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

                                                           God of his responsibility. Fact is that he is a member
                  Edi.toriais                              of a definite organization, that he by joining expressed
                                                           agreement with its principles,  an,d that he is pledged
p--i                                                       to abide by all its acts and decisions, and, therefore, he
                                                           is surely responsible for whatever may be done by or
          Our Churches And The Unions                  = in the name of such union or association.
                                                              2. The pledge or oath one is required to make in
       The  con&tory  of the First Protestant Reformed     order to become member of a union is such that it
Church of Grand Rapids resolved to distribute the          binds him unconditionally to abide by all the acts of
following "Testimony" among the members of their the union. This vow or oath is such that no Christian
congregation :                                             can  honestIy  take it. We here literally quote one of
       Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ!                   them from "Book of Laws" of the International Typo-
                                                           graphical Union, pp. 15, 16: "I hereby solemnly and
       In view of the present trend of development in the sincerely swear (or affirm) that I will not reveal any
industrial world it is to be feared that also in our       business or proceedings of any meeting of this or any
community it will become increasingly difficult to se- subordinate union to which I may hereafter be at-
cure or retain a position or job unless one join one of    tached, unless by crder of the union, except to those
the worldly unions. Hence, many of us may probably         whom I know to be in good standing thereof; that 1
be tempted to become member of such a union rather         will, without evasion or equivocation, and to the best
than lose  ;his job. T,he Consistory, therefore, con- of my ability abide by the Constitution, By-Laws and
sidered it necessary and expedient to address to you the adopted scale of prices of any union to which I may
the following "Testimony", in which you are reminded belong; that I will at all times support the laws, regula-
of the position of the Protestant Reformed Churches tions and decisions of the International Typographical
with regard to this matter, a position with which your Union, and will carefully avoid giving aid or succor to
Consistory is in full accord.                              its enemies, and use all honorable means within my
       Originally the Prot. Ref. Churches adopted a resolu- power to procure employment for members of the
tion in which they unitedly declared that no member of International Typographical Union in preference to
a worldly union could be member of a Prot. Ref.            others ; that my fidelity to the union and my duty to
Church. Later this resolution was rescinded, not be- the members thereof shall in no sense be interfered
cause the churches had changed their position with with by any allegiance that I may now or hereafter
respect to the principle involved but because they owe to any othe organization, social, political, or re-
judged that it was not proper for the broader gather- ligious, secret or otherwise ; that I will belong to no
ings to adopt rules concerning disciplinary measures society or combination composed wholly or partly of
except  in connection with concrete eases that were        printers, with the intent or purpose to interfere with
brought to the attention of such gatherings. At the the trade regulations or  Muence or control the legis-
same time, however, it was expressly declared that our lation of the union; that I will not wrong a member.
churches did not change their position with respect to or see him or her wronged, if in my power to <prevent.
the principle of the matter of membership of a worldly To all of which I pledge my most sacred honor".
union. `In other words, it is still the position of the Notice, that by this oath one pledges himself to carry
P.rot.  Ref. Churohes that membership of such a union out the decisions of the union at all times, that he
is incompatible with membership in the Church of lpromises to seek the wellbeing of a union-member in
Jesus Christ. And this is also our conviction.             preference to a brother in Christ, if the latter is not
       This conviction is motivated by the following rea- a member of &e union, and that, in case of conflict,
sons :                                                     he swears that he will remain loyal to the union rather
  . 1. Your Consistory takes the position that by be- than to Christ and the Church! The Christian Re-
coming member of any union, corporation, or associa-       formed Churches have taken the compromise position
tion, one becomes responsible for the principles on the that one may become a member of the  ulnion provided
basis of which such a body is organized as well as for he protests against any wrong act or decision and re-
all the acts performed and committed by or in the name     fuses to take part in it. But we ask: what room is
of such organization. The fact that in some cases one there for protest under the above oath? And is it not
may become member of the union without being re-           wholly impossible for a Christian to live under such
_ quired to go through the formality of initiation and     or similar vows?
swearing or pledging loyalty to the union, or that,            3. It is a well-known fact that the union stands for
once having joined' merely for the sake of a job, one the principle of force and coercion as is evident not
never attends  the meetings of the organization but        only from the way it carries out its strikes, lockouts
only pays his dues, does not at all relieve him before and boycotts, but especially from its constant  attempt


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                         197

everywhere to introduce the closed shop. The  idcnl          ing in injuries to nearly 100 persons, causing an uantold
of the union is to bring about the condition in which amount of property damage, and  bringmg  the National
no one shall be able to procure or keep employment Guard of Michigan into Flint to prevent further blood-
unless he wears the union insignia, and t!lat` no one        shed". pp. 8, 9.
shall be allowed to buy or sell except union stamped            "The first bloodshed of the 44-day campaign of law-
goods. This is literally what is predicted of the power lessness and terrorism took place on the night of Jan.
of Antichrist in Revelation 13.      A church-member 11, 1937, when more than 30 persons, including police-
who, as member of the union, works in a closed shop,         men and sheriff's officers were shot, beaten and gassed
refuses the right to work to a fellow-member  ,with          in ,prolonged  rioting in front of the Fisher  Body No. 2
whom he sits at the communion-table whose <conscience and Chevrolet plants an Chevrolet Avenue.
forbids him to join the union. Surely, this is contrary          "Shortly after their arrival, Victor Reuther began
to the love of Christ.                                       to address the sit-down strikers who were in possession
   4. History shows that the union is pledged to             of the Fisher Body No. 2 plant. After a period of
methods of violence if it cannot gain its objectives in      inflammatory speeches, Victor Reuther told  the men
a peaceful way. In proof of this statement we might          inside the plant and those making up a picket line out-
refer to many incidents, but we will limit ourselves to      side the building to `take the gates': Within a few
references to the well-known "sit-down strikes" in           minutes the combined forces had taken complete  pot-
Michigan. We quote from a report made by the Auto- session of the company gates and were holding plant
mobile Manufacturers Association, which was pre- protection men virtual (prisoners inside the building.
sented to a United States Senate Committee consider-             "Outnumbered more  than 20 to 1, Flint policemen
ing amendment of the Wagner Act, June, 1939:                 who had been called to the scene when the crowds be-
   "Early in November, 1936, the community of De- gan to gather outside the plant, went into action with
troit was startled by its first sit-down strike, which       tear gas in an effort to recapture the gates. Strikers
occurred in an independent parts manufacturing plant.        in possession of the plant manned two lines of fire
The active organizer and leader of this strike was one hose and played it on the police with an accompanying
John Anderson, who has been the Communist candidate barrage of bricks, stones, pieces of concrete,  and thou-
for Governor of Michigan in the previous election. . . . sands of pieces of materials from inside the plant".
The object lesson was so effective that a compilation pp. 10, 11.
from Detroit newspaper reports, necessarily incom-               "With the final evacuation of the plants, Fisher
plete, shows that there were 325 sit-down strikes in         Body officials had their first opportunity to inspect
the City of Detroit alone between Nov. 1, 1936, and          their property on February 12. The sight that met
Dec. 31, 1937. These sit-downs involved taking com-          their eyes in the Fisher No. 1 plant was astounding,
plete possession not only of manufacturing plants, but the world's largest self-contained automobile body fac-
of the principle hotels and several of the leading de- tory was a scene of wanton destruction, filth and dis-
partment stores, as well as restaurants and commercial       ruption that required many days of maintenance work
establishments of every description". p. 6.                  before work could be resumed. First attempts to enter
   "Ushered in by a sit-down strike of 106 bus opera-        the plant were frustrated when it was found that all
tors of the Flint Trolley Coach Company on Dec. 8,           entrances buit one or two had been barricaded or weld-
1936, a period of labor disturbances began in Flint,         ed shut. Paint and foamite from discharged fire ex-
Michigan, that put nearly 40,000 men and women out tinguishers had marred walls and floors and ruined
of work and wrote a chapter of violence, bloodshed           furniture. The floor was littered with dirt and to-
and lawlessness without  parellel in the history of bacco quids. Records and papers from the ransacked
Michigan". p. 8.                                             desks in the superintendent's office were littered about
    "Heralding what was to occur on a large scale            the floor.
within a few weeks, the sit-down strikers took com-              "In the sewing room and upholstery stores, a litter
plete possession of the two Fisher Body Plants, barri- of expensive materials was cut up and strewn about",
caded themselves inside, armed themselves with clubs,        etc. etc.
blackjacks, and other weapons, and began a siege that            We could quote a good deal more, but the above
lasted 44 days, in defiance of court orders and bitter       would seem  sticient to show that the union does not
public resentment before these and other plants of hesitate to employ methods of violence if they are con-
General Motors of Flint were turned back to their sidered necessary to gain the ends in view.
rightful owners.                                                 For all these reasons the Consistory is convinced
    "During this 44-day period, a campaign of coercion, that membership of a worldly union is incompatible -
intimidation, assault, destruction of  Iproperty,  rioting with the Christian faith.
and bloodshed without precedent in Michigan's history            In view of the present industrial conditions, the
took place within the corporate limits of Flint,  result-    gigantic corporations and mass production, the Con-

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

sistory recognizes the fact that the individual laborer            4. Whether or not ail this is correct from an ethical
can hardly have a position, and collective bargaining viewpoint.
and organization are often necessary. And, therefore,              Let me, first of all, quote what Dr. Bouma has to
although we cannot in every respect agree with the              say about my criticism :
existing C.L.A., we would advise you to support it and
use your influence with that organization.                             "That this is a sound position, both on t;le
       Beloved, we deemed, it our calling to make  c1ea.r to         basis of Scripture and in the light of  Ke-
you our &position in this matter, in accordance with                 formed thought and practice, is not only our
which we hope to Iabor in your midst. We e,xhort  you                conviction but is being confirmed by the utter-
to consider this "Testimony" prayerfully. The times                  ances of various Reformed leaders. The only
in which we live are serious and, no doubt, will become            . apparent exception to this statement IS the
more serious in the future, perhaps in the near future.              article by the Editor of The Standurd  &earer,
Let us $eep our garments undefiled ; and let us put on               written soon after and in criticism of  k:le
the whole armour of God, that we may be able to stand                Testimony. Under the caption "As to  the
in the evil day !                                                    Christian's Participation in War," he ex-
                                                                     presses his dissent on the score of the  justi-
           T,he Consistory of the First Protestant Re-               fiabIe conscientious objector. He holds that,
           formed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan.                  no matter what one's convictions on the un-
       The above "Testimony" speaks for itself.                     justifiable nature of a given war may be, tne
                                                 H. H.               citizen must always obey his government
                                                                     when the call to arms comes. T h e r e   i s   n o
                                                                    ethical standing roqm for any conscientious
                                                                    objector at any time. The judgment of the
                                                                     Christian citizen as to the evil or the justice
                                                                    of a given war does not so much as come into
  How Dr. Bouma Replies To  Criticism                                the  picture, so it is  held.
                                                                       The view embodied  ,in the  Synodical  Testi-
       In the "Calvin Forum? of Oct. 1939, the editor               mony and ad.vanced  as both biblica1 and Re-
published a "Testimony", adopted by the Synod of the                 formed in the editorial  'columns  `of  THE
Christian Reformed Churches, on the question of the                 CALVIN   FORUM is graced by  tie editor of
proper view and attitude of the Christian with respect               The Standard  Bearer with the following
to war.                                                             designations.      "Synod has  utterIy  failed."
                                                                    "It [i.e., ~Synod] led the members of the Chris-
       He then announced that criticism of the position             tian Reformed Churches on the  `wrong track,
set forth in this "Testimony" would be welcome. In                  the track of subjectivism,  indi,vidualism,  and
fact, he invited it.                                                revolution."  "It is the principle of individuai-
       We accepted the invitation in good faith, and in             ism, subjectivism, revolution, which the Sy-
"The Standard Bearer" of Nov.  1, 1939, we stated our               nod has adopted." In another connection the
objections to the main' conception in the above men-                synodical  position is designated as "indi-
tioned "Testimony".                                                 vidualism, subjectivism, Nominalism,  Pela-
       Now, in the "Calvin Forum" of Jan. 1941, the                 ganism." And the bold judgment is offered:
editor, Dr. C. Bouma, replies to our criticism.                     "Certainly, no man with a Reformed con-
       But he does this in such a way, that it becomes              ception of government can adopt it."  (The           /
necessary for me to present to our readers once more                Standard Bearer. Nov. I, 1939.)
the main trend of my argumentation in the article                      Now if we had the faintest hope that mak-
referred to, and alongside of it the reply by Dr. C.                ing reply to the argumentation of this editor-
Bouma. The reader may then judge for himself:                       ial might do the cause of truth some good, we
       1. Whether  or not Dr. Bouma by giving a partial             should be gIad  to take the time and trouble
presentation of my view of the matter misrepresents                 of entering into a careful refutation. For the
that view.                                                           present,  we do not see that  such  a refutation
       2. Whether  or not Dr. Bouma by making a few                  can do ,much,  if any, good. If voices from our
quotations from my article leaves the impression with                readers should convince  US  that there are
his readers that in my article I merely raved and made               those who can be benefitted by such a diecus-
some strong statements; and whether or not tiis is                  sion, we shall be glad to enter into the argu-
true.                                                                ment. Meanwhile, we can do two things.
       3. Whether or not Dr. Bouma ,replies to my @riti-            We can advise anyone interested to read and " '
cism.                                                                re-read the Testimony above referred to;


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       199

      And, secondly, we should like to bring to the          war can be no justifiable ground for refusing obedience
      attention of THE CALVIN FORUM readers the              to his government.'
      view of living Reformed leaders on this sub-               "This is all very good, as far as it goes with respect
      ject. Perhaps this will for the present be the         to the practical outcome or conclustiy,  of this mode of
      most effective confirmation of  tie correctness        reasoning: this particular type of conscientious ob-
      of the stand which the Christian Reformed              jector stands condemned. On the matter of this con-
      Church has taken and which has been defend-            clusion itself The Stand&-d  Bearer has no axe to grind
      ed upon our pages since 1935.                          with the editor of  The  CWuin Forum,  the Calvin
                                                             Seminary Faculty, and the Synod of the Christian Re-
    Now, let me reprint what  ,I actually wrote:             formed Churches. But we do not agree with the pre-
    "Now, wit&out  implying that The Standard Bearer mises upon which this conclusion is based and with the
agrees with all the other conclusions of Synod, it is        principle involved in the mode of reasoning by which
especially to this last part that it has serious objec-      the conclusion is reached. And this also implies, of
tions. This, let me add, is really the main part of the      course, that we consider the mode of reasoning fal-
"Testimony".    For, no doubt, its chief purpose was         lacious ,and that the conclusion does not follow with
not so much to instruct the people on such subjects as logical necessity from the premises.
"the authority of the magistrates' `and "our duty to             "What is really the deepest principle of this, and
obey", but rather to enlighten their Christian con-          of any "conscientious objecto?'  to participation in a
science with regard to their calling to participate in given war? It is this:  elm  citizen  is  indiv.iduuUy
war.  .And it is exactly on this main issue that, accord-    responsible for any  act he  perfornw in'  obedienie  to
ing to my conviction, the Synod has utterly  faiied          the authority of the government, though tihut  authority
(Compare with this qualified statement, qualified by be exercised strictly in its own proper  domuin  Jiuch
"on this main issue" and by "according to my convic-         as a declaration of war)  ; hence, before  ti obeys he
tion", with the unqualified quotation by Dr. Bouma:          is under obligation to determine whether a  give%   act
"Synod has utterly failed.").                                of the government is morally jzlstijied or not; and upon
    It offered no  ,real solution to the question: how       the retit of this individuui  determination it mu.& de-
can the Christian determine whether or not he may            pend  whether  any  citiztm   is duty bound to obey the
participate in a given war on  the summons of his            government vr to refuse obedience.
government.                                                      "The Calvin Forum, the Calvin Seminary Faculty
    And what is worse, it led the members of  the            and the Synod of the  Chri.c$ian  Reformed Churches
Christian Reformed Churches on the wrong track, the have adopted  this principle.
track of subjectivism, individualism, revolution.                "In the paragraph from the "Testimony" quoted
   "I will, of course, motivate these statements.            above, this particular "conscientious objector" is not
    "In the next to the last paragraph the Synod re-         condemned because of this erroneous principle, nor, in
pudiated the claims of the "conscientious objector" as       fact on the basis of any fundamental principle at all,
follows :                                                    but merely because he would refuse to fight on the
    *Not only must the Church reject the claim af ground of uncertainty.
the pacifistic  conscientious objector, but there is also        "And as we shall show presently, the same "Testi-
another kind of conscientious objector whose claims          mony"  a&pts the principle of the "conscientious ob-
cannot stand the test of Scripture and the Creed.            jector" positively in the next paragraph (quoted be-
There are those who would refuse to take part in any low).
war when, and as long as, they are not persuaded of             "The whole question of a Christian's calling to obey
the justness of the given war. With the frequent com- the government in participating in a given war is left
plexity of the causes of modern wars and the difficulty to the individzcal  cpnscience  of every citizen (individu-
of the average citizen to be adequately informed on alism, subjectivism, Nominalism, Pelagianism) , and is  *
this complexity of causes at the time the war breaks         made a purely relative matter (certainty or uncer-
out, it is clear that this may be the predicament in tainty) .
wh.ich  many a Christian will find himself. But in such         This principle is fundamentahy  wrong. Certainly,
a situation he is not justified in refusing to perform no man with a Reformed conception of government
military service.    He who would maintain this  po-         can sdopt it.
si.tion  overlooks the fact that in such a situation the        "And seeing that from fallacious premises no sound
prior duty to each citizen to obey the government must conclusions can logically follow, there must be some-
have the right  of way. This type of conscientious ob- thing wrong with the mode of reasoning that  upon'
jector does not face the moral alternative: to fight or      such premises reaches the conclusion that the  uncetiain
to do nothing; but: to fight or to disobey his govern- type of "conscientious objector" stands condemned.,
ment. His uncertainty as to the justice of the given            "And there ti something wrong. Let me cast the

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

     synodical  mode of reasoning in the form of a syllo-           tribunal of God and His Word'. But if this be true,
     gism :                                                         if  "war be killing people" (and  2  add  : innocent  people
                                                                    as far as the war is concerned, whether they iignl; on
            I. Every citizen  &d&dually  is  morally  responsible tne just or the unjust side of the war, and wneLler
     before God for his participation in a given war in they be soldiers or civilians), and if every individual
     obedience to the summons of his government.                    citizen is personally responsible for this killing of
            II. A certain citizen is uncertain whether a certain    people,  then I can apply this same statement of Synou
     war is j'ust or uanjust.                                       to the citizen that is uncertain as to the justness oi'
            III. This certain citizen must fight.                   the war, and rewrite it as follows: "War  is killing
                                                                    people, and for anyone to engage in  sucn  lulling  c)r
            `"It is clear that  this conclusion does not follow.    2elIowmen  as long as he is uncertain whether the ca~ae
     The logical conclusion is: This certain citizen must for which he is fighting is a just one, this procedure
     WC-AS!                                                         cannot be justified before the tribunal of God and His
            "The Synod declared "that in such a situation the       Word". I cannot kill people unless  1 am  certain  that
     prior duty of each citizen to obey the government must         it is the will of God . And if I am individually respou-
     have the right of way".                                        sible for my killing peopIe  in war, I must be ccPrtam
                                                                    that the war ~3 just; and on that basis no ,appeal  to
            "But to what is our duty to obey the government         the authority of and my duty to the government can
     in case of war prior? To our own individual moral take the place of that individual certainty.
     iresponsibility before God? This appears to be the im-
     plied answer Synod had in mind. But this is impos-                "But now let me demonstrate that the Synod of the
     sible. There cannot be and there is no duty prior to           Christian Reformed Churches not only failed to con-
     my personal responsibility and  mora1 duty before God.         ctemn the lrriltciple  of the conscientious objector but
     In fact, when it is a question of personal, moral ac-          also  actually  adopted it.  We quote from the "Testi-
     countability one cannot speak of priority and posterior- mony" :
     ity. But let us not overlook the fact  that the "con-             `The only conscientious objector to military service
     scientious objector" proceeds from the principle that          whose claim the Church cannot repudiate is he who,
     he is individually, morally responsible for any partici- recognizing his duty to obey his government and to de-
     pation in a given war, and that, therefore, the question fend his country in response to its call to arms, 2ras
     whether in respect `to a summons to war it is his duty         intelligent and adequate grounds to be convinced that
     to obey the government, depends on the other question the given war to which he is summoned is an unjust
     whether the given war is just or unjust. On this basis,        war. When he is absolutely certain in the light of the
     which the Synod adopt&  also, our duty to the govern- principIes  of the Word of God that h.is country is fight-
     ment in case of war is not qrior but posterior to our          ing for a wrong cause, he cannot morally justify his
     moral judgment of that given war. In other words,              participation in the given war. War is killing peopIe
     on that basis the citizen that is uncertain as to the          and for anyone to engage in such killing of fellowmen
     justness of a given war woulld  answer the Synod of            when he is convinced in his heart that the cause for
     the Christian Reformed Churches as follows: `You               whi& he is fighting is an unjust one, this procedure
     do not put the matter correctly. The question is not cannot be justified before the tribunal of God and His
     one of priority of my duty to obey the government, but         Word. The only course open to such a Iperson is to re-
     rather: whether in the given case of the given war it sort to passive resistance and to refuse to bear arms in
     b my duty before God to obey the government. And that given war'.
     of--.&his   1 must be certain before I will  fight'.              "All this is based upon identically the same prin-
            "Now, if you adopt the principle from *which the        ciple as the one that motivated the other type of "con-
     "conscientious objector" (proceeds, you will have to scientious  objfxtor".             Both judge of the justness of
     grant that in this last stand he is right. In any moral the given war. Both act upon this individual judg-
     question it is certainly wrong to reason thus : I am not ment, not from the principle of obedience to the govern-
     certain whether it is right; therefore, I will do it. If       ment. Both aay to the government: I will obey only
     .w,ar is a matter of individual responsibility I must be       if I can see that your cause is not unjaet, or at least
     chain of the justness of a given war before I fight.           if I cannot see that it is unjust.. Both implicitly deny
     He that doubts if he eats is damned because he does that the government only has the authority and power
     not eat out of faith. Much more sb if one fights if he to wield the sword. And both proceed from the sup-
     doulbts.  In the next paragraph the Synod declared:            position that the individual citizen is responsible for
     `War is killing people and for anyone to engage in             the way the government wields the sword. The only
     such killing of fellowmen when he is convinced in his difference is that the  one. is  urcce&a;in,  and, therefore,
     `heart that the cause for which he is fighting is an un- according to the Synod, he must fight; the other is
I    just one, this procedure cannot be justified before the certain, and, therefore, he must not fight!


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D  BEARE-R                                            201

     "It is the principle of individualism, subjectivism, members, the government will be completely handi-
  revolution, which the S,ynod  has adopted.                    capped and powerless to wage war."
     "The Synod speaks of "intelligent and adequate
  grounds to be convinced that the given war to which he
  is summoned is an unjust war". Intelligent and ade-              Thus far our criticism.
  quate, we ask, according to what standard? The prin-             We gladly leave it to the judgment of our readers,
  ciples of the Word of God, the Synod would say. Yes, whether Dr. Bouma did us justice, when he merely
  bn,t these principles must be applied to a given war! quoted a few statements from our article that might
  Who, then, is to ,be the judge to determine whether leave the impression that we employed some high
  these grounds are "intelligent and adequate"? Cer- sounding  prhases without motivating them.
  tainly not the Church, for she is not the final judge in         I'was strictly impersonal. And I simply expressed
  the matter. Who then? The government? To be my views with respect to the contents of the "Testi-
 sure, if the "Testimony" of the Christian Reformed mony".
  Churches  is also intended as a basis upon which the             Let Dr. Bouma prove that I erred in my judgment.
  .government  must act and excuse certain "conscientious
' objectors", it is she that must judge of these grounds
  and determine whether they are "intelligent and ade-             But we also expressed our own views on the mat-
  quate". But this is out of the question, for the govern- ter.
  ment declared the given  war,  and if she would decide           We quote again:
  that the grounds of these "conscientious objectors"
  were inteiligent  and adequate to convince anyone that           "As long as the government wields the sword, given
  the war is unjust, she would have to retract its war-         her by God, within her own domain, i.e. the civil state,
  decIaration.  Besides, if the government should dedde whether within its own borders and with respect to
  that the grounds were not intelligent and adequate, its own citizens or over against other governments  and
  such a decision would not change the mind of the con- states, she  aIone  has authority and  ,the citizens must
  scientious objector himself. He would still be certain obey unconditionally  ; however,  a9 soon as  the civil
  that the given war is  unju& In the last analysis,            government would attempt to exercise her authority
  tberefore, it must be the "conscientious objector"' him- in the domain of the Church, and would turn her God-
  self that determines the intelligence and adequacy of given sword against Christ and His cause, she would
 .his own grounds for considering the given war un- move in a sphere in which she has no authority, is no
 just.                                                          longer government but mere man, and the principIe
                                                                would have to be applied that we must obey God
     This  leavesit to the decision of the individual citi-     rather  than men.
  zen whether or not in its ozvn ,@oper doma&  the magis-          "This im"plies that the individual Christian is not
  trate shall wield the sword.                                  morally  responsible  for the justne&  or unjustness'of
     On this basis it will be quite impossible for the          the war that is declared by the government, nor is he
  government, to wage war. For, many will be the con- resDonsible  for any act  which  he performs. in strict
  scientious objectors that have intelligent and  adeq!!ate     obedience to the govermnent as such when he is called
  reasons in the light of Scripture to refuse to partici- to the colors and summoned to military service.
  pate in a given war. Some, indeed, have intelligent              "The hangman is not responsible when, in obedience
  and adequate objections against any war, and they also to the proper magistrates he executes the sentence
  anneal to Scripture for their stand. If you grant the upon the man that is legally condemned to  death.  *The
  right of citizens to determine whether a given war is sentence mav be a mistake, or it may be grossly unjust;
  just, why deny them the right to take the stand that          the executioner may be absolutely convinced in his own
  a11 war is `sinful and that, therefore, no Christian can      mind that the condemned is innocent: but he does not
  ,narticipate  in any war? Others, perhaps, will consider act or refuse to act on the ground of his own individual
  a war of self-defense the sole war that is justifiable.       conviction, but merely in obedience to the  pwer and
  Still others may take the stand that it is our solemn         resuonsible  authorities.
  duty to fight on the side of democracy and against               "And the same relation holds when the citizen is
  totalitarianism and communism. Besides. what is called to arms. . . .
  really a  iust war? Mow often is justice whollv with             "If, however, the same government to which we
  the one side of conflicting nations and injustice with are in subjection as long as she uses the sword-power
  the other? And suppose that one reaches the certain in her own domain, should attempt to wieId that sword
  conclusion that there is, at least, also unjustness on the    in a snhere outside of the civil commonwealth, a do-
  side of his government. must he obey the summons to main over which she was never set in authority by God,
  ,fight ? Tt is evident that if we adopt the advice the        we  must refuse to acknowledge that authority."
  S.ynod  of the Christian Reformed Churches offered its           From this it will be plain that Dr. Bouma by only

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

partly stating our views on the matter, really mis-
represented us.                                                             Het Gezag Der Kerk
       The editor of the "Calvin Forum" finally refers to         We  moeten  nog wijzen op eene voorstelling van de
the opinions of some contemporary theologians to prove         verhouding van Kerk en staat, die in de laatste  jaren
that his conception meets with the approval of Re-             in Nederland wordt verdedigd, en die in nauw ver-
formed men of note.                                            band staat met het feit, dat de Gereformeerden aldaar
       He informs us that Dr. H. H. Kuiper, for instance,      zich opnieuw zijn begonnen in te denken  op het stuk
:fu.lly agrees with his stand and the stand of the Chris-      der "gemeene gratie", en dus op de tk,westie  van "na-
tian Reformed Church. This dues not surprise us, tuur en genade". De voorstelling, waarop we het oog
for more than one reason.                                      hebben, wordt verdedigd en tamelijk  schelsp en  helder
       But I  .will quote the famous father of Dr. H. H.       uiteengezet door Ds. S. G. De Graaf, Gereformeerd
Kuiper, who in his E Voto writes as follows: "But a nredikant  te Amsterdam, in zijn "Christus en de
war is an armed action of the government; and every Wereld,`.
soldier who kills an enemy in war, does so in commis-
sion ; and if only he strictly obeys orders, his action           De schrijver wil bij de  .b&andeling  van het onder-
is perfectly the same as if the *king himself with his         werp "Kerk  en Staat"  goed verstaan hebben. dat hij
own hand killed  all these enemies. When the hangman bepaald het oog heeft op het  imtitu$  der kerk. en op
kills someone, it is he, the hangman, who does this,           de organ&&e van den staat als zoodanig. "Bij de be-
not' the j,udge ; but the judge bears nevertheIess  the        handeling  van het onderwerp  `Kerk en  Start'  vatten
responsibility for the execution. And thus it is also          we echter vooral die twee verbanden zelf in het oog,
in war: not the soldier, not the officer, but only the         de kerk  als  samenlevingsverband  en den staat  als
government that wages the war and arms the soldier samenlevingsverband.                    In de eerste  plaats  denk ik
is  responsib*le  for the killing of the enemy".               dus niet  aan de kerk als instituut.  waarbij men ook de
       With this we agree.                                     geloovigen in het oog vat, maar ik denk aan het  insti-
  Dr. Bouma and the Synod lead their people in the             tnut der kerk. En ik denk ook niet in de eerste plaats
wrong direction.                                    II. II.    aan die gemeenschap van menschen,  welke in den staat
                                                               gevonden wordt, maar ik denk aan de organisatie zelve,
                                                               waardoor die gemeenschap bestaat. Eerst in de tweede
                              *                                plaats vatten we de menschen in hun gemeenschap in
                                                               het oog, eenerzijds als geloofsgemeenschap en ander-
                     Beacon-Lights                             zijds  als rechtsgemeenschap". p. 131. Het  gaat dus
                                                               over het instituut  der fkerk  en over het instituut van
       We  compIain that two papers are too many for our       den staat hoofdzakelijk.
' smal1 group of churches.                                         Nu zijn beid.e, kerk en staat, volgens den schrijver,
       Defiantly our young  peopIe   pubhshed  a third:        gegrond in de wet Gods. De staat komt op uit de heer-
"Beacon-Lights" !                                              schappij van het recht Gods over het leven der men-
       We heartily congratulate our young people with schen in  onderling   verband.  "De  staatsvorm  moge in
their defiant spirit, and with its product in this new den loop der eeuwen telkens  verschillen,  de staat zelf
"Periodical of the Protestant Reformed Young Peoples           is niet een willekeurige uitvinding van menschen. hij
Federation".                                                   is niet  ontstaan door een maatschappelijk verdrag.
       The outward appearance of the .&st issue is at-         De heerschappij van !het recht over het Ieven bracht in
tractive and neat.                                             deze zondige levensbedeeling het opkomen van den
       A look at the names of the members of the editorial-    staat mee. De  macht  van de overheid in den staat is
staff and the list of contributors kindles the hope that gegrond in de zegenende  heerschappij van het recht
the paper will deliver good stuff and sound doctrine.          over het leven. De  overheid  zelve is  aan dat  recht
       A perusal of the contents of this first issue cor-      onderworpen  en heeft het in den kring van den staat
roborates that expectation.                                    te handhaven. Daarom  zal het,  hoewe we belijden,
       Let not only our young people, but also our parents     dat de koningen, prinsen en overheden van God ver-
subscribe to the paper. Such a paper costs money, ordend zijn; altijd moeilijlk blijven het ontstaan van
you know. And we ought to support and encourage                 den staat in de historie aan te wijzen. In Gen. 9 :6
the defiant spirit of our young folks, as long as their        mag men riiet de inzetting  van de overheid als zoodanig
. defiance is for a good cause.                                zo&en.  De heerschappij  van de goddelijke rechtsorde
  - With the hope that succeding  issues may not have           over het leven  heeft in den loop der tijden, onder de
Quite so many typographical errors. I hereby heartily Ieiding Gods en door God gewild, tot het opkomen van
recommend this newest enterprise to the good-will of den staat en de  macht  van de overheid'  geleid; De
all our people,                               .  $3. H,         goddelijke  rechtsorde  heeft  naar de bedoeling Gods


                                                                                                           ._
210                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

                                                                 better acquainted with the doctrine as well as with
                 M a n h a t t a n ,   M o n t a n a             the ministers. After having heard the truth for about
                                                                 a year and a half, some families were willing to organ-
       To the ,undersigned  was delivered the task of pre- ize, something which seemed almost an impossibility
senting to the readers of The Standard Bearer a short for such a small group. Nevertheless a meeting was
resume of the things that have transpired with a view held with a view to organizing and somewhat later a
to our congregation in Manhattan, Montana.                       meeting was called where eaoh member present took a
       We begin by briefly relating the history which led        definite stand. Eleven families were willing to organ-
up to the organization of our congregation and the               ize and become a Protestant Reformed Church.
coming of our first minister.                                       On September 25 Rev. Kok and Rev. Vos, of Red-
       Reverend Kok came into our midst in August, 1938.         lands, who came for that purpose, organized us as a
And as most of us were not acquainted with tne de-               congregation. Rev. Vos preached a sermon based on
cisions of the Synod of the Christian Reformed Ch*urch           the Word of God as found in Mark  4:10-12. After
of 1924, his  comin,g  was a surprise to many of  *us.           the sermon the organization took place. At this time
Upon his arrival the Reverend parked. his trailor in two couples made confession of faith and the ol.ficc-
the Rippling Water Camp but after a few days moved bearers wer elected and installed. The benediction was
to an apartment in Manhattan, where he lived for .pronounced  by Rev. Kok. The following Monday even-
about one year. In order that all things might be done ing a congregational meeting was held at which time
honestly, Rev. Kok first went to visit Rev. Bratt, minis-        a committee was appointed to investigate the advis-
ter of the Christian Reformed Church, and informed ability of either purchasing the old building or building
him of the reason for his coming, requesting also Rev.           a new one. This committee brought the results of its
Bratt to consider the error of his church, but to no             investigation before the congregation and after careful
avail.      Hence, he set about to visit the various families    consideration it was decided to obtain land and build
of that church wahich would invite him, in order that            a basement church. The next  mornin,g the site of the
he might set forth the truth of God's Word over                  building was flxed  and in the afternoon the breaking
against the error of the Synod of 1924.                          of the ground for the basement began. All the labor
       Not long after this he rented a meeting place, the        on the church building was donated and all those who
Baker Creek Public School house, about three or four             cooperated enjoyed the work very much.          Also the
miles from Church-Hill. The meetings there were well Martha's helped ! Mrs. Kok and other ladies on  Church-
attended as many were eager to hear what Rev. Kok                Hill favored us with lunch on the job. And so a few
had to say. However, the meeting place was not ideal,            days after Thanksgiving, the church was ready for
due both to location and inconvenience, and the Rever- dedication.
end was therefore glad to  find a place on church-Hill.             Since that time a neat parsonage has been added
This  place was formerly an old store building and Rev. to our property and our first minister now occupies it
Kok obtained the use of it only by taking an option on           with his family. The congregation was indeed glad
it. The place was generally improved, benches were when it received the news that Rev. De Wolf had de-
obtained from the old court-house in Bozeman and                 cided to heed our call and to take up the labors of
thus the place was made fit to meet in. Meetin'gs  were pastor in  our midst. Before this time the congregation
held here twice a week. Incidentally we might say                had sent out three oalls. but each in turn, of those that
that the old store building served as meeting place for were called, informed us that he did not have the liber-
the congregation until our own vasement  church was ty to accept. It was therefore upon the fourth call
b u i l t .                                                      extended that we received the welcome news.
       In the meantime Rev.  Kok sent out weekly bulletins          Rev. De Wolf came to us on the ei,ghth  of november.
announcmg the services to be held on Sunday. Aside               And on the tenth of that month he was installed in the
from those, who from the very beginning attended ,afternoon  service. Rev. Verhil of Edgerton, Minne-
regularly, many others came to hear and it may be said sota, our counsellor,  was in charge of the service and
that none could fmd fault with the doctrine of God's             brought the Word of God very appropriately both to
sovereign grace as it was clearly expounded and #pro- us and our minister. The text of his sermon for the
claimed. Every week also literature was sent out an- occasion was taken from the prophecy of Jeremiah,
nouncing the text for the coming Sunday. Also the the 5th verse of the 12th chapter, "If thou hast run
Standard Bearer was sent to many. In the winter of with the footmen, and they ahave wearied thee, then
1939 meetings `were held on Monday evenings at which             how canst tlmu contend with horses? and if in the land
time the Reverend explained the error of the "Three              of peace, wherein thou trusted&,  they wearied tshee,
Points" and answered the various questions of those              then how wilt  thou  do in the swelling of Jordan?" It
present.                                                         was a very impressive service and one that will not
       IIn the meantime several ministers of' the Protestant     soon be forgotten.
Reformed Churches preached for us and we became                     On the evening of the 12th,  the whole congregation


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                       -1,
                                                                                                                  6  7

came together in the church to welcome the minister
and his family. A short program (under the direction                        The Numberings
of Rev. Verhil, who stayed in our midst an extra day
for that purpose) was rendered, consisting mostly of           The Book of numbers sets out thus. "And the Lord
volunteer numbers. Refreshments were served and it spake unto Moses in the wilderness  ,.f Sinai, in the
was with rejoicing that we again returned to our           tabernacle of the congregation, on  t,e  first day of the
homes.                                                     second month, in the second year after they were come
    On the following Sunday Rev. De Wolf preached          out of the land of Egypt, saying, Take ye the, sum of
his inaugural sermons. He spoke to us on I Peter 2 :1      all the congregation of the wilderness of Israel. . . ."
in the morning and on I Cor. 1:18 in the afternoon.            According to this Scripture, there intervened be-
He emphasized the fact that we are always admonished tween the departure of the people of Israel from Egypt
to desire the sincere milk of the Word and that it is and the numbering of which this text makes  mention
the calling of the servant of the Lord to always set       one year and one month. The journey out of Egypt to
that true milk before the congregation. It is his call- Sinai.had occupied six weeks. As the  first ecclesiasti-
ing to preach the cross of Christ, while the result cal year had commenced two weeks previous to, the
of that preaching is always God's work, Who will su,re-    departure from Egypt, the people of Israel on the day
ly accomplish the end which He has in view. His that the above-cited command was given, had been
Word shall never return unto Him void.                     encamped before Sanai eleven months. During this
   We take this occasion to thank all those of our         time God's covenant with His people had been ratified,
ministers who have willingly proclaimed God's Word the divine laws received, the pattern for the taber-
to us during the time that we were without a minister.     nacle revealed, the instructions for the service con-
Especialy  do we thank our counselor, Rev. Verhil,         nected with it given, and the tabernacle reared and
for all the assistance cheerfully given us. And we can dedicated. So the time was at hand for the people of
assure you that our Missionary, Rev. Kok, will be long Israel to press on to the promised land of their abode ;
remembered and his faithful labors in our midst ap- but they could be allowed to go forward only as a well-
preciated. May God grant him His blessing and give organized host, and with knowledge of their military.
him courage to continue in the work unto which the strength. For awaiting them was the task of freeing,
Lord hy called him, that also in other places God's        through warfare, the land of Canaan from the godless
Word may again be heard in the revelation of its full      race of men by whom.this  land was being corrupted.
truth.                                                        So the command came to Moses that he "take the
   And thus we may rejoice in the works of our tied.       sum of the congregation of the children of Israel, after
He has  richly blessed us and is blessing us even now.     their families, by the house of their fathers, with the
Our congregation now numbers  $7 families and in- number of their names, every male by thefr polls, from
cludes more than a hundred souls.'                         twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go
   It is our prayer that He will continue to bless us      forth to war in Israel". (Num.  12, 3). The whole
and our minister to the end that we may be etlihed         people were to be the warring host of God. But as the
and His Name may receive all the praise and thanks-        actual waging of war could be done only by the strong,
giving.                                                    the army of God was to be recruited from the number
                   The Consistory of the                   ,of males that had reached the age of twenty. At what
           Manhattan Protestant Reformed Church.           age military service was to cease, is not stated. Per-
                                Nick  Kimm, Clerk.         haps the Israelite was expected to render himself avail-
                                                           able as long as he continued in the full possession of
                                                           manly vigor. Then, too, going to war in Israel was a
                                                           venture of faith. Tshe warfare to be warred was that
              INGEZONDEN STUKKEN                           of Jehovah. Where this faith was lacking, there was
   We ontvingen nog enkele ingezonden stukken, die fear in the heart of the recruit. There are grounds for
we  echter   ,uit gebrek  aan  pl&.tsruiznte  voor ditmaal saying that such a one was not under the compulsion
moeten  laten wachten op een volgend  nummer.              of the law.
   Laat dit niemand ontmoedigen, want we hooren               The task of taking the census consisted in record-
zeer gaarne van onze  lezers,  en we  hopen hun'stukken    ing the names of each individual to be numbered, be-
zoo spoedig mogelijk  te  pl&,sen.                         sides the name of the family or clan to ,which he be-
   Manr we zijn  oak gebonden  aan  plaats  en tijd,       longed and the names of all the forefathers that form-
en als de stukken ons dan in  handen  komen, als de        ed the genealogical line that connected him with the
rest van he-t materiaal reeds gereed is, cwordt  bet soms founder of the clan, and finally in counting all the
moeilijk, om ze' in ons blad te passen.                    recorded names of the living with the, exception of the
   Men houde mij dit dus ten goede.                        infirm. This must be the requirement of the language;'  '
                                             H. H.`        "Take ye the sum of all the congregation. `; l,:; by @heir

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

generations, after their families, by the house of their and grew" (Ex.  1:ll). Having gone down to Egypt
fathers,  .q,Sth the number of their `names. . .  ."  By                                                                              numbering seventy souls, this family, at the time or'
famdg  is to be understood the clan, the independent,                                                                                 the taking of the fu-st census, was able to muster au
self-governing families, founded by the sons of the' army of approximately  C&)0,000.  This figure is not
 patriarchs. This is plain from the language which unbelievingly large. It does not, as some have thought,
Moses employed in recording the outcome of the second                                                                                 designate an increase that God could not affect without
numbering of the  *people  some forty years later, "Reu-                                                                              departing from His  unual way of working. By the
ben, the eldest son of Israel : the children of Reuben ;                                                                              usual way of working is meant God's bringing into
 Hanoch, of whom cometh the family of the Hanochites : being a new offspring by the agency of the parents
of  Pallu, the family of the Pallunites: . . .  ."  The through a period of nine months. Jacob went down
houses of the fathers  were the families founded by the to Egypt with 48 grandsons, not counting the sons of
male-offspring-sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons Levi. (Gen. 46). This number is thus made up :
-of the founders of the clans ; and by  generation  is
to be #understood the  ancestrial  line of descendants of                                                                                    Reuben . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 sons
each of the persons numbered.                                                                                                                Simeon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 sons
        The method of numbering employed resulted in                                                                                         Judah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 sons
the figures obtained being most reliable. With this                                                                                          Issachar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 sons
method in operation the the likelihood of an individual's                                                                                    Zebulon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 sons
 purposely or unintentionally being counted twice or of                                                                                      Gad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 sons
his being overlooked in the numbering or of his being                                                                                        Asher ..*...........................                              4 sons
 counted with a tribe to which he did not belong was                                                                                         Benjamin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 sons-
small. Moses was assisted in the performance of `his                                                                                         Dan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 son
task by the head of each of the tribes. There being                                                                                          Naphtali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 sons
twelve tribes, there were likewise twelve such <heads.                                                                                       Joseph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 sons (born in Egypt)
 Men renowned of the congregation they were.; princes                                                                                        Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
 (rulers) of the tri es of their fathers (the twelve  patri-
'  archs), heads of thousands in Israel (Num.  1:16).                                                                                    The period of the sojourn of the schosen family in
 In all probability, these heads were in turn assisted                                                                                Egypt must be reckoned at 215 years. ,4t the rend of
 by the rulers of  ,hundreds,  and the rulers of fifties                                                                              this period this family could have numbered at least
and the rulers of ten, provided by Moses from all the                                                                                 one million and a half living *males, not counting the
 people on the advice of Jethro his father-in-law at the offspring of Levi, if  all the 47 grandsons of Jacob and
 beginning of the enmpment  before Sinai.                                                                                             all their male descendants had married at the age of
        We find in the first chapter of the book of numbers                                                                           twenty and each had begotten 6 sons by the time he
 a tabulation of the outcome of the numbering in the                                                                                  reached the age of 40. As the actual number of sons
following order:                                                                                                                      able to bear arms was approximately 600,000, the
                                                                                                                                      figure which the above calculation yields, as it includes
Reuben . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,500 (Joseph) Ephraim 40,500 the aged, the infirm, and all the men-clhildren  below
Simeon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59,300                    (Joseph) Manasseh 32,200 the age of 20, may not be far out of the way. Be this
 Gad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,650             Benjamin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,400                   as it may, what this calculation shows is that the num-
Judah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,600                Dan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,700    ber recorded by the sacred writer-600,000 sons of
 Issachar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,400                        Asher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41,500       Israel from 20 years old and upward-is not indicative
 Zebulon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,400                     Naphtali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,400 of an increase ordinarily impossi,ble  or even unlikely.
                Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603,550                The notice that there were 600,000 from twenty
                                                                                                                                      years old and above, able to bear arms, gives us no
        This is the number oniy of the sum and total of all definite information as to the total of souls. However,
 those from twenty years old and upward who were able at the time of the taking of this second census, not
 to go forth to war. This is expressly stated,  `So were counting the descendants of Levi, the family of Jacob
 all those that were numbered of the children of numbered approximately  3,300,OOO  souls-men, women,
 Israel . . .  .a11 that were able to go forth to war in and children, if the Israeites ceased to be available for
 Israel ; even all they that were numbered were six military service at the age of fifty, if 400,000 of the
 hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred 600,000 were married and each had an average of
 and fifty" (1:45).                                                                                                                   five children, and if there were 800,000 men and wo-
         The outcome of this census tells us that the family men in the camp from fifty years  aid and above. The
 of Jacob, during its two hundreds and fifty years of assumption that each of the 600,000 ahad an average
 residence in the land of Egypt, had undergone a steady of five children is not extravagant. The average num-
 and rapid growth, despite its being oppressed. "(But)                                                                                ber of men-children with which each of the twelve
 the more they afflicted them; the more they multiplied                                                                               sons of Jacob went down to Egypt is four. The names


            _  .  I                                   -_._  -  I                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                                                                                             213

      of their daughters are not given; but it may be as- with the one by which the people was overtaken im:
      sumed that each son averaged three and thus that each                                                                                           mediately after its having committed whoredom with
      had an average of seven children when the journey, to the daughters of Moab whiIe it abode in Shittim, where
      Egypt was undertaken. What is more, there is reason there died twenty and four thousand in the plague
      f& believing that during the period of sojourn in                                                                                               (Num. 24 :6-14). That Zimri-the man who came and
      Egypt the Israelitish families on a whole ,were even brought unto his brethren a Midianitish  woman--IWas
      larger than those of Jacob's immediate sons. The                                                                                                a  Simeonite, may indicate that on this occasion the
      statement occurs in Ex. 2 that "the chiIdren of Israel                                                                                          tribe of Simeon was the chief offender and was there-
      were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and, multi-                                                                                            fore the hardest smitten. Another such judgment was
      plied, and waxed mighty ; and the  Iand was  Wed with the one recorded in chapter 16 (of Numbers) and
     them." And again, "But the more they afflicted them, which was sent in connection with the conspiracy of
      the more they  mu1tipIied  and grew". So, to  aseu,me                                                                                           Korah and his company-Dathan, Abiram and On.
      that each of the 600,000 averaged six children mani-                                                                                            AI1 with the exception of Korah were great-grandsons
      festIy  is not assuming too much.                                                                                                               of Reuben. Korah was a Levite. Besides these four,
              Some twenty years later, the Israelitish males' from there were 250 others involved. Princes of the  as-
      twenty years and above were again numbered ; and sembIy they were, men of renown, famous in the con-
      their number was found to be 601,730  able to go forth                                                                                          gregation (Num. 16  :2).                            It is not stated of which
      to war, and thus 1820 less than the number which the tribes they were. But it is IikeIy that they belonged
      first census yielded. So, during the period of the to the tribes-Reuben, Simeon, Ephraim-that appear
      wanderings in the wilderness, the nation as a whole                                                                                             to have diminished so remarkably. The number that
      made no gains in the total of souls. There was even perished in connection with this rebeIIion  was again
.     a slight decrease. That the total of  souls remained                                                                                            great.  Besides those that were swaIIowed  up by the
      nearly constant during this period finds its explanation earth, there died 14,700 in the plague (Num. 16  $9).  ,,
      in the circumstance that while some of the tribes re- That the increase and diminution of the  singIe tribes
      markably increased, others just as  remarbbly de-                                                                                               in the numerical table is  aIs0 in part to be accounted
      creased. The truth of this statement is borne out by for by maIes changing their tribal reIation and name,
      a comparison of the two census arranged according cannot be. The method that was employed in taking
     td the tribes.                                                                                                                                   the census-"By their generation. . . . according to
                                                                                                                                                      the number of their names:`. . . .-would of necessity
       First Census (Num. 1)                                               Second Census (Num.  26).                                                  expose such changes.
                                                                                                                                                         As to the Levites, the sum of them was not taken
     Reuben . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,500              . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43,730     among the children of Israel (Num.  1:49). The mem-
     Simeon . . . . . . ,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53,300            . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22,200     bers of this tribe Likewise were numbered according to
     Gad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..-....  45,650 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..I . . . . . 40,500 the three great families `founded respectively by the
     Ephraim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32,500 three sons of  Levi-Cershon, Kohath, and Merari, ac-
     Naphtali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,400 e............................... 45,406 cording to the sub-branches of these families (the
                Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245,350                    Totai  ,................  184,330 house of their fathers) and according to the names of
                                                                                                    Decrease 61,020 the  individua1  males counted, from one month old and
                                                                                                                                                      above. The numbers were;
     Judah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,600           . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76,500
     dssachar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..I....  64,300                              Of the  Kohathites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8600
     ZebuIon . . . . . . . . . ..*.......... 57,400                         . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..`........60,500                     Of the sons of Cershon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7500
     NIanasseh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,200                   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..r.+...52,700                  Of the sons of Merari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6200
     Benjamin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,400                    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45,600                              Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223.00
     Dan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,700     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64,400
     Asher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,500           -............................... 53,400                                      This, then, was the total of males in Levi's tribe.
                Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358:200                    Total . . . . . . . . . . . ...*. 417,400 Yet at Num. 3 :89 we read, "AR that were numbered of
                                                                                                      Increase 59,500 the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the
                                                                                                                                                      commandment of the Lord, throughout their families,
              A comparison of these figures show that five of the                                                                                     all the males from a month old and upward, were
      eleven tribes decreased and especially so the tribe of twenty-two thousand." Thus the numbers of the tribe
      Simeon-approximately sixty-three percent. This is branches, 8600, 7500, 6200, added together gives the
      to be accounted for by the falling off of the birthrate sum of 22,300, whiIe the number given at Num. 23:9
      but also in all likelihood by the Judgments of Cod, that                                                                                        is only 22,000, a difference of 300. This apparent dis-
      overtook the nation  &ring this period, taking an ex- crepancy has an explanation. But rather than assume
      ceptional heavy to?,1  of life in at least some of these a blunder in the text, as some interpreters  do, it is
     tribes. One such judgment perhaps is to be identified better to take the position that  suuffcient data is  want-,

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

ing to say with certainty what this  expIanation  is.        and twenty years is reckoned at 200,000 and the mem-
Some come with the solution that, whereas the sum bers of the family for each firstborn at nine. By this
total of the Levites was to determine the ratio which assumption and calculation the total of firstborn is
they bore to the sums of the first-born in the other         brought in near agreement with the number  repo$ed
tribes, because the surplus of the first-born had to         iln Scripture.    This  soIution is  Lweighed down by
be redeemed with money, the first-born of the Levites the objection that for the one difficuIty  that it seem-
were not included in the count, as, if they had been,        ingIy removes, it raises others.      If the Levites of
there would be nullity in the caIcuIation. So, for them twenty years oId and upward were not counted and
300 were deducted. It is doubtful whether this is the substituted for the firstborn of corresponding ages,
solution. It would seem not. For it  imphes  that the we are driven to conclude that they were barred from
first-born among the Levites, by reason of their being serving, unless it be assumed that their numbering,
first-born, could not substitute for the first-born among though having taken  piace, was not recorded in Scrip-
the other tribes and could thus not be in the service,       ture.    Besides, the fourth chapter of the book of
while the fact is that they were. Besides, the high Numbers contains data that shows that the figure
priest represented his brethren. And he was a first- 22,000 did  in&de  aIso the Levites from twenty years
born.                                                        old and above. Having `numbered the  maIes in the
       A comparison of the figures thus far presented,       tribe of Levi from a month old and upward, Moses,
show that the total of male members in the tribe of          in obedience to the Lord's command, now takes the
Levi was suprisingiy small. T,hese  same figures show sum of Levi's sons from thirty years old and upward
that ofall the other tribes, that of Benjamin was the until Gfty years c&I "to do the work of the tabernacIe
smaiiest. Yet at the time of the taking of the  first in the congregation." And all those that were num-
census the total number of maIes from twenty years           bered were 8580. Now this figure agrees with the
and upward in this tribe was much greater than the           statement that the total of males in this tribe from
tots,1  of males from  one. month and upward in the one month old and upward was 22,000.
tribe of Levi. *The figures are: Benjamin 35,000; Levi          Another sohrtion  of the difficulty is that the 22,273
22,000. At the second census thirty-eight years Iater        firstborn in whose  pIace the Levites were substituted,
Levi had increased to 23,000 and at the census taken         include only those firstborn  sons who were born during
by King David this tribe had only increased from the thirteen months that  eIapsed  since the departure
23,000 to 38,000, whiIe the rest of the tribes had more      from Egypt. At Num.  3:13 we read, "Because  all the
than doubled.  Th,us of  a11 the tribes, Levi was the        firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote  all the
Ieast  fruitfu1 in propagation.                              firstborn  in the Iand of Egypt I hallowed unto me allI
       The Levites were numbered with a view to their the firstborn in.IsraeI,  both man and beast; mine  shall
being substituted in the pIace  of the firstborn in the they be." On the ground of this text, it is heid that
other tribes. For, thirteen months previous, on the          al1 the firstborn whose birth preceded the departure
eve of their departure from Egypt, and immediately from Egypt had already been halfowed  on or shortIv
upon the slaying of Egypt's firstborn, the Lord had          before the Pascal  night and were not therefore incIuded
spoken to Moses, saying, "Sanctify unto me  alI the          in the count that was taken thirteen months later.
firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb, among' the           This is the correct explanation as wil1 be made plain
children of Israel, both of man and of beast ,it is mine" in the sequence.
(Ex. 13 2). So the Cr.&born  among the people were                    The census of the  firstborn  sons yielded a num-
counted and their number amounted to 22,273 from             ber in excess of  the number of Levites  bv 273. These
one month and upward. As we have seen, the totaI             `--ere redeemed for five  shekeis  each. This total of
of maIes  among the ,peopIe  from twenty years old and       1365 shekels was given to Aaron and his sons.
upward, able to bear arms, was 603,550. Now if this             iIt has already been noted that the Levites were
number presupposes a census of even one million maIes        nulmbered  from thirty to fifty years to perform the
of all ages in all the tribes, then, in case the 22,273      work in the tabernacle. The numbers of the  threp
were the sum of  al1 the firstborn among the whole           tribe branches added together give8580 nriests and
neople, there  wouId  be  onIy one firstborn to every Levites; of the Kohathites, 2750; of the Gershonites.
forty or forty-five males. Just what the solution of         2630 ; of the  Merarites,  3200. From this account it
this  difficuI;ty  is cannot be ascertained with certainty, appears that out of the whole number of Levites, viz..
again on account of the lack of sufficient data. Prof.use    82,300 onIy  $580  were fit for service. What is more.
discussions of this subject have been carried on. Some the famiIy c;f Merari was m.rmericaIIy  the smallest of
assume that the Levites were not eounted from the            the three tribal families. Yet it had 3200 fit for
age of twenty, but from one month upward and that service,  which  was more than half their number over
in keeping herewith the  6rstborn  were counted in the a month old, and more than either of the other two
same way. On the ground of this assumption the num- families. Thus the inference is warranted that these
ber of males for the generation between one month numbers give not the number of able-bodied men,  bnt


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           215
  that they give only the number needed for duty and           Reuben the likeness of a man; that of Ephraim the
  that this rmmber  was proportionate to the service to Iikeness of an ox; that of Dan the likeness of an eagIe.
  be &performed. This seems to be the plain meaning of These are the four creatures combined in the cherubic
  3 :49, "They were numbered. . . . every one according figures of the prophet Ezekiel.
  to his service and according to his burden."                                                              G. M. 0.
      Each of the three famifies  had their respective em-
  ployment. The transportation of the vessels and the
  contents of the tabernacle is performed by the Kohath-                                    -
  ites as the immediate assistants of EIeazer,  the son of
  Aaron.       Rut the packing is al1 done by the priests.
And the Ark must be  lidden from the eyes of the                          The Levitical Priesthood
  people.      It is wrapped in a covering of skins over
  which is spread a  ~10th of purple. Upon the  TabIe              The Levites were taken for the ministry of the
  of Shewbread are laid the  vesseIs  pertaining-to it         sanctuary in place of the firstborn of Israel. Spake
  and over the whole is spread a  scariet   cIoth with a the Lord to Moses, "And I, behold, I have taken the
  cover of skins; then the staves are set. In a  Iike          Levi& from among the chiIdren of Israel instead of
  manner are the candlestick and the altar of incense          the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the child-
  covered. The altar of burntoffering is covered with          ren of Israel: therefore the Levites  shaI1, be mine"
  a cloth of  scariet. Nothing is said respecting the          (Num- 3 :12)  - The Lord immediately explains His
  golden Iaver.                                                doing and names the reason for it, "Because al1 the
     The task of the Gershonites was to bear the "dwell- , firstborn are mine: for on the day that I smote  all
  ing-pIace"  and the tent, its coverings and the coverings the firstborn in the  Iand of Egypt  i hallowed unto me
  of badgers' skins and of al1 the curtains and alI, their     al1 the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine
  cords. To the Mararites was given the task of bearing        shall they be : I am the Lord" (Num. 3 :13).
  the outward framework of the tabernacle with  a11 that          At first thought, this announcement of the Lord
  pertained thereto.                                           may seem  perpIexin,g.  The reasoning here is this:
     Such were the reguIations  for the bearing of the         The firstborn are mine. Therefore I have taken `the
  taberna&. They were many. And they  Ieft no part.            Levites instead of them. Therefore the Levites are
  however  smaII, to the judgment of man. No human             mine. In the abstract this Ianguage could mean: The
  devices might mix into the things typical of the             firstborn are mine to do with-as I choose. This being
  heavenly.                                                    my prerogative, I have taken Levi's sons in their stead.
     The twelve tribes are divided into foulr divisions        Thru this doing the firstborn have ceased to be and the
  in the order of East, South, West, and North, with           Levites became mine.
  the tabernacle in the center. The four tribes whose             That as a resuIt  of the substitution the firstborn
  camps are in the east are Judah, the first leader-tribe.     ceased to be the Lord's, wouId seem to be the naturai
  lssachar  and ZebuIon. In the south was the camn of          inference. Yet after the exchange the firstborn con-
  Reuben, the second leader-tribe. in conjunction with tinued to be the Lord's. More must be said. It was
  the tribes of  S&eon and Gad. Ephraim was  encam&+           only on account  of this exchange or substitution that
  ed on the west, at the head of Manasseh and Benjamin.        the firstborn were and could be the Lord's
  To the north and under the headship  of the tribe of            P,et us inquire into the marks of distinction of the
  Dan, Ashur and NaphtaIi  are encamped. So did these firstborn and see what  pecuiiarly  distinguished them
  tribes form a square about the sanctuary. Within             (him). The first to appear in Scripture as God's first-
  this square was another inner square, the east of born is the peopIe  of Israei. Moses was instructed  bl
  which was occupied by Moses, Aaron. and his sons,            the Lord to say to Pharaoh, "Thus saith the Lord.
  st the door of the tabernacfe  ; the south bv the Kahath-    Israel is ,my son, even my firstborn: I sav unto thee,
  ites : the west by the Gershonites ; and the north by        I& my son go, that he may serve me : and if thou  refi'se
                                                     .
  the Merarites.                                               to Iet him go, behold I wiI1 sIay thy son, even thy first-
     On the.march the tribes headed by Judah went first.       born"  -(Ex. 4  :22, ,23). This is significant language.
 Then followed the tabernacle and the attendant  Geshon-       It means more than that Israd to the Lord was an ob-
  itos and Meranites, and thereupon Reuben's division.         ject of endearment.      TsraeI is God's firstborn-one
  Then came the  Kohathites  with the sacred things and born of Him by the power of His redeeming grace and
  after that the division under Ephraim  foIlowed   bv thus also born from the dead and tthe first born and as
  that of Dan forming the rear.                                such the beginning of God's increase, the  fir&fruits of
     Each of the leader-tribes had his ensian. banner          the whoIe Iump-aII  the nations of the earth blessed
  or  flag. which was at the same time the banner of           in Abraham, in IsraeI,  in Christ. The command dir-
  the division. The  rabbanical  tradition has it that the ected to Pharaoh was thus meaningfuI  for him from
 banner of Judah bore the Iikeness of a lion ; that of         more than one angle. Israel is God's firstborn among


216                                       T H E   STAND'ARD  B E A R E R

the nations. The Iatter as to their eIect nucleus con-            pated with them in the salvation wrought, so that the
stitute the family of God, chosen by `Him in Israel,              command "Be ye  holy!' concerned the  whoIe people.
that is, in Christ,  u'nto   life  etern.o.1.  And among the         However, the command was to the effect, not  only  .
members of this family, Israel has the priority, the              that they be set apart unto the Lord, but aIso that
headship and the doub1e portion, he being t'ne firstborn. they be redeemed, "and all the firstborn of man among
That it is in Israel that the nations, the chosen of thy children shalt thou redeem" (Ex.  13:13). But
God, are blessed. <It is imperative upon Pharaoh therr-           now questions arise. The firstborn had been redeemed
fore that he cease to destroy Israel and that he  let them        by the blood of the paschal Iamb. Had they to be re-
go. Israel belongs not to Pharaoh but to the Lord.                deemed anew? The command was for the future "When
Then, too, if IsraeI be destroyed, the many brethren the Lord shall bring thee unto the land of the Canaan-
among whom he is the firstborn, cannot be brought ites as He sware" (Ex.  13:ll). Yet certainly the
into being.       Finally, Pharaoh's own wellbeing and            command went into immediate effect.  As we have  '
that of his people is involved. Pharaoh must heed                 seen, approximately thirteen months after the de-
God's command. He must  bless  Israel and  bIessing               parture, the firstborn sons-those born after the de-
him let him go, wiIIingly,  joyfuRy. He must weep on parture, and. thus .not yet redeemed-were su,bstituted
account of his attempt to destroy God's son. Then                 by the Levites. This was their redemption, this their
Pharaoh  will be blessed. But Pharaoh chose to con-               being substituted by the Levites.' The Levite died for
tinue holding God's son in bondage. For he was repro- the one for whom he was taken-died not by himself,
bated. Together with the firstborn of this nation, he             but in and through his innocent substitute, the sacri-
formed the type of the seed of the serpent, thus of               ficial animal, his offering.'           .
that peopIe  against whom God hath indignation for-                  So were the Levites themselves, as men redeemed
ever. So the Lord judged Pharaoh and through  judge from sin and death  whoIly consecrated unto the Lord.
ment saved His  firstborn.                                        Of the consecration of the sons of Levi we read in chan-
       Yet by himself, Israel is iIl-deserving  even as the ter 8 of the Book of Numbers. That the sacrifice by
Egyptians whom God destroyed. When the Lord saw                   Mood through which this consecration was effe&d had
the blood of atonement upon their houses, He passed               also respect to the redemption of the firstborn, is evi-
over them so that the  @ague  was not upon them.                  dent from these scriptures, "and thou shalt bring the
The people of IsraeI  are spared because the Lord had Levites before the Lord: and the children of Israel
respect to the blood. By themselves, they deserve to be shall put their hands upon the Levites : and Aaron  sha%I
oppressed and killed  by Pharaoh. The Lord there- offer the Levites before the Lord an offering for the
fore must redeem them, purchase them from His own ohiidren  of  IsraeI. . . . For  all  the firstborn of the
wrath, that operated through the agency of the op-                chiIdren  of Israel are mine. . . . On the day that I
nressor, -by the biood  of the Passover lamb, deliver smote.eve,ry  fiFStbOFn in the land of Egypt I sanctified
them from Pharaoh-the type and representative of them for myself."
Satan. And so he does, typically through the sacri-                  So were the firstborn,  and in them the whole nation
fice by  bIood,  so that Israel, God's firstborn, leaves consecrated to the Lord through the sacrifices which
Egypt as a peopIe redeemed from ail its sin, debvered             were brought in behalf of the sons of Levi.
from sin's bondage, raised from the dead, and, through                                                               G. M. 0.
the  bfood  of this same sacrifice, consecrated  whoIIy  to
the Lord, that with the Lord it might enter His  rest-
the rest of Canaan.
       It was with regard to the character of Israel's Sal,
vation,  and to perpetuate its memory and give promin-
ence to the  principIes  of justice and mercy from which                         GELOOFSVERTROUWEN
He acted in saving His .peop1e, that God claimed the
first-born of Israel as His own.  Israe1 as a nation
was God's first-born. As such he was deIivered  from                      `t  1s  zalig,  bij den dag  te  leven,
death. But this first-born was represented by the first-                  En `t a1 in `s Heeren hand te geven,
born sons in the nation. The latter had been the im-
mediate subjects of God's, saIvation and were there-                      Wiens wijsheid,  liefde, trouw en ma&t'
fore claimed by Him. In respect to them the command                       Ons veilig heeft tot hier gebracht.
was that they should be caused to pass over to God,
as those  deIivered  from death, separate themselves                      Bie zegt : Ik zal het verder maken.
from the common sphere and from  al1 that was  moral-                     Vertroaw aan Mij maar al uw zaken,
Iv corrupt, and be wholIy  consecrated to God. How-
ever,                                                                   ' Vertrouw  *uw  lijf,  uw  ziel, uw lot
          as they were the  respresentatives  of their peopIe,
the firstfruits of the Iump, the whoIe peopIe  `had partici-              Aan Mij, der Iegerscharen God.


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                                                                               of this world: to reunite all things in a higher, a more
                                                                               perfect union than ever before!
                                                                                   All things !
                                                                                   And lest we should hesitate to give the words their
                                                                               full significance, it is added: that are in heaven and
   The Ultimate Reunion Of All Things                                          that are on the earth. The entire kosmos, therefcze,
                                                                               is meant; the whole creation and  a11 things in the whole
                      Hawing  made &own unto us the mystery creation. Nothing less can satisfy the  terms here
                   of hti will, according to his good pleasure                 employed. It cannot be the purpose of these words to
                   which he,  huth purposed  51. himself: that                 refer merely  f,) men, and to make us think of the union
                   in the dispensation of the fulness  of time                 of the Jews and the Gentiles in the one body of Christ;
                   (or: unto a dispensation of the  fuhes of nor can they be limited to rational beings only, the
                   time, R.V.) he might gather together in angels in heaven and men on the earth. Nor can it
                   one all things in Christ (or : to sum up a-?..!             be the meaning of the Word of God here that in the
                   things in Christ, R.V.) , both which are in end God purposes to save and unite into His eternaI
                   heaven a+ which are on earth.                               kingdom of  gIory  every  individua1  man,' and every
                                                       Eph.  1:9,  IO.         individeual  spirit, angel and devi1 alike, which is not
     Giorious  mystery of His will!                                            only foregn to this passage, but also contrary to aI1
     Hid from the Ibeginning,  but now made known in                           the rest of Scripture. -But all things in heaven and
 Christ, through the apostles and prophets.                                    on earth, rational and brute creation, animate and
     The mystery of the  final end God had in view with                        inanimate creatures, the whole creation organicaIIy
 the purpose which, He had purposed in Himself: the                            considered, are to be reunited in the one  gIorious
 dispensation according to which He would gather to-                           center : Christ Jesus, our Lord ?
 gether in one, in one glorious Iiving Center, Christ                              Al1  creatures  shall be gathered together!
 Jesus, Immanuel,  God with us, a11 things, both which                             They will be united. There will be a bond between
 are in heaven and which are on earth!                                         creature and creature, the bond of peace and perfect
     Mystery indeed !                                                         `harmony, so that  a11 the millions upon millions of
     For who hath,                                                             created things will constitute one whole, one glorious
                               OF  who could possibly have known
 the mind of the Lord? Or who could have discovered kosmos ; so that every part of the lwhoie will be perfect-
 this adorable end of the good pleasure and purpose of ly related to every other part and to the whole ; so that
 the Most High? What  eye was clear enough to detect each creature swill serve the whole in its own place and
 in the things that are seen, what ear was keen enough                         position, and in serving the whole will be to the glory
 to discover from the things that are heard, what heart of the Most High. The ultimate realization of God's
 was profound enough to conjecture from its own ex-                            world, "the wor1d He loved and in behaIf  of which He
 perience that ail through the ages of time God had                            gave His only begotten Son !
 in view a dispensation in which He would sum up                                   All creatures will be "summed up" !
 all things in heaven and on earth in the glorious Center                          They will be gathered together in one ! There  will
 and Culmination Point of the incarnated Son? . . . .                          be a gradually ascending scale of creatures, perfectly
."j  " But the mystery is now revealed!                                        interrelated and united mutually, climbing upward into
   God  bath  made known His mind, hath declared                               a pinnacle, a center, a cuIminating  point. Or, to de-
 what purpose  He  has in view throughout the history scribe this union in one center more accurately; there

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

will be one central life-spark from which all creation all things served him. And he stood in the midst of
will be quickened, one Head in Whom all creatures are the earthly creation, made after the likeness of the
united, from Whom they receive their life and mean-               invisible God, His friend-servant, in order that the
ing, their place and grand harmony of form and whole creation through the love of his heart and the
activity : Christ !                                               service of his willing obedience might be united with
       Christ, the incarnated Son of God, Iwill be the Head the heart of God. A11 things -were in subjection to him,
of all the new creation !                                         in order that through him they might be subjected to
       Christ, the firstborn of every creature, and the first-    God; all things served him, that he might serve the
begotten of the dead will be the uniting center of the            Most High !
new  .heavens and the new earth!                                     Thus all was harmony in the first paradise !
       The Spirit of Christ will quicken and glorify all !           The peace of God- pervaded all ; the love of ,God
       The glory of the risen Lord will beautify all!             motivated all ; the blessed favor of God caused all to
       The mind of Christ will be the light of all !              rejoice; the beauty of God was reflected in all ; all this
   The will of Christ will rule all !                             centrally and consciously in the heart of man?
   And in Christ as the new and eternal Head of all                  True,  all things were not united in one.
the redeemed kosmos the ,whole world will be united                  There was another aworld  in heaven, the world of
centrally with its Creator and Redeemer, the God of heavenly spirits, of seraphim and cherubim, of might
our salvation !                                                   and dominion, of principalities and powers.          They
       Such is the implication of this glorious Word of           probably were summed up in their own head, the
God !                                                             greatest, the mightiest, the most  bea,utiful  of them all,
   That hope is placed before us throughout the Scrip- the one against whom even in his fallen state Michael
tures.      For the creature is made subject to vanity durst not  ,bring a railing accusation. That world was
and in the bondage of corruption it  ,groans,  but it shall       not united in the heart of man. Over it he had no
be delivered from that bondage into the glorious liberty dominion. He was made a little lower than the angels.
of the children of God.                                           An  ear&Is  king over an earthly creation was the first
   And we expect new heavens and a new earth, in man Adam. Of the earth earthy was he. All things,
which righteousness shall dwell.                                  things in heaven and things on earth were not united
   The New JerusaIem  will come down from God out                 in his heart. . . .
of heaven on the new earth  ?                                        Two worlds there appeared to be, even though they
   And God shall make  alI things new!                            were adapted to each-other, destined to become one,
   Blessed mystery !                                              to be summed up in One. . . .
                                                                     Yet, even so, that first  *world was  iblessed and
   Adorable wisdom of God's  go& pleasure!              -         beautiful.
   Accor<ing  to which He purposes all things  wit!;                 And a pity it seemed that ever its unity was
`3 view to that final dispensation: to gather together broken !
again all things in one!                                             For, broken it was ; broken was its unity in heaven ;
       To sum them up in a ,h.igher unity, in a more  glow.       and distorted was its harmony on earth. For the most
ious harmony than ever ,before,  and to lift them up into glorious creature in heaven became the opponent, the
that heavenly perfection that is attained in the way              adversary, the slanderer of God, the arch-rebel, the
of sin and grace, and that could not have  ,been  reached liar, the murderer from the beginning; and with him
except in that way!                                               rose in rebellion a multitude of the heavenly spirits.
       For, indeed, He gathers them again; such is the            And things on earth lost their uniting center in man's
significance of the orignal word.                                 heart, when  `he, the friend-servant of God, allied him-
       Yet,  Iwhen  He gathers them for the second time,          self  Iwith  the rebellious forces of darkness in  hi,gh
He does not return to His former work, He does not places, and became the enemy of the Most High. His
lead all things back to their first estate, but leads them        heart was no longer the medium through which all
on to higher glory.                                               creation might rest at the heart of God. His mind was
       Once they were united. For, also in creation God's no longer receptive unto the Word of God: his light
works were one. He did not call into being a mere had [become darkness. His will refused to submit to
number of creatures  *without affinity or unity, but He and to do the will of God: his righteousness had
created a kosmos, a world in which everything was changed into unrighteousness. No longer did he thirst
adapted to the purpose of the whole, one harmonious after God as a hart after waterbrooks : his holiness had
creation with its center in man's heart. In him  all              changed into corruption.      His beauty changed into
things were gathered together in one, in man they ashes, his gIory into shame, his love into hatred, his
were summed up, he stood at the pinnacle of created               freedom into slavery, his obedience into rebellion, his
things on earth ; he had dominion over all things, and            dominion into vain usurpation, his blessedness into a


                                       T H E   STAND'ARD   B E A R E R                                                    219

curse, his life into death !                                    of God by which finally and completely the mystery
   The <bond was broken !                                       of the will of God is fulfilled, and also revealed.
 The creature was made subject to vanity. No                       For, a mystery it is.
longer did it serve man to any positive purpose. It                That this economy of things was the end which
rises against him, it mocks his efforts, in thorn and           God had in view, that the culmination and consum-
thistle, in fire and hail, in the *wild beasts of the earth,    mation of all things would  the a kosmos embracing all
mighty and effective whether they be great or infinites-        things in heaven an,d on earth;concentrated  in Christ,
simally small. He still labors in the sweat of his brow, the incarnated Son of God, raised from the dead by the
but only to reap vanity and death: he eats and drinks marvellous power of God,-that no one could possibly
corruption. . . .                                               surmise or conjecture; that experience cannot teach,
   And creation is a house divided against itself.              that eye cannot see and ear cannot hear, nor can it
   Vanity of vanities ; the vicious circle of death!            ever arise in the heart of man. It is a mystery. It
   Yet, even then, there was the mystery of God's will,         belongs to the  ,kingdom  of heaven. It can #be known
the adorable good pleasure of the Most High, the pur- only through revelation by the Spirit of Christ.
pose of Him Who worketh all things according to the                And long this mystery had ,been  hid.
counsel of His own will ; even then God had in view                Prophecies there had been of it, faint glimmerings
that marvellous economy of the fulness of time : to of its light had  Ibroken  through the darkness oceasion-
agather together in One, all things, that are in heaven ally even of the old dispensation. Those that had been
and that are on earth!                                          lifted up to the highest mountain peaks of prophecy
   Who bath known the mind of the Lord!                         had seen afar off the glory of the future, and had
   0, the depth of riches, of knowledge, of wisdom!             spoken to the people below, dwelling in the shadow
   That which to us appears to be only a wilfull wreck-         of the present death, of new heavens and a new
ing of God's beautiful handiwork by rebellious crea-            earth. . . .
tures, in God's eternal purpose must serve to open the             But not until the "economy of the fulness of time"
way unto something higher and better, the eternal and had come had the mystery been revealed in all its glori-
heavenly summing up of all things in Christ Jesus, the ous significance.
economy of the fulness of times!                                   The fulness of time is the final period before the
   The harmony that was disturbed was earthly, that parousia. It is that by `which time is made full. For,
which will replace it is heavenly.                              trme is a measure, and filled it must be before it can
   In the beginning all things were summed up in the be definitely  closed. Strictly speaking it is the economy
first man Adam ; in the end they will all be concen-            of the last "moment", of the "omega" of all history,
trated in and dominated ,by the last Adam, the Lord that is the "fulness of time". But here time is viewed
from heaven.                                                    as being f&d with "dispensations", each leading to the
   -The original union could  not  fully  embrace  all other, yet each being characterized by new revelations
things ; the ultimate kosmos will jbe a gathering to-           and realizations of the mystery of the will of God.
gether in one of all created things, the new heaven and         Always it is the same mystery of God's will that is
the new earth.                                                  realized and revealed ; but there is progress in its
   The former things were lapsible, fragile, because revelation  and  economy. And the last of these econo-
they were summed up in the mere creature.                       mies of God's redemptive wonder is the present dispen-
   The  final things can be torn from the heart of God sation. It is the end of the ages. By it time is filled.
nevermore, because they  are summed up in the  Son  of It is the fulness of ti)me.
God Himself!                                                       ,It was ~begun with  the revelation of Jesus Christ.
   All according to His purpose !                                  For, when the fulness of time had come,  *God sent
    That all things may be unto Him, even as they are           His Son, made of a woman, come under the law. And
of Him and through Him.                                         in Him He began to gather together all things, both
    For such, indeed, is the implication of the original :      that are in heaven and that are on the earth. For
God had eternally in view the  final economy of things,         He is that pinnacle of all things, the firstborn of every
according to which He will gather together in one creature, in Whom all things are to be summed up.
-unto Himself, for Himself, all things !                        And as such He was prepared, through  .the cross, by
    That He may be all in all !                                 the resurrection and exaltation at the right hand of
    And glory may be to Him!                                    God.
    Forever !                                                      And He draws all things unto Himself i
                                                                   Untii He shall come again, and as the pinnacle of
    Glorious economy !                                          all creation subjects Himself unto the Father.
    The dispensation of the fulness of times!                      That God may be all in all !
    That economy or arrangement of the saving work                  0, wonder of grace 1                         H. H,

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

                                                                 of our own Army and Navy, by delivering it to any
                 E d i t o r i a l s                             nation he chooses on any condition he pleases ("to  sell,
                                                                 transfer, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose
                                                                 of'). It has been  correctIy  stated that under the terms
                                                                 of this bil1 the President could give our entire Navy
                The Lease-Lend Bill                              to Great Britain. Section 2  ,of this bill describes "de-
                                                                 fense article" as including: "any weapon, munition,
   All our readers, no doubt, know that our lawmakers aircraft, vessel or boat; any machinery, facility, tool,
in Washington are debating the merits and demerits material, or supply necessary for the manufacture, pro-
of the "Lease-Lend Bill", known as H.R. 1776. By the duction, processing, repair, servicing or operation of
time this number  of our  Stan&u-d  Bearer  appears it any article  descr:bed  in this subsection ; any component
may have been adopted, either with or without im- material or part of or equipment for any article de-
portant amendments and  modifcations.  For we are scribed in this subsection ; any `other commodity or
making history fast.                                             article for defense". The power here given to the
   The bill is designed to make is  possibie for our             President, or proposed to be given to him, is very
government to produce and deliver to Great Britain all comprehensive.
the war material she may need with the greatest pos-                2. Besides, it means that the President will have
sible speed.                                                     the power to dispose in the same way of any imple-
   It is divided into nine sections, the most important ments of war or munitions that is now being manu-
of which is the third, which we here quote:                      factured in our country, allegedly for "self-defense".
                                                                 This is the implication of subdivision (I) under Sec-
                          SECTION 3                              tion 3. We must bear in mind that "self-defense" by
       (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any  other          this time means approximately the same as aiding
     law,  the President may,`from  time to time, when he        Great Britain, or "any country whose defense the
     deems it in the interest of national defense, authorize     President deems vital to the defense of the United
     the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, or         states". It does no longer signify that we are attacked
     the head of any other department or agency of the           and fight a foreign invader.
     Government                                                     3. That the President will be empowered to  reIease
          (1) To manufacture in arsenals, factories, and         to any nation he chooses our official Navy, and Army
     shipyards under their &isdiction, or otherwise pro-         secrets. This is, evidently, the meaning of paragraph
     cure, any defense articIe for the government of any         (4) under Section 3.
     country whose defense the President deems vital to             4. That the President  wiI1 have the power to open
     the defense  of the United States.                          American ports to belligerent nations to whom we are
          (2) To sell, transfer, exchange, lease, lend, or       friendly, for the purpose of repairing or recondition-
     otherwise dispose of, to  any  such government any de-      ing their defense articles. Paragraph (3).
     fense article.                                                 Section 4 of this bill stipulates that all contracts or
          (3) To test, inspect, prove, repair, outfit, recon-    agreements made for the transfer of any defense
     dition,  oi otherwise to place in good working order        articfe  by the United States to a foreign government
     any defense article for any such government.                shall contain a clause forbidding such foreign govern-
          (4)  To communicate to any such government             ment to transfer the title of such defense article to
     any defense  iuformation  pertaining to any defense         anyone else. It may sound a I.ittle sarcastic, but wouId
     article furnished to such government under  para-           it not be expedient to make such foreign government
     graph (2) of this subsection.                               aIs sign a clause restraining it from ever using our
          (5) To release for export any defense articIe to       defense articles against our own country?
     any such government.
       (b) The terms and conditions upon which any such
     foreign government receives any aid authorized under            The  bil1 is being hotly debated and is  severeIy
     subsection `(a)  &al1  be those which the President         criticized.
     deems satisfactory, and the benefit to the United               Opponents of the bill have two main objections:
     States may be payment or repayment in hind or               1. It sets up a dictatorship in our country. 2. It wil1
     property, or any other direct or indirect  benefit          lead us into war.
     which the President deems satisfactory.                         We aIso are opposed to it.
                                                                     Our chief objection is not that it will give the
   Let us try to reaIize  what this implies. It means :          President too much power, and that it will be the end
    1. That the president wiIl have the power to dis-            of our own democratic form of government if the bill
pose of whatever war material we now have at hand,               is passed; although it must be admitted that the bill is


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        221

rather a concession to Hitler's point of view regarding of an attack by any foreign power. But let us wait
democratic forms of government. Then, too, it may be to defend ourselves until we are attacked, and not make
questioned whether Congress, under the Constitution ourselves believe that Great Britain is really fighting
has the right to delegate all this power to the Chief       our war, and that we are defending ourselves by aiding
Executive. After all it is Congress that, according England.
to Article VIII of the Constitution has the power to           From history we do not receive the impression that
declare war, to raise and support armies, to provide        Great Britain is the unselfish neighbor that fights in
and maintain a navy, to make rules for the govern-          the interest of other nations.
ment and regulation of the land and naval forces, and          And if we continue telling the story that she is
"to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper       fighting in defense of the United States, she might
for carrying into execution the foregoing powers". probably e-xpect  in the end that we ought to pay her
This, it would seem, also covers the disposal of any        for the ,aid we give her.
"defense article" to another government.                       But above all we should not become involved in
    But our main objection to the lease-lend bill is that, this war, because, apart from all utilitarian considera-
as it is proposed, it means war. And it is our firm tions, we are not justified (before God to enter it. unless
con&ion  that, both for utiliitarian reasons and for the Axis powers commit an act of war against us r&h-
the sake of justice, our country should keep out of this    out provocation on our part.
war.                                                           It is true, that Nazism in all its implications must
    The adoption of the bill as it stands at the time       be considered a great evil, especi&Ily  also from a re-
of this writing  awill undoubtedly mean that we will        ligious viewpoint.
send defense articles to Great Britain in our own ships,       It is also true, that the Axis powers have lost all
convoyed ,by our own cruisers. And that means that
the Axis powers will attempt to destr,oy them.              moral right to complain of any  unneutra1  act that
                                                  As soon might be committed against them by other nations,
as this happens, we are in it.
    Besides, the bill provides for the opening of our       after their attack upon the small neutral nations of the
ports to a friendly belligerent nation for the purpose      continent of Europe.
of repairing, reconditioning or otherwise placing in           However, that it cannot be Great Britain's motive,
good working order its defense articles. And this is        nor ours, to avenge the wrong committed against small
really an act of war in itself.                             nations is evident from the "hands-off" policy that was
    There are those in our country that would welcome       adopted in the case of Italy's brutal attack upon
the entrance of our country into the European con-          Ethiopia.
flict.                                                         And before the question of justice can even be
    There are a good many others who still speak of         considered the Treaty of Versailes should be repudi-
the expediency of giving all possibe aid to Great           ated. For, apart from that treaty the present war can-
Britain "short of war", but who, nevertheless, are lead- not be explained.
 ing our country directly into the war.                        By all means, therefore, let us keep out of this
    They claim that it ,would be a great calamity for war,                                               H. H.
the United States if Great Britain would be defeated,
that the British Navy is our first line of defense, that
 allying ourselves with Great Britain (even though                                       -
 "short of war") means that we will save the world for
 democracy, that the Axis powers will attack our coun-
try if they are victorious.                                              Het Gezag Der Kerk
    We are of the opinion, however, that we ought to be
ashamed of ourselves if the British Navy is our first          We bespraken de laatste  maal de beschouwing, die
line of defense ; nor do we believe that it is true. We door Ds. de Graaf van Amsterdam gegeven werd van
 believe that this is no more a war to save democracy       den Staat en van zijn verhouding tot de Kerk. En
 or  to make the world safe for democracy than was the we zagen tevens, dat die beschouwing samenhangt met
 former world-war, nor should we allow ourselves to         en gegrond is in zijn voorstelling van "natuur en ge-
be fooled twice by the same story. We are convinced nade", of, zooals Ds. de Graaf de uitdrukking liever
 that if we permit ourselves to be drawn into this war,     bezigt  : "genade en natuur". Het zal  onzen  lezers ook
 we will be fighting only another European war for          duidelijk zijn geworden, dat zijne beschouwing van
 power; and the outcome will show ,it, just as did the      deze  dingen  de onze niet zijn kan.  We1  wil hij  niet
 outcome of the recent world-war. We. are of the spreken van algemeene genade. Toen we voor het
 opinion that  Iwe should calmly and with determination eerst vernamen van bet referaat van ZEW. geheuden
 prepare for self-defense, so that we are ready in case voor de predikanten conferentie te Utrecht over bet


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   bEARER                                             229

   Straks wordt het danker en helsche benauwclheden
klemmen  zich in Zijn arme ziel. `t Zal zoo straks                          Anguish In Darkness
op brullen uitloopen. De Koning in de hel: En brul-
lend naar den hemel  om hulp.                                                      (Psalm 22)
   Hoe kunnen we hier vertoeven?                                There are many difficulties confronting us when
                                                             we set ourselves to write something about this Psalm,
   Ga met mij en haast U daar den hof van Jozef.             difficulties of a various nature, exegetical, historical,
We zullen weer  te  doen  krijgen met Psalm 21. Uw theological. A man could write a rather long treatise
bevende lippen zullen zachtkens gaan zingen. We von- about the difficulties alone.
den  onzen  Koning terug. Komt, komt wat naderbij.              Try to write something about this Psalm, restrict-
Past op, struikelt niet over die speren en  schilden.        ing yourself to this theme: What did David suffer
`t Zijn de wapenen van die malle, goddelooze, liegende when he wrote here as he did? For instance, what
wacht  bij het graf van God.                                 ever could have happened to David when he complains :
   En als ge dan heel dicht bij Hem staat, zult ge  ge-      "They have pierced my  hatlds and feet"? Or this:
leidelijk  achter  en boven Hem God zien. Hij gaf U "they part my garments among them, and cast lots
dien Koning !                                                upon my vesture"?
   Rij heeft de vijanden overwonnen.                            Yes, we meet all kinds of difficulties here.
                                                                The Psalm is superscribed as "Aijeleth Shahar".
   Spreekt echter nu maar niet langer van Filistijn en Its author is David. Aijeleth Shahar means "hind of
Edomiet.                                                     the morning". David, in a measure, and Christ, fully,
   Centraal is de grootste vijand de zonde en haar are considered fair game for every wild and foul beast
schuld. Die werden zwanger en hebben den toorn to  ,hunt Him on the mountains if haply they may rend
Gods gebaard. En de Koning heeft van God sterkte Him to pieces.
afgebeden.       Hij had het noodig, vreeselijk noodig.         David certainly must have been in terrible straits
Want Hij moest tot in het hart van den eeuwigen dood at the time of this Psalm. We can  telI this by the
doordringen om de gevangenis gevankelijk weg te impassioned plea of the Psalm itself, by the opening
voeren.                                                      verse that speaks of utter forsakeness, by the repeated
   Zijn rieken zal zijn in de vreeze des Heeren. God My God, My God !
had Hem op het spoor gezet. Hij moest Israel vinden,            We are left in the dark as to the exact reason for
ondergedompeld onder den vijand.                             this state.
   Daarom dat brullen van daareven. Doch Hij vond               Do we say too much wh& we presume it to have
U en mij.                                                    been occasioned by Saul? Saul. certainly has been
                                                             the arch- enemy among all those that would seek his
   Ik heb we1 eens een oud vrouwtje hooren zeggen:           life. Saul hated David more than any of his enemies.
De laatste vijand die te niet gedaan wordt is de dood.       And when we pursue the story of David's life we note
Ja, David  zing-t een galm  aan den  Christus vooruit that this hunting went on from month to month, from
aangaande die vijand.                                        year to year. When David found rest for a spell in
   Jezus zal daar 66k voor zorgen. Hij zegt : Al ging some mountain, glen or cave, an enemy would come
ik dan al in een  da1 der schaduwe des doods : zoo zoude by stealth to Saul and spit out his poisonous informa-           '
ik geen kwaad vreezen. Neen, want Uw Koning Jezus tion: Doth not David hide himself in our hills? And
lheeft  al het kwade gevreesd  voor U.                       the army of Saul ,would  gather for the hunt. David,
   En nog steeds staat gij bij dat graf van Jozef.           the hind of the morning.
   ,Orn Uw Koning te zien.                                       And all the while David was not really dangerous to
   En nog steeds zullen we Psalm 21  zingen.                 Saul. He never did him any wrong. More, he would
    Daar bij het graf van Jozef van Arimathea is het even defend him when Saul's life was given  to Ihim
beginsel van den eeuwigen troon Davids.                      as on two occasions.      He  hel,d up the slip of his
                                                             mantle and cried : My father, see and behold ! I do not
   En de slotakkoorden, gelijk als bij David's lied, zul-    seek your ,hurt ! And for a moment Saul, that devil,
len zijn: "Verhoog U, Heere, in Uwe sterkte !" Want was pursuaded: he wept a few salty tears on David's
het  meet. welgaan bij Jezus.                                neck ! Beware, David ! That embrace is as slimy as
    Blijft ge dan echter vragen en onderzoeken naar the embrace of a serpent. It reminds me of the em-
Uw deel, dan mogen wij U wijzen op de laatstz klan-          brace of Judas, kissing Jesus : Rabbi, Rabbi !
ken : "zoo zullen wij zingen en Uwe macht  met psalmen           But we see much more in Psalm 22 than Saul,
loven."                                                      Saul's cohorts on the hunt, Filistia and the other
    En dat is de hemel,  daarboven  bij God.                 heathens surrounding God's anointed.
                                                is. v.           You can see all that and fail to receive your answer


280                                     THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

to the question: What means this crying about God's munion) in vain. Because even before my thirsting
forsaking of David?                                             heart came to the last stanzas of my song, I knew al-
       David's agony because of the bulls, lions, dogs ;        ready that I would presently close with: Ik zal God,
the wicked, the mockers, the enemies is aggravated              mijn God nog loven ! And happy, divinely happy, I
by a consciousness of the lack of God's communion.              would grow silent and go home with the sheep.
Judging from the ,words of this cry he sought for sal-             But now I am a worm and no man.
vation, God's nearness, quietness in the soul because              Besides having all these warriors to contend with,
of God's communion, and answer, and peaceful silence.           Thou gavest me no answer.
       But God seemed far, o so far away.                          This cannot continue long, 0 my God !
       In the daytime he cried and roared in the night             Even now, I am poured out like water. There is
season. All to no avail. God held Himself away from no strength left in me. A person should be able to
David.                                                          sleep nights. When I rise from my couch in the morn-
       And the enemy noted this deplorable situation.           ing I present a sorry spectacle for the beholder.  I
Listen: They laughed him to scorn, they shoot out               may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
the lip, they say: Did not David trust in God? Well,               And it is a good thing they cannot see any farther
let God help him, that is to say, if it is true that God than my outward appearance. Within I am like wax.
has delight in David ! But it is plain that He has not ! My heart is melted within me. My bones feel out of
David, where is Jehovah now?                                    joint. There is no strength left in me.
       And they rejoiced in David's agony.                          And all I hear around me is sneering, mocking,
       And while sobs are racking David's tortured breast, derision, contempt.
he meditates on the past. Jacob, his father, also was              And I could bear all that, my Lord. Only, be Thou
in agony. And he cried in Pniel. Yes, muses David,              not far from me, haste Thou to my help!
Jacob and on occasion Abraham also, they trusted                   Abraham was helped when he trusted and hoped
in the same Jehovah. But here is the difference. Since and Jacob found His God. Israel did not remain in
last week when I started by roaring and crying agony            Egypt. Moses was the strong arm of Jehovah. There-
to God, I have been without an answer. They trusted fore, my Father, ride upon the clouds to my *heIp!
and in the case of Jacob an angel of God came down                 And David did find his God again.
and blessed him in the morning. He was strengthened                 He prophesies of it from verse 22 on. It is the
to meet Esau.                                                   break in this Psalm.
       But I? I am no longer a man.  I am a worm.                   He visualizes himself delivered from all his sor-
I crawl in the dust and there is no soothing silence            rows. There *will come a time when he shall tell all
for me. God hears me not.                                       his brethren that God finally came. And such time
       And who am I? Am I not David, the beloved of he will find all his praises concentrated on one thing:
the Lord? Was not my mother that sweet Moabitish Hallelujah ! the praises of God ! Well, it could harldy
maiden who always charmed my heart when I read                  be anything else. That is the omega of all life and
of her? A sweetness that was inherited by my grand- living.
mother and mother? Did not my mother go to Je-                      Yes, in the midst of the congregation of Israel
hovah when she perceived that her arms were filled              David will stand.        He visualizes them even to the
with me, the future King of Israel? And how did end of the world.
my mother act toward Thee, 0 Jehovah? She began                    Righteousness,  gIory  and utter redemption will
to pray and she cast me into Thy loving arms.                   come. Even through him as an instrument. All the
       And Thou hast heard. Because when I was but a ends of the world will at first shudder when they hear
small lad I was made to trust in Thee and hope in               David's story of Psalm 22. But the end of the song
Thee, even as the fathers.                                      will be: that God finished the agony. Incidentally,
       I took Thee with me in the fields  ~when  still young    the last phrase of this Psalm is the same as Jesus'
and tender. And while the woolly sheep grazed I                 final cry : It is finished  !
I would meditate on Thy greatness and begin to sing.               Yes, it is finished for David. He grew calm;
Presently the melody, the correct meter, came to me.            could even smile again.          His part in the present,
wafted on the winds of Bethlehem-Judah, and I began             heavenly, glorious concert is not small. I can even
to play and to sing! 0 God, dost Thou not remember              imagine that David will sing some solo parts. But
`how ,I used to sing, surrounded by unbroken silence:           His great Son w.ould  later quote him. And such quota-
`t Hijgend her-t der jacht ontkomen ; schreeuwt  niet tions !
sterker naar `t genot van de frissche waterstroomen ;              Throughout the worlds and the planets and the
dan mijn  ziel  verlangt naar God?                              suns there resounded much later that agonizing cry
       And I know that  I have never hoped (and that to God: 0 why, why hast Thou forsaken Me? In utter
means that I possessed the yearning for Thy com- darkness,


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                    231

   They tell me that from the sound of airplanes over-
head they can by delicate instruments compute the            Onderwijs En  -Het Profetisch  Ambt*
exact distance from the airplane to the batteries on
the ground.                                                   Als wij spreken over onderwijs dan hebben wij het
   .I twould  implore you not to try and compute the       te doen  met Ben van de belangrijkste en gewichtigste
distances around Golgotha. That cry came from a onderwerpen, die de belangstelling en de studie van
great abyss. It sounded from a sphere that sometimes den mensch gevergd hebben. En de belangrijkheid
is called: hell. Your reckoning will be a mockery any- en het gewicht van dit onderwerp vindt zijn oorzaak
how.    The instruments will break. The roaring is         daarin, dat onderwijs te  doen heeft met de voorbe-
too intensive.                                             reiding en bekwaammaking van den mensch voor  zijn
   A good man has said some years ago: When that           plaats waarin en waartoe de Heere God den mensch,
cry resounded on the place of a skull, a hand from he11    als zijn ,knecht,  roept in het midden van dit leven niet
was extended to the heavens and it laid itself on the alleen, maar ook van het leven hiernamaals. Immers
steps of God's temple.         And here is the miracle.    dit leven, met alles wat het oplevert, is de voorbe-
That hand from hell did not besmirch the steps.            reidingsschool voor de  vuhnaakte  dienst die den mensch
   Much later, much later, (theologically we speak of Gods  wacht  in de nieuwe  hemeIen  en de nieuwe aarde
eternal death of which the cry is the echo) the golden waar de gerechtigheid woo&.  In geen enkel opzicht
gates opened and a beckoning hand asked Jesus of           is dit leven 10s te maken  van het leven bij God in den
Galilee : Come up hither, My Son !                         hemel.
   The greater David, no longer a worm, ascended              Met dit voor oogen kan het onderwijs nooit  te ern-
the steps.                                                 stiglijk  worden  beschouwd en overwogen. Zelfs de
   Psalm 22 finds Him at last in the midst of the con- goddelooze  wereld, die het onderwijs nooit kan noch
gregation.       And David will stop his  solo's. And      wil bezien uit het oogpunt van de aanstaande heerlijk-
heaven experiences a hush. David, God's beloved Son, heid, beschouwt, afgedacht daarvan, het onderwijs  als
will make an announcement in singing such as no            een der gewichtigste en belangrijkste zaken. Dat dit
earthly or heavenly choir ever could render: I will        niet te ontkennen is, wordt daardoor bewezen, dat alles
proclaim Thy blessed Name unto all the brethren.           in onzen  tijd in het teeken  staat van ontwikkelingen
   Instructions in singing will follow. They have          opleiding en alles draagt en vereischt het zegel  van
waited until all the members of God's symphony have lager en hooger onderwijs.
arrived.                                                      De mensch moet  ontwikkeld   worden  ! Ook de
   John at Patmos was given the pre-audition. And wereld  zegt dat de mensch kennis moet hebben van de
he has told. you. "And after these things T heard' a wereld, waarin hij woont. Hij moet onderwezen wor-
great voice of much people in heaven, saying: Alle-        den overeenkomstig zijn plaats in die wereld. Het is
luia!"  *                                                  een vereischte, dat de mensch onderricht worde in be-
   I am slow in leaving this spectacle. The heavenly trekking tot zijne verhouding tot die wereld en tot
version of Golgotha, the heavemy  rendering of Psalm alle dingen in de wereld.
22 is so engrossing; so surpassing in beauty.                 Om dat doe1 te bereiken laat de wereld geen mid-
    Slowly on I begin to understand `why the Holy          de1 onbeproefd.      De opoffering is nooit te  groat,
Ghost calls David the sweet singer of Israel.              Mannen en vrouwen van kennis en genie geven talent
                                                  G. V.    en goed  tot oplossing der problemen aan het onderwijs
                                                           verbonden. De onkosten zijn een kwestie van minder
                                                           belang.  Ieder jaar wordt in ons eigen land  slechts
                                                           vier  billioen dollars  aan de zaak van onderwijs en
                                                           ontwikkeling besteed !
                                                              Hoe beschamend  tech voor ons  als christenvolk
                       SOIL FOB JOY                        is de  arbeid en  hef opofferen der wereld in deze zaak
                                                           als wij het enge en het kortstondige leven, waarvoor
            Joy is a  fruit that will not grow             de  wereld  zich bereidt,  vergelijken  bij de oneindige
                In nature's barren soil ;                  lengte en de eeuwige breedte van het heerlijk hemelsch
            All  owe  &an boast till Christ we know,       leven, waarvoor wij en onze kinderen  bereid  moeten
                Is vanity and toil.                        worden.  Nog meer beschamend is het, als  wij voor
            But where the Lord `has planted grace,         oogen houden, dat de wereld zich slechts bereidt voor
                                                           den dienst van haar god, die op het allerbest haar buik
                4nd made His glories known ;               is, en wij en onze kinderen  moeten  bereid worden  tot
            There fruits of heavemy  joy and peace         den dienst van de eenigen en sheen heerlijken God,
                Are found, and there alone.                die te prijaen is tot in der eeuwigheid.


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                   2%

Iechehjk  voorgesteld, maar eenvoudig aangetoond, dat
hij abuis had, toen  hij "De Heraut" onder de kerke-                The Choice Of The Apostates
lijke bladen telde. Ik geloof, dat ik recht had op een,
bedankje. Het is waar, dat  m.ijn toon verder ironisch                     If a  man  walking in the spirit of falsehood do lie,
werd,  toen ik s&reef over de  mogelijkhei"d  eener  re-                   saying, I wiil  prophesy unto thee of wine and corn;
*formatie door een kerkelijk blad..  Doch  toen had  ilk                   he shall even be the prophet of this people.
bet niet qeer over "De Heraut", maar over kerkelijke                                                         -Micah  221.
bladen in het algemeen. Het kan  zijn,  dat mijn ironie         Many such men there were in Judah, men prophesy-
we1 den indruk liet van overdrijving  doch dat ik de         ing of corn and wine, of earthly prosperity and sensual
waarheid schreef, kan m.i.  niet worden  ontkend. Juist enjoyment when they should have been predicting
als ~kerkelijk,~blad  staat het onder het voogdijschap der judgment and ,doom.  So they were lying. Their pro-
"kerk",  is het niet vrij. De redakteuren worden  door de phesying, as they did, characterized them as men who
"kerk" benoemd. De commissie van publicatie ook.  De-        walked after vanity and deceit, thus in the spirit of
,formeert  dus de  "kerk",  dan' deformeert ook het blad.    falsehood.
Daar is geen  helpen   aan. Zoo is ook de ervaring.             Yet in their prophesying they were apparently in
Do& ons  blad is vrij. Het staat  ook niet, evenmin line with at least parts of Micah's discourse. He, too,
als onze beginselen, onder de "superiority" van een painted the future gloriously bright. He said *that in
paar personen. We hebben vrije  discus&e. Meent the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord
de "kerk", dat  ze, ons  meet   behandelen om hetgeen should be established in the top of the mountains, and
we in de S. B. schrijven, dan kan ze dat doen  ; maar should be exalted above the hills, that people should
ze heeft geen macht om ens blad op te heffen, of onze flow into it, that many nations shouId  come and say,
vrije discussie te staken. Wil` de R.F.P.A. niet langer "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
publiceerexi hetgeen wij schrijven, ze kan er mee op- and to the house of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach
houden. Maar ons blad is vrij. En mits  iemand  zich us His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the
aan de regelen  der orde  houdt, kan hij schrijven, wat law shah go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord
hij wil. Hij  meet  natuurlijk op antwoord rekenen,          from Jerusalem. He said further that the God of
als antwoord noodig is. Doch dat behoort zoo bij vrije Jacob should judge among many people, and rebuke
discussie ,en. . . . "wie haatst moet den bal verwach- strong nations afar off4 that they should beat their
ten".                                                        swords into plow-shares ang their spears into pruning-
    (3) Neen, dit is ook niet waar. In de vier jaren,        hooks ; that nation should not lift up the sword against
dat ik de verzorging had van de rubriek "Our Doc-            nation, but that they should sit every man under his
trine" in  ""`?he Banner", schreef ik slechts  e&n of twee vine  ando under his fig tree ; and that none shouTd
artikelen in  verband  met de  "gemeene  gratie". Dat make afraid. (chap. 4  :1-4)
was,  meen   ilk, in 1919. En daar  vie1 de  kerkeIijke         So spake Micah. Both he and ne false prophets
"kliek" drie of vier jaren  later als.een troep  hongerige hold out hope. But the hope of the former is true.
wolven op  aan.  Toen ik later (in  verband met de It  will not put to shame. The hope of the latter is
Janssen zaak) nog eens ,weer over de gemeene gratie          vain. It will put to shame indeed, as it is the hope
zou schrijven, werd de  kerkehjke doofpot er bij  ge-        of the world that Iieth in darkness, of the wicked,
haald: de discussie werd gesloten. Ze werd gevaarlijk        of the apostate Israel.           How steeped in sin these
voor de kerkelijke rust!                                     apostates are. "They devise iniquity, and work evil
   Qm recht te  doen  en geen verkeerden indruk te upon their beds ; "when the morning is light, they prac-
laten, waar die gewekt-werd,  voeg ik hieraan nog het tice it, because it is in the power of their hands." No
volgende toe. In het artikel "What Is Wrong"  s&reef         one can prevent their crimes, for their wealth and
ik, dat er op de vergadering van de R.F.P.A. in Grand        power enable them to do anything they please. They
Rapids gerapporteerd werd, dat we in Redlands  sleehts       rob  poor  property owners of their holdings, that is, of
" a very few" subscribers hadden. Sedert vernam ik the hereditary portion of the land assigned to each
Tan iemand uit Redlands, (en dit werd kort geledec family at the time of the conquest and guarded by
door Ds.  Vos bevestigd) dat er,  toen ik dat s&reef, the "Jubilee Law". (chap.  1:1,2)  Widows, who are
nog  twee en twintig  linteekenaars  op ons  blad  waren     without defenders they drive from their possessions.
in Redlands. En dat  aantal werd  sedert  dien reeds They tear the mother from the children by selling
aanmerkelijk verhoogd. Nu is  twee-en-twintig&  eene         them to different masters. Such is the treatment the
gemeente van vi if-en-vi  j ftig huisgezinnen we1 niet nobles accord to the poor and the needy. They pounce
ideaal,  maar "very few" maakt op mij  tech een  ge-         upon their victims without provocation ; as they pass
heel anderen indruk. Ik geloof, dat die ,uitd?ukking         by peaceably, attending to their own business, they
bezijden de waarheid was.                                    fall upon them.  Pull off the  robe  with the garment.
                                              H. H.          (Chap. 2:8, 9, 10)         Such are th doings of the heads


2%                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   kEARER

of the  peopIe,  of the  princes  of  .Israel, of the magis- burnt offerings, with calves of a year old, in a word,
trates. (chap 3  :I) They hate the good. Wrongdoing to their keeping His law as to its letter. And this they
has become their second nature. They have become do, these apostates. They appear devoutly religious.
utterly perverted. Their corruption expresses itself Their sacrifices are many. They appear berore the
in cruelties that amaze. They flay the  poor  people Lord. They tread His courts. They observe the new
alive, tear the flesh from their bones; they break            moons and the Sabbaths. They call assemblies. They
their bones, chop them in pieces, boil them in the keep the solemn feasts. They spread forth their hands
caldron,  and devour them  (3:3). These expressions           before God's face, and make many prayers. (Micah
are not to be taken literally as applying cannibalism;        6:6, 7; Isa.  1:11-15)  But their religion has become
they are vivid pictures of heartless cruelty and oppres- a matter of form. They think that ceremonial ob-
sion. They built up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem servances. will meet all the Lord's requirements, and
with iniquity. (Chap. 3 :X0)     The houses of the rich 6 that, as long as the external acts of' worship are
are full of the treasures of wickedness. The balances scrupuIously   performed,  they are entitled to God's
of the merchant class are *wicked and its weights de- favor and protection. Such is their false notion. And
ceitful. The rich men are full of violence. The in- despite their sinfulness, "yet will they lean upon the
habitants of the land speak lies and their tongue is Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? no evil will
deceitful in their mouth. (Chap. 3  :lO,  11, 12)     The come upon us". (Micah 3 : 11)
statues of Qmri are being kept, and all the works of             "Is not the Lord among us"? They still have need
the house of Ahab ; and in their counsels do they             of the Lord and aIso of a prophet to prophesy to them.
walk. (6 :lO)    "The good man is perished out of the         But the man they desire is one who wilI fall in with
land (of Judah) : and there is none upright among them respecting their appraisal of self, one who is will-
them ; they al1 lie in wait for blood ; they hunt every       ingly ignorant of the sins of the nation and who re-
man his brother with a net".  (7:2) Anxiously they frains from upbraiding it on account of its sins, one
are looking for opportunity to commit robbery and             who agrees that the people through their ceremonial
violence ; and to accomplish their desire they are quite      observances are fulfilling the law and are therefore
ready to shed blood. They quench the instincts  of objects of God's endearment, thus one who is ready to
love and sympathy; they are scheming continuously to          prophesy to them of wine and corn and assure them
do harm to one another.                                       that no evil will come upon them. They have no difil-
   Such, mark you, were the conditions prevailing culty in finding such a man. And finding, they say,
in the church of Micah's day. The picture here hung "This man shall be our prophet." And the man makes
up by the prophet is not that of the moral rottenness it a point to please them. But in pleasing-them, he
of  sume pagan commonwealth but of Judah. But despite walks after wind and deceit and doth lie. But he is
their wickedness, these apostates insisted that corn willing. For he  devines  for money, yet he poses as
and wine would continue to be their portion, that God one who leans upon the Lord (3:ll).  But the apos-
would continue to prosper them and to cause them to           tates will have him.
dwell securely in His country. He  .had promised,                But they cannot endure Micah. And there is
"Then I  wil1 give you rain in due season, and the  Iand      reason. He is God's prophet. He knows himself to
shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall    be such. For he feels himself full of power by `the
yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto `Spirit of the Lord. Such is his testimony. "But truly
the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sow-        I am fuli of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of
ing time: and you  shall,eat  your bread to the full, and     judgment and of might, to declare unto Jacob his
dwelI in your land  safeIy.  And I will give peace in         transgression, and to  IsraeI his sin". (3  :3) And he
the land, and ye shall lie down and none shall make does declare. In opposition to the contention of the
you afraid. . . . And ye shall chase your enemies, false trumpeters that the people have no sin, Micah
and they shall fall before you by the sword. (Lev.            exclaims, "Hear this, I3ray you, ye heads of the house
26:4-7) This promise was there, written into their of Jacob, and princes of the `house of Israel, that abhor
law by Moses. But this good would be theirs only judgment, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion
"if ye walk in my statutes, and keep my command- with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity". (3:9)                 He
ments, and do them". (Lev. 26  :3) This the apostates strikes at the. misappr&ension  of the people that in
do not deny.     They even say that they want it so           their ceremonial observances they are meeting the  re-
and would have it no different. This is evident from auirements of true religion, "Wherewith shall I come
statements occurring in Micah's discourse. Nowever,           before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God?
despite their sinfulness, they insist that they are walk-     Shall I  come before him with burnt offerings. . . .
ing in  &d's statutes and keeping His commandments Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or
and that thus they have no sin. And what they have            with ten thousands of rivers of oil?  Shah I give  my
reference to is their coming before the Lord "with            firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body


                                             TBE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              237

       for  the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, 0 man, apostates, the carnal Israel hated and despised t,his
       wha  t is good; and what doth  the Lord require of prophecy. They despised Micah. They bade him to
       thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk         cease prophesying.      "Prophesy ye not", they said.
       humbly with thy God".  (6:`?, 8) Over against the They did not believe Micah. They did not believe his
       prophecy of wine and sorn, Micah places his prediction prediction of doom. This can be explained. At the
       of utter desolation of Zion, "Therefore shall Zion for time that this prediction was uttered, Judah was
       your sakes be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall           enjoying a prosperity unequaled since the days of
       become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the             David and Solomon. To  the apostates Micah's pre-
       high places of the forest" (3 :12). The false prophets diction did not square with reality; that of the false
       assure the sinners that the Lord i,s among them and prophets did. So they believed the latter. For they
       that none evil can come upon them  (32). But let were unwilling to forsake their sins and turn to God.
       them hear what the Lord  saitih, "Behold, against this Yet Judah already was being threatened by the allied
       family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not            forces of Damascus and Israel. The real crisis came
       remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily, for during  the reign of Ahaz. The Assyrians advanced
       the time is evil. In that day shall one take up a par- with great rapidity. But God punished the two nations
       able against you, and lament with a doleful lamnta-            and Judah was saved. This again must have proved
       tion, and say, We be utterly spoiled. . . .he hath to the apostates that the prophecy of Micah was false.
       changed the portion of my people, how hath he re-              It was not until about a hundred years later  that
       moved it from me; turning away, he  ,hath divided Micah's prophecy went into fulfullment.  Then Judah
       our. fields" (23  :4).                                         was carried to Babylon.
          This doom, it is to be noticed, is presented by the                                                   G. M. 0.
       prophet as already having taken place. It shall there-
       fore come to pass. "For her wound is incurable ; for
       it is come nnto Judah; he is come unto the gate for
       my people, even to Jerusalem".  (1:8)
           But what about the truth to Jacob, and the mercy
       to Abraham, which the Lord has sworn unto them                                      Still At Sinai
       from the days of old? The Lord will perform them.
       He will pardon iniquity and pass by the transgression             The matter last dealt  with.in the immediately pre-
       of the remnant of His heritage.         He  retaineth  not ceding article is the instructions concerning the order
       His anger forever,  betiuse He delighteth in mercy.            of the tribes when on the march.         Five other  oc-
       He will again turn. He will have compassion over               curances took place at Sinai before the people of
       His peopIe. He  wiI1 subdue their iniquities ; and will        Israel were ordered to break up camp. They are:
       cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." (7 :18-20)    (I) The making of the  siIver trumpets ; (2) The offer-
      He will surely assemble all of Jacob; He will surely ing of the princes; (3) The consecration of the Levites  ;
       gather the remnant of IsraeI.  (2:12)      Out of Bethle-      (4) The second keeping of the Passover ; (5) The
       hem shall come forth to God one that is to be ruler in cleansing of the camp.
       Israel: whose goings forth have been from of old,                 As to the trumpets, according to the instructions
       from everIasting.  Therefore will the Lord give them respecting them, found at Num.. 109, their number
       up, until the time that she- which travaileth, namely,         was 2. Their substance was silver and they were
       the church, bath brought forth; then the remnant of            made of one pieces. Their various employments were
     his brethren shall return unto the eildren of Israel.            as follows: When both were blown, all the assembly
       (5:3).                                                         congregated with Moses at the door of the tabernacle.
           This is the hope that Micah holds out to the rem-          (vs. 3) If only one was blown, then all the princes,
       nant. It is the hope not of the earthy (wine and corn)         "Heads of -the thousands of Israel," gathered them-
       but of the heavenly, thus of a bliss the essence of which selves with Moses. (vs. 4) If they were so' blown that
       is the everlasting fellowship of a redeemed remnant the sound emitted was loud and prolonged, the  camp
       with God in Zion, of a remnant that passes through was being given the signal for departure. At the first
       fire and water to glory. How it is possible for the            peal, the tribe of Judah with his associates, were to
       Lord to have compassion on this remnant, the prophet           depart. (vs.  .5)    The second peal *had respect to the
       does not say. He does not understand. But that God for- division that lied on the south side. (vs. 6) Whether
*      gives this remnant lills him with joyful amazement,            there was a third and a fourth peal for the notifica-
       "Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquityl.         tion of the two remaining divisions, is not stated.
           Such then was the content of the prophecy of                  The trumpets had still other uses. They were
       Micah. It was a prophecy whose content was heaven- blown "in the day of your gIadness  ,and in your solemn
       ly, and therefore both terrible and  gl;loriou+  The           feasts, and in the beginning of your months. . . . over


I-


      238                                   T H E   STA.NDARD   B E A R E R

      your burnt offerings, and over t:le sacrifices of your cation of the tabernacIe.  There was first an offering
      peace offerings ; . . . ." (Nun.  10:10)  The terms made by the princes in common: six covered wagons
      "day of your gladness" and "solemn feasts" must sig- and twelve oxen ; a wagon for two of the princes and
      nify ail the annual and national holy assemblies or for each one an ox. Of these, two wagons with their
      feasts, to wit, the feast of the Passover and Unleaven- accompanying four oxen Moses gave to the Gershonites
      ed Bread, of Weeks or Harvest, and of Tabernacies.           because their employment was the transportation of
      Besides, they were to be blown "if ye go to war in your the lighter articles, the tent coverings. The 1Merarites
      land against the enemy that oppresseth  you". (Num.          received the remaining four wagons and eight oxen,
      10:9).                                                       because their task was to transport the heavy boards
             The sound of the.. trumpet was the image of the       and pillars. The  Kohathites  got no wagons,  because*
      voice of Cod, as is evident from this that Holy Writ they had no need of them, seeing that they were to
      associates this sound with God's voice and even iden-        carry the vessels of the tabernacle upon their shoul-
      tifies the two. At Mt. Sinai there was heard the voice       ders.
      of the trumpet, sounding long and waxing louder and             Jn addition to these gifts, which were brought on
      louder. Simultaneously Cod was answering Moses one day, the princes gave offerings for the dedication
      by a voice, His voice. The prediction of Zechariah of the altar. According to the command of Cod, eacJ1
      (9:14) is to the effect that the Lord be over His`people,    offered on his particular day,  so that the total of days
      who war His warfare, that His arrow shall go forth           occupied was twelve and each of the days &at was
      as the lightning and that He shall blow the trumpet.         next followed immediately the one that preceded. Of
      At the sound of the great trumpet they, which were           the princes it is asserted, that they were "of Israel,
      ready to perish in the land of assyria and the outcasts heads of the house of their fathers, who were the
      in the land of Egypt, shall come and shall worship the       princes of the tribes and were over them. that were
      Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. (Isa. 27  :13)          numbered". (Num. 7  :2) Their total number' was thus
      At His appearing Christ shall send His angels with twelve ; and each of them represented a tribe. The
      a great sound of a trumpet to gather together His tribe of Levi was not represented. That the total of
      elect from the four winds. (M&t. 24 :31)      The trum- offerers was nevertheless twelve was due to Joseph's
      pet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incor-          providing two, representatives through the .generations
      rupti,ble. (I Cor.  15:52)    The trumpet was also used of Ephraim and Manasseh.  <The princes offered in the
      as from man to God. Then its sound symbolized the order in which they were named at the numbering of
      voice of prayer and praise. The prophet exhorts to the people as follows: Nahshon of Judah, Nethaneel
      praise God with the sound of the trumpet. (Ps.  i50:3)       of Issachar, Eliab of Zebulon, Elizur ofReuben,  Shelu-
      Further, if the people of Israel -went to war in their mie1 of Simeon,  Eliasaph  of Cod,  Elishama  of  Eph-
      land against the- enemy that oppressed them, "then raim, Pedahzur of Manasseh, Abidan of Benjamin,
      they shall blow an alarm (loud cry) with the trumpets ;      Ahiezer of Dan, Pagiel of  Asher,  Ahira of  Naphtali.
      and they  shali be remembered before the Lord and            Al1 offered identical gifts and the same quota as fol-
      be saved from their enemies". (Num. 10  :9) As blown lows: 1. One silver charger of 130 shekels weight;
      over the burnt- and peace-offerings the trumpet's peal 2. One silver  bowI, (both of these were  filled with
      signified the hdllowed thoughts to which the believing sacrificial flour and oil for a meal offering) ; 3. One
      lsraelitish  worshipper gave expression through his golden spoon of ten shekels, full of incense;  4. One
      sacrificing. It thus, did this peal, symbolize his pray- young bullock, one ram, one lamb of a year old, for a
      er. And as the Lord is ,ever  mindful of his praying burnt offering; 5. 0ne kid of the goats for a sin offer-
      people and hears their cry, this blowing of the trumpet ing; 6. Two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and  &e
      over the specified sacrifices was to the worshipper a lambs of a year old for a peace offering. The adding
      memorial before his Cod. `(Num. 10  :lO) .                   up of all the offerings occurs in verses 84-88 of chap-
         It is significant, however, that the trumpets might       ter seven. The total of silver charges is twelve, of
      be blown only by the priests-the mediators of Cod            silver bowls  twelve,  and of golden spoons a like num-
      and man. Properly therefore the sound of the trum- ber. The weight of the total of silver vessels is 2,400
      pet was the image of the voice of Christ as raised in        shekels or 81 pounds; and of the tota of golden spoons
      prayer in behalf of His people over his sacrifice. It        120  shekeIs or 4 pounds. Now the weight of a siIver
      imaged, did this sound, the word of Christ's power by        shekel is heM to be 2.5 times that of a shilling and
      which He raises the dead, transports His  peopIe  from the weight of a golden shekel 1.15 times that of a
      the kingdom of darkness into the light of the Father's sovereign (the shilling and the sovereign are English
      presence and endowns  them with power from on high coins). Thus, as the shilling is equivalent to about
      to war Hjs warfare and to gain the crown.                    24 cents of the United States' currency and the sover-
         The second event is the offerings of the twelve eign to four dollars and 80 cents, the intrinsic worth
      princes, which took place immediateIy  after the dedi-       of each silver charger will be $78.09, of each  bowI


                                        T H E   S T A N D A R D B E A R E R                                        239

$72.00, and  `of each golden spoon $51.20. But the            ber was found to be 22,273 from one month and up-
*real worth of such a sum, as measured by what tt             ward. This number cannot be the sum of all the first-
brought in food and clothing at that time, must have horn among the whole people, but, as has been made
been vastly greater.                                          plain, can include only those firstborn males bwho were
   The offerings of the princes had this significance:        born during the thirteen months that elapsed since
Through the actual sacrifice of these offerings the           the departure from Egypt. All the firstborn whose
Lord  officiahy and publicly separted the altar from birth had preceded this departure had been redeemed
things common and wholly dedicated it to Himself an.1         by the Pascal  lamb, and were therefore not included in
His service.     But in this work of dedication, the          the count that was taken thirteen months later. As
princes and in them the nation took an active part            was noticed, the census of th firstborn sons among the
through their providing the gifts for the altar and           common IsraeIites  yielded a number in excess of the
through their cooperating  ~with  the priest in the work number of Levites by 273. These were redeemed for
of sacrificing the victims (the actual slaying was done five shekeIs each. Thus, with the exception of the
by `the worshipper) . Through this particpation  they 273 all the firstborn sons born after the departure
acknowledged that they could be His people only in were redeemed by all the males in the tribe of Levi.
the blood of their sacrifices, gave praise to Him for That this substitution by the Levites was ,properly a
the gift of His altar and declared that they would be         redemption is plain from the following language,
wholly consecrated to Him in love. The above trans-           "And thou shalt bring the Levites before the Lord :
actions, were repeated at no time in the future, as           and the children of Israel ,shall put their hands upon
through them the altar was once and for all time the Levites: and liaron shall tiger the Levites beforo
officially dedicated.                                         the Lord an offering for the  uhildren  of Israel". (Nmn.
   There are still other matters to be taken account          8). Those for whom the Levites were taken directly
of in connection with these offerings, It is natural to are the firstborn. It is because the latter represent all
ask why the sacred narrator went to such great                the  rest'of the children of Israel, that the sacred nar-
lengths in narrating the transactions of this chapter.        rator could speak of the Levites as being offered for
The substance of the whole is told first in verses 10, 11,    the children of Israel  instead of for  the firstborn.
"And the  <princes  offered  for dedicating of the altar But that the former were redeemed indirectly, that is,
in the day that it was anointed, even the princes offered through the substitution of the  firstborn  by the Levites,
their offering before the altar, `And the Lord said           is made clear by the language that immediately fol-
unto Moses, They shall offer their offering, each lows, "For all the fistborn  of the children of Israel are
prince on his day, for the dedicating of the altar." In mine. . . . on the day that I smote every firstborn  in
the seventy three verses that follow, the offering of the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself."
each prim% is separately recorded.         Then the sub-         This is the first and last time that Levites were
stance of the whole is again told in verse  84-88.  If        taken in the place of firstborn sons, so that the trans-
all their offerings were exactly the same, without vari- action at Sinai stood for all time and was thus valid
ation, ,why this great repetition in the sacred narra-        for the tribe of Levi of  all the future. Henceforth
tive? This was  .done not only for their sakes but also the redemption of the firstborn ,was  to take place by
for our learning and comfort. For  %U scripture is            the payment of the five shekeIs.
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doc-          It is natural to ask why the  firstborn were sub-
trine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in stituted by the Levites. Some answer this question
righteousness" (2 Tim. 3  :15). What is the  instruc-         to the following effect. The firstborn were originally
ti6n to be had from the lengthy narration of these            destined to the service in the tabernacle, that is, ap-
transactions?     This that the one tribe was as much pointed to  the `actual performance of it. The Teason
an object of God's favor as the other and that their          that this appointment was not kept is that the ap-
services were all alike  acceptible.       Through these pointees made themselves unworthy through their
repetitions God lets His people  know   t,hat He records      involving themselves in the sin of the worship of the
all acts of piety and charity that spring from love of golden calf at Mount Horeb. The Levites therefore
Him and that He is not unrighteous to forget the labor were taken  in their stead. This view, though incor-
of love (Heb.  6:lO).                                         rect, seems to be in line with Scripture. There is the
   As to the event of the setting apart of the Levites,       command, coming to Moses, "Sanctify unto me the
this has already been dealt with. A few additional            firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the
*remarks, however, are here in order. As was noticed children of Israel. . . . It is mine". (Ex.  13:2)  The
in the article  immediateIy  preceding, the Levites were view apparently Ihas a solid foundation in the follow-
numbered with a view to their being substituted in the        ing scriptures.    "And I, behold,  I have taken the
place of the firstborn in the other tribes. So the first- Levites from among the children of Israel instead of
born among these tribes were counted and their  num-          the firstborn, . . V Because all the firstborn are mine


240                                    T H E S T A N D A R D   BEARER

for all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I          that on account of the great sin committed by the
smote all the firstborn in the land OF Egypt, I hallowed       people at Sinai, at no time in the future went into
unto me all the firstborn in Israel. . . . mine shall they effect. Yet it did. The  firstborn were sanctified and
be. I am the Lord". (Num. 3 :X2, 13) The view seems through the centuries continued to be sanctified unto
to be demanded finally by certain statements occurring the Lord as they were born. On the day that the Lord
in the narrative of the consecration of the Levites :n         slew the firstborn in the land of Egypt, He claimed for
the room of the firstborn." And after that  shah the           Himself all the firstborn  in Israei, not only the first-
Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of born that were then living, but all those as well who
the congregation. . . . and they are wholly given unto through the centuries were stiI1 to be born. This act
me from among the children of Israel. . . . even in- of God was the cause of the actual sanctification of
stead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel, ,have    the firstborn to God in all the subsequent history of
I taken them unto me. . . ." "And I have given the             the  Israelitish  people. He had assigned to perdition
Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the firstborn in Egypt in the room of the firstborn in
the children of IsraeI  to do the service of the children Israel. The former He destroyed in the room of the
of  Israe{  in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to latter, whom He choose and hallowed to Himself. The
make an atonement for the children of Israel: that             firstborn however by  themseIves  were condemnable
there be no plague among the  chiIdren of Israel, when and ill-deserving. On this account, they couId  not in
the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary".          themselves draw near to God's sanctuary and live.
 (Num. 8).                                                     They had to be redeemed, bougnt with a price. And
       The Levites were given to Aaron to do t'ne service      they were redeemed. And the price paid was the
of the children of  IsraeI. Especially this statement Levites ; yet not the Levites by themseIves  either; for
seems, at first glance, to be conclusive. But  I& us by themselves they, too, were sinful men. Thus they
get before our minds the point at issue. It is not a *were  redeemed, were the firstborn, by the Levites in
question of lvhether the Levites were taken in place           association with the blood of their sacrifices. The
of the firstborn and of the people at large on account         statement occurs (Num. 8) that God gave the Levi&
of the inability of the latter to draw near to God with- "to make an atonement for the children of Israel"
out being consumed. This must be maintained. It is             (vs. 19). The  origitil  text reads, "to  &nstitute   a
literally stated, "that there be no plague among the           covering for the children of Israel", that is, for their
children of Israel, when the children of Israel come           sins. The meaning is not that  the Levites on this
nigh unto the sanctuary". Neither must the stand be occasion were raised to the ranfk  of priest and sacri-
taken that in executing the service in the tabernacle          ficed. They  themseIves  constituted a covering for the
the Levites were not  doi'ng  the service of the children      %&born, and this, as was said, only in association
of Israel-and in particular `of the firstborn. They were. with the bIood  of the animal sacrifice by which they
This, too, is literally stated, "And I  (have given the        themselves  ,were  covered. Thus it was only in the
Levites. . . . to do the service of the children of Israei     Levites that the firstborn, that the children of Israel,
in the tabernacle." The Levites were the representa- could draw near to the sanctuary and live. But the
tives of the firstborn and thus indirectly of the people.      common Levites, too, as a covering of the children of
It was thus in the place and aIso in behalf of the latter      Israel, were but a figure of Christ. Hence, though
that the Levites functioned. The service which they covered by them, the firstborn m*ight  not enter with
executed was, in the  tist instance, that of the  peopIe.      them into their service. It is plain wherein the actu.uZ
The sole question is whether the firstborn were  origin- conseCration  of the firstborn consisted, namely, in their
ally appointed to the  actual  performance of this service, I-eing redeemed by the Levites. It is also plain, in
whether, according to  a  previous arrangement this the light of these observations, that it cannot be that
service was to be executed directly by the &-&born  and        in the first instance the firstborn were appointed to
thus not by the firstborn through the Levites. Other-          the actual  performance of the service in the tabernacle.
wise said, did God first appoint the firstborn and then           The question why the Levites were taken in the
later on repent of His doing on account of the apostacy        room of the firstborn can now be  definiteIy  answered.
ot the  appointees  and, as so repenting,  sanctify  the The Lord ordered it to provide His people with one
Levites in their stead. This must be denied. Such is           more token that they were redeemed ones and that
not the implication of the substitution of the firstborn only as redeemed could they  actually  be His people
by the Levites. And as to the declarations of God,             and have feliowship  with H&n. The very presence of
"Sanctify unto me the firstborn".  "All the firstborn the Levites in the sanctuary and in the land at large,
are mine"-they are not to be taken to mean that as well as the sacrifices in general, testified of this.
what the firstborn were sanctified unto  directly  is the
service in the sanctuary. If these declarations be so                            (To be Continued)
construed, we have to do here with a command of God                                                       G. M. 0.


