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

              THE COVENANT SEALED                                forbidden counsels he walked; for he set all that God
                                                                 had promised to revolving about Ishmael; and behaved
                     And when Abram was ninety years old         teward and spoke of him in such a manner as to make
                   and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and
                   said unto him,  I am the Almighty God;        it plain that Ishmael had been excepted by him as the
                   walk before me and be thou perfect . . . .    promised heir.
                                                  Gen.  17:l        It appears, then, that Abram's grip upon the Lord,
    When thirteen years had again rolled away, God upon His power to do all that is in His heart, had
came to Abraham with a new revelation. The coming again weakened. Walking in his own counsels, . he
of this word, too, `had a reason. As was before said, walked not before the Lord. What he had done was to
the Lord's acts of deliverance, His words of comfort, get him in his thoughts behind or away from the
or instruction, are always timely, needful, made and Almighty to think and to live his fabrication that
given to meet an emergency, or te relieve a situation. Sarah was past age, and that the son of the maid-
And the revelation with which we are now about to servant was the heir.
deal, was no exception. Tts need was Abraham - his                  And so "the Lord appeared to Abram, and said
improper state of mind, the bent of his dispositions,            unto him, I am the Almighty God, walk before me, and
the turn of his effections, his forbidden imaginings and be thou upright or sincere." `Believe that nothing is
asperations  as reflected by his response, O- that Ish- to wonderful for Me, as I am Almighty God; that even
mael  might live before thee.                                    though Sarah thy wife be past age, I can give thee a
    Without a doubt, Ishmael, at Ieast from the point            son also of her. Desist from walking in thy own imag-
of view of nature, was a most likeable lad, - vigorous,          inations and thus in ways upon which the light of
bold, daring, high-spirited, and full of youthful en- My countenance does not shine. Lay hold on My prom-
thusiasm. And Abraham learned to love the lad ; be- ises ; let them be the guiding star of thy life ; the main-
gan to think of him as the heir of the promise, as the spring of thy conduct; the source of thy comfort. Then
living sign that the Lord had begun to do what ITe thou  walkest  before Me. Be upright. Do not set thy
had said. His hopes ran high. More than ever, per- mind to running in channels of thought denounced by
haps, was he contemplating what had been predicted the voice of thy conscience. Be thou upright with Me.
as a good that wouId be brought near.                            Let Me enter thy life and heart with the light of My
    His frame of mind can be explained. The  .Lord               word, and be thou believing..'
had never definitely told him that Sarah was to be the              "And I will make my covenant between Me and
mother of the promised seed ; she was old ; and her three," as the Lord continued, "and will  multipIg thee
barrenness was being prolonged. Ishmael was, with- exceedingly . . . . As for me, behold, my covenant is
out a doubt, a most likely lad ; the first and only child.       with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
It is to be explained that Abraham wished him well Neither shall thy name be called any more Abram, but
and had begun to project him in his mind as the point thy name shall be Abraham: for a father of many na-
of convergency of the promises of God.                           tions have I made thee. And I will make thee exceed-
   However, Abraham must have known that he had ing fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings
set his mind to running a forbidden channel  ; that his          shall come out of thee. Bnd I will establish my cove-
hopes, as centered upon Ishmael, were vain. For nant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in
Hagar had returned with a detailed description of how their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a
her child in his generations was to be disposed toward God unto thee and thy seed after thee. And I will
men in general. "He will be," the angel of the Lord give unto thee and thy seed after thee, the land where-
had said, "a wild man ; his hand will be against every in thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an
man, and every man's hand against him." But Abram everlasting possession ; and I will  5e their God."
and thus the promised heir, was to be a blessing, them              It should be noticed that the Lord  asserts7  that He
blessing him, the Lord will bless; them cursing him, will make His covenant with Abraham. The question
the Lord will curse ; and in bim all the families of the arises, whether the covenant had not been made when
earth would be blessed. Abram knew, then, that, as the Lord passed between the pieces. It had. Eut in
far as the promises were concerned, he had set his view of the fact that abraham's  faith had somewhat
effections upon a forbidden object. Yet he refused to' weakened, the Lord again brings to his attention what
admit it to himself and to the Lord. Not once, in all He will do.
this period, it may be safely said, did he freely speak            Further, when the Lord declared, I am God
to the Lord about these thoughts of his heart. In- Almighty, walk before me and be thou perfect, Abra-
stead, he kept them for himself and shut the Lord out ham fell upon his face in recognition of the fact that
of that particular region of his soul where they had the Lord can be a friend to him only who is perfect.
been given a lodging place. What he had done was to Abraham was an ill-deserving sinner. Very plainly,
counsel not with the Lord but with his flesh ; and -the then, the covenant need the Christ, `the shed blood.
conclusion arrived at was that one so far past age as That this was recognized by Abraham, is evident from
was Sarah, could not bare. And in these strange and the fact that he had accepted the sacrifice as the


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                    897

       divinely ordained instrument of communion between as was before said, was first published in Paradise, and
      him and God.                                               officially made when the Lord  `passed between  Ehc?
        The Lord after Abraham had prostrated himself pieces. Now the Lord appears unto Abram to assure
      before Him, again declares His mind. "I will make my him that He will eternally establish, that is, confirm,
      covenant between me and thee . . . " So, then, in- cause to stand or to be valid, the covenant He had
      stead of loosing His patience with Abraham (as if such     made, by continuing forever as his God and the God
     a thing were possible !) the Lord, in His great mercy of his seed. Further, as the God of Abram He will
      responds to Abraham's unbelief with a restatement of make him a father of many nations; kings shall come
      His divine intentions.                                     out of him. Finally, unto Abram and his seed, he will
          All of the above statements group themselves give the land wherein Abram dwells as a stranger for
      about the term covenant, which, as was before said, is an everlasting possession.       Some years before, the
       no contract consisting of a number of articles to which Lord had said to Abram that in him  all the families of
      two parties of equal rank contributed, passed judgment the earth would be blessed. It is plain, that all families
      upon,. and agreed to accept as a basis of co-operation, are the nations; and thus that both the families and
      but an indissoluble bond of love that constitutes God the nations must be identified with the church tri-
      and the ill-deserving yet elect and quickened sinner a umphant, constituted of such as were redeemed to God
      single party in which the covenant God, to be sure by Christ's blood out  bf every kindred, and tongue, and
      had the priority and all the say in that He is man's people, and nation, made kings and priests; for Abram
      maker, Lord supreme, and gracious Redeemer.                as the father of a natural seed was the progenitor of
          The essence of the covenant, then, is love, - the but one people - the Jews - at least as the husband
      love of God for His people, and their love for Him, - of Sarah ; and of the nations of which the Lord made
      a love of which He is the source and the workman. Abram father, Sarah was the mother. The kings to
       God declares His love for His people and they in turn come forth out of Abram are again in the last instance
      declare their love for Him in a speech taught them by these same redeemed ones. Finally, -4bram and his
      the Spirit. The word, then, is love declared. It is the seed are to receive the land of Canaan as an everlast-
      word, further, that, when applied by the Spirit, causes ing possession. That this land is, in the last instance,
      the love and the faith of the elect of God to break that heavenly country - the earth and not merely
     ,.forth and to lay hold on Him who in Christ stands Palestine - to be populated by a race of men among
       before the redeemed as the God of their salvation.        whom the tabernacle of God will be, is evident from
     From the very nature of the case, then, the word is the Hebrews. "For they (the saints who died in faith
      indispensible  to the covenant; without it the covenant including the patriarchs) that say such things declare
       as a historical phenomenon could not have come into plainly that they seek a heavenly country" (Heb. 11:
      being. The covenant is with man because the Almighty 14). That Abram grasped the typical significance of
       said, I am thy God and thou art my people ; and be- Canaan is certain ; for according to the testimony of
       cause He capacitates this people to say, Thou art our this same epistle, he looked for a city that hath
       God and we are thy children ; Thee do we Iove and foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
       praise; thy name do we bless forever.                        By fulfilling these promises, the Lord will in the
          It cannot be, as some say, that the covenant, as to    future show Himself up as the God of Abram and of
       its essence, is constituted of the promises; for in this his seed and thus by making good His word, establish
       case the covenant would eventually disappear in that His covenant. By bringing near the promised grace,
       the promises are destined to be fulfilled. Neither can He will verify His love.
       it be maintained that the covenant is merely God's in-       Abram's name was so altered as to be expressive of
       strument for placing in the possession of the elect his exceeding fruitfulness. His name shall no more
       what is promised ; for if it were such an instrument, it be called Abram but Abraham; for a father of many
       would have to be set aside as a thing with which the nations the Lord will make him.
       Lord had done as soon as the redeemed shall have re-         Comparing the above-cited revelation with those of
       ceived all that was merited for them. Fact is, that the previous years, the discovery is made that some new
       covenant is eternal.                                      elements were added. On previous occasions Abraham
          However, though the promises cannot very  well be had been told that he would be made a great nation
       identified with the covenant, it is altogether proper to of; now it was said to him that he would be made
       speak of covenant promises. For the promises pertain nations of, and that kings shall come out of him.
       to them only with whom the covenant is instituted,,          After having stated His part in the covenant, the
       that is, to whom the Lord declares His love. Theirs Lord let follow what He expected of Abram. Said the
       - the elect, whom Scripture identifies with the broken Lord unto Abraham, "Thou shalt keep my covenant
       of heart  - are the promises.                             therefore, thou and thy seed after thee in their gen-
I         Let us now return to the speech of God under con- erations. This is my covenant which ye shall keep
       sideration. Said the Lord, I will establish my cove- between me and you and thy seed after thee; every
/      nant . . . for an everlasting covenant. The covenant, man child among you  shail be circumcised. And ye

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

shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin ; and it shall    within that I may see thy face; satisfy me with thy
be a token of the covenant betwix me and you. And likeness and I shall be blessed."
he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among             This right had to be performed upon the man child
you, every man child in your generation, he that is of eight days. Circumcised, he carried upon his body
born in the house, or bought with money of any the very token, sign, symbol, of the covenant and of
stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in the love of the covenant God for His people, and was
thy house and he that is bought with thy money, must thus set apart, by this sign, from the world.
needs be circumcised ; and my covenant shall be in your          If the covenant made with Abraham had to be in
flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircum- the flesh of the man child of eight days, it must follow
cised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not cir- that the church of the new dispensation is duty bound
cumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people ; he to baptize infants of believing parents. For, the cove-
hath broken my covenant."                                     nant made with Abram, our Baptists friends shall have
       That the keeping of the covenant consisted in the to, admit, was the eternal covenant of grace; further,
circumcising of every man child must have meant that baptism as well as circumcision is a sign or token of
circumcision stood for, represented, or designated, the this covenant. True, the command to baptize infants
entire covenant with all its blessings and privileges. is wanting.           Such a command, however, was not
It directly signified regeneration. Says the apostle, needed ; it was not needed because of the continuity of
"He is not a Jew which is one outwardly ; neither is          the church, and of the covenant. It was not needed
that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but because baptism as well as circumcision is a token of
he is a Jew which is one inwardly: and circumcision is the one covenant. Hence, what was needed is the
that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; divine prohibition to baptize infants, were infant bap-
whose praise is not of man but of God." Then there is tism in conflict with His will.
also that text in Colossians (chap. 2 : 11) , "In whom           That baptism is a sign of regeneration and thus a
also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made sign of the covenant as well as circumcision, the apostle
without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of makes plain in the chapter of his epistle to the  Colos-
the flesh by the  circumcision  of Christ."                   sians. The well known text reads: "Buried with him
                                                              in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through
       IIowever,  circumcision stood for more than regen- the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him
erating; it stood for all that went along with the in-        from the dead." Once more we ask, if, in the Old Tes-
ward circumcision of the heart, and all that this cir- tament dispensation the token of the covenant had to
cumcision presupposed, to-wit, the love of the Triune be in the flesh of the man child, how can it be that in
Jehovah for His people ; His drawing nigh unto them this day the token of -this same covenant may not be
in the cross to save them from their sins and to render on the forehead of infants of believing parents  ?
them by grace His friends ; His lavishing upon them              The deniers of infant baptism have still more ex-
the fulness that dwelleth in Christ; His taking them plaining to do. On the day of the outpouring of the
to Himself in His house to be unto them a close com- Holy Spirit, Peter said to the men of Israel, to the
p a n i o n   f o r e v e r .                                 men  of Judah, to the people of the covenant, to the
       Those are the matters which circumcision in the        spiritual seed of Abraham, that is, to those who had
last instance stood for. To this rite, so designed as to responded to Peter's sermon with, What must we do
depict the operations of the Spirit upon the sinful to be saved, - to this element Peter said, "IZepent  and
heart, the covenant together with all its blessings was be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus
affixed  so that he, despising this rite, rejected the Christ, for the remission of sin, and ye shall receive
entire covenant and ail it stood for, to-wit, the love and the gift of the Spirit. For the promise is unto you
friendship of the Triune Jehovah together `with the and unto your children." `With you who cry out; and
sum total of blessings of' the kingdom. To refuse to by your crying out give evidence of having been
perform this rite was equal to facing the Lord with brought under the regenerating influence  of  the Holy
the blasphemous speech: Thou, God, I reject; Thy love, Spirit, with you and your seed the Lord made a cove-
as presented to me (not offered)  i.n circumcision, I nant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed forever.
spurn ; Thy claim upon me and my seed I challenge ; For ye are men of Israel, spiritual seed of Abraham.
Thy grace, I despise ; Thy Heaven with all its bliss, I Therefore repent, be baptized, and receive the gift of
loathe. Hence, he despising this right, had to be cut the Spirit.' In substance the same speech was directed
off from his people; for he broke, that is, despised, re- to Abraham. Said the Lord to Abraham, I am the
jected, the covenant.                                         Almighty God ; .walk before me and be thou perfect.
       On the other hand, because of the aforesaid con- Abraham fell on his face, in recognition of the fact
nection between the covenant and circumcision, the that the Lord can be a friend only to him who is per-
Jew, who by faith excepted his circumcision, declared fect. The covenant of grace demanded therefore a
and confessed before the face of Jehovah: "Thou are Christ. It demanded the shedding of blood. The Lord
my God, for thee my soul dost yearn ; make me pure continues, after Abraham had fallen on his face, I will


                                               T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            399

 make my covenant between me and thee and thy seed
 after thee . . . Thereupon Abraham was  .ordered to                              DE UNION-KWESTIE  ONDER  ONS
 circumcise himself and the man child of eight days old                      Als we zeggen, dat het Unionism feitelijk uitgaat
 among him, and every man chiId in his generation . . van het  beginsel  van den klassenstrijd tusschen  kapi-
 In view of this, how can the conviction be escaped that taal en arbeid,  een strijd, waarin het te  doen  is om
 the children of believing parents of that audience of feitelijk niets  anders dan de hoogst mogelijke Ioonen,
 Peter, were baptized along with those parents ? The de korst mogelijke werkdagen, de  `grootste   ma:hts-
 promise pertaining to these parents was the same as ontwikkeling voor den werknemer, en waarbij men
 the promise on the basis of which the man child of gebruik  maakt van  dwang  en geweld, beide tegenover
 Abraham was circumcised. "I am thy God and the den werkgever en den we&man,  die geen lid wil zijn
 God .of thy seed" is a divine utterance directed to be- van de union, dan bedoelen  we daarmede in het minst
 lievers of the new as well as to believers of the old niet te zeggen, dat deze  dingen  alleen gevonden wor-
dispensation. What is  .more,  the covenant was one, den bij de werklieden en hunne unions, noch ook dat
and this covenant was afhxed to essentially the same de oorzaak van dezen feitelijken Massenstrijd sheen
token.                                                                   bij de laatstgenoemden gezocht moet  worden.
  If the above reasonings are valid  - and they  are                         De werkgevers zijn in dit opzicht niets  beter clan
valid  - the doctrine of infant baptism  reposeson  solid de werknemers. Een en  hetzelfde  beginsel beheerscht
ground. For the utterance, The promise is unto thee beide "klassen."
and unto thy children, was directed to New Testament                         En het is van het grootste  belang, dat we als ker-
believers.                                                               ken we1 verstaan, dat onze strijd  niet gaat tegen den
    Once more, God's ways with Abraham show that arbeider en voor den  kapitalist;   dat  bet onze  bedde-
He establishes, makes, and  conf?rms  His covenant, not Iing niet is en niet  mag zijn, om den laatste  te verdedi-
with the individual as  isoIated. from his house or gen en den eerste er onder  te drukkea
family, but with the individual in conjunction with his                      Indien dit het geval ware, zou de Kerk zich we1
house, his generation. The token of the covenant had grootelijks  bezondigen, schuldig- maken aan bet grof-
to be in the flesh of every member of Abraham's ste  onrecht,   bet dikwijls  moeten opnemen  voor  den
house. In the new dispensation it is `no different.. The onderdrukker tegen den verdrukte en  zich het oorded
Jailor  was baptized, he and all his house straightway. Gods waardig maken.
    In fine, the above arguments  .cannot be overturned                     Maar  ook is de beschouwing, die onze kerkelijke
without overturning Scripture. Contrary to Scripture, actie tegen de unions in dit  licht beoordeelt, opzichzelf
which declares in plain speech that circumcision was a reeds  socialistisch..  We hebben in het verloop dezer
token of the covenant  of. grace, the Baptist separates kwestie onder  ens  meermalen  uitdrukkingen  opgevan-
this token from the eternal covenant of grace and gen,  die van  zulk een door en door socialistische be-
affixes  it to the typical commonwealth of Israel: that schouwing uitgingen. De kerk "pakte  we1 den arbei-
is, he insists that circumcision had only a national der  aan" maar durfde den "werkgever niet  aanpak-
significance.                                          G. M. 0.          ken." De eerste mocht  wel worden  "opgehangen," de
                                                                         tweede liet men vrijuit  gaan.  De  "kapitalisten"   wer-
                      BEKENDMAKING                                       den  "ontzien,"  de "a&eiders  moesten. het  maar  ont-
    Dinsdagnamiddag, 4 Juni, om drie uur, vergadert geIden." Deze en dergelijke  uitdrukkingen hebben we
het Curatorium der TheoIogische  School  te Hull, Iowa. meer dan eens  gehoord. En ze openbaren in de eerste
    Jonge  mannen,  die begeeren te  worden  opgeleid als plaats een gansch verkeerden  geest, de geest van het
student  aan onze School,  worden op deze vergadering socialisme  met zijn Marxistischen kijk op de  maat-
verwacht.                                                                schappij. En in de tweede plaats geven ze blijk van
    De adspiranten moeten  voorzien zijn van een bewijs                  het grofste misverstand in betrekking tot het beginsel
van Iidmaatschap  van een onzer gemeenten, en tevens                     en het  doel  der kerkelijke  &tie in dezen.
van een aanbeveling van hun respectieve  kerkeraad.                         Imiers is het niet de bedoehng,  mag het nooit de
                                       M. Vander Vennen,  Seer.          bedoeling  der kerkelijke tucht  zijn, om te onderdruk-
                                                                         ken, op te hang-en, te verwoesten, maar om te  behou-
                        I    N      MEMORIAM                             den.  Als zij  bet probleem der unions onderzoekt en
   Het  behaagde  den Heere uit het  midden  der  gemeente   plot-       ten slotte een oordeel velt, dan is het de  bedoehng  der
seling weg te  roepen,  den  9den   Mei,   ouzen   geliefden  broeder    Kerk niet  om den arbeider op stoffelijk gebied te onder-
en mede-ambtsdrager,                                                     drukken, maar om hem  geestelijk  te behouden  en  t::
                      MARTIN  LAARMAX,                                   dienm in het midden  der we&d.          ,.
in den leeftijd  van ruim 62 jaren.                                         Een ander  doe1 heeft de Kerk niet, mag zij niet
   Hij  had de  verschijning  des Heeren  lief en juicht  nu voor        hebben. En dit moet  we1  worden  verstaan.  Als zij
Zrjn  troon. Die wetenschap verzacht onze smart.
   De Heere trooste de bedroefde familie.                                zich bemoeit met het  sociale probleem, met de kwestie
                              De Kerkeraad der Prot. Ger.  Eerk          van vereenigingen, beide van werkgevers en  werkne-
                                        te  HudsonvilIe,   Mich.         mers, dan is haar bedoeling  bet geestelijk behoud van


                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                             399

 make my covenant between me and thee and thy seed
 after thee . . . Thereupon Abraham was ordered to                                 DE UNION-KWESTIE ONDER  ONS
 circumcise himself and the man child of eight days old                       Als we zeggen, dat het Unionism feitelijk uitgaat
 among him, and every map child in his generation . .                      van het beginsel van den klassenstrijd tusschen  kapi-
 In view of this, how can the conviction be escaped that taal en arbeid,  een  strijd, waarin het  te  doen  is om
 the children of believing parents of that audience of feitelijk niets anders dan de hoogst mogelijke  loonen,
Peter, were baptized along with those parents? The de korst mogelijke werkdagen, de grootste  matthts-
promise pertaining to these parents was the same as ontwikkeiing  voor den werknemer, en waarbij men
the promise on the basis of which the man child of gebruik maakt van dwang en geweld, beide tegenover
Abraham was circumcised. "I am thy God and the                            den werkgever en den we&man,  die geen lid wil zijn
God of thy seed" is a divine utterance directed to be- van de union, dan bedoelen we daarmede in het minst
lievers of the new as well as to belieirers  of the old                   niet te zeggen, dat deze dingen alleen gevonden wor-
dispensation. What is  .more, the covenant was one, den bij de werklieden en hunne unions, noch ook clat
and this covenant was  af%ixed to essentially the same de oorzaak van dezen feitelijken klassenstrijd alleen
token.                                                                    bij de laatstgenoemden  gezocht moet worden.
     If the above reasonings are valid - and they are                         De werkgevers zijn in dit opzicht niets beter dan
valid - the doctrine of infant baptism reposes on solid de werknemers. Een en hetzelfde beginsel beheerscht
ground. For the utterance, The promise is unto thee beide "klassen."
and unto thy children, was directed to New Testament                          En het is van het grootste belang, dat we als ker-
believers.                                                                ken  we1 verstaan, dat onze strijd niet gaat tegen den
    Once more, God's ways with Abraham show that arbeider en voor den kapitalist; dat het onze bedde-
He establishes, makes, and confirms His covenant, not ling niet is en niet mag zijn, om den Iaatste te verdedi-
with  the individual as isolated. from his house or gen en den eerste er onder te drukken.
family, but with the individual in conjunction with his                       Indien dit het geval  svare,  zou de Kerk  zich  we1
house, his generation. The token of the covenant had Lvootelijks  bezondigen, schuldig maken  aan het grof-
to be in the flesh of  eyery  member of Abraham's ste onrecht, het dikwijls  moeten opnemen voor den
house. In the new dispensation it is `no different. The onderdrukker tegen den verdrukte en  zich het oordeel
Jailor was baptized, he and all his house straightway. Gods waardig  maken.
    In tie, the above arguments cannot be overturned                          Maar ook is de beschouwing, die onze kerkelijke
without overturning Scripture. Contrary to Scripture, actie tegen de unions in dit  licht beoordeelt, opzichzelf
which declares in plain speech that circumcision was a reeds socialistisch. We hebben in het verloop dezer
token of the covenant of grace, the Baptist separates kwestie onder ons meermalen uitdrukkingen  opgevan-
this token from the eternal covenant of  grace  and gen, die van  zulk een door en door socialistische be-
affixes  it to the typical commonwealth of Israel: that schouwing uitgingen. De kerk "pakte we1 den arbei-
is, he insists that circumcision had only a national der  aan" maar durfde den "werkgever niet  aanpak-
significance.                                         G. M. 0.            ken."' De eerste mocht we1 worden  "opgehanger,," dc
                                                                          tweede liet men vrijuit gaan. De "kapitalisten" -v;er-
                      BEKENDMAKING                                        den "ontzien," de "arbeiders moesten het maar ont-
    Dinsdagnamiddag, 4 Juni, om drie uur. vergadert gelden." Deze en dergelijke uitdrukkingen hebben we
het Curatorium der Theologische School  te Hull, Iowa. beer dan eens gehoord. En ze openbaren in de eerstc
    Jonge  mannen, die  begeeren  te  worden  opgeleid  als plaits  een gansch verkeerden geest, de geest van het
student  aan onze School,  worden  op deze vergadering socialisme met zijn Marxistischen kijk op de  maat-
verwacht.                                                                 schappij. En in de tweede plaats geven ze blijk van
    De adspiranten moeten voorzien zijn van een bewijs het grofste misverstand in betrekking tot het beginsel
van lidmaatschap van een otizer  gemeenten, en tevens en het doe1 der kerkelijke  actie in dezen.
van een aanbeveling van hun respectieve  kerkeraad.                          Immers is het niet de bedoeling, mag het nooit dc
                                      M. Vander Vennen, Seer.             bedoeling der kerkelijke tucht zijn, om te onderdruk-
                                        -                                 ken, op te hangen,  te verwoesten, maar om t;e behou-
                        IN MEMORIAM                                       den. Als zij het probleem der unions onderzoekt en
   Het behaagde den Heere uit het midden  der gemeente plot-              ten  slotte een oordeel velt, dan is het de bedoeling der
.seling  weg te  roepen,  den  9den  Mei,   onzen   geliefden  broeder    Kerk niet om den arbeider op stoffelijk gebied te onder-
en mede-ambtsdrager,                                                      drukken, maar om hem  yeestelijk te  behouden en  t.2
                      MARTIN LAARMAN,                                     c&nerzl  in  bet midden der wereld.
in den leeftijd van ruim 62 jaren.                                           Een ander doe1 heeft de Kerk niet, mag zij niet
   Hij  ha<  de verschijning des  Heeren  lief en juicht nu  voor         hebben. En dit moet  we1  worden  verstaan. Als zij
Zijn troon. Die wetenschap verzacht onze smart.
   De Heere trooste de bedroefde familie.                                 zich bemoeit met het  sociale probleem, met de kwestie
                                De Kerkeraad der Prot. Ger. Kerk          van vereenigingen, beide van werkgevers en  merkne-
                                        te Hudsonville,  Mich.            mers,  clan is haar bedoeling het geestelijk behoud van

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

       Daarom herhalen -we het : de zoogenaamde  klassen-
strijd wordt feitelijk  niet. alleen gevoerd door den                         THE AGE OF EZRA-AND NEHEMIAH
werknemer, door de labor unions ; maar hij wordt aan-                      The chronicles, we saw, has to do primarily with the
vaard en ook fel gestreden van de zijde der werkge-                    true Israel. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah deal with
vers. En van weerszijden strijdt men met dezelfde this same element as liberated to a degree from the
doeleinden voor  oogen,`uit hetzelfde beginsel, en met typical-symbolical mold in which it was made to ap-
dezelfde middelen.                                                      pear especially in the golden age of its history. One
       En zij, die van oordeel waren,  dat de Kerken niet of the reasons for the organization,of  the Israelitish
slechts een  roeping hadden  ten opzichte van het lid-                  people .into a theocratic state was to exhibit as the
maatschap der unions, maar niet minder geroepen city of God the eternal principles of truth and justice
waren  te waarschuwen tegen het Iidmaatschap van upon which the throne of Jehovah reposes. There was
werkgevers vereenigingen, hadden het we1 bij het rech-                 the theocratic king, who, when sitting upon the throne
te eind.                                                               of his kingdom wrote him a copy of the law in a book
       Een andere vraag is nog: welke is die roeping?                  "of that which was before the priests the Levites;
       En hoe moeten  we haar opvolgen?                                with him this book had to be  ; in it he had to read all
                                                        H. I-!.        the days of his life ; that he might learn to fear the
                                                                       Lord, and to keep all the words of the law and those
                                                                       statutes to do them." There was the priest to make
gg-$  -"Inside History of the Carnegie Steel Company," pp. atonement for sin that the people in behalf of which
      (2)' Henry George, Jr., "The Menace of Privilege," pp.           he performed the service might live before the face
29-87.
      Voor verdere literatuur  zie:                                    of Jehovah who dwelt in the holiest  of nil between the
      Bliss: New Encyclopedia of Social Reform.                        cherubim. The task of the prophet was to direct as
      Carlton:  History and Problems of Organized Labor, p. 93, ff.
      Pope: American Industries, Dec. 1911,  p. 11.                    the instrument of Jehovah the life of the nation into
      Willoughby, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 20, pp.         the proper theocratic channels. It is plain that the
 .5-116:
11           143-150.                                                  theocratic state, properly functioning, demonstrated
      Idem:  Vol. 29, p. 236.
      Commons: American Journal of Sociology, Vol.  13, p.  161.       the principles circulating through the scheme of re- -
      Adams and Summer: Labor Problems, 279-285.                       demption. This state, this origin, birth, and its rise
                                                                       together with the soil on which it thrived, constituted
                                                                       the typical replica of redemption in all its successive
                                                                       stages, and of that blessed commonwealth known in
                   `K HEB MIJ MISREKEND                                Scripture as the city that hath foundations. The
              `k Heb mij misrekend, o zoo vaak                         capital  of. this state pointed to the Jerusalem above  ;
                 Als ik op vleesch vertrouwde,                         the land of Canaan, to the new earth where the taber-
                 Mijn hoop op menschen bouwde ;                        nacle of God will be among men; the prophet, the
              Maar nooit als `k voor mijn levenstaak,                  priest and the king, to the Christ; the blood, to His
                 Zij `t ook in zwak gelooven,                          life ; that He gave the ark of the covenant, to `His
                 Den zegen had van boven.                              throne ; the temple to His church. The Exodus was
                                                                       typical of the deliverance from spiritual bondage ; the
              `k Heb mij misrekend, o mijn God!                        drowning of the Egyptians, of the coming to grief of
                 In mijn bekommeringen                                 the persecutors of the church, the destruction of the
                 Om allerhande dingen ;                                Canaanites, of the extirpation of that race of men
              Maar nooit,  als ik mijn levenslot                       corrupting the earth.
                 En wat mijn ziele kwelde,                                When Solomon's glorious reign ended, a very
                 Stil in uw handen stelde.                             definite  series of redemptive acts and salutory tri-
                                                                       umphs had been typified by the course of events of the
              `k Heb mij misrekend,  aItijd weer,                      theocratic state. We enumerate: The deliverance from
                In `t vrede en heil verwachten                         spiritual bondage; the destruction of the persecutors
                Van eigen doen en trachten:                            of the church; the earthly pilgrimage of the redeemed ;
              Maar nooit, als ik voor U, o Heer',                      the passage of the spiritual army of the Lord - the
                Beleed mijn hartewonden,                               church militant  - through this desert-world ; the
                Mijn zorgen en mijn zonden.                            purging of the earth of the race of men corrupting the
                                                                       earth. Each of these acts has its typical replica. There
              Gij zijt mijn hulp, mijn hoop en licht,                  was the Egyptian bondage ; the destruction of Pharaoh
                De God van mijn betrouwen,                             and his hosts in the red sea ; the march of the typical
                Die `t heil mijn doet aanschouwen;                     army of God through the desert; the extirpation of the
              Wat wankle, Gij verandert niet,                          Canaanites. It is clear that Egypt, Pharaoh, the desert,
                En nooit. zult Gij beschamen                           Canaan, Israel, Moses, and Joshua were but so many
                Die U verwachten,  Amen !                              figures ; - Egypt of the world that persecutes ; Pha-


  .                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R ,                                   403

raoh of the prince of darkness ; the desert of the world struggle prophetic of the internal strife between be-
as smitten by the curse of the Almighty ; Israel in lief and unbelief in the bosom of the church of the new
Egypt, of the church approssed ; Moses and Joshua dispensation.
were, each in his own way, types of Christ  ; and Canaan       The exile is the first of a new series of types
was a type of the new earth.                    .           showing forth the outstanding features of the new dis-
       With Israel in Canaan, that series of types begin- pensation or of the Gospel period. What consequently ,
ning with the Egyptian bondage, was completed. The happens is that the nation, as to its form of manifesta-
theocratic state under David and Solomon brought into tion, is made over. The theocratic state disappears.
relief new and different aspects of the kingdom of The entire typical-symbolical apparatus is marred and
heaven and of the career of Christ. That period of injured beyond recognition. The carnal seed is sepa-
David's public career ending with his ascendency  to rated from the spiritual and tide to disappear. At-
the throne - a period of suffering and persecution  - tend to the following: Israel went into exile ; only a
pointed to the state of humiliation of Christ. In the remnant returns. But this remnant, however, is con-
preceding period, it had become plain that the theo- stituted of such, who had Iamented after God. The
cracy, without a king to impress his pious spirit upon fleshly seed, held by the riches of the world, was  don-
the nation, was doomed to failure. So, too, the church; tent to remain in Babylon. The remnant rebuild the
it  cannot  do without the Christ. To return to David, to temple. As compared with the temple of Solomon, how-
that period of his career ending with his death, corres- ever, it was a despicable structure, so that at the sight
ponds the period of Christ's  &reer  beginning with His of it those with the beauty of the former temple still
ascension and coronation and ending with His second fresh in their memory, wept. Further, in the holiest
return for judgment. David in his capacity of king of all of this new structure, stood no ark. This ancient
was a man of war, who as the servant of Jehovah ren- and sacred symbol of Jehovah's presence had been
dered tributary the heathen nations dwelling within lost, perhaps destroyed. It had become a debatable,
the ideal boundaries of Canaan. As to the exalted question, then, whether the Lord still dwelt in the
Christ, as one to whom was given all power .in heaven holiest.       Further, Israel had lost its national inde-
and on earth, He engages in holy war. It is an en- pendence, What is more, the Canaan, to which it re-
gagement which will end with his enemies his foot- turned was being claimed by the foreigner. The rem-
stool. This activity of the exalted Christ was foretold nant returned minus its  *king, to be ruled, henceforth
by the psalmist. "Why do the heathen rage, and the by vicegerants of foreign courts. The prophet had
people imagine a. vain thing? The kings of the earth likewise disappeared. Only the priest remained as the
set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, instructor of the laws of `God. Because of these loses,
against the Lord and against His anointed saying, Let Israel could no longer exhibit as a type, the kingdom
us break their bands asunder, and cast away their of God. This, of course, was the Lord's doings.
cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens  ,will           What could the Lord have had in mind? What
laugh ; the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall was He doing?. And the answer is ready: The Lord,
He speak unto them in His wrath, ,and VOX them in in this period, was breaking down and putting away
His  .sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon the type and bringing to the fore the realities typified,
my holy hill in Zion. I will declare the decree: the the body foreshadowed. In this period, therefore, the
Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day spiritual seed is separated from its carnal shell ; it
have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give thee comes to the fore, and behaves in such a way as to
the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost compel the conclusion that the church-state was a
parts of the earth as thy possession. Thou shalt break creation with which the Lord had done. The remnant
them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces is tributuary to the foreigner. It has therefore no
like a potter's vessel . . . . "                            king to bear the sword. It conducts no wars. It sets
       Solomon's reign was one of great glory, of extra- out on no military expeditions. It engages not in the
ordinary splendor, and of uninterrupted~  peace. This extirpation of the wicked. There is, however, a
reign, it is plain, presents itself. to our view as the marvelous display of purely spiritual power. The rem-
shadow of the rule of the exalted Christ over His re- nant was determined to return to Canaan, though the
deemed. It is likewise a rule characterized by unin- undertaking involved them in  difhculties unsurmount-
terrupted peace, exercised on a earth peopled by a able from the point of view of nature. There was a
redeemed and glorified race -an earth from which voluntary and strict. adhesion to the law of God  ; an  un-
have been permanently removed Satan and the wicked. willmgness  to amalgamate with the natives of Canaan ;
       The death of Solomon marks the completion of an- a refusal of the help profferred by the element. Their
other chain of types. The period beginning with the help stood in the name of Jehovah.
rupture of the nation and ending with the exile is one         The Lord's method, too, differs from that of the
of  spiritual,whoredom,  of internal decay. It is a period preceding period. The  remnant is delivered without
of struggle between the two seeds, the spiritual and bloodshed ;  ' without. the immediate destruction of the
the carnal  - constituting the one nation. It is a nations having laid hold on and held captive Jehovah's

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

people. The Israel of the Egyptian bondage, the Lord          SKETCHES ON THE HISTORY OF DOCTRINE
had delivered by stretching out his arm and smitting
the Egyptian host. The Persian kings, on the other                              NESTORIANISM
hand, are prevailed upon to leave Jehovah's people go
peaceably.                                                     To preserve purely and deveiop correctly the doz-
       The period beginning with the exile, it is plain, is trine concerning the Person of Christ, especially four
a transition period. A period in which the Lord began factors must always receive emphasis. For, first it
to take away from before the eyes of his people the         must be maintained that the Lord Jesus Christ is very
old types and to place before their eyes new types, and God; any view that denies the true and proper divinity
thus new truths. This is our last thought. In  this         of our Saviour is certainly erroneous. He is very God,
period the Lord constructs a new series of types. that is, essentially one with the Father and the Holy
Babylonia, to which Judah was exiled, typifies that Ghost. He is the Son of God in an altogether unique
great field from which, in the gospel period, the sense of the word. Secondly, it is equally important
exalted Christ will gather His materials for His church. and essential to a correct statement of the doctrine of
Jerusalem, in this period, is still the type of the Jeru- the Person of Christ, to maintain that He is true and
salem above. The return of the remnant, then, was very man. The proper humanity of our Lord must no
prophetic of the gathering of the elect from the four less be emphasized than his true divinity. Thirdly, it
corners of the earth in the gospel period. This process must be rightly understood, that these two natures,
is purely a spiritual one. It is a task the accomplish- the human and the divine are not separated, are never
ment of which brought into play purely spiritual ener- separated, but are united in the Person of the Son of
gies. As was said, the Persian kings were prevailed God. And fourthly, it is necessary to maintain, that
upon by the Lord, in whose hands the hearts of the the two natures of the Lord Jesus Christ are never
kings are, to willingly release their hold upon the so united that they are fused, mixed into one divine-
remnant. Unlike Pharaoh, Cyrus was converted into a human nature. Each nature retains its own prop-
willing agent. The Lord did not harden his heart in erties. The union of the two natures must be found
order to make it necessary for Himself to compel in the Person of the Son.
these kings by force, by a series of plagues, to relax         All heresies about the Person of the Saviour err in
his hold on His people.                                     respect to one or more of these essential elements.
    And as for the remnant, it returns to Jerusalem,           History reveals this plainly.
impelled by a great love for Jehovah whom it still             At one time the divinity of Christ is denied, pre-
associated with Jerusalem and the temple. Hence, in sented in a wrong light, and Christ `becomes a mere
returning they were attracted by their God for whom man. At another time His true humanity is denied,
their soul yearned. So, too, in the gospel period, does a::d the human nature of the Lord is presented as a
the exalted Christ draw all men (His elect) to Himself. specially created human nature, or a human nature He
The believers walk with their faces turned toward the took with Him from heaven, or a mere semblance of
heavenly sanctuary, where Christ and the Father are. the human nature. Again, the distinction between the
    It is plain that by this event this particular two natures is obliterated, and they are fused into
period was rendered a figure of the gospel age. This one, the human nature being swallowed np in the
event was one of the favorite themes of the prophets, divine or the divine nature losing its properties. And
especially of the prophet Isaiah.       In describing it, finally, sometimes the union of the two natures is lost
he expresses himself in concrete typical lan- sight of and Jesus really is presented as if He were
guage, with which the events of his own age had sup- two different persons.
plied him. He could not do otherwise, but express the          It is the verdict of history that Nestorius was
accomplishments of Christ in a language taught them guilty of the last named heresy.               '
in the school of Jehovah. No more than a German can            He denied, it is said, that the natures of Christ
clothe his thoughts in French, if he knows no French, were united in His Person.
no more could the prophets express themselves in New           Personally I doubt whether this verdict of history
Testament language. For the prophet, Canaan is the is correct.
emblem of the new earth, the house of David,  of the           The testimony of written history is not always
church. This it is that the exponent of pre-millen- true; it is frequently incorrect; it is often incomplete;
nialists looses sight of. Therefore he is a pre-millen- it is not infreqeuntly intentionally false.
nialist.                                                       And I am inclined to believe that Nestorius was
                                             G. M. 0.      not the heretic he is reputed to be.
                                                               Certainly, what is known as  Nestorianism  is a
                                                           heresy. For the name stands today for the view  that
    Gods kind, de in Christus  geborgene, belijdt: "Het separates the two natures of Christ and denies the
is hier het land der ruste niet!" maar hij deelt en ge- unity of the Person. But, paradoxical though it may
niet hier tech reeds de rust des geloofs.                  sound, I doubt that Nestorius was really the author


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                      405

of Nestorianism. And I am inclined to think that in much in vogue at that time: "the mother of God."
what is known as Nestorianism we do not- have a Nestorius objected to this phrase, because Mary `wan
proper presentation of his views, but of his views us not the mother of the divine nature, but only of the
his enemies  and opponents stated them.                      human nature of the Saviour. He, therefore, preferred
    There are often two entirely different things, - to speak of the mother of Christ. But by this criticism
our own views and the presentation of our views by he aroused a storm of opposition against himself.
our opponents.                                               Clergymen preached against him and denounced him
    In ecclesiastical controversies, especially when they from their pulpits. Laymen opposed him in his own
are rather heated, more so still when, as is often the pulpit and would frequently interrupt him in his ser-
case, personal ambitions and prejudices enter in, our mons. Before long Cyrillus of Alexandria entered the
opponents often give an untrue presentation of what ecclesiastical arena. Bitter  anathemas were exchanged
we believe and teach.                                       between the two leaders.
    Think, for instance, of the indict+ment  some of our        At a Synod of Rome in 430 Nestorius was con-
opponents in the Christian Reformed Churches insist demned.
to make against us, that wea believe that God is the            Another Synod held at Ephesus in 431 again con-
author of sin.                                              demned the views of the bishop of Constantinople. Thz
    And if such opponents are numerous and over- opposing party, however, headed by Cyril of Alex-
whelming strong; and if they succeed to accomplish andria, could not give a very satisfactory account of
the condemnation and deposition of the falsely accused their own views on the subject of the Person of Christ.
by certain ecclesiastical assemblies ; and if the records And the followers of Nestorius in a separate gathering
of these assemblies are preserved in history; and if also condemned the views of Cyrillus.
these records serve as the only reliable and official           In the year 435 Nestorius was banished to Petra in
documents for the future historian,  - when all these Arabia by imperial decree. From that time his where-
historical factors are present, it may easily be under- abouts are not to be traced with certainty. Perhaps
stood now the  final verdict of history may become he lived in Egypt, where till the day `of his death he
untrue.                                                     was driven from one  .place  to another. He is a tragic
   Of this, I believe, we have an illustration in the  ca-e figure.    In the first years after his condemnation,
of Nestorius and what is known as Nestorianism.             when the distinction between his views and those of
   Nestorius' history (the date of his birth and the Cyrillus was maintained in all its sharpness, he had
date of his death are unknown) belongs to the first many friends and followers. But they gradually for-
part of the fifth century.                                  sook him, largely due to the shrewdness of Cyrillus,
   There were at that time two famous schools of who knew how to belittle the distinction and for
Theology, the one at Antioch, the other at Alexandria. political reasdns would cover up his own views and
Nestorius, who was born in  the Syrian city of  Ger- accomplish a compromise.
manicia, belonged to the former school, the most                And Nestorianism never flourished.
famous representative of which was bis teacher,                 This was `also due to the fact, that the Church
Theodore of Mopsuesta. But the school of Alexandria gradually restated its own doctrine of the Person of
was, at that time, chiefly represented by a certain Christ and thus the reason for a separate sect or
Cyrillus. Now, this Cyrillus, a shrewd and none too Church was removed.
scrupulous man, happened to become the chief  op-               As we stated at the beginning, we must make a
ponent of Nestorius in the controversy that resulted distinction between the views of Nestorius and what
in the condemnation and deposition of the latter. But is known as Nestorianism today.
Cyrillus of Alexandria was himself not orthodox. He             Nestorius was probably the victim of circum-
entertained erroneous views with regard to the Person stances and of a badly conducted controversy,  chara:-
of Christ. And his tendency was to obliterate the terised by much ambiguity and personal jealousy. His
distinction between the two natures of the Lord and opponent, Cyrillus, certainly was a heretic `on the
fuse them into one. And thus it can be understood debated subject. It was his view, that the PIerson  of
that the views of Nestorius, as stated by  CyrilIus and the Son of God not merely assumed the human nature.
his followers, were presented in the wrong light and but became man, the divine nature fused into  the
that, in fact, views were ascribed to him, which he, human. After the incarnation there was only the one
probably, would condemn himself.                            nature of the incarnated Logos, the Word. The predi-
   As a monk and presbyter Nestorius soon won for cates of the divine and of the human nature be:ame
himself, in the earlier period of his ministry, a wide. the common properties of both. And thus he cer-
reputation,  especialiy  because of his earnest stand for tainly lost sight of the proper distinction between  the
and, ardent defense of the truth over against heretics. two natures. It is probably in this light that we must
In 428 he became bishop of Constantinople. Before understand certain exaggerated statements of Nesto  -
iong he started a controversy about the Person and rius. In the heat of the controversy he did not always
natures of Christ. Severely he criticized a phrase, express himself clearly. His purpose was, perhaps,

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

none other than to maintain the clear distinction be-
tween the two natures of Christ, and it is not impos:                                  DE UNION-KWESTIE  *
sible that his view was the correct one, that the two                     Als het niet ware voor de uitnoodiging van de
distinct natures of the Lord were united in the `Person               Eindredacteur der "Standard Bearer," wij zouden dit
of the Son of God.                                                    ons schrijven hebben teruggehouden. En dit om twee
    Yet, though we may be able to justify Nestorius,                  redenen: ten eerste, omdat het een zaak der Classis
what is known as Nestorianism in history, is cer- is en het daar nog niet ten volle is beslkcht; ten twee-
tainly an error. The name stands for the conception de, daar het vraagstuk te veelomvattehd en te inge-
that separates the two natures of Christ and really wikkeld is om in een &lein artikeltje als dit te behan-
makes two persons of the Saviour,. a divine and a delen..  Ook is het niet het doe1 van dit schrijven deze
human.                                                                netelige kwestie in dit artikeltje te ontvouwen, en te
    And this is a grave error.                                        beslechten. Voor de oplossing van dit vraagstuk zijn
    For if the natures of Christ are not united in the wij nog lang  n&t klaar. Het  doe1 van dit schrijven
Person of Immanuel, then He is not the central real- is : in de eerste plaats, om eenige verkeerde .indrukken
ization of the covenant of God ; in and through Him we uit den weg te ruimen ; en vervolgens om, indien  moge-
do not have the fellowship of God's friendship; and lijk, de zaak in een rechte bedding te leiden.
His atoning death cannot have the power to atone.                        Ten zeerste respecteeren wij het rapport van de
    Over against the error of Apollinaris we must laatste  committee der Classis aangaande deze zaak.
maintain that Christ is truly God and truly man ; that Het omheist een standvastigheid, een beslistheid, en
He assumed not a partial human nature, but was like een zeer te prijzen conservatisme,  welke zekerlijk noo-
unto us in all things sin excepted.                                   dig zijn in dezen tijd van vatsigheid,  lauvheid,  en van
    And in opposition to Nestorianism we believe that verflauwing der grenzen. Tech  schijnt het ons toe,
the two natures of the Lord, though never fused into dat dit rapp.ort  en advies der committee onhoudbaar is,
one nature, were and are united in the Person of the en dit om verschillende redenen. Ten eerste,  daar het
Son of God.                                                           rapport te onduidelijk is aangaande de gronden voor
    Unchanged, unmixed.                                               haar besluit, en  tevens daar men geen Schriftuurlijke
    But also : without separation.                                    bewijzen aangeeft voor die gronden. Ten tweede,
                                                          H. H.       daar men beweert, "dat krachtens dit beginsel der
                                          -                           kerken het als haar besiiste overtuiging uitspreken,
                                                                      dat alle vereeniging, samenkomst  .of verbintenis, wier
                      BEKENDMAKING                                    begin4 niet is in den Naam des Heeren, en wier stand-
    Classis-vergadering staat, D. V., te  worden   gehou-             punt geestelijk-zedelijk in strijd is met onze beginselen,
den Woensdag, 4 Juni 1930, om 9 uur in den voormid-                   beschouwd moeten worden  als staande in het teeken
dag te Hull, Iowa. I                                                  van de ontwikkeling van den Antichrist."
                                          M. Vander Vennen,              Deze  korte paragraaf houdt veel in, doch beteekent
                                                    Stated Clerk. weinig.       Wat bedoelt de committee met te spreken
                                                                      van "wier standpunt geestelijk-zedelijk in strijd is
                                                                      met onze beginselen." Als men bedoelt de  geestelijk-
   Den  17en   Mei herdachten wij met  onze   geLiefde   ouders       zedelijke beginselen van de Protestantsche Gerefor-
                          JAN  JONICER                                meerde  Xerken,  dan is de zinsnede te beperkt en niet
                                                                      juist, en zoude daarom al te meer onhoudbaar zijn.
                 ELIZABETH  %CKEX-Blom,                               Als men bedoelt, de geestelijk-zedelijke  beginselen van
hunne vijftigjarige   echtvereeniging.                                het Gereformeerde gehalte van ons volk, dan zou er
   Wij zijn den Heere dankbaar voor de vele zegeningen hen            nog een knoop aan vast te maken zijn. Het is tech een
en ons bewezen, en wij hopen  en bidden dat Hij hun verder mag        feit, dat wij niet alleen mogen, doch ook moeten mede-
zegenen in het  klimmen  der  jaxen.  Dit is de  wensch  en bede      werken op het  sociaal   gebied  met  leden  van andere
van hunne dankbare  kinderen.
                           Namens de  kinderen  en  kleinkinderen.    Gereformeerde kerkgenootschappen ; ook al is het
   Grand Rapids, Mich.                                                waar, dat er nog al verwijdering is in de opvatting
                                                                      van de geestelijk-zedelijke beginselen van ons Gerefor-
                                                                      meerde volk. Men had, volgens mijn bescheiden oor-
       Al hebt G' o God! vermenigvuldigd                              deel, het  advies eigenlijk zoo  moeten  formuleeren:
         De gaven van Uw overvloed,                                   "wier standpunt geestelijk-zedelijk in strijd is met de
       Wat baat het, waar zich `t hart beschuldigt                    beginselen der Heilige  Schrift." Wat aangaat het  be-
         En siddrend voor U krimpen moet ?                            ginnen eener vereeniging in den Naam des Heeren,
       Geen dubbel' oogst van most en koren                           dit beteekent opzichzelf al bitter weinig. Want  tegen-
          Verdrijft de smarten van een ziel,                          woordig is het zekerlijk een feit, dat men bijna in  alle
       Voor wie de hemel is verloren,                                 publieke en  sociale vergaderingen begint met het  aan-
          Omdat z' o Heere ! van u verviel.                           roepen  van den Naam des Heeren. Dat is te zeggen,

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

beschikken,  moeten  wij slechts kort zijn. Wat ons THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY AND THE
advies  is (ais wij adviseeren mogen) `zij het ons ver-
gund  u het volgende voor te houden:                                         LIFE EVERLASTING
   Eerstelijk, dat men- meer en meer in de praktijk
hrengt het voornoemde Schriftuurlijke en Calvinisti-            The renowned scientist, Sir Arthur Keith, president
sche begin&:  God God te laten, en dat in al ons leven in 1927 of the British Association for the Advance-
en doen. Dit  alleen  zal ons behoeden van nog verder ment of Science, Hunterian Professor at the Royal
te dwalen op het doolspoor van eigengemaakte  vraag-         College of Surgeons, says he once accepted what the
stukken en kwesties, zooals hier ter sprake.                 above-cited extraction from the Apostles' creed asserts.
   Ten tweede, als men dan tech voor deze vraagstuk-         But study and research have robbed him of this faith.
ken komt te staan,  ze  allen  in het bijzonder te behan- Says he (in Y'he Forum") :
delen, daar de kwesties te ingewikkeld en te  alomvat-                                              .
                                                                "Modern medicine strikes at the very root of Chris-
tend zijn om met een paar zinsneden  zich er van af te tian doctrine. For if man is.truly morta1,  if death ends
maken.                                                       all, if the human soul is but the manifestation of the
 . Ten derde, dat men niet a&en de werklui behan- living brain, as light and heat are the manifestations
deld, die lid zijn van zulke urn&s, doch ook diegenen of a glowing bar of steel, then there can be no resur-
die werkverschaffers zijn, en die  zich bij een of andere rection of the dead.
werkverschaffers union hebben aangesloten. Dat de                                 Man has the seeds of immortality
gronden waarop men een union veroordeeld goed  ge-           in him, but the gift is for the race, not for the indi-
formuleerd en gestaafd zijn met bewijzen uit de vidual.
S&rift,  opdat men niet gaat zeggen, men weet niet              "Thus the orthodox creed of my youth has been
eens wat het  in&it lid te zijn van zulk een union.          shattered by the impact of modern science. And since
   Ten vierde, mogen wij het zeggen, dat men het no man can live on a creed of pure negation, one may
eerste besluit der Classis  herroepe, doch met dezen ver-    ask if it is possible to build a satisfactory way of life
stande, dat men het begin&  van onze kerken: God out of the wreckage.
God te laten doet herleven, opdat wij vaster mogen              "I have within me - as have all live beings - a
staan ten opzichte van onze positie in het  midden der greed of life, an urgent craving for immortality. That
wereld.                                                      longing, which lies at the very root of the Christian
   -Ten vijfde, dat men het  advies van de laatste com- religion, I look upon as a sin of the flesh - one to be
mittee der Classis  niet aanvaarde, daar het niet al te conquered and supprest.
duidelijk is wat men wil, en omdat het niet met                 "It is a vice akin to avarice. With its suppression
Schriftuurlijke gronden is gestaafd. Dat men de zaak comes a peace which only those who have felt it can
weer  opnietlw grondig  gaat onderzoeken en de  ver- realize."
schillende  beginselen  der unions gaat bezien in het           So far Sir Arthur Keith.
licht van Gods Woord,, opdat ens volk moge worden               In offering our comment we may set out with the
ingelicht aangaande de gevaren waaraan men  zich remark that medicine strikes at the very root of
bloat stelt, als men zich aansluit bij zulke unions.         Christian doctrine is a lie. Not medicine but the con-
   Ten slotte, dat men onze leden  die alreeds lid van clusions of the modern scientist strikes at the root of
zulke veroordeelde vereenigingen zijn gaat behandelen Christian doctrine. And what are these conclusfons?
volgens de voorgeschreven methode van Mattheus 18, That death ends all, that the human soul is but the
en met de daaropvolgende  trappen  der tucht.                manifestation of the living brain, as light and heat are
   Wij zijn in onze ziel er van overtuigd, dat wij  mis- the manifestations of glowing steel.
schien honderde vragen aangaande deze kwestie  onbe-            These conclusions, hypotheses, assumptions, theo-
antwoord  lieten, doch het was ook niet het doe1 van ries are assumptions, theories, and nothing more. That
dit schrijven in allerlei kleinigheden te vervallen.         is they have never been and cannot be demonstrated,
   Zij het der  Classis vergund zulk een besluit te  mo- no more than the proposition that man is ,from an ape.
gen nemen op haar aanstaande vergadering, wat
alleen strekken moge tot de eere van Gods Naam en               But what we mean to bring out is that these cogita-
het welzijn van Sion. Dat is onze bede.                      tions of Sir Arthur constitute a striking commentary
                                                             on Rom. 1:19,  "Because that which may be known of
                                  A. C. BOERKOEL             God is manifested in them . . .  " So it was mani-
                                                             fested in Sir Arthur that individual man is immortal.
                                                                Sam he, I have within me a creed of life, an urgent
                                                             craving for immortality. This crave for life, which
   Ieder  mensch kent een strijd op aarde,  doch alleen constitutes the evidence in him of his immortality, he
Gods verkorenen  leeren  den eenig  goeden,  den zaligen calls vice, avarice that must be suppressed. Thus he
strijd des geloofs strijden, en ontvangen uit vrije ge- holds the truth in unrighteousness. Born. 1:18.
nade de kroon der overwinning.                                                                           G. M. 0.


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Vol. VI. No. 18                                                JUNE 15, 1930                                        Subscription Price, $2.50

>>                                                                                  Mighty and marvelous is the object of the Chris-
               M E D I T A T I O N                                            tian's hope, for he looks for nothing less than the en-
                                                                              tire passing away of present things and the creation of
                                                                              new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness
                       HOLY IN HOPE                                           shall dwell.
                                                                                    Old things, he expects, he hopes, shall pass. away.
                        Wherefose,  beloved, seeing, that ye look             All things, thus is the object of his longing, shall be-
                      for such things, be diligent, that ye may be
                      found  of  Him  in peace, without spot and              come new!
                      btameless.                    II Peter  394.                  The present heavens shall pass away with a great
        Wherefore,  beloved . . . .                                           noise, when the firmament shall be rolled up like a
   As always in Scripture, the urgent and significant scroll. The day will come, the great day of the Lord, ;
admonition contained in the text, rests upon an equally when the glory of the sun shall forever be extinguished" 1
important truth, is founded on a fact of mighty signi- and its present brilliancy shall have an end ; when the
ficance.                                                                      silvery light of the moon shah cease to flood the night
        Doctrine and life are mutually related ; the former and comfort its weary pilgrim with the message of the
is the indispensible basis of the latter; the Iatter must coming morning ; when the twinkling splendor of the
ever adorn the former. The former must always be the star-studded firmament shall be wiped out; for they
light upon our pathway ; the latter is the proof that shall be set afire and be dissolved. The day is ap-
the light is not without its purpose.                                         proaching, when the earth, and all its works, the prod-
   Wherefore . . . .                                                          ucts of mighty men of genius, the fruit of human toil,
        The relation between the truth and reality and the accomplishments of art and science, of commerce
mighty contents of the Christian hope on the one hand, and industry, the humble labor of the slave and the
and the calling to walk in holy conversation and all proud achievements of kings alike, shall be burned up.
godliness, to be diligent in sanctification, on the other Yea, the very elements, the very material out of which
hand, it is, which the apostle here emphasizes. For, the present creation was organically formed, of which
even as sound hope is not found in the way of sin, so it composed, shaIl be set on f&e and shall melt with
a walk'in sanctification is the crown of hope, its in- fervent heat. A tremendous transformation shall take
evitable manifestation, the practical proof of its real- place.  No, indeed, there will be no annihilation. For.
ity.                                                                          though all things shall be set ablaze with, the very fire
        Of that hope, its certainty, the nearness of its  ful- that is now in the bowels of creation, and though th.ey
fYment, the mighty and marvelous realities to which it shall melt, and in the process lose their present form;
aspires, the apostle had written to the Church. Of its though even the elements shah melt in the universal
certainty and quick approximation, .for the Lord is not blaze,' yet, they shall not be destroyed. But as a gold-
slack concerning His promise, though thousand years smith casts various articles in the refining furnace
are to Him as but a day and a day as thousand years. and melts, them for the purpose of forming some new
Mockers might reveal their wicked unbelief and scof- thing, so the Lord will change all the present world
fers, walking after their own lusts, might ask in boast- into liquid fire in the great day of God . . . .'
ful vanity: where is the promise of His, coming? -                                  And nothing that is of the world, nothing that is of
the Church knows, that what seems slackness is but the earth earthy shall pass through that fire.
the longsuffering of their God, who wills not that any                              Let no man, let no new theories beguile you !
should perish of those, whom He  .ordained  to glory,                               The works of men do not enter into the New Jeru-
but that all should come to repentance.                                        salem. They  will not prove abiding in the  fire that


' 410                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

  shall set the entire universe ablaze in the end. Mighty formed the present `world from f;he unshaped chaos
  products of present science and invention, proud ac- which He had called forth by the Word of His power,
  complishments of sinful men may be lauded by the summoning forth from it creature after creature in
  world, may be praised &en by some of God's people an ever ascending scale of beings, till in man, made
  that erringly behold in them the fruit of a grace that after His own image He pressed the world to His
  is common. It may be deemed deplorable, that all this divine bosom; so from the second, fiery chaos, to which
  labor should be in vain, that all its fruit should perish all  present things shall return, the Lord will bring
  forever and, as soon as it shall have served  its'present    forth a new creation, new heavens and a new earth. . .
  purpose, burn and be dissolved. Some may be so at-              Little we are able to form a conception of that
  tached to the mighty things of the present, that they coming world, even though it be the object of our
  would fain carry them into the Heavenly Gity and hope.
  make them things of beauty forever. Fact is, that               We may compare with the present, even as the
  nothing of man, mighty though he be, shall be able to Scriptures do.
  pass through the final fire-test; all shall perish ; the        There will be no trace of corruption. .' The thorn
  very memory of the mightiest king of the world shall and the thistle will not grow there, neither shall any
  be lost in etetial oblivion. His very name shall perish ! of the inhabitants of that better country eve? say: I
  For, indeed, the kings of the earth shall bring their am sick; for they all have forgiveness of iniquity.
  glory into the New Jerusalem and nations  shall bring Sickness and sorrow, grief and trouble, pain and afflic-
  their  weaIth  into the City; but no kings of the present tion of any kind shall not be found there, for the very
  shall have any significance in the future City; no pres- shadow of death shall have vanished forever. `Nor
  ent wealth of nations shall adorn the streets of the shall there be sin and temptation, but righteousness
  City that hath foundations. There will be a new earth, shall dwell in the new creation. The Prince of this
  new kings, new nations, quite different from present world shall never enter there, for he shall be cast out
  monarchs and from the nations as they are now. But into the lake that burns with fire and sulphur ; neither
 the things that are now shall perish . i . .                  shall anyone that loves iniquity disturb the peace of
     Wherefore . . . .                                         the inhabitants. There shall be no night there! . . . .
         Seeing that ye look forward to these things.             Neither is this all.
         Considering that your very hope expects with cer-        For it will be a new world, a new earth and new
 tainty, awaits with  spirit& longing the day, when all heavens.
 the present, earthly things shaIl perish . . . .                 We might expect, that the final catastrophe, in
     Accounting, that ye do not attribute eternal value, which the earth and the heavens that now are shall
 abiding significance to the things that are now . . . . melt with fervent heat, is not merely sent in order to
     What manner of persons ought ye to be.  Hdw repair, to patch up the old things. The new creation
 diligent ye ought to be in sanctification!                    will not be a return to the l?aradise that once was and
     Holy in hope!                                             is lost. Paradise the first was only an image of the
                                                               world to come, and the latter will surpass the former
                                                               in beauty and splendor, in glory and honor, in eternal
                                                               blessedness, even as the Second Adam surpasses the
                                                               first. For the first man Adam was made a living soul,
     Wherefore, beloved . . . .                                the second Adam was made a quickening Spirit; the
     Seeing, ye look forward to such things !                  first man was of the earth earthy, the Second Adam
     No, it is not merely to the passing away of the is the Lord from heavens; and as we have borne the
 present dispensation with all it contains and offers, that image of the earthy, so we shall also bear the image of
 ye Iook forward.                                              the heavenly. The first man was head of an earthly
     Then, indeed, were ye the most miserable of  all creation; a little lower than the angels he was made  ;
 men!                                                          but the Second Adam, after He accomplished the justi-
     But, while the vanishing of the worId  and all things fication of His people, was exalted to the highest place
 that are therein is part of the object of your hope, it is in the highest heavens, and is seated at the right hand
 only because their passing away is an indispensible con- of God. And of that new creation He will be the head,
dition for the full realization of your  Ionging e,xpecta-     and all things  shall  find their union in Him and
 tion. The present must pass to give place to the future. through Him in the Most High. For it was the
 Old thirgs must pass away, that ail things may become Father's good pleasure that in Him all the fulness
 new !                                                         should dwell, and that in Him He would reconcile all
     For, we expect new heavens and a new earth !              things unto.  Himself, both the things that are on the
     A new creation shall appear in the day of the Lord earth and the things that are in heaven . . . .
 from the fiery molten mass in which the present uni-             And He being the Head of the new creation, all
 verse  shall pass away forever. Even as the Almighty things shall be permeated with His glory.


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            411

   It will be an heavenly world !                             ing, which he will not neglect. But it will not be the
   There will be heavenly relations, heavenly life, object of his deepest love and his heart will not be  set
heavenly joys !                                               on it. Ought we not to be such manner  of persons ?
    The Church of God shall be its heavenly City.             Do we not look forward to the destruction of the pres-
   The redeemed of God through Christ shall walk ent world and all it contains  ? Shall we then set our
there, having their garments washed forever, in heart on the things of this world, fill our soul with
heavenly bodies, with heavenly eyes and heavenly ears, them, occupy our every thought with the things below?
to perceive things heavenly and to speak with heavenly God forbid ! . . . .
tongues and sing heavenly praises, forever and ever to           Looking forward to these things, we shall strive to
Him that sitteth upon the throne and the Lamb that be faithful in the things over which we are set and
redeemed them . . . .                                         realize the calling with which we are called, but they
    And the covenant of God shall be perfected with shall not be the object of our highest aspiration !
heavenly perfection, for the tabernacle of God shall be          Here we' have no abiding city.
with men!                                                        But we seek the one to come, the City that hath
    God shall forever dwell with His people ! And they foundations.
shall see Him, no more as in a glass darkly, but face            That City is the object of our fervent longing.
to face. They &all know Him even as they are known,              And the hea'ti of that City, its spiritual essence,
walk with Him and talk with' Him, dwell with Him the very fbuntain of all its joy, will not be the golden
under one roof and be His heavenly friends forever. . . streets and pearly gates, will not consists in its out-
   And with  Christ, through Him, under God, they ward splendor and external beauty, but in the fact,
shall reign forever over all the works of His hands!          that righteousness shall dwell there, that Christ is its
   An inheritance incorruptible,  undefiled  and that Head, that the tabernacle of God will be spread over all
fadeth not away !                                             eternally, that fellowship with Him will be perfected,
   Eternally new, glorious forever !                          that in eternal holiness of mind and heart we shall
   Without the taste of death!                                walk with Him forever and ever! That righteousness,
                                                              the heavenly purity, that perfect holiness, which is the'
                                                              indispensible requisite for entering in that heavenly                  '
                                                              City, that fellowship with the Holy One, which is its
                                                              chiefest joy, th& perfect likeness to the divine nature,
   Wherefore, beloved . . . .                                 which  wiIl make it possible to see Him as He is, that
   Seeing ye look forward to these things . . . .             is the object of our hope, for it we long with ardent
   Seeing they are the object of your fervent longing, desire. For it is the beginning of the blessed heavenly
the aspiration of your hope, what manner of persons life that has been implanted in our hearts by the resur-
ought ye to be !                                              rection of the Lord Jesus from the dead, and that is
   For your hope is not mereIy a cold and powerless the principle of our lively hope . . . .
expectation of things future, without significance and           Wherefore, beloved . . . .
influence upon your present life. It is a spiritual              Seeing such are the things to which ye look for-              ,,
power, an earnest of your salvation, a beginning of wakd . . . .                                                             .,  .~
that new life in that new world stretching itself to             Be diligent !
the perfect realization, a spark from heaven, that'              Strive, with all that is within you, that ye may be
ought to set ablaze your whole life with a fervent de- found of Him in peace, without spot and blameless!.
sire to walk as citizens of that new creation!                   For he that has this hope in Him, will purify him-
   Ah, how little of this polwer of the Christian hope self even as He is pure!
becomes manifest in your and my life  today-~                   Many are the things within us, that tend down-
   For, first, seeing we look forward to these things, ward, that would seek and strive after the things that
to the passing away of the things that are now, we are of the earth. Many, are the forces about us, that
ought not to seek the things that are below, yet how would overpower us to forget the heavenly City and
our lives are characterized in the present age by this the heavenly calling. And before we  know  it, bur
very tendency to strive for things earthy ! Shall a gagents  are spotted . . . .
man, that presently expects his temporary home to be             And, surely, perfection is no present reality but a
destroyed, so that he shall carry nothing of it into the distant ideal.
future new home, pay all his attention to that passing           But the hope eternal unto which we are regener-
dwelling?  ShaIl he employ all his time and  all his ated kindles within us the desire to be pleasing to
power and means to beautify it as if he were to dwell Him.
in it forever? Shall he, like the fool, say: my house            Wherefore, beloved, be diligent !
shall stand f&r aye? No, he shall not despise it, for            The perfect day is near!
in it he must live for a while and  iq it he has his call-                                                   H. H.


&?n                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                                                                   We divide this essay into two main divisions.
  THE EPISTLES OF PETER ON THE DEATH                            First, we will treat Peter's conception of the death of
                         OF CHRIST                              Christ as such and then  Yeter's conception of the suf-
                                                                fering Christ in relation to Christian ethics, that is
       The message of the cross man has not out of him- to say, Christ as an example of worthy suffering.
self. It is a direct gift of God through the Holy Spirit.          Peter's conception of the death of Christ as such.
God gave the cross to man ?nd interpreted for man                  We turn  fir& of all to the Acts of the Apostles
the cross. That interpretation has been received by which book contains five sermons of Peter. As these
certain men, by God appointed and made capable of sermons contain data related to our subject we will
receiving the meaning of the suffering Christ. What folloft their contents in outline form merely touching
these men received they imparted by means of the upon the main features.
spoken and written word. God speaks to us through                  Chapter  2:23-36Tesus of Nazareth a man ap-
these men. Among the several men through whom proved of God among you by signs and wonders.
God spoke is Peter the apostle. It is our task to exam-            1. Delivered by the determinate counsel. and fore-
ine what this inspired agent of God has to say con- knowledge of God.
cerning the suffering Jesus.                                       2. Crucified by wicked hands.
       If we compare the Peter of the gospels with the             3. Whom God raised up, having loosened the
Peter of the Acts or the Peter who wrote the Epistles pangs of death, for it was not possible that he should
which bear his name we notice some difference. The be held by death, as his resurrection had been foretold
cross of Christ had no meaning for the `Peter of the            by Old Testament prophesy.
Gospels. That Peter was a  *Jew in his thinking cling-             4. This Jesus exalted by the right hand of God,
ing tenaciously to those ideals which stirred every receiving the promised spirit which he shed forth.
Jew. That Peter was unable to grasp the idea of the                5. Conclusions derived from the foregoing pre-
kingdom of heaven which to him meant nothing more mises. Therefore let all the house of Israel know that
than a reorganized Jewish nation. The cross was a God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have cruci-
hidden mystery to him. Jesus came not to redeem his fied both Lord and Christ.
people from sin and Satan, but to release it from the              Chapter 3 : 14-26.
grip of the Romans. To Peter the cross was a failure,              1. Jesus, Son of God, the Prince of Life.
a great disappointment. It would exasperate him to                 a. Glorified by the God of our fathers.
hear his Master tell of how he was about to be deliv-              b. By the Jews denied and killed.
ered unto the Gentiles, to be mocked, spitefully treated,          c. Raised from the dead by God.
spitted on, scourged, put to death. Peter would not                2. The killing of the Prince of Life.
have it so, the cross was a source of disgust to him.              a. It was done in ignorance.
       The Peter of the Gospels is typical of the carnal           b. It fulfilled prophesy.
man of all ages. The learned Greek of Paul's day re-               c. An impetus for repentance.
fused to see anything but a crucified Jew on the cross.            That your sins may be blotted out when the time
The cross and its message was a huge absurdity to of refreshing shall come from the presence of the
him. The self-righteous Jew saw nothing but an ac- Lord.
cursed one on the cross. To hear the suffering Jesus               Chapter 4 :8-12.
proclamated as the Lamb of God that taketh away the                1. Jesus of Nazareth.           *
sin of the world filled his proud soul with horror and             a. Whom ye crucified.
indignation.                                                       b. Whom God raised up.
       The modern rationalist will prate beautifully  a,bout       Chapter 5 :29-32.
Jesus as a man with a conduct most worthy to be                    Jesus.
copied, with ethics unexcelled. The suffering Christ               1. Whom the God of our fathers raised up.
has no value beyond this. And to the modern Pan-                   2. Whom ye slew and hanged.
theist the god-man is but a symbol of divine humanity              3. Whom God exalted with his right hand.1
in its onward march toward divine perfection.  %`or                a. To be a prince and savior.
him the cross of Jesus has no meaning.                             b. For to give repentance to Israel and forgive-
       The Peter a: we learn to know him, after the day ness of sins.
of Pentecost, is a changed man in his thinking. This               Chapter 10 :34-43.
Peter has beheld the risen Christ. The Holy Spirit                 1. The word which God sent was:
has been poured out in his soul. The cross of Jesus                a. A preaching of peace by Christ Jesus.
speaks to him now a message which is to him sweet                  b.  &4 preaching of how God anointed Jesus of
music, a message of life, of love, of hope. It is this          Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power who
Peter whom we are interested in. His sermons and went about doing good.
writings will be examined, we wish to know what the                c. Of these things Peter was witness.
cross speaks to him.                                               2. Peter witnessed the death and resurrection of


                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                      4.21

     L Christ and received command to preach that He thing at all, the view that Peter did not perceive 1;:~
       (Christ) was ordained of God to be the judge of the causual relation between Christ's suffering and sin be-
      y,uick  and the dead.                                       comes untenable. Further, it is also unconceivable,
         3.  TO  Christ all prophesy gives witness that how anyone can preach forgiveness of sin in the risen
      through faith in his name is forgiveness of sin.            Christ with so  mu&h vigor, courage and success as did
         These five sermons taken' as a unity refer to the        Peter and at the same time be ignorant of why faith
      sufferings, the crucifixion, the death, the resurrection, in the risen Christ effects forgiveness of sin.     The
      the exaltation of the Christ. In this  Christ there is solution lies elsewhere. Peter's method of sermonizing
      forgiveness of sin. These are the themes common to is due rather to a consideration for his audience. To
      nearly every discourse. Yet it will be noticed Peter the people to whom Peter spoke the cross of Jesus was
      refrains from giving the deeper cause of things. an offence. They did not believe that the Jesus whom
      True, he shows that the suffering of Jesus was not the they had nailed to the cross was the Messiah. Yet
      victim of the uncontrolled passions of men. The suf- they were the people in whose midst prophets had
      fering Christ is linked up with the eternal purpose of risen predicting the coming of that Messiah. In view
      God which purpose Jesus realized in time yet the rela- of these facts the contents of Peter's sermons is what
      tion which sin sustains to God's will is not shown. one would expect, namely, an argument based on their
      Why did God determine that Christ should suffer and scriptures, that the Jesus whom they had rejected was
      die?                                                        the promised Messiah. By them put to death, but re-
         Further, Peter maintains the necessity of the resur- surrected and exalted by God, the God of their fathers
      rection. Necessary because Old Testament prophesy in whom (that is Christ) there is forgiveness of sin.
     had predicted it. But the relation between the resur- Failure to believe these rudimentary facts and failure
      rection of the Christ on the one hand and salvation of to believe above all in a resurrected Christ makes
      man on the other hand, is not given. What we have further instruction impossible and superfluous. To
      in these sermons is a statement of facts rather than a preach a sermon on subjects like justification or mys-
      conscious attempt to set forth the facts in their proper tical union, to an audience who did not believe in a
      relation. How is this to be explained*? Is it all to be     resurrected and exalted Jesus, would be throwing
      explained from a lack of insight? Was the death of pearls before the swine. Our conclusion is therefore
      Christ and its bearing upon sin and redemption still a that even though we have no absolute proof that the
      hidden mystery to the apostles? Some would have us Peter of the Acts dealt with the connection between
      believe that we are confronted here with an actual the facts of sin and the humiliated and exalted Christ
      lack of understanding on the part of Peter. Therefore       we nevertheless need not assume that his silence was
      he fails to set forth the merits of Christ's life in their due to ignorance. If this were true Peter, we must
      proper relation. Now this is one solution, but a solu- take it, was not capable of leading his converts into
      tion  which is to be rejected for it is founded on a lack a fuller and deeper knowledge of the Christ. This is
      of appreciation for the supernatural element of inspira- an impossible assumption. In fact, there is that in the
      tion. Those who hold to the above explanation main- Acts which leads us to think that Peter did this very
      tain that the passing from spiritual darkness into thing. For in chapter 5 :42 we read, "And daily in the
      spiritual light was a gradual process. Hence, Peter at temple and in every house they ceased not to teach
      this juncture was still to close to the historical  Christ and preach Jesus  Christ. " A distinction is made here
      to be able to set forth that Christ in his full meaning.    between teaching and preaching. Is it not very prob-
      More time had to elapse.                                    able that Peter in his preaching, when addressing
         Now that the passing from darkness into light multitudes, confined himself to the theme, salvation
      was a process is very true. However, that this pro- in the'risen  Christ, and that teaching refers to a more
      cess was as gradual as some would have it, is very thorough and profound instruction which those who
      doubtful. We believe that in the passing Peter took were daily added onto the church received.
      broad strides, due to the supernatural element of in-          As a final argument to substantiate that Peter at.
      spiration. Hence, although it be true that but a short this juncture did see the relation between sin and the
      time had elapsed between the transpiring of the events suffering Christ, we advance the following.           Peter
      which figure so prominently in the discourses of Peter, knew that the law, at least we may safely take it' for
      yet it need not be assumed that he had not arrived at granted, that he knew, proclaiming him who hanged
      an adequate understanding of the suffering Christ. upon a tree accursed by God. Christ, Peter tells us,
      That Peter was not as clear on these things as he was was such a one, nailed to the cross. He also taught,
      later, or at the time he wrote his epistles, is perhaps that it was God's will that Christ should die upon the
      very true. Yet that he did not see the bearing of the cross. Peter also taught that Christ was a righteous
      sufferings of Christ upon sin is very doubtful. When man. We have it then, God willing the accursed death
      we consider how that Peter had received personal in- of a righteous, sinless man. Now it is just one step to
      struction of Christ after His resurrection, and if we       Christ enduring the curse for the sins of others. Was
      take the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to mean any-         Peter a converted Jew, an agent of revelation, `one
I

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

 whose mind had been illuminated by the Holy Spirit, ered by the blood of the victim meant justification. It  I
 one called to be a pillar of the church, a Jew at home           was just at this juncture when the blood was sprin-
 therefore in the ritual of the  temple worship,  a ritual kled upon the horns of the altar that the  .offering  was
 which acted out concretely as it were God's  plan of covered by that blood and justified because the altar
 salvation, was such a one unable to take the step? was the meeting place of ,God and man. Sprinkling
 Absurd to think that he was not.                            that blood upon the altar meant the bringing of the
        We now turn to the Epistle of Peter.                      blood or the soul of the victim into divine presence of
        In the fist-epistle there are five passages indicat- Jehovah to be justified by Him. He who took his stand
 ing how the author conceived of the death of Christ. under the blood of the victim was proclaimed just.
        The first portion related to the subject is the se;- ,       Finally we ask, Could then the blood of an animal
 ond verse of the first chapter. The complete  sentence      cover men? No.
 reads thus: Peter to the elect sojourners, according                The sprinkling of the blood upon the altar or the
 to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by  sanctifiza.     highpriest entering with that blood into the holy of
 tion of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the holies  was typical symbolical of the Christ who being
 blood of Jesus Christ. Especially the last part of this a highpriest of the good things to come, by a greater
 sentence interests us, "Unto  the sprinkling of the bloorl and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that
 of  *Jesus Christ."                                         is to say, not of this building neither by the blood of
     It is evident that Peter is speaking here in terms goats and calves but by his own. blood .entered into
 of Old Testament ritualism. To what Old Testament the holy place having obtained eternal redemption,
 sprinkling of blood, does he refer?  .There  are three that is to say, Christ the highpriest entered into the
 possibilities. It may be, that Peter has in mind the presence of God presenting His own blood, His own
 sprinkling of blood upon unclean persons such as life as a covering for sin. Now then, he of the an-
 lepers.     1.t is also possible that Peter refers here to cients who was willing to be covered by the blood of
 the sprinkling of the altar with the sacrificial blood. the victim, who took a stand under that blood sprin--
 There is a third possibility, namely, that Peter had in kled upon the horns of the altar, received remission of
 mind both sprinklings, such as took place at the rati- sins, was declared righteous, provided he did not cling
 fication of the covenant (Ex.  24:3-11). For here in to the blood of goats and bulls as this blood sanctified
 Peter 1:2 as at that event both sprinklings are brought to the purifying of the flesh only, Hebrews 9:X!, but
 in connection with obedience. We may safely assume through faith looked beyond and beheld the Lamb of
 that the latter view is correct. Imagining ourselves God standing in the presence of God with His  owu
 present when God confirmed His covenant with His precious blood. Such a one standing under the blood
 people we observe young men offering and sacrificing of goats and bulls was declared actually righteous.
 oxen. We see further .an aged man, the man Moses,           Declared righteous is that all? Did not the standing
 collecting in basins the blood which flows from the under the blood sprinkled upon the altar secure for
slaughtered victims. We notice how he takes half of the such a one sanctification as weil? Must it be inferred
collected blood and sprinkles it upon the altar. There- that in connection with those sacrifices where the blood
upon he pauses, we notice, opens a book and begins to was sprinkled only upon the altar and not upon the
read to a vast audience gathered. He finishes  reading. offerer, that the element of sanctification was absent.
Then we hear a great response, "All that the  .Lord has      This cannot be. He who through faith took his stand
said we  .will do and be  ..obedient."  Moses now takes under the blood was not only purified but sanctified as
the remaining blood. We see him sprinkling it upon well. Christ's blood is the incarnation of the whole
the people, as he says, "Behold, the blood of the cove- objective salvation, yet in some instances the blood of
nant which the Lord hath made with you concerning the victim was sprinkled upon the person or persons
all these words." It is this sprinkling of the blood in as was the case when the covenant was ratified and in
which we are interested. What was the meaning of connection with purification sacrifices. This was to
this sprinkling of the blood upon the altar? Ex. 30 :I0 make prominent to pIace  in the foreground that the
contains the answer. There we read,  "4nd Aaron blood of Jesus `Christ not only justified but sanctified
shall make a covering upon the horns of .the altar once as well. Now there are still questions which clamor
a year with the blood of the sin offering." Thus when for an answer such as, why did that blood when
the blood was sprinkled upon the horns of the altar it       brought in the presence of God effect justifica-
served as a covering. A covering for whom? In tion, sanctification and how came the blood to be the
Leviticus  I:4 we read, "And he shall put  his hand cause of salvation? We can answer these  quest.ions
upon the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for only insofar as the apostle Peter does as it is  his con-
him to make a covering for him."  - Thus the blood ception of the death of Christ which we are seeking
sprinkled upon the altar served as a covering for the        to establish.
offerer. Now what did it mean to be covered by the                  Now the above very incomplete review of the Old
blood of the victim? The sins of him who took a stand Testament sacrifices was necessary because it forms
under the blood were forgiven, Lev. 5 : 10. To be cov- the background for this particular verse under con-


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         423

sideration. In view of what has been said we are now and the Son in causual relation to man's salvation.
able to give meaning and contents to Peter  1:2, "Elect This is born out by the fact, that we meet with two
unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus sanctifications in this text which do not exclude but
Christ." We would put it thus, ye are chosen to be include each other. (Although the emphasis is not ,the
covered with the blood of Jesus Christ which blood same in respect to both sanctifications here men-
being brought within the presence of Go,d is deemed tioned. In the first sanctification it is regeneration
by Him the  all-sufllcient cause of your justification, in    which is emphasized.) Thus the blood of Christ and
fact, your complete salvation. And secondly, Ye arc the Holy Spirit are both related to the same sanctifica-
chosen to be sprinkled with the blood of the victim tion.           The Father, the Spirit, and the Son are all
which blood as a type of the blood of Jesus Christ is brought into causual relation to man's salvation. The.,
unto you a symbol of your sanctification. Thus we passage teaches that the Father is the cause  effi-iens.
notice that in this text the blood of Jesus is brought in The Spirit is the cause instrumentalis of man's salva-
very intimate causual relation to justification and tion. What then is the relation which Christ sustains
sanctification. Yet concerning the nature of that re- to man's salvation? There is only one possibility. Not
lation, that is to say, to the question just why the bloo.3 predestination is ascribed to the Son, nor is it what
of Jesus Christ justifies and sanctifies those who are He works in us but that which He performed in behalf
,chosen to take a position under the blood, the text gives of fallen mankind places him in causual relation to
no direct answer. Neither does Peter tell us here how man's salvation. What was it that Christ did in behalf
that blood came to be the cause of man's justification of the sinner in virtue of which he became the ground
and sanctification.                                           of his salvation? This `question the text does not an-
   This" text deals not with the suffering or the dying swer, yet we should not loose sight of the fact that
Christ but with the living Christ presenting himself the Old Testament sacrifices form the background of
before the Father as a covering for the sin of those this text. Peter does not state definitely in this con-
whom the Father gave him. But although this text nection what Christ did, but bids us as it were to look
contains nothing positive in respect to the problem back at what happened to the sacrificial victim. There
confronting us, yet indirectly the text does  cobtain  an we see it. The victim was slaughtered. The blood of
answer to the above question. We can arrive at the the atonement was the blood of an animal which had
answer by the process of elimination. First of all, let been put to death.          Now the blood of the victim
us seek to remove the difficulties in the text as a whole. sprinkled upon the altar was typical symbolical of
The passage reads, "Called sojourners according to the Christ who was put to death, who passed through
foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctification death and now liveth. For blood represents not death
of the spirit unto the obedience and sprinkling of but life.
blood." The central idea in this passage is "called,"            Now the question arises, What is the  causcal rela-
which means the incipient realization of the eternal tion between the Christ who now liveth to cover the
election in history. Now this election takes place ac- elect with His blood, and the Christ who went into
cording to the foreknowledge of God. This foreknowl- d e a t h ?
edge is the self-determination of God, preceding all            The  answer to this question is contained in the  verse
history to stand to the objects of his knowledge in a which we shall next consider, namely, verse  2$ of
definite relation. Concerning this calling, God's will chapter 2, "Who our sins himself bore in his body on
is the determining factor. His will is the  causa  e& the tree that to sins being dead to righteousness we
ciens. `Further, called through the sanctification of may live."
the Holy Spirit then this calling becomes a  fact. The           As to the first clause, `Who our sins himself bore in
Holy Spirit is the cause instrumentalis, and now the His body on the tree" there is some difference of
passage apparently takes an unexpected turn. Instead opinion as to the meaning. The key to the correct un-
of showing what relation Christ sustains to this "call- derstanding of the clause is the term aneenegken, to
ing" the author gives the end or purpose of this call- bear. All commentators are agreed that aneenegken
ing, "Called unto obedience and sprinkling of blood" means to "carry," "convey," "carry up." But as to
meaning, as was brought out, justification and sancti- what Christ carried up there is some difference of
fication.                                                     opinion. Some hold that Christ (a) carried, took upon
    Apparently the author teaches two sanctifications. himself the contamination of sin (smet der zonde).
Further, the author apparently teaches that the Holy          (b) Others hold that Christ carried up his own body
Spirit is related to the calling and the first sanctifica- at the cross and there made atonement for sin (Scott
tion and that the blood of Jesus Christ is related to         Hoffman).  (c) Meyer is of the opinion that' Christ
justification and the second sanctification. It seems to bore the punishment of sin in his body up unto the
us that the apparent difficulty vanishes immediately if cross. -The first  of  these renderings (a) is contra-
we let the emphasis fall upon the three persons of the dicted by Peter 222 where we read, "Who did no sins
Trinity in the passage.                                       neither was guile found in his mouth." Christ did not
    Peter's chief aim is to place the Father,  the,Spirit,    take over from us the contamination of sin.        (la) Is
                                                                                       .

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

 also to be rejected not because it is  incompatable  with volve a being driving out of the holy presence of God?
 truth but because in adopting it one is forced to muti- Indeed. Now if the object of Christ's suffering was to
 late the grammar of this verse. Meyer's interpreta- unite us with God, Christ suffered to dissolve this pun-
 tion cannot be harmonized so very well with epi to ishment consisting in moral separation.
 zlon,  which, according to Meyer himself, must be                Let us now turn to chapter 1:18, where we read,
 rendered not upon but up unto. But Meyer's inter- "Knowing that not by corruptible things, by silver or
 pretation, "Who bore or carried on himself (in  his gold, ye were redeemed from your vain manner of life,
 flesh) the punishment of sin unto the cross" one feels        but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ."
 immediately, does not give good sense. If we accept,             The important term in this passage is elutrootheete
as this commentator also does, that the punishment meaning originally, to free a slave from the bondage
to which Peter has reference is the punishment which by, means of a price. This term the Holy Spirit has
 Christ bore upon the cross and not the punishment applied to Christ's redemptive work, and the term ex-
 which Christ bore during his whole earthly career. presses remarkably well the real character and signi-
    The correct rendering of this passage it seems to ficance of what Christ did for the sinner. Sin may well.
 us is as follows: Christ carried upon his  lies11  the be likened unto a slave holder. There is a remarkable
guilt of sin  (schuld der  zonde)  not the punishment analogy between man under the curse of sin and the
of sin up unto the cress where he suffered sin's penalty slave. Due to God's righteousness,  t.he guilt of sin
 (death). Then follows the purpose of Christ's death and consequently the pollution of sin, has fastened
upon the cross, "That to sin being dead, to righteous- its hold, its claim upon man. God's righteousness had
 ness we may live." "To sin being dead" permits two to be satisfied before sin could be permitted to release
 interpretations. We may let apogenomenoi denote a its grip. The blood of Jesus Christ satisfied all that
legal relation to sin. Then we would read, - we being the just God demanded of mankind upon whom rested
 liberated from the guilt and punishment of sin. This the guilt of sin. Hence, sin is made to loosen its hold
term may also denote a moral relation to sin. Being upon all those who are willing to be covered by the
 liberated, dead to the power of sin, as being the con- blood. The term lutro-oo is in its place when applied
 dition into which he whose sins Christ bore upon the to redemption. For as the liberation of a slave de-
cross is introduced. This, it seems to us, is the correct manded a price, so the liberation of a sinner demanded
 rendering of this phrase as the subject of this chapter that God's righteousness be satisfied. This the blood
 is holy living. This does not exclude justification, only of Christ did. Hence all those covered by the blood
sanctification is emphasized.                                  are relieved from the curse, are free, liberated.
        The last phrase: that to righteousness we may live.       In respect to our text the question arises to what
forms a correct antithesis to the preceding phrase, does Peter refer when he says, "Ye were redeemed
hence dekaisunce is not the state called forth by from your vain conversation by the blood of Christ."
God's act of justification but expresses the object It is evident that Peter emphasizes the actual break-
of Christian action, namely, that we may live for ing of the power of sin within us. "Ye were redeemed
righteousness, make it a standard of action. We have from your vain conversation."                It is sanctification
here expressed then the negative and positive side of which the author has in mind. But the actual work of
sanctification. Thus the purpose of Christ ascending cleansing from the pollution of sin is the work of the-
the cross laden with the guilt of our sin was, that we Holy Spirit. He regenerates, He sanctifies. To this
might be cleansed from the pollution of sin.          This process the blood of Jesus Christ stands in causual re-
proves that for Peter, Christ although He did not take lation. Yet the Holy Spirit is not mentioned,  .but the
over in His flesh the pollution of sin nevertheless in blood of Jesus Christ is brought in direct relation to
suffering sin's penalty also suffered for the pollution sanctification. This proves that although sanctifica-
of sin. If He had not, sanctification could not follow. tion is emphasized. Peter also has in mind justification.
But this is not the only significance of Christ's suffer- The work which the Holy Spirit performs within the
ing, according to Peter.                                       sinner cannot properly be called redemptive, but  libey-
    In chapter 3  :8 we read, "Because indeed Christ ation,  cleansing. The work which Christ performed
once for sin suffered, the just for the unjust that us         in `behalf of the sinner is redemptive. Hence, in the
He might bring to God." Here Peter brings the death expression, "Redeemed from your vain conversation
of Christ into causual relationship with Christ as our by the blood of Christ," is contained the idea of justi-
highpriest who unites two hostile parties, God and fication and sanctification with emphasis on the latter.
man. This verse presents Christ standing in the pres- The two cannot be separated. For only because Christ
ence of His Father covering those whom the Father bore the full punishment, which our guilt resting upon
gave Him with His own blood as He leads them into him imposed, thereby dissolving that guilt can the
the. presence of His `Father, thus bringing to an end power of sin within us be broken. For if the pollution
the ethical estrangements. For that is what this text of sin is the result of the guilt, it follows that guilt
presupposes, an ethical separation. Did not the curse must first be removed before sanctification can follow.
of sin rest upon us and does not the curse of sin in-          (To be continued)                           G. M. 0.

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

 als voor de gemeente en den kerkeraad nog verborgene
 zonden.      In het laatste geval is er maar  e&n weg :                          THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS
 Matth. 18. In het eerste geval heeft ook de kerkeraad             From an illustrated weekly we take the  follow-
 aanstonds eene  roeping.  De kerkeraad mag niet altijd ing:
 wachten, tot er naar Matth. 18 is gehandeld.
        En eindelijk punt 6:                                       It was 3,500 years ago that Moses warned hard-
        "Dat wij nimmer mogen dulden, dat de kerk ook hearted Pharaoh that the Lord would bring down upon
 maar den schijn op  zich zou laden, dat zij, door ineen-      old Egypt a plague of locusts unless he permitted the
 smelting met de wereld door middel van vereeniging, children of Israel to go forth out of the land of their
                                                               tormentors
 eenig ander geneesmiddel of bron der  redding  erkent                       .
 voor de zonde en hare gevolgen, dan het Kruis van                And now the modern descendants of the children of
onzen  Heere Jezus Christus."                                  Israel are themselves the victims of a plague of locusts,
    Nog eens zeggen we: volkomen waar.                         as were the Egyptians of old. Along the north coast
    Er is hoegenaamd niets op tegen, dat de Classis  dit of Africa, and parts of Asia, including Palestine, one
aanvaarde, tenzij dan, dat hetgeen hier wordt uitge-           of the greatest plagues of locusts recorded in history
                                                               has been spreading desolation. More than ten coun-
sproken, zoo duidelijk waar is en zoozeer moet vast- .              -             ^_     .~
staan onder ons, dat ze zich we1 mocht  schamen, indien tries have suffered damage already amounting to tens
het werkelijk noodig  mocht  biljken, dat ze  d.it officieel of millions of dollars, repeating today the vivid de-
nog eens uitsprak. Ik ben van oordeel, dat dit laatste scription set forth in the tenth chapter of Exodus :
nog niet het geval is, en dat we daarom ook dit punt              "And the locusts went up over all the land; very
niet  moeten hebben.                                           grievous were they.
    In e&i woord, de S. B. is van overtuiging, dat de             "For they covered the face of the whole earth, so
Classis  dit laatste en positieve deel van het rapport en that the land was darkened ; and they did eat every
advies der Commissie niet moet aanvaarden.                     herb of the land, and all the fruits of the trees . . . .
    En onze redenen voor deze overtuiging zijn:               And there remained not any green thing in the trees,
        1. Dat de Commissie,  we1 beschouwd, ons hier or in the herbs of the field."
niets geeft dan enkele algemeene beginselen, die ons              Clouds, of countless billions of locusts have literally
niets verder helpen  met het probleem, waarmede we obscured the sun. Every resource of modern science
begonnen: de Union-kwestie onder  011s. Ge  moogt             has been employed to combat the pest but without
dit in den engeren of in den breederen zin willen op-         success. Treaches  have been dug and filled with poi-
vatten, maar wat hier wordt uitgesproken is zeer alge-        soned bait - but the creatures have spread beyond
meen  en helpt ons niets.                                     the barriers. Aeroplanes have flown over the ground
   2. Dat alles, wat de Commissie hier uitspreekt and scattered poisoned gases, but with little effect.
(behalve   tiisschien  wat in punt 3 wordt  uitgespro-        Squads of men armed with flame-throwers have burned
ken) zoo waar is en zoo duidelijk, zoo vast behoort te trees and bushes infested with the insects  - but the
staan onder ons, dat er geen behoefte aan is, om het results have  .been  of trivial consequence. More than
nog eens door een  Classicaal besluit vast te stellen.        20,000 men have been enlisted in fighting the pest in
   We  willen nog  Qen artikel schrijven en onze  ge-         the French possessions on the northern coast of Africa,
dachte zeggen in betrekking tot hetgeen de  Classis be- but the plague still continues.
hoorde te  doen  in deze zaak.                                    Some swarms of the insects are twelve miles long
   Intusschen verzoeken we nog eens, dat ieder zich and they make a deafening noise in their fligilt. Some-
uitspreke, die meent licht te hebben.                         times these tremendous clouds of countless myriads
                                                   H. H.      fly several hundred miles without alighting. The
                                                              natives watch with feverish anxiety as the creatures
                                                              fly overhead, praying that they will continue their
                                                              flight without alighting until they have passed out of
                                                              sight. Whenever the locusts do come down from the
                  THEN SHALL I KNOW                           sky every spear of grass, every leaf on the trees and
                                                              all the crops are quickly consumed. Even ships in the
                        (I Cor. 13:12)                        Strait of Gibraltar have been covered from the deck to
            Not till the loom is silent,                      the tops of the masts with the pest.
              And the shuttles cease to fly,                     In the Bible narrative, Moses said to Pharaoh:
            Shall God unroll the canvas,                         "Tomorrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:
              And explain the reason why                         "And they shall cover the face of the earth, that
            The dark threads are as needful,                 one cannot be able to see the earth; and they shall eat
              In the Weaver's skilful hand.                  every tree which groweth for you out of the  held ;
            As the threads of gold and silver                    "And they shall fill thy, houses, and the houses of
              In the pattern He has planned.                 all thy servants, and the houses of all the' Egyptians :


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           429

  which neither thy fathers, nor thy  fathers fathers descendants of Moses in modern Palestine would be
  have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth the principal sufferers.
  unto this day.                                                But, assailed from Kenya and Tangayika in the
     "And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land south, the Barbary States on the west and from the
  of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the Sinai Peninsula to the east, the pests finally entered
 land all that day and all that night; and when it was Egypt, despite the utmost vigilance on the three fron-
 morning, the east wind brought the locusts."                tiers. The greatest invasion was from Sinai, where
     But in the modern and probably equally heavy the hottest resistance had been put up.
plague the locusts have not come with the wind, nor              In French Morocco, officials spent  120,000,000
 from the east. Engineers believe the plague originated francs (about $4,500,000)  to fight the invaders. The
  in Central Africa, at the Lake  T&ad district, which is swarms continued to arrive, however, especially in the
 south, rather than east, of the stricken countries. The regions of Marrakech, Casablanca and Fez. Damage
 insects have been observed making flights of several to crops has already reached many millions of dollars.
 thousand miles in great circles, quite independent of          Arabia has always been a prolific breeding ground
 any wind or the direction of the wind. Indeed, Pale- of the locust. Nothing is done there to keep down
 stine has been ravished by swarms entering both from their numbers. On the contrary, in some parts of the
 the north and the south of Jerusalem.                       peninsula the Bedouins look on them as a good source
     In the Holy Land some 10,000 laborers are fighting of food supply and encourage their breeding, killing
 the pest, using sheets of zinc to divert the crawlers them only to roast them. These Bedouins firmly believe
 into trenches, where they are sprayed with gasoline in the old legend that when the last locust has left
 and burned or killed with poisoned bait. But the crea- the earth it will be the end of the human race. The
 tures continue to arrive and eggs, which have been Arabs recall that in ancient times one of the Pha-
 dropped by millions, continue to hatch. It is estimated raohs was very perturbed when, on coming to a new
 that about 60,000 locusts are hatched to the square country in his conquests, he found no locusts and was
 yard.                                                       not reassured until the messengers he sent everywhere
     The owners of great date plantations along the to look for them eventually found the pests.
 Persian Gulf trembled in fear as a huge cloud of               So far the quotation. In proffering my comment I
 locusts appeared  - and then offered prayers of thanks may set out with the remark that as I read this, my
 when a great windstorm suddenly arose and blew the mind turned to a passage found on page 6X of Floyd
 slyarm into the Persian Gulf, where the insects Ivex        L. Darrow's  iVl4racle.s  a  &lodern   View.  It reads: "Let
 drowned at a moment when it appeared inevitable that us turn to these miracles of magic with which Moses
 the date supply of the world would be rilincd.              and Aaron smote the land of Egypt. That there were
     The modern plague of locusts now extends from ten of them is in itself significant, for ten was a mystic:
 Senegal through Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, number . . . These miraculous plagues, too, have
 Palestine, Trans-Jordania, Arabia and Syria to the been shown to be in large measure simply exaggera-
 Kenya and Tanganyika districts of Central Africa, tions of natural happenings which occur every year.
 where it is believed to have originated.                    For example, the changing of the water of the Nile
     In the Beersheba area of Palestina, the authorities into blood doubtless has no other nucleus of truth than
 have enrolled Bedouin tribes under the control of that `about the middle of July, in eight or ten days the
 twenty sheiks to help plow the regions where the eggs river turns grayish blue to dark red, occasionally of so
 were laid and to check the newly hatched locusts by intense a color as to look like newly shed blood.'
 various methods, the  chief being spraying with liquid         "Just consider for a moment the crude conception,
 fire and digging trenches along the line of march. The in this twentieth century of enlightenment, of a God
 situation in the Red Sea and Jordan areas is still who should call forth through the instrumentality of
 graver because the hot winds threaten to blow im- two chosen magicians a plague of frogs upon an offend-
 mense swarms toward `the cultivated coastal plain ing land, only to be followed shortly after by similar
 which would be disastrously affected if the locusts set- divinely sent plagues of lice and flies. Were not these
 tled and laid eggs.                                         wholly  fictitious  tales associated with a sacred litera-
     The position of Trans-Jordania is the worst of all, ture which became fossilized centuries ago and which
 as the wide area renders effective co-operation diffi- has been clothed with the sanctity and authority aris-
 cult. Eighty thousand gallons of kerosene have been ing from the mere lapse of time, no one today would
 distributed by the government to combat the invaders. give them credence. That men still do is proof in
     For weeks after Palestine was overrun, the Egyp- abundance that the large majority of humankind do
 tian government by the expenditure of millions of dol- very little thinking."
 lars succeeded in keeping the pest out of the rich Nile        So far Darrow.
 district. It looked for a while as if Egypt would escape       According to Darrow, then, the plagues of Exodus
 a repetition of the plague which old Moses visited on bave been shown to be "exaggerations of natural hap-
 the land of the Pharaohs 3,500 years ago and that the penings,  fictitious  tales." Yet this very day the "vivid

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

description set forth in the tenth chapter of Exodus
was repeated.`, Locusts go up over all the land ; very                        I N G E Z O N D E N
grievous are they. They cover the face of the whole               Het was aan den avond van den 2lsten  April, dat
earth, so that the land is darkened ; and they eat every wij hier ter stede nogmaals in de gelegenheid werden
herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees . . . . gesteld, om te luisteren naar eene rede van Dr. V.
and there remaineth not any green thing in the trees, Hepp. Wet onderwerp : "De Smarten van Satan," be-.
or in the herbs of the field.                                  handeld door den spreker, van wien men met aile rede-
       To be sure the complete, perfect and sufhcient guar- lijkheid verwachten kon, dat hij zijn onderwerp uit
antee that the plagues of Exodus are events in history zou werken, was zeker belangrijk genoeg, om ons van
is the testimony of the Lord or of Scripture.                  deze gelegenheid gebruik te  doen   maken.  Nu is het
       The modern Darrows reject this testimony for no niet mijn doe1 om in dit schrijven een zeker verslag
other reason than that the divine Testifier - the Lord te geven van genoemde rede ; nog minder om daarop
- is a hated and dreaded being.                                aanmerkingen te maken. Maar tech, hoe meer ik over
                                                   G. M. 0.    het gehoorde nadenk, hoe meer het mij begint te  dui-
                                                               zelen. Nu wil ik niet op alles ingaan, maar mijzelven
                                                               beperken tot een  tweetal  zaken.       -
                                                                  De geachte spreker  heeft ons den  toestand van
                    COLOSSENSEN 3 :I,2                         Satan geschilderd zooals die thans is en geweest is
"Met  Christus  opgestaan," zoo klinkt het, o mijn Vader, sedert zijn afval van God, zooals wij dat kunnen lezen
Van binnen in mij, in het heiligdom der ziel.                  in II  Petr.  2:4 en Judas l-4. Daar lezen wij, dat
Ik weet het : ied're dag brengt mij Uw liefde nader ;          Satan en zijne engelen niet gespaard zijn, maar in de
`k Zoek nooit U tevergeefs,  zoo vaak ik voor U kniel.         he1 geworpen en overgegeven aan de ketenen der duis-
                                                               ternis,  etc. Of, volgens Judas, dat hij, Satan, tot het
"Met  Christus  opgestaan," mijn grootste  schat  ligt oordeel  des grooten dags met eeuwige banden  onder
        boven,                                                 de duisternis bewaard wordt. Dat is Satans toestand.
Omhoog bij U, o God! waar mijn Verlosser troont.               Daar gaat geen woord van af, zeide spreker.
Van Hem geniet ik reeds op aarde in `t gelooven ;                 Maar  als nu de vraag opkomt : als dat Satans  toe-
Hoe zal `t mijn ziel eens zijn als ze eeuwig bij TJ woont?     stand is, als hij met zijne engelen .in de  he1 geworpen
                                                               is en daar met ketenen bewaard wordt, vanwaar dan
"Met  Christus  opgestaan.`, Mijn hart hoort niet  aan de de werkingen des Satans ? hoe kan hij dan nog op
        aarde,                                                 aarde werken? dan geeft Dr. Hepp de volgende ver-
Al geeft ze oneindig veel dat ziel en zin bekoort.             klaring. Al wat Satan doet, dat doet  bij op Gods
Verganklijk is het al, en `t haalt niet bij de waardc          bevel. "Satan, kom uit!" zoo klonk Gods bevel, "en ga
Van `t goed,  dat Gij bereidt aan wie U toebehoort.            heen,  verzokk het eerste menschenpaar in het Para-
                                                               dijs !" En zoo Monk het t&ens weer: "Satan, kom
                                                               uit !" Zoo in betrekking tot bet lichaam van Mazes;
                                                               den koning Saul ; David ; Job  ; den hoogepriester
                                                               Jozua. Al die geschiedenissen uit het Oude Testament
                    GELEID  MU, HEER!                          heeft spreker aangestipt en zoo voorgesteld, dat Satan
  Geleid mij, Heer, waarhenen Gij wilt dat  ik ga.             daar werkzaam was, als slaaf Gods, als een galeislaaf.
  Maar steun mijn zwakke schreden door Uw gena                 In ieder geval klonk het : "Satan, kom uit!" ,En als
  En laat mij rusten mogen, Heer, aan Uw voet,                 Satan dat niet  gewilhg deed, dan knalde de zweep als
  Ik ben zoo zwak, maarGij, Heer, zijt sterk en  goed.         over een galeislaaf. Van een toelating van de zijde
                  En leer mij stil zijn, stille                Gods in betrekking tot Satan was geen sprake, nog
  Ook als het kruis mijn schouderen doet bloeden.              veel minder van twee machten.
                  Breng mij tehuis                                Nu wil ik geen aanmerkingen maken  op deze voor-
  Waar Ge ook voor mij een woning hebt toebereid,              stelling. Maar ik kan geen antwoord vinden op de
  En waar `k Uw naam zal prijzen in eeuwigheid. y              vraag, hoe die voorstelling samen kan gaan met het
                                                               tweede punt van de Synode der Christelijke Gerefor-
                                                               meerde Kerken  in 1924. Volgens dit punt stuit God
                                                               immers de zonde.  En ik meende we1 eens gehoord te
       Geen kruis kan ons  worden  opgelegd, of God hebben, dat de spreker van dien avond het daarmede
stihenkt er de kracht toe om het te dragen. Geen strijd ook  eens is. En nog een andere moeilijkheid.  Vol-
kan zoo heet zijn, of geen aanvechting des Satans kan gens `spreker bestaan de smarten van Satan in eene
ons zoo vervaard doen  wezen, of Hij beschikt over uit- bestendige botsing tusschen zijn weten en willen en
komst en middelen tot overwinning. Het is Gods weg tusschen  zijn  willen en kunnen. Volgens de spreker
tot eeuwige heerlijkheid.                                      weet  Satan meer van God en Zijn plan dan een profes-


