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

                                                           this party. And for this  ,he was rather severely
L---
                  E d i t o r i a l s                      censured by the Reformed people of the Netherlands.
- -                                                    II For even this "Netherlands Union", which is really a
                                                           continuation of the original "Netherlands Community"
                                                           though under a different name and in a different form,
       Nazi Progress In The Netherlands?                   does not meet with the favor of the other parties, and
                                                           is especially opposed by the Anti-revolutionary Party
  Repeatedly we  <have heard the thought expressed that under the leadership of Cdijn. It is suspected of
since the German Reich established its "protectorate"      being very similar in principles and aims to the older
in old Holland, the Nazi party gained considerably in N. S. B. And although some `of the Dutch were de-
influence. It is even suggested occasionally that the ceived into thinking that the Netherlands Union was
National Socialist Party is now in the majority. And       opposed to the Dutch National Socialist Party, most
somewhere I read that even one of the professors of of them stand aloof in distrust.
the Free University of  A,msterdam  had joined the            All these various movements appear to be spon-
Nazi Party.                                                sored by and under the control of the occupying Ger-
       The facts in the case, however, appear to be, that mans.
the original N. S. B. in the Netherlands (Nationaal           Dr. Colijn advises his party to assume  t,he attitude
Socialisten Bond), which at the outbreak of the war of watchful waiting, and takes the position that the
numbered approximately forty thousand members, is present is not the proper time to discuss matters of a
still a small minority party, that some of the adherents political or economic nature. He prefers to wait until
of pre-war times have even withdrawn after  t,hey saw after the war. In the same number -of "The Knicker-
the actual operation of the German Nazis, and that the bocker" appears a news item quoted from the "Man-
party as it still exists is rather -generally and bitterly chester Tribune", which we here repeat:
hated and despised.                                           "There is stron,g evidence that Nazi influence is
       Yet, this does not explain fully the entire situation losing rather than gaining ground in Western and
in the old country.                                        Northern Europe. Dr. Colijn, the former Prime Minis-
       The Germans, when they saw that the Hollanders ter of Holland, has made a speech at Scheveningen
were not at al1 ready to hail the Nazis and join the which shows how completely he has thrown over hfs
party, permitted them "an apparently free but in fact earlier ideas of collaboration with the semi-Fascist
controlled discussion of political issues in Conner&ion    Netherlands community organization. We might wish
with the so-called new order".      (The Knickerbocker, that Marshal Petain would study his speech. For all
Dec. 1940). And the result was the organization of a that he says of Holland applies very well to France.
"Netherlands Community", whose aim it was to unite He contends that State reforms cannot be discussed
all the various parties- of the Netherlands, the Anti-     during the time of occupation and that a new govern-
revolutionary Party, the Christian Historical Party, ment can only be established after the complete re-
the Socialist Democrat Party and the Free Democrat storation of  NetherIands  independence."
Bond, into one national party.                                Dr. Colijn is supposed to have said in his speech :
       The attempts of this "Netherland Community",           "The future of the Netherlands can only be decided
however, utterly failed.                                   after the war, and nobody knows how. We have shown
       It appears from what we have been able to gather, the occupying Power that we cannot shed our char-
that this Netherland Community and its attempt at acteristics in following the politi:cal way we wish to
unification of the Dutch under one party, inspired follow".
distrust rather than confidence, aid left the impres-         Of  cuurse,  we all understand that  .it is rather
sion of being a camouflaged attempt to Nazify the          difficult to form a clear picture of the real condition
Dutch after all, and to make them adopt the "new of the NetherIands  at present from a political, social
order" of German origin. No solution of any problems and economic viewpoint, and of the attitude of the
was really offered by the "Community". Never was people in general to the "new order". All the news
mention made of freedom, the future of the house of is censored by the Germans, and colored, perhaps,
Orange, restoration of independence -after the war, etc. in as far as it passes through English channels.
In fact, this was strictly forbidden from the outset          The general impression, however, which we receive
by the occupying Germans. The result was complete from whatever news items do leak through, and from
failure.                                                   ,what we may and, undoubtedly, must read between the
       But still another attempt at unification was made, lines, is that the Dutch are by no means reconciled to
and what is known as the *`Netherlands Union" was the German "Protectorate", but are looking forward
organized. It is not impossible that the professor of to the restoration of their own independent government
the free University to which we referred above, joined and the return of the House of Orange. Nor do they


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D B E A R E R                                          149

appear to be enthusiastic about the new economic tien  jaren   geleden het oude vaderland eens bezocht heb.
order, which the Germans seek to impose upon all lviaar overigens wil.mij die tegenstelling  tusschen bet
Europe.                                                      voorheen en thans, zuodat  nu Nederland onder de
   But what we wrote above about the formation of            . bescherming" der Nazis is het Evangelie nog  eens
the "Netherlands Union" may probably explain the recht verkondigd wordt, niet al te  goed   aan.  En  dat
source of the rumors afloat here that the original kerken en bladen door de Nazis geen stroobreed in den
National Socialist Party of the Netherlands is a strong weg wordt gelegd, wordt door de feiten duidelijk ge-
majority pariy. This rumor is, evidently, without noeg weersproken. Het is waar, dat de schrijver van
basis in fact.                                               den brief destijds dit misschien nog niet zoo  goed  kon
                                              H,  H.         zien.      De brief werd blijkbaar `in of  v&r Augustus
                                                             reeds geschreven.  Doch  in de eerste plaats kon hij
                                                             in elk geval toen reeds weten,  dat het Nazisme  en het
                         -                                   vrije woord met in hetzelfde land kunnen verkeeren.
                                                             En in de tweede  plaats  lwist  hij, blijkens  zijn eigen
                                                             schrijven, ook, dat  De  Stan&-u-m-d   tijdeiijk was  ge-
           Verschillende Houdingen                           schorst. En sedert is  De  Refomzatie   gestopt, en  zit'
                                                             Dr. Schilder in de gevangenis. Dit alles strijdt zeker
    Uit verschillende brieven en nieuwsberichten, die tegen de bewering, dat kerken en  bladen geen  "stroo-
ons uit Nederland bereiken, is het we1 duidelijk, dat de breed" in den weg gelegd wordt.
tegenwoordige druk der veranderde omstandigheden                 De schrijver heeft het verder over de economische
aldaar niet op allen,  ook niet op alle gereformeerden,      toestand, is bang, dat ze een zwaar winter tegemoet
denzelfden invloed uitoefent.                                gaan, maar zegt, dat over heel de wereld  we1 zoo zijn
    Verschillende geesten komen tot openbaring.              zal. En dan gaat hij voort :
    En verschillende houdingen worden  aangenomen                "Wij zijn zoo in  elkaar  gegroeid, dat als  &n lid
tegenover "de nieuwe orde".                                  lijdt de  heele wereld economisch mee moet lijden.
    Zoo komt er  b.v. een zekere geestes-houding tot Dat hebben wij gevoeld in de  jaren,  die  achter   OILS.
openbaring in- een brief uit Nederland, die in "De           liggen.      Duitschland, waar Nederland het  grooten-
Heidenwereld" gepubliceerd werd, een brief, die een deels moest ,hebben, was door het verdrag van Ver-
minder aangenamen indruk op ons maakte. De redak?            sailles op een geweldige manier geknecht. Wij geven
teur  meBdt  den naam van den schrijver niet, maar hier nu grootendeels de schuld van dezen oorlog aan
deelt mede, dat hij is "een broeder, die vroeger in ons dit ellendige  verdrag",
land woonde.      We zijn bekend met zijn  Vader, een            Ik ben het met bovenstaande op zichzelf  we1 eens.
vooraanstaand predikant". Het is een "jonge broeder, En zooals onze lezers kunnen weten, ben B het hier-
die hartelijk meeleeft met ons Gereformeerd volk  aan mee altijd eens geweest. Het verdrag van Versailles
beide  zijmden des  oceaans".  Natuurlijk is het niet te     was geen vredesverdrag, maar het begin van een
bepalen, hoeveel in zulk een brief geschreven is om des      nieuwen oorlog. Al de schuld van den vorigen wereld-
censors wil. Maar  tech komt in sommige gedeelten een oorlog werd eenvoudig op Duitschland  geworpen, en
zekere houding tot openbaring, die mij minder beviel. het was de  toeleg,  om Duitschland voor goed  te  knech-
Ik wil enkele gedeelten hier overnemen:                      ten. Dat is van Versai,lles  af altijd mijn beschouwing
    "Wilt u ook eens `probeeren om ons een brief te geweest, en ik zie de  dingen nog zoo. En tech kan ik
zenden?  Wij verlangen zoo erg naar bericht van u. het thans niet al te goed hebben, dat een gereformeerd
Als u maar geen politiek schrijft komt de brief  we1         Nederlander  zoo schrijft. Het kan in elk geval niet
over. En daar hebben wij  tech ook niets aan. Heete          aan Versailles geweten  worden,  dat de  Duitsehers
hoofden, koude harten. Dat zie je hier ook, bijv. van Nederland hebben vertrapt, en te Rotterdam huis  ge-
die menschen, die in en voor den oorlog met de politiek houden hebben, zooals ze deden,  noch ook, dat er  zoo-
opstonden en naar bed  gingen. Misschien is het voor vele "fifth columnists" verrader speelden in het oude
onze kerken in Nederland ook  we1  goed. Het wordt Vaderland.
nu weer : `Predikt het Evangelie aan alle creaturen,  die        Ook het volgende  klinkt wat vreemd:      '
geloofd zal hebben en gedoopt zal zijn, zal zalig wor-           "Colijn heeft daarover een mooie brochure  ge-
den'. Niet . . . . `die een felle partijman was'. En s&even. Gelooft ook niet, dat op een goeie dag de
wij worden  dan ook als kerk en als bladen . . . . geen Koningin met de ministers weer in Hoek van Holland
stroobreed in den weg gelegd",                               aan land stappen, en  a.lles dan in Den Haag weer
   Nu kan het  we1 zijn, dat er in Nederland soms gewoon  door zou gaan. Ook laat hij in zijn brochure
zooveel  "politiek" op den kansel was, dat er van de zien dat het democrat&he stelsel van het land eigen-
prediking des Evangelies bitter weinig kwam. ,Ik heb lijk nergens toe deugde. Alles  mocht  maar.  Plink
daar zelf ook  we1  iets,, van opgemerkt,  toen  ik ruim aanpakken, zooals  toen  met het bombardement op het


                                         TH%  .STANDAkD   B E A R E R

 aansluiten  bij een van deze Unions, en Christus ware letter and the spirit of the article and our own adopted
 kerk op aarde laat dit nimmer toe.                               rules".
     We1 mag het de kerke Gods telkens weer worden                    I for one and all of us are in perfect accord with
 aangezegd: doet dan  aan de  voile wapenrusting Gods, this last remark. And let me add this to it, we not
 en er ernstig op {worden gewezen, die zijn leven wil only want, but must keep Art. 44 of the D. K. 0. How-
 behouden   zal het verliezen, maar die het om Gods ever, because not first of all must we apply the spirit,
 wil, wil verliezen zal het behouden, en het loon zal hem that what is really meant by and embodied in Art. 44,
 niet ontgaan.                                                    but we must first of all adhere strictly to the letter
                                           S. De Vries.           of the article and at the same time we must not have
                                 Grand Rapids,  Mich.             any adopted rules nor fabricate them in future time
                                                                  in such a way that the rules make the article of none
                            -                                     effect.
                                                                      Moreover, we must never accept  nny historic&
                                                                  interpretation of any one, either inside our own, or
              *         Dangerous                                 outside of our articles, as the standard of application
                                                                  of our Church Order. Instead, after we accept the
     We must be careful in our Reformed circles and               Order and the rules, we need not look around for all
  be on our guard and never be afraid of telling one kinds of interpretation, but adhere to the hard and
  another, whenever and wherever we see danger ahead fast rules based upon the hard and fast principles
  for our Churches.                                               underlying the D. K. 0. Also when it comes to Art. 44.
     In our little group of Churches such dangers do not              After reading Art. 44 we find that a certain task
 seem imminent. We are a large family, well acquainted is assigned to a Committee appointed or elected by
- with one another, knowing the weak spots, as well as            Classis. The task of the Committiee is further defined
  the strongholds. Yet, we are not safe, unless we ad-            in the rules for Church Visitation. And one more,
d here to our fundamentals, both in .re our doctrine              these (our) adopted rules are in perfect harmony
  and our ecclesiastical ties, based upon the D. K. 0.            with the article mentioned above and discussed in the
  Any departure from either will in time be detrimental           Church News by its Editor. But we do not find in the
  to our well-being.                                              Church Order nor in our rules anything of the men-
     Hence, not only in the local congregation but also tioned historical interpretation, namely, that at any
  in our broader gatherings, rwe should strictly adhere time; whenever the Church Visitors hear of difficulties
  to these principles. This is a case of solemn duty.             in a certain congregation they must betake themselves,
     To my mind, such a danger was presented in a on their own free will and judgment, and visit this
  recent article written in "Our Church News", by the             congregation. Not even while it may very well be
  Editor-in-Chief, Rev. J. D. de Jong. Under the title            possible that there is such a thing as trouble. Nor
  "What is Church Visitation" we found, and that' to does the .task  of Church Visitors consist in "to straight-
  our great surprise, the following: "Church Visitors en out the difficulties (if at all possible) before they
  must visit all the churches once a year, but if there are assume greater proportions".
  difficulties in a certain congregation the duly appointed           The question may be asked, what then is your ob-
  Church Visitors have the right to visit such a con- jection to the method of procedure in re the Church
  gregation more frequently during the  ye&r. And, Visitation as suggested by the Editor of the Church
  according to the historical interpretation of Joh.  Jan-        News and briefly outlined in his article? And the
  sen, if the Church Visitors hear of  difficulties in a other question, is there not a practical value connected
  certain congregation they need not wait for an invi- with this mode of procedure? My answer to both of
  tation but have the right to visit such a Church if they the questions is as follows: 1. In the way of applying
  themselves deem this advisable. The purpose of such the work of the Church Visitors as suggested, we will
  extra visits is, of course, to straighten out the diffi- be in conflict with the fundamental principles of the
  culties if at all possilbie  before they assume greater pro-    Reformed Polity and have fallen, if this view is accept--.
  portions"--"A  stitch in time saves nine".                      ed, in the error of Collegialism, and, 2. it will not and
     Judging from the article, with the inclusion of the cannot be carried out in practical life and be  benefibial
  historical interpretation of the Rev. Joh. Jansen, the for our Churches.
  writer is entirely in accord with this manner of                    I know I have placed myself before quite an order,
  Church-Visitation. Rev. De Jong accepts the theory We  ,believe that the best intentions motivated the
  propagated by Rev. Jansen and doses his article with writer in the Church News when he wrote his article.
  the following conclusion:  ". . . .if we want to  *keep         He speaks of making and keeping peace within our
  this institution (namely the Church Visitation) we churches and it is his purpose to avoid and if possible
  should do our Church Visitation in harmony with the to straighten out dif-llculties  before they assume greater


    ,`T...                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                    159

proportions. "A stitch in time saves nine". I also a certain congregation, when they hear of difficulties
believe that the peace of our churches made him write in that congregation. Neither can such a committee
as he did. Brother De Jong is a man of peace and he impose its advice upon the consistory and appear on
loves peace. He desires to have and to work for that the consistory meeting without being asked. (That is
peace in re our churches. It hurts him when he hears outside of their regular work of Church Visitation).
of trouble and will try to avoid troubles of others            Even if the Church Visitators were absolutely sure
wthenever possible. He means their well-being, not that difficulties exist in a certain congregation, yea,
the downfall of any one, nor the downfall of our even if they were or could be sure as to the peaceful
churches.                                                      settlement in such a case, after they had made their
   Nevertheless, the power and authority assigned special visits, they could not appear without being
to  ,the Church Visitors is not even the authority of asked by the consistory and give advice, because they
Classis or of Synod itself. There is not such power,           have not such power.  And the con&story is duty
when we consider the relation between Consistory,              botind  in such events to refuse to receive the Visitors
CIassis  and Synod.                                            for that purpose. The initiative lies with the  con-
   The main principle of pure Reformed Polity is, sistory, not with the Committee for Church Visitation.
that the local consistory is the sole ruling power over           Remember, that was the principle of the Reforma-
the local congregation. Not in any way can or may a tion. Historically, the line runs in the 16th and 17th
Classis or Synod infringe  uti.:n  this  principIe.  Ltiast    Centuries, 1834 and 1886.
of all a Committee appointed, either by  Classis  or              And lest we forget, 1924. And also in 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Synod. Hence, whatever may be the power of  Classis               That brings us to the second question, Can this
or Synod is always a power derived from, given and             procedure be carried out in practical Iife? In other
limited by the consistories on the basis of that prin-         words, are there not cases that demand immediate
ciple. And even the consistory itself may never trans- attention and that ought to be taken out of the way
fer this power to the  Classis and the Synod. In doing for the greatest profit of the Churches. "Voor het
so, the consistory would make the serious mistake of Profij t der kerken".
subjecting itself or taking upon itself, the yoke of              It is rather difficult what the true signification is
ecclesiastical hierarchy. And while it is true, that when we hear of the greatest profit, "het profijt",
every local church, standing on the same basis of of the churches. Under that cloak many a sin has `been
faith expressed in the Forms of Uunity, is duty bound committed, either intentionally or without motives.
to enter voluntarily into a federative union, in order As is often the case, so also in this respect, the prin-
that the churches together, may manifest the union ciple of utility was employed at the expense of the
of the body of Christ, this does not, imply a transfer principle laid down in Scripture and the Confessions
of the power and authority of the consistory to the and the rules of the D. K. 0.
broader (not higher) gatherings. In turn, they can-               Remember the historical facts in re our own Editor
not empower a committee with authority, which they in Chief? We must get him out, but how are we going
themselves (the broader gatherings) do not possess. to do it? It cannot be done on the basis of the Con-
If Classis and Synod were a higher judicatory (court)          fession. "Hij moet er uit, maar hoe? Met de Belijde-
it would be different, as is the case with Collegialism.       nis gaat het niet?" You say, yes, it is true, but that
Moreover, at the end of every meeting of  Classis,  this was an extreme case. Of course it was, but it was done
relation  Ibetween   Classis and Consistories becomes ap- for the greatest profit, "het profijt der kerken". Read
parent, when every Consistory is asked whether or not that history on,ce  more and read it to your children
the local consistory needs (in the sense of desires)           and you will  fmd, that from the point of view of
the judgment and help of the Classis for the proper            Church-Polity, practically every rule was broken, be-
government of your church? (Art 41, the last ques- cause the main principle, underlying the reIation  of
tion) . And even when advice is asked for, the advice Consistory and Classis  and Synod was sacrificed for
is given  only  iwhen  the consistory has treated the this greatest profit and the peace of the churches. I
matter,  .without being able to bring it to a conclusion. know, that is not meant at all in the article written in
But even then, Classis  will not appoint a Committee, the Church News. I also believe, that the writer of
to straighten out difficulties, except when it becomes this article would never be a tool to such iniquitous
clear to Classis,  that this is necessary and only when antions. But the same is true of many of the men who
the consistory so desires.                                     had to decide the 1924 issue. I even conceive of it, that
   To maintain this basic principle of the autonomv x number of them actually beheved  that the Classis and
of the local consistory is imperative. To change it the Synod had the power to depose the brethren for the
means chaos  and. tyranny.                                     well-being of their churches. They believed, that, to
   That excludes also the remotest possibility of any prevent all possible difficulties,  Classis  and Synod had
committee ever having the right and the power to visit to take hold of the case, before it assumed greater pro-


 160                                  TtHE  S T A N D - A R D B E A R E R

 portions. Fact is, that the consistories involved, were        This  wouId  be sufficient reason for the Church
 treated not in harmony with the principle of the auto- Visitors to deem it necessary to make an extra visit,
 nomy of the local consistory. With the well-known because  they heard  about these difficulties in a certain
 result.                                                     congregation? Now they must attend to the  difficul-
        Furthermore, the question presents itself, what do ties, because if not attended to,  they  muy assume
 you mean by "dif%culties"  in a certain congregation? greater proportions? Will that save  t:le parties in-
 Difficulties that should ,be straightened out, if at all    volved for the  IocaI congregation or for any of the
 possible, before they assume greater proportions? others in the denomination? My answer is a most
 What is meant by the expression,  `Xf the Church emphatic NO! Besides, the whole procedure in such
 Visitors  heur of difficulties in a certain congregation"? and other cases is wrong from beginning to end. The
 FinalIy,  when'  shouId  the  Church Visitors deem it fact that one  hears  of  difiiculties,  in this case the
 necessary to make such extra visits? To answer ,these       Church Visitors, is no reason for action in any way.
 questions is not my duty,  because I have taken the         That same fact is aIways  sufficient  proof of the weak-
 stand that there is no room in our Churches for such ness of the case of such people. An< even if it is true,
 Committee work.                                             that such persons and their friends will leave, is it
     Reading the article carefully, I  cannot  find a direct not equally true, that this must be considered a bless-
 answer to the above raised questions.  But I do find a      ing in disguise? In taking their side, for that is
 cIew as to the purpose of it a11 in the- remark, "A stitch what it amounts to, when one listens to their Iamenta-
 in time saves nine". And to serve that purpose the tions, a sin has been committed against the consist-
 Visitors must by a11 means take action when they hedr ory.
 of difficulties that may, if not attended to, assume           In all cases, when one acts upon hear-say (I am re-
 greater proportions.                                        ferring to the Church Visitors), however noble the
        Now then, when does one hear of dif3cuIties. The purpose may seem, the sin against the ninth com-
 answer is : Sometimes when a certain member or mem- mandment has beengommitted.               And if and when this
 bers are in "trouble" with the consistory. This trouble is to be the manner in which we conduct our Church
 may find its cause with the minister or the consistory, Visitation, we  will create our own troubles to the
 or both. And it is a we11 known fact, that certain          greatest of a11 proportions without end.
 people  wiI1 try to interest others in their troubles.         Indeed, dangerous !
 Often they will not listen to the admonition of the                                                      w. v.
 duIy  eIected  office-bearers. It is often impossible to
 make them appear on the consistory meeting. They                                                                L
 simply-refuse to walk in the orderly way, that is, the                                -
 way of Scripture. And it is especially true of such
 people that they make propaganda in the congregation                   The Levitical Priesthood
 for "their" cause. When they succeed, the campaign
 is under way. They broadcast their "grievances" to             The tabernacle, as was explained, stood for an
 a11 who  wilI lend an ear. The  consiatory,  being  we11    action that consisted in God's holding His people at  a.
 aware of what is going on, cannot always take im- distance from Him and in His causing the high priest
 mediate action, *because it is unable to produce sufficient alone to enter His immediate presence in the  HoIiest.
 proof. Hence, the consistory deals only with the party The High Priest went in `alone "once every year, nor
 or parties directly invoIved  and applies censure. Seem- without (blood,  which he offered for himself, and for
 ing1y there is not the desired result, namely, repent- the err,ors of the people: the HoIy Ghost thus signify-
 ance. No, it happens often, that such persons will ing, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet
 visit other congregations and that for the sole purpose made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet
 of some more campaigning. They  wi11 tell some "tall" standing" (Heb. 9  :7, 8). ,This scripture sets forth
 stories of their own making. How they suffer on ac- the purpose of God's bringing into being the tabernacle.
 count of the mistreatment by the hands of their con-        The purpose was to provide Himself, in  particuIar  the
 sistory and their minister, if they only had the man Holy Ghost, with an instrument for signifying that
 they heard today or last week, all wouId be well, but       the way into the holiest of all--His  immediate pre-
 the minister we have ! ??.                                  sence---rwas not yet manifest.     This the  tabernacIe
    The groundwork is laid and the work of darkness          (ternpIe),  as including the service connected with
 continues. No, they are not the only ones who are dis- it- in particular the High Priest entering alone with
satisfied, there are many more, who feel the same way. blood, its holiest  compartmenf;-signified.            strictly
 And, so they say, the end of it a11 will be, that many speaking, it was only by this service-the High Priest
 wiIl leave.                                                 aione entering-that the signifying was done. But
    "A stitch in time saves nine".                           this service could not take place without the tabernacle,

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

so that  pIainIy this structure was reared to make this That the way, that Christ, was not yet manifest, while
service possible.                                            as the first tabernacle was yet standing. There is much
    Herewith has been set forth the purpose and design more contained in this statement that at first gIance
of the tabernacle. Its purpose was to make possible a appears on the surface. Through His declaring that
service by which the Holy Ghost could signify that the tne way, namely, the meritorial ihstrument by which
 way into the holiest was not yet manifest, but even-        believers go into the holiest, was not yet made mani-
tually would be. To specify this as the purpose is not fest, the Spirit at once was declaring that the way
to minimize the importance of the tabernacle. To the that was then manifest-the sacrifice by which Aaron
 contrary, it is to set this structure forth in its true     went into the holiest of the first tabernacle-was so
 significance.    To make apparent the truth of this far from being the true way that it was but shadow,
statement, a11 that is necessary is to explain and show symbol, type, that it was thus not the way by which
what is implied in the notice to the effect: "the Holy men, by nature sinful and condemnable, could go to
 Ghost thus signifying, that the way into the holiest of God. Through the sacrifice (by blood) as such, the
all was not yet made manifest, while as the first taber-     Holy Ghost signified that, God  being what  He is, right-
 nacle was yet standing." Let us attend then to this eous and holy, there can be no forgiveness of sin with-
scripture.                                                   out shedding of blood.      Through the high priest's
    ,As has already  *been explained, the  holies   is the entering alone the holiest place, He signified that this
gracious and immediate presence of God to which sacrifice together with all the institutions of the Ia6
 believers now draw near in the assurance of the atone- was but shadow, symbol, type, and  that thus the true
ment made for them and of their acceptance thereon. sacrifice and the true priest had still to be made mapi-
This assurance or boldness is now theirs because the fest and that when these would have been made mani-
toay into the  holiest  is made manifest. This way is fest the true worshippers of God would themselves be
the sacrifice of Christ, the true high priest  of. the entering the holiest to abide there everlastingly. Such
church. He is the u;ccy, that is, the merit&al instru- was the declaration of. the Holy ,Ghost  which He made
ment by which  the, believers draw near. to God. The         by the high priest's entering. alone. That  all God's
manifestation of this way. consists, in the a&& ex-          people  would eventuahy  be going into the holiest pIace
hibition of. Christ in the flesk and His sacrifice .of Him- the Holy Ghost  cIearIy signified also by the fol-
self. It consist further in the  fulI, plain  dedaration  of lowing typical things of the law. First to be men-
Christ and Him crucified, of the nature of His person tioned is the altar of incense, and the holy incense in
and work,in and through the-gospek It consists.  fma1Iy a state of burning upon it. This  aItar stood, in the
in the revelation in the  .gospeI  -of the privileges which holiest place, before the vail that was by the ark of
the believers  -now possess. Now while as.. the  first the testimony. The cover of the ark was God's throne.
tabernacle IWIS yet standing, the sacrifice of Christ, Upon it and between the cherubim hovered the cloud-
though promised and shadowed, wasnot in itself made the symbol of God's presence. Close by the ark hung
manifest through its  actual& beingmade. Yet it did the vail and by the vail stood the altar of incense, so
 exist as an object of thought  in. the  mind. of God.       that the (burning of the incense by the priest took place
Because it did so, because this mind, the mind of God;       in the immediate presence of God. Now the holy in-
, was the cause of its becoming- existent' when the  ful-    cense in a state of burning upon the altar of the first
ness of time was come, the coming of Christ in the sanctuary was the type of the glorified company of
flesh and His sacrifice of  Self was truly  a manifestation. redeemed as they now stand in God's immediate pre-
To manifest, to make visible to the eye, is an action sence everlastingly crying out His praises. dt was thus
that implies the existence of what is manifested, in         to the Holy Ghost the instrument by which He was
this case Christ and His cross.                              then pIain1y  signifying that the church would eventual-
    Now this, namely, that the way, Christ and.His self-     ly dwell with God in His house to eternally declare
sacrifice, was not yet made manifest, the Holy Ghost His glories.
signified, declared,  thruugh  the High Priest's going          A similar decIaration  the Holy Ghost was then mak-
alone into the  Hdiest  PEace. This. statement of the        ing by the twelve cakes called shewbread. These cakes
sacred writer, found at Hebrews `9~7, 8 is, as has al-       were continually before Jehovah's face in His im-
ready been pointed out, of great importance as a clue mediate presence, Thus also by this bread the Spirit
to guide us into the knowIedge  of the purpose that God      was then declaring that the blessed prerogative of the
had in rearing the tabernacle (temple) and in His believers will be to dwell continually in God's im-
inaugurating the service connected with it, particularly mediate presence before His very face as His eternal
that part of it that consisted in the high priest's going refreshment, joy and delight, and that thus His bread
alone nto the holiest on the day of atonement. The           and wine is His people whom He possesses in Christ
purpose was to provide the Holy Ghost with an instru- Jesus.
ment for. signifying, declaring. For declaring what ?           The golden candlestick, too, imaged the church.

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

We learn this from the first chapter of Revelation.          Immediately after the fall the gospel was preached to
Being turned, John saw seven' golden lamps; and in her, "And the Lord God said, and I will put enmity
the midst of the seven lamps one like unto the Son of between thee and the woman, and between thy seed
man. . . . In the squence, these lamps are said to be and her seed, and he shall crush thy head and thou
seven churches. In the fourth chapter we again meet shalt bruise his heel." The seed of the woman is in
with seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, the central $sende  Christ. His victory through suffer-
which are explained to mean the seven spirits of God         ing is, here plainly predicted. This prediction was
-either the one Spirit in the diversity of' His spiritual    repeatedly reiterated in subsequent history of the
and sanctifying working or seven spirits of men quali- Church by God Himself directly and by His prophets.
fied by the One Spirit for the office of pastors and The  Pstilms  are interspersed with lively  descrip:
shepherds in the Church. Thus the true candlestick tions of His sufferings. So Psalm twenty-two : "Be not
is the Church. Now the candlestick stood in the holy far from me ; for trouble is near and there is none to
place on the south side of it. It is plain what the          help. Many bulls have encompassed me: strong bulls
Holy Ghost was signifying through this piece of furni- of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me
ture, namely, that the Church is light in Christ and with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
that with it therefore God everlastingly dwells.             I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out
       Thus through the high priest's entering alone, the of joint; my heart is like wax ; it is melted in the midst
Holy Ghost declared that the things of the law were of my bawels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd  ;'
but shadows. This raises the question with what pur- and thou hast brought me in the dust of the earth."
pose this declaration  was  made. Certainly that these
things might stand out in the mind of God's  rbelieving         But the prophets of God also spoke of the triumphs
people for what they were, namely shadows and this of the promised deliverer, "Why do the heathen rage
in order that by these things believers might be caused and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of
to  ,look forward to the manifestation of the body fore- the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel
shadowed. And this raises another question, namely, together against the Lord and against' His Anointed,'
whether the believers were empowered to read in the saying, Let us break their bonds asunder and cast
shadows any distinct reference to Christ. That the their cords away from us.  ,He that  sitteth in the
saints of the Old Dispensation saw not Christ as the heavens shall laugh: . . . . Then shall He speak unto
Ghurch is now priviIeged  to behold Him in the Scrip- them in His wrath. . . . yet have I set my Ring upon
tures is certain, *`We believe that we have access trj my holy hill in Zion. I will declare the decree: the
God alone, but only through `the only Mediator and Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day
Advocate,- Jesus Christ, the righteous, who therefore have I begotten thee. Ask~of  me and I shall give thee
became man, having united in one person the divine the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost
and human natures, that we might have access to the parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt brake
divine majesty which access would otherwise be bared him with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces
against us. . . .  ." or, "my only comfort in life and like a potter's vessel" (Ps. 2  :3-g). "The Lord  saith
death is that'with body and soul, both in life and death unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make
I belong to my faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ,, who thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the .
with His own precious blood, ,hath fully satisfied for rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst
all my sins. . . ." Such language is not found in the of thine enemies. . . . The Lord hath sworn and will
Old Testament Scriptures. This statement, of course, not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order
has reference to the form of the words of this con- of  Melchized& The Lord at thy right hand shall
fession and not to the essence of the truth of which it strike through kings in the days of His wrath. He
is the formulation. This truth as to its essense, the shall judge among the nations, he shall fill the places
Church possessed from the beginning.                         with the dead bodies ; he shall wound the heads over
       Yet the Church had been trained to expect Christ. many countries. And He shall smite the earth with
The two wayfarers to  .the villaeg of  Emmaus  said, rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips
"But  [we trusted that it had been he which should shall He slay the wicked" (Isaiah  11:4).
have redeemed Israel." Simeon took the Christ-child             The Messiah shall set Himself against the op-
in his arms, and blessed God and said, "Lord*  now ponents of God. It indieates that He loves truth and
lettest  thy servant depart in peace, according to thy righteousness.        Such being the case He will judge the
word ; for mine eyes ,have seen thy salvation, which pour with righteousness and argue their case. "And
thou hast prepared before the face of all people." And He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither
Anna the prophetess spake of Him to all them that reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with right-
looked for the redemption in Jerusalem. The Church eousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with
had never ,been without the promise of the Saviour. equity for the meek of the earth: . . . . And  right-


                                           T H E   STANbARb'BEAkER                                                 163

      eousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithful- fice did not truly cover sin. Yet he was fully aware
      ness the girle of His reins" (Isaiah  11:3, 4):            that sin, to be forgiven must be atoned. But if the
          The question is whether the church, in particular psalmist did not pray, "Blessed is he whose sins are
      the prophets of God were empowered to read in the covered by the ,blood of an animal sacrifice, neither
      rite of their expiatory sacrifices any references to did he pray, "Blessed is he whose sins are covered by
      the sufferings of this promised Deliverer? Fact is a human sacrifice, Who as to His person is God." The
      that the only prophet who ascribes to the sufferings believers  *had not Christ as the direct object of
      of the servant of Jehovah atoning virtue is Isaiah. He their vision. How then could God give them that
      was the only one of all God's prophets to declare, "He peace that springs from assurance that He has truly
      was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised forgiven? The reason is that the animal sacrifice set
      for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was forth the virtues of God-His justice, mercy and truth
      upon him; and with his strips were we healed. . . .and -that men must  have knowledge of in order to be
      the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquities of us saved. The animal sacrifice set forth the truth that
      all. . .  ."                                               without shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness
          But if the believers of the Old Dispensation had not of sin; that thus Zion could not otherwise be redeemed
      Christ  as  the direct object of their vision, the question than by the power of a righteous love, mercy. And
      arises how they could be saved-saved in connection it was upon this mercy, that believers of the Old Dis-
      with their sacrifice, an animal sacrifice, that was .but a pensation would cast themselves. "For we  ,are con-
      shadow? They could be and were saved. In explain- sumed by Thine anger,, and by Thy wrath are we
      ing this regard must be had firstly to a scripture found Itroubled.  .Thou hast set our, iniquities before Thee,,
      at Heb.  9:9, "Which are a figure for the time then our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance. For
      present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, all our days are passed away in Thy wrath: we spend
'     that could not make him that did the service perfect as our years as a day that is told. . . . Who knoweth  the
      pertaining to the conscience." The apostle here silent- power of Thine anger? even according to Thy fear,
      ly acknowledges that these sacrifices-those by blood- so is Thy wrath. So teach us to number our days that
      did make the sacrificer perfect in the sense that they we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Return o Lord,
     freed him of the. necessity of undergoing the penalty how long?  And let  hit  repeat Xhee  concerning Thy
      of physical death, so that his life and inheritance servants. 0 satisfy  u-s early with Thy mercy ; that we
      should be continued in the land of Canaan and his state may rejoice and be glad all our days" (Psalm 19 :5-14).
      preserved entire in the commonwealth of Israel. Thus "The Lord is merciful and gracious,  sIow  to anger and
      these sacrifices were able to free the sinner from tem- plentious in mercy. He will not always chide neither
      poral punishment, and give  him outward  peace in his will He keep His anger forever. He hath not dealt
      possessions  andin God's country-the land of Canaan. with us *according to our sins ; nor rewarded us ac-
      But what these sacrifices could not do is to make him cording to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high
      that did the service perfect as pertaining to the con- above the earth, so great is His mercy toward "them
      science. As to the conscience, they had no efficacy.       that fear Him. As far as the east is from  fh$`:w&t,
          The  tist manifestation of the presence of the so far hath He removed our transgressions from' &.
      Spirit of regeneration in the heart of the sinner is Like as a father pitieth his children,  sq-$he   ,`L&d
      the opening of ,his eyes to the seriousness and enormity pitieth them that fear Him. . . . But the mercy of the
      of his guilt and his crave for God's pardon.       This    ,ord is from everlasting unto everlasting upon them
      sinner, if he lived in the Old Dispensation, would turn that' fear him, and His righteousness unto children's
      to his sacrifice for relief. But he learned that his children" (Psalm 103).
      trusting in that sacrifice brought him no assurance          `The last sentence appearing in the above excerpt is
      that his sins were actually forgiven and thus no peace. to be especially noticed, "But the mercy of the Lord
      Yet the believers of that time knew the peace of God is from everlasting. . . . and his righteousness unto
      that springs from the consciousness that sin has been children's children." The believers of the old covenant
      pardoned, "Blessed is he whose transgression is for- were made to understand that they were saved also
      <given and whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man with righteousness. But how the Lord could justify
      unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in the ungodly, on the ground of whose merit, they could
      whose spirit there is no guilt. . . . I acknowledged my not explain. This was hid from them, "but is now
      sin unto thee. . . . and thou forgavest the iniquity of made manifest to His saints: to whom God would
      my sin" (Ps. 32 :l-5).                                     make known what is the riches of the glory of this
          The prayer does not read, "Blessed is he whose sin mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you,
      is covered by the blood of the animal sacrifice," but it the <hope of glory. Cbl. I :26, 27.
      reads, "Blessed is he whose sin is covered." The              The believers were taught to expect all from Je-
      psalmist understood that the blood of an animal  sacri- hovah, not only salvation, but .the righteous means


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        as well. Finally when the expectation of the church            The prophet now describes the day of the Lord
        reached the heights determined by God, "*God  sent His `as a day of darkness and of gloominess. (Ghap.  2 : 1,2)
        own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin,         . Tahe agent of the Lord's wrath is described. It is
        condemned sin in the flesh (Rom. 8 :3). "And, behold, a great and strong people, like as there never has been
        there was a man in Jerusalem whose name  wa+s  Simeon,      neither shall  she after it.
        and the same was just and devout, waiting for the              The prophet exhorteth the people of Israel to repent
        consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon of their sins. Let them blow the trumpet, sanctify a
        him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost feast and tail a solemn assembly. Who knoweth if the
        that he should not see death?  before he had seen the Lord will not return and repent and leave a blessing
        Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the           behind Him. (Chap.  2:11-17)
        temple ; and when the parents brought in the child              The Lord by the mouth of the prophet comforts the
        Jesus, to do for him after the custom of `the law, then     remhant.      He starts with declaring  t,hat the Lord
        took he Him up in his arms and blessed God and said,        will be jealous of His  Iand and pity His people
        Lord, now lettest  Thy ,Thy servant depart in peace ac- and remove the agent of destruction. (Chap. 2 : 18-20)
        cording to Thy word: For mine eyes have seen Thy                The children of Zion are exhorted to be glad as they
        salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face now approach a glorious future, and an era of peace
        of  .a11 Thy peopie ; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and and miraculous prosperity. This spiritual prosperity
        the glory of Thy people* Israel" (Luke 2  :2532).           is depicted with a phraseology borrowed from the
               It is plain how  God could commence saving His natural. The Lord will deal wondrously with His
        people before the manifestation of the appearance of people and they shall not be ashamed and He will dwell
        Christ in the flesh had taken place. They who were in the midst of them and they shall Pnow that He is
        saved  *were the contrite and broken-hearted, such  who their God. (Chap.  2:20-27)
        cast themselves upon God's mercy and realized with              The Lord will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh,
        iwhich they were satisfied was just. Such He could come with judgments against the enemy of His people,
        pardon and save. For He had taken care to reveal to and shower blessings upon His Church.
        them that the pardoned guilt had to be expiated and
        expiated by the shedding of blood.                              I$e will poor out His Spirit upon all flesh and
                                                    G. M. 0.        show *wonders in. heaven and earth, There ,will be
                                                                    Mood,and fire; but whosoever shall call uponthe name
                                                                    of the -Lord, shall be saved, for in Mount Zion shall be
                                                                    deliverance. cIn those days the Lord shah bring again
                                                                    the captivity of Judah. He will come with judgment
                          The &ok Of-Joel:                          against the enemy of His people.
                                                                        The Gentiles are exhorted to. prepare for war and
               The Book divides into two parts. The  first part to assemble themselves ,together  in the valley of shresh-
        chapter I :l to 2 :27 inclusive. The dividing verse is ing or slaughter. Out of Zion the Lord shall roar
        clearly : "and it will. come to pass that afterwards I but He  will be the hope of His people. They shall
        will pour out, etc."       The second part begins with know that He is the Lord. The glorious future of
        chapter 2:23  to the end of the Book. The  hrst section Israel or the Church again set forth in earthly phrase-
        is again comprised- of two sub-divisions. The first of ology.           The mountains shall drip with new wine.
        these begins with, chapter 1 :P and- continues through Egypt  shall be a desolate wilderness. JerusaIem  shall
        chapter 2~17; an& the secondsection, chapter 2:18 to dwell for ever.
        chapter 2:27 inclusive. The second part of the  BQO~            Most commentators are of the conviction that not
        comprises three subdivisions. Section I : chapter 2 98 chapter 2 :28 "And it shall come to pass that I wiIl pour
        to chapter 3 :Y ; Section II : chapter 3 :9 to chapter 3 :17 ; out My Spirit" but chapter 2:18 "then the Lord will be
        Section III : chapter 3 :18 to chapter 3 :21.               jealous of His land, etc." is the dividing verse of this
                           Contents of the Book.         ..         Book. It can be shown that this is not the case.
               The judgments of God and the comfort for God's Consider that the four main themes of this first part
        ,peopIe. This judgment has come in the form of an are: a. judgment, b. repentance, c. deliverance, d. re-
        actual  plague  of locusts that his swept and devastated storation and blessing. These four themes always go
        the land. Mention is also made of a judgment, of a together and form a unity. By taking 2  :18 as the
        more' serious character threatening the people. A dividing text, we detract from the whole one of its
        nation is or wih come up upon the land, strong and          parts, namely, blessing and restoration and thus de-
        without number; Thus the day of the Lord is come stroy the unity. Ghapter 2 :27, "My people shall never
        upon them. Let the people therefore lament and put be ashamed", forms a very fitting closing verse of
*  .    on sackcloth. (Chap. 1 :l to vs. 20)                        the first part. The clauses: "And it shaI1 come,to  pass


                                           TrHE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         165

     afterwards" introduces a new theme that is so new phraseology, and this it is not. Herewith we do not
     that it sets this part of the Book which it introduces       mean to say, that insects are never cahed people in
     off by itself. Yet not so of course that there is no         Scripture. They are as in Prov. 30 :25-27  which reads :
     connection between this part and the first. Finally "the ants are a  littIe people, etc., the conies are a feeble
     from the very nature of things the description and           folk. . . . the locusts have no king." This section,
     promise of restoration and blessing never marks the however, speaks literally of insects as people. But
     beginning of a Book or any part of a Book, but the ,what.  is there in Joe1 1:4 that could ,be taken as indi-
     end.                                                         cation that locusts are human beings. The above is
         The Book itself does not say what the date of this not criticism on the view in question. For according
     prophecy is. According to the majority of sholars, the to this view the locusts of chap. 1 are real locusts. The
     Book contains no data upon which a decisive conciusion       view errs insofar as it refuses to see in chap. 2 any-
     can be made.                                                 thing more than literal locusts. It is also plain that
         Consequently no other Book in the 0. T. has been throughout the entire first chapter, the prophet speaks
     assigned so many different dates as this Book. Scholars of a literal plague of locusts, that therefore the nation
     differ regarding its date. by a space  `of more than five    of verse 6 signifies an army of locusts.       Consider
     centuries. The Book has been dated as early as the statements such as these: "it lay waste the vine, bar,ks
     reign of Rehoboam, son of Solomon,  990 B. C., and as the fig tree, makes it clean bare, so that as a resuIt  the
     late as the 4th century B. C; In addition it has been meat offerings and the drink offerings are cut off, the
     located in every century between thesetwo dates.             field is wasted and the new wine is dried up."`. Con-
         As to the person of the prophet, his name was Joel. sider that the prophet does not say that the priests are
     There are thirteen others in Scripture who have this cut off. In other words no memtion is made of blood-
     name  but it is not likely that the prophet is to be         shed. The destruction is  conlined  to vegetation. In
     identified with any ofthem. The name means, Jehovah the second chapter however, and this is what  t!ze
     is God ; which is at once a brief confession of faith.       exponents of the view under consideration will not
        Of the personal history of Joel all that is known is      concede, the prophet has before his eye in the first
     what may be gathered from the prophecy itself. He            instance  a  plague of locusts, but also an- army of
     was a prophet of the Southern kingdom. His message humans. The view we now  crilticize  is the one that
     is for Judah and Jerusalem. His home was in all like- may also be found in Keil  &  Deilitsch  Commentary on
     lihood in southern Palestine. IIis discourse indicates Joel. Yet even these commentators felt constrained
     that he possessed an intimate  lknowIedge  of the ternpIe    to concede that the prophet in the second chapter is
     and its service and of the duties of the priests. Chap. speaking of something more than actual locusts. Say
     1:9, 13, 14,  16;  2:14,  17. It is not probable that he these commentators : "But even if there are no con-
     `was a priest, judging from his references to the priest. clusive hints that can be adduced in support of the
                                                                  allegorical interpretation (the interpretation according
                  The  interpretation of the Book.                to which the locusts point to a human army) it cannot
                                                                  be denied on the other hand that the description on the
         One view identifies the locusts of chap. 1:4 with whole contains something more than a  ppetical  paint-
     the great and strong army of chap. 2 :2-11; and inter- ing of one particular instance of the devastation of
     prets the whole picture as a symbolical representation Judah by a more terrible swarm of locusts than had
     of a  hostiIe human army. According to this view, the ever before been known." According to Keil the de-
     great and strong. army of chap. 2 is an army of locusts scription bears an idea1 character and is" something
     and nothing more.  Ctitictim: This view will not do more than a description of a remarkable plague. This
     at all.    It does violence to the text namely to chap.      Keil seems to be compelled to concede in spite of him-
     2 :2b, which reads: "a great peopIe  and strong, there self.
     hath not been ever the like neither shall be any more           According to another view the prophet is speaking
     after it." The conviction cannot be escaped that the of no plague of locusts at all, not even in the first chap-
     Prophet here speaks in the first instance of real people ter, but of an human army throughout. The entire
     and not of locusts as symbol of humans.                      section according to this view is a symbolical inter-
        Another view has it that throughout the first section pretation of a destruction wrought by a human army.
.    of this discourse the prophet speaks of locusts only.        This view wiI1 not do for in chap. 1 it cannot be denied
     (Chap. 1 and 2). Nowhere in this section is the army in the light of the phraseology  empIoyed,  that the
     of locusts and its action a  typica representation of prophet describes a plague of locusts. And in the
     an army of humans. Criti&:m:  This view will not do. second chapter the prophet again has before his eye a
     The locusts of chap.  1:4 are locusts, insects. If this pIague  of locusts. To deny this is to do violence to
     utterance does not signify locusts, the Bible in sections the plain statement of this section.
     such as these must be held to be a Book of deceptive            There is a fourth view to which the locusts are
                                                                                               .


I.66                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

wierd, half-human creatures, like those we come. upon with His people into the sanctuary above. The final
in the Book of Revelation. This view is not held by             fulfillment  will be when the tabernacle of God will be
any commentator of note.                         I              with men on the new earth.
                                                                   Each previous fulfillment in the 0. T. dispensation
                           My View.                             called for the follcxwing and sustained to it the rela-
        In the first chapter the prophet speaks of an actual    tion of prophetic type. ;It means that in foretelling the
pIague  of locusts as has been shown. In the second             initial fulfillment the prophet foretells all the fulfill-
                                                                ments `to follow. In predicting the coming of Jehovah
chapter, the prophet again has before his eye an actual
plague of Iocusts.  This is so evident that there is no         into His typical rest of Canaan, Jacob at once predicted
need to dispute about it. Notice the following: The             the coming of Solomon, the coming of Solomon's great
appearance of them is the appearance of horses, and,            Son, Jesus Christ. The coming of Shiloh in the last
                                                                day.
as horseman so shall they run. In a ;Word,  the prophet
does not declare that an army of horses and chariots               As it is with the prediction of the fulfillment of
do come, but that there will come an army of creatures ithe promise, so it is with the prediction of judgment
comparable as to appearance and aotion and tumult               and doom. Hence, in predicting the coming of the
they make to a fully equipped and heavily armed army            plague of locusts, the prophet at once predicts the
of humans. Notice verse 25: "I will restore to you              coming of the Roman and Chaldean armies.            That
the years that the locust has eaten, etc." The prophet the prophet knew of these ju'dgments  and actually ,had
himself calls the locusts a great army sent by God. In them before his eye is evident from chap.  3:1-K The
a  Iword,  the entire second description in chapter 2           first two verses of this chapter read: "For behold in
permits of no other view than that the prophet was in-          those days and in that time when I shall bring again
deed speaking and describing a real plague of locusts.          the captivity of Jerusalem and I will gather the na-
The language the prophet employs is not too extrava-            tions. . . . and will  Lplead with them there for my
gant. One report of a certain traveler reads: "they people and my heritage, Israel, whom they have  scat-
(locusts) seem to march in regular battalions, crawl- ttered among the nations and parted my land." This
ing over everything that lay in their way in one                and the following verses prove conclusively that the
straight front. They enter the innermost recesses of prophet saw in his prophetic vision the coming of the
the houses, were found in every corner, invested our            Assyrian and Roman armies through the instrument-
food, the whole face of the mountain was black with ality of which Jehovah scattered Israel among the na-
them.        They came like a disciplined `army. They tions. Much of the phraseology of chap. 2 is to be
charged up the mountain-side, climbed over rocks, walls accounted for on the basis of the view that the prophet
and ditches."                                                   had before his eye the coming of the aforesaid hosts.
        However according to the very genius of prophecy           The coming of these hosts and the treatment they
the description in this instance refers to something afforded the 0. T. Church was again <the prophetic type
more than a remarkable plague of locusts. As it is              of the persecution of the Church by the \world through-
with the promise, so it is with the prediotion of doom.         out all the ages, so that what arose before the eye of
The promise first proclaimed in Paradise was success- the prophet was the aggregate of persecutions of the
ively fulfilled, first on a low natural plain and finally       Church by the world. These persecutions the prophet
on a high spiritual plain. And each fulfillment was at          dedcts in a phraseology provided him by the perse-
once a prophetic type of the following; and, rightly            cution of the  0. T. Church, by the enemies of the
considered, of all the following fulfillments. The pre- theocracy.
diction of the initia1  fuifllment of the promise is the           Whether the plague of locusts in chap. 2 is the
prediction of the ultimate fulfillment and at once the          same  pIague  described in Chap. 1 or whether the two
prediction of the fulfillments that lie between the first       plagues are two distinct devastations, cannot be deter-
and the last.  Illustration:   Concerning the patriarch mined  with absolute certainty. There is evidence,
Judah, Jacob said, "the sceptre shall not depart from however, that the two are the same. For chap.  1:4
Judah till Shiloh come."         (Shiloh means peace and        speaks of the devastations wrought by the locusts.
rest).      This `prophecy went into initial fulfillment        Consider that the prophet does not promise a restora-
when Jehovah with His people entered the typical rest tion of the years eaten by the locusts until after he has
of Canaan and chose as His residence in that land               for the second time described the ruin wrought by
the city of Shiloh. Here in Shiloh the tabernacle was them, namely, in the last section of chap. 2. This pleads
pitched upon the arrival of Israel in Canaan. The               for the view that we have to do with one continuous
Prophecy again went into fulfillment with the appear- plague.
ance of Solomon and his reign of glory. It went into               But if `we take this view of the matter which the
fulfillment a third time when the exalted Christ entered text seems to demand, the question arises why the
                            .


 -_...                                TqHE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   *                                   16'7
plague of locusts is twice described : Once in chap. 1:6ff therefore that Joel prophecied before the year 726.
and again in chap.  2:2ff. Chapter  1:6 reads: "For a To reinforce this argument we call attention to the
nation is come upon my land, strong and without fact that the great purpose of God for raising up His
number."     Chap.  2:2 reads: "A great people and prophets of the group known as greater and minor
strong, there hath never been the lilke."  Our answer prophets was to prepare by comforting discourses His
is as follows: In the second chapter the prophet pre-        people for the greatest of all afflictions that was to
dicts a human army in the phraseology suggested by           overtake them, namely, the exile. Joel belonged to
a plague of locusts. That is to say, in the second chap. this group, and was raised up as is evident from his
the prophet has before his eye the same plague of            discourse for this same purpose. Hence, whereas he
locusts and in again describing this plague he at-once came with `a message especially for Judah, he must
consciously predicts the coming of the human armies. have prophecied before the aforesaid affliction or judg-
Rightly considered we are dealing here with two dis-         ment overtook this southern kingdom.
tinct events. This is evident from the texts. The'
first event is the actual pIague of locusts; the second,        The question remains whether a year can be select-
the coming of a human army. That we are dealing ed for marking the beginning of the space of time in
here with two distinct events is evident as was said         which Joel's labors must have fallen. He could not
from the text. Chap.  1:6 reads: "that which the lo-          have prophecied later than 697. The question is how
custs hath eaten." The tense is here the perfect; and        early could he have prophecied? For this we "select
further "a nation is come". "He hath laid my vine            the year 800, the year in Iwhich Uiziah began to reign.
waste, etc." In a word, here the prophet is speaking The reason I select this year is that of all the minor
of what has and is ,happening.     On the other hand in and four great prophets, the date of whose labors are
chap. 2  :lff,' the prophet speaks of that which will come, (known from Scripture, not one arose before 800. Yet
of that which is near at hand. Consider this text: rwe concede that this reasoning is not conclusive, and
"for the day of the Lord is night at hand." This is a must therefore be re-enforced by others. As was said
prediction of what will come to pass. Two distinct the judgments of God consisting in the exile and in the
events are spoken of. So that what we have in this woe subsequent to that event was one of the out-stand-
discourse is the following:                                  ing themes upon which all the aforesaid  ,prophets
                                                             dwelt. Further these prophets did not appear `with
I. Chapter I-The description of a present judgment, these specific predictions until Israel and Judah had
the actual plague of locusts.                                nearly!  filled their measure of iniquity and had thus
II. Chapter 2:X-l&-The  prediction and description of made themselves ripe for judgment. There is a reason
a coming judgment in terms of devastation of the why the Lord waited until then in broaching by the
same plague of locusts.                                      mouth of these prophets this particular theme. The
                                                             reason is that during the reign of the kings preceding
III. Chapter 2:18-28-A promise that both the army the date selected, the judgments of God were not pend-
of locusts and human army will be removed. This ing. It is worthy to observe in this connection that
promise went into initial ,fulfillment with the return Elijah and his successor Elisha did not predict the
of Judah from the exiIe.                                     exile. And it is peculiar that these two men of God
`IV. Chapter  2:28 to the end of Book-This section           prophecied before the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah,
must be made to apply to the New Testament Dispen- namely, during the reign of Ahab, king of Israel, and
sation. The events predicted are: a. The outpouring Athaliah,  the wicked queen in Judah. The conclusi&
of the Holy Spirit,  chap.  2:28-32: b. The simultaneous is warranted therefore that whereas the aforesaid
persecution of the church by the world, described of theme constitutes the one outstanding theme of Joel's
course'in an 0. T. phraseology. Chapter 3 :l-3. c. The       discourse, the labors of this prophet fell in that par-
judgment (final) of God upon the world. Chap, 3  :-1-l?`.    ticular period during which the exile lwas being pre-
d. The ultimate salvation and eternal  bl'ss of Che          dicted. And the year is approximately 800 B. C. Also
Church.  Chap. 3:18 to the end.                              Joel, therefore, must be held to have prophecied some-
                                                             where between the reign of Amaziah 838 and the be-
   We are now ready to state the time in which the           ginning of the reign of Hezekiah 726.
Book of Joel was written. In the light of what has              This prophecy has its peculiar significance that
been given the only conclusion is that the prophetic.        sets it apart from all the other prophetic discourses.
labors of Joel took place not before the captivity of        Peculiar to this prophecy is the theme, "the day of the
Judah only, but prior to the evasion by the army.            Lord  ;" or otherwise said, "Jehovah enthroned as God
   Now the aforesaid host appeared for the first time supreme, who reigneth absolutely and doeth all things  ;
before the gates of Jerusalem during the reign of            Jehovah whose counsel is the fountain and cause of all
Bezekiah (796-697 B.C.). It may be safely concluded the events of time  inchrding  judgment and salvation."


168                                   TGHE  S T A N D A R D B E A R E R

    The prophet looks about him and sees that a natural      as the true prophet of God he denounced the sinner,
plague of locusts had swept over the land. The first were he Jew or Gentile.
part of his message was delivered in view of the desola-           The prophet is unable to specify the date of this
tion resulting from that plague. The second vision happening. He can say no more than that it will take
`was that of judgment of a more serious character to         place  afterwards. Israel's sons and daughters will
overtake the people. The prophet sees an army com-           prophesy, its old men shall dream dreams, and its
ing which he describes, `using the locusts plague for young men shall see visions. Israel is here the N. T.
purpose of illustration. The third vision was that of <Church. The meaning of this  prophe'y is that the
things beyond his day and generation. Joel looked            Church as spread over the whole earth will be seen as
about him and saw the results of the locust plague.          the city of God on a hill and thus confess the name of
He looked ahead and saw coming judgment, and  thru           Christ and witness for His truth. In a word, the
judgment salvation for God's people. Climbing to still ,Church  will prophecy as a body in which the Word
higher heights he saw things far distant, namely,            of God richly dwells. For old men shall dream dreams.
ultimate judgment and salvation. The aggregation of This action on the part of the Church  twill arouse the
all these events of the present, the immediate future, fury of the  worId. There will be persecutions and
and. of the far distant future he saw as the activity thus the Lord will again come in judgment to deliver
of Jehovah, and these .activities  fall into three great     His people.     He will show wonders in heaven  ,and
groups each of which fills a certain space of time, the      earth, blood and fire and pillar of smoke. It will be
prophet calls a day. And whereas the events be1onging        a terrible day, but then people of God need have no
to each distinct group are seen by the prophet as the        fear that they will be swept into perdition by the tor-
activity of Jehovah, each day to him is a day of the         rent of God's judgment. For whosoever shall call upon
Lord. The day of the Lord then, is a day of rejoicing the name of the Lord shall be saved. In each day the
for God's people and a day of terror for the wicked,         Lord will save His people. He will save His  people
for the very reason that it is a day of the righteous and    ultimately.    They shall live with the Lord in great
holy God.                                                    abundance. They shall eat in plenty and be satisfied
   Unbelieving men are wont to separate the events and praise the Name of the Lord their God.
of time from God. Of the locusts they say: "this is                                                          ,G. M. 0.
a mere misfortune. No one could foresee or prevent
it." But the prophet filled with holy boldness delivers
his message : "It is a day of the Lord, and it has so
devastated everything that no drunkard can obtain
wine, that there are no offerings for the temple, that
the people have no bread." Of these things men spake
as simple happenings in the course of nature. But the
prophet said that they were the immediate acts of God
in judgment. He calls to  all the old men and the                       IN DE URE DER VERZOEKING
drunkards, the land owners, all the people to observe
the action of God.
   The prophet also declared concerning the judg-                     Als de ure der verzoeking naakt,
ment which  `was to come, which he again describes as                 Zoo wendt u tot den Heer Die waakt,
the Lord's doings. "The Lord uttereth His voice be-                   En smeek Hem  ,dat Hij  Zich ontferm,
fore His army."                                                       .Hij uwer zwakheid  Zich erberm',
   Again looking into the far  distanct  future, the pro-             Daarin volbrenge Zijne kracht
phet insisted upon the presence and activity of God.                  En  toone Zijner  liefde   macht.
This final day too was a day of the Lord. The prophet
therefore was thoroughly theocentric. God to him wb                   Dan  staat gij voor den vijand pal,
all. And therefore his prophecy is the greatest  source               Die nimmer u verwinnen zal,
of comfort for the Church.                                            Want  machtig-zijn  de pijlen Gods
   Peculiar to this discourse is also the vision of the               En Hij omringt u als een rots.
outpouring of the Holy Spirit, not upon the Jews only,        0
but upon all flesh. This prediction in the mouth of                   Dan  trekt  de  felle vijand  heen,
Joel is significant. It shows that there was nothing                  Dan  blijft gij met uw Heer alleen,
of this false and carnal patriotism in Joel's soul. He                Dan  voelt  :ge u  veilig als het kind,
was attached not to the Jew, but to the C.hurch,  and                 Dat troost  in Moeder's armen vindt -
thus to any being or body, be he Jew or Gentile, that                 Als de ure der verzoeking  naakt
belonged to the Church. This is true patriotism. And                  Zoo wendt u tot den Heer die waakt !


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                                                                                        whose eyes long to see the salvation of the Lord. For,
                                                                                        to them a sign is the Word of God, a token that galva-
                                                                                        tion draweth nigh, that the Kingdom of heaven is come
                                                                                        near unto them, an answer to their earnest prayer for
                     The Contradicted  Si&n                                             salvation. They. believe the sign. They rejoice in the
                                                                                        sign. The sign fills their hearts. with.a steadfast hope
                        Behold, this child is set for the fall cmd                      for the full realization of the thing signified. And.
                     riyiizg a@&a of                                                    they `bear witness of the sign, confessing that it is the
                                                        many +n 1sraell and for a truth, and calling all men to the sight of it i
                     sign' which shall be spoken against. . . .
                     that the thoughts of  many hearts  mizy be                             But mere men always contradict it.
                     revealed.                                                              The natural man is carnal,.  the sign is spiritual.
                                                                 Lu.  8%$,`S5~          The natural man is of the earth, the sign is from
                                                                                        heaven.     The natural man is  -filled with a wisdom
    A sign which shall be spoken against!                                               which is of this world. He seeks the things that are
    Such is the Christ in this world ; in fact He is the tbelow, earthly things with which he can `satisfy- the
Sign par eqc@ence,  and of all signs' this central Won-                                 lust of the flesh. He also seeks a sign ; in fact, he
der is most contradicted.                                                               demands one. He will not believe you unless you show
    Signs are always contradicted in this world. Just him a sign. But it is not God's sign, it is man's sign
because they are signs, they cause the "multitude" to he seeks. He seeks a sign that confirms his own philo-
be divided : some will declare themselves to be in favor,                               sophy,  that flatters his- pride that declares his right-
others will most sharply voice their opposition against                                 eousness that establishes his world; that reveals his
t h e m . '                                                                             power, that promises him the ultimate. victory. .But
    For signs are of God ; they are of the God of sal:                                  God's sign is not of. this worId,  and does not speak the
vation  ; and therefore, they are also wonders. They things of this world : it -declares things which eye hath
are indications of. the marvellous power of the grace of not seen and ear hath not heard and which have never
God breaking through the hopeless appearance of our arisen in the heart of man. And that sign is foolish-
sin-cursed world, of that amazing power that raises the                                 ness to the natural man, because he has no spiritual
world, God's world, out of its accursed state into the                                  discernment. He hates it.  .He tries to silence its
blessedness of heavenly glory ; manifestations of the                                   testimony. He contradicts it. . . .
power of God's righteousness breaking through un-                                           Always the sign is spoken against!
righteousness, of God's light piercing the darkness, of                                     This child is set. . . . for a sign  twhich shall be
God's grace ,penetrating  dank ciouds of wrath, of God's spoken against !
life dispelling the gloom of  d,eath fqrever.  Wherever                                     Yes, indeed !
or whenever you see or hear of this wondrous power                                          The ,Sign of signs is this Child ! The Wonder of
of victorious, redeeming, regenerating, resurrecting,                                   wonders is He ! Never could there have been signs
glorifying grace, you perceive a sign.                                                  ,before  Him, had He, not cast. His shadow over the ages
    Hence, signs are always spoken against.                                             that went before His advent; never could there be
    They are, indeed, also accepted, received with the signs again, had, ye not come into the world. From
joy of the faith that is an evidence of things unseen,                                  Him all signs radiate as beams from the sun. In Him
by all those that wait for the consolation of Israel, they all concentrate and have their reason. He 6 the


170                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R
central Wonder of God's grace: God in the flesh, God           people". They rejoice because they hear His words of
and man united in one Person, God with us Immanuel.            eternal life, and they declare that He hath a devil.
His name is Wonderful. And ail He is and does is full They shout : "Hosanna, Messed is He that cometh in the
of the marvellous. Wonderful is His birth from a name of the Lord", and they crucify Him!
virgin ; astounding are His mighty works ; amazing is              SmalI and great, rich and poor, Jews and Greeks
His wisdom; marvellous are the words of eternal life and Romans, Pharisees and Sadducees, scribes and
He speaks. And as He proceeds on His life's journey the        lawyers, wise men and babes, Pilate and Herod,-all
element of wonder in His appearance increases. All must speak concerning this sign!
the universe testifies to the amazing wonder of His                He is set for this purpose !
death: the darkness, the earthquake, the veil of the               The contradicted Sign !
temple, the splitting of the rocks, the opening of Hades.
He breaks through death into the glory of the resurrec-
tion and appears as "the sign of Jonah". He ascends.               God's Sign in the world !
into the glory of His position at the right hand of God            Set  up  ,by Him, for His own purpose!
and comes again in the Spirit, accompanied by the                 In order that the thoughts of many hearts may be
signs of a mightily rushing wind, flaming tongues. . . .       revealed !
    The Sign of all signs !                                       Thus it was during His sojourn on earth, when He
    And as such He is set, established.in the center of tabernacled among us, spoke and worked wonders, died
the world, of all history, of all nations, that all may        and rose again.
see Him!                                                          And thus it is still. For still the Sign is estabIished
   Born He is, indeed, in lowly, and forgotten Bethle-         in the midst of all the nations of the world. He went
hem ;  `but the heavens break and a heavenly messenger into heaven but returned again in the Spirit. And
descends to announce His advent, that the shepherds still He speaks, through the apostles and prophets, by
may go and see the "Word that is come to pass". The the preaching of the gospel. And, indeed, that gospel
"sign" begins with a stable and a manger and swad-             concerning the sign must be preached, not only to the
dling clothes, but a wonder-star invites the representa- good <but also to the evil, not only to the elect, but aIso
tives of the nations from afar to come and worship to the reprobate, to  ail nations and to  al1 men without
Him. The theologians of the time, though without per-          distinction.    For, the sign must be set up, and the
sona interest in this child, must open the Scriptures          thoughts of many hearts must ,be revealed. . . .
and tell Herod  about His birth. And soon He becomes              The thoughts of `the heart !
so famous that  "al1 the  worId"  goes after Him Phari-           No, not merely the thoughts of. the head. This Sign
sees and Sadducees,  the wise and the prudent, but also does not present itself to men as a mere intellectual
multitudes of "babes" ; PiIate and Herod  Antipas, the problem. ITt is not an object of philosophical contem-
daughters of Jerusalem and the  soldiers,-al1 see this         plation. 0, indeed, you may discuss Him and speculate
Sign ; and the superscription above His cross must about Him. You may write treatises about Him, and
needs be written i,n Hebrew and in Greek and in Latin,         speculate about His virgin  ,birth, His real manhood and
that all may read?                                             true deity, His atoning death and the reality of His
   ,Setforasign! . . . .                                       resurrection. And so men have done and  stilI do.
   And the sign speaks !                                       Volumes have been written about this sign  both by
   He speaks in word and work, in life and death and           friend and foe, so that the world today is  fuI1 of liter-
resurrection : I am He that should come into the world,        ature concerning Him. Thoughts of the head they are.
the reveIation  of the God of SaIvation,  the Christ of the       But with these He is not satisfied.
Most High, that will break down the works of darkness             He presses you and me and al1 men until they `have
and overcome the world, that is anointed to be Lord            revealed the thoughts of their heart!
of all, the Servant of Jehovah, the Light, the Truth,             When He confronts men with the question: what
the Way, the Life, the Resurrection, the Go4 of the            think ye of the Christ? He does not offer a prize for
world, your  Righteowsness  forever: "Come unto Me             the best theological essay men may be abie to write
and I will give you rest !"                                    about Him; nor does He offer HimseIf as an object of
   And men aIso speak?                                         intellectual speculation.
   They bear Him testimony? They respond to the                  It is the thoughts of the heart He wants to bring to
Sign! They  carmot   `help  themselves. In the presence the surface  I
of.,,~~$Xgn  no one can keep silent. All the world                The heart is deep. It is the ethical center of a man's
speaks)!  i  r They beIieve,  and they reject. They worship life. From the heart are the issues of life, the thoughts,
six&bring  their gifts, and they attempt to choke out          the contemplations, the desires, the aspirations, the
His life in infancy. They praise and they curse. They strivings, the yearnings and  Iongings,-all from a
say : "Ife is good"; and they say : "He deceives the           spiritual ethical aspect. The heart gives direction to


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              171

a11 these issues, direction in  reIation to God: for or        of the publican: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner".
against. The condition of the heart determines whether There they raise their rebellious fist in the face of the
13s issues are good or evil, according to the truth or to Sign of God and cry out : "Away with this man, crucify
the lie, in harmony with the  law of God or contrary to        Him !"
it, righteous or unrighteous, holy or corrupt, after God          And  aIways  the Sign serves its purpose, the divine
or after the devil. And as a man's heart is, so is he!         purpose for the which it is set.
    The thoughts of the heart reveal the condition of             It reveals the thoughts of the  @hearts.
that heart, bring to light the ethical worth of man!              God is justified! .              -
    And the heart of the carnal man is evil!
    And he knows that it is evil. And knowing that it
is evil, he attempts to `hide the thoughts of his heart,          Setasasign!
for himself, for others, for the whole world. He puts             Established by the living God Bn the midst of thi
on a mask of righteousness, of piety, of religiousness,        world.
of goodness, of love of God and men, of the light, of             To reach His eternal ,purpose:  the fall and rising
"common grace". He whitewashes the  sepuIchre that again of many in Israel, in the Church, in a11 the world !
contains stinking bones of `dead men. He cIeanses  the            No, indeed, not the same persons are meant here,
outside of the cup that is filthy within. He gives alms that fast fall and then rise agam. This would be quite
to the poor in public whom he oppresses in secret. He          impossible. ;One who through this Sign rises `again,
brings sacrifices to God Whom he hates. An'appear-             that is, .is raised from the dead, does not first fall be-
ance of righteousness he assumes who loves iniquity.           cause of the same Sign ; and he that  falIs because he
And all the world calls the oppressor merciful and pro-        comes into contact with this Sign, never rises again:
claims the chiId  of hell worthy of eternal glory ! . . . .    he falls irrevocably!
    And this may not be !                                         Set for a fall of many in Israel !
    For, these same men that love iniquity and don the            Not the fall, into sin is meant. Those that fall by
mask of righteousness, present the righteous as evil- this Sign are fallen into sin first, and receive no grace.
doers and persecute the good, so that they are con-            And when they confront the Sign of the.C!hrist  of God,
demned and hated by all. The children of, the devil            they $xmbIe `over Him and fall into eternal condem-
they justify, the children of God they condemn. . . .          ,nation. Thus: it would be with many in Israel. They
    And this cannot be final !                                 had, a place among the peopIe  of God. They belonged
    For God ,purposes to cast' these &se, and. prudent, to  the.nati0.n whose were the covenant and the promises
these great and noble, these righteous in themselves,          and to whom  the oracles of God were entrusted : scribes
these witewashed graves, into  eterna1  `hell and desola- and Pharisees and"Sa.dducees,  and carnal children of
tion; and to tzzke  the `+babes",  that are here condemned Abraham. Alnd they ,would be offended in the Christ.
by all, but in whose hearts He has instilled the right- They would ,stumbIe  over the Stone. They would con-
eousness of grace, into eternal glory, into His covenant tradict the, Sign of God, reveal the thoughts of their
*home  f o r e v e r !   `                                     hearts, and become exposed as enemies of ,God.  The
    And He must be justified when He judges  ?                 Kingdom of God would be taken away from them, and
    The thoughts of the heart must be revealed. The            they would fall into eternal condemnation and. the deso-
whitewashed  sepulchres must be opened, that  al1 may lation of everlasting wrath, . . .
see the stinking bones. The beauty of His grace must              Set for t.hat!.very  purpose!
become manifest, so that all may behold the righteous-            For, it belongs  to the purpose' of--God that through
ness of His own, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.            this Sign the sin `of the reprobate;&&g  Israel, in all
    And, therefore, He sets up the Sign !                      the world, may become  &ceeding  sinful, and their in-
    And the Sign represents Him in the world. He               iquity may be e&posed, that God may be justified when
represents Him in His righteousness and truth, His             He judges them worthy of hell.                   7  "
holiness and goodness, His grace and mercy ; He repre-            ,Set  aiso for a rising again : the resurrection.! _
sents Him by word and work, by life and death and                 For this Sign is the p&er  of God unto salvation.
resurrection.                                                  And through *its' power many rise again. They are
    And the Sign confronts the hearts of men with the dead, but they are' raised. They are quickened by the
question : what think ye of the `Christ?                       mighty voice of `this Sign unto a new life, called out of
    What think ye of righteousness and truth? What darkness into the  marvellous  light of ,God. They; too,
are the thoughts of your heart concerning the living reveal the thoughts of' their heart. They repent and
God ? Repent!                                                  receive forgiveness  $nd everlasting righteousness. . . .
    And men are turned inside out!                                And they are raised with H"im into gIory!
    Here they prostrate themseIves  in dust and ashes             In the last day!
and reveai the thoughts of their hearts-in the prayer            ' MarvelIous"  Sign !             ^             H, H. " '

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

                                                                    any one of the other of the republics of this hemi-
II                                                                  sphere. . . .    The last resources of this American
                   E d i t o r i a l s                              hemisphere constitute the most tempting loot in  a11 the
l----l world".
                                    .-     .      "     ,              And although the president did not  outIine  any
       Our Present  Positian Toward The                             detaiIed  plan of the way in which our government was
                  European  Conflict                                to aid Great Britain, he made it very clear that, if ihis
                                                                    plans are adopted and carried out, there will be no
      At nine-thirty P.M., Sunday, Dec. 29 Iast our Presi-          limit to that aid except our own capacity to produce
dent broadcasted his views on the European conflict,                war material and to get it across the Atlantic. To ac-
the interests of our own country in that*`conf&t,  and              complish this with al1 possibIe speed he expressed to
the proper course for our government to pursue, with #be his firm determination. And : "No dictator, no com-
relation to that conflict. The speeoh had been anxious- ,bination  of dictators, will weaken that determination
ly expected by mil1ions in our ow'n country and abroad,             by threats of. how they will construe that determina-
especially because it was expected that President tion". Besides, the President reminded us: `FiIt is no
Roosevelt would issue a frank statement, as to his own more unneutral  for us to send weapons to Britain than
intentions with respect  to the  Iimit of our aid to Great          it is for Sweden, Russia and other nations near Ger-
Britain.      And in this respect no one  couid possibly            many to send steel and coal and  oil and other war
complain of being dipsappointed.                                    materials into Germany every day  m the week".
                         __.                                           Mr. Roosevelt did not repeat his promise to keep
      Clearly the chief executive outlined what he con-             our country. out of war, although he did state that
ceived to be the issues at stake in t$e prre,se@ war. It there is no demand for sending another expeditionary
is a conflict between two worlds: i&e world of the al-              force to Europe, and "there is no intention by any
mighty State without  fre,edom  on the one hand, and the member of your government to send  such a force".
world of freedom and democracy an the other. The
Axis powers aim at nothing short of work%dominion.
And: "Never before, since Jamestown and Plymouth                       There is much in the speech of President Roosevelt
Rock, has our American civilization been in such dan- with which  all must agree.
ger as now. For on Sept.  27,  1940,  this year by-an                  There can *be no doubt shout tie fact that Nazism
agreement signed in Berlin three  pow&@ nations                     with its ideal of the almighty State means the end of
joined themselves together in the. threat that if the all liberty. Under Nazi  r$e there is no room for
United States of America interfered with or Mocked "sovereignty in one's own domain". Personal liberty,
. . . .a program at  warId control, they would unite in Iiberty in the family, the school, society, and even the
ultimate action against the United. States".                 And    Church are certainly doomed wherever Nazism rules
again, referring to a recent speech. by Adolph Hitler,              supreme. The State is the sole power, and force is
the President stated: "It was only three weeks ago that the only way to gain its end. Anyone who made any
their Ieader stated this: `There are two worlds that study of the Nazi philosophy will have to admit this.
stand opposed to each other. . . .with this world (the              Nor can there be any doubt concerning the truth of the
democratic world) we cannot ever reconcile ourselves.               President's statement that the Axis powers aim at
I can beat any other power in the world'~.                          world  control. .
      Mr. Roosevelt reiterated his views, outlined in a                And as far as tie danger of our being accused of
former speech which we, no doubt,  al1 recall, as to the an act of unneutrality is concerned, it might be stated
possibility of a direct attack upon our  Iand by the                that there is hardly a party in the world today that
Axis powers. He reminded us that the world today                    couId   cIaim  the moral right to act as our accuser.
is very small, and that the Atlantic is no longer a safe- Surely, after the Nazi invasion of Norway, Denmark,
guard against attack from the air. There are bombing Holland and Belgium and the ruthless destruction of
planes today, he stated, that could hop of? from the                Rotter-dam, the Axis powers are hardly in a position to
other side of the Atlantic,  sunload their destructive read the Ten Commandments to us.
cargo on our shores, and return to their base without                  However, there are some points on which we beg
refueIing.     And: "Germany has said that she was oc-              to differ with the President.
cupying BeI,gium to save the Belgians from the British.                First of all, the presentation by Mr. RooseveIt  as
WouId she then hesitate to say to any South American if there were imminent danger of an attack kby the
country: `We are occupying you to protect you from Axis powers is not convincing. Even apart from the
aggression by the United States'? And any- South question whether it would be practicable for the Nazis
American country, in Nazi hands, would always con- to attack our shores at all, which seems rather a re-
stitute a jumping-off place for the German attack on mote possibility in view of the difficuIty  they seem to


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           173

have to invade Great Britain,-the President forgets same road, under the very same slogan. Will we never
the rather important fact, that the .present war is a learn? But even apart from  this question, which is
heavy drain on the Axis powers as well as on Great           one of expediency, there is still the question, the more
Britain. Even in case the Nazis should be able to gain important question, whether in the sight of  ,God we are
a decisive victory, which  even Mr. Roosevelt, accord- justified to involve ourselves in this conflict. And I
ing to his own statement, does not believe to be.pos-        desire to be clearly understood on this point. As an
sible, they certainly would not be in a condition to         American citizen of Holland descent my blood boils
make such a successful attack upon  theunited  States,       when I think of what the Nazis did in the Netherlands.
nor would they dream of such a thing for some time           And as a  .Christian and a minister of the Word of
to come. And in the light of this fact it is difficult to God I hate and fight Nazism as an Antichristian force.
believe that our present hurry to  prep&e  ourselves and     But that does not alter the fact, that the question
become a strong military power is solely for the pur-        whether or not our government should involve our
pose of self-defense.                                        nation in the present conflict  is more than one of mere
   In the second place, I think it were better to inform     expediency, it is also one of justice. And one cannot
the American nation frankly that the intention  to aid consider the question from this aspect without going
Gr.eat Britain to the limit is the intention to take the back to the Treaty of Versailles.
road that must lead us inevitably into war. We are              If our President in his speech of Dec. 29 had offered
told that the great majority of the American people the American nation an objective view of the present
are in favor of giving as much aid as possible to Great      conflict, he could not have avoided mention. of that
Britain. This is probably true. But that this is the treaty. Historically it is the beginning ,of the present
present sentiment of our nation is itself the result of      war. Had the allies in 1918 not treated Germany as if
a good deal of propaganda. However, the American it were the only guilty party, that bore the sole respon-
people, we are told, are almost unanimously in favor of sibility for the-world-war (which today is still a matter
staying out of war. Aid to Great Britain &o+ of war,         of dispute, to put it mildly), had not a treaty been im-
is the slogan at present. Now, let us understand that posed upon the central powers, the terms of which were
the sending of an expeditiouary  force to Europe is at aimed at Germany's utter destruction,  il am. confident
present out of the question, because it is impossible.       that the present conflict could not have been started.
It is very easy to promise the American nation that             I believe that this question of justice should be
this shall not be done, but this promise means nothing.      taken into consideration by the American government,
And it is not the only way to involve our nation in the before we plunge into war, and are able to pIunge  into
European conflict. The quest&n is : what does it' impIy      war with a free conscience before God.
to send aid to-Great  Britain to the limit? Does it mean        What, then, should be done?
that, if England should not be in a position to fetch           Senator Burton  K. Wheeler of Montana replied to
the supplies of war material we offer her, we will send      the President's speech in a nationwide broadcast on
it in our own ships, with our own convoys, in our own        Monday, Dec. 30. He suggested that the United States
planes and piloted by our own men? It appears to me          submit  to the warring nations a peace program. As a
that this will be' the next step to take. And that will tentative basis for a  jast peace he suggested eight
be the final step to involve us once more in the Euro- points, practically implying the destruction of the
pean war. For, in that case the &&is will have the VersaiIles  Treaty. Most of the German boundaries
perfect right to attack our convoys and torpedo our          of 1914 should  ,be restored. The colonies are to be re-
ships. I  think  it is but fair to give  the American turned to Germany. The countries now under German
nation clearly to understand that we are hed%ng  for         dominion or "protectorate", Norway, Denmark, Hul-
war. It is not a pleasant sensation to be fooled all the land, Belgium and France are to be given their isde-
time.                                                        pendence again, while Poland and Czecho-Slovakia
   In the third place, if we must become involved in would be granted autonomy.                     Racial and religious
the war, we should consider not only the question  .of       minorities should be protected, and no reparations for
expediency, but also the qu&titin of justice. We are the present war should be demanded. And the Suez
told that this war is once more a `war to save demo- Canal is to become international.
cracy. Those of us who are old enough to recall the            As far as the contents of Senator Wheeler's program
days just before the world-war will remember that it is concerned it certainly is worthy of consideration.
was under-the same pretext that we sent our American            Another question is whether it is practicable and
boys to a cruel death in the last world-war. Did we          (whether the warring nations would at present welcome
make the world safe for democracy then? How we all American arbitration.
were disillusioned ! We merely fought a European                However, it seems to us that our government:
battle and left a greater chaos than ever. We then said :       1. Should consider the question of justice and the
never again! And, behold, today we are on the very           Treaty of Versailles.      , , .,-'


I74                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

        2. If our government should agree that this Treaty van Bewaring" vertoefde. En ik ben blij, dit te kun-
was characterized by gross injustice, it should suggest nen mededeelen.
to Great Britain that it submit to Germany a basis for            En, eer  ik het vergeet, voeg ik hier aanstonds  aan
peace that eliminates the unjust provisions of the Ver- toe, dat de gevangen br,oeder  mij verzocht  aan al zijne
sailles Treaty.                                                vrienden in onze  kring zijne hartelijke groeten  te wil-
        3. Our giving aid to Britain to the limit should be    len overbrengen. Ik doe dit maar door het  ,beste mid-
made contingent on Great Britain's willingness to fol- del, dat mij hiertoe ten dienste staat, onze StCGndard
low up this suggestion.                                        Bearer, want ik  ,ben  verzekerd, dat "zijne vrienden
        5. If the Axis powers accept such a  `peace proposal in  onzen  kring" door heel ons land verspreid zijn. De
the war may be brought to a close. If they refuse, we groete dus van  onzen gevangen vriend uit Arnhem.
can at least give aid to England with a clear con- Bidt veel voor hem.
science.                                                          Volgens den brief maakt hij het anders best, naar
        Personally I am,of the opinion that the present war lichaam  en geest.  )Hij is nog  goed  gezond, en is vol
also involves the questian, of the survival of the Capital- geloofskracht, volkomen eenswillend met hetgeen zijn
istic system of society.                                       hemelschen  Vader over hem be&h&t.  Het verblijdde
        And many things seem to indicate, that whoever mij dit te lezen. De Heere verhoort daarin ons  dage-
wins this war, or whatever may, be the outcome of it, lij,ksch  gebed voor hem.
that system in its present form is doomed.                       Overigens verlangt hij naar de vrijheid, `zooals te
        After this war we are apt to see a different world. sbegrijpen  valt.
                                                 H. H.            Op 22 Augustus werd hij per auto opgehaald van
                                                               zijn woning, en naar Arnhem vervoerd., Het doe1 was :
                             -                                 "voor een onderzoek?. Den dag na  zijn aankomst werd
                                                               hem een verhoor afgenomen over de sIotpassage  van
                                                               een  artikel  in het laatste nommer van "De Reformatie",
            Dr. Schilder Ndg  In Arnhem                        dat verscheen. Sedert dien echter is er niets meer ge-
                                                               beurd, en van het resultaat  van dat verhoor heeft hij
        Op grond van een gericht, dat in "De Wachter"          niets vernomen.
verscheen, dat vriend  "Verver"  naar Duitschland was             Hij  mag  e&e  week eens naar huis schrijven, en
vervoerd en in een klein huisje  woonde, deed het ge-          zijne  familie  mag hem ook eenmaal  in de week  een
ru& ook in onze kringen de rondte, dat Dr. Schilder brief schrijven. Eerst  mocht  bij ook post van andere
niet meer in Arnhem, maar in Duitschland gevangen vrienden ontvangen, maar thans is dat gestopt. Zoo
zat.                                                           af en toe mag zijne familie hem ook bezoeken. Dit kan
        Ik truk de waarheid.van  dat bericht aanstonds in alleen op aanvraag  en speciale vergunning.
twijfel.                                                          De geachte  broeder zit in de gevangenis ook nog
        Het ,bericht in "De Wachter".  was. naar  aanleiding over de "Drie  Punten" te  denken.  Hij schrijft mij,
van een `brief uit Nederland gedateerd den 3lsten Octo- dat hij voor het uitbreken van den &n-log  en het  stop-
ber. Intusschen had ik een brief ontvangen van een zetten der "Reformatie" begonnen was met de bespre-
predikant uit Nederland, gedateerd 24 October, waarin king van het tweede punt, maar dat dit onderbroken
ook over Dr. Schilder werd geschreven, en waaruit met was. Hij boopt echter de bespreking voort te zetten,
zekerheid  vie1 af te leiden, dat hij nog in Arnhem zoodra hij weer in vrijheid is. De Synode in  Neder-
W&3.                                                           land den& er niet aan die punten voor hare rekening
        Nu bestond de mogelijkheid natuurlijk, dat hij         t e   n e m e n .
spoedig daarop naar Duitschland was vervoerd, maar                Na het nommer van 1 Sept. werd ons blad door de
waarschijnlijk  achtte ih dit, ook om andere redenen familie Schilder niet meer ontvangen.
niet.                                                             Geve  de Heere  hem genade om lijdzaam  te zijn en
        Thans kan ik echter met zekerheid mededeelen, dat getrouw ten einde toe !
het  Wachterzbericht  niet juist was, en dat onze  ge-            En moge hij eerlang in vrijheid worden  gesteld!
achte broeder nog steels in Arnhem is.                                                                       H. H.
        Ik heb namelijk zoo direkt mogelijk bewijs voor        P. S. Mr. Van  Genderen  van Passaic, N. J. was zoo
deze bewering ontvangen. Deze week ontving ik een vriendelijk mij te schrijven, dat hij een brief  ont-
brief van den oudsten zoon van Dr. Schilder; gedateerd vangen  had uit Nederland, gedateerd 8 Dec., waarin
3 Dec. De brief werd op verzoek van Dr. Sohil,der zelf het  voIgende  werd vermeld:
aan mij geschreven en werd zelfq gedeeltelijk  door den           "Dr. Schilder is vrij. Dr. Greydanus  heeft  alles
doctor aan zijn zoon in de gevangenis te Arnhem ge-            weer aan Dr. Schilder overgedaan en nu is Dr. S. weer
dicteerd. Er bestaat  dus geen twijfe1  aan, dat althans       President van Kamper Theol. School".
op 3 Dec. Dr. Schilder nog in Arnhem in het "Huis                                                           tl H. H.  f


                                       T H E   STAND,ARD   B E A R B R                                               I.85

opzichten heeft uitgediend, zou ons blad nu niet meer but must still be on a milk diet. Sad if true, but it is
lezers  trekken  als het zich ging toeleggen op de-  be-       not true. In fact, it is definitely not true. Our .young
hoeften van het jongere geslacht, en zich meer als een people are not babies, and older people must not treat
okerkblad  ging aandienen 9,'                                  them as such. We can safely throw their bottles and
   Volgens mijne  meening  was  bet'  we1  e&s  te  -veel      nipples away. Many of our young people are high
eer voor Ds. Zwier, als Ds. Hoeksema hem op al zijn school graduates. Certainly they have been taught
"gepeuzel" van &ntwoord  diende. Door die &ntwoorden           to read. Young people are no different than somewhat
voorzag Ds. Hoeksema, Ds. Zwier van materiaal  voor            older peopie, their fathers and mothers for instance.
"De Wachter". Spreuken geeft  ens  da&in wijze les- But it is rather convenient for somewhat older people
sen.                                                           to excuse and champion the failin,gs  of young people
   5. Dat de Standard Bearer een ges?oten  boek is h.eb        because those failings happened to be our own failing.
ik nergens beweerd. We1 heb ik g&%%reveh, omdat de How we hate to admit that.                                                *
Standard Bearer meer een Theologisch  tijds&i;ift is,             We are all very well able to read, but we lack
het daarom voor velen een gesloten  bock  is. M&i heeft interest. If the fathers and mothers do not set them-
menschen die zoo diep in de  waarheid   iijn  ingeleid,        selves to read, certainly they cannot inspire their
dat men er soms over verstelt staat ; v&r hen is theo-         children to read. We like to take life easy. How we
logie helder en Ma&r. DoCh men heeft ook menschen hate to put forth any real effort. Lazy people  !- Men-
en die zijn er niet weinig, die  we1 de  w8arheid   lief tally lazy and spiritually lazy. Its much easier to listeh
hebben,  doch  op dat gebied  heel eenvoiidig  iijn. Vrome
                                            ,---*I<            to the radio or listen to some idle chatter or take a joy
iielen,  doch die  ' over  diepg&ande   omierwerpen   niet     ride. There are lots of things *we can do, but to develop
kuniren   meesl.n%ken.   W a t   u   da&r  bew&.?rd  dat  een ourselves mentally and spiritually; that's quite an;
klein kind  bet  haast  we1  &an  verst$ian,  zulIen  we other thing. However, diligent study and real effort
maar in `t niidderi  laten.                       ._  __._
                               Doch uw verder  betoog hen are rewarded even in an earthly sense. Much much
ik het roerend  mee eens, alleen  maar theorie  eh prak-       more the reward of spiritual study and effort.
tijk zijn twee.
   6. Ik heb nergens beweerd dat de zaak  spoedig                 M4+t the Standard of the Standard Bearer be
opg&st  zou zijn als er maar een agent werd `aange-            ibrought  down to a lower level or must we be brought
Stdd.     Ik heb  alleen   gevraagd,   "Zou het  niet van up to a higher level? Let's stop to think. Let's face
groot belang  zijn als we hier een werkzame  agent had:        the question squarely, and not confuse it. If the stan-
den ?"                                                         dard of the Standard Bearer must be brought lower,
   Wanneer  in iedere plaats waar de Standard-Bearer how much lower? In twenty years from now will it
gelezen wordt een agent werd aangesteld,  die  bet-lees;       not necessarily have to be brought down still lower?
geld geregeld in ontvangst  nam, en zoo- af en toe de Do we honestly believe that people will be more inter-
Standard Bearer bij niet lezers  aanbeval  en een exem-        ested in a little Sunday School Iesson  than in solid doc-
plaar achterliet, dan geloof  1% we1 dat zulks nu keele-       trine? If we are unable or unwilling to read counter
maal niet zoo af te keuren was. God is- een God van arguments, will we ever be able to withstand the sub-
orde en zoolang  we'hier  nag op deze aar& zijn, leven         tility of the enemy'? Must we not study our churCh
we nog in den weg der middelen, ook op financie'el  ge- history most of which was brought `about by the contro-
bied. Laat ons vooral  niet  ziek  worden,  want  dan versy? I mean church history from beginning to end.
zijn we niet meer gereformeerd.                                Must we not know something about our forefathers
                                      HCiUgaChterrd,           from whom we have our Reformed heritage? And
                                   J. R. Vander Wal.           must we not submit to Reformed Theologians in the
                                     Redlands,  Calif.         Netherlands the fact, if fact it is, that just because
                                                               we were fundamentally Reformed; therefore, we were
                                                               cast out from the fellowship of the Christian Reformed
                                                               Churches? Or shall we as milk-fed babes forget about
Rev. H. Hoeksema,                                              the country of our Reformed fathers and stand on our
Editor  of The Standard Bearer.                                own feet? Is  t,here any difference or isn't there? If
   Dearly beloved Editor :                                     there is, shall we mimimize it or proudly proclaim it?
                                                               Christian Reformed people get awfully excited about
   Naturally, I read The Standard  &aFer.   Some- our missionary activities, but it doesn't seem to bother
times I read criticism and sometimes I hear criticism them in the least that they cast out from their church
of The Standard Bearer. ' The main question seems fellowship people whom they now believe and always
to be whether or not the Standard Bearer should come did  bebeve  to be fundamentally Reformed. ShalI we
down to our level or rather to the level of our young get down to the bottom of things, or shall we be broad-
people, who, so it is said, cannot be fed -with solid food,    minded, meaning simple-minded? Can we lower the

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

     level of our Standard Bearer without giving up our
     Protestant Reformed heritage? Very likely if the                        The Levitical Priesthood
     Standard Bearer had never been published, we would
     still be in the Christian Reformed denomination. Read,          In my previous article, I explained the purpose and
     if you will, an article by Rev. H. Danhof in the Stan- design of the tabernacle. The purpose was  to, provide
     dard Bearer of February 1925 entitled, "Ha! Ha!             the Holy Ghost with an instrument for signifying,
     TOCH THE STANDARD BEARER HE !" Let's face declaring, that the way-the meritorial instrument by
     the issue squarely. Do we want to lower the level of which believers go into the holiest and by which is to
     the Standard Bearer because of our lack of intelligence     be understood the sacrifice of Christ-was not yet
     or because we ,want to blot out the lines of demarca-       made manifest and that thus the way that then had
     tion?                                                       been made manifest-the sacrifice by which Aaron
.           But if we don't want to lower the level of the Stan- &went  into the  hohest of the first tabernacle-was as
     dard Bearer, we must  ,bring ourselves up to its level.     far from being the true way, that it was but a shadow,
     How are we going to do that? By diligent study, of type, symbol; that it was thus not the way by which
     course.      Can't we set aside one evening per  week       men, by nature sinful and condemnable, could go to
     as well as Sunday afternoons for the purpose of read-       God. Through the (typical) sacrifice by blood, so  I
     ing the Standard Bearer? Wouldn't it be pleasant to wrote, the Holy Ghost signified that, God being what
     read certain articles out loud with our family or with He is, righteous and holy, there can be no forgiveness
     the girl friend or the boy friend? Then, if necessary, of sin without shedding of blood. Through the  high-
     we can help one another understand. Naturally that priest's entering alone the holiest place, He signified
     takes self-dicipline. Incidentally, let me recommend to that this sacrifice together with all the institutions of
     those who cannot read Dutch that they read the trans-       the law was but shadow and that thus the true sacrifice
     lation of the articles against Rev. Zwier, which have       and the true *priest had still to be made manifest.
     now been printed in book form. LIn the words of the             So were then the typical things of the law the type,
     poet :                                                      shadow, of the higher things of God's kingdom, and
                     "Let us then be up and doing,               thus differed from those things as type, shadow, differs
                      With an heart for any fate,                from the body prefigured. But these things of the
                      Still achieving, still pursuing,           law were at once and of necessity similar to these
                      Learn to labor and to wait."               higher things as the shadow is similar to the body.
                                                                 Let us first have regard to the differences. The high
                                             A. H. DeBorst.      priest of the old covenant was a mere human not only,
                                                                 but a sinful human, condemnable and ill-deserving in
                                                                 the sight of God and his brethren. Therefore, before
                                  -                              he could be allowed to commence performing the
                                                                 sacred duties of his office, a sacrifice had to be  olfered
                     TO YOU IS BORN A SAVIOUR                    for him and he sprinkled with its blood, his body had
                                                                 to be washed with water and be clothed in the garments
             The days are grim with fear and dread,              of holiness. But even then he was not truly right-
             Even strong faith may waver,                        eousness and holy; for guilt could not be taken away
             Yet hear the word the angel said:                   by bulls and goats ; and true holiness .is moral purity.
                     "To you is born a Saviour."                 It is thus not the glory of a material robe. Look now
                                                                 to Christ, the true high priest of our profession. He is
             Though threat of war draw still more near,          man but also God. As man, he knew no sin. His holi-
             The outlook ever graver,                            ness was innate. For He was born of a virgin, upon
             Men's hearts now failing them for fear,             whom the Holy Spirit had come and who, during all
                     "To you is born a Saviour."                 the time of her pregnancy as virgin, was overshadowed
             And though the night grow yet more dark,            by the power of the Holy Ghost. Therefore also "that
             God-strengthened hearts grow braver.                holy thing" which was born of her was "called the Son
             They claim the promise. Hark ! 0, hark !            of God. And such a high Ipriest  became us, one who,
                     "To you is born a Saviour."                 while partaking of the flesh and blood of His brethren,
                                                                 was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,
             Great God, unchanging through the years,            and who, on this account "need not daily, as those high
             Still stand Thy power, Thy favor;                   priests, to offer up sacrifice `first for His own sins. . . ."
             Grant us the faith that sings through fears:        The sacrifice which He offered was solely for the sins
                     "To us is born a Saviour."                  of His people. And His sacrifice was His very own
     b..  1  3  I                              -Selected.        Self, so that here again such differences appear as  be-


                                        T H E S,TANDARD  BBARB~

token the typical things of the Old Covenant to `have first tabernacle, so that the high priest, having entered
been but a shadow and not the  e-xact image of the           these places, stood not before the true face of God.but
higher things of the heavenly kingdom. For under only before an earthy resemblance of it. The place of
the Levitical priesthood the high priest (and also the abode of the true face of God-Christ and His body-
common priest) was one and his sacrifice another.            is "heaven itself", some eminent place, sometimes call-
But now that the perfect things of God's kingdom ed "the third heaven", and "the heaven of heavens".
have come, also this imperfection  was done away with.       It is the place of the residence of the true presence,
Christ put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He,         majesty and glory of God, and of His true throne ;
the true high priest, is at once the Lamb-the Lamb           where all His saints enjoy Him, and all His holy angels
of God that bore away the sins. of many. And here minister to Him. It is this place-the  true  holiest,
another difference appears. Under the Levitical priest- sanctuary of God-into which Christ by His own flesh
hood, too, sins were borne away by the animal sacrifice and blood entered. A'nd here He ever liveth. As to
and the people redeemed-but redeemed, only from those other high priests, they were many priests,
the obligation to suffer instantaneously the penalty because they were not suffered to continue by reason
of physical death, so that their life and inheritance        of death. But Christ continueth ever, and has thus
for a little while longer should be continued in the         an unchangeable priesthood. "Wherefore He is able
land of Canaan.. Thus these sacrifices, as has already also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God
been explained, were able to free the sinner only from       by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession
temporal punishment and give him outward  peace in for them" (Heb. 5' :24, 25).
his possessions in God's country-the land of Canaan.            These were the imperfections that rendered the
;It means that under the ,priesthood  of the Old Cove- Levitical priesthood but a defective representation of
nant sin was not truly put away. And the token of Christ and His church. But there were- at the same
this was the repetition of the sacrifices by blood, the      time many resemblances. In the Levitical priesthood
entering of the high priest into the holy place every all the fundamental features of the priesthood of Christ
year  w&% blood of  others. But Christ offered Hirpwlf were strikingly visible.
not often but once ; and so, appearing in the end of            Firstly. The Levitical priest and in particular the
the world, He p& away sin by thesacrifice  of Himself. high priest was the (priest of atonement and in this
He finished transgressions and brought in the everlast- capacity the mediator of God and. man and the one and
ing righteousness. He redeemed His people from the           the only  mediu#m  of approach to God. But the true
penalty of everlasting death and thus freed them and ,Mediator is Ghrist. He is the way and the truth and
this permanently from the penalty of physical death the life, so that no one can come to the Father but by
as well, so--that, as having reaped  with Him the reward     Him. He is the true vine and His followers are, the
of righteousness, they should have true peace and glory branches. Hence in Him must and do they everlast-
in their everlasting possessions on the new, earth-          ingIy remain. For being the true vine, He is the seat
God's heavenly country.            '                         and channel of their life. Such was the good pleasure
   And so, having obtained eternal redemption, Christ of the Father, namely, that in Him should dwell the
entered not "into the holy. places. made with hands"         f ulness bodily.
but`into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence           Further, Aaron's holiness strikingly typified the
of God for us" (Heb. 9  ~24). Into heaven itself He          personal holiness of Christ. Aaron's holiness, how-
entered. The sacred writer plainly detects a difference ever, was but a shadow. The Lord sanctified Aaron
between heaven into which Christ entered and the             through His washing him, through the agency of
holiest place of the first tabernacle entered into by Moses with water, through His annointing him with
those other high priests. The former, though made the oil of consecration, through His sprinkling of the
after the pattern. revealed to Moses in the  .mount,         blood of the sacrifice and of the annointing oi1 upon
was built by the hands of men. It was thus, together Aaron and his garments,. through His preparing for
with the things which it contained-the ark -of the           him a body free from every .physical blemish and de-
covenant, the holy incense, the shewbread, and the           formity and endowed with natural strength, and  finally
golden lamps-a thi,ng earthy, and as such "the figure        through His clothing him in the garments of glory.
 (figures)  " of the true. Having entered into it, the       In Christ, however, holiness was true, genuine and
high priest stood before the face of God, by which is        perfect. It manifested itself in His running the way
to be understood the agents and the instruments of the       of God's commands even to the extent of bearing
revelation of His glories. Thus under the priesthood the burden of God's wrath against the sins of man-
of the Old Covenant the face of God was the typical          kind. And His obedience was such that it satisfied all
things of the law. But his true face is the glorified the demands of God's law, and His blood was that of
Christ and His body, the church. Of these, only the          the Lamb of God without spot or blemish-blood of
resemblances, the types, were found in-the  holies of the    infinite virtue. Therefore does His bIood  purge from


 188                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEAR,ER

 all sin and do all who believe in Him have everlasting
 life.                                                                        The Book Of Jonah
           Again. The Levitical priesthood had a repre-
sentative character, which was imaged in the high                 The word of the Lord came to Jonah to the effect
 priest bearing upon his bosom the names of the twelve that he should cry against Nineveh in that its wicked-
tribes when he entered into the Holiest place in token ness had come up before the Lord. Jonah proves un-
of his having their cause and interests before his            willing. He went down to Joppa, where he found a
mind. So, too, is Christ the good shepherd and Saviour        ship bound for Tarshish. He pays his fare and boards
of His people. For then He laid down His iife and the ship with a view to fleeing from the (presence of
bought' with His own blood. And even when they wero the Lord. Chap.  1:1,3.
dead in sins, God quickened them together with Him                Jonah's guilt is discovered. The Lord stirs up the
and raised them up together and made them sit to-             sea by a great wind. The ship threatens to flounder.
gether in heaven in Him, that in the ages to come             The sailors, struck with terror, cry every man unto his
he might show the exceeding great riches of His grace god. They cast forth the wares to lighten the ship.
in His kindness toward them through Him.                      Inuring the progress of the storm, Jonah is fast  asIeep
     Further,  Christ's.perfect  knowledge of the `Father,    in the hold of `the ship. He is aroused by the ship-
His  insigh,t into God's mind and understanding of master who upbraids him for his apparent inditierence
His will, was prefigured in the Urim and Thummim of to their plight; and urges itim to call upon his God also
the Jewish high priest through which He gave de- that they might not perish. T.he storm continued to
cisions respecting the things of God. Being the word rage with increased fury so that tinally  the seamen
of God, He is the truth and by His Spirit leads His           resolve to cast lots in order to discover him for whose
people into  ail truth, and  fdis  them with  all treasures sake the evil overtook them. The lot fell upon Jonah.
of wisdom and knowledge.                                      `I:hey therefore  tu#rn  to him and inquire after his occu-
     Finally, the  annointing of the high priest pre-         pation, the place whence he came, his country and his
figured the annointing of Christ with the Spirit. By people. Jonah tells them the full  truth. He is a
the power of the Spirit was He according to the flesh         Hebrew and fears theLord, the God of heaven Who
conceived and born. At His. baptism the Spirit de- made the sea and the dry land. His reply has the
scended upon Him in the form of a dove. In the Spirit effect of intensifying their fears. They ask him why
were all His works wrought; and by the Spirit He              he fled from the presence of the Lord. Chap. 1:4-10.
offered Himself to God without spot or blemish. To                Jonah's punishment.
Him the  F&her had given the Spirit not without                   They ask him what is to :be done to him that the
measure. And His Spirit He poured out upon His storm might subside. He urges them to cast him forth
church.                                                       into the sea and adds that this done, the sea would
    The members of the  Leviticd priesthood were' be calm. He is assured in his  heart that the great
priests only. The kings of Israel were not selected tempest is upon them for his sake. The seamen are'
from their number. Hence the Jewish priesthood did reluctant to do as Jonah suggested and make every
not prefigure the true character of the Eternal priest- effort to bring the ship to  Iand. But their attempt
hood of Christ and His people. Christ is priest and           ends in failure. So after petitioning the Lord not to
king-and prophet. And His  peopIe He  made  unto let them .perish for Jonah's sake and not to lay upon
God kings and priests. Iience,  to supply the feature them innocent blood and confessing  that the Lord has
that was lacking in the existing type, the Spirit of          done as He pleased, they cast Jonah into the sea. The
Prophecy in directing the mi.nds  of the church to the        immediate abating of the storm  filed tke seamen with
coming Messiah, began to make promise of Him as               such fear and wonder that they sacrificed unto the
"a priest after the order of Melchizedek",  thus as one Lord and made vows. #Chap. X:11-16.
in whose person the priestly and kingly functions                Jonah's wonderful deliverance.
should be united. For MeIehizedek  was priest of the             Jonah preserved in the  f%hes belly,  reackes  dry
most high God and he was kmg of righteousness and Iand. The Lord prepared a great fish that swallowed
of peace.                                                     him up. Three days and three nights, ke was in the
                                           G. M. 0.       ' beIly of the fish. He prayed unto the Lord out of his
                                                              grave.
                          ,,_.  _.
                             *                                   The Lord spoke unto the fish and it threw him out
                                                              on the dry land. ,Chap.  I :17 to 2 :lO.
                        NOTICE                                  Jonah's preaching and Nineveh's repentance. 3  : l-10.
Please look at your expiration  date! If you are in              Jonah's second commission and preaching. The
arrears send your money-order to R.  Schaafsma',  1101        Word of the Lord again comes unto him. He is again
Hazen St., S. E., Grand Rapids, Mich.                         commanded to go unto Nineveh and to preach what


                                       TSHE  S T A N D A R D   R E A R E R                                           189

he is bidden. Jonah obeys.  Entering  into  \the city This accounts for it that -the most widely diverging
after a days journey, he cried against the city. The views  (have been held concerning it. The various inter-
burden of his preaching was, that after forty days            pretations  of the book may be divided into two classes,:
Nineveh would be overthrown. Chap. 3:1-4.                     (I) The interpretations that consider the purpose of
       The repentance of the Ninevites.                       the book to be primarily &Xzctic,  without intending to
       The people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a record actual history.           (2) The interpretation that
fast and repented in sackcloth from the greatest of* views it as true history of actual events. The latter
them to the least. Even the king left his throne, laid view is certainly the correct one. In the words of Keil  :
aside his royal apparel and likewise humbled himself "Its  c`ontents  are neither pure fiction, allegory, nor
in sackcloth and ashes. He even placed all his subjects myth ; nor yet a prophetic legend, wrought up  poetic-
including the animals .under the necessity of fasting         ally with a moral and diabolic aim, embellished into
and every man under the necessity of putting on sack-         a modern story, and mingled with mythical elements;
cloth and crying mightily unto God and of forsaking but with all its miracles it is to be taken as a true
his evil way and the violence of his hands; in the history of deep prophetic- symbolic and typical  signifi-
hope that God would turn and repent and turn away cance".                In support of this position he calls attention
from his fierce anger that they perish not. Chap. to the following:
3 :5-g.                                                          Traditions handed down both among Jews  and
       The withholding of the judgment.                       among Christians agree on interpreting the book  his-
       God saw their works and repented from the evil  torically.
that He said He would do unto them and He did it not.            The many historical and geographica;  statements
Chap. 3 : 10.                                                 in the book are of a  genume   hMorica1  character.
       6onah's complaint and rebuke. Chap. 4 :l-11.           For example, the mission of Jonah is in perfect  keep-
       The Lord's doing displeased Jonah exceedingly and ing with the historical relations of his time ; tie de-
he `was very angry. He pxayed to the Lord and in his scription of the greatness of Nineveh (3 :3! is in har-
prayer reminded the Lord of his saying while yet in mony with the statements of the classical writers; its
Tarshish to the effect  that the Lord was a gracious          deep moral corruption is testsed to by Mah. 3 :I, Zeph.
God and merciful, slow to anger and of great Ikindness.       2:13ff.
Therefore let the Lord take his life from him for it             The fundamental thought of the book, that Jehovah
is better to die than to live. Chap. 4:1-3.                   would show mercy even to the heathen if they repented
       Jehovah's remonstrance.                                (3 :lO ; 4 :lO) ) excludes every thing fictitious.
       The Lord asked Jonah if his anger was justifiable.        The psychologically truthful delineation of the per-.
Jonah does not reply but left the city and at a safe          sonality of the prophet, of the mariners, and of the
distance from the city makes him a booth for shade. Ninevites favors an historical interpretation.
Sitting u*nder it he waits to see what will become of            The position of the book among the prophetical
the city. Chap. 4:4, 5.                                       writings points in the same direction. "Had the col-
       The Lord rebukes Jonah and justifies His mercy.        lector  of the Canon nat believed in the historical truth
       The Lord prepared a guard  and made it come up         of this fact, had he beheld only religious truths in the
over Jonah for shade and to deliver him from his grief.       garb of an allegory or fable in this book, why did he
Jonah was exceedingly gIad  over the guord. Then God place it not among the Hagiographs ??'
qrepared  a worm that smote the guord the next day               The historical character of the book is raised above
that it died. He then sent a strong East wind over            all doubts by the utterances of the Lord in  ?&a&
Jonah and made the sun to beat upon his head with             12:39ff; 16  :4; Luke 11:  29:32,  which at the same
a result that he fainted and again wished himself dead. time throw light upon the prophetic-typical  kharacter
The Lord  againespeaks  to him asking him whether. of the prophetic mission.
his anger, occasioned by the death of the guord, could           The origin, contents, and tendency of the book
be  justified.  Jonah said that it could be. Then  fol-       become incomprehensible as soon as we reject the  his-
lows the rebuke of the Lord. Jonah had pity on the            torical  character of the narrative.
guard,  with whose appearance he had had nothing to              The objections raised by the opponents of the  his-
do.        Should God therefore not spare Nineveh that torical  view rest partly on misunderstanding, unfound-
great city with 120,000 persons, that could not discern ed assumptions, untennable assertions, and denial of
between their right and left hand and also much the miracle. So far Keil.
cattle?                                                          There is absolutely nothing in the whole book that
       Of the personal life of Jonah nothing is known  ex-    suggests that it is in its entirety or in part an allegory.
cept  what is recorded in the book bearing his name.          Yet very few, if any, modern interpreters hold the his-
       As to the book of Jonah, in some respects the book torical  view.
is unlike any other book in the entire Old Testament.            The  Correct Interpretation  of Jonah, the  Prophef.


  190                                   T,HE S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

         First let us emphasize that Jonah was a chiid of world as Jonah knew it was comprised of a race of men
  God, and a true prophet. This is denied by some. The        hating God and perpetually engaged in a persecuting
  Qroof  of his genuineness as a  prophet,  and saint, is     His people.
  the prayer he uttered while in the belly of the  lish.          Now Jonah was a lover of God and of His people
  Obeserve this one  utterahce:  "They that observe lying and thus a true hater of the enemies of Jehovah, a
  vanities forsake their own mercy". "But I will sacri- hater therefore of the heathen. And this hatred was not
  fice unto Thee with a voice of thanksgiving; .I will qay    of a kind that begrudged the heathen salvation. Zt was
  that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord."               a holy indignation aroused by the consideration of Gen-
         Some delineate upon Jonah, and his behaviour in tile hordes assailing the Holy City and thus striking at
  a way that sets him off as a person with a mentality God. This hatred therefore was the nether side of true
  and temper positively inconsistent with grace. Their        love of Jehovah. This alone however, is not sufficient as
  reasoning in substance runs as follows: Jonah, loving an explanation of Jonah's displeasure. Another factor
  his people and hating the Gentile world for no good         enters in here. `Consider once more Jonah's  soliloque,
  reason whatever, desired salvation for his people only. "For I knew that thou art a gracious God". What did
  His great bitterness finds its explanation in the cir-      Jonah mean? Was he an exponent of the doctrine of
  cumstance that he was ordered to preach repentance          Common  ,Grace,  the doctrine, namely, that God is
  to the Gentiles ; begrudging the Gentiles salvation, he merciful even to the reprobate wicked? Did he mean'
  was angry.                                                  that God would take pity upon the reprobate  4popula-
         This reasoning will not do: How impossible it is,    tion of Nineveh and thus spare the -city? This, of
  will appear if we carry it through to the end. Doing        course, cannot be the meaning of the prophet's speech.
  so we get this: Jonah feared that his  *preaching  might    Does the prophet then perhaps mean that God will be
  take -effe& and that as a result at least some of the       gracious unto those of the Ninevites who will actually
  Ninevites might turn to the Lord and be saved. But          turn to him and that knowing this he is angry in that
  he' does not want them saved. Does he not soliloquize he desires salvation for the Jews only? This can-
  when still in Damascus, as follows: "I know that the        not be.
  Lord is a gracious God, slow to anger. . . ." So, be-           What Jonah actually meant was this : Lord, I know
  grudging the Gentiles the very life and light of heaven, that Thou love&  the righteous, that Thou Iovest there-
  he was vexed unto death at hearing that he must             fore  aIso the Ninevites who  wiI1 take my preaching to
  preach repentance to the Ninevites. Such will have to .heart,  turn to Thee, and thu's show themselves up as
  be our appraisal of Jonah and his vexation, if we           righteous. I know Lord (Jonah certainly was acquain-
  adopt the above view, the view, namely, that he was         ted with the conversation between God  .and Abraham
a narrow-minded Jew who wanted to see the Jews                respecting Sodom) that Thou Iovest Thy  <people so
  only saved. But if such was the temper of Jonah, he         much that for a few righteous Thou wilt spare and
  was neither a child of God; nor a true prophet, but a       thus prolong the career of an entire wicked and repro-
  child of darkness. Yet it is certain that he was a true     bated commonwealth for the sake of Thy children.
  s&t;  hence this view must be relinguished. For con- Therefore 0 Lord, if I preach repentance to Nineveh,
  sider that every true prophet of Scripture gloried in       some will repent and the result will  ,be that thou wilt
  the prediction of the salvation of the elect Gentile        spare the wicked city for the sake of the righteous,
  ,world ; and their joy sprang from their love for Je-       and the thought of this grieves my soul: not that I
  hovah. Loving Him, they~wanted  to see all men praise would see the righteous perish, but it grieves my soul
  Him. The above view therefore shall have to be re-          t? think that  the wicked will be spared. For, think
  linguished  if it is to be maintained that Jonah was a      `XOJi3&3TJ,T    ~asuq~cIarrrr~   apiq  g op  payma  ayl  `$BvM
  true  .prophet  with a prophet's heart. The truth about 0 Lord, destroy not the righteous, save them, but be
  Jonah is this: True, he was vexed on receiving the          resolved to destroy the wicked. ;Z h%ve preached re-,..
  command to preach repentance to the Gentiles. What          pentance to the city.        Some have, repented and, the
  may be the circumstance in which his displeasure finds entire people will be saved. 0 Lord, the thought is
  its proper explanation ? The following: Consider that unbearable. Thou art sparing the wicked? let me not
  though the salvation of the Gentiles had been pre-          think of the consequences. The thought is so painful
  dicted, the fact is that as yet this promise had not        to me that I prefer to die.
  begun to be fulfilled. During the entire Old Testament          Herewith, we feel convinced, we have given a
  Dispensation, the nations surrouding Canaan assumed correct explanation of Jonah's vexation of spirit. Be-
  a hostile attitude toward the people of God, Israel.        cause of his love of God and His people, he prayed for
  Throughout those ages these combined to destroy the the destruction of God's enemies. He was therefore
 very remembrance of Israel from the face of the earth. a deeply religious man. His stand was fundamentally
  It was not until the Gospel period that the prediction correct. Yet Jonah sinned. But wherein did his sin
  in question went into fulfillment. So then the Gentile      consist? Herein, that he refused to follow  th Lord


                                     ,THB  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        191

blindly and leave the consequences to Him. He sinned more than ordinarily desirous to proceed in haste, in
in that he acted upon the impulses of his own fears, order to put Himself beyond the reach of the exasper-
and thus exhibited a weak faith in the power of Je-          ated men out of, whose hands He had just escaped.
.hovah  to cause all things to work together for good for Jesus stops to look compassionately upon this man.
His people. At this juncture, he could not believe that ,He sees in him a fit subject for a work `being done,
somehow in a way he perhaps understood not the               which in the lo,wer sphere of man's physical nature
issues of his labor would be a blessing to God's people. shall illustrate the truth which He had in vain been
In a word, his sin consists in this, that he did not proclaiming in the treasury, that He `was the light of
bbndly obey the Lord.                                        the world. As He stops, His disciples gather round
     The Main Purpose of the Book.                           Him and fix their eyes also upon the man whose  case
     There is first of all a Iesson in these events for the has arrested their Master's footsteps, and seems to
church of the Old Dispensation, namely, this, that the have absorbed His thoughts. But their thoughts are
Lord  will certainly realize His word to the effect that     not His. They look, to think only of the rarity and
the Gentile world will eventually turn to Him (i.e. its severity of the affliction under which the man is labor-
elect nucleus). The thought must not take root in the ing-to regard it as a judgment of God, ,whereby  some
heart of God's people that there is no salvation for great sin was punished-the man's own, it would be
the Gentiles, because they  are  not Jews. That this natural to suppose it should be; but then, the judg-
thought had laid hold on the people of God  .is evident ment had come before any sin had been committed
from the reaction of the apostle Peter in the vision.        by him-he had been blind from his birth. Could
     The Canonical  Signij?cance   of the Book.              it be that the punishment had preceded the offence;
     It is from beginning to end a type. Therefore or was this a case in which the sins of the parents
Jesus held up this history before the eyes of the Jews had been visited on the  chiId?  "Master", they say
as a sign or type.                                           to Jesus in their perplexity, "who did sin, this man
     Let us trace the typical elements of the Book:          or his parents, that he was born blind?" The. one
1. The storm overtakes Jonah, so the  bilIows of God's       thing that they had no doubt about,-and  in having
wrath went over Christ. 2. Jonah was &st into the sea        no such doubt, were only sharing in the sentiment of
and spent three days in the belly of the fish. So Christ all the most devout `of their fellow-countrymen,-was
`died and spent three days in the heart of `the earth. 3.    that some  origina  sin had been committed, upon which
Jonah was vomited out by the  fish. He was  resuri           the signal mark of God's displeasure .had been stamped.
rected  therefore ; so Christ arose from the grave.          It  `was not as to the existence somewhere of some ex-
4. The resurrected Jonah preached repentalice  to the        ceeding  fat.& that they were in the Ieast uncertain.
Gentiles, with a result that' they turn unto the Lord.       Their only doubt was where to lay it. It was the false
The  resutrrected  and glorified Christ preached through and deep conviction that lay beneath their question
.His apostIes  and servants through the ages repentance that Jesus desired to expose and correct when He so
to the Gentiles with a result that the Gentiles turn promptly and decisively replied, "Neither hath this
unto the Lord.                             G. M. 0.          man sinned nor his parents", neither the one nor the
                  , .                                        other has sinned so peculiarly that this particular
                                                             visitation of blindness from birth has been visited on
I                                                            the transgression. Not that Jesus meant to disconnect
                                                             altogether man's suffering from man's sins.       Had
        The Cure of the Blind Beggar'                        He meant to do so, He would not have said to the
                                                             paralytic whom He cured at the pool of Bethesda,
     Within the court of the temple, in the presence of "Go thy way, sin no more, lest a worse thing come
the Pharisees and their satellites, Jesus had said, "I am    upon thee" ; but t,hat He wanted by vigorous stroke,
the light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not to lay the ax at the root of a prevalent superstitious
walk in darkness,.but  shah have the 1igh.t of life." The feeling w,h,ich led to erroneous and presumptuous read-
saying, resented as egotistical and arrogant, led on to ings of God's providence, connecting particular suffer-
that dispute which ended in their taking up stones           ings with particular sins, and arguing from the rela-
to cast at Him, and in His hiding Himself in some            tive severity of the one to the relative magnitude of
mysterious way and passing out of the temple, "going the other.
through the midst of them." At one of the temple                Nor was this the onIy instance in which our Sav-
gates, or by the roadside without, "as Jesus passed by iour dealt in the same manner with the same popular
He saw a man which was blind from his birth,"-awe11          error. But a few weeks from `the time in which He
know city beggar, whom Jesus and His disciples may spake in this way to His disciples, Jesus was in Perea.
have often passed in their way up to the temple. Now There had been a riot in Jerusalem-some Ipetty pre-
at the very time when we might have imagined Him mature outburst of that insurrectionary spirit which

                                                                  I


 l'tj'>                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

 was rife throughout  Judea.              Pilate had let Ioose his          instances by those who know so little as we do of the
soidiers on the mob. Some GahIeans  who had taken Divine purposes and aims in the separate events in life
 part in the riot, or were supposed to have done so-                        -making the temporal infliction the measure of the
for the  Galileans `were always in the front rank of                        guilt from which it is supposed to spring. It is not a...
any movement of the kind-were slain--slain even                             wrong thing for the man himself whom some sudden
wh,ile   engaged  in the act of sacrificing, their blood                    or peculiarly severe  eaIamity  overtakes, to search and
mingled with their sacrifices ; an  .incident so fitted to
           . . ,_                                                           try himself before his Maker, to see whether there has
strike the public eye, to arouse the public indignation,                    not been some secret sin as yet unrepented and un-
that the news of it  traveIed  rapidly through the coun-                    forsaken, which may have had a" part in bringing the
try. It reached the place where Christ was teaching:                        calamity upon him. It was not a  ,wrong thing in
Some of His hearers? struck perhaps by something He                         Joseph's brethren, in the hour of their great distress '
had said about the signs of the times and the judg-                         in Egypt, to remember their former conduct, and to
ments that were impending, took occasion publicly to                        say, "We are verily guilty  concer,ning  our brother,
teI1 Him of it. Perhaps they  ,`hoped  that the recital                     therefore is this distress come upon us." It was not a
would draw out from Him some Tqurning expressions                           wrong thing for the king of Besek,  when they cruelly
of indignation. pointed against the foreign yoke under                      mutilated him, cutting off his thumbs and great toes,
which the country was groaning; the deed done by                            to say, "Threescore and ten kings having their thumbs
the Roman governor had been so. gross an outrage                            and great toes cut off gathered their meat under my
upon the national  religion? upon  th.e sacredness of the                   table. As I have done, so God ,hath r?quitted  me." But
holy tempie. If the tellers of the tale cherished any                       it was a wrong  &ding in the inhabitants of  Melita,
such expectation they were disappoin:ed:  As upon all                       when they saw the  viger fasten on Paul's hand, to think
like occasions, when any  purely  poiitica1  question was                   and say, that, "no doubt this man is a murderer, whom
brought before Him, Christ  evaded it. He never once though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth
touched or  aIIuded to that aspect of the story. But                        not to live". It was a wrong thing in the widow of
there was another side to it upon which He perceived. Zarephath, when her son fell sick, to say to Elijah,
that the thoughts of not a few of His hearers were                          "What have I to do with thee, 0 man of God?  .Art
fastened. It was a terrible fate that these slaughtered                     thou come to caI1 my sins to remembrance, and to slay
GaliIeans  had met--not only death by the Rom,an sword                      my son ?" It ,was a wrong things for the friends of Job '
-but death within the courts of the  tempIdeath                             to  deal with their afflicted brother as if his abounding
upon the very steps of the altar. There could be but                        misfortunes were so many proofs of a life abounding
one opinion as to the deed of their murderers-those                         in iniquity. It is a very wrong thing in any of us to pre-
rough  GentiIe  soldiers  of Pilate.  Bout, the murdered,                   sume to interpret any singie dealing of Gdd with others
upon whom such a dreadfui doom had fallen, what was                         particulariy  of a dark and adverse kind, for all such
to be thought of them? Christ's  a,II-seeing  eye per-                      dispensations of His providence have a double char-
ceived that aIready  in the breasts of many of those                        acter. They may be retributive, or they may be sim,ply
around him, the leaven of that censorious, uncharitable,                    disciplinary, corrective, protective, purifying. They
superstitious spirit was working, which taught them                         may come in anger, or, they may be sent in love. And
to attach all extraordinary calamities to extraordinary ,while  as to ourselves it may be proper that we  shouId
crimes.              "Suppose ye", said Jesus, "`that these Gali-      view them as bearing messages of warning, we are not
leans  were sinners above all  `Galileans  because they                at Iibcrty as to others to attribute to them any other
suffered such things? I  tell you nay." To give His                         rhnracter  than that of being the  chastenings  of a wise
question and Ris answer a still broader aspect-to                      ::nd loving Father.
take out of them  ail that was  peculiarIy   Galilean-                9/                                               G. M. 0.
He quotes another striking and well-known  occurance
that had recentIy  happened near Jerusalem-a caIami-
ty not inflicted by the hand of men. "Or those eighteen"
He adds? "upon whom the tower in Siloam feell, think
ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in
Jerusaiem?  :I tell `you nay." He does not deny that                                            -  KOTICE   -
either the slaughtered GaiiIeans  or the crushed Jeru-                Glassis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches
sa.Iemites  `were " sinners. He `does not say that they meets Wednesday, March  ;5,  1941, at  9:@1  A.N.,  at
did not deserve their doom.  13e does not repudiate                   Sioux Center, Iowa.
or run counter to that strong instinct of the human
conscience which in  all ages has taught it  ti, trace                Will  aI those who desire lodging during their stay for
suRering to sin. What `He does repudiate and con-                     Classis  kindIy  get in contact with the undersigned.
demn is the application of that principle to specific                                                     3%. GRITTERS.  S. C.


