                                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                               387
" -......_ _" .___._ - ._... -.-__- ________ll"    _--._....._  __l_-__l_____l   ^_                              - .._ - . ..____._____
    Wij  waren  kinderen; daarom  worden  wij  kindeyen!                        Verlost  cn zalig, met een nooit  gckende,   onuitspreke-
     Wij  waren  kinderen; daarom ontvangcn wij den  kin-                   lijke,  alle  verstand te bovcn  gaandc-vrede in  bet  ha-rte!
der-Geest !                                                                     Strijdend en lijdend; worstelend  na&- de overwinning.
     Wij  waren kinderen; daarom schept onze Vader die in                   struikelend op den weg,  doch door Hem weer opgericht;
de hemelen is er goddelijk behagen in, om die kinderen te                   falend  e; zondigend,  doch door Hem vergeven  op  on5
leeren  roepen:  Abba,Vader! En in dien  C&en uitroep                       roepen  . . . .
storten.ze dan voor den Vader uit wat van kinderleven en                        Tot we het in volmaaktheid, in  hemelsche glorie,  on-
kinderliefde, van kindervertrouwen en  kinder-gehoor-                       gestoord zullen roepen  :
zaamheid. van kinder-verlangen en kinder-gemeenschap                            Abba,  Vader !
in hun harte leeft en werkt!                                                                                                               I-I.  H.
     Wij  waren  kinderen. . . . niet van nature !
     Neen, van nature  waren wij  kinderen des toorns  ge-                                     THE TYPES OF SCRIPTURE
lijk ook de anderen, dood door de zonden en misdaden,
onder de macht -van den geest die nu werkt in de kinde-                                            The Garden of Eden
ren der ongehoorzaamheid, schuldig en  verIoren, zonder
kinderrechten en zonder kinderliefde, hatelijk zijnde en                        The closing  remapk of `our former article was that
elkander hatende. Maar God die rijk is in  barmhartig-                      man committed a heinous sin  ag&nst  God when he ate
heid heeft ons, in vrije gunst, wij  weten niet hoe en wij                  of the forbidden tree.        Let  US now contemplate the
verstaan niet waarom, liefgehad van  vobr  de  grondleg-                    meaning of man's deed. When  man ate, he became  as
ging der wereld. En in die groote liefde heeft Hij, eer de                  God to know good and evil.  So we are  informed?. And
grondvesten der aarde gelegd  wetden,  gewild,  om  vele                    the  Lord God said, "Behold, man is become as one of
kinderen tot de heerlijkheid te leiden, tot de hoogste, tot                 us, to know good and evil" (Gen. 3 24). It must not be
de hemelsche heerlijkheid, door Zijnen Zoon, opdat Hij                      supposed that God concedes that man is now His equal.
de eerstgeborene zou zijn onder  vele broederen. In die                     What is meant is that man like God knows good and
eeuwige, goddelijke liefde heeft Hij ons aanschouwd in                      evil. And that is man's sin.
.clen Geliefde, en heeft ons tot Zijne  kinderen  aangeno-                      Calvin and the older commentators think the divine
men. In die eeuwige liefde bleef Hij getrouw, ook  toen                     statement to be irony.  Behold, man is become Like one
wij dood  lagen in de misdaden en zonden. W i j   wuren of us. An  ironical  reproof, says Calvin, by which God
kinderen, ook  toen  wij van nature  kinderen des toorns would not only prick the heart of man, but pierce it
waren,   krachtens  Zijn eeuwig-vrijmachtige aanneming. through and through. He does not, however, cruelly
En omdat Hij ons liefhad en  wij Zijne  kinderen   waren,                   triumph over the miserable and afflicted; but, according
ckiarom  heeft Hij Zijn  Zcxm gezdnden, geworden  uit eene                  to the necessity of  .the disease, applies a more violent
vrouw,' geworden  onder  de wet, opdat Hij die  kinderen                    remedy. For, though Adam was confounded and aston-
verlossen zou en zou leiden  naar de eeuwige heerlijkheid                   ished at his calamity, he yet did not so deeply reflect
des hemels. Omdat wij  kinderen  waren, daarom heeft on its cause as to become weary of his pride, that he
Hij dien Zoon  doen ingaan in de diepte van Zijn  allet-                    might learn to embrace true humility. We may add that
bangste Iijden, en Hem daaruit niet verlost, ook niet  toen                 God inveighed, by this irony,  not more against Adam
Hij tot  Hem riep  en schreeuwde uit  GethsemanC's  stof;                   himself than against his posterity, for the purpose of
en door dat bloed en die tranen van Zijn Zoon de eeuwigc                    commending modesty to all ages. The particle, "Behold,"
aanneming verwerkelijkt en  .voor ons kinderrechten  ver-                   denotes that the sentence is pronounced upon the cause
worven, naar Zijn  welbeh,agen  . . . .                                     then at hand. And, truly, it was a sad  an,d horrid spec-
     Zoo  waren wij kinderen!                                               tacle; that he in whom recently the glory of the divine
     Kinderen,  niet door de werken, maar  cloor goddelijke                 image was shining, should be hidden under fetid skins
genade !                                                                    to hide his own disgrace, and that there should be more
     Alleen door de vrije  guns&  die eeuwig Hem bewoog.                    comeliness in a dead animal than in a living man. The
     Daarom, daarom  alleen, heeft God den Geest Zijns clause which is immediately added, "to know good and
Zoons  uitgezonden in onze harten. Die Geest roept, roept evil," describes the cause of so great misery, namely, that
met goddelijk-almachtig  roepen,  met  scheppend  en  her-                  Adam, not content with his condition, had tried to
scheppend   roepen; roept  266,  dat de oude band van de                    ascend higher  than was lawful;  as if it had been said,
macht der zonde en des duivels in onze harten wordt ver-                    "See now where thy ambition and thy perverse  appe-
broken, vernietigd, de oude geest van vijandschap tegen                     tite for illicit knowledge have precipitated thee.`"  Yet
God wordt gedood, en een gansch nieuwe liefdestem in                        the Lord does not even deign to hold converse with him,
onze harten wordt vernomen . . . .                                          but  cotiemp&ously draws him forth, for the sake of  ex-
     Roept, tot wij met Hem, en door Hem  roepen:  Abba,                    posing him to greater infamy. Thus. was it necessary
Vader !                                                                     for his iron pride to be beaten down, that he might at
     Abba. Vader! Lieve Vader!                                              length descend into himself, and become more and more
     Lievend en  lovend. Verlangend en ha'pend.  Gehoor,                    displeased with himself. So far Calvin.
zamend  en onderwerpend. Rinderlijk vertrouwend.                                The fact that man is prohibited from eating of the


388                                       TI3E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                     .-.I  -.._~                     -_--__-  ..."           ..-........-_._-            --.-._-~-
tree of life, lest he live forever, is sufficient proof of that maketh the  cIouds His chariots, and  walketh upon rhe
assertion to the effect that man is become like God to          wings of the wind. The foundations  ,of the earth are
know good and evil, must nor be regarded as divine laid by Him, that ir should not be removed forever. He
irony.     Let us attend to this divine utterance. For it covers it with the deep as with a garment: the waters
sets forth the sinful implication of man's deed, and the stood above the mountains. At His rebuke they fled; at
corrupt contemplations of his heart, as he was about to         the voice of His thunder they hasted away. They go up
set aside the mandate of God.                                   the mountains; they go down the valleys unto the place
   Man, having disobeyed God, now knows good. and               which He founded for them. God has set a bound that
evil. It must not be supposed, however, that he, in the         they may not pass over; that they turn not again .to
stare of integrity, was without a knowledge of good and         cover the earth. He sendeth the springs into the val-
evil. What is meant is that man deems himself capable           leys, which run among the hills. He watereth  the. hills
of knowing not as man, but  as&God.  This, let it be re-        from His chambers; the earth is satisfied with the fruit
peated, is his sin. It is the manner of knowing which           of His works. He causeth the grass to grow for the
suffered change.                                                cattle, and the herb for the service of man: that he may
       Let us set out elucidating these matters by attending bring forth food out of the earth ; and wine that maketh
first of all to the proposition that God knows  - as God. glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine,
As' a knowing being He differs essentially from His and bread which strengtheneth man's heart. He.  ap-
knowing creatures  - man and the angels, good and bad. pointeth the moons for seasons: the sun knoweth his
Said Job: "Shall any one teach God knowledge?" (Job going down. He makes darkness and it is night. . . . He
21:22). God, then, is  withour a teacher. To maintain looketh on the earth and it trembleth: He toucheth the
that God can be told things He does not know is blas-           hills, and they smoke (Ps. 104).
phemy. Christ  .assures His disciples that their Father               Since God is creator of things that be, and the cause
knoweth what things they have need of, before they ask          of the events of history, it follows that things creatural
Him. Said the Lord by the mouth of rhe prophet, "Re-            do not serve God as so many sources or vehicles of in-
member the former things of old: for I am God and               formation and wisdom. God observes and inspects, but
none else; God and none like me. Declaring the end              having done so He knows no more than He did before
from the beginning, and from ancient times the things           the inspection was made. For the things made are His
that are not yet done. . . .  " (Isaiah  46:9).                 `handiwork. Of the speech of creation, He is the author.
   The heavens, the day and the night, are no teachers Wherever He turns He beholds the image of Himself
of God. The heavens do declare unto God His own glory;          impressed by Him upon the works of His hands.
and the firmament sheweth also unto Him His handi-                    We conclude that the sum total of things made,  pIuS
work. Day unto day uttereth speech. heard by the the things being made to transpire, do nor teach God
Almighty; He observes knowledge which night unto knowledge. Man and the angel cannot teach God. Be-
night sheweth. Yet God is none the wiser for having ing creatures they need to be taught. Neither is there
heard and- observed.                                            another God at whose feet our God placed Himself  ro be
   The historian must not think that he can enlighten           informed,     It must be then that God's knowledge is
God. For He, God, declares the end from  t-he begin- original with Himself, and at once self knowledge. Know-
ning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet ing Himself, He knows all there is to be known, and
done.                                                           taught by none is the teacher of all.
   No one can teach God knowledge, for He is God.                     As to man, he is creature and not creator. Hence,
His intelligent will is the efficient cause of the existence    he must be  &Ad,  informed, taught. Being equipped with
and subsistence of things that be, Himself, excepted. He capacities for knowing, he can be taught. He under-
created, preserves and governs all things according to stands God when the latter speaks. Placing himself at
His holy will, so that nothing happens in this world but the feet of God, man will know. He has no knowledge
by His appointment. He keeps all things so under His original with himself. What he knows is a gift of God.
power, that not a hair of our head, nor a sparrow can           Had the omniscient One refused to speak, the man in the
fall to the ground  wirhout His will.                           garden of Eden would have been compelled to walk in
   God makes history. The events of the day are but             darkness. Thrown on his own resources, and left to
the realization of His eternal deliberations. He brings         himself, man can do nothing. It cannot be otherwise,
to pass what He has spoken; He does what he Has pur-            for he is but a creature. The ideas embodied in things
posed (Isaiah  46  :lO). His counsel stands and He will         made are not his, but  Gods.        The glory which the
do all His good pleasure: calling a ravenous bird from heavens declare is the glory of the Creator, not of the
the east, the man that executeth .His counsel from a far creature. The firmament showeth God's handiwork.  2fis
country (Isaiah 9).                                             speech it is which day unto day uttereth. Night unto
       God is the first cause of the various phenomena in       night showeth knowledge of the Architect of the uni-
nature. He covereth Himself with light as with a gar-           verse. If man refuses to listen to the speech of God,
ment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and          it is  ,night in his soul. Such are the plain teachings of
layeth the beams of His chambers in the waters. He              Scripture. Said the Lord unto Job: "Gird up thy Ioins


                                        THE  ST.ANDARD   HEXl?ER                                                                            389
" ._  - ..-  "--.._____ -_                   _--            .-...._ ".^ -__.._ ^ . . -..-- .._... ^----  ..-_ I-I___         -.__.. - ___ ___-_
now like .a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer           first and transmitted them into the mind of man., Ford
thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations              was the possessor of certain ideas which he worked out
of the earth? Declare if thou hast understanding. Who            and incorporated in a car which brought him many
hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest, or who          millions. These ideas are the property of God, original
has stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the                with Him, not with Ford or his predecessors.                             Ford
foundations thereof fastened. or who laid the corner received them from God by whom he  is  being instructed
stone thereof? When the morning stars sang together,             how to build his car. Henry Ford made his enormous
and all the sons of God shouted  for.joy? Or who shut wealth with God's ideas.
up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it hath              Man, then, is no source. He receives all from the
issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the                one source  - God. Adam was no exception. The Lord
garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band             had to instruct him also as to what constitutes good and
for it.. . . ? Hast `thou entered the springs of the sea,        evil. And He did so. "Of all the trees of the garden,"
or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? Have             said God, "thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the
the gates of death been opened unto thee, or hast thou           knowledge of good  &d evil, thou shalt nqt eat of it:
seen the doors of the shadow of death? Hast thou per-            for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely
ceived the breadth of the. earth? Declare if thou  knowest       die."       God having spoken, man may now know what
it all. Where is the way where light dwelleth, and as for constitutes good and evil. To refrain from eating of the
darkness, where is the place thereof? Knowest thou it,           forbidden tree is good  ; to eat of this tree is evil.
because  thoLi wast then born, or because the number of                -Adam  was placed before the choice of receiving or
thy days is great? Hast thou entered into the treasures          rejecting the standard of good and evil with which his
of  the snow, or  hast  thou seen the" treasures of the          hiaker had supplied him. He chose to do the latter, and
hail. _ . . ? By what way is the  light,parted,  which  scat-    ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and
tereth the east wind upon the earth? Hath the rain a             evil. Doing so, he became as God  - to know good and
father, or who hath begotten the drops of dew? Out of            evil. What is the meaning of this divine assertion? It
whose womb came the ice : and the hoary frost of heaven,         has been pointed out that God is not in  neecl of an in-
who  bath gendered it  ?' (Job 38).                              structor; that His ideas are original with Himself; thatthc
   We conclude that man  knows as  mati.  His ideas are          source of His knowledge is His own glorious self. mind,
not original with him. There is but one such  tountain           being. For this reason He alone is capable of outlining
of knowledge, namely, God.        Men must be taught by man's course of action. To do so is His prerogative, as
Him.     All men  -. the farmer and the  craftman?  as well      He is God. That man is become as God  - to know
as the theologian. .Attend  to this Scripture. "Give ye good and evil  - means that he usurped God's place and
ear and hear my voice; hearken and hear my  speech.              began doing what the Lord God alone can and may do.
Doth the plowman  pIow all clay to sow. cloth he open            namely, give to good and evil a content. LMan -.-.- as God
and break the clods of ground? When he hath made                 - now knows godd and evil. He now constructs his
plain  the face thereof. doth he not cast abroad the             own standards of conduct, and regards  his  mind and his
fitches, and scatter the cummin. and cast in the principal       heart as capable of furnishing  h.im with the materials
wheat and the appointed barley  and the rye in their             which he needs. Man became his own instructor. `He
place?,  For his God doth instruct  him  to discretion, and      began knowing good and  evi1  as Cod.
doth teach  hi,m.  For the fitches are not threshed with a             Man began to slip as soon as he began questioning
threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned             the wisdom and correctness of the mandate of God.
about upon the cummin: but the fitches are beaten out            Having appointed himself judge, he thereupon  criticises
with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. Bread corn is           the divine instruction.                     It became his conviction that
bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor           God lacked the necessary qualifications for knowing and
break it with the wheel of his cart. nor bruise it with          determining what constitutes good and evil, and con-
his horsemen.  This also  cometh from the Lord of hosts,         cluded that not God but he, man. knows. Having re-
which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in  workinS)        flected upon rhe speech of the devil, he concludes that
i Isaiah 28 :23-29).                                             good consists in eating of the forbidden tree. Man there-
    It is God who teaches the husbandman how to work             upon elevates his conclusions to the level of an ethical
his farm to good advantage. He instructs man that the law. He becomes his own Iegislatoi, a law unto himself,
ground cannot be turned over with a pitchfork ;. that trees      and eats the forbidden fruit.                          It meant that man, as
cannot be sprayed with a shovel; that wheat cannot be            God, knows good and evil, and the rejection, on rhe part
cut with a rake. One may ask, Must man be taught these           of man, of the mind of God as the only source of informa-
simple rudiments of farming? Indeed! For his God doth            tion. In the estimation of man God must be taught as
instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him. For the          a man and by man. Adam will now instruct the Lord.
fitches are not threshed with  a threshing instrument.. . .      God is informed by man that His statements are not
Further, the ideas incorporated in the various imple- reliable: that it is good and not evil to eat of the tree of
ments used are not original with the manufacturer. They          knowledge.  Man thereby declares that God is not the
are the  .ideas of the Lord of hosts. He thought them            Father of lights, a light source or fountain. That which


390                   -.- ..-.... "L--..- T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                                         -  -......  "".-                                         --"..-.,ll___--ll,._
cvnstitutes  the particular nature of God, and which dis-      above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most
tinguishes Him from His creatures, man, so it appears,         High" (Isaiah  14:13, 14).
denied. His own mind man deifies. That mind of his is             The man born of God, on the other hand, is a child
now the lamp by which he will walk, the light upon his         in the kingdom of heaven. His song is: "For with Thee
pathway. By that light man determines what shall be            is the fountain of life  ; in the light shall we see light"
done. Thus it happened that he bade God to abdicate            (Ps.  36:lO). His is  th@ disposition of the poet who
to make room for himself. Forsooth, man became as prayed : "Teach me,  0 Lord, the way of Thy statutes  ;
God to know good and evil. The outcome  is  that man           and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding
eats. It is plain that the act of eating was not the begin-    and I shall keep Thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my
ning of man's deflection. It was but the fruit brought whole heart. . . . Thy,word is a lamp unto my feet, and
forth by a tree which had already deteriorated.                a light unto my path.. . . I opened my mouth, and
   We have not yet exhausted the meaning of man's panted: for I longed for Thy commandments.. . . I re-
deed: Man, so it was pointed out, becomes vain in his joice at Thy word as one that findeth great spoil"  (Ps.
imaginations in that he now thinks of himself as being         119).    The spiritual man wants God as his prophet,
equal unto God. He would see God abdicate in the in-           king  - and priest.
terest of himself. But man not only deified himself, but                                                       G. M. 0.
his means of support as  ,well.  His eating of the for-
bidden tree is a declaration, on his part, that not God                   FALSE AND TRUE PROPHETS
but the tree,  is  the true bread of life; that he does not
live by God's word, but by bread alone. Bread and not             We are not so very much in favor of the philosophy
God is now worshiped by man. He refused to live by offered by Mr. Henry Ford, United States  multimillion-
faith. and to take God's word for it that life apart from naire and world-renowned auto king in his semi-monthly
God is death. Man refuses to believe that the way of and other writings.
obedience is at once the way of life.                             Because the spirit of his literary works is not flowing
   The devil plays an important part in the transactions       from the only good and pure fountain, the word of the
constituting the fall of man. Man fell by his instigation. eternal God, our covenant God.
However, the temptation was the accidental, but not the           And it strikes us often nowadays, that Christian peri-
efficient cause of man's sin. During the entire process odicals in the Netherlands have so many praises for
man remained a free moral agent. His eating of the for-        Ford's industrial enterprises and "up-way going" books.
bidden tree was a matter of choice. Into the deed he              Meanwhile, now and then, he displays on his special
projected the inclinations and the disposition of his heart    page in the "Dearborn Independent" so-called luminous
and mind. The lie which man embraced had been fabri-           ideas and bestows upon the common people true sayings,
cated by the devil and transported by him into the mind        following up in this way his self-given title and task as a
of man. That the lie struck root in man's mind, will,          co-chronicler of the "neglected truth."
and inclinations, constitutes the mystery of the fall.            The following we found some time ago as coming out
   It is not true, as some would have it, that man chose       of Mr. Ford's fountain pen:
evil for evil's sake. His imagination was fired by the            "The false prophet is usually an honest gentleman
serpent. If thou eatest, said he, thine eyes will open, and    whose main error is in posing as a prophet. One fun-
thou shalt be as God knowing good and evil. Neverthe-          damental difference between him and the true prophet
less, man's sin, as was pointed out, was great. He blas-       is in the matter of popularity; the false prophet cannot
phemed God, as did the devil. He agrees that God is            live without it, the other must. One who seeks popular-
withholding from him some higher good, and that under ity must obey the laws of popularity. But the true
the pretense of promoting his (man's) well being.              prophet is mastered by other considerations.          He is
                                                               charged with something he must deliver. He may be
   Thus have we analyzed man's sin. To put it briefly,         keenly sensitive to the offense and pain which truth so
man by, the instigation of the devil, undid God, in his        often gives, but he had no choice. Acceptance is not his
mind. Thereupon he deified the creature, including him- problem, his whole responsibility rests with utterance.
self. He thought himself to be God, a fountain, a source,      Utterance is so important to the truth that he cannot
instead of an empty vessel, needing to be filled by the        rest until he speaks."
fountain of life and light  - God.                                                                     G. VAN BEEK
   Adam's posterity followed in his footsteps. The boast
of the king of Assyria is at once the boast of the wicked                        VERBETERINGEN
in general. For he saith. "By the strength of my hand             In  Prohibitionisme  en  Calvinisme,  No. 16  van dezen
have I done it, and by my wisdom: for I am prudent.. .  "      jaargang van dit blad, op blz. 374  vie1 in den  tweeden
(Isaiah  10:13). The wicked one says in his heart: "I          regel  n&t weg. Gelezen moet  worden  :  is.  &et door den
will ascend unto heaven, I will exalt my throne above          filtu gegaan,  etc. En in regel  44 van boven op dezelfde
the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the        bladzijde in de tweede kolom  vie1  achter   Psalm  het  num-
congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend mer 101 weg.                                    G.  V-4N  BEEK


394                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
.__--                                                                   ___- -.^ ..__                              -.--
wedergeboren beschouwen op grond van eene  veronder-              the inclinations of his heart, projected and given percep-
stelling. En  eerst op grond van zulk eene  veronderstel-         tible form in word and deed. This light, these works, are
ling wil  ze  aan kleine  kinderen  der geloovigen den  heili-    the man, and the man and his works are one.  \Vhcn
gen Doop toedienen. Waar dit  niet. verondersteld zou             Christ said, "Thou art the light of the world," He was
mogen  worden,  zou naar deze voorstelling ook de doop            identifying the light and him emitting it. So it is, and if
niet mogen  worden  bediend.                                      it were otherwise the good works of the believer would
       Reoordeelen we deze voorstelling een volgende keer,        not be fLis works.
D.  V.                                                               Since the works are the man, there can be no quali-
                                                    H. H.         tative difference between the former and the latter. The
                                                                  works are the man objectivated, the outgrowth of the
          YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD                           tree.His works are they. It means, finally, that of these
       The Christian's light, so it was pointed out, is his       works the man is the willing and thinking subject.
new life exhibited unto men by the various organs of                 These. then, are the implications of the proposition
self-expressiont viz., the hand, the eye, the tongue, the         that man performs works which are his.
foor. "Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the               Let it be repeated that these good works are the
tongue of the dumb shall sing" (Isa. 35  :5).  Y thought          creations of the Almighty. "For it is God who worketh
upon my ways and turned my  feet  into Thy testimonies"           in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure"
(Ps.  119:59). "So our eyes wait upon the Lord our God            (Phil.  ,3:13). `<For by grace are ye  saved through faith:
until that He have mercy upon us" (Ps. 123  :2).                  and  t'hat not of yourselves it is the gifr of God: not of
       "Let your light shine, that men may see your good          woiks lest any man should boast. For we are His work-
works." This light, these works are  yozcr-r,  says Christ.       manship, created by Christ Jesus unto good works.
The matter deserves our attention. The pronoun  indi-             which God hath before ordained that we should walk in
cares  the believer as a light source or fountain. ?Ve are        them" iEph. 2 :`I! 10). Of these good works, then, God is
permitted to regard the believer as such. Scripture does the author and nian is the subject. They are  our of God
so. Said Jesus to the  Sam&ritan  women, "Whosoever               and at once out of man. The assertion is not con-
drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever tradictory in that these works are not out of man in the
drinketh  of the water that I shall give  hiin shall never        sense that they are out of  dad. The phrase, "out of
thirst: but the water that I shall give him shall be in           God," signifies rhat of these works the Almighty is the
him a well  elf water springing up into everlasting life."        designer, workman and creative cause, in a word the
Tt is plain that the believer is here compared to a foun- author. The phrase, `<out  of man," denotes that man is
tain. For the water  spring&  up out of him. From a               the creatural fountain, the thinking and willing  sublect,
well the water is drawn. Not  the cistern, then. but the engaged in exhibiting his inner life.
fountain is the correct image of him born of God. Out                The wicked also performs works which, according to
of him welleth up the grace of God. of which his words            Scripture, must be regarded as his works. Said the
and deeds are a concrete, tangible and perceptible ex- poet, "I hate the  mork  of  them  that turn aside: it shall
hibition. The believer is no stagnant, torpid pool. The           not cleave unto me"  (Ps.  101:3). The wicked,  howevert
natural man is spiritually lame, blind and dumb. But are workers of iniquity. He performs works of darkness
when this lame man is healed he  must leap.  1Vhen  his           (Ram. 12 :13). :!nd they are  his works.  The wicked one
tongue is loosed he  must  sing. When his eyesight is re- also is a source, a fountain,  bur of iniquity. Evil  spring-
stored he  must  behold the Christ.       Living water and eth up out of him as out of a fountain. Attend to this
light are fitting images of him born again. For living Scripture, "Their throat is an open sepulchre . . . . whose
water  &Ll spring up out of the fountain head. So the mouth is full of cursing and bitterness"  .(Rom. 3  :13.  13).
light  e&LZ  shine and emit itself. The gleams do travel if The sepulchre is an image of the heart of the wicked out
not interfered with. Light must be placed under a meas- of which the issues of life are. This sepulchre has an
ure if it would be concealed. The light of the believer outlet which is the  throat always open and filling the
&ZZ shine if permitted. It can be covered, however, by mouth with ejected cursing and bitterness. The mouth
the vices of the old man of sin. Let your light shine, said is full - of cursing. The exponents of the theory of
Christ.                                                           common grace cannot subscribe to this particular Scrip-
         The believer is a fduntain of light. But of his light ture. These tnen maintain, to express ourselves in the
God is the creative source. The fountain in the valley words of H. J.  Kuiper, that  "God through the general
is fed by underground streams flowing from the summit operations of His Spirit, without renewing the heart.
of the mountain. Likewise it is God who feeds the foun- restrains sin in its unhindered breaking forth" ("The
tains of the heart. He it is who supplies the energy Three Points of Common Grace." p.  28). According to
which is needed to set that heart aglow.                          the apostle, sin does break forth. The mouth of the
         Let your light shine. It is  ycn~r light, which means wicked is full of cursing.        It is not true that sin is
 further, that the believer, emitting his light. exhibits repressed and confined  ro the sepulchre below. out of
himself  unto men, his mind, his will, his disposition and him welleth corruption of which also his words  ant1


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           39.5
-_." .-_,__- - .._.__ ----__.                                      -
deeds are a perceptible exhibition. He must will to           Kuiper asserts in the following paragraph,  "does not sat-
curse.                                                        isfy the demands of God. This thought," so he continues,
   Further, when the wicked sins, he exhibits himself "receives the emphasis in our text. Its purpose is to
unto men. When he speaks and acts he is engaged in            show that the goodness of the sinner does not satisfy
projecting his mind, will, disposition and the inclinations God; that we must have a better goodness to prove that
of the inner man. H&-e  again the works are the `man.         we are sons of the Most High." Kuiper shall have to
Therefore they are his works. And as the man is, so           admit that the goodness which does not satisfy God is
are his works; that is to say, the former cannot differ       not good  - but sin. Kuiper failed to extract from this
from the latter qualitatively. These wicked works are         utteynce of Christ a proof for the third point. His ser-
the man objectivated, the outgrowth of the tree.              mon was a complete failure.
   They are his works. ft. means, finally, that of these         It appears that Kuiper is of the conviction that the
works the wicked one is the willing and thinking subject.     depraved sinner emits light. The question arises how
   These then are the implication of the proposition that' can there be light where there-is no fire. To this the
wicked man performs works which are his. He is, there- esponents of the theory of common grace reply as fol-
fore, held accountable for his conduct.                       lows : "l'ndien wij de werking van Gods algemeene  ge-
                                                              nade loochenen, dan  moeten wij noodwendig tot de  con-
   The wicked one then is the subject, the fountain and clusie komen, dat de mensch dat uitwendig goed uit zich-
the author of his corruption.  Cmd, on the other hand is      zelf verricht, en dan  loopen   we zeer zeker gevaar dat wij
the cause but not the author and the source.                  de  totale bedorvenheid des menschen loochenen.  Im-
   Scripture knows of two kinds of trees, good and bad.       mers dat goede is er; het kan niet  worden ontkend.
It is the plain teachings of God's word that the bad trees    We  vinden  menigmaal onder de onwedergeborenen
grow bad fruit, and that good trees grow good fruit, and      vriendelijke, liefhebbende, en welwillende menschen, die
that in both cases the fruit is the outgrowth of the tree. grootc gehechtheid betoonen  aan hunne  gezinnen,  een
These good deeds are compared to fruit and to light.          geest van hulpvaardigheid openbaren ten opzichte van
    In recent years there arose in the bosom of the           hunne naasten, overvloedig zijn in werken van  liefdadig-
Christian Reformed church a group of theologians who          heid, en ijveren voor reine zeden en burgerlijke  gerech-
began to insist that the wicked, though they be darkness,     tigheid. Het gebeurt niet zelden dat zij in dezen Gods
nevertheless do shine. Let us quote a little from the kinderen  beschaamd  maken"  (Berkhof's Brochure? p. 52).
work of H. J. Kuiper. "Sinners do good to their friends,         The solution is that the good works which the de-
and love their friends. Christ calls that good. Do not        praved sinner performs are not out of himself. Of these
say  t'hat Jesus is accommodating himself to man's loose      works then.. the depraved sinner is not the thinking,
way of speaking, as if He wants to say: `Even sinners do willing subject. These works are not, according to  B'erk-
what you would call good to those that do so-called good      hof, the projection of the inner man, of his thoughts, de-
to them'. It is easy to prove that this cannot be what        sires, volitions and inclinations.     Berkhof's solution,
the Master wants to say. Listen, (I am still quoting which is at once the solution of his fellows, is a denial
Kuiperi Jesus is addressing His disciples here. He ad- of man's moral responsibility, and is, therefore, to be re-
monishes them to love and to do good to their enemies.        jected. If the good works are not out of him who per-
He says. `If you, my disciples, do good only unto your        forms them, they are not his. Such a one has been
friends, you are no better than sinners. They do the          reduced to a' puppet by the Almighty.
same." But. if sinners do only so-called good to their           Further, Berkhof's solution is in conflict with Scrip-
friends, then Jesus' disciples do more than sinners do.       ture. It is the plain teachings of God's word that man
Then they  AS regenerated men, still surpass the sinner is a responsible being. His works are out of him. They
in goodness, when they love only their friends. This          are, for that reason, his works. Man is likened unto a
Jesus denies. His very purpose is to bring out that His       tree. His works, as fruit, are an outgrowth of himself.
disciples are not a whit better than sinners if they do           Rev. H.  J. Kuiper has another solution. It is his
good only to their friends. For this is exactly what  &in-    conviction that natural man is not quite dead in sin.
ners also do" ("The Three Points," p. 37).                    Attend to the following selection. "Scripture teaches
    We agree with Kuiper when he asserts that it was          the  totczl,  not the absolute depravity of the natural man.
the purpose of Christ to bring out that His disciples are     Only the sinners in hell are absolutely depraved  (?). The
not a whit better than sinners if they do good only to        sinners on earth are totally depraved. This means, in
their friends. In this case, so Jesus means to say, their the first place, rhat not only some, but all the powers of
conduct is of no more ethical worth than that of the          the human soul are corrupt: its thoughts. imaginations.
depraved sinner. And the ethical value of the depraved feelings, intentions, volitions. There  is nothing in man's
sinner's works is zero, for he is depraved.         In other soul which has not been vitiated by sin. The polution
words, it is the purpose of the Master to bring out that of sin extends to his entire inner being.           It means, in
if His disciples, in doing good, are being actuated by the second place,  `rhat his inmost heart is bad. Sin is
selfish motives, they sin as do the sinners. Kuiper him- rooted in the very core of his soul. He is dead in tres-
 self admits this, "The good that the sinners do," so passes and in sins.             But the sinner as long as he is


f
        396                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                  -- ^.._. ".."--_--__...           .~...-
        upon earth, is not absolutely depraved" ("The Three              DE SCHARE, DIE NIEMAND  TELLEN   KAN  (*)
        Points," p. 34).
               Now the correlative of the term absolute is the term        Het is thans juist een jaar  geleden,  dat we hier in
        relative. Hence, the natural man is not absolutely but Hudsonvillc onze eerste samenkomst hielden, eene verga-
        only relatively dead in sin which can only mean, if it          dering samengeroepcn onder  leiding  van de Engelsche
        means anything at  all, that the natural man is not quite       mannenvereeniging der Fuller Ave. gemeente, en waar
        dead. Some life remains. enough at least to enable him mij het voorrecht gegund was  licht te mogen verspreiden
        to perform good works.                                          over  den inhoud der befaamde Drie  Punten van 1924.
               In harmony with his solution, Kuiper maintains that Die vergadering  wercl  gehouden in de schuur van  broe-
        the good works of the depraved sinner  are out  of  him.        der  Spoelman. Eerlijk gezegd, het was mij vreemd te
        It appears that Kuiper differs radically from Rerkhof. moede.  toen ik dien avond de schuur binnentrad. Die
        We present the following solution.  "Our second con- flauw-verlichte ruimte, die ruwe, haastig geimproviseerde
        clusion is that the sinner is able not only to perform banken  en heel de  aanblik der  dingen  deden mij  denken
        deeds  which conform to God's law, but that he also has aan den tijd der hagepreeken in de eeuw der Reformatie,
        certain desires and  impulses  which are good and from of ook  aan den tijd der Reformatie, die we  kennen  onder
        which his good deeds spring: such as sympathy, love, den naam van de Afscheiding,  toen Gods volk op  gelijke
        respect. sense of justice, etc. Jesus declares in our text wijze samenkwam, waar het slechts gelegenheid vinden
        that sinners not only do gbod to their friends, but also kon, om de waarheid te hooren verkondigen. Was het,
        that they love them.  The outward good  of  the  unregen-       zoo ging mij de gedachte een oogenblik door de  ziel, dan
        crate  is  also an  inward good.  When an unconverted man       zoo ver  gekomen!   dat ook wij niet meer een behoorlijke
        endangers his own life to rescue his neighbor from his plaats kondcn vinden. om  samen  te komen tot de verkon-
        burning house. you would not say that all the motives diging des Woords?  bfoest het zoo?  Wat  hadden  wij
        and impulses behind that deed are sinful" (p. 35).  Kui-        misdaan, dat we door de kerk, waarin we waren   geboren
        per can permit the good deeds of the sinner to proceed out      en getogen zoo moesten  worden behandeld? En voor een
        of him for he is of the conviction that the tree is good. oogenblik werd mijn gemoed bitter en kwam er een  ge-
        Aian is but relatively depraved. dead in sin.                   voel van opstand tegen dat  alles in het hart. Lang  ech-
               However, on page 38 one may read this: "It enables       ter duurde dat niet. Spoedig maakte het plaats voor een
        us to see that even the superficial good which the sinner gevoel van vrede en dankbaarheid. Van vrede, omdat ik
        does is not the fruit of his own heart." Here the author overtuigd was, dat ook deze  dingen  ons werden  aange-
        affirms that the good works of the natural man are not daan om der waarheid en des  rechts wil, en we het ons
        out of himself. Here Kuiper talks as a determinist. The immers genade en eere mogen rekenen. met  Christus en
        good works are not the fruit of man's heart.  .According        om Zijns naams wil te mogen  worden gesmaad. En van
        t'o Kuiper Scripture errs when it asserts that out of the       dankbaarheid, omdat we daar ook in de schuur immers
        1lear.t are the issues of life. and that man's works are his alles  hadden,  al was de  plaat`,s minder  schoon. Dankbaar
        fruit.                                                          was ik, dat de Heere het hart van Spoelman had geneigd,
            "It." so  Kuipe;  continues, "it (`common grace) also zijn schuur althans voor dat  doe1 af te staan. Dankbaar,
        tends to the glorification of God. It  enab!es us  tt? see dat, wat men ons ook ontnomcn had, we de waarheid
        that even the superficial good which the  si.nner  does is Gods mochten  bezitten en  verkondigen. Dankbaar ook.
        not the fruit of his own heart." Conclusion (`mine) : The dat de Heere de  harten van vele broeders en zusters in
        spiritually good works of the regenerated child of God          Hudsonville geneigd had. om te vragen naar de waarheid
        do not tend to God's glory. lt cannot be that they do for en naar de richting  van de oude paden,  om daar weer `in
        they are fruit of his heart.                                    te mogen en kunnen wandelen.
               Kuiper's final remark reads: "In connection with this       Geruimen tijd mochten we daarna in de schuur  ver-
        it is evident that we cannot fully maintain  the doctrine       gaderen.  Immers,  schoon de broeders en zusters alhier,
        of total depravity unless we acknowledge the fact  of die  ,met ons overtuigd  waren  geworden van het  leugen-
     c o m m o n   grace," Amazing !                                    achtige der Drie  Punten. eerst  zich  hadden  aangesloten
            We conclude that the expression "your good works" bij de gemeente  aan Fuller Ave., lang duurde dit  niet.
        must be made to apply to the children of God only.              Reeds spoedig kwam de behoefte aan een eigen gemecnte
                               (To be Continued)                        op. En de organisatie liet niet lang op  zich wachten. En
                                                         G. M.  0.      toen werd dezelfde schuur, thans wat opgeknapt en voor-
                                                                        zien van platvorm en stoelen en  orgel, die geruimen tijd
                                                                        moest dienen, om de gemeente in de gelegenheid te stellen
                                                                        tot den dienst des Woords te vergaderen. Van de  schuur
                                                                        ging het naar het  huis, dat in de toekomst misschien nog
                                                                        we1 als pastorie dienst zal  doen. En thans zijn we voor
               Gods  Woord  moet beide tegclijk  doen: op het  hoog- het eerst vergaderd in dit  schoone kerkgebouw. Want
        ste verlichten en eeren. die het gelooven: en op het Hudsonville zat niet stil. De Heere gaf het  verlangen
        hoogste verblinden en onteeren. die het niet gelooven.          naai-  een eigen en doelmatig kerkgebouw: de Heere


                    A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE  published by
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01
I~~I                                          H.  HOEKS{;;;zM.   OPHOFF


                                        Entered  PI second class mail matter at Grand Rapids,  Michigan

Vol. III, No. 18                                           JUNE  15,, 1927                                  Subscription Price, $2.50

                                                                             Till they mockingly say, that there is no God in
          M E D I T A T I O N                                       I heaven that rules and executes judgment and righteous-
                                                                         ness.
                                                                             ,nut even so, Father, we know and are confident by
                                                                         faith, and it is all  the*.more the desire of our heart to
             .      HALLELUJAH, AMEN !                                   close our prayer by giving praise to Thee and  acknowl2
                                                                         edging, that Thine and no other's is the kingdom, the
                         For thine is the Kingdom, and the power,
                      and the glory, forever, Amen.                      dominion forever ,and ever.
                                                     Matt. &:13.             We know that Thy counsel shall stand, and that Thou
    Our Father !                                                         doest all Thy good pleasure. All that is and lives and
     Who art in heaven!                                                  breathes must needs be subservient to Thy will. Wicked
    Hallelujah, Amen  ; Thine be all the praise !                        men may vainly imagine to thwart Thy counsel and to
    For Thine is the kingdom. And, at the close of our                   take the reins of government in their own hands -- their
 prayer, before we rise from  bended  knee, we must needs                very imagination is only to prove their vanity. The
 ascribe to Thee all glory and adoration, and from the                   powers of this  worId  may seem to succeed at times to
 sanctuary of our hearts let joyous praise ascend to Thy                 resist Thy will and to accomplish the will of the Prince of
 throne of grace.                                                        this world., but even in their most glorious apparent  suc-
    Thine is the kingdom,  Fathe?,  Thine alone, Thine ;cess, Thou  sittest in the heavens and laughest at their
 everywhere, Thine forever and ever.                                     foolish works. Yea, even in  their very wickedness  Thou
     Thou rulest from pole to pole in might and undis- rulest, and the very thoughts of their hearts Thou dost
 puted dominion. Never yet did the sceptre of Thy royal govern by Thy Almighty Will. Clay in the hand of the
 power slip from  T.hy almighty hand.                                    potter they remain; the, axe in the hand of him that
  And from the midst of this world, bowing still at hews. Thou art enthroned on high. Thou only  boldest
 Thy footstool, where it all seems so different, often we                the reins. Thou standest at the helm to direct.  ,Qver
 all the more feel constrained to acknowledge that no                    the ocean of time and history Thou governest the ship of
 one rules but at Thy bidding, that all the government                   all Thy works, directing it into the eternal haven,
 of the entire domain of the works of Thy hand is solely                 destined for it `by Thee from before the foundation of
 Thine. Often it seemed, and still it appears, as if the                 the world.. . . .  I
 Prince of darkness and all his wicked host of the abyss                     Thine is the kingdom!
 and in the earth are in power, enthroned in the world,                      Thine is the dominion now.
 controlling the affairs of men and directing the course of                  Thine was the dominion constantly in the past, even
 history. For they rise up against Thee  ; and often with                in what seemed to us the most hopeless periods of dark-
 seeming success raise the banner of insurrection within                 ness and'rebellion against Thee. . . . .
 the realm of Thy dominion. Men, whose every imagina-                         Thirie will be the dominion, when all of time and
 tion of the thoughts of their hearts is only evil,  contin-             history, and of the things earthy shall  have.flitted  away
 .ually plot and scheme and execute their wicked purposes ,and all Thy counsel shall have been executed, and we
 to bring Thy counsel to nought, and crown the  Arch-                    shall have a place in Thy everlasting kingdom of glory.
 opponent of Thy glory and name king over all. They lift                      And, Father, so it must be.. . . .
  their fist in rebellion in Thy face, they  dethrone Thee                    For Thou art God and not we. Thou art God and
  from their hearts and lives, they trample Thy good com-                not man. Thou art Sovereign and it is becoming for Thy
  mandments under feet, they oppose the cause .of Thy                    creatures to bow at Thy footstool in humble adoration.
  kingdom, they hate and persecute Thy people and And,  allhough we were by nature rebels and penitently
  accomplish their wicked designs. . . . .                                confess that we, `too, rose in insurrection against Thy


i
(1
      110                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
      _-.-                         ___-                                 -     -                                                    -
      .dominion,  yet by Thy grace we now glory in Thy rule            hearts and we are prone to cry out, that all things are
      and gladly confess it, in humble praise: Thine  IS the           against us and that there is no knowledge or power in
      kingdom, Thine alone !                                           the Most High.. . . .
             For of Thee and thru Thee and to Thee are all                   But, Father,. Thine is the power!
      things. . . . .                                                        And all  the. glory !
             Let all that breathe acknowledge Thy Sovereignty!               We know that  the,devil  in the abyss and all the dark
             Hallelujah, Amen !                                        host that are with him have no power to plot and scheme,
                                                                       to speak or stir, if Thou withdrawest Thy hand. Their
             Abba, Father !                                            power is Thine and we know that they must do Thy
             We praise Thy holy name!                                  will. We know that all the mighty works of man are
             Amen, yea Amen, Hallelujah !                              accomplished only by a power that is from Thee ; that
             For Thine is all the power in heaven and earth and        they are less than a drop of the bucket and a dust of
      hell. And all glory is Thine forever!                            the balance; that they must needs perish if Thou dost
             As Thy kingdom is over all, so is Thy power in all the    not sustain them. We know that suffering and death
      works of Thy hands and so is Thy glory manifest in all           have no power to sting but at Thy bidding.. . . .
      Thy wide dominion.                                                     And all the glory of man, apart from Thee, is vain.. . .
             Nay, Thou art not more powerful than all creatures,             And so we bow, our Father who art in heaven, and
      but the power of every creature is Thine ; Thou art not          bring Thee the praise of our heart by the offering of
      more glorious than all rhat exists, but the glory of all         our lips, and in the midst of a world that refuses to
      is Thine. Supreme in power over all art Thou, because            acknowledge Thee, we confess: Thine is  the power and
      all depend on Thee ; more glorious than the most glorious        the glory forever!
      of creatures Thou art, because all their glory is from                 No glory in self. No glory in man. No glory in
      Thee. The strength of the mighty and the power of the any creature.
      wicked, the glory of the heavens and the brightness                    Rut all the power and glory be ascribed solely to
      of the angels,  all are Thine. There is neither power nor Thee !
      beauty in all Thy wide dominion, but it is of Thee. . . .              For Thou art the Fount of Good!
         Thus we confess, our Father: Thine is the power and                 Amen, Hallelujah !
      the glory !
         All the power; all the glory!                                       Our Father !
         Often, as we peruse history's pages or review our                   Who art in heaven !
      experience, it would seem different. . . . .                           Thus, by Thy grace, we close our prayer in humble
         And things appear and devils claim and widked men             adoration.
      imagine to possess a power of their own. . . . .                       And thus, Father, we are confident! that we may rise
         How mighty are the powers that be ! How imposing              from our humble worship with Amen in our hearts and
      are the works of men! How gigantic are their accom-              rImen upon  .our lips.
      plishments in the world ! How glorious seems man.                      For thus we are assured, that it is much more certain,
      even  -though he departs from Thy ways and despises              that Thou wilt hear us in our petitions, than we can
      Thy holy covenant! Proudly the world boasts of  it.s even feel in our hearts that we did desire these things
      power and manifests it in many mighty works. Haughtily of Thee. . . . .
      it speaks of rhe wonders of man. of his wisdom and                     We prayed, Father, 0, we realize, now we are about
      genius and daring conquests, and it claims all the glory         to close, imperfectly and with much stumbling; for even
      for itself and appears to possess it, apart from Thee. while we earnestly attempted `to follow our perfect Lord
      And, Father, when the wicked are thus in power and               in His perfect prayer, sin cleaved to us and our sinful
      very glorious and boastful of their achievements; and            heart frequently was not in harmony with the perfection
      when. then, they rise up against Thee and Thy Christ             of the petitions our Lord placed on our lips. We prayed,
      and Thy people; when they mock and revile and rail               Father, and we feel, that if Thou shouldsr mark trans-
      and rave  ; when they persecute Thy children on the              gressions. the transgressions that led us astray even
      earth, and even as they did with Thy holy child Jesus `while we worhipped, Thou  canst neither incline Thine
      lead them as sheep to the slaughter; when the cry of             ear to our imperfect  cry nor grant us our petitions. But
      their fear and anguish and suffering is pressed from             Father, we prayed by thy grace, and however imperfect.
      their lips and rises to heaven and there seems no helper yet feeling in our inmost heart, that Thou Thyself didst
      in the highest and Thou art silent and longsuffering             work this prayer within us.. . . .
      over them; when they are in poverty and hunger, in                     We prayed, that Thy name might be hallowed. be-
      affliction and pain and there seems no deliverance.. . . .       cause Thou didst work within us a new love of Thy
         And when, then, Father, we consider these evil                name  ; we prayed that Thy kingdom may come, because
      powers all by themselves and in our foolishness divorce          Thou didst make us citizens of the kingdom of heaven;
      them from Thy power.. . . .                                      we prayed that Thy will may be done, in us, thru us, by
         Then, we confess, fear and terror steals into our             us, everywhere, because Thou didst spread abroad within


                                           THE  STANDA
             -__                                                  R D   B E A R E R                                         411
our hearts a children's love and the obedience of sonship.                  AREN VAN ANDERE AKKERS
We prayed that Thou wouldest give us bread for this
day, because Thou didst teach us to confide in Thee for                        Niet Zonder het Woord Gods
today and tomorrow and to acknowledge Thee in all our                Men heeft  gezegd,. dat het Woord des Heeren het
life and walk; we prayed that Thou wouldest forgive               brood meebrengt; en dat is ongetwijfeld waar. Dat is
us our sin, because Thou didst break our hearts and               waar voor geheel de aarde en voor heel de menschheid.
create within us true sorrow and contrition; we prayed            Zonder het Woord Gods was er geen brood meer op  aar-
that Thou wouldest not lead us into temptation, for Thou          de, voor niemand.
didst make us hate sin and eschew evil and long for that             Zonder het Woord Gods zoeken dwazen en  blinden
perfect deliverance in which we shall see Thee as Thou            ook thans oplossing der noodvragen van het  sociale  men-
                                                                  schenleven, dar worstelt om het brood.
   We prayed, Father, as our Lord taught us. . . . .                 Helaas, helaas! zoo zij, die Gods Woord hebben,  mee-
   We prayed, and now it is all finished we realize that nen, die  vragen op te kunnen  lossen zonder het Woord
the prayer was Thy work within us and through us. . . . . Gods ! Er IS geen brood op aarde zonder het Woord
   Thine be the thanks and the  ,glory that we might Gods, en zonder de gemeente van den levenden God, die
worship and pray.                                                 Zijn Woord in het  Ieven  der  menschheid draagt. En er
   But, Father, all the more, we are confident that Thou          is daarom ook geen hope voor meelvat en oliekruik, voor
wilt hear us and grant us our petitions.                          akkerbouw en nijverheid, voor handel en welvaart, voor
   Thou wilt hear us, for Thou art' our Father and we             landen  en volken, zonder het Woord des Heeren.
are Thy children, and Thou dost love us.                                                               j    Ds. J. C. Sikkel
    Didst Thou not manifest the greatness and wonder                                   In  "Wagen  Israels en zijne Ruiteren"
of that love in the gift of Thy Son? Is it  not Thine
own Word, that Thou didst send Him into the depth                         De  Roeping  der Volken en Overheden
of His shame and humiliation, because Thou hadst
chosen us from before the beginning of all things and                Het is de roeping der volken en overheden, de roeping
ordained that we should be Thy children? Is it not the            van  alle menschen, om God naar Zijn Woord te dienen,
wonder of Thy grace, that Thou  did&  purchase us with            wijl de Heere GOD, de eenige en waarachtige God is, de
the precious blood of `Thirie only begotten Son, flowing God  aller volken en overheden  ; om naar het `Woord des
from Calvary's tree, in order that we might again know            Heeren te hooren ; om er onder te bukken en er  zich
Thee and receive the blessed privilege of calling Thee dienstbaar  aan te stellen.
our Father, of communing with Thee, of sending our                   Ja, de Heere roept in Zijn Woord als een  gunst en
prayers to the throne of grace? Yea, Father, we believe een eere heel het menschenleven, overheden en volken en
that even these very prayers, which we may offer to ieder in wiens hand vermogen is, op, om in de vreeze
Thee, were purchased by His blood. And because of the             Gods Zijn Woord te eeren en  zich dienstbaar te stellen
wondrous manifestation of that boundless love we are aan den gezalfden Christus Gods en aan Zijn gemeente en
 assured that Thou wilt hear us.. , . .                           dienst op aarde.
    And, Father, Thou canst hear us and art able to grant                                                   Ds. J. C.  Sikkel
 us our petitions, fulfilling our every need and realizing                              In  "Wagen  Israels en zijne Ruiteren"
our deepest desires. We are assured that Thou alone
canst bring Thy kingdom, canst realize Thy will, canst                                 Waarln de Rust Ligt
manifest the glory of Thy Name; that Thou only canst                 Al ware het ook, dat de wijsbegeerte eene volledige
provide for us, as long as we travel our pilgrim's journey        verklaring der wereld en een volkomen zuiver begrip van
 here below; that Thou art able to blot out our iniquities        God kon geven, daaraan zou tech de mensch niet genoeg
and deliver us from the  power  of sin and death. even as hebben. De dorst van zijn hart gaat uit, niet allereerst
 we pray.. . . .                                                  naar een zuiver Godsbegrip, maar naar den levenden
    For Thine is the kingdom and Thou rulest over all, God zelve.
 so that all must be subservient to Thy purpose.                     Een mensch vindt geen ware rust, voordat God ZIJN
    And  Thine is all the power in heaven and earth and God en ZIJN Vader is geworden . . . .
 hell, so that  nothing can resist Thy will. . . . .                 Er is ook voor den diepsten denker geen  rechtvaardi-
    And Thine is all the glory forever and ever!                  ging uit het  begrip; maar alleen uit het geloof.
    Our almighty Father Thou art !                                                                          Dr. H. Bavinck
    And therefore, we rise from our imperfect worship                                   In "Christelijke Wereldbeschouwing"
 with the assurance in our hearts, that Thou shalt surely
 hear us.                                                                       Het Kenmerk der Revolutie
    And Thine be the glory even of our prayers!                      De  haat tegen het Evangelie is het kenmerk der  revo-
    Hallelujah,  aAmen  !                                         lutie, haar anti-christelijk karakter  ; geenszins wanneer
    Yea, Amen ! Forevermore !                                     zij  tar buitensporigheden overslaat, dat is, haar eigen
    Abba,  Father !                                     H. H.  - spoor verlaat; integendeel, wanneer zij, gebleven in haar


!
          116                                       T H E   ST-%.NDXRD   BEXRER

                         THE TYPES OF SCRIPTURE                            motions  ro his accustomed mode of  going, in such a way
                                                                           as to be at the same time  cbndemned  to perpetual in-
                      The Cherubim and the Flaming Sword                   famy. To eat dust is the sign of a vile and sordid nature.
                                                                           This (in my opinion) is the simple meaning of the pass-
                 The matter to which we attended in our former age which the testimony of Isaiah also confirms (chap.
          article was the heinousness of the sin of eating the for-        65  :25) ; for while the promises under the reign of Christ.
          bidden fruit. Man rejected the standard of good and              the complete restoration of a sound and well constituted
          evil with which God had supplied him.           He usurped nature, he records, among other things, that dust  shill
          God's place and insisted on doing the thing which the            be the serpent for bread" (Commentary,, p. 167).
          Lord God alone can and may do, namely, determine                    Man hears God curse the ground. In sorrow shall he
          what is good and what constitutes evil. The wisdom of eat of it all the days of his life. Thorns and thistles shall
          the Almighty was rejected by man and the lie of the              it bring forth unto him. In rhe sweat of his brow shall
          devil was embraced and practiced. The act of eating was man eat bread till he return unto the ground from whence
          a declaration on the part of man that he had done with           he was taken. A brief comment. Man refused to con-
          God 3s his teacher and king.                                     tinue to admit that he lived not by bread alone but by
                 The heinousness of man's -sin is evident from the         every word which proceedeth our of the mouth of God.
          punishment measured out to him. Having separated                 Instead of cleaving unto God as the fountain of life, man
          himself from God, who was his life, he became corrupted          set  God'aside and said to the ground or bread, "Thou art
          as to his whole nature, wicked and perverse in all his           my God." He began to worship the creature more than
          ways. Immediately upon having disobeyed God, man                 the Creator. The god of hi& choice he shall now serve in
          became aware of the fact that he had deteriorated morally        the sweat of his brow only. And that god shall yield him
          and spiritually.     "And the eyes of  them* both were           rhe thorn and the thistle and finally. death. Unto the
          opened, and they knew that they were naked"  (Gen.               ground which man deifies shall he return. The wages of
          2 :7). Man's experience tells him thar the Lord God had          sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through
          spoken the truth and the testimony of his heart is that Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom.  5  :21). Those unto whom
          he sinned grievously against his  Risker. Man now fears          it is given to eat of rhe living bread which came down
          God. And when he hears the voice of the Lord God                 from heaven, Jesus Christ, shall live forever.
          walking in the garden in the cool of the day, he flees and          Finally, man is sent forth from the garden of Eden to
          hides himself from the presence of his Maker amongst till the ground from whence he was taken. So God drove
          the trees of the garden. The  -VI-knowing One discovers out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of
          man's  hidilig place.       ridam  now hears  God curse  the Eden  cherub&,  and a flaming sword which turned every
          serpent,  qho defrauded man. Cursed is he above all cattle       way, to keep the way of the'tree of life.
          and above every beast of the field. Upon his belly shall            i`he cherubim and the flaming sword and their rela-
          he go and dust shall he eat, all the `days of his life.          tion to the tree of life are the matters to which we desire
                 It must not be supposed that originally the serpent to attend in this essay.
          was equipped with legs by means of which he was able to             The tree of life was good for food. The fact thar after
          lift himself aloof from the ground. Even before the the fall man's access to the tree of life was blocked by the
          serpent had become the tool of the devil, he was a creep-
     .                                                                     cherubim with the flaming sword, stationed at the east of
          ing thing. So he had been created. "And God made                 the garden, plainly indicates that the tree of life was
          the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their    capable of maintaining in man the powers of an endless
          kind, and  every thing that creepeth  upon the  ea+  after       life. This tree, for that reason, served as a veritable and
          his kind"  (Gen.  1:25).     This mode of procedure is now fitting symbol of the one source of life and light. viz.,
          made to serve as the sign of the curse. We are ready God. That the way of the tree was kept served  ro teach
          to subscribe to  Calvids commentary on the passage in            man that this tree is accessible to the righteous only.
          question. "There will, however. be no absurdity in sup- "Blessed are they that keep His commandments, for they
          posing, that the serpent was again consigned to that             shall eat of the tree of life" (Rev. 11  :7). Further, the
          former condition, to which he was already naturally sub-         symbolical apparatice of the garden of Eden (the flaming
          ject. For thus he who had exalted himself against the sword) was also a signification of the fact that the orig-
          image of God, was to be thrust back into  l;is proper            inal avenue of approach to God no longer existed for
          rank; as if it had been said, `Thou a wretched and filthy        man. And finally, the occupancy of the blissful regions
          animal, hast dared to rise up against man, whom I ap-            of paradise by the cherubim indicated that man's  exile-
          pointed to the dominion of the whole world; as if truly          ment was but for a  season.~  He will again be privileged
          thou who art fixed to the earth, hadst any right to pene-        to dwell in God's house with a ring on his hand, to
          trate into heaven. Therefore I now throw thee back               express ourselves in the imagery of the parable, and  with
          again into the place from which thou didst  atrempt to           shoes on his feet and clothed in the Father's best robe.
          emerge, that thou  mayesr learn to be contented with thy         However, the channel of life and immortality is the seed
          lot, and no longer  exualt  thyself to man's reproach and        of the woman.
          injury'. Tn the meanwhile he is recalled from his insolent          The symbolical vehicle of the above instruction  was


           I                              THE  S T A N D A R D  :K  EARER                                                         417
          -..",.^-- ..-...-         .-                                                                       I-................ lllll_l
the flaming sword and the cherubim. The sword with                their rings were full of eyes around about them four"
its revolving movements and flaming brightness served             (Ezekiel  14-18).   '
as an emblem of God's avenging justice. The purpose                  In the forty-first chapter of the book  of  Ezekiel is
of its suspension was to exclude man from the regions found a description of the cherubim which decorated the
of life, and to suggest the necessity of the seed of the          walls of the ideal temple.      "And it was made with
woman  - the Man of Jehovah  - as a channel of the                cherubim and palm trees, so that a palm tree was  he-
divine favor and love.                                            tween a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two
   To the symbol of the sword was added the cherubim.             faces; so that the face of a man was toward the palm tree
Let                                                               on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the
        us  institute an inquiry into the full reason of their
presence in the garden. In order to arrive at satisfactory palm tree on the other side: it was made throughout all
conclusions it will be necessary to investigate the fol-          the house round about" (Ezek.  41:18,   13j.
lowing matters : (a) The appearance of the cherubim:                 Tn the tenth chapter the cherubim themselves are
(.b) Their scriptural significations  ; (c) Their position  ;     described as being full of eyes..  ";ind their whole body
( d) The purpose of their appearance on the sceneofaction         and their backs, and their hands, and their wings and
constituting divine revelation. Our findings will exhibit         their wheels were full of eyes round about, even. the
to us the meaning and significance of the presence of the         wheels that they four had. And every one (the wheel)
creatures under consideration in the sacred regions from          had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub.
which man was expelled, The materials to be investigated          and the second face was the face of a man. and the third
are scattered throughout the baok of the Old Testament            face the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an
and the book of the Revelation of John.                           eagle" (Chapter 10  :12).
                                                                     In the prophetic vision of John the cherubim sur-
   The appearance of the cherubim. The' descriptions round the throne of God. "And around the throne were
found in the book of the Prophet Ezekiel are of value in          four living creatures (beasts in the translation, but in-
this connection. We present the following selections. correctly so) full of eyes before and behind. And the
"And I looked and behold a whirlwind came out of the first living creature was like a lion, and the second living
north, a great cloud and a fire unfolding itself, and a creature like a calf, and the third living creature had a
brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as          face, as a man: and the fourth living creature was like
the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also out a flying eagle. And the four living creatures had each
of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living of them six wings. about him ; and they Jvere full of eyes
creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the within'" (Rev. 4 :7, 8).
likeness of a man. And every one had four faces and                  Comparing the above passages. one with the other.
every one had four wings. And their feet were straight we discover that the forms described vary as to appear-
feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's    ance. Each of the cherubim appearing in the first
foot; and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass.        prophetic vision of Ezekiel have four faces, while the
.\nd they had the hands of a man under their wings on             cherubic images on the walls of the ideal temple have
their four sides; and they four had their faces and their two. The living creatures appearing in the prophetic
wings. Their wings were joined one to another; they vision of John are represented as having but  one face,
turned not when they went; they went every one straight .each. face like unto one of the types. There is also a
forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had difference as to the number of wings possessed by each.
the face of a man. and the face of a lion, on the right side: Each of the cherubs seen by Ezekiel under the throne of
and they four had the face of on ox on the left side; they God are equipped with four wings. To each of' those
four also had the face of an eagle. Thus were their faces; seen by John belong six wings. Further, the cherubs
and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of seen by Ezekiel in his first vision, appear in conjunction
every one were joined one to another, and two covered             with wheels. which are full of eyes. Tn the tenth chapter
their bodies. . . . --Ind as for the likeness of the living of Ezekiel as well as in the book of Revelation the
creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, cherubs themselves are represented as being full of eyes
and like the appearance of lamps; it went up and down - their whole body, their backs, their wings and their
among the living creatures; and the fire was bright and hands. There is then a certain diversity to be noticed
out of the fire went forth lightning. ,?ind the living in respect to the elements entering into the construction
creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash           of the cherubic forms.
of' lightning.                                                      On the other hand, these creatures also show a cer-
   "Now as I beheld the living creatures. behold one tain agreement as to their structure and appearance.
wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his            As to their appearance. they resemble a man. They have
four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work           either the body, visage or gesture of a man. "They had
was like unto the color of a beryl; and they four had             the likeness of a man" (`Ezek. 1  5). "And every cherub
one likeness: and their appearance and their work was.            had two faces: so that the face of a man was turned to-
as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel. As for their ward the palm tree" (Ezek.  ill  :l'?).  ".4ncl  every cherub
rings they were so high that they were dreadful; and              had four faces and the second face was the face of a man"


418                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
_. . ..--.-_-____l_l_-                                            --..-
                                                                           ..__ "-_- ._..-____ ----l----?-- _-.___  ----_-"--    --


(Ezek.  10:14).  Finally, one of the four cherubs seen by         the garden of Eden the cherubim and a flaming sword.
John in his vision had the face of a man. All of these turning every way to keep the way of the tree of life."
creatures, it may be safely  deduce.&  resembled a man as The cherubim, then, are made to dwell in the garden
to their body. It is evident from the surroundings that of Eden in the near vicinity or among rhe trees of life.
the assertion, "they had the likeness of a man," found NOW,  the garden of Eden was a garden of life. Every
in Ezekiel's description of the cherubim, must be made thing radiated vitality. Every tree was there laden with
to apply not to the face but to the body. So much for fruit. The productions of the garden were nourished by
the appearance of these compound creatures.                       streams of living water  flotiing through it and keeping it
       *iis a name in Scripture is often a signification of the in perpetual healthfulness. How could it be otherwise,
office or some attribute or property of the bearer, we do for Eden was the temple of the Lord God. There He
well to. show regard to the names which the creatures dwelt. His glories were upon every creature dwelling
under consideration bear. The names these creatures there. And the tree or the trees of life constituted the
bear in Holy Writ are  cherub  and  creatures of life.  AS inner sanctuary of the garden. There man met and com-
to the name  cherub  etymological researches offer noth- municated wirh his Maker. There he stood face to face
ing.  Gesenius suggests a new derivation. He takes the with God. The tree of life corresponds to the throne of
root  Karab  as having a meaning like  Charam,  meaning, God in the tabernacle and in the celestial city seen in a
to  prohiba from common use, to forbid or to prohibit.            vision by John. a There in the garden of life - the temple.
The name  cherub  would then signify a keeper or guard. the house of God,. where He dwelt - there in that sacred
This sense accords with their office as represented in region, before rhe face of God, the cherubim were also
Gen. 3. Others  assutie that the name is a signification made to dwell. It appears that these creatures, the living
of a steed or a courser in the sky. Then there are those ones; must be regarded as the associates of God.
who regard the term as denoting one  near   unto God.  It            Passing on to  ,the description of the tabernacle we
is plain that the etymology of this name is shrouded in           learn that cherubic forms were commanded to be inter-
a veil of darkness.                                               twined in the curtains of the interior of the tabernacle.
       We now pass on to the other designation,  yiz.?  the This structure is presented to us as the dwelling place of
liz&g  ozes,  or  the living creatures. This designation is God. The divine Inhabitant of this tent again surrounds
used by Ezekiel frequently and by John exclusively, and           Himself with cherubic forms? which, in this case, are
occurs in John and Ezekiel together no less than thirty           merely images of the living creatures represented. In
times. This particular name is expressive of that prop-           the holiest of all, however, God communicated with
erty of which the cherubim were the possessers in a very          Moses from above the mercy seat. The latter was God's
marked degree, namely, life in the highest state of throne,  a  structure of pure gold, two cubits and a half
acti>-ity.  They were incessantly active. John asserts long and a cubit and a half wide. In the two ends of the
that they rested neither day nor night saying, Holy, mercy seat were made two cherubs of gold. Their wings
holy, holy, Lord God almighty which was and is and is stret'ched  forth on high, covering the mercy seat. ;-\nd
to come (Rev.  453). Further,  tlieir movements are char- their faces looked one to another. toward the mercy seat.
acterized by great speed. Ezekiel sees them running and This structure was placed over the ark and then one
returning as the appearance of a flash of lightning (Ezek.        may read, "I wil1 commune with thee from above the
134).                                                             mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are
       That the eyes of which these creatures were full before upon the ark of the testimony of all things which I shall
and behind and within signify that the life which they so give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel"
abundantly possessed was at once light, intelligence.             (Ex.  25  :12). In this most sacred  incIosure, then, entered
They were pre-eminently creatures of the light, possess- by the high priest but once in a year. cherubim are found
ing a high degree of rationality and morality untarnished affixed to the very throne of God and covering with their
by sin. Thar the eyes must be associated with intelli- wings Him who, in a symbolical manner, was seated
gence is evident from the prophet's -description of the there.
behavior of the wheels, full of eyes. In the prophetic               John in his vision saw the cherubs in the midst and
I-ision, these wheels completely control the movements round about the throne, giving glory and honor and
ofthe forms with which they are associated. It is  srated         thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth for
that when those (the wheels) went, these (the living ever and ever (Rev.  45, 8). We conclude that the
creatures) went, and when those stood, these stood; and           cherubs were the close friends, the intimate associates of
when those were lifted up over them, the wheels were              God.
lifted up over them, for the'spirit of the living creatures          What was their office? From the notices of Scripture
was in the wheels  iEzek.   l}. The term spirit,, it appears,     which we have been considering we learn that it was the
is a designation of the principle of a sinless, rational          calling of the cherubim to dwell before the face of God
moral life.                                                       and to give glory, honor and thanks unto Him who sits
       Let  us now take up the matter of the position assigned    upon the throne. And so they did. The cherubim are
to the cherubim. Turning once more to the notice in the           the friends and allies of Jehovah. They, therefore, set
hook of Genesis we  sead, ",4nd He placed at the east  of         themselves against the adversaries of God, and take  an


                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                          419
                  ..-._.....                                .----
   active part in the warfare between God and His antago-        those regions from which  depral-ed  man had been  ex-
   nists. They do so for the reason that they hate those         pelled,  would have diverted his attention from the one
   who hate God. In Genesis the cherubs are presented as         channel of divine favor, namely, the promised seed  -
   the guardians of the tree of life, the inner sanctuary of the Christ. Man must be taught to look for the prom-
   the garden  where  God dwells. They wield a flaming           ised good from quarters other than those now inac-
   sword, for wicked man may not pass the borders of that cessible to him. He must be made to see that from out
   sacred region which they are commanded to keep. The of the garden the God whom he wronged frowns upon
   cherub, then, is the emblem of God's avenging justice as      him. It is explicitly stated that the  cherubim were
   well as the flaming sword which showed itself to turn stationed in the garden for the purpose of keeping the
   every way. Fairbairn would not have it so. He con- way of the tree of life. Fairbairn discovers in the verb
   ceives of the cherubim and the faming sword as having to  keep  the idea of occupancy, which idea he applies to
   been disconnected and regards the sword alone as an in- the cherubim who occupy the garden, but do not keep
   strument of defense while the cherub is thought of as the way of the tree of life. To keep, however, does not
   an emblem of mercy. Says he: "Still not simply for de-        mean to occupy.  ' Finally, it is difficult to see why the
   fense: for occupancy `as well as defense." And the most spectacle of the cherubim should suggest to m-an that his
   natural thought is, that as in the keeping there was a        exilement was but for a season for the reason that the
   twofold idea, so a twofold representation was given to it: new inhabitants of the garden resembled him in appear-
   that the occupancy was more immediately connected' ance. Since the garden was reinhabited might not man,
   with the cherubim, and the defense against intrusion with     with equal propriety, conclude that his expulsion was
   the flaming sword. One does not see otherwise  ({so the permanent i:
   author continues) what need there could have been for            The part which the cherubim play in subsequent
   both? Nor is it possible to conceive how the ends in revelation serves to substantiate our view. In Psalm
   view could otherwise have been served. It was beyond 18 it is asserted that He (God) rode upon a cherub and
   all doubt for man's spiritual instruction that such peculiar did fly. The cherub is here presented as supporting
   instruments were employed at the east of the garden of        Jehovah who came down to wreak  vengence upon the
   Eden, to awaken and preserve in his bosom right               enemies of His anointed. The cherubim seen by Ezekiel
   thoughts of the God with whom he had to do.  Eut an in the first vision were supporting the firmament with
   image of repulsion and terror was not alone sufficient their wings. And above the firmament that was over
   for this. There was needed along with it an image of their heads was the likeness of a throne, as  the appear-
   mercy and hope; and both were given in the appearance         ance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the
   that actually presented themselves.  T\Vhen the eyes of throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above
   man looked to the sword, with its banished and fiery upon it. The prophet saw as the color of amber, as the
   aspect, he could not but be struck with awe, at the appearance of fire round about within  it? from the ap-
   thought of God's severe and retributive justice. But pearance of his loins even upward, and from the appear-
   when he saw at the same time, in near and friendly con- ance of his loins even downward, the prophet saw. as it
   nection with that etnblem of Jehovah's righteousness, were, the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round
   iiving or life-like forms of being cast pre-eminently in about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud
   his  own mould but bearing along with his the likeness        in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the bright-
   also of the choicest species of the animal creation around    ness round about. This, says the  p,rophet, was the ap-
   him  -,when  he saw this, what could he think but that pearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord (Ezek.
   still for creatures of earthly rank, and for himself most 12.5,  23). Here again the cherubim do service as a  sup-
   of all.. an interest was preserved by the mercy of God in     port to Jehovah's throne. The following chapter makes
   the things that pertained to the blessed region of life"      it plain that the throne supported is a throne of judg-
   (Vol. I. p. 228).                                             ment. The Lord has' a message for the prophet which he
      It can be conceded that the presence of the cherubim       in turn shall deliver to a people rebellious, impudent and
   in the garden of Eden served to awaken in man's bosom         stiffhearted.    Here again the cherubim are associated
   the hope of a recovery, on a grander scale, of the lost       with the judgments of God. Likewise in chapter  10
   things of paradise. But they could do so for the reason       where the prophet asserts that the living creatures de-
   that the Lord God had spoken to man of a seed who             scribed, he saw under the God of Israel who declared
   should gain the  ascendency over the malice of the ser-       (chapter 9) : "The iniquity of the house of Israel and
   pent. The cherubim as such must be regarded as an Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood,
   emblem  of God's retributive justice only and the and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The Lord
   `guardian of His holiness.     As such it could serve hath forsaken the earth and the Lord seeth not. And as
   to awaken in man's bosom right thoughts of God.               for me also. my eyes shall  npt spare, neither will I have
   If this part of the symbolical apparatus stationed in pity, I will recompense their  way upon their head."  In
   the garden was a symbol of mercy, its presence in the         chapter  10:7 the cherubim are represented as taking part
4 , inner  sanctua,ry   of the tabernacle cannot he accounted in the execution of divine judgment. One cherub sends
   for. Further, the spectacle of an emblem  nf mercy in         forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire

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  ..f.Z(j                                     T H E   ST-4NDARD  B E A R E R
  -- .-..._. "..- . . ___                                      .-.- .._. II__ _.__                              -I  - - -
  that was between the cherubim and takes of the fire and             to see to it that those who had lifted up their  soul to
  gives it into the hand of one of the ministering angels to          vanity should not descend into, the hill of the Lord.
  be cast forth upon the city. The tire is emblematic of This, we repeat, explains their presence in the garden of
  the wrath of Jehovah.                                               Eden, where as the allies of God they set themselves
             In the fourth chapter of the book of Revelation like-    against man the adversary of God. It is' for this reason
   wise the cherubim appear as the dispensers of divine               that the presence of the cherubic forms in the interior
  wrath. One of the four living creatures is seen giving of the tabernacle had a meaning and a purpose. In the
  unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of God's              Foliest of all God dwelt surrounded by cherubic forms
  wrath. The action ascribed to them on the occasion of               entwined in the curtains and affixed, as was said, to the
  the breaking of the seals of the book partake of similar            ends of the mercy seat-God's throne. This sacred en-
  character.         The seven sealed-book must be regarded as        closure is accessible to the High Priest once a-year.
  a symbolical representation of the eternal deliberations            Man, then, again comes into the presence of God without
  of God which, when realized will mean the triumph of                encountering the opposition of the cherubim whose
  Christ's kingdom and the overthrow and destruction of               forms at least are there. Why his change  of attitude?
  the hordes of darkness. The four seals are opened suc-              IMan comes with blood. And He, enthroned upon the
   cessively and each' time the other one of the four                 mercy seat, accepts that blood as a covering for the sin-
  cherubim utters the singular cry, "come and see." It is  a ner who appears. =5, reconciliation is effected. In t-his
  prayer that Christ may come. As a result of the opening sacred enclosure the cherubim do not molest the serving
   of the seals there is one, saddled to a white horse, `going priest.          For here is the mercy seat upon which is
  forth conquering: men kill one another; the inhabitants             sprinkled the blood. In the garden of Eden was no mercy
  of the earth are visited by famine and death.                       seat. There the sinner ventured only to encounter the
             Having attended to the various notices of Scripture cherubim with the flaming sword, ready to destroy him
  bearing on the matter of the office of the cherubim we              if he should press on.  In the holiest of all there were
  are now ready to draw  cclnclusions.          The cherubim are      no cherubs with flaming swords turning every way.
  the close friends of God. The first appear as the inhabi- Jehovah was there ready to bless the priest coming into
  tants and the guardians of the sacred haunts of the garden          His presence for he came with blood.
  of Eden, and in particular of the tree of life. They sway              The earthly Tabernacle with all its equipment was but
  a flaming sword which serves as a notice to man that                a shadow-the  blood7 the priest, the mercy seat. the
  he must  not set his foot upon the sacred territory from            cloud. A shadow, then, a prophetic type was the earthly
   tvhich he was  exhelled.       Their place is in and about the     tabernacle-not of the garden from which man had been
  throne of God. Incessantly do they declare that God is              expelled. but of the sanctuary above, Mt. Zion, seen by
  thrice holy. Repeatedly do they appear upon the scene John in his vision. "And 1 looked, and Lo, a Lamb stood
  of action constituting divine revelation, as those deeply on the mount Zion, and with Him a hundred forty and
   interested in the  afiairs of God. When the  ,qlmighty             four thousand, having his Father's name written in their
  comes to judge it is the cherubim which support the
  throne of His judgment and even function as the dispens-            foreheads. And 1 heard a voice from heaTen,  as the voice
ers of divine  vvrath. In fine, the conviction cannot be              of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder:
  escaped that the cherubims are the emblems and the                  and I heard the voice of harpers. harping with their
  guardians of the holiness and righteousness of God.                 harps. And they sung as it were a new song before the
                                                                      throne, and before the 
   Beholding these creatures, the thoughts of our heart                                          fou?   cherubims or living ones, and
                                                                      the elders; and no man could learn that song but the
  should be: The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou           hundred and forty four thousand which were redeemed
  hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them from the earth" (Rev.  14:1-3). On mount Zion are four
  that speak leasing; the Lord will abhor the bloody and              cherubim and the hundred forty and four thousand. The
  deceitful man.. . . Destroy them  0 God; Let them fall cherubim, the guardians of God's holiness, make no effort
  by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of to expel the latter. No, indeed, for the Lamb is there
  their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee           and the hundred forty and four  thqusand  have His name
   (I%.   55,  6, 11).                                                written on their foreheads.
             Let us now lay hold on the symbolical meaning' of
  the cherubim. This has already been done in part. It                   The cherubic forms of the inner sanctuary of the
  was asserted that the spectacle of the. cherubim awak- tabernacle may be regarded as emblems of mercy unto
  ened in man's soul correct thoughts of the God With                 those covered by the blood of the sacrifice. They could
  whom he had to do. The cherubim weresignifications                  serve to awaken in the bosom of the saint of the o'ld dis-
  of the holiness of God. Their presence and activity in              pensation the hope of life and immortality and that for the
  the garden as well as in subsequent revelation suggested            following reasons : They were the representation of crea-
  that only he who hath clean hands and a pure heart and              tures known to  posse& that life which is the heritage of
   who hath not lifted up his soul to vanity. nor sworn de-           those who dwell with God. They had the appearance
  ceitfully shall ascend into the hill of the Lord and stand of a man. Would not the fact that the images of these
  in His holy place. The task assigned to the cherubim was creatures were found in the inner  sanctuaiy  strengthen

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                                        THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                           421
                                                                                           - ___ _ .._.._...............l.ll-__l_.._l
the Old Testament believer in his conviction that a life                 DE GEVALLEN MENSCH EN DE
with God would also be his portion?                                               GEMEENE GRATIE
                                                                                                           *
   The cherub, unlike the angels, was a creature of a com-
posite structure with the form of a man predominating.             Geloof  -  nu  als de vaste overtuiging omtrent her  bc-
(.Yombined with this ground form or body were three infe-       staan der  dingen  die men niet ziet, der bovenzinnelijke
rior forms of animal life - the ox, the lion and the eagle.     dingen?  is algemeen menschelijk.
Now in respect to the visible creation we may distinguish          Maar dit algemeen menschelijk geloof sloeg in den
between three kingdoms. The three animals just men- gevallen mensch in zijn tegendeel om ; een mensch buiten
tioned belong to the kingdom which constitutes the  high-       Christus gelooft wel, maar hij gelooft juist het tegendeel
cst rank, namely, the kingdom of animal life. In this iank      van hetgeen dat God heeft geopenbaard. Zijn  geloofs-
they must be placed in the highest class, for they possess      voorstellingen zijn valsch.
warm blood and their physical life is most highly devel-           Wanneer wij  tech belijden,  dat de menschelijke
oped. Finally, of this highest class, the ox, and the eagle     natuur  door de zonde  geheel  verdorven is, dan verstaan
and the lion were regarded in antiquity the most excel-         wij daaronder, dat al wat er in een mensch werkt van
lent. The three animals. then, together with man,  made         kennen en streven en  daarmede.  verbonden gevoel, zijn
up the most perfect combination of creatural existence.         gbede  hoedanigheden volstrekt verloren heeft, omdat de
But the question occurs why combined into one? The              mensch in de kern van zijn  wezen  van God is afgeweken,
answer is ready; to serve as a symbol of man in his             zijn liefde tot God in  haat  tegen God en zijn naaste  om-
organical relation to the lower creation over which he sloeg.
was placed and which he should have governed in the                Liefde zoekr vereeniging; maar de mensch, van God
interests of his Maker, And God said: "Let us make afwijkende  toen hij  vie& zocht, voor zooveel  aan hem
man after our own image, after our Iikeness. and let stond, m. a. w., als willend  of zedelijk wezen,  God te ont-
them have dominion over the fish of the sea,  tind over the     vluchten, en  10s te zijn van God.                              l
fnwl of the air and over the cattle and over  al1 the earth,       En  zoo is al wat uit vleesch is geboren.
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the               Deze scheiding. dit  10s zijn van God, is de geestelijke
earth"  (Gen. 1  :20>. To that kingdom of his man stood         dood van den natuurlijken mensch  ; de volstrekte  ont-
in organic relation. The elements constituting man's stentenis van dat geestelijke  Ieven,  dar  alleen  in de  ge-
body `were taken from the earth.  ":\nd the Lord God meenschap met God wordt geleefd.
formed man out of the dust of the ground . . . .  " (Gen.                                                  Dr. W.  Geesink
25). Man lives from the earth and the functioning of                          In.: "Van `s Heeren Ordinantiin," Dee4  III
his body is similar to that of the animal. But man dis-
obeyed God. i1s king he insisted on functioning in the             En  tpch zegt dezelfde, geleerde uitlegger en professor
interests of himself.    Man was dethroned and driven           eenige bladzijden verder in hetzelfde aangehaalde  deei
forth from the presence of God. The cherubs now ap-             van zijn opnieuw uitgegeven werk over des  "Heeren
pear, constituted of forms representing the highest types Ordinanti&," dat de  "natuurlijke  liefde, waarvan  b.v.
of creatural life  - man, the ox, the eagle and the lion        ook de apostel  Paulus spreekt  in Romeinen 1, op zichzelf
which in turn must be regarded as a representation of een vrucht is van de gemeene gratie, waardoor de mensch
the animal kingdom.  ;Z new, strange creature not found         mensch bleef,  de zonde werd gesruit, het kwaad niet door-
among the kingdom of the animals. This creature is werkte, de mensch bleef trachten naar hooger religieus
gifted with human intelligence, by which the animal besef, en de  he1 op aarde voorkomen  werd.",-
forms engrafted  .upon the human body were governed                Dat  alles  is natuurlijk niet anders dan napraten van
and controlled. The cherubim serve God. They dwell Kuyper en Bavinck.
within and about His throne, and are  exceedinly active            Maar van zulk een eensklaps uit de lucht komen  val-
in behalf of' their Maker  - extolling His virtues and          len der gemeene gratie evenals een meteoorsteen in de
opposing those who  dppose God. These creatures are werken van Kuyper. Bavinck, Fabius,  Geesink.  en van
made to inhabit the garden of Eden after man's expul- hunne  leerlingen of volgers  Hepp, Sikkel, Dijk, Schilder
sion.  They  take his place there. They play an important       en andere theologen, is men telkens getuige  onder  het
part in subsequent revelation. They appear in heaven            lezen,  en bestudeeren dier geschriften.
and their forms are sculptured upon the walls of the               Vanwaar die gemeene gratie komeet  afkomstig  is.
sanctuary of God. In these creatures, then, creation in         waar haar oorsprong ligt of hoe haar baan onder `t  star-
a symbolical sense, returns to its Maker. In fine, the renheir  aan het uitspansel der dogma's en naast de plane-
cherub must be regarded as a symbol of redeemed                 ten van providentie en predestinatie,  - niemand  ver-
humanity in which the redeemed kosmos again returns             klaart het u. Zoodat b.v. het Iang uitblijven van Prof.
unto God.                                                       Volbeda's beloofde uiteenzetting van her  verband   tus-
                                                                schen de gemeene gratie en de antithese geen  verwon-
   It can be easily seen why Jehovah took delight in sur-       dering onder ons behoeft te  baren.
rounding Himself with the forms of these creatures.                Ge  hebt voorts al wat de grootmeesters van. het  mo-
                                           G.  M.  0 .          derne  calvinisme hebben geschreven en geleerd als  waar-


426                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                         -........-                    _ ..-  I__                    __-.-..-                            -......__ -
                 FIRST PLACE OR NONE                            us to love our neighbor as ourselves; to show patience,
                                                                peace, meekness, mercy, and all kindness towards him.`,
       An Alaskan missionary had a number of dogs to draw           Now? all these Christian virtues we cannot show up,
his sled from place to place. One fine dog was always           when we are cherishing in our hearts jealousy, one of the
the leader, and very proud was he of his place at the head      evil works of the sinful flesh.
of the team. The missionary thought it wise to train an-            Certainly, to be zealous in the fear of the Lord for
other dog to lead, so that in case anything happened to         His kingdom and the triumph of His truth, is the duty
this one, he might not be without a leader. The first time of all Christians and must characterize us as God's cove-
he harnessed his second-best dog ahead of the first, the        nant children.
first one dropped to the ground and refused to rise. When          `But the prevailing rule among brothers and sisters of
he had been forced to get up and go on, he gnawed the           Christ, who teaches us:  "Learn  of me; for I am meek and
harness of the new leader till that one was freed and he        lowly in heart', is this: "Let nothing be done through
was again at the head of the pack. Several times he did strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind let each
this, and then his master took him out of the pack, tied        esteem others better than themselves" (Phil. 2  :3).
him up, and forced him to look on while the other dog              As true converts to God and restored by His `grace
received his training. This so angered and grieved the we have to crucify and mortify  our members which are
,dog that he soon died of a broken heart. He must have          upon the earth, as long as we live on earth; and to mani-
first place or none.                                            fest the greatness of the image of the Man of sorrow and
                        *  * * * *                              the King of glory.
       Now this is a dog's story we found in "The In-              To strive and to long for the first place as followers
structor`  for the Sunday School" of May 15, 1927.              of Christ and as His ambassadors, in rebellion to God's
       But in reading it we could not help thinking on what     holy will and in contrast with the spirit of service of                 '
happened in our own circle lately among "brethren of the kingdom of heaven, - like the poor and proud dog in
the cloth" (as a church leader and representative of the        Alaska mentioned above would have his way and could
`fcalvinists" in this country likes to write in his period- not stand "degradation" and died a suicide,  - is a great
ical), and as was said by some brothers, "laymen" (also         sin in the eyes of the Almighty and Merciful God.
an expression coming in favor by editors and reporters             In typing this we know "to fight, not as one that
in church papers for reformed  peopie).                         beateth the air."
       The cry of: "green of jealousy," heard many months          Let then be the desire of `our hearts and the supplica-
ago in meetings, is still sounding in our ears.                 tion of our souls the beautiful and touching words of
       And we believe there was a reason, although we           the penitent sinner in the Rev. P. Huet's "African
think not, on "the other side."                                 Poems,' :
       Also we remember the various times certain "pro-
gressive and reconstructive" preachers or disappointed                       Nooit heeft iemand zooveel kwaads,
ex-preachers,     in the `Lmemoirs"     written by them,                       Zooveel gruwelijks bedreven;
were complaining about that "hellish" evil evident, ac-                      Maar  `t besluit Uws grooten raads
cording to the words of said pamphlettists or authors.                         Riep mij uit den dood in `t leven.
among colleagues and other gospelizers.                                      Welk een wonder van gena,
       Some philosophers meanwhile may declare that "jeal-                     Als ook ik, verlost, geheiligd,
ousy is the flame that makes true love boil," such saying                    Eens die  feestzaal binnenga,
is only right and true concerning to the Lord God of                           Eeuwig voor het kwaad beveiligd !
love, who is jealous, as Scripture says, "visiting the                       Geef m' er de allerlaagste plaats,
iniquity of the fathers upon the children"; one of the few                     Groote God van dood en leven!
places in Holy Writ whereof jealousy is spoken in a                          Nooit werd iemand zooveel kwaads,,
favorably holy sense; because Proverbs  r',:34 tells us                        Zooveel gruwelijks vergeven.
about the rage of vengeance seeking  man:  where in                                                           G. VAN BEEK
Romans  (lo:19 and 11  :ll) also the Covenant God is
speaking of the salvation of His people.
       And besides we know that we ought to be very care-                           CHRISTUS  IS ALLES
ful as to our hearts naturally inclined to all evils includ-
ing the crime of murder; for "we are prone by nature to         In  Christus is de bron en `t  middeIpunt  der kennis;
hate God and our neighbor."                                       God kennen wij door Hem ; door Hem, ons eigen hart.
       :2nd our Heidelberg Catechism in its answer to ques-     En wijsheid buiten Hem is enkle heiligschennis,
tion 106 confesses that "in forbidding murder, God                En arbeid, die den geest in  `s  duivels  strik verwart.
teaches us, that He abhors the causes thereof, such as          Geen waarheid dan in Hem ; alle andre glans verduistert,
envy, hatred, anger, and desire of revenge  ; and that He       Z'ijn kennis is `t alleen, die  on's de ziel ontkluistert;
accounts all these as murder."                                    En zonder Hem is niets, dan wrevel, wroeging, smart.
       And also in the next answer: "That God commands                                                            W. `Bilderdijk


