wanted by the world. In fine, letting ones light shine


 33-4                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

 has really nothing to do with being governor of Okla-            garlic which the citizens of the city now possess, are
 homa.                                                            theirs because of their having hid their light under a
         "Let your light shine," said Christ. A very necessary    measure  and because of their  ha&g  patted the world
 admonition. For  .the inhabitants of the city on the  hill-      on rhe back, they may feel assured that these cucumbers
 may be tempted to hide their light under a measure, and          and  pnions will do them no good.
 that for more than one reason. As was pointed out the                Seated at the fleshpots these citizens do not at all
 heavenly light greatly exasperates  rhe wicked who,  in-+ feel at ease. This is evident from the fact that they com-
 furiated by the light lay siege to the city of God. This         pel Scripture ro sanction their upward climb. The words
 city is tempted to hide its light for the purpose of  pacify2    of Jesus are appealed to. "Ye are the light of the world.
 ing the wolves wirhout. That must not happen, said               A city on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a candle
 Christ. That light must shine even though it greatly             and put it under a bushel but upon a candle stick . . . .
 agitates the sworn antagonists of Goh.                           Let your light shine." These words assert, as was pointed
         There is yet another reason why the people of the        out. that the citizen of the kingdom of God must put
 city on the hill may want to obscure their light. They           off the old man with his works and put on the new man.
 wish to sit again at the fleshpots of Egypt. In the city         Christ was stressing a godly conversation. The citizens
 on the hill there are no fleshpots. There is the manna           seated at the fleshpots-insist that our Saviour meant  to
 from heaven, good for food and the pure water from  the- say that his disciples should trive to become president of
 rock. But when the citizens of the celestial city become         the fourth national bank. Forsooth, a nauseating dis-
 carnal they go to weeping and say, Who shall give  UP tortion of Christ's words.
 flesh to eat, we remember the flesh which we did eat in              Thus  wt% have registered our  protest,against the con-
 Egypt freely, the cucumbers and the melons, and the              tention that the believer who is content to live what men
 leeks, and the onions and the garlic: But now our soul           call an inconspicuous life in this world is shirking a duty
 is dried away: there is nothing  ar all, besides this manna      iniposed upon him by Christ and becomes guilty of  .con-
 before our eyes. But these  fleshpots and cucumbers and          cealing  his light under a-bushel. The divine injunction
 lkeks and melons and onions and garlic are in Egypt and          "Let y&r light shine" has a far different meaning than
 in the possession of the Egyptians, those very Egyptians         that rhe believer should strive after  prominency in this
 seeking their ruin.       Hence, this enemy must first be        life and covet high places in the world. That this mean-
 calmed and his favor won, if the citizens of rhe city will. ing is being given to these particular words of Christ is
 again sit at these fleshpots. This is done. Lights are           most significant. In view of the fact that the world is
 placed under measures and the citizens of  the city begin        actually being patted on the back it indicates a shifting
 to laud the noble aspirations of the Egyptians. They             of emphasis. It shows that  the treasures now being
 say, You Egyptians are people of superior virtue. With           coveted are not those of heaven but those of this world.
 your good works you put many of us to shame. The It means that the Church has neither the courage nor
 spirit of the Almighty dwelleth in you and ye are the            the inclination to be the city on the hill.
 favorites of God. We ask,  :1re these citizens speaking              It was averred that the world hates this light and
- the truth? If they are then the  B'ible is one long con- would destroy the city emitting this light. This is ac-
 catenation of lies.                                              cording to Scripture. "And this is the condemnation
    The flattering speech of the citizens has its desired         that light is come into the world, and men loved dark-
 effect. The wrath of the Egyptian subsides. The long ness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For
 standing feud comes to an end. The citizens of the city' every one that doeth evil hateth  the light, neither cometh
 on the hill and the Egyptians lock arms. And these citi-         to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he
 zens may now sit at the fleshpots of the Egyptians. They         that doeth truth cometh to rhe light, that his deeds may
 now begin to step  aheid. .Having  gained the good will be made manifest, that they are wrought in God (John
 and the support of the world and having adopted its              3 :19-Z). And the holy city shall rhey tread under foot
 merhods these citizens rise rapidly. They prosper and            forty and two months {Rev.  112).  And  rhey went up
 grow very fat and famous and the world deems them                on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of
 worthy. Indeed, but let it be born in mind that while the        the saints about and the beloved city : and fire came down
 flesh was yet between their teeth, ere`it was chewed, the        from God out of heaven, and devoured them .(Rev. X:9)."
 wrath of the Lord was kindled against fhe people, and               The wicked hate the  lighr because their deeds are
 the Lord smote the people with a very great plague               evil. Ruyper,  qn the other hand, maintained that the
 (Num.  11:33).                                                   wicked seeing this light, glorified God. This however,
    This flesh and these cucumbers and melons and leeks cannot be, for it would mean that the wicked love the
and onions and garlic are in themselves not evil. It is           light.
 all,`good food. But if this food is not a gift of God's              Ler your  light  shine. What is meant by the  light  of
grace and if the eating of it does not have the divine            the believer? That light is his new life exhibited unto
sanction, we die while we eat. "And while the flesh was the world by word and deed. Light is life revealed, made
yet between their teeth .  : . . the Lord smote the people        manifest. This is evident from a scripture in the first
 with a very great plague." If the flesh and the cucum-           chapter of John's Gospel. It reads: "In him was life
bers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and              and the life was the light of men. Chrisr speaks of good


         c                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                           329
 - -                           .._.. ".^-.~.-- ...........l-ll^ ^ -.--...........-.." .-..--
 works. Let your light shine that  men may see your good                                                      ADAM,  iVAAR   ZIJT GIJ?
 works." The term  work  should not be made  to  signify                                                                           0
 man's deeds only versus his speech. The term  work is                                             Het is onder ons  we1 bekend, niet  wear,  dat er  predi-
 a signification of the activities of all the various organs                                    kcrs  worden  gevonden, die in plaats van het  Woord Gods
 of self expression,  viz., the tongue, the hand' the eye, the                                  te bedienen en de  Schrift   aan de gemeente Gods te  ver-
 foot, etc. The hand and the tongue are the two most                                            klaren,  aan teksten uit Gods  \Voord hun  literarische  en
 important organs of the body by means of which man                                             rhetorische  talenten ophangen, en de gemeente, door
 exhibits his inner life. The hand stands for power and                                         naar die kapstok te wijzen, zeggen te stichten,  terwijl
 action, the tongue for intelligence and speech. The term                                       het al te vaak niet anders is  clan haar te  vervelen  en in
 work,  then, signifies the exhibition of the intellectual and                                  slaap te wiegen.
 volitional life of the New Man, in word and deed. That                                            Zoo gebeurde het nog niet lang  geleden,  dat wij een
 the new life of the believer should also be revealed by                                        leeraar, die ten sterfhuize van een. bejaard kerklid een
 means of speech is evident from the passage which we                                           "dienst" had te verrichten, den tekst hoorden uitkiezen
are considering. "That men may see your good works                                              (deze leeraar was nog zoo eerlijk mede te  deelen,  dat hij
 and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Those                                             dien tekst niet zou verklaren, maar hem slechts had  ge-
 glorifying God are not the wicked (Kuyper) but those                                           nomen  om daaraan eenige "beautiful thoughts" vast te
 doing truth (St. John). These come to the light that knoopen) te vinden in Zacharia  14:7c, een tekst die  ge-
 their deeds may be made manifest (St. John). Such then                                         heel behoort bij wat voorafgaat, van  bet eerste vers af
 became  citszens  of the city set on a hill-the light of the                                   van dat hoofdstuk, dat immers den  "dag  van Christus"
  world. They, together with their fellows, display their bcschrijft; en dat deze leeraar, in dezen, tot vliegerstaart
 inner life by means of the tongue for they glorify God.                                        gedegradeerde Schriftplaats de  schoone gedachte meendc
        The term  work,  then, is not merely a signification of                                 te kunnen vinden of, beter gezegd, daaraan te kunnen
 the activities of the hand. It is the plain teachings of                                       vastkleven, dat het nu licht was voor den  gestorven  broe-
 Scripture that the entire man, according to body and                                           der, die op hoogen leeftijd (dus ten'tijde ties avonds)
 soul, is duty bound to glorify God. When God regener-                                          was heengegaan, "want hij was gedurende twintig  jaren
 ates  a`sinner' He calls into existence a  ,man-the  new altijd getrouw naar de kerk gegaan !"
 man. This man has a mind and a will and a heart. Lack-                                            We  dachten'aan  deze kapstokken-methode van  "pree-
 ing any of these he would not be a man. All the various. ken" en rederijkerij, die voor Evangeliebediening moet
 organs of selfexpression, the entire body' must be placed                                      doorgaan,  toen wij verleden week in de "Christian Jour-
 in the service of this man. For the whole man must be                                          nal" van die week, weder iets kenmerkends lazen  van den
 revealed.         Such are the plain teachings of Scripture.                                   heer Dr. H. Beets, een der voornaamste leiders van de
 "Wherefore lift up  the  hullds which  ha.ng down, and the                                     Chr. Geref. kerk hier te lande, gelijk we in een  buiten--
 feeble knees  (Heb.  12:lZ).             Then the eyes of the blind iandsch blad lazen, en die voor "Pontius  Pilatus" in 1925
 shall be opened, and the  ears of the deaf shall be un-                                        allerminst goede belijdenis deed van het waar geloof dier
 stopped. Then shall the  lame man  leap as a hart, and the kerk, zooals zij dat gewoon was officieel bekend te maken.
 tongue of the dumb sing (Isa. 35 :5, 6) . . I thought on my                                       :Dr. Beets had zoo pas' "een echte Evangeliepreek over
 ways and turned my feet unto thy testimonies (Ps. 119:                                         de radio gehouden," schreef Representative Ate Dykstra,
 59).  I hare refrained my feet from evil ways, that  I might                                   editor van de rubriek "Civil Government" in de Christian
 keep thy  ,word (Ps.  119:31). So our eyes wait upon the                                       Journal.
  Lord our God until that he have mercy upon us (Ps.
  123 2). And my  tongue  shall speak of thy righteousness                                         "De  tekst. van die dierbare  `Evangelic'-preek  bestond
 and of thy praise all the day long (Ps. 35  :28).                                              uit de drie woorden: `Where art thou,' genomen uit  bet.
        The wicked, on the other hand, place their organs for                                   boek Genesis, en zijn de woorden door Jehova tot Adam
 self expression in the service of their carnal self. Their                                     gericht vlak  na den val in het  Paradijs," zegt genoemde
 throat  is an open sepulchre: with their  tongue  they  have                                   editor.
  used deceit  ; the poison of asps is under  their lips  :  Whose                                 "Die predikatie hier overnemen, of ook een stuk ervan
  mouth   is full  -of cursing and bitterness: Their  /eet are                                  mededeelen, kunnen wij  niet,"  vervolgt hij, "maar wij
 swift to shed blood . . . . There is no fear of God before                                     wenschen even hier te wijzen op een zcer  geschikte   toc-
 their eyes  (Rom. 3  :13-l%)."                                                                 passing van zijn tekst door Dr. Beets gemaakt met  bc-
                            (To be continued)                          G. M.  0.                trekking tot de-stemming hier onlangs plaats gehad en
                                                                                                tot  _ verkiezingen in het  aigemeen."
                       GELOOVIGE WENSCH                                                            `Where art thou," the speaker said, "might be the
                  Veer mij zachtkens naar  huis,                                                question which God can ask the sons of Adam who re-
                  in den dienst van  Uw kruis,                                                  ceived the revelation of God- to mankind, -- where art
              dien mijn ziel  zich zoo lieflijk gedacht heeft.                                  thou on election day?"
                     Dat ik werkend bezwijk',                                                      Op z'n Hollandsch : "Waar zijt gij ?", zeide de spreker,
                     als een knecht van  LJw Rijk,                                              "ZOU ook de vraag kunnen zijn, die God kan richten tot de
              d i e   zijn  dqgwerk   geloovig   volbracht  heeft. .                            zonen van Adam, die ontvangen hebben de openbaring


