   1 0 0                               TIIE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                            .-.-.-.-v---                                                            X."_.."-"- - - - -
                                                             governmentt  the body of ruling men, the bodies politic
                                                             in any country ? Or does he mean the government
                                                             together with the nation over which it rules ? Does he
  !IJ
   -.- --..---.--  --...               -._-__I               speak of the State abstractly, as something that was
                                                             dropped from heaven among mankind, or instituted,
          Eking the Nail On the Head                         perhaps, at a  definite  time or period of history?  Or
                                                             does he refer to State concretely and does he mean,
      .In The Banner of Oct. 25 occurs an article written that alzy concretely existing state is founded on com-
  by the Rev.  J. Vander Mey on the weighty subject: mon grace? Does, for instance, the author intend to
  The Church and Pol,itics.                                  tell US, that the Soviet State in Russia is founded on
      The article possesses the merit of being written in common grace? Besides, notice: this State is founded
  a very lucid. style. One can easily follow the writer in art common  grace.  Literally this means, that God's
  the exposition of his views. This is due, partly to the grace is under the State, that the State rests on it.
,, style itself, partly to the fact that the writer does not Take away this grace and the State tumbles. But
  hesitate to express his views on the matter under dis- where, then, is this grace ? Is it under the abstract
  cussion, and partly to the fact, that he easily employs notion State? Is it in the hearts of the members of
  many words and phrases which appear  to  convey a very the bodies politic? Where is it'in the Soviet State?
  definite meaning, but which really express nothing at Where was it under Nero ? You see, the matter is not
  all and prove to be either meaningless or vague and quite so definite as it would at first appear.
  ambiguous as soon as one attempts to analyze them             Thirdly, I ofi'er that this whole presentation is
  and conceive of their definite denotation.                 neither historically true, nor Scriptural.    The State
      It is not my purpose to criticise  the entire article, was not founded and it is not founded on common
  which appears to have been inspired, in part at least, grace. .Instead  I offer to defend the following propo-
  by a rereading of Kuyper's Caluinism;  but rather to sition, both by proof from Scripture and the Con-
  refer to a single paragraph in which the writer hits fessions and by historical evidence:
  the nail squarely on the head. But I cannot refrain           The State, conceived  as the powers  tha.t  halve
  from calling attention to some of the general phrases, authority in  se~uhr   maSters,  to legislate, to judge
  that are often accepted as if they were the axioms of and to execute and the relaticm to them of those that
  Calvinism, but which are, nevertheless, as untrue and are governed,  was  ,not founded or instituted  by  a
  unscriptural as they are vague.                            special  injunctipn   from God,  but  is given  with the
      And let me say in parentheses that, in my opinion, creation of mankind as an orgaksm, has its h&s, not
  the same vagueness and flightiness  characterises  Kuy-    in common grace or  i,n  UVL~ grace at all,  but  in the
  per's Stone Lectures on Calvinism, which are positively family, developed organically from  the family with its
  bombastic in many of their statements and paragraphs. parental authority, and, because of  *in,  ,%ns  received
      For instance, following Kuyper the Rev. J. Vander the sword-power for the punishment of evil-doers.
  Mey writes: YPhe  State is founded upon God's com-            In the sphere of the State, as well as in all other
  mon grace."                                                spheres of life, the antithesis of sin and grace must
      First of all, let me call attention to the fact, that come and does come to manifestation.
  the reader is supposed simply to accept this as one of        And this antithesis determines the calling of the
  the alrioms  of Calvinism. It is not, it never has been Christian with respect to the State.
  proven from Scripture. The writer does not make the           The Calvinist Christian is no sickly separatist, who
  slightest attempt to offer such. proof. One is supposed withdraws from the affairs of the State, because they
  to receive and adopt this statement as a proposition are per se unholy.
  that needs no proof, that is self-evident, as is the          Neither is he one of those superficial, whitewashed,
  mathematical axiom: the straight line is the distance pseudo-Calvinists, who maintain that you must vote,
  between two points. Nor, let me add, could the state- no matter what candidates are presented for office.
  ment possibly be proven from the Word of God. Scrip- That is the miserable view that has been prevalent
  ture teaches no such thing.                                among us and still is widely defended. The Socialists
     Secondly, notice how flighty the statement is, in their way put us to shame in this respect, for they
  although on the surface it appears to convey a rather vote for their own candidate though they have no
  definite notion. It contains a figure of speech in which chance to win.
  the State is compared to an edifice and common grace          But he claims that also in the State we must have
 to its foundation. And God, I suppose, is the Founder men that have the fear of God in their hearts and that
  of this imposing edifice on that basis of His grace. will rule over us according to His Word. The question
 But, think again, and you will find that your first im- whether, if we would maintain this principle, we shall
  pression of having laid hold on a definite notion was ever be able to carry a majority is a minor question.
 deceiving. The.State?  The State as an edifice? What           Politics may be "rotten."
 does the writer mean by it ? Does he merely mean the        ~ It usually is "rotten."


                                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                 101
-__ ..- -..-..       _....." _.........     -..._                        -    -    -              --- ..-_. "I_- -....."  __.....  I__
    The Calvinistic Christian has no calling to partici- anyone, who numbers himself among the Calvinists,
pate in "rotten" politics. If he does he sins.               likes more of this boastful and self-deceiving flattery,
    If we are to have a Calvinistic political party, such he must not forget to read the Stone Lectures on Cal-
a party must first of all draw up a program of prin- vinism. As for me, I rather stay with my feet on terra
ciples and must draw them up fearlessly, regardless of firma.                                .
the question whether they will find general acceptance  ;       Finally, this statement :
it must then present its own candidates, men of truly           "Scripture plainly tells us about our duties in this
Calvinistic principles, regardless of the question world and what must be done to build up a Christian
whether such a candidate on such a Calvinistic  plat- civilization and culture."
form will ever have a majority of the votes and hold            And, mark you well, I am sure that Vander Mey
office.                                                      means a Christian culture that is rooted in common
    Such is true Calvinism.                                  grace, that the world and the Christian can and must
    What is called Calvinism among us, especially in cultivate in fellowship and co-operation with each,
the sphere of labor and politics, is sick, miserable, other.
ashamed of itself, a laughingstock, a thing unworthy            Do you know what it means in actual fact?
of serious consideration, a nauseating milk-and-water           That you and I and the whole "Christian" world
concoction.                                          1       stand gaping in real or feigned admiration at the
    But WC do not want to be Calvinists! Least of all        profundities of godless sciences and philosophies, at
`in the sphere of politics and labor.                        the marvelous beauty of heathen temples and idols  or
    But let me call your attention to another of these are spellbound under the sweet strains of worldly
generally accepted and  oftenyepeated  statements from music; that we love the world and the things that are
the article of Rev. Vander Mey :                             in the world and that we become those friends of the
    "Even the conviction that the state is an institu- world of which James asserts that they are accounted
tion of divine origin and that the magistrates rule by enemies of God.
the grace of God is gradually dying out."                       Christian culture? 0, indeed, Scripture speaks of
    Again, no Scriptural proof is offered for this grace it. Listen : "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
of God whereby the magistrates rule.                         longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
    And again, it appears such a clear and simple temperance."
statement, but which proves to be very ambiguous if             But this Christian culture is not and never,  was
not meaningless when one tries to analyze it. Does it and never shall be in the world. For "the works of
mean that any ruler is, as such, object to God's grace? the flesh are manifest, which are these :  .adultery,  forni-
Does it imply-that God always gives grace to rulers, cation, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witch-
that they may be able to rule well? Did Nero rule by craft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedi-
the grace of God, when he illuminated his gardens with tions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revel-
the burning bodies of God's children? Did Charles V lings, and such like."
when he opposed the Reformation? Did Philip II of               But the Rev. Vander Mey does not find these in the
Spain? Did Napoleon?                                         world,- though the apostle maintains that they are
    But, finally, I would also remark with respect to manifest. He professes to believe in total .depravity  as
this statement, that it is surely not in harmony with an abstraction, not as a concrete reality. There is,
Scripture, neither with reality, and a good thing it is according to him, a marked contrast between that doc-
that this "conviction is dying out." Would that the trine of total depravity and the actual condition of
whole view in `which it is rooted would die with it! men as we meet them in the world. His view it is, that
Indeed, magistrates occupy positions of authority and man would be totally depraved if God's common grace
they rule by the power God has given them. But that did not so improve upon him that he surprises one
does not signify that they also rule by His grace. They every time by his nobility and good works and even
do if they do well, if they are motivated by the fear of puts the Christian to shame.
the Lord, if they seek to rule according to His Word.           For, and this is the paragraph to which I would
Then, they are the objects of God's grace and it may call special attention and in which he hits the nail
be said that they rule by t.he grace of God, indeed. If squarely on the head, he writes under the subtitle:
not, they are also as magistrates children of their "What Our Church Should Do," the folIowing:
father the devil.                                               "Especially should the doctrine of common grace
    And mark this statement: "To understand the be more fully comprehended. I hazard the remark
United States is to understand the spirit of Calvinism." that even in our circles this truth is but superficially
    We  will not try to disturb this pleasing dream, known by many. In catechism call, in society meet-
pleasing that is to anyone who likes to conceive of ings, in our preaching this doctrine ought to be more
Calvinism as a great factor in the building of world- fully explained and its great importance for our cal-
empires, and who loves to boast of its marvelous vinistic life and world view set forth. Common grace
achievements in politics, science,, art and industry. If teaches us the rule of God over the world outside the


                                          THG  S T A N D A R D   BEAkEk

  Church and over all life's spheres of influence. Espe-         common  grace, together with that of "special grace"
  cially our young people need this knowledge of com- will be a lost treasure.
  mon grace. From early youth they are taught the                   Yes, Vander Mey is positively right.
  total depravity of man, yet when they mature and cir-             After 1924 it might be expected, and honesty de-
  cumstances bring them into more frequent contact with mands, that the Christian Reformed Churches develop
  worldly men, many of whom they must love and esteem the theory of common grace and show their. real colors.
  for their high personal integrity, the doctrine of total          And such a course would, perhaps, have a good
  depravity not seldom leads to confusion and doubt. effect, yield positive fruit for the Churches.
  This should not be and a knowledge of the correct                 In the first  pIace,  a proper emphasis on the theory
  view of life and of our Christian duty in the midst of of common grace would, I hope, open the eyes of many
  a sinful world would prevent such a situation. This for its danger and diabolical deception. Now they are
  view of life can be the fruit only of the knowledge of asleep to the danger, that is, nevertheless, very real.
  the truth of common grace. One who denies common And they are carefully kept in their state of spiritual
  grace loses his Calvinism, especially in the sphere of slumber.
  public and political life. We are placed in a sinful              In the second place, the  Iines would be more clearly
  world in order that we should exalt and glorify the drawn than they are now between the Christian Re-
  name of our God. The truth of common grace shows formed and the Protestant Reformed Churches.
  us the domain where this can be .done and how this                Not that I like the separation as such.
  has been made possible."           .                              But I do like healthful conditions.
     That, I think, is hitting the nail on the head.                And I do not like the present situation at all. The
      Not, of course, that I agree with the contents of Christian Reformed brethren almost create the appear-
  this paragraph. I consider it one of the most deceiving ance of unity in doctrine with the Protestant Reformed
  and dangerous pieces of advice the Christian Re- Churches. Occasionally one may even hear that there
  formed Churches have received in years.                        is really no difference between the two Churches, the
      But, in the light of. 1924 the Rev. Vander Mey is remark being made by leaders of the Christian Re-
  right.                                                         formed Churches.
                                                                    And such a situation is not healthful because it is
      In that year the Christian Reformed Churches com- not true.
  mitted themselves to a wholehearted adoption and de-              Therefore, I repeat, the  Rev: Vander Mey is right.
  fense of the fundamental principles of the false theory He is hitting the nail on the head.
  of common grace. In those days it was presented as                Let the Christian Reformed brethren, with all that
  the warp and woof of Calvinism. Those that denied in them is, develop the theory of common grace.
  the theory could not possibly be tolerated in the fellow-         Let the Protestant Reformed Churches develop
  ship of those Churches. Synod officially adopted the themselves on the basis of the truth that God's grace
  theory as a Christian Reformed dogma. It counselled is always particular.
  the whole Church to make serious study of the doctrine            And then let us see who loses the Calvinistic life-
  of common grace.                                               view !
     And -what has been done with that doctrine since                      --...                               H. H.
  that time?
     It almost appears forgotten. Occasionally, a lonely
. crier in the wilderness like the Rev. Jan  Hare1 Van
  Baalenmakes  a stab at it in The Bmer,  or the editor-
  in-chief of the same weekly writes an isolated editorial                   The' Cause of Christ and
  on common grace, very hesitantly, as if he feels that he                           the Times
  is playing with fire. But, for the rest, all is quiet. Com-
  mon grace is hardly ever mentioned. The doctrine is               -When one speaks of "the times" in these days
  certainly not developed, not even by the Theological everyone understands that what is meant is "the de-,
  professors at Calvin. And the harvest of those com- pression." Such is also the implication of the term in
  mon grace cultivators, that reaped their first-fruits in the superscription of this article. I rather speak of
  the Three Points of 1924, has, indeed, been very poor. "the times" than of depression, both because the latter
  It looks like a crop failure.                                  word is used to the point of nauseation and because,
     Vander Mey is right.                                        in my opinion, it does not exactly express the real
     The Christian Reformed Churches ought to de- character of the present economic situation. Depression
  velop the doctrine of common grace, ought to place a is a rather neutral and innocent word. The present
  new emphasis on it, ought to inculcate it into their economic situation is neither neutral nor innocent.
  members, ought to teach it in catechism and from the              When, in connection with "the times," I speak of
  pulpit, ought to write long and thorough articles on it. the cause of Christ, I have in mind the relation be-
  If they do not, it is to be feared that even the theory of tween the two, the influence of the former upon the


                                                 T H E   STA,NDARD   B E A R E R                                      103
_l_l --..._.-  ---__I_ -.....-..-_.,_             ----__- - .-.--.. -.---.--^---..
latter, as well as our calling, the peculiar calling of the vague and ,general terms ; it does not, in the face of
people of God in these times and because of them, with abundant crops, blindly pray for prosperity. Nor, does
reference to the cause of God's Kingdom in the world.             it blame the system. A system is easily blamed with-
        And the determination of this relation and influence out hurting man's pride. A system is impersonal.
and calling depends principally on the answer we must Blame on a system is never guilt and sin. But it blames
give and do give to the question as to the relation be- the wickedness, the unrighteousness, the ungodliness
tween God and the present distress.                               of man, in this particular case his covetousness and
        Three answers are conceivable to this last question, greed, which will lead to trouble and corruption under
and these answers determine the attitude we assume any system, whether it be that of slaveholders and
over against the peculiar economic situation.                     slaves, whether it be the feudal system of lord and
        There is, first of all the answer that the present serf, whether it be the capitalistic or the communistic
distress is sent to us directly from heaven, somewhat system. Hence the Reformed conception does not speak
as a famine, a flood, a pestilence would be. God sent of sin in general and meaningless terms, but-it speaks
the "depression." He sent it as an evil. It must, very concretely. It addresses the person, not the sys-
therefore, be a punishment for our sins. Let us, then, tem, neither man in general. It raises an accusing
humble ourselves and do penitence and pray for the finger.  It draws the wicked before the bar of God's
return of prosperity. This is necessary and desirable, judgment and says: "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and
not only for ourselves, but also for the cause of the howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your
Kingdom of God in the world, for it also and especially riches are corrupted and your garments are  moth-
suffers  on account of the present distress. Just what eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered ; and the rust
sins we must confess, and exactly what is the relation of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat
between those sins and the present times, is not further your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure to-
defined.  But we better do penitence that prosperity gether for the last days. Behold, the hire of the
may return. I do not know how to characterize this labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is
view. Perhaps, the word that expresses its character of you kept back by fraud,  ,crieth; `and the cries of
most nearly is "pagan."                                          them, which have reaped have entered into the ears
        Secondly, there is advanced what may be called the of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on
Deistic, the Pelagian view of the present trouble. It the earth, and been wanton ; ye have nourished your
is the directly opposite of the preceding conception. It hearts as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned
derides the view that this depression is sent by the and killed the just; and he doth not resist you." Woe
Most High. God may, perhaps, permit it. He surely unto you! The coming of the Lord draweth nigh!
did not prevent it. But He is not the Cause of it. He                And every man may examine his own heart, apply
is never the Cause of evil. The present distress is this to himself if he is guilty and repent or know that
man-caused. This is clearly evident from the fact, that he is damned !
there is an abundance of everything, while thousands                 Secondly, the Reformed view is very clear as to the
of people suffer want. The trouble is with the economic calling of God's people in these days, both with respect
system. Under it  alI things are piled up in heaps, the to one-another and with regard to the needs of the
few  grow- rich and wanton, the masses suffer poverty institutions that are related to God's cause in the world.-
and are starving.            The conclusion. is, that we had It comes with a requirement which is very severe to
better cease to act piously and be up and doing to the flesh, but which follows from the love of God,
change the system. Man has it in his own power to                 that t,hey which have shall give as long as they have,
remove this trouble in the economic world. Therefore: as long as there is need, according to what they have
never mind your prayers and penitence ; you better und according to the need existing, und to consider it a
co-operate to change conditions ! It really rules out great privilege  thut they may so give.  For:  "whoso
God from the affairs of men; it ignores the factor of hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have
sin.                                                             need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from
        In the third place, there is the Reformed viewpoint, him, how dwelleth the love of God in him ?" And :
which is hardly ever mentioned, because there are but "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteous-
few Reformed people that consistently apply the Re- ness and all other things shall be added unto you." And
formed principles to actual life, but which is, never- the Christian does not adopt the worldly sIogan:  give
theless, the only true_  conception, the only view that till it hurts ! For, giving never hurts. He that feels
puts the blame where it belongs, that is able to point hurt when he gives does not give.
out the true calling of God's people, and that offers the            We all will agree that if everyone applies this doc-
true comfort for them in these times.                            trine according to his means, I mean now, everyone of
        First of all, it is not blind to the blame, the guilt of God's people, if they that have the world's goods and
man with relation to these times. It does not speak they that are in need will live from this principle, the
in terms of a sickly and ignorant piety of a  heaven-            former giving, the latter not abusing the situation,
sent depression; it does not admonish to repent in there will, as yet, be no need of anyone suffering  want,


                                         -  -


  nor  of any Christian institution being in danger of
  bankruptcy because of lack of support.                                                Zebulun and Issachar
           We will likewise admit, that if this Christian prin-
  ciple would be brought into practice by the world                           Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he
                                                                            shall be for a haven of  ships;  and his border shall be
   (which it will not, because of sin), there would be no                   unto Zidon.
  "depression." And that is why I dislike the innocent                        Issachar is a strong ass crouching down between two
  word "depression." Greed and iniquity would be better                     burdens: and he saw that the rest was good,  and the
  terms.                                                                   land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulders to
                                                                           bear, 
           Lastly, the Reformed view offers the true comfort                         and became a servant unto tribute.
  to the people of God in the present times. It does not                   Zebulun was Leah's sixth son. Upon having been
  rule out God and proudly say: let us change conditions delivered of this child, she exclaimed, "God hath en-.
  and remove this depression ! It claims (1) That these dowed  me with a dowry ; now will my husband dwell
  times are here according to the determinate counsel of with me, because I. have borne him six sons . . . . "
  God and, therefore, must serve His purpose. (2) That This joyful utterance on the part of. the mother sets
  this depression as such, as an evil, is certainly sent by             forth the meaning of the name Zebulurt as being gift,
  God upon the wicked world. He and not man is the                      bestowal. That Leah had prayed also for this child is
  First Cause. Man does not want depression. He wants evident from her speech, "God," said she," hath en-
t prosperity. But he wants prosperity and happiness dowed me . . . .  "
  while maintaining himself in his sin, his greed and                      The life of this patriarch is known only in so far
  covetousness and corruption over against God and his as it was interwoven with that of his brethren. In the
  neighbor. But God reveals His wrath from heaven sacred record of Israel's history, the trible of Zebulun
  and destroys the tower of Babel. (3) That, however, repeatedly appears. Its location in the desert was with
  this depression is no evil for the people of God, neither the host of Judah on the east side of the tabernacle
  for the cause of the Lord and His Kindom in the world.                (Nu. 2 :7). On the march its camp together with that '
  All things work together for good to them that Iove of Judah set forth first (verse 9). The tribe at the
  God, that are the called according to His purpose. Grace taking of the first census numbered 57,400 men able to
  is not common, neither in times of prosperity nor in bear arms (Nu.  1:30). This number had increased
  times of adversity. But God's blessing is always upon to 60,500 at the time of the second, census (Nu. 26  :27).
  His people. And God's Kingdom certainly does not One of Israel's judges was Elon, a Zebulonite, who
  suffer,  but is prospered by Him even through this de- judged Israel for ten years. During the invasion of
  pression. His cause is not dependent on gold or silver Jabin, Zebulun, too, was among the tribes that re-
  or the arm of flesh, though we may think it is. He sponded to the call to arms. According to the song of
  may prosper His Kingdom through these times in a Deborah they were a people brave in war, skilful in
  way that is entirely different from our way. But let                  handling the marshal's staff. Of this tribe 50,000
  us beware that we do not repeat the falsehood that came to David to Hebron to turn the kingdom of Saul
  the cause of God's Kingdom suffers. It always pros- to him, according to the word of the Lord. In I Chron.
  pers, for it is solely His cause ?                                    12:33 the band that came is described as comprised
                                                           H. H.        of men single-hearted, expert in war, with all instru-
                                                                        ments of war, who could set the battle in array. From
                                                                        their rich  Iand they brought to David rich stores of
                                                                        bread, meat, meal, cakes of figs, bunches of raisins,
                                                                        wine, oil, oxen and sheep abundantly (I Chron. 12 :40).
                          IN MEMORIAM                                   Zebulun was among the tribes that broke away from
      De Mannenvereeniging van de Protestantsche Gereformeerde          the dynasty of David. But when at a latter date king
  gemeente  te South Holland betuigt hiermede van harte haar            Hezekiah exhorted Israel to come to the house of the
  deelneming met de familie Sam  Boomsma,  daar het den Heere           Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the passover  unto the Lord
  behaagde om plotseliug tot Zich te nemen hun zoon                     God of Israel, a multitude from the aforesaid tribe  re-
                                JOHN,                                   sbonded  (II Chron. 30 :ll) . Among the lower hills of
  in den ouderdom van 17 jaar en ruim  `7 maanden.                      the territory of Zebulun was found Nazareth, the home
      Onze bede is dat de Heere hen troosten mag in dit bun  ver-       of Christ's boyhood.
  lies.                                                                    The foregoing is what may be known of this tribe
                                                                        from the Old Testament Scriptures. All that Zebulun
      Besloten  om een afschrift van dit rouwbeklag  te zenden   aan
  de familie en  te plaatsen in The Standard Bearer en in onze          could learn about his destiny from the prophesy of
  notulen op te nemen.                                                  Jacob is, as was said, his location in the land of
                                                                        Canaan. Though the area of his inheritance is accu-
                        Namens de vereeniging,                          rately defmed in the book of Joshua (chap. 19  :lO-16),
                                             Ds. P. De Boer, Pres.      the location of several of the places to which these
      South Holland, Ill., 23 &ov.  1932.                               boundaries kept are not known today so that it is  im-


                                               T H E S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         . 105

          possible to say with any degree of accuracy just how incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the
          far in any given direction Zebulun's possession ex- Lord. All the flocks of  Cedar shall be gathered to-
          tended. The contention therefore that this possession gether unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister
          directly touched neither the Mediterranean nor the unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine
          Galilean seas and that thus ,the actual area of Zebu- altar, and 1 will glorify the house of my glory. Who
.         lun's inheritance did not agree with Jacob's prophesy are these that fly .as a cloud, as the droves to their
          to the effect that Zebulun would dwell at the haven of windows? Surely the ailes shall wait for me, and the
          the sea, is altogether unwarranted. But aside from ships of Tarshish  first, to bring thy sons; from far,
          this, the words in Gen. 49 :13 do not necessarily imply their silver and their gold with them, unto the name
          actual contact with the sea but only that Zebulun's of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, be-
          position would enable him to profit by maritime trade. cause he hath glorified thee . . The glory of .Lebanon
          Fact is that the great caravan route passed via the shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the
          Mediterranean through his territory and thus enabled box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary ;
          him to suck the treasures of the sea.                       and I will make the place of my feet glorious. Thou
             That Zebulun's position in Canaan together with shalt also suck the milk of the gentiles, and shalt suck
          his engagement in the promised land had by itself a the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I
          typical significance is evident.     The prediction of the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the
          Jacob reappears in latter prophesy as the plain signifi- Mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and
          cation of the expansion and ultimate glorification of for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and
          Christ's kingdom. Moses, speaking of the future for stones iron . . . .  " (Isa. 60).
          blessedness of Zebulun, declared : "Rejoice `Zebulun in        The unmistakable links between the above discourse
          thy going out: and Issaschar.in  thy tents. They shall and the prediction of Jacob are such expressions as,
          call the people unto the mountain; there they shall "because the abundance of the sea shall be unto thee."
          offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck "The ailes shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarsh-
          the abundance of the seas, and treasures hid in the ish first, to bring their sons. . . . their silver and
          sand (Deut. 33 :18, 19). The phrase, "shall suck the their gold . . . .  " "Thou shalt suck the milk of the
          abundance of the seas," again associates the tribe with gentiles . . . . and the breast of kings . . . .  "
          the sea and is thus identical `as to the thought con-          Rightly considered this entire discourse*is  but an
          veyed by the prediction of Jacob. Zebulun shall dwell expansion of the brief but meaningful word: Zebulun
          at the haven of the sea and suck its abundance. And shall be for a haven of ships; and he shall suck the
          in  Deut. 23 this latter engagement appears as sustain- abundance of the sea . , . .
          ing a causal relation to the offering of sacrifices of         The prophet here describes the expansion of the
          righteousness.    The conviction therefore cannot be church in the gospel period when Christ as lifted up
          escaped that this dwelling at the haven of the sea has from the earth shall draw all men um%HimseIf  (Jn.
          a deeper meaning.                                           12 :32). The entire chapter is a word-picture in which
             This conviction is strengthened especially by what may be seen as in a glass the ultimate return of earth's
          we read in the prophesy of Isaiah (chap. 60). The glorified fulness  (flocks, gold, silver, trees) unto God
     prophet describes the glory of the church in the through redeemed and likewise glorified humanity.
          abundant access of the gentiles and the great blessings.       So then, the son next blessed was Issachar. He was
          after a short affliction.    This spiritual glory and the ninth son of Jacob, and the fifth born to him by
          abundance is set  forthin a phraseology of which there Leah. The name Issachar signifies hire, wages. And
          can be no doubt that it reposes on the imagery of this wage, such were her imaginings, Leah had gained
          Jacob's prophetic outburst. Although his name is not through Jacob her servant whom she had hired first
          mentioned, Zebulun in the discourse of Isaiah referred with mandrates or love-apples, turned out to Rachel
          to is identified with the afflicted dhurch, with Zion that and thereupon with her own maid, turned over to
          is in darkness, of the period of Christ's advent and in Jacob. So then, this fifth son she thought of as a wage
          the final instance of the entire  Gospel  age. To this
     L                                                                which she had earned through Jacob her hired servant
          church the Lord by the mouth of the" prophet declares, or in the deep sense through her anguish of soul occa-
          that it must Arise, and shine ; .for its light is come, sioned by her surrender of Jacob first to Rachel, then
          and the glory of the Lord is risen upon iti Darkness to her maid. It is this circumstance that raises above
          shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people  ; suspicion the view that in Jacob's prediction Issachar
          but the Lord shall rise upon Zion and His glory shall appears not at his` best as in the prediction of Moses
          be seen upon it. The prophet'%ontinues:  "Then shalt concerning him, but at his worst. Issachar is to be the
          thou see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, servant, t,he slave in bondage, paying tribute and by
          and be enlarged ; because the abundance of the sea shall
                                          .                           his tribute gaining from the master - some power
          be converted unto thee. The multitude of camels shall foreign to Israel - the'right to life. So did the Lord
          cover thee, the dromedaries -of- Midian  and Ephah ; all visit the iniquity of this mother unto her generations-
          they from Sheba shall  comef  they shall bring gold and For it is certain that in regarding and, incalling this

                                                                                                   .          . --  -..-.  _-. . .


 106                                  T H E   STAN.DARD*BEARER
                                                               -"-               I-
fifth son wages, gained by anguish and suffering, in-                 As to Issachar, he bowed his shoulder to bear, and
stead.of a  gift - the free gift of sovereign grace - became a servant unto tribute. Let us skan the history
Leah sinned. And the punishment of her sin was the             of this tribe with a view of sighting the particular cir-
servitude of the tribe of which she was mother. So cumstance with which this prophesy is to be associated.
was the peculiar carnality that characterized her in the As was said, he was the ninth son of Jacob and the
period of her bargaining made to reappear in her tribe.        fifth born to him by Leah. The circumstances sur-
She had thought to gain from the Lord by labor a wage.         rounding his birth have been noticed. At the time of
Issachar therefore is the tribe to appear in history as the removal of Jacob's family to Egypt, four sons had
the servant unto tribute.                                      been born to him. In Egypt he died and was buried.
   That Leah was soon made to see her error is At Sinai his tribe numbered 54,000 men of war (Nu.
evident from the name she gives to the sixth son she 1:20). At the time of the second census this number
bore Jacob soon after. The notice reads, "And Leah had grown to 64,000 (Nu. 26  :25) and to 87,000 in the
conceived again, and bare Jacob a sixth son.          And days of David (I Chron. 7 :5). In the desert he pitched
Leah said, God hath endowed me with a good dowry his standard on the east side of the tabernacle and
. . . . and she called his name Zebulun." She con- formed with Zebulun and Judah the van of the host
fesses now that this son, whose future has already been.       (Nu. 2 :5). Nethaneel, the son of Zuar, was captain
considered, was a gift of God. And not only this son of his tribe. `His was one of the tribes that stood on
but all the children to which she had given birth. But         Mt. Gerizim to bless the people (Dt. 27  :12). Sixteen
Zebulun was the child of her repentance, of her humil-         cities of Issachar are mentioned in Josh.  19:17.  His
ity, yea, of her recognition of the fact that God's gifts      territory was bounded' on the north by the lot of
are not so much pay for services rendered but gifts in- Zebulun, on the east by the river Jordan, and on the
deed  -  the issues  of a  wholly unmerited mercy. It west and south by the lot of Manasseh. His .district
is therefore worthy of note that Zebulun - the' child          embraced the most fertile spot in Palestine, to wit,
of .Leah's  repentance - shall be for a haven of ships the plain of Esdraelon. Six of Manasseh's cities lay
and shall suck the treasures of the sea  - he, this son, within his territory, as also Mt. Tabor  and the hill of
constituted by the name that was given him the very Moreh (Josh. 17:ll). Issachar was one of the tribes
sign of the grace of God.                                      to take part in the battle with Sisera (Jds. 5 :15). One
   The treasures of the soil are in a sense the fruit judge, Tola (Jds.  lO:l), and two kings,  Baasha and
of man's labor. The soil must be prepared, the seed            his son (I Kings 15  :27), came from this tribe. Two
sown, and the ripened grain harvested.           But the hundred heads of the men of Issachar came to David
treasures of the sea are there for the taking. It is the at Hebron. Of them it is said that they were "men
latter therefore that appear in that word-picture of who had understanding of the times, to know what
Isaiah as the emblems of the sons that come from afar.         Israel ought to do" (I Chron. 12 :32). To Hezekiah's
And these treasures Zebulun, the gift, the true Zebu- invitation extended to the northern tribes to celebrate
lun, Christ Jesus, by His Spirit in conjunction with the the feast of the passover  at Jerusalem, Issachar also
witness of His church will suck. And the church en- responded (II Chron. 30  :18). He was given a portion
larged, expanded, vaunts not itself; for it knows that in Ezekiel's division of the land (48  :25)  ; and appears
it, too,-is the gift He prepared, knows that its light to      in the list in  R,evelation  (7~7).
which the gentiles come is but the radiance of a flame                Issachar was one of the tribes that broke away
kindled and fed by His grace, knows that it shines  be-        from the Davidic dynasty and the national sanctuary.
eause its light is come, and because the glory of the          Nearly all the Israelitish kings that ruled over it were
Lord is risen upon it.                                         wicked. It had continual intercourse withneighboring
   Zebulun, it is quite certain,`belonged  to Galilee, that    heathen in war and in peace. The district of this tribe
northern territory where most of the  three years of           must have belonged to the arena of conflict between
Christ's public ministry were spent. In this region Jehoahas and Hazael, king of Syria. The affliction of
was found Nazareth, the home of Christ's boyhood. To Israel and thus also of Issachar was bitter; but God
the people of this province, therefore, the words of the saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, son of Joash,
prophet, "And the people  that walked in darkness have under whom for the time being the northern kingdom
seen.a  great light," are especially applicable. Northern enjoyed independence (II Kings 14  :25 ff.) . However,
Palestine, which heretofore was little regarded com- Israel had filled its measure of iniquity. The hour of
pared with the south, shall attain to great honor, and its fall  had struck. The end came with the invasion of
become a place of great blessing to the whole land.            Tiglath-pileser III, king of Assyria, who took the chief
The glory of it will illuminate in an eminent way that cities in Galilee, and sent their inhabitants captive to
northern region of Palestine. From this province came Assyria (II Kings 15 :29 ff.) . This was the first de-
all the disciples with the exception of one.        Being portation. Some thirty years later came Shalmaneser,
fishermen, they sucked the treasures of the sea and king of Assyria; and Hoshea, the last king of Israel,
later became  6shers  of men and thus again sucked but became his servant and gave him presents. Hoshea,
now in a higher sense the treasures of the  sea.               however, soon began to solicit the aid of Egypt against


                                                ` T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                   107
 --...-.-...-...  -.- _.......          ._---."-._.-_l_~.-.--l_l--____I                                       ---l--.-.-ll^
 ASSyria.                    Shalmaneser hearing of it, "came up had been put to tribute by the other tribes. That the
  throughout all the land, and wet up to Samaria;  and writer quoted had his doubts as to the correctness of
 besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea the view he broached is evident enough from his
  he took  Samaria,  and carried Israel away into Assyria closing remark, "Overigens schijnt hier ook een  ge-
 and placed them in the cities of the Medes  (II Kings winzucht aangeduid, die slechts op het stoffelijk bezit,
  17 :4 ff.) . This happened in 722 B. C. "For so it was, op natdurlijken rijkdom, het oog heeft. In den weelde-
 that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord bodem van Galilea ligt mede een oorzaak van de latere
 their God . . . . Therefore the Lord was angry with ontaarding der noordelijke stammen Israels."
  Israel and removed them out of His sight: there was                      As we see it, this last remark comes closer to the
  none left but the tribe of Judah only;' (II Kings 17). truth. Even the view that Issachar voluntarily put his
 The poorest of the land were left behind as husband-                shoulder to the burden of supporting the other tribes
 men. For there still remained Israelites in the dis- finds no support in Scripture and does not satisfy the
 trict (II Chron. 30  :lO) ; but their number were so few prophesy of Jacob. When the nation kept covenant
 that the heathen element rapidly increased. Thus fidelity, each tribe was self-supporting. What is more,
  Galilee became more than ever Galilee, that is, the land the expression tributary is the same as that used of the
 of mixed nations. As can be expected, the Jews of this Canaanites and of the prisoners taken in war. The
 region were held in low esteem by their brethren in word denotes a forced servitude.
 Judea. Yet in this despised province the light was                        The clue to the correct view are certain notices
  first seen.                                                        found in the books of Joshua. Manasseh, so the sacred
         Let us now place the prophesy respecting Issachar record informs us (Joshua  1'7 : 11 ff.) , had in Issachar
 in the light of the above data and discover its meaning. and in  Asher six cities whose inhabitants it could
' Doing so, it appears at once that the meaning of what neither drive out nor even put to tribute. This im-
 was predicted of this son is not that in the rich enjoy- potence seemed to be peculiar to the tribes of Man-
 ment of his land he willingly bore the burden of labor asseh (in respect to the six cities) and ,of Asher,  The
 and tribute imposed by  the other tribes  on his agricul- hand of the other tribes prevailed so that the inhabi-
 ture and pasturage. The above accumulation of data tants of their respective districts became their serv-
 contains not the slightest evidence that Issachar was ants. So we read of Zebulun, "Neither did  Zebulun
 put to such a tribute. Such an imposition would have drive out the inhabitants of  Kitron  . . . . but the
 amounted to a denial of the very principles pervading Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries.
 the theocracy. The Israelitish state was the type of But the notice respecting  Manasseh  reads, "Yet the
 the kingdom of heaven and therefore had to be seen in children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabi-
 normal times as a commonwealth comprised of free tants of those cities ; but the Canaanites would dwell
 tribes. It cannot be true, therefore that as Sikkel puts in that land" (Joshua 17 :12). This notice is not fol-
 it, "De gedachte, in Issaschar's naam neergelegd, kiemt lowed by the positive statement, "but the Canaanites
 uit in zijn stam en historie, en in zijn beteekenis voor dwelt among them and became tributaries." Further,
 Israel. Issaschar is een sterkgebouwde lastezel, die the children of Joseph (the tribe of Manasseh) inquire
 aan beide zijden zware  lasten  draagt. Hij stelt  zich why Joshua had given them but one lot and one portion
 dienstbaar aan Israel, aan de rust, aan het land. Hij to inherit seeing they  were--a.  great people, forasmuch
 ziet de rust, d. i., het wonen van Israel in Kanaan ; en            (they say) the Lord had blessed them hitherto. Joshua
 hij ziet, dat .die rust goed, het goede is. Hij ziet het            replies that if they be a great people, they should get
 land, dat het lustig,  schoon,  begeerlijk is. En daar them up to the wood country, and cut down for them-
 geeft hij zich voor in zijn kracht; hij boog zijn schou-            selves there in the land of the Perizzites and, of the
 der, om te dragen,  en was dienende onder tribute. Wij giants, if Mount Ephraim be to narrow for them.
 zien hierin niet een vernederende dienst. aangeduid, "And the children of Joseph said, The hill is not
 dien Issaschar aan vreemden bewijzen zou ; maar bet enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in
 dienstbaar  maken  van zijn kracht  aan Israels  wonen              the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they
 in Kanaan (vgl. Richt.  5 :lti) , en voorts zijn bearbeiden who are of Bethshean and her towns, and they who
 van den bodem in het schoone  gebied van Galilea  met are of the valley of Jezreel (Josh. 17 : 14 ff.) .
 de hoogvlakte van Jizreel."                                               Whereas the city and the valley mentioned here
         The only scripture that this writer adduces in sup- were located in Issachar's territory (Josh. 17 :ll) the
 port of his reasoning reads, "And the princes of Issa- conviction cannot be escaped that this region was still
 char were with Deborah ; even Issachar and also infested by a powerful and warlike tribe whom Ma-
 Barak . . . .  " We have to do here with an excerpt nasseh and Issachar either singly or jointly were not
 of a song  - the song of Deborah-that commemorates only unable to rout but even unable to put to tribute.
 the successful issue of the war with Jabin, who with The result was that eventually this tribe gained the
 his army had invaded and inaugurated a reignof terror upperhand and reduced Issachar to a state of easy
 in the territory of the northern tribes. That also Issa- bondage in his  * own territory. But Issachar did not
 char had taken part in this war is no proof that he mind, for the yoke was light, and the tribute to which


  10s                                      !i'tii!i  STANbaRD  B E A R E R
 _--._II_ --I_ _..._"  ._" ._-_-......-                     ".___ ..__, --__ll_--^"-.                _-               _--_
 he was put too small to make it worthwhile for him to
 bestir himself and in obedience to the injunction of                     Velen Tot Rechtvaardigen Gesteld
 Jehovah bring the Holy war to a successful issue in
 his district. If  ,he should emerge from the conflict the                Dat de rechtvaardigmaking in den zin, waarin  wij
 loser, his last state would be worse than the first. For- gewoonlijk  daarvan spreken in de leer des heils, niet
 sooth, his condition could not be much improved upon.              ziet op een ingestorte gerechtigheid of heiligmaking,
 A live ass, though burdened, is better than a dead lion. zooals Rome dat wil, maar op een rechterlijk oordeel,
 Let no one gainsay this reasoning ; for it is the reason- een rechterlijke verklaring, waardoor de uitverkorenen
 ing of a man who had understanding of the `times, to als rechtvaardigen worden  gesteld, kan in het licht der
 know what Israel ought to do.                                      Heilige Schrift niet aan twijfel onderhevig worden  ge-
     Judah is the lion's welp who goes up from his prey ; acht. Zeer dikwijls komt het woord "rechtvaardigen"
 Dan is the serpent by the way, an adder in the path, in de Schrift voor in een verband,  dat geen andere  ver-
 that biteth the horse heels ; Naphtali is the hind let klaring   dan de rechterlijke toelaat. Zoo lezen we in
 loose; Benjamin ravins  as a wolf; but Issachar is the Ex.  23  :`7  : "Zijt verre van valsche zaken en den  on-
 strongboned he-ass among  t.he tribes couched down be- schuldige en gerechtige zult gij niet dooden; want Ik
 tween two hedgerows, "chewing the cud of stolid ease zal den  .goddelooze  niet rechtvaardigen; waar racht-
 and quiet." Higher aspirations are not stirring in his mxurdigen  we1 `geen andere "beteekenis kan hebben dan :
 breast. His action is similar to that of the mother of vrij spreken, rechtvaardig verklaren in het gericht.
 his tribe. He  bargans  with the heathen, hires his Dezelfde beteekenis heeft hetzelfde woord in I Kon.
 heritage for a price and thus converts the fruit of 8 :32: "Hoor Gij dan in den hemel en doe, en richt uwe
 his rich soil into a wage. The other tribes are at least knechten,  _ veroordeelende den ongerechtige, gevende
masters in their respective territories. Not so Issa- zijnen weg'op zijn hoofd, en rechtvaardigende den  ge-
 char. He is the strong-bone ass ; the hired servant rechtige, gevende hem naar zijne gerechtigheid." Zoo
among them in bondage to the heathen. For he loved .weet de lijdende Knecht des Heeren, dat Hij niet be-
 rest and his pleasant land. To heap up the treasures schaamd en te  schande zal  worden,  dat er niemand is,
 of this land was his very life, And because he saved die met Hem zal kunnen twisten,  omdat Hij nabij is,
 his life, he lost it  - lost his life and his heritage.           Die Hem rechtvaardigt, Die Hem in het gericht  recht-
    Rightly considered, Issachar's sin was the sin of all vaardig stelt ; daarom kan niemand een rechtzaak tegen
the tribes. The same disposition that lurked in his Hem hebben, Jes.  50  :7, 8. En wezenlijk dezelfde be-
bosom, lurked in the bosoms of them all. There re- teekenis heeft het woord in Ps. 143:2: "En ga niet in
mained to every tribe cities from which the Canaanites het gericht met Uwen knecht, want niemand, die leeft,
were never driven out. Instead of warring the warfare zal voor  .Uw aangezicht rechtvaardig zijn"; alsmede  in
of Jehovah to the end, the tribes made a league with Ps. 51:6 : "Tegen U, U alleen heb ik gezondigd en ge-
the inhabitants of the land and forsaking Jehovah, daan, dat kwaad is in Uwe oogen ; opdat Gij rechtvaar-
turned to the gods of the heathen. Therefore were dig zijt in Uw spreken en rein zijt in Uw richten."
they sold into the hand of their enemies who put them                   In het Nieuwe Testament treedt deze rechterlijke
to tribute. And Israel would pay rather than repent beteekenis van het woord nog veel helderder in het
because it loved strange gods. Not until the yoke be- licht. Zoo lezen we van den wetgeleerde, die tot  Jezus
came excessively oppressive, would they cry unto the kwam met de vraag: wat doende zal ik het eeuwige
Lord for deliverance. Issachar `made a god of his soil. Ieven beerven?  dat hij zichzelven Wilde rechtvaardigen,
Because he clave  with his heart to this god, he paid Luk. 10:29,  En tot de huichelachtige Farizeen  zegt de
tribute. So did they all. Yet there was this difference Heiland:  "Gij zijt het, die uzelven rechtvaardigt voor
between Issachar and the rest: the Israelitish disposi- de menscheh, maar God kent uwe harten." Dezelfde
tion toward servitude was especially prominent in  Is-             beteekenis is duidelijk uit de tegenstelling in Matth.
sachar.                                                           12 :37 : ."Uit uwe woorden  zult gij gerechtvaardigd wor-
    Moses said better things of Issachar then did Jacob. den en uit uwe woorden zult gij veroordeeld worden."
And of Zebulun he said, "Rejoice Zebulun, in thy going In Rom.  2:13 lezen we: "Want de  hoorders   der wet
out; and Issachar in thy  tents. They shall call the zijn niet rechtvaardig voor God, maar de daders der
people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacri- wet zullen gerechtvaardigd worden." En daarom zal
fices of righteousness: for they shall suck the ook uit de werken der wet geen vleesch gerechtvaar-
abundance of the sea, and of treasures hid in the sand" digd worden  voor Hem, want uit de wet is de kennis
(Deut. 33). They "spoken of here are the Zebulun and der zonde, Rom. 3:20. Doch wetende, dat de mensch
the Issachar according to the election.                           niet gerechtvaardigd wordt uit de werken  der wet,
                                                G.  MM. 0.  * maar door het geloof van Jezus Christus, ZOO hebben
                                                                  wij ook in  Christus  Jezus geloofd, opdat wij zouden
           Oh, `take this heart that I would give                 gerechtvaardigd  worden  uit het geloof van  Christus  en
             Forever to be all Thine own ;                        met uit de werken der wet, daarom, dat uit de werken
           I to myself no more would live, -                      der wet geen vleesch zal gerechtvaardigd  worden,  Gal.
             Come, Lord, be Thou my King alone.                   2:16. En dat  niemand  door de wet gerechtvaardigd


116                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEABER
-_              -.^---______-              ____.--____       .."."_"...^_                       .._
                                                            he fall into the condemnation of the devil. &Ioreover
      Some Matters In Connection With                       he must have a good report of  them.that  are without;
          Art. 5 of Our Church Order                        lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
                                                            Likewise must the deacons not be double-tongued, nor
                                                            given to much wine, nor greedy of filthy lucre ; holding
       The closing paragraph of a recent article of mine the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience."
read, "The last clause of article 5 reads: `Whereupon             The apostle adds: "And let those also first be
the minister called shall be installed with appropriate proved; then let them use the office of deacon, being
stipulations and prayers agreeably to the Form for found blameless."
this purpose.' This together with the `laying on of               So, then, the proving or examination is not a super-
hands' has been dealt with in a previous article. fluous addition. The brotherhood that calls is laid by
Enough, however, has not been said of these actions. Christ Himself under the necessity of proving  -
We purpose to make them an object of more thorough proving not merely the deacon, but him desired for the
study.  ,The fruit of this study will comprise the fol- office of minister of the gospel as well.
lowing article."                                                  Whereas in the Church Order and in practice both
       So, then, let us attend once more to the action here and in the Netherlands, the election precedes the
known as the ordination. We took the stand that the pr@uir,g (the peremptory examination by the calling
ordimtion belongs to the very essence of the calling church) it follows that the statement to the effect that
and not only the ordinution  but the peremptory exami- the election is properly the calling, is equal to the state-
nation (the one taken by the calling church) as well. ment that a brotherhood may call without first ascer-
Such we said is also the view of the Church Order. taining by the proviny whether the one desired pos-
Article  4 literally asserts that these actions as well as sesses the necessary qualifications. But the fact is
the &&on comprise the lawful calling to the office.         that if the fit only may be called, the brotherhood may
d quote: "The lawful calling of those who have not not call until after it had ascertained the fitness of the
been previously in office consist: first in the Election  ;' one it contemplates calling. In view of this it seems to
secondly, in the Examination ; thirdly, in the Approba- me that the election and the calling should be kept
tion, finally in the Public Ordination.".       The view apart and that the former should be defined not as
coming to the surface in this clause is that the calling comprising the whole calling but as constituting one
is not complete without the last three actions, so that of the elements *that enters into the <make-up of the
strictly speaking anyone not examined and ordained calling. This view was shared by the late Dr. Bavinck:
is not called.                                              *`Maar  met de keuze van de gemeente," he wrote, "en
       Attention was called to the fact that the above view de beroeping door den kerkeraad (vocatio  stricte sic
is not shared by all. Joh. Jansen maintains that "Het dicta), is de uitwendige roeping nog niet afgeloopen.
wezen  van de  roeping  ligt in . de verkiezing." Dr. Zij zet zich voort in de beproeving, het onderzoek of
Bouwman is of the same conviction: "Het wezen  der examen" (Dog. V,  4 :4, 6).
roeping ligt in de wettige verkiezing of roeping door             As to the ordination, that it, too, belongs to the
de gemeente . . . . . "                                     calling is a view not shared. by all. Wrote Dr. Rutgers:
       We already wrote that  an  unsuccessful examination Yntusschen  is die `bevestiging' niet de hoofdzaak. Bij
renders the election void, so that what heips to give to al die kerkelijke die&en  is de roeping (in the sense of
the latter the absoluteness and finality it needs but by election, G. M. 0.) de zaak waar het om te doen  is;
itself lacks is the successful issue of the proving en desnoods zou die oak zonder `bevestiging' kunnen
(peremptory examination) . As standing alone, then, aanvaard worden,  zoodat de daarbij,  plaats hebbende
the election reposes upon a condition and therefore can- stipulatie  of verbintenis door briefwisseling tusschen
not very well be defined as essentially constituting the den kerkeraad en den geroepene werd  afgedaan,  of
c&l&g.  Still other considerations enter in here. The zelfs mondeling door private vraag en  antwoord.            Dat
brotherhood is not free to call whom it wills but is in zou  we1 in strijd zijn met de kerkenordening en de
duty bound to restrict its choice to those of whom it usantie (het gebruik) , maar tech op zichzelf  nag geen
knows that they are qualified to serve. We find an vrijheid  geven aan gemeenteleden om de roeping ook
enumeration of the qualifications for office in Scrip- met te erkennen. `t Geen  dan echter met slechts geldt
ture. "A bishop," says the apostle, "must be blameless, `coor een tweede of derde roeping,  maar  natuurlijk ook
the husband of one wife, vigilent,  sober,, of good be- voor de eerste; want alle die roepingen (bij predikan-
haviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach ; not given ten zijn het er we1 eens vele) staan in beteekenis  ge-
to wine, no striker, not greedy of  filthy lucre ; but pa-, lijk ;`en wie meent dat de tweede of derde geen  bevesti-
tient, not a brawler, not covetous; one that ruleth well ging noodig heeft, moet  dit eigenlijk van de  eerste ook
his own house, having his children in subjection with stellen."
all gravity  ; (for if a man know not how to rule  his            Rutgers defined the ordination (bevestiging) as fol-
own house, how shall he take care of the church of lows : "De zoogenaamde `bevestiging' van  predikanten,
God?)  ; not a novice, lest he being lifted up with pride ouderlingen en diakenen is niet anders dan de open-


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                 117
~~-~.                        .------.-.-.- -__---..                          - ..-_ _."                     _-...................." ..-- .- ..-.-
bare  handeling,  waarbij -tij den dierut, waartoe  zij ge-
roepen  zijn, aanvaarden,  door zich plechtig te verbin-           De Nederlandsche Geloofsbelijdenis
den tot het daaraan verbondene werk, `t welk hun  voor-                                ARTIKFL  XVI
af is herinnerd."
    The question is, what is the ordination as to its                        VAN  DE  EEUWIGE  VEFLKIEZING
essence, or, what is the ordination proper. Rutgers                  Wij gelooven, dat het  geheele  geslacht  van  Adam
has it that the publicity of this action constitutes its           door de zonde  des eersten .menschen in verderfenis en
essence.     For he distinguishes between the "bevesti-        ondergang zijnde, God zichzelven zoodanig bewezen
ging," and the "verbintenis  door  briefwisseling."  The           heeft  als Hij is, te  weten:  Barmhartig en  Rechtvaar-
latter, then, according to this authority, does not                dig. Barmhartig: doordien dat Hij uit deze verderfenis
                                                                   trekt en verlost degenen die Hij in zijnen eeuwigen en
properly belong to the ordinatidn. Of course, if this              onveranderlijken raad, uit enkele  goedertierenheid, uit-
view is correct the ordination,  ,if  nead be,  cbuld be           verkoren  heeft in Jezus Christus,  onzen  Heere,  zonder
omitted. But is this view correct? We cannot see that              eenige aanmerking  hunner  werken.         Rechtvaaxdig:
it is. Bavinck wrote that the ordination takes piace               doordien Hij anderen laat in hunnen val en  verderf,
primarily through the "laying on of hands" and that                waar zij zichzelven in geworpen hebben.
this Iatter action is the "sending" of the one called by          Het is eenigszins te betreuren dat onze  vaderen
the Lord. It cannot be otherwise but that the ordina- niet meer lengte en breedte hebben gegeven aan dit
tion as to its essence is an action that consists (a) in artikel, dat  handelt over zulk een gewichtige waarheid
the solemn declaration of the part of the one ordained als de eeuwige verkiezing Gods. Inzonderheid daar dit
that he believes himself called by God ; (b) in the bind- artikel het eenigste is in gansch de Geloofsbelijdenis,
ing himself by a solemn promise to the duties belonging dat handelt over de verkiezing en de verwerping. Ook
to his  oflice  ; (c) in his sending by God. The ordination zou dan in den loop der geschiedenis der Gereformeer-
therefore may take place in private if need be, but it de kerken veel misverstand zijn voorkomen, vooral in
may not be omitted. What is more, the conviction den strijd  betreffende  den raad Gods, namelij k, of wij
cannot be escaped that it belongs, must belong, to the die  raad Supralapsarisch of  Infralapsarisch   moeten
very essence of the calling even if conceived of as a voorstellen. Telkens en telkens weer hebben de  Infra-
purely ecclesiastical action. But God calls His servants lapsaristen  zich op dit artikel beroepen om hunne  stel-
by choosing them through the congregation, by proving ling te bewijzen, dat God uit een gevallen menschdom
them and declaring them fit for service, by gendering verkoren heeft wie  zalig zouden  worden  in  Christus
in them the will and the courage to' respond to the call Jezus. Immers de  Infra-mannen  stelden de orde in
to service, to accept the office, and to bind themselves den raad Gods voor, alsof God eerst de gansche  schep-
by a solemn promise to the duties belonging to the ping voor zich zag, daarna den val en daarna de ver-
office. It, is with this calling to the special o&e as it kiezing. En zij meenden  zich te  kunnen   beroepe? op
is with the irresistible calling that comes to every elect. onze  vaderen, alsof zij ook in dit artikel die orde in
God calls by His word and Spirit' His people out of den  raad Gods zouden hebben voorgestaan. Want,
darkness into His light. He calls and they hear His zeggen zij : "Wij lezen uitdrukkelijk dat God `& dexe
voice ; they respond. But what is this response but the werderfenis trekt en verlost degenen die Hij in Zijnen
other side of His calling, the calling effectual, and thus eeuwigen en onveranderlijken raad, uit enkele  goeder-
His calling. So it is with the response to the call to         tierenheid, verkoren heeft in Jezus Christus,  onzen
the special office.                                            Heere,' . . .  " Daarom  zsggen  we weer, dat het
                                                  G. M.  0     eenigszins te betreuren is, dat dit artikel niet Ianger
                                                               en breeder is uitgewerkt, om al dit rnisverstand te
                                                               voorkomen. Doch alhoewel  dit artikel we1 breeder be-
                                                               hoorde uitgewerkt te  worden,  nochtans ontbreekt het
                  BENEFIT OF TRIALS                            aan  die@ niet. En ziende de diepte van dit art.ikel,
                                                               kunnen we  als Gereformeerden van de twintigste eeuw
            Is not the way to heavenly gain                    het onze vaderen  nazeggen : Wij gelooven  namelijk het-
              Through earthly grief and loss ?                 geen in dit  artikel wordt beleden.
            Rest must be won by toil and pain -                   Ook in dit artikel ziet men het streven om de zalig-
              The crown repays the Cross.                      heid der kinderen Gods enkel en alleen in God te stellen,
            As woods, when shaken by the breeze,               en het zalig worden  geheel en al als Gods werk te be-
              Take deeper, firmer root,                        schouwen. Dit streven is de eigenlijke karaktertrek
            As winter's frosts but make the trees              der Gereformeerde kerken, in onderscheiding van de
              Abound in summer fruit;                          Luthersche en andere afdeelingen van het Protestan-
            So every Heaven-sent pang and throe                tisme. En  wanneer  de vijanden der waarheid dan be-
              That Christian firmness tries,                   weren  willen dat dit streven niets anders is dan een ge-
            But neves us for our work below,                   volg van een wijsgeerig Godsbegrip, dan komen we
              And forms us for the skies.                      daar sterk tegen op, en zeggen dat de belijdenis het


                                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                   119
 .--...   -                     -- _-.......--.  .__                                         .-...-II__  ___"-                --__
                  The Great Darkness                                        eye corresponds rational light. Rational light is but
                                                                            another term for the wisdom of God revealed by the
       The light of the body is the eye: therefore when tbine               things that are made. God shows unto His creatures
    .eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but               by the things of sense what may be known of Him.
     thine  eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. If              Fe reveals Himself through the Word by whom all
     therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how                   things were made. He reveals vimself  unto His people
     great is that darkness.                                                through Christ, who spake of the plight of those for
    There is the physical eye to which corresponds whom He came to lay down His life ; of HimseIf  as the
 physical light, created on the first day. And God said, lamb who taketh away the sin of the world ; of the
 Let there be light: and there was light. Seeing re- cross He was to bear, of the Father's house with its
 quires light and the eye. When either is lacking, one mansions, of the inheritance that fadeth not away. He
 walks in darkness.        Though the sun shines in the revealed the Father's heart and mind, the Father's
heaven, if one is blind, he is still in darkness. And                      good pleasure. This entire revelation of God is rational
the perfect eye cannot function without light.                             light.
    The above text assumes that the sun is shining,                            And to this light there corresponds the rational eye
that it is day. What it says of the eye is a matter of of man. Man sees this light; for this light and man
common knowledge. The eye is the light, the candle are rational. The wisdom of God is not irrational, not
of the body. The eye is this only when it sees. It is foolishness, but wisdom indeed. It requires no saving
the seeing eye that is the light, the eye that sees the                    grace to rationally comprehend the truth. The Spirit
light. A single eye is a seeing eye ; the evil eye is the can  and. does carry the truth in the hearts and minds
blind eye. When the eye is single, when it sees, the                       of carnal men ; for these minds and the truth are
whole body is full of light, the whole body through the rational. The Spirit enlightens the wicked by the very
eye sees. The foot keeps to the path. The hand reaches wisdom of God. And they taste His good word (Heb.
out and lays hold on the thing that is wanted. The                         6:5).
finger touches the spot. a And the head bends to avoid                        So, then, the Logos is in the world, and lightheneth
colliding with the obstruction.                                            every man. For the invisible things of Him from the
    However, one feels that Christ in the final instance creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
was speaking of something different then the physical by the things that are made . . . . There is in addi-
eye and physical light when He said, The light of the tion a word (light) of God transmitting to the rational
body is the eye. What He in the final instance was eye of man a knowledge respecting the world unseen  -
speaking of is the spiritual eye and spiritual light.                      God, heaven, Christ and the cross, death, the grave and
   Man if normal has a physical eye, a rational eye hell; a knowIedge  respecting the man, his state, origin,
and a spiritual eye. Corresponding to the physical eye destiny and purpose.
is the physical light. Corresponding to the rational eye                      Between purely physical and rational light (the
is the rational light. Corresponding to the spiritual light of  reveIation)  there is an intimate connection.
eye is the spiritual light.                                                Physical sight and light are, as was said, the begin-
   As to physical light, it is theagent of physical sight ning of all our knowledge. For man is a sensuous. be-
in that it conveys to the eye the image of the objects ing; he must see will he know. How then can man
which it envelopes. Physical light may be thought of know the invisible God? It pleased Him to furnish
as a fluid of marvelous subtility filling all space, and His rational creatures with a perceptible exhibition of
set in motion by the sun. The light-wave, beats against His glories. The highest tangible exhibition of Himself,
the objects of vision and rebounding retains the im- of His virtues is Christ and the cross. Because the
press of the object against which it beats. It thus word became flesh, we can see and handle the life by
strikes the eye of the observer as a light-image. It is itself invisible. "That which was from the beginning,
this light-image that the eye sees.                                        which we have heard, which we have seen with our
   The organ of physical sight is, as was said, the eye. eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have
The light-image of the object perceived sets up action handled of the word of life. For the life was made
in the brain of man, and the perceiving soul fashions manifest, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and
a conception of the object seen.                        It means that the shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the
subject sees; that the light has entered his soul; that, Father, and was manifest unto us" (I John 1 :I, 2). So,
to express ourselves in the words of Christ, the whole too, the benefits accruing from the death of Christ are
body is light.                                                             presented to view by things perceptible. The life of
   So does physical light convey to the mind knowl- Christ may be contemplated as bread, wine, water and
edge of the world of sense surrounding us. Physical milk. Our knowledge of God and of things spiritual
light, together with the object enlightened is the prin- and invisible reposes on sensuous perception. In the
ciple of knowledge outside man.                                            things seen, God embodied His thoughts. The aggregate
   Man, as was said, has also a rational eye. To this of-things earthy is the image of the heavenly. Things

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

earthy constitute the glass in which can be seen things changes the glory of the incorruptible God into an
that by themselves are invisible.                              image made like unto corruptible man, and to birds,
       There is then a close connection between light and four-footed beasts, and creeping things (Rom. 1).
physical and light rational, between the physical and He becomes unnatural in his affections  and`fiorks that
the rational eye.                 ..F'                         which is unseemly. He is filled with all unrighteous-'
       There is also a spiritual eye and a spiritual light. ness, fornication, wickedness.          He backbites, hates,
Spiritual light is at once t.he rational light of revela- boasts, invents evil because he walks in his own light
tion.     The wisdom of God is at once rational and which is darkness. Thus it appears that his light is
spiritual. The word rational signifies that  this light darkness indeed, that his wisdom is foolishness, and
is agreeable to true reason, agreeable to the rationality that God's light is true light.
of God and of the creature  He  created in His  image.            Paul compares him to a-drunken man when he says,
This light is spiritual-rational. It is the holy, pure, "But ye brethren are not in darkness, that that day
lovely, beautiful light from the throne.  In this light should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all children of
we see God, the being of infinite perfection.                  the light, and the children of the day ; we are not of
       Corresponding to the rational-spiritual light is the the night or of the darkness. Therefore let us not
rational-spiritual eye, mind, heart. The spiritual eye sleep, as do the others; but let us watch and be sober.
is the pure eye, the spiritua1  heart and mind is the pure For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be
heart and mind. It is only the pure of heart who see drunken are drunken in the night." The term sobricztg
God. It is only the rational-spiritual eye that sees the in this passage signifies the spiritual alertness of the
rational light as spiritual, sees in this light the glorious child of the light respecting the things  of the Spirit.
God.                                                           He is one keenly aware of the approach of the day of
       The natural man's rational eye is spiritually blind. the Lord. For such a one this day does not come as a
Hence he cannot see the rational light as spiritual. thief in the night in that it is being expected. The
Only the spiritual man has a proper sense of spiritual term drunkmness,  on the other hand, is the significa-
values. His is the power to contemplate God as the tion of the wicked one's carnal indifference respecting
highest good, as the priceless pearl, as his great re- the day of the Lord. Strong drink, if taken in suffi-
ward.                                                          cient quantities stupifies man's sensibilities. While in
       "If the light that is in thee be darkness . . . .  "    this `state he is dull `of mind so that even the most
Here Christ had before His eye the man destitute of startling disclosures fail to arouse him. He hears and
,the life of regeneration. There is Iight in this man, sees yet fails to understand. So, too, does the message
for he sees rationally. The light is manifest in him ; of either doom or bliss fail to impress the spiritually
he sees and hears. He is enlightened. The seed sown diseased soul. The carnal man is dead to the things of
fell also in his heart. He may have even received the the Spirit, and incapable of sensing their. value. The
word with joy. This man has his pound. In a word, light in him is darkness, the truth a lie.
there is light in him. That which may be known of                 Where may the fault lie, with the truth or with
God is manifest in him. However, the pure light from the child of darkness? The fault lies with the latter.
heaven  in  him is darkness because his rational eye is The wicked one's eye, mind, heart, is evil. He hates
spiritually blind. He holds the truth, but he holds it in God. He is filled with prejudice  against-God..  There-
unrighteousness. He sees God, but he can see nothing fore he is full of darkness. But the eye of the child of
lovely about God. He despises God in his heart. All light was healed. Therefore his body is full of light.
his thoughts are that there is no God. To him God, who                                                       G. M. 0.
is blessed forever, is a reprobated being. God's wis-
dom, he declares  foohshness,  God's truth, a lie. To
this man the very virtues of God are faults. In a word,                         DO I EVER PRAY?
the light in him is darkness. Yet he is without excuse ;
for' he is a man with rational light. His rational eye                    I often say my prayers,
sees God as a being blessed forever. Not to his rational,                   But do I ever pray ?
but to his spiritual eye God appears to be darkness.                      And do the wishes of my heart
   If the true light in him is darkness, how great is                       Go with the words I say?
that darkness! It could not be greater; for the  true                     I may as well kneel down
Eight in him is darkness. Besides this light there is no                    And worship gods of stone,
light so that if  this  light is darkness how unspeakably                 As offer to the living God
great that darkness ! It is a darkness that is absolute.                    A prayer of words alone.
   But the sinner cannot do without light.  SO  he
walks in the light he kindled, and feeds upon his own                     For words without the heart,
wisdom. Therefore he is a dangerous man. For his                            The Lord will never hear;
own light is the darkness of hell. His wisdom, foolish-                   Nor will He to those lips attend,              ,.,
ness. In his foolishness he does strange things. He                         Whose. prayer is not sincere.


                           A   R e f o r m e d   Semis-Monthly  M a g a z i n e .                                                     .,
                  PUBLISHED BY THE REFORMED FREE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION, GRAND RAPIDS,  MICH.





                                           Entered  as second class mail matter at Grand Rapids.  Micb.
 ".-_"-  ^..".                                                                                             -.                               I___
  Vol. IX, No. 6                                          DECEMBER 15, 1932                                      Subscription Price, $2.50
                                                        -.--                 -..-.-_  -_II-^.^._                         _"--..-_^

                                                                          and the noble vine ; the lamb and the serpent; the
                  M.EDITATION                                             mysterious numbers and the richly varying colors ; the
                                                                          earthly square and the heavenly cube and the eternal
                                                                          circle; the glittering stone of great price and the sand
                     The Advent  Sign                                     that is by the seashore ; the restless ocean and the
                                                                          mighty mountain; the fierce tempest and the gentle
                         And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye            zephyr; bare deserts and fertile fields ; bread and water
                       .shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling          and wine; the seed that falls in the earth and dies to
                       clothes, lying in a manger.                        live again ; the' roaring thunder and the swift light-
                                                        Luke  2:12.       ning; the light of day and the darkness of the night, -
       A sign, the sign that Christ is come!                              all things are signs and they speak in a language of
        Ye shall  find the babe, wrapped in swaddling their own, pointing upward, forward, groaning in
 clothes, lying  in a manger!                                             hope! . . . .
       ,A sign, indeed, sufficiently unique to serve as a                      And this shall he a sign unto you!
 means of recognition, for when was it ever heard, that                        Christ, the Lord is born, and ye shall  fmd Him
 a woman travailed in a stable, that a manger must wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger!
 serve as cradle for a newborn babe ?                                          How incongruous !
        But a sign? How strange ! How incongruous ! How                        What a striking anti-chmax  to one of the gladdest
 strikingly improper as a sign appear the stable and sermons, preached by one of the most illustrious
 the manger and the hastily improvised swaddling heralds of good tidings, that ever was delivered on
 clothes, when we contemplate the illustrious event they earth ! The angel of the Lord, bringing with him an
 must obsignate: Unto you is born Christ, the Lord !                      halo of glory that  filled the humble audience with fear
        Signs there are in great number in the world and because it reflected. the glory of the Lord, was the
 the Word of God abounds in them. In a very general preacher of this gladdest of all tidings that ever
 way all things earthy are signs and symbols of things reached the earth. And he had spoken, quickly and
 that are heavenly, for when the former were called briefly, but emphatically and in words pregnant with
 into being by God's almighty Word, the Wisdom of God eternal and heavenly meaning, of great joy that shall
 already had respect unto the latter.                 Mere earthly be to all the people. For unto you, thus had he an-
 things did not constitute the final realization of God's nounced the cause of and reason for this great joy, is
s eternal counsel.      He had provided, from before the bo,rn this day, in the city of David, a Saviour which is
 foundation of the world, some better thing for His Christ, the Lord!
 people. They were destined to inherit the. beauty of                          GIad tidings of great joy, indeed !
 an heavenly inheritance. And this ultimate purpose                            A Saviour is born! He that shall deliver His people
 God had in view when first He called the things that from all their sin and guilt and misery and death and
 were not as if they were; of these He made an image darkness to make them heirs of eternal life, partakers
 of the better things to come.                                            of the highest good, is now come ! He is Christ, the
       And thus all things are signs ! Loudly they speak ! Messiah, the Anointed of God, the long  e-xpected One,
 Day unto day uttereth speech ; night unto night for whom all israel had hoped, with a view to whom
 uttereth knowledge. The sun and moon and stars, the saints had  suflJered  reproach, had refused the
 shining and sparkling in the firmament; the beasts of treasures and pleasures, the glories and honours of the
 the forests and the flying birds ; the cedars of Lebanon world, had been willing to wander as strangers and


I 1 2 2                                      T H E   S T A N D
                  -.-._ IIx ..-        ..__ -.- ._-_  "" -__-...... - A R D   B E A R E R
                                                                    ~-_                       --- __ .-.......................  I    -
      pilgrims in the earth ; in the hope of Whose advent by mighty hosts and human power is He to receive
      the mothers of -God's covenant had been blessed in His Kingdom, but in the way of obedience even unto
      bearing the children ! He is the Servant of the Lord, death . . . .
      the great Prophet that would cause small and great               A Saviour He is, truly, but not from earthly ills and
      to know the Lord ; the eternal High Priest, that would pains. He has not come to deliver His people from the
      bring the perfect sacrifice once for all; the mighty oppression of earthly enemies, from the yoke of for-
      King, that would fight as the Captain of the Host of eign powers. He claims not to he a reformer of this
      Jehovah, battling to victory over sin and death and world, who is to improve conditions, to adjust relation-
      the world. The Lord ! . . . .                                 ships among mere men, to create peace among the
          And this shall be a sign unto you! . . . .                nations and prosperity in the worldly sense of that
          What glory shall serve as His sign?                       word. He came to reveal the Father, to make known
          Is He born in royal purple? Is His home a palace ? unto His people the counsel of His salvation, to remove
      Is Jerusalem in festive garb? Do the mighty and noble their guilt, to blot out their transgressions, to deliver
      and wise, they that have power and influence in the them from the power of darkness and translate them
      world, surround His bed, paying homage to Him in into the sphere of His marvelous light. And for this
      humble adoration. Do silver trumpets proclaim His work of salvation no human power is of any avail. It
      birth and are fires lit from hill to hill to let the world is only in the power of that great love of God in which
      know that Christ, the Lord, is come? . . . .                  it is His meat to do the Father's will, by which He will
         No ; but this shall be a sign unto you . . . ..            humble Himself even unto the deepest reproach and
          Ye `shall find the babe, wrapped in swaddling shame, by which He will be able to give the perfect
      clothes, lying in a manger!                                   answer to God's: Love Me ! that He is able to save His
         `A mere, helpless babe He has come ! Born He is in people from their sins, to overcome the powers of dark-
      circumstances that bespeak the most abject poverty. ness and battle His way into the Kingdom the Father
      Into the world He entered without anything of the ordained for Him !
      world, among the beasts of the field, an outcast of              And this shall be a sign unto you !
      society, on the very edge of the world . . . .                   The stable, the manger, the swaddling clothes !
          There is no place for Him in the ,royal palace ; there       Barest poverty, circumstances that befit one who
      is no lodging for Him in the homes of the city of has nothing in this world!
      David ; there is no room .for Him in the inn ! . . . .           How proper !
         Wrapped in swaddling clothes !                                For, what could be more consistent than that He,
          Lying `in the manger!                                     whose Kingdom is not of this world, Who must battle
         A Saviour ! Christ, the Lord !                             His way into His inheritance by the spiritual power of
         Such is the sign of His coming !                           righteousness and obedience unto death, should mark
          0, the folly of it! God of God in swaddling His advent into the world by the sign of abject poverty.
      clothes ! The Hope of Israel in the most hopeless cir- Earthly pomp and glory could but serve to hide the
      cumstances ! The Lord in direst want !                        purpose of His coming. He, that is to be heir of all
         How absurd !                                               things by the favour of God and in the way of perfect
I-                                                                  righteousness, must begin  Hiss course a poor, helpless
                                                                    babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger!
                                                                       And this shall be a sign unto you !
         A sign, the sign of His advent!                               How proper with a view to the relation the world
         A babe ye shall  fmd, wrapped in swaddling clothes, in the midst of which He is born sustains to Him
      lying in a manger!                                            and the attitude they shall assume over against Him,
         A sign, indeed, apparently absurd and inconsistent as soon as they understand Him and the purpose of
      with the advent of Him Who is a Saviour of His people, His coming !
      Christ, the Lord ; yet, in deepest reality as proper as          For the world  `lieth in darkness and the devil is its
      it is unique !                                                Prince !
         Indeed, He is the Saviour, Christ, the Lord. He is            And He came to witness of the Light!
      the mighty King of kings and Lord of lords. The                  He is Immanuel, God of God in human flesh, come
      heathen are His inheritance and the uttermost parts of to speak of God. Always He witnesses of God that is
      the earth are promised Him for a possession. For, He really GOD! He will save, indeed, but from sin and
      is the Anointed of the Father. But His Kingdom is not guilt, from unrighteousness and corruption, from the
      of this world but of heaven. It is not from below, but unfruitful works of darkness. He will speak of God
      from above. It is not  o.f man, but of God. It is not with relation to men and their works, of God over
      material, but spiritual. Its power is not in an arm of against sin and darkness. And He will bring men to
      flesh, but in the grace of the Spirit. Its foundations God ! From darkness He came to translate them into
      are not human power and wisdom, but the righteous- the light! And the works of darkness He will con-
      ness of God. Not in the way of worldly warfare, not demn, persistently, constantly, uncompromisingly. No


                 __"                  T H E   ST'A`NbAkb  BEAkEk                                                  123-
solution He will have to offer for the problems of a should go to see. For, what is there to be seen? The
world that loves darkness rather than light. And He stable, the manger, the babe wrapped in swaddling
will battle to bring all things in subjection unto the clothes, the bale and silent. mother, a scene of abject
living God! . . . .                                        poverty and human misery, that may evoke your pity,
   And the world will hate Him !                           but will not corroborate for the flesh the glad tidings
   For the world loves darkness and hates the light of great joy the angel proclaimed in the fields of
because its works are evil!                                Efratha: Unto you is born this day a Saviour, which is
   And there will be no room for Him !                     Christ, the Lord ! . . . .
   No room in Jerusalem, the city of God! No room           You may, going to Bethlehem in unbelief, in the
in Bethlehem, the city of David! No room in Nazareth, power of the flesh, be persuaded, perhaps, that your
His own city! No room in Capernaum, in` Chorazin or help is needed there ; you will not go there to be helped
Bethsaida, though presently He will show all His power and saved !
to them! . . . .                                              But unto you this shall be a sign !
   No room there will finally be for Him in all the           Unto you, who believe, and with the shepherds of
world ! Even the stable and the manger and the swad- Efratha look for the Hope of Israel?
dling clothes the world will take away from Him ! . . .       A wicked and perverse generation seeketh after a
   And  t.hey will cast Him out, nailing Him to the ac- sign. But to them no other sign shall be given than
cursed tree !                                              that of Jonah, the prophet!
   How proper, then, the sign, even from the view-            But to you, that believe, the sign of the stable and
point of the relation towards Him of the world into the manger and the babe in swaddling clothes is given.
which He entered!                                          And you go. Go to Bethlehem. You see the sign
   Surely, the sign was occasioned by circumstances. You believe. And believing you bow down at that
`Joseph and Mary reached the city of David too late to manger, believing the message of the angel, adoring
find room for their lodging. There was no room in the the wisdom of God, worshipping your Saviour and Re-
overcrowded city. There was no room in the inn. They deemer, the Babe in the manger, which is Christ, the
must tlnd lodging for the night and they do find it in Lord ! For, by faith you see the sign and understand.
the stable. But a sign it was, nevertheless, inten- You know your own poverty and understand that He
tionally ordained as such.                                 must needs become poor that you may become rich
   And this shall be a sign unto you !                     through Him. You know'  the misery of your sin and
   The riches of a worldly palace, the glory of royal iniquity and understand that there can be no other
purple, the honor of men and the homage of the world, way into the Father's glory than by Him, Who came
had they been brought to Him as He came into the in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin to condemn
world, would only have concealed the true relation of sin in the flesh, that you might be liberated by the
the world to the Christ, the Saviour of His people, the law of the Spirit of life. You see and understand for
Servant of Jehovah !                                       you believe. And believing you know, that He did not
   But the sign of the stable, the manger, the swad- come to establish a Kingdom of this world and for this
dling clothes is the divinely ordained token of His world, but the Kingdom of heaven, based on the right-
advent !                                                   eousness which is of God through Him ! . . . .
   For, there was no room for them in the inn!                Unto you this shall be the sign' of His advent!
   How proper a sign of His coming !                          Let us, then, go to Bethlehem, believing . . . .
                                                              And from the signof the babe in the manger let us
                                                           turn to the more marvelous sign of the accursed tree,
                        \                                  the Man of Sorrows !
   Unto you this shall be a sign !        -                   And from the cross to the risen Redeemer!
   Ye shall find the babe, wrapped in swaddling               Christ, the Lord, indeed !
clothes and lying in a manger!                                                                           H. H.
   And the sign, incongruous though it may appear to                  .
the eye of flesh, will not prevent you to go to Bethle-
hem and see this thing which is come to pass, will not
shut your heart to the glad tidings of great joy that
shall be to all the people !                                  Hoe  talloos vele zijn de wonderbare bewaringen
   For, ye go in faith !                                   van Gods hand in den nood ! Hoe duizendvoudig moest
   Unbelief may go to Bethlehem, but must return in derhalve dagelijks de dank zijn, die men Hem brengen
utter disappointment. There is nothing in that city
of David, in that lonely stable, with its babe in the zou !
manger, to please the flesh, to appeal to human pride.        Maar ach, wie erkent, wie bedenkt dat?
The very sign that is announced warns you that dis-           0 ziel !  waar zoovelen Hem vergeten, vergeet gij
appointment will await you in the city of David if you uwen God niet.


130                                          T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
        -.....,....... ..--..-  """.--    11---"".~                                     -          _         .."" ..- ^." .._........."  "..." -........  -
de  slotsom:  Want gelijk het lichaam zonder geest dood
is, alzoo is ook het geloof zonder de werken dood. Wij                         Prophesy' and the Prophets
worden  dus, volgens Jakobus niet gerechtvaardigd door                    The prophetic office should be defined as follows:
een dood geloof, maar door een levend geloof in  Chris- the right and the  capan,ity  to receive and impart a
tus, en dit levende geloof in  Christus kenmerkt zich divine communication. The right to speak and divine
juist door de werken. Uit eenzelfde fontein welt geen capacitation is implied in the calling.
zoet en bitter water en een vijgeboom kan geen olijven,                   Let us now put the question: What was the essence
een wijnstok geen vijgen voortbrengen.                                 of the prophetic office? and the answer, a knowledge or
       En zoo is het metterdaad. Want wij  worden uit insight into the secret counsel of God. Whereas the
het geloof gerechtvaardigd.  Doch dit geloof is  geea                  Lord imparts his secrets to his friends only, the
verstandelijk voor waar aannemen, dat God mij in prophet was a friend of Jehovah. Let us incorporate the
weerwil van al mijne zonden rechtvaardigt en recht above-cited elements in our definition. It there reads
geeft  op het eeuwige leven, maar het is de levende band               as follows, A prophet is  a friend of God whom the
aan Christus. Het is een geestelijk vermogen, door latter authorizes and capacitates by his grace to know
genade gewerkt in het hart van den dooden zondaar, and to impart his secret counsel and thus be engaged as
waardoor hij met geheel zijne ziel, met verstand en his friend-servant in his (God's) house to build and
wil en hart  Christus  aankleeft, en alles uit Hem trekt set in order this house.
en zich toeeigent,  wat tot zijne zaligheid in Hem ons                    Let us now show that this definition is derived from
geschonken is van God. Wat de wortels zijn voor een Scripture. The first person in Scripture called a
boompje, dat in den grond wordt geplant, is het geloof prophet is Abraham. Said the Lord to Abimelech who
voor het kind van God, dat in Christus wordt ingelijfd. had appropriated Abraham"s  wife, Now therefore re-
Zooals het leven der wortels van het boompje daarin store to this man his wife for he is a prophet and he
wordt bewezen en geopenbaard, dat het door die  wor- shall pray for thee and thou shalt live. Tf we compare
tels de  sappen  uit den grond trekt, groeit en vruchten Abraham with such personages as Isaiah and Jeremiah,
voortbrengt, zoo wordt het leven des geloofs daardoor it is difficult to see why the Lord ranked him with the
geopenbaard, dat het alles uit  Christus trekt. Ret prophets. Abraham does not at all appear in Scripture
trekt uit dien  Christus  de rechtvaardigmaking en het crying out to his' contemporaries, Hear ye the Word
recht op  het eeuwige leven.  Maar  het trekt ook uit of the Lord, or, Thus saith the Lord, as a prologue to
dien Christus  de heiligmaking en de volkomene  verlos-                lengthy discourses. However, if we take the prophet
sing. Wie het laatste niet uit  Christus  trek&  ont- to be a friend of God, privileged and capacitated to
vangt ook het eerste niet uit Hem, heeft een dood  ge-                 know his secrets, Abraham was, to be sure, a prophet.
loof, dat  noch  zalig,  noch rechtvaardig  maken  Ban. He was the friend of God who enjoyed intercourse with
En omdat wij door zulk een levend geloof  gerecht-                     heaven, was admitted to God's secrets and privileged
vaardigd  worden  door God, is  tweeerlei  houding  onmo- to know his counsels. The Lord explicitly declared him
gelijk. In de eerste plaats is het  ohmogelijk,  dat to be his friend. On his way to Sodom the Lord turned
iemand, die leeft als een vriend der wereld, die de zonde to his companions and in the hearing of Abraham,*who
dient en liefheeft, de houding werkelijk kan  aanne- had gone along on the, way, said, "Shall I hide from
men, dat hij gerechtvaardigd is voor God. Indien hij Abraham the thing which he do, for I know him that
dit  tech beweert, bedriegt hij  zich met valsche  overleg-            he will command his children and his household after
gingen. Hij is niet eerlijk voor God. En in de tweede him . . . .  " (Gen. 18 :1'7, fY.) .
plaats is het onmogelijk, dat iemand, die waarlijk door                   Consider the following Scripture, - "The secret of
een levend geloof gerechtvaardigd is voor God, de  hou-                the Lord is with them that fear him and he will show
ding van een zorgeloos en goddeloos leven zou kunnen them his covenant" (Psalm 25 : 14). The other Scrip-
aarmemen.           Want hij is  Christus ingelijfd door het ture passages enter in here : Ex. 5 : 14, 16 ; Ex. `7 : 1. The
geloof. Hij, is met  Christus  gestorven en opgewekt. first of these reads, "Thou shalt speak unto Aaron and
De zonde heerscht niet meer over hem, want hij is niet put words into his mouth and he shall be thy spokes-
onder de wet, maar onder de genade!                                    man unto the people." In the second the Lord appears
                                                       H. H.           as speaking to Moses as follows, "Behold I have made
                                                                       thee a God to Pharaoh and Aaron thy brother shall be
                                                                       thy prophet." Here it is stated in unmistakable speech .
                                                                       that a prophet is one that speaks words put into his
                               EXPERIENCES                             mouth by the Lord. The secrets of the Lord which it
                                                                       was his privilege as friend of the Lord to know, he the
       After all, why should we look so earnestly for ex- prophet declared.
periences. If we do not have them we too often be-                        Let us now briefly delineate upon each of the essen-
come discouraged, and if we do have them we too often tial properties of the true prophet of the Lord: 1. His
become puffed up.                                                      message had to be a direct and personal communication
       "We walk by faith, not by sight."                        ..-    from heaven. The true prophet declared the word of

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              a                              T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   ,                                131
      ^- -..._......- .-_- _____ --.."".-  ..- --                                                                    ..-_-_
      God in distinction from the false prophet who came know that with Jehovah on their side, no one could be
      with a message that turned out to be the fabrication of against them. In the assurance that they were the
      his own heart. 2. The true prophet had to be a friend blessed of the Lord, they could confidenly  advance.
      of God for the following reasons: a. God reveals his           The message of the prophet. The view that the
      secrets unto his friends only. b. Only the friend of utterances of the prophet had to be predictive in order
      God possesses the necessary receptivity for a divine to deserve the name of prophecy is in the light of the
      communication. Only from such a one does the Word foregoing a thoroughly mistaken idea. Christ was
      of God depart as a living testimony as it is' uttered by    pre-eminently the prophet of the Lord yet a  com-
      one in sympathy with it. C. The ultimate purpose of paratively small part of his discourses were predictive
      prophecy is praise. Jehovah reveals his secrets to his in the narrow sense. The prophet of the Lord was a
      friends that they might approve the thing he con-           revealer of truth, delineated on the truth revealed,
      templates doing and praise his name. The twenty-four proclaimed and reinforced the law of. God, imposed
*     elders which sat before God in their seats fell upon as the agent of the Lord duties upon men, dealt with
      their faces and worshipped God saying, "We give thee men in God's stead for the interest of truth and right-
      thanks, 0 Lord God Almighty . . . . because thou hast eousness.        Of course the prophet also foretold, an-
      taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned . . . . nounces beforehand what was to take place. However
      and thy wrath is come and the time of the dead that predicting the future was by no means the sole engage-
     0  t.hey  should be judged" (Rev.  11:17,  18). d. Finally ment of the prophet. His office included much more.
      the near purpose of prophecy - the imparting of the Prediction was but accidental. On the other hand all the
      divine communication to man, in particular to God's communications of the great prophets had a bearing
      people  - made it imperative that a prophet be a friend     on the future, not because these communications were
      for only such  a one possesses the necessary constancy predictive in the narrow sense of the word but because
     and boldness which the prophetic engagement required. they set forth heavenly and eternal truths and dealt
     The prophet then was in the deepest sense of the word with the realities of faith and hope and the great prin-
     a man of God, who entered into God's mind and ciples of duty as a certain writer expresses it, "The
     breathed the very spirit of God. He was one permeated much larger portions of their communications were no
     with truth and righteousness, the very depository of further predictive of what was afterwards to happen
     the revealed mind of God.                                    than as the present necessarily contains the germ of
         The rule that the prophet must be a friend of the future, or the manifestations then given of God's
     Jehovah has two exceptions, viz., Balaam and Caiaphas. mind and will bespoke the recurrence of like manifesta-
     Both were destitute of grace yet prophets of the Lord tions, and it may be, still, higher ones to come."
     and the former consciously so. Balaam was made to               What we mean by prediction in the narrow sense is
     bless a people he hated, was compelled to utter a speech a specific prediction respecting particular personages
     that was descriptive of the glory of the nation whom or events in the future. For convenience sake-then let
     he would fain have cursed for filthy lucre. In order to us speak of general prophecy and particular prophecy.
     csplain  the appearance of .this personage in history,          Particular prophecy in history. Perusing the pages
     regard must be had to the character of the period of of the Old Testament Scripture the discovery may be
     Israel's history in which he was raised up :                 made that not until the period of the breakdown of the.
         Israel had served it's t.ime in the desert and was       Old Testament typical theocracy and the casting of the
     now about to take possession of Canaan. The time life of the church into a new mold, does particular
     was at hand for the army of the Lord to fight the            prophecy, i. e., prophecy predictive of specific events
     battles of Jehovah. The land was densely populated.          revolving about particular personages, become copious.
     The spies had reported that they had seen giants there. This does not mean that particular prophecy was alto-
     It required therefore an heroic faith on the part of gether lacking in the prophetic discourses of predecing
     Israel to respond to the orders of the Lord to advance.      periods. In the words of Davison, "In the Old Testa-
     Israel was in the need of some tangible evidence of an ment it (particular prophecy) appears somewhat like
     extraordinary character that it had nothing to fear. a river small in its beginning and though still proceed-
     This evidence was provided them in the person of ing yet after losing itself for ages underground, then
     Balaam. Though a hater of God and his people, though bursting forth anew with increased volume and at last
     in grip of a .mighty impulse to curse for the proferred rising into a swollen stream, greatest by far when it
     honor and wealth, he nevertheless repeatedly burst has come within  prospLct  of its termination."
     forth in prophetic praise of Israel in a language de-           Let us institute an inquiry into the amount of
     scriptive of its eternal well-being. His prophetic out- specific prophecy found in each successive period of the
     bursts were like meat coming from the eater and con- Old Testament dispensation. This will at once afford
     stituted the unmistakable evidence that Jehovah's us an opportunity of noticing the character of Old
     reign was so absolute that even the tongue of the Testament prophecy. 1. The predeluvian period. Dur-
     wicked must sing the praises of him and his people ing this period particular prophets scarcely exists.
     when he so willed. The people of Jehovah might now Jehovah himself directly without the aid of a prophetic


132                                        ,TlFtl3  S'PANDABb  BEARER.
                             -.-_..." ___.___...    _.............._.  -._         ..-...-
agent, uttered a prophetic word, viz.,. the word re- statement that as a prophet Moses towers above all the
specting the , two seeds.      Though a word vital and prophets. Of all the prophets, Christ excepted, Moses
fraught with meaning, it is too vague, too indefinite to was the greatest. Such was the magnitude  o,f the
be classified with specific prophecy. The thought cir- task he was called upon to perform that he ranks not
culating through it constitutes the nucleus idea of the with Isaiah but with Christ. What was his task? The
divine scheme of redemption, viz., the ascendency  of answer is found in Hebrews 3 :l-5: "Wherefore, holy
the seed of the woman over the malice of the devil.                           brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider
It is a word so comprehensive that it reaches in its the Apostle and High-priest of our profession, Christ
effect to the second coming of Christ. Its fulfilment is Jesus, Who was faithful to him that appointed him,
a process of as many ages as this world in the eternal as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this
counsel of God is old.                                                        man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses in
   In respect to the prophecy of Enoch (Jude 14, 15)                          as much as he who hath  builded the house that .hath
we may say that' it is little more than a restatement of more honor than the house . . . . For every house is
the prophecy uttered at the time of the fall, and an ap- builded  by some man ; but he that built all things is
plication of this principle to an age of extreme wicked- God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house as
ness. The Lord was to come with ten thousand of his a servant, for a testimony of those things which were
saints to execute judgment upon the ungodly to con- to be spoken after; but Christ as a son over his own
vince them of their ungodly deeds.                                            house ; whose house are we . . . . "
   The prophecy of Noah respecting the flood is the                              The passage asserts that Moses as Christ had a
first specific prediction recorded in Holy Writ. This house, that of this house Moses was the builder and the
prophecy, however, is  aIso a repetition, an actual real- faithful servant in it. Moses' house was the Old Testa-
ization of the prophecy of Enoch.                                             ment church or theocracy. This church he built and
   2. The period from the deluge to Moses. This set in order as the instrument of, God. The entire
period also bad its prophets. The first of these was house together with its foundation, occupants, macbin-
Noah. The prophecy he uttered had to do with the ery of government, social and religious institutions
future career of his three sons in their generations and was nothing but a replica of a mass of legislation
the relation they were to sustain to each other. It was which Moses had taken with him when he left the
a prediction considerably more specific than that made presence of God, a legislation setting forth the prin-
immediately after the fall, yet too general to be called ciples of divine truth, justice and love. Whereas it was
a specific prophecy.                                                          the execution by Moses of what this legislation pre-
   The same must be said of the revelations made to sented that converted the Jewish nation into a typical
Abraham. They are indeed interspersed with specific house or temple of God radiating his glories, this
prophecies, e. q., the prediction respecting the birth of house is said to be of Moses. Of this house he is the
Isaac, the Egyptian bondage and the announcement builder, and the faithful servant in it.
that Abraham in his generations was to possess the                               As may be expected Moses' fellowship and manner
land of Canaan. Aside from these interspersed state- of communion with God was altogether unique. It was
ments, these revelations partook of the character of and had to be congruous with the magnitude of his
general announcements respecting the future prospects task. So he knew God face to face, received his
of races and tribes. The promise of the Shiloh was tile revelations not in vision and by dream but by direct
most specific of this group in so far as it had to do                         discourse. He talked with God as a man with a man.
with a single individual that would appear in the Accordingly we read in Deut. 34 : 10, "And there arose
future.                                                                       not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom
   4s a whole these patriarchal blessings had to do the Lord knew face to face." Also Numbers- 12 :6-8 :
with general matters, set forth the fundamental prin- "And he said,  IXear  now my words: If there be a
ciples of divine government and pointed out the line of prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself
descent selected by Heaven to serve the scheme of known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him
redemption as a channel of grace.                                             in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faith-
   3. From Moses to the beginning of the fall of the ful in all mine house. With him will' I speak mouth to
typical theocracy. After centuries of silence Moses mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches, and
appears. With him the expiring flame of prophecy the similitude of the Lord shall he behold . . . . "
again flares up into a blaze of unprecedented propor-                            Moses was surpassed by Christ only. The latter is
tions and brilliancy. As a prophet Moses' task was not the Son over his own house, the church universal.
to predict coming events but to build and to set inorder Christ's fellowship with God was of a surpassing glory
the government of the house (Old Testament theo- and intimacy. He is the Son that lieth in the bosom of
cracy) in which he was servant, and to proclaim and the Father. For him God had no secrets.
elucidate the fundamental principles of this govern-                             Herewith we have set forth the character of Moses'
ment.                                                                         task. Because it was the time for the building and
   Let us enlarge upon this idea. We set out with the setting in order of God's house, it follows from the


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       133
_..                                                                                                --_.- ..- -- _...-
very nature of things that Moses as a prophet was              It seems, however, as though this prophet under-
engaged not so much with the future as with his stood not the purpose and character of the divine
present.' He, too, deals with predictions, however,  only operations he had called forth. What had happened is
in  SO  far as his present contained the germ of the that the Lord, in response to his prayer, had come in
future. SO that aside from a few exceptions his pre- judgment and avenged himself on the wicked. For
dictions cannot be classified with  see&c  p$hecy.          three years it had not rained. This drought the prophet
       The period from Moses to  Hosea. In the period of thought would have  thb effect of bringing the apostate.
the judges prophets occasionally appear. It is to be nation in the dust before the Lord. In this conviction
noticed that they speak but once.`After relieving them- he was strengthened when the people seeing his sacri-
selves of their burden they returned to silence and are fice devoured by fire from heaven fell on their faces
not again heard of. In this period the word of God and said, "The Lord, he is God." Soon after, however,
was scarce. Not the prophet but the deliverers called he received notice of the wicked Queen Jezebel that he
judges occupy the stage. It was a time of action rather would be killed. This meant that she had  not been
than of lofty revelations.                                  rebuked and curtailed in her movement, that therefore
       The first great prophet of this period was Samuel. the shout, "Jehovah is God" was a shout of mere aston-
He originated the prophetic schools of the Old Testa- ishment instead of the outcry of a people that had
ment. However, only a small part of Samu$`s  utter- truly repented.            The prophet perceived that his
ances were predictive, had to do with particular events method, that the judgments he had called forth, had
and revolved about particular $ersons.       Such a pre- not borne the contemplated results. He flees to Mt.
dictive prophecy was the one about Eli's house. This Horeb. Here he is bidden to stand on the Mount be-
was followed b$ others of a like character from time fore the Lord. A great and strong wind rent the
to time ; prophecies that turned on particular points mount, and broke in pieces the rocks. After the wind
in connection with the  demand of the people for  `a came an earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire.
king  - the elevation of Saul to the throne, his In none of these was the Lord. After the fire came a
apostacy, the selection of David and the rending cf the still small voice. It was the voice of God that revealed
kingdom.                                                    to the prophet the secrets of the Almighty.
       Yet only a small part of Samuel's utterances were       What is. the lesson the prophet must learn? It is
predictive in the narrow sense. His prophetic labors that Jehovah does not come  ,in the operations the
had to do with present. This is the one point of con- prophet had prayed for to regenerate, to convert, to
vergence between his labor. and that of Moses. In cleanse from sin and thus to befriend and as a friend
distinction from Moses, who was a builder, Samuel was to comfort and cheer and calm man, but to wreak
a revivalist and spent his energies in directing the life vengeance, to execute judgment,  $0 destroy.          The
of the nation through proper theocratic channels and prophet  lsld prayed not for a revelation of divine
in supervising the execution of imposed duties. To mercy but for a display of divine wrath. The results
search and reveal the hidden mysteries of God was not which Elijah had contemplated are not produced by
his task but rather to champion and awaken interest fire and earthquake. The god  df fire and storm comes
for the principles circulating through the revelations to destroy, not to show mercy. It  is  the God of the
already given. This activity Samuel organized and still small voice that comes to commune. God speaks
perpetuated through regular institutions called schools to the hearts of his friends, not in thunderous tones
of prophets. The age in which Samuel lived called for that frighten, but in a .&ill small voice that comforts
a prophetic activity of this kind. Samuel then was a and cheers and to this small voice the hearts of God's
watchman on the walls of Jerusalem. His business was people are  atuned.
to supervise the behavior of his people with a view to         The Davidic Cycle of Prophecies.
encouraging piety and detecting and reproving the ten-         There is no essential difference between this type
dencies of apostacy.                                        of prophecy and that of which Samuel and Elijah were
       The greatest prophet  01 this time was Elijah. He the outstanding representat.ives.    It aimed to impress a
was pre-eminently a man not of profound thought and pious spirit on the nation, to instill and infuse life into
lofty speech but of heroic action. His words were few, the Mosaic institutions, to inspire the devotee of. the
but they were surcharged with power spoken as from Jehovah religion to serve him in spirit and in truth. It
the secret place of thunder and seemed more like de- incorparated  in lofty and infallibly inspired speech, the
crees coming. direct from the presence of the Eternal pious and divinely in-wrought response of the spirit-
than the utterances of one of like passions as we.          ually quickened soul to the glories of, Jehovah as ex-
       Alone he came forth as a champion of righteous- hibited in his salutary works.
ness in time of unprecedented corruption in high               From the very nature of things it follows that the
places. He appears not as a pleader for but as an one point upon which this lofty prophecy revolved was
avenger of righteousness, and as an executor of divine the glorious salvation of Jehovah. Of this the agent
judgment. Upon his prayer divine wrath smote the of this type of prophecy sang; in it he gloried. The
earth and tormented those corrupting it.                    past and prospective redemption of Zion with  judg-


,, -- f.34                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
     _I_-                     .___-   -..-___                 " ..__ """ . ..-                                            ____....  -_-_-- -...-..-....  - -  "-
     ment and righteousness was the great theme. In this
     type of prophecy the saint is not spoken to`but is the                                   Nog Eens: Algemeen Aanbod
     speaker, and his song breathing with the feelings of a                               Dr. H. Eouwman  vervolgt zijn artikelenreeks over
     profound personal experience, issued direct from the dit onderwerp in De Bamin als volgt :
     secret place of the heart whose strings were set to
     vibrating by the Spirit of God.                 .                            .         ALGEMEEN   AANBOD  VAN GENADE  *
      .       In brief the fmst point of divergence between the                                                     II
     Elijah and Davidic prophetic cycle is that in the
     former the church is spoken to, in the latter the church                             "Wij hebben in het ,vorige  artikel gezien dat volgens
     is the speaker. The second point of difference is that Ds. Hceksema het verschil tusschen hem en Ds. Keeg-
     only in the one was in-wrought the experiences of tile stra daarin bestaat, dnt Ds. K. handhaaft en Ds. H.
     prophetic, viz., the Davidic cycle. Further the  Davidi:: lcochent dat. de prediking des Evangelies een welge-
     prophet spoke in lofty poetic strains, but not so the meend aanbod van genade en znligheid is van Godswegc                                                     .
     Elijah prophets. Finally the Davidic prophecies bore :!an alle menschen.
     a judicial character and reached the church through                                  "Ds. Hoeksema meent dat, zal er door God welge-
     the channel of constituted government and was  en- msende genade  aan alle menschen worden aangeboden,
     forced by the sword, of the magistrate.                The poet Christus  dan voor alle menschen gestorven moet zijn.
     David, e. q., was in distinction from Elijah a  theo- En dat is Remonstrantsch. Nu erkent Ds. H. we1 dat
     cratic king ; who not only sang of the glories of his Ds. Keegstra duidelijk leert dat alleen  de uitverkore-
     God but purged out evil from his kingdom by the nen, voor wie Christus  heeft voldaan, behouden zullen
     sword.        Church and state was one, accordingly the worden.  Ook heeft Ds. H. er geen bezwaar tegen, dat
     sword of the magistrate was employed in the interest de prediker van Christus wege de boodschap aan alle
     of religion.                                                                      hoorders  moet brengen: `Bekeert u en gelooft in den
                                                          G. .M. 0.                    Heere  Christus  en gij zult zalig  worden.'  Tegen den
                                                                                       algemeenen eisch van geloof en bekeering heeft Ds.
                                                                                       Hoeksema niets.
                                                                                          "Hierover, zegt hij, loopt ook het dispuut niet, maar
                       RULES FOR DAILY LIFE                                            over den eisch tot geloof en  bekeering   loopt het  dis-
                                                                                       puut. Doch het bezwaar  bestaat hierin dat Ds. Keeg-
                   Begin the day with God:                                             stra zegt, `dat God welmeenend is in de aanbieding des
                       Kneel down to Him in prayer                                     heils zelfs aan degenen, van wie God weet, dat Christus
                   Lift up thy heart to His abode,                                     niet voor hen voldaan heeft, en die Hij niet verkoos tot
                       And seek His love to share.                                     de zaligheid.' We1  mag men, zegt Ds. Hoeksema, spre- 9
                                                                                       ken van den eisch Gods, maar niet van een welgemeend
                   Open the Book of God,                                               aanbod der zaligheid. `In een aanbod gaat het niet over
                      And read a portion there ;                                       de  waag, wat wij  moeten, wat God van ons eischt,
                 , That it may hallow all thy thoughts,                                maar we1 degelijk over de vraag,  wat God wil en be-
                       And sweeten all thy care.                                       looft te  doen.'    `De algemeene verkondiging van het
                                                                                       Evangelic  is geen algemeen aanbod van zaIigheid,  want
                   Go through the day with God,                                        God wil juist niet, dat alle menschen hoofd voor hoofd
                       Whate'er thy work may be;                                       zalig worden  en een prediker mag dit ook niet zoo voor-
                   Where'er thou art  - at home, abroad,                               stellen.' Een prediker mng het zoo voorstellen, `dat
                       He still is near to thee.                                       God van zijn zijde welmeenend  aan  alle menschen het
                                                                                       heil aanbiedt, of anders gezegd dat het  Evangelic een
                   Converse in mind with God ;                                         welgemeend, algemeen aanbod van genade is van Gods-
                       Thy spirit heavenward raise:                                    wege.' hnmers zoo spreekt, noch de Schrift,  noch de
                   Acknowledge every good bestowed,                                    Belijdenis. `De belofte des Evangelies is dat een  iege-
                       And offer grateful praise.                                      lijk, die in den gekruisigden  Christus gelooft, niet  ver-
                                                                                       derve,  maar het eeuwig leven hebbe.'
                   Conclude the  day with God.                                            "De lijn der Schrift, de eenige Gereformeerde lijn
                       Thy sins to Him confess ;                                       loopt,  zoo schrijft Ds. Hoeksema in het laatste hoofd-
                   Trust in the Lord's atoning blood,                                  stuk van zijn boek, ds volgt: le. God heeft van eeuwig-
                       And plead His righteousness.                                    heid de zijnen verkoren en de anderen verworpen;
                                                                                       2e. De verzoening is particulier,  Christus  is alleen  voor
                   Lie down at night with God                                          de zijnen, niet voor de anderen gestorven. Dat houdt
                       Who gives His servants sleep ;.                                 in, dat hij de zaligmakende  gaven  des Geestes, ook het
                   And if thou tread'st the vale of death,                             geloof,  alleen   voor de uitverkorenen heeft verdiend,
                       He will the guard and keep.                                     voor niemand anders ; 3e. Ons in bezit komen van de


                       \
136                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
                 " --.....-._  - __.......l..ll-                      -_" .-..............._ "l^"..."-l
die wij daarin beluisteren getuigt van zijn groote zon-
daarsmin en van zijn lust in het redden van goddeloo-                                                      Dan Shall Judge
z e n "   ("De  D r i e   Punten  i n   alle  Deelen   Gerefor-                          Dan shall judge his  p&ple, as one of the tribes of
meerd," p. 21).                                                                    Israel. Dan shal.I be a serpent by the way, an adder in
                                                                                   the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider
       En verder:                                                                  shall fall backward.
       "Die verklaring (van den rijkdom der  goedertieren-                        Also this prophesy reposes upon a past event.
heid Gods, H. H.) moet gezocht worden  in het doel, dat Rachel was barren. Leah had already borne Jacob four
God met deze  openbAring  zijner liefde beoogde. En sons. Vexed by these circumstances, she declares to
wat was dat doe1 ? Om de goddelooze  Joden   dieper in her husband, Give me children, or else I die. Realizing
het verderf te storten ? Neen, maar om hen tot bekee- the truth of Jacob's rebuke, Am I in God`s stead . . . .
ring te leiden . . . . Doch in het geval der Joden  be- she now did the things against which her soul must
antwoordde het resultaat niet aan de bedoeling. Zij have rebelled, - she gave him Bildah her handmaid to
verhardden zichzelf tegen deze openbaring van Gods wife. And Bildah conceived and bare Jacob a son.
goedheid" (Idem,  p. 27, 28).                                .          And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also
                                                                        heard my voice, and hath given me a son: and there-
       Nog eene aanhaling :                                             fore called she his name Dan. The name means judge.
       "De Heilige Schrift verzette  zich tegen de  godde-                         "God hath judged . . . .  " said Rachel. What
loosheid en verkeerdheid der geslachten, die voor den prompted her to say this? That God at least according
zondvloed leefden. Hij zocht hun goddeloosheid tegen to her own conviction had judged her can only mean
te houden en hen tot bekeering te leiden . . . . Maar                    that she had to do, so she thought, with an adversary.
de Geest twistte tevergeefs ; de zonde nam hand over And who else could this be but Leah. It is not at all
hand toe" (Idem,  p. 42, 43).                                           unlikely that this sister, who at the time of the birth
                                                                        of Dan had already borne Jacob four sons, was vaunt-
       Dit alles is we1 duidelijk.                                      ing herself in Rachel's presence, and holding her sister
       In verband  hiermee mag ik thans reeds de opmer-                 in a visible mild  contern@.               It is expressly stated that
king  maken, dat we met onze cantrovers altijd weer there was a cruel and sharp rivalry between the two.
voor dezelfde kwestie komen te staan: welke genade Leah was the hated wife as compared with Rachel.
ontvangt een verworpene in de prediking des  Evange- When the latter saw that she bare Jacob no children
lies ?                                                                  she envied her sister. And she in turn accused RacheI
       Dieper  opgevat kunnen we het ook zoo stellen:  Gaat of having taken her husband. Such being the sad state
er van en door de verkondiging des Evangelies alleen of affairs, it could well be that Leah's more unwittingly
eene zaligmakende werking Gods uit op de hoorders, than deliberately we prefer to suppose was by her
of ook een verwerpende en verhardende werking? bearing and  speech provoking her barren sister to
Werkt God alleen Zijne verkiezing uit of ook Zijne tears. If it be considered further that also Rachel's one
verwerping  ?                                                           desire was to bring forth covenant seed, that she could
       Of, in het algemeen: zal een mensch in den hemel be expected to view her plight as the sign of the Lord's
komen, dan moet God hem er brengen ; maar hoe komt displeasure, it can easily be seen that her grief was so
een mensch in de he1 ?                                                   great that she preferred death to life. From the depth
       We zijn niet klaar door te zeggen, dat het Evan-                  of her sorrow she cried unto the Lord, submitted her
gelie geeit welgemeend aanbod van genade is van Gods- case and her very self to Him for appraisal in the con-
wege aan alle menschen ; we moeten  ook de vraag  on- viction that He, having taken cognizance of her con-
der de oogen zien: wat is dat Evangelie van Godswege triteness, would grant her the desired token of His
en flaar Zijne bedoeling dan we1 voor den verworpen favor and thus silence and rebuke her adversary. And
goddelooze  ?                                                            God judged &er,  heard her voice and gave her a son
       En de Schrift geeft  011s ook op deze vraag geen  on- and thus removed her reproach. So she called his name
duideli j k antwoord.                                                    Dan, that in his generations he might stand out as the
                                                             H. H.       token  atid  pledge of the  6rm and abiding resolution of
                                                                         God to judge His people, declare them for reasons
                                                                         residing in Himself. innocent, take their part over
                                                                         against the adversary, avenge their wrongs and redeem
                   Z&g, zalig, niets te wezen                            them from all evil.
                      In ons eigen oog voor God  ;                                  That the birth of Dan was indeed the answer to
                    Eigen zin en lust te vreezen,                        her prayer, that Dan's coming must be taken as the
                                                                         sign and pledge of the firm and immutable resolution
                        Steeds te rusten in ons lot.                     of God to stand by His. people  is evident enough from
                    Need'rig, kinderlijk, en stil,                       Jacob's prediction respecting this son: "Dan shall
                        Ons te voegen naar Zijn wil.                     judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel." Dan


                                      THE  S T A N D A R D  BFARER                                                                137
      __" ..-..._  ., .."I                     _l___ll" ..- - .-.- -           -" ..-._ ---           _- ..__ -_- ___-.-.  -.-"- ___.___
would judge as the agent of the Lord so that we must and vexed ,thcm" (J`dg. 2 : 11-18).
read, "God will judge . . . through Dan, judge as one                   The foregoing is a brief resumption of God's deal-
of the tribes of Israel." This prophetic utterance is ings with His people in the period of the judges. How
of significance  principly for two reasons. Consider that He stands out in the above scripture as a God of match-
Dan was the first child  borne*of  one other than either less purity, of infinite love and exhaustless patience.
Leah or Rachel. Bilhah was the latter's handmaid. Though the nation after each salvation would again
The question would arise whether the son of this bond-, corrupt itself in following other gods, as often as they
woman  - for such she was -- should be heir with the groaned by reason of t&ir spoilers, the Lord would
others. The same question had risen in respect to know their sorrow and come down to deliver them out
Ishmael.         How the Lord had settled that matter is of the hands of their enemies. So did He continue to
known : "Let it not be grievous in thy.sight  (such was judge His people, continue to mark their sins, to
the Lord's word to Abraham} because of the lad, and chastise them `through the adversary and lead them
because of thy bondwoman ; in all that Sarah hath said back to Himself, and to deliver them from the spoilers.
unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall                   Rightly considered, the word judging is but an-
thy seed be called." But of Dan and thus of all the other word for salvation in that the latter is realized
sons of the two bondwomen the Lord said, "as one of through judgment. Christ bore for us the burden of
the tribes of Israel (he shall be)  ." This settled the God's wrath. He became obedient unto death and was
matter of Dan's status in the household of Jacob and therefore highly exalted. His people-are led through
in the holy commonwealth of Israel. These sons of suffering to glory, and the foe is -judged and  van-
the-bondwomen shall take their place alongside of the guished. .
others and be heirs with them.                                          And the typical replica of salvation may be seen
   But Dan in addition is even to judge as one of the also in the book of Judges. As was said, the nation
tribes. He is to do service as the token and pledge of time and again was brought to grief. A typical clean-
God's determination to repent because of the groanings sing of sin through the blood of the sacrificial victim
of His people by reason of them that oppress and vex and the lifting of the oppressive yoke of the spoiler
them (Judges 2  :18). The book to which we must turn would follow. This cleansing and this lifting of the
for the record of the conspicuous  fulfilment  of this yoke were the elements that comprised salvation. With
prophecy is the book of the Judges. According to the salvation once more an accomplished fact, the pious
very testimony of the author of this book, at least one judge for the remainder cf his life would keep the
of the propositions he  was bent on proving is that the nation to the law and the service of God..
Lord judges His people. This is evident from his in-                    There were several such judges. The most  conspi-
troductory remarks. We read: "And the children of cious of these was the Danite Samson. In and through
Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served him alone, the Lord wonderfully wrought. As one
Baalim.        And they forsook the Lord God of their miraculously strengthened he single-handed. grappled
fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, with the foe. It was in him that Dan was- brought to
and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that the fore as the outstanding token and pledge of the
were round about them, and bowed themselves unto willingness to judge His people and through judgment
them, and provoked the Lord to anger. And they for- to save them to the uttermost.
sook the Lord, and served Baa1 and Ashtaroth. And                       Samson and the judges in general were types of
the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he Christ. Types they were and nothing more. The true
delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled Saviour, judge, is Christ, As our eternal king, He
them, and He sold them into the hands of their enemies governs us by His word and Spirit, and defends and
round about, so that they could not any longer stand preserves us in that salvation, He had purchased for
before their enemies. Whitlersoever they went out, us. He delivers us from the power of the devil and, in
the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the the words of the Catechism, so preserves us that with-
Lord had said, and as the  Lord- had sworn unto them: out His will not a hair can fall from our heads ; yea,
and they were greatly distressed. Nevertheless the that all things must be subservient to our salvation
Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of and therefore by His Holy  qpirit, He assures us of
the hand of these that spoiled them. And yet they eternal life, and makes us sincerely willing and ready,
would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a henceforth to live with Him.                     *
whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto                                                                 G. M. 0.
them: they turned quickly out of the way which their
fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the
Lord; but they did not so. And when the Lord raised
them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge? and                   Surrounded by those who constantly exhibit defects
delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the of character and conduct, if we yield to a complaining
days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of and impatient spirit, we shall mar our own peace withA
their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them out having the satisfaction of benefiting others.


l-10                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         -.-_ -_~
-._.-  ___I__                                   _.._. -- ..-.
woord  dat vertaald werd  in onze  taal door, door. Door
het middel der Spiegel  nu. Als het einde bereikt is, kan                                       Contribution
het middel wegvallen. Hebben we de beeltenis niet meer
noodig en zullen we het aangezicht zien.                                        (Read before the Men's Society of the Roosevelt Park
                                                                 w. v.                          Protestant  Churchj

                                                                               The following question. was given to me as a sub-
                                                                            ject to be discussed before cur society:  `Xay we join a
           CONFIDENCE IN FOREORDINATION                                     Christian labor union  ?" .The simple answer to this
                                                                            question is "Yes." Why not? To modern unionism
               Sovereign Ruler of the skies,                                and its evils the Church of Jesus Christ is opposed.
               Ever gracious, ever wise,                                    But it surely cannot be opposed to Christian laborers'
               All my times  are~in Thy hand,                               nniting to plan, discuss, and formtilate  a constit?t:o~
               All events at Thy command.                                   based on the ideas contained in -the Word of God, and
                                                                            thus unitedly pian and deliver for the cause of right-
                 His decree, who form'd the earth,                          eousness and justice.
               Fix'd my first and second birth  ;                              Christian labor unions have existed for a good many
                 Parents, native place, and time,                           years in European countries. The present American
                 All appointed were by Him.                                 trade unions  date back about  75 years, and the age of
                                                                          4 one of the last ones that has come .into esistence  is
                 He that  form'd  me in the womb,                           about two years. Its name is "Christian Labor Asso-
                 `He shall guide me to the tomb;                            ciation."
                 All my times shall ever be                                     It was when the American nation began to take
                 Order'd by His wise decree.                                part in industry that the ida of the labor union and
                                                                            iabor laws began to occupy the minds of the American
                 Times of sickness, times of health,                        people. The reason for this was that many manufac-
                 Times of penury and wealth ;                               turers were greedy, being covetous for the riches of
                 Times of trial and of grief,                               th.is world, and in order to realize their desire  fo?
                 Times of triumph and relief.                               wealth laborers had to work longer hours, were often
                                                                            mistreated, received low wages, and were given no pro-
                 Times the Tempter's power to prove,                        tection against  the hazards of industrial life. The
                 Tinies to taste a Saviour's love ;                         dangers for workmen increased with the invention of
                 All must come, and last, and end,                          machinery.     These conditions brought about, after
                 All shall please my heavenly Friend.                       much discussion, laws requiring protection from
                                                                            dangerous machinery and the installation of machinery
                 Plagues and death around me fly;                           which would carry away dust and fumes, and make for
                 Till He bids, I cannot die:                                safe and healthy places to work.
                 Not a single shaft can hit                                     Another growing evil  was  that factories, whose
                 Till the God of love sees fit.                             owners were greedy for production, would require their
                                                                            workers to spend long hours on the job  tn order to
                 0 Thou Gracious, Wise,  arid Just!                         produce the quantity desired. Of course, this was an
                 In Thy hands my life I trust:                              evil which the poor laboring man had to endure, for
                 Have I something dearer still ?                            what could he do as long as workers were not organ-
                 I resign it to Thy will.                                   ized ? If a laborer spoke up for his rights, he was in
                                                                            danger of losing his job. However, after much agita-
                                                                            tion laws were gradually enacted which reduced the
                                                                            number of working hours.
                                                                                Our day also has its problems for the laborer, for
        The Senior Choral Society of the First Protestant instance, the matter of over-population. When a com-
 Reformed Church at Grand Rapids,  Mich., is planning munity gets crowded,  ,there are more working men
 to give a miscellaneous program on Monday evening, than are necessary or cari be used in the factories in
 Jan. 2, 1933.                                                              that community. The result of this condition *is that
        We have arranged a very nice program of Holland a man who is out of work will accept his same job for
                                                                             lower wages, and that often involves a jeopardizing of
 and English music and urge all our people to come.                          his rights as a worker. An illustration of this : I read
        The collection,  .which  will be taken, is intended for a few weeks ago about members belonging to the same
 our Mission, after expenses are deducted.                                   church being employed by  ,another  member of that
        Please keep this date open.                                          same church and paid one dollar per day -- less than


                                                                                                                                        .  .-


                                   TT-IE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        141

a scrip worker, who is remunerated at the rate of forty    eousness keep growing and will culminate in the  anti-
cents per hour. These are intolerable conditions. A Christ or the man of sin.
laboring man should receive a living wage, and if it          Here are some reasons for the existence of a Chris-
becomes necessary, he should have the privilege to tian labor union: Fellowship. To unite in one group as
organize in order to be assured a just return for his friends. To be interested in the C. L. A., its diseus-
work by working for laws which guarantee this.             sions, its objects, and its purposes, and above all, that
   Rut now the question comes, Can the present Amer- these purposes should be in harmony with the Word of
ican labor union do what needs to be done? I do not God. Another reason for a Christian labor organiza-
think so. There are many phases of the labor problems tion is to have a sympathetic understanding of one an-
which the American union does not care about and other's interests. Our Christian men should study and
which the Christian labor union and all Christians understand what they are doing. The questions of
should be interested in.                                   wages, working conditions, hours, Sunday labor, and
   Christians do not believe in class strife, nor that it many other problems such as So plan methods and
is necessary to be hostile to capital. There should be means which will be just to the capitalist as well as to
no hatred between capitalists and laboring men. Ac- the laborer need much study. For this we need an
cording to the Bible a laborer is worthy of his hire. To exchange of ideas and plenty of patience.
realize this principle Christians must unite, not as in       We should look for good leaders who can defend
Russia where the goods of the rich are coveted and the the principles of a Christian labor organization ; men
capitalists persecuted and even murdered. Such an who are able to keep alive these principles and who will
attitude is contrary to the Word of God.                   not take sides when a trade union goes on a strike,
   We all realize that the Christian Labor Association motivated by wrong principles; men who are able to
is not perfect, nor does it profess that all men are upon defend themselves against Communists and Socialists
an equal basis. Our every-day experiences teach us - forces that are undermining American life.
that. Some are rich, others poor; some wise, others           Let us be thankful to the American government
lack wisdom  ; some people God gave talent for business, which is willing to permit a Christian union so we can
others to be leaders, etc. Some God has set in author- enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In no
ity and others must labor all their life. Some he places country has the laboring man been so richly blessed as
high in important places in the world of industry. But m this country.
amid ali this diversity the common man retains the            In the present depression it seems that all re-
privilege to plead and labor for his own interests, to straints have been done away with. The selfish in-
bring his cause before the lawmakers of country and        terests of the employers are cruel. The larger labor
state that legislation may be passed for his good and , organizations or unions are very quiet. They are beaten
the welfare of his family.                                 for the time being. They have only selfish interests to
   A criticism L often hear from men that belong to .serve and the interests of their opponents now have the
modern labor unions, especially from Sodalists and upper hand. The C. L. A. does not recognize this class
Communists, is that the Church of Jesus Christ is on struggle. When the interests of employer and em-
the side of Capitalism. For more information  concern-     ployee clash it regards this as a result of unsound
ning this charge read books on. conditions in Mexicz.      sinful influences. Its task is greater than any oth.er
Let the C. 1;. A. show these critics that on the basis of labor union. It strikes at the root of evil in the reIa-
Scripture the Church must and does help the poor and tions in the world of labor and industry. Its task is to
needy laborer. `Did God not give laws in the times of remove this evil or at least reduce it as much as pos-
Moses for the governing of Israel ? How much is not sible so that such evils as have been going on all the
said about the servant, widow, and orphan, the poor ages between working men and capitalists may be
and needy ? Nor should we forget James, the Lord's rooted out. The Christian labor union should deplore
brother, who pronounced the curse of God on all that the present attitude of the employer toward the em-
kept back by fraud the hire of the laborer. What ob- ployee, although in fairness to the employer it should
jection would these men have to the account of Paul, recognize that the present relations are a natural re-
who while preaching the gospel earned his living as a sult of_the  force of might which in the past has dom-
tent maker ?                                               inated these relations.
   What is happening in our days to the trade unions          During the' World's War we loudly proclaimed that
in our large cities? They are being led by men who might does not make right, but at- home and in our
care more for power and money than for the laborer, own life we have neglected to apply the same teaching.
going so far that they pay tribute to gangster and During the World War we allowed thousands of young
ruling the union with an iron hand. The result of this lives 6 be taken to prove that might is not right, and
is class hatred. Thisis  what the C. L. 4. opposes.        now we are bringing suffering to millions of families
   A Christian union is necessary because the present because the rich owner or capitalist has maintained
unions are not what they should be and we know there that in the reiations between employer and employee
will be no changes in them because sin and unright- might is right. To witness to the truth of the gospel


142                                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
-..."..-                      .--.- -........  "..                                           --__ .._.....  ".                - -
is what the world unions cannot do because their over de wonderlijke wijsheid en goedheid Gods,  waar-
foundation is darkness, selfishness, and covetousness.                    door Hij den gevallen  mensch opxoekG  en troost, door
       But a Christian believes it is God's love in his heart hem te beloven dat Zijn raad zal bestaan, en dat Hij
which moves him to love his own fellow brothers in Zijn Zoon zou geven, die gelukzalig zou  maken  de  ver-
Christ. To reveal this we must have the grace of God korenen die ook in Adam gezondigd  hadden. Daarom
in our own hearts. He must live in us and we in Him. spreekt ook dit artikel niet over de verlossing van den
We must be conscious of His indwelling that He rules mensch in het algemeen, want ook dat wordt behandelt
in our hearts through His Spirit. l&lay we pray unto in volgende artikelen. Maar dit artikel spreekt over de
God to give us a strong influence in our homes, church opzoekende liefde Gods betoond en bewezen aan Adam
life, societies, Christian schools, and also for the in- in het Paradijs, onmiddellijk na den val. Al komt de
terests of Christian labor unions.                                        Zone Gods in  bet vleesch, niet tot 4000  jaren  daarna,
                                                       Peter Offringa.    tech kan Gods wijsheid en goedheid niet gedoogen dat
                                                                          het kind zijner liefde ongetroost in de ellende blijft
                                                                          liggen. Hij zoekt hem op en beloofd hem een verlos-
                                                                          ser. En over die opzoekende liefde handelt dit artikel.
       De Nederlandsche Geloof sbeli jdenis                                  Onze vaders, die de belijdenis hebben opgesteld,
                                                                          gingen stellig van de gedachte  uit dat Adam een uit-
                            Artikel 17                                    verkoren vat was. Toen  hij in de zonde viel, zoo vie1
  HET  OPZOEKEN EN  TROOSTEN VAN DEN  GEVALLEN                            hij in de armen van den beloofde Zone Gods. Dit wordt
                                                                          in dit artikel genoemd de wijsheid en goedheid Gods.
                             MENSCH                                       We1 is dit van toepassing op het werk Gods tot  verlos-
         Wij gelooven, dat onze goede God, door zijne wonder-             sing der zijnen in het  algemeen,  maar inzonderheid in
       lijke wijsheid en goedheid, ziende dat  zich de mensch             het geval van Adam en  ,Eva. Immers als God zijne
       alzoo in den lichamelijken en geestelijken dood gewor-
       pen had, en zich geheel ellendig gemaakt had, zichzel-             stem laat hooren, wandelende in den hof, aan den wind
       ven  begeven  heeft om hem te zoeken,  toen  hij al                des daags (Gen. 3  :8) zoo vlood Adam weg voor het
       bevende voor Hem vlood, en heeft hem getroost,  be-                aangezicht des Heeren al bevende. Of dit beven van
       lovende hem zijnen Zoon te geven, die  worden  zoude               Adam voor het aangezichte Gods te verklaren is uit
       uit eene vrouw, om den kop van de slang te  vermor-                zonde of genade, is voor velen een raadsel dat niet met
       zelen, en hem gelukzalig te maken.                                 zekerheid is op te lossen. Immers  ook beeft den godde-
       Onze lezers zullen merken dat wij de  vrijheid  heb- looze als hij voor God den Rechter  van hemel  en aarde
ben genomen om het opschrift boven dit artikel eenigs-                    komt te staan. Ook  beven en sidderen de duivelen.
zins te veranderen, zoodat het niet Ieest zooals gewoon- Doch dat neemt niet weg dat ook Gods kind menigmaal
lijk wordt weergegeven : "Van de wederoprichting des in de Schrift  wordt voorgesteld als bevende voor het
gevallen menschen," maar dat het leest: "Het opzoe-                       aangezicht des Heeren. (Zie Jes. 64  :2; 66  :5; Jer.
ken en troosten van den gevallen  mensch." Wij  geloo- 33 :9). En als we de geschiedepis in Genesis lezen, dan
ven dat  dit opschrift beter de gedachte van dit artikel kunnen we vast gelooven dat Adam  we1 beefde en
uitdrukt, dan het eerstgenoemde. En dat we1 om de xreesde  voor het aangezicht van den Heilige, maar tech
volgende redenen. Zooals  in ons vorig artikel, dat han- m het besef dat hij  naakt was. En in dat besef zijner
delde over de verkiezing en verwerping Gods, de zaak naaktheid, weet Adam ook dat hij zonder kleeding voor
beschouwd werd uit een puur historisch oogpunt, en het aangezicht Gods niet kon verschijnen. Het eerste
dat men alleen uit dat historisch oogpunt kan  verkla- menschenpaar gevoelde dat God de zonde niet kon  aan-
ren en verstaan de plaats die dat artikel  inneemt in de schouwen en dat het noodzakelijk was dat die. zonde
Geloofsbelijdenis, zoo kan men ook alleen dit artikel gedekt moest  worden,  zouden ze ooit Gods aangezicht
verklaren uit datzelfde oogpunt. De geloofsbelijdenis zien willen. Daarom is de gedachte van dit artikel dat
volgt ook hier de historische lijn der geheiligde geschie-                die wijsheid en goedheid Gods in het opzoeken en  troos-
denis. De belijdenis gaat uit van de openbaring Gods ten van Adam en Eva, daarin bestond  .dat God het  be-
naar de volgorde der historie ; gaat uit van hetgeen sef van schuld wekte in hunne harten tegelijker tijd
God gedaan heeft en nog doet, in de bekeering en zalig-                   dat God hen opzocht. Doch Adam verstond nog niet
heid van den gevallen mensch, en besluit uit diezelfde hoe hij moest  worden  gedekt in zijne naaktheid. Van
openbaring, dat God dien gevallen mensch opzoekt en bloedstorting als een middel tot verzoening en  bedek-
troost, met de belofte dat Hij zijn Zoon zal geven, die king der zonde, wist hij niets af, nog minder dus had
wordelt   mu  ait  eme  vrouw,  om den  kop  der slang  te hij kennis van een Christus  die straks komen zou om
vermorzclart,  en hem gelukzalig te  maken.  Het gaat door zijn bloed  eeuwige  verzoening teweeg  te brengen.
dus in dit artikel niet om het daadwerkelijk, historisch Daarom ook, als God den mensch opzoekt om hem  te
werk van  Christus  in zijn leven, waardoor hij den troosten,  Ban gebied God dat  hij zijn  eigengemaakte
zondaar verlost van zijn schuld en hem  alzoo wederop-                    kleederen van vijgeboombladeren aftrekt  ; en Hijzelf
richt. Tmmers dat alles krijgen we eerst in volgende maakt hen rokken van  vellen, dus van een geslacht  dier,
artikelen. Maar het gaat in dit  artikel enkel en alleen wiens bloed is vergoten, en trekt hen die  aan, om hen


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
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daarmee te wijzen op det slachten en de  bloedstorting                      Children That Rebelled
van  bet Lam Gods dat de  conde der wereld  zou wegr:e-
men. Zoo  zou den mensch  alleen   gelukzalig   worden               Hear, 0 heavens, and give ear, 0 earth: for the Lord
gemaakt. Enkel  en allecn in en door Hem die de kol)               hath spoken: I have nourished and brought up children,
der slang zoude vermorzelen. Dat is de  wijsheirl en               and they have rebelled against me.
goedheid Gods, in het opzoeken van den mensch die                  The Lord complains that he nourished and brought
zich in de zonde en ellende wierp.         Van die wijsheid up children, and they have rebelled against him. The
Gods  zingt  ook Salomo, de wijze koning  op  Israels Lord by implication declares himself to be the father
troon:  " . . . . die mij vindt, vindt het leven, en trekt of the Israelitish nation, for he calls them  children.  In
een welgevallen van den Iieere. Maar die tegen mij what sense was God father of this people? Scripture
zondigt, doet zijne ziel geweld  aan; allen die mij  haten,    distinguishes between five kinds of fatherhood: He is
hebben den dood lief." De dwaasheid van Gods kind father of all his creatures in purely a creatural sense,
komt daarin uit, dat hij rich in den lichamelijken en for they came forth out of his almighty will; Father
eeuwigen dood had geworpen, en zich geheel ellendig then means: cause, originator, progenitor. The rela-
gemaakt.  Dat is metterdaad geschied in het eerste tion which he sustains to all his creatures is that of a
Paradijs. Dat is zijn dwaasheid. Maar God zoekt father. The Lord also appears in `Scripture as the
hem op en troost  klern  door zijne wijsheid. En die Father of Israel in a purely theocratic sense. Israel
wijsheid vindt zijn hoogste uitdrukking in het Woord as a nation was his exclusive product. God is the father
dat vleesch geworden is, en in het Kruis dat den ge-           of his spiritual children in a spiritual-ethical sense.
vallen zondaar de  gelukzaligheid  brengt.  We1  wordt         Those children are born of him,. are c+lled  his sons in
dat kruis dwaasheid voor de Grieken en `een ergernis a  spiritua1  sense, are partakers of his holy nature and
voor de  doden, maar het is en blijft voor het  opge-          thus declare his glories. He is called the Father of his
zochte kind Gods, de kracht en de wijsheid Gods, en only begotten Son  as  God. He is also Father of his
het leven tot in eeuwigheid.                                   counsel in the ideal sense.
                                            L. Vermeer.            Only those of whom he is Father in a spiritual
                                                               sense does he love. That unhappy portion of Israel
                                                               reprobated were his children in a purely creatural
                                                               theocratic sense, but not in a spiritual sense. Only the
            CERTAINTY OF BLESSINGS                             remnant according to the election comprises his people
                If what I tish is good,                        in the spiritual sense.
                And suits the Will divine,                        The sense of the divine decIaration  is that the Lord
           By earth and hell in vain withstood                 elevated Israel high above all the nations of the earth,
                I know it shall be mine.                       and thus made this people great by giving to it the
               `Still let them counsel take                    adoption, the glory, the  co\:enants,  the law, the service
                To frustrate His decree ;                      and the promises. However, the aforesaid verbs have
           They cannot keep a blessing back                    also a secondary meaning, viz., to nourish and to bring
                By Heaven designed for me.                     up respectively. These verbs must be taken in their
                "If what my soul requires                  - - secondary meaning, although the primary meaning
  *             Evil to me would prove,                        cannot be excluded. So the Lord` declares that as--i
           His Love shall cross my fond desires,               faithful Father he nourished and brought up his chil-
                His kindly-jealous Love.                       dren. This is, to be sure, the sole business of any
                                                               father, and also  ,of God the Father.
                                                                  What are the implications and what is the char-
                                                               acter of the pedagogy. To nourish the child is to feed
               BENEFITS OF TRIALS                              the child, and the fed child grows and develops by the
                                                               nourishment upon which it feeds. So the Lord fed
         Is not the way to heavenly gain                       Israel and Israel grew, was brought up, and thus
           Through earthly grief and loss?                     passed from the state of childhood to the state of
         Rest must be won by toil  and' pain -                 spiritual manhood. Now we may distinguish between
           The crown repays the Cross.                         two kinds of nourishing, two kinds of bringing up,
         As woods, when shaken by the breeze,                  viz., a purely physical  one and a spiritual one. To
           Take deeper, firmer root,                           nourish the child physically consists in  ~feeding  his
         As winter's frosts but make the trees                 body with natural bread and the physical growth con-
           Abound in summer fruit;                             sists in the development of his body. To nourish
         So every Heaven-sent pang and throe                   spiritually the child consists in feeding his soul with
           That Christian firmness tries,                      the true bread of life, which is Christ. Spiritual growth
         But nerves us for our work below,                     consists in the development of the new life. Hence it
           And forms us for the skies.                         presupposes regeneration. Spiritual pedagogy c?n the


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

part of God consists in drawing out of his children the power of the world to come . . . . " This text de-
what he first put, in them. This he does by feeding clares plain enough f;nat the reprobate absorb spiritual
them with the Word of life.                                     food. The parable of the vine and the branches teaches
       God is said to have nourished and to have brought this very thing. The branches called dead, are not
up. The question arises whether the nourishing of dead because withered, but because, although they
these children was purely physical or spiritual, or both. feed upon the vine, they bear no fruit.
And the answer: what is meant is a spiritual nourish-              What now is the outcome of this kind of nourish-
ing. God then fed his children with the Bread of life. ing? Do the reprobate grow and develop spiritaully
What was this spiritual food? What else than his own in truth and in knowledge? No, they crucify the Christ
likeness, His glories exhibited to Israel in all his anew ; hold the truth in unrighteousness ; return to
mighty works of salvation and in the law. The reder:p- their own vomit. The truth absorbed is to them a
tive labors of Jehovah together with his law of God savor of death unto death. They do not grow except
was the glass in which Isaiah saw God, his `love, mercy. in sin.
       In truth God nourished and brought up children.             However, in a sense the reprobate Israel was also
This nourishing presupposes regeneration. But now raised. For example, in  t,he golden age of the theo-
we are confronted with a  difficulty. The Lord com- cracy, during the reign of David and especially of
plains that these children whom he nourished and Solomo, the nation ranked high, because there was
brought up, that these spititual  regenerated children righteousness and  conseq,uently  exaltation of the
rebelled against him. How can this be? Do God's people of God, of the god-fearing, of David, Solomon
spiritual children rebel against him? In other words, and the saints they represented. And the reprobate
Is the spiritual seed in Israel, the children whom God Israel, whereas it was organically related to the elect
nourished and brought up to be identified with these seed, in this golden age, was necessarily elevated with
`rebels. The answer is ready, Impossible ! These rebels, God's people. Take a family of ten. All the members
it is plain from the sequence, are reprobated Israelites. but one are most worthy people, highly esteemed. The
They are a sinful people, laden with iniquity, a seed of on exception is the scoundrel. However, because a
evil-doers, etc., and the harder smitten the more they member of this worthy group he, too, shares in the
rebel. This description does not apply to God's people. honor and esteem lavished upon this house. Especially
It is plain that we must distinguish between two kinds so if he covers up his wickedness by a cloak of secrecy.
of seed in Israel, viz., the fleshly and the spiritual seed.       But for all this in the last instance and in the real
The two seeds constitute the one single organism, the sense only God's people are nourished, they only grow
Israelitish organism. The Lord exhibits to this one             And  .will be exalted in the day of Jesus Christ.
organism his glories. This one organism according to               It must not be supposed,  however,  that the remnant
its elect constituency eat, are nourished and grow be- according to election was altogether innocent of the
cause they feed upon the Lord. This same organism sins of the reprobated Israel. The elect had also been
as to its. reprobated constituence  despise the revela- drawn away. They, too, had corrupted themselves and
tion of God's praises and glories. To them this revela- merited the chastisement to be meted out to  t.hem
tion is a savor of death unto death. They rebel against through the exile.
the God whose mercy and goodness they daily en-                                                               G-. M. 0.
counter, see as exhibited in all his dealings with that
one organism. That was exactly the accusation which
Samuel brought against the people when they de-                              IN BETHLEHEM'S STAL
manded a king.                                                      In Bethlehem's stal lag Christus  de Heer,
       In a sense it is true that the reprobate IsPael  was         In doeken  gehuld, als kindje terneer,
nourished and raised. In what sense? As it was be-                  Voor  Hem was geen plaats in herberg  of huis,
fore said, the reprobate and the elect Israel constituted           Zijn wieg was een kribbe, Zijn kroon was een
a single organism. What  >he Lord did was to feed                        kruis.
that one organism. The elect eat spiritually.  HOW-                 Zoo arm werd de Heer, der engelen Hem,
ever, the reprobate in a sense also eat. They are                   Die  zondaren mint, zoo  nameloos  teer;
actually fed. Yet not unto eternal life but rationally,             Die hun wil'vergeven, hbeveel het ook zij,
mentally, unto eternal death. With their darkened                   Zoo arm werd de Heiland, voor u en voor mij.
rational minds they see the truth, grasp the logical                Lam Gods, voor de sehuld  der wereld geslacht,
idea circulating through it. In the above sense then                Dat eens  aan het kruis voor mij heb  volbracht,
the wicked are nourished. Such, to be  suye, is the                 Ik kniel bij Uw kribbe met  dankend gemoed,
plain teaching of Scripture. Says the apostle, "That                En breng U eerbiedig mijn staamlenden greet.
which may be known of God is manifest in  Ehcm."                     Ik wijd u mijn  vreugd,  mijn leven, mijn hart,
We may yet call attention to a text in Hebrews 6 :4:                 Sij U wil  ik zijn in blijdschap en smart,
"For it is  im@ossible for those who were once en-                   Geef  Gij mij een harte, dat U steeds  bemint,
lightened and have tasted t,he, good word of God and                 Dan ben ik van nu aan voor eeuwig UW kind.


