In Adam. (1) - by Charles H. Welch

No.1. The Problem Stated. 

In a series of articles entitled “The Seed” we have attempted to show that from the beginning, and against all the opposition of the enemy, God has pursued His great purpose, a purpose which, while it comprehends more, must comprehend at least the election, preservation and ultimate glory of a chosen “seed”. While the demonstration of this aspect of the mighty purpose of the ages clarifies some erstwhile difficult passages, it reveals further and deeper problems, and while it will never be given to anyone on this side of glory “to know even as he is known” we do nevertheless believe that Scripture has been given to reveal the mind of God, even though the nature of the subject revealed, and the limitations of those addressed, render many a passage difficult of apprehension, as though seen “in a glass darkly”. 

We now approach this purpose from another, yet related, angle and throw the subject before us in the form of a question. “Why was the church, which was chosen IN CHRIST before the foundation of the world not created spiritual and placed immediately into its heavenly inheritance? Why was it necessary for every member to enter into life IN ADAM? 

The problem can be visualized thus: 

THE PURPOSE 

A | In Christ. 

   B | Spiritual blessings. 

      C | Heavenly places. 

         D | Far above all principality. 

THE PROCESS 

A | In Adam. 

   B | Not spiritual but natural. 

      C | Of the Earth, earthy. 

         D | Lower than the angels.

We have purposely limited our enquiry to a select company, the Church of the One Body. If we extend our enquiry to comprehend the number that do not appear to have been the subjects of Divine grace at all, the problem becomes so vast and the issues so great, that there is every likelihood that we should fail to accomplish anything satisfactory. While readily admitting this vast outer ring, it will simplify the present quest, if we concentrate on the known few, rather than the unknown many. The company we have before us therefore is the Church of the Mystery. They are a unique company both in regard to the parenthetical nature of the dispensation under which they have been called, and the sphere and character of their blessings. These are particularly related to one feature, with which we are concerned at the moment, the period of their election by God. 

“According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. i. 4).

The word “according” links the distinctive sphere of blessing “in heavenly places” with the distinctive period “before the foundation of the world”. For our present purpose we assume that the reader already accepts the translation “before the overthrow of the world”—those to whom such a rendering is either new or objectionable are referred to article No.10 of the series on Ephesians, in The Berean Expositor Volume XXXVI, p.61. 

At the moment we assume that no reader has any difficulty in believing that heavenly places is the destined sphere of blessing for thiscompany, and that they were chosen before Gen. i. 2. The difficulty arises out of the fact that even though this company were thus chosen in Christ they come into conscious existence in Adam, and it is with the hope that the reason for this will be evinced that the present series is undertaken. 

The chronology of the Bible commences, not with “the beginning” but with the creation of Adam. Yet Adam appeared on the earth less than six thousand years ago (see series entitled “Time and Place”). The period that intervened between the choice of the church and the creation of Adam cannot be computed. We cannot speak of the enormous length of time that intervenes in thousands or even millions of years, we must speak of geological ages. One has but to consider the formation of the coal seams, the building up of a chalk cliff, the evidence of igneous and sedimentary rocks, the provision of oil, and the record of fossils, to realize that the period is so immense as to pass beyond the bounds of human comprehension. If God chose the members of the church and destined them for a super-heavenly inheritance IN CHRIST, why did he wait all these ages and bring them into existence IN ADAM? (who was not “spiritual”—I Cor. xv. 46-50). Why did He not create the church at the time of its election, or place these elect members straight away in possession of their inheritance? There must be a reason, what is it? Before we can proceed, we must divest the subject of one feature that if unremoved will clog the issue. The words “in Adam” are so related to sin and death, that we may forget that these are added complications that have come in after the creation of man, and that the words “in Adam” primarily refer to man as the head of the race, and as he left the hand of his Maker. This we must establish before we can go further. 

Man was made in the image and in the likeness of God. This does not mean that the physical appearance of Adam had any relation to the appearance of God, for God is spirit, and is invisible. The “image’ seen by Nebuchadnezzar in a dream symbolized the whole course of Gentile dominion, but neither Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel nor the reader believes the Gentile dominion is “like” an image in appearance. Adam set forth as a “shadow” (Hebrew tselem) the glory of his Creator. Adam was “a figure of Him that was to come” (Rom. v. 14). Man was “made upright” (Eccles. vii. 29), he subsequently “sought out many inventions” but these we leave for the moment. Man was made at the beginning “a living soul”, was “of the earth, earthy”, was “not spiritual”, and possessing a nature of “flesh and blood” could not, even when unfallen, “inherit the kingdom of God” (I Cor. xv.). Moreover, Adam unfallen was but a type. The true Adam was Christ. 

“The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural: and afterwards that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven . . . . . now this I say brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (I Cor. xv. 45-50). 

We purposely refrain therefore from including in the present exhibition of our problem the added conditions of sin and death that are also involved. These will come later. We have big enough problem before us without added complications. 

Before man was created there was an order of spirit beings, of varied ranks, Angels, Principalities and Powers, some of whom, when the foundations of the earth were laid “sang together” and “shouted for joy” (Job xxxviii. 7). It was therefore not outside the realm of possibility for God to have created another company of spiritual beings, and placed them directly and without further ado “in heavenly places”. Should it be objected that God did not choose angels for this high honour, we reply, that is true, and we do not suggest that the church could be or should be but another order of angels. What we do ask is why, seeing that they were chosen to “spiritual” blessings in “heavenly” places, were they nevertheless brought into being as “natural” and “earthy” creatures? What purposes did the long wait and the entry of Adam serve? For the answer to this and the statement of further allied problems, we must await the unfolding of the Scriptures in the succeeding articles of this series. 

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(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 37, page 101).

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The Goal of God. (I Cor. xv. 28).- (2)

by Charles H. Welch

No.2. An examination of the term “All in all”. 

We have seen that when the goal of the ages is expressed in the words “that God may be all in all”, something essentially different from the blind unintelligent unconscious obedience of all creation is involved, for man is a rational being, he is a moral agent, he is actuated by desire, he is influenced by example, he can turn away from the truth, he can say ‘no’ to his Maker. He can be rewarded for service or punished for iniquity, and if God is yet to be “All in all”, with regard to man, then such a goal presupposes a working of laws, and movements of grace that are unknown to the present world of created things. In this article we devote ourselves to the examination of those passages, other than I Cor. xv. 28, where the expression ‘all in all’ is used. 

While an exact verbal parallel with I Cor. xv. 28 does not exist, there are four other passages in which the variation is so slight that it would be sacrificing genuine illumination for mere pedantic scruples if we denied ourselves the benefit of their comparison. 

The passages are as follows: 

A | I Cor. xii. 6. Members of the Corinthian church. 

   B | I Cor. xv. 28. The goal of the ages realized. 

      C | Eph. i. 23. The goal set forth in the Mystery. 

A | Eph. iv. 6. Members of the Body. 

   B | Col. iii. 11. The goal anticipated. 

Let us examine these passages. The first one has to do with “spiritual gifts” (I Cor. xii. 1). These spiritual gifts were very diverse in character. One believer had the spirit of wisdom, another the gift of healing, yet another the gift of prophecy, another the speaking in an unknown tongue; nevertheless, however diverse these gifts may have been,

“All these worketh that one and self same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will” (I Cor. xii. 11). 

As an illustration of this “diversity in unity” the Apostle takes the human body, with its head, its hands, its feet, its organs of sight, of smell, of hearing, and even those members which have less honour, or are uncomely; and he declares, that: 

“God hath set the members every one of them in the body as it hath pleased Him” (I Cor. xii. 18). 

Paul then reverts to the original theme, namely that of ‘spiritual gifts’ saying: 

“God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues” (I Cor. xii. 28). 

Now all this is but an expansion of the statement of verse 6:

“There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God Which worketh all in all” (I Cor. xii. 6). 

In order to perceive the strong emphasis that is in this verse on the idea of “in-working”, let us give the verse a literal translation “diversities of energema (inworkings) but it is the same God which energeo (inworketh) ta panta en pasin the all things in all”. 

Keeping this feature in mind, but reserving it until we have taken our examination further, let us look at the remaining passages. For obvious reasons, we defer I Cor. xv. 28, until we can approach it armed with the knowledge gained from other sources. Our next passage therefore must be Eph. i. 23. Here we meet with a quotation from Psa. viii., which figures also in the context of I Cor. xv. 28, namely the expression “all things under His feet”, but as this demands separate treatment, we concentrate for the time being on the actual passage which uses the expression “all in all”. 

“And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church which is His Body, the fullness of Him that filleth ta panta en pasi ‘all in all’.” (Eph. i. 22, 23). 

If we ponder this passage we shall see that the words ‘the fullness of Him that filleth all in all’ are an expansion of the meaning of the earlier part of the verse, thus: 

A | a | Head over all things. 

        b | To the church which is His Body. 

A | a | The fullness of Him. 

        b | That filleth all in all. 

Just as in Col. iii. 11 Christ and the church anticipates the goal of the ages, so Eph. i. 23 anticipates the goal as expressed in Eph. iii. 19: 

 “That ye may be filled with (or unto) all the fullness of God.” 

Christ fills all things. He that descended to the lower parts of the earth, ascended also far above all heavens, with this object: 

“That He might fill all things” (Eph. iv. 10). 

Not only must He fill all things, we find in Col. i. an intermingling of creative power and supremacy and redemptive pre-eminence associated with the idea of fullness.

He is the “Firstborn of all creation”, because “in Him were all things created” and “He is before all things and in Him all things consists”. He is the “Firstborn from the dead” and as such is the “Head of the Body the Church” so that “in all things” He might have pre-eminence, “for” continues the word of explanation “It was the good pleasure (of the Father) that in Him should all the fullness dwell” (Col. i. 15-20).

God comes down in the Person of Christ so that in Him, man may be brought back to God. So we read that “in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are filled to the full in Him, which is the Head of all principality and power”. 

Returning to Eph. i. 22, 23, Christ is Head now, He is Head over all things to the Church now, even though still rejected by the world; and consequently when we read I Cor. xv. 28 in the light of His present filling of all in all as set forth in this relationship with the Church which is His Body we may catch a glimpse of the glory of that day. 

The next passage indicated is Eph. iv. 6, where the emphasis is upon the unity of the Spirit, and the completely satisfying fullness of our God and Father.

“Who is over all, and through all, and in you all” (or as it may read “in all things to you”) (Eph. i. 6) a passage that clearly anticipates the day when “God shall be all in all”. 

The last reference is Col. iii. 11. Its context takes us back to the original creation of man and the evident purpose there expressed (Col. iii. 10), but this demands a study itself. Here, moreover, the new man is stressed, another anticipation of that day when He shall make “all things new”. This aspect too we must consider separately. The immediate context stresses the passing away of all those differences of race, creed and caste, of Greek and Jew, who in their new relationship find their wisdom and their righteousness alone in Him (I Cor. i. 30); of circumcision and uncircumcision who find their full acceptance in Him (Gal. vi. 15, 16); of Scythian, bondman and free who alike find their complete emancipation in Him. 

“All things are yours: whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours: and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (I Cor. iii. 22, 23). 

Nothing short of this spirit will fulfil “the End” (I Cor. xv. 24) towards which the purpose of the ages slowly but surely moves. This, and nothing short of this, will fulfil the words of I Cor. xv. 28. 

“That God may be all in all.” 

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(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 43, page 10).

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The Goal of God. (I Cor. xv. 28).- (1)

by Charles H. Welch

No.1. God is, and always has been, 

“all in all” in creation. 

A plan of action, presupposes a goal toward which everything contributes either by way of direct purpose, incidental assistance, or the overruling and directing of evil antagonism. That such a purpose is an integral part of the Scriptures is evident to all who have studied its teaching with any approach to understanding. To most of our readers, it is the goal of the ages, the purpose, which gives a life pulse to the most formal and ceremonial parts of Scripture, even as it crowns the most glorious of the triumphs of redeeming love. The goal of the ages is expressed in one statement made by the apostle Paul: 

“That God may be all in all” (I Cor. xv. 28). 

It would be only too easy at this point to allow ourselves to be turned aside from the main purpose of our inquiry, to the unfruitful debate which gathers around the Divine intention expressed in the second word “All”. To the question of the disciples: 

“Lord are there few that be saved?” (Luke xiii. 23). 

His answer was in effect, ‘see to it that you are’. 

In the series of articles entitled “The Reconciliation of all Things” which ran through Volume VI The Berean Expositor we have given the answer that we find in Scripture as to the number comprehended by the ‘all’ who are reconciled and redeemed. That is not our chief quest now. For our present purpose it makes no difference to our approach or our conclusion whether ‘all’ is limited to Adam’s seed, to believers, to the elect—or whether it is as universal as creation itself—our concern is rather with the intention behind the first word ‘all’ of I Cor. xv. 28. What does it mean when it says “That God may be ALL in all”? 

If we turn our thought to the witness of the heavens and observe the silent obedience of sun, moon and star, or if we consider the testimony of the creation around us, and observe the unbroken obedience—that is ever and always going on in the world of chemistry or biology, we can say that here, in this irrational unmoral creation, God is and always has been “All in all”. Never in the experience of human observation has the sun refused to rise and set, never has the ocean grown weary of its tidal regularity, never has the power of gravitation, or the law of chemical combination been transgressed. This fact is fully recognized in the Scriptures. 

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created” (Rev. iv. 11). 

“And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever” (Rev. v. 13). 

If the words ‘every creature’ are construed as inclusive of mankind, then the rest of the book of Revelation, with its revolt, blasphemy, wickedness and wrath is inexplicable, but if they refer to creation apart from men and angels, all is harmony. 

Throughout the Scriptures we find references to the perfect submission of all creation to the will and power of the Creator.

“Fire and hail; snow and vapors; stormy wind, fulfilling His word” (Psa. cxlviii. 8). 

“He sendeth forth His commandment upon earth; His word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool; He scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth forth His ice like morsels: Who can stand before His cold? He sendeth out His word and melteth them: He causeth His wind to blow, and the waters flow” (Psa. cxlvii. 15-18). 

There is, however, no need to multiply these evidences. The reader will call to mind many a passage where sun and star, or the humbler creatures of earth are revealed as entirely subservient to the Divine Will. God has always been ‘all in all’ as Creator. Without this perfect alignment creation would vanish and the whole fabric turn to chaos. He upholds all things and by Him all thing consist. That, therefore, cannot be a future goal which has always been in existence from the beginning. When we look again at I Cor. xv. 28, we find that it is in a context that speaks of rule, authority, power, enmity, resurrection, immortality, sin, law, death and victory. These terms do not belong to science, they are out of place when dealing with creation as such, they are entirely related to man, his nature, his fall, his redemption and his final oneness with God. The goal of the ages expressed in the words “That God may be all in all” therefore looks to the one great exception in the earth—to man, the moral, reasonable creature, who can and did, by the very fact that he was moral and not mechanical, come under the category of ‘ought’ and in connection with whom even God uses the contingent “IF”. God Who is already ‘all’ in creation, will one day be ‘all’ within the moral realm; but whereas in the realm of irresponsible creation “He spake, and it was done”, the question never arose as to whether fire and hail, snow and vapours, or stormy wind, would or world not fulfil His Word; the creation, constitution and the probation of the first man, a responsible creature, as recorded in Gen. i.-iii. reveals an entirely different proposition. Here, the Lord does not ‘speak’ and find it done. In the material world, He had but to say “Light be”, and “Light was”, but in the moral and the spiritual world, no such instantaneous command or response was or is possible. In the very nature of the moral world, compulsory obedience, compelled love, coerced sanctity or commanded affection are impossible. Where probation has no place in the obedience of creation to the laws of its being, time and experience are essential factors in the work of grace in the moral sphere. It may have been necessary that the fitting of the earth for man should occupy six days, followed by one day’s rest, in order that it foreshadow the course of the ages, but the reader of the Scripture is made abundantly alive to the fact, that God was under no more physical necessity to occupy six days in the work, than He Who fainteth not nor is weary, was under any necessity to have the seventh day set apart for rest. With regard to man, however, and the purpose of his creation, time, probation, testing, experience, suffering, faith, hope, reward, punishment, all have their place, and it is therefore of the very nature of the subject that it should involve patient waiting, great giving, unbounded love, and grace beyond dreams, before the “all” which characterized God’s pre-eminence in nature should find its echo in the moral world.

When therefore the Apostle wrote “That God may be ALL in all” that ‘all’ must contain within its scope all that goes to make up the moral nature of man, and all that is reflected of the nature of God, both in the law of Sinai, in the gospel of grace, and in the person of Christ. We are now we trust, prepared to give this most important theme our closest attention, and we pray that light and truth may be our guide and goal as we seek to open up the Scriptures. 

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(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 43, page 8).

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Acknowledgment. (6) - by Charles H. Welch

#6. The “Recognition” that leads to “Full Adulthood”. “The knowledge of the Son of God”
(Eph. iv. 13). 

Epignosis, the word under consideration, occurs but twice in Ephesians, and epiginosko not at all. This of itself should make us hesitate to subscribe to the suggestion that epignosis means the “full knowledge” of the mystery as distinct from the more elementary knowledge of the Pentecostal dispensation. We have looked at Eph. i. 17, where is the first occurrence of epignosis in that Epistle. We must now look at Eph. iv. 13, the only other reference. 

We are all doubtless familiar with the fact that the epistle to the Ephesians is divided into two main parts, chapters i.-iii. containing doctrine, and chapters iv.-vi. containing corresponding practice. We observe, therefore, that the word we have translated “acknowledgment” occurs once in the doctrinal and once in the practical section of this epistle. 

“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro” (Eph. iv. 13, 14). 

This passage must not be visualized as one long chain of equal links, but rather as a succession of expansions, each containing a development of the doctrine enunciated. The goal is “the unity of the faith”. This goal is further expanded and explained as “the acknowledgment, or recognition, of the Son of God”. To follow the subdivisions clearly, it is necessary to correct the Authorized Version in the matter of the translation of the preposition eis which occurs in verses 12 to 16 seven times, as follows: 

“For the work of the ministry, for the edifying . . . . in the unity of the faith . . . . . unto a perfect man, unto the measure . . . . . may grow up into Him . . . . unto the edifying of itself in love.” 

While it is impossible and undesirable to reduce the translation of the Greek original to a lifeless and mechanical uniformity, it is wise, when examining a passage, to realize that where prepositions are repeated, it will seriously influence our understanding if such repetition is hidden by a variety of renderings, however charming they may sound.

Eis answers the question Whither? The idea of a goal or an end in view is always present. Consequently, where the goal is material or physical, “to”, “into” or “unto” is the usual rendering. Where the goal is intangible, “for” sometimes better expresses the idea of moving on to its attainment. Thus we have eis translated in Rom. xiv. 9, “to this end”. While “into” may sometimes be a legitimate translation, it can sometimes be an overstatement. In John xi. 38, “cometh to the grave” is true, “cometh unto the grave” would be true, but “cometh into the grave” would be false (cf. 41). The Lord came unto, but not into, Sychar (John iv. 5, 8, 28). Mary came unto, but not into, the sepulcher (John xx. 1, 11).

For the purposes of study and analysis, “unto” is the safe translation, and the occurrence of eis in Eph. iv. 13 subdivides the goal into three parts. 

Till we all come 

   UNTO (eis)  The unity of the faith. 

                      The knowledge of the Son of God. 

   UNTO (eis)  A perfect man. 

   UNTO (eis)  The measure of 

                      The stature of 

                      The fullness of   THE CHRIST. 

The goal of the ministry given by the ascended Lord, when He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists and some pastors and teachers, was “the unity of the faith”. This unity of the faith embraces, and is partly explained by, “the knowledge of the Son of God” which, in its turn, is revealed under the figure of the “perfect man”, and this perfect man is none other than Christ in all His fullness of stature—truly an amazing Goal. 

In the epistles of Paul to the Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, both epistles to the Corinthians and the first to the Thessalonians, reference is made to Christ as the Son twenty-seven times, but in the epistles of the Mystery there are but two such references, the one already quoted from Eph. iv. and one in Col. i. 13, “The kingdom of His dear Son”. 

The doctrine of the sonship of Christ had been made known before the opening of the dispensation of the Mystery. The sonship of Christ, even as to its human side, forms a definite part of the witness for the present dispensation. This is implied in the exhortation given to Timothy: 

“Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel” (II Tim. ii. 8). 

However great the difference between the position of the risen Christ as Head of the Church, and the position of the risen Christ as David’s heir, the Person remains unchanged, and consequently the doctrine of the sonship of Christ, so clearly taught in Romans and Hebrews, remains a fundamental of the faith of all times. 

We have already observed that the one reference to “the Son of God” occurs not in the doctrinal but in the practical section of Ephesians. In the fourth chapter we are not taught the doctrine of the Divine sonship, but we are told that we shall never attain to full growth and maturity apart from “the recognition of the Son of God”. What this recognition involves is discovered in the expansion of the theme that follows. Christ is “recognized” as “the perfect Man”, and the measure of our growth is “the measure of the stature (or age) of the fullness of the Christ”. Just as in Paul’s early epistles the sonship of Christ is stressed, so also in the same epistles the sonship of the believer is stressed; and just as there are only two references to the sonship of Christ in the epistles of the Mystery, so there is no reference to the sonship of the believer in the prison epistles, except the one passage which speaks of his “adoption”, huiothesia, “to place as a son” (Eph. i. 5). 

In the epistles of the Mystery the single reference to Christ as the Son of God is used to encourage growth, and the single reference to the adoption of the believer points not merely to sonship, but to the dignity of the firstborn son, the distinctive title of Christ in Col. i., “Firstborn of every creature” and “Firstborn from the dead” (Col. i. 15, 18), being the counterpart. In Eph. iv. the believer is referred to a “measure”. For the exercise of grace in ministry the believer’s attention is directed to “the measure of the gift of Christ” (Eph. iv. 7-12). For growth and attainment, he is directed to “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. iv. 13, 14). For his individual share in the growth of the body, each member is reminded of the “measure of every part”, if the body is to increase and edify itself in love (Eph. iv. 15, 16). The “perfect” man is in direct contrast with the “children” who are tossed to and fro (Eph. iv. 13). The word “perfect”, teleios, is often placed in contrast with “babes” (Heb. v. 14, with Heb. v. 13; and I Cor. ii. 6 with iii. 1 & xiii. 11). 

“Be not children in understanding . . . . . in understanding be men” (I Cor. xiv. 20). 

Here the word translated “men” is teleios, “perfect” or, as it should be rendered in this passage, “of full age”. The word translated “stature” includes both height and age, the two evidences of adulthood that are immediate to the eye. 

“Add one cubit to his stature” (Matt. vi. 27). 

“He was little of stature” (Luke xix. 3). 

are proofs that the word helikia refers to height. 

“He is of age” (John ix. 21). 

“When she was past age” (Heb. xi. 11). 

are proofs that the word helikia refers to age. Like teleios, the word indicates adulthood, and it is this that the apostle has in mind in Eph. iv. 12. It is the “recognition” of the Son of God by the adult believer which is placed in contrast with the “wind of doctrine” that tossed to and fro the “babe”, and which shows that practical issues are before us. 

The secret of spiritual maturity, is NOT introspection, for the holiest saint will be horrified at the evidences of corruption which he will find within. The secret of spiritual maturity is the “recognition” of what Christ means to the believer as the Son of God, the perfect Man, and true growth is “up into Him in all things which is the Head”. Finally, it is “the fullness” which is the goal here, “the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ”.

To appreciate in any adequate degree what is intended by this word “fullness” would demand a life’s study of the Scriptures, and to enter really into its meaning demands resurrection glory as its atmosphere. 

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(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 36, page 19).

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Acknowledgment. (5) - by Charles H. Welch

#5. A Coveted Acknowledgment ignored 
(by man), yet recognized (by the Lord) 
(II Cor. vi. 9).

In that day we shall all recognize even as we are all recognized now (I Cor. xiii. 12). Such was the promise that held our attention in the previous article. We now turn to a passage in the second epistle to these same Corinthians, that deals with the present, viz.,: 

“As unknown, and yet well known” (II Cor. vi. 9). 

The margin of our old Bible, which is too worn to be used elsewhere than on the desk, reads, “As ignored yet recognized”. Dr. Bullinger in his “Figures of speech used in the Bible”, places II Cor. vi. 8-10 under the figure Antithesis or Contrast, and these verses contain the last of a series of statements distributed under four heads, as follows:

(1) A seven-fold passive experience (II Cor. vi. 4, 5). 

(2) A seven-fold self-denial (II Cor. vi. 5, 6). 

(3) A seven-fold means to endure (II Cor. vi. 6-8). 

(4) A seven-fold result (antithesis) (II Cor. vi. 8-10). 

This last group is composed of a series of antitheses, which include the passage we are considering. 

“Deceivers, and yet true; 

Unknown, yet well known; 

Dying, yet living; 

Chastened, yet not killed; 

Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; 

Poor, yet enriching others; 

Having nothing, yet possessing all things.”

This long list of personal experiences is introduced by the words, “in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God” (II Cor. vi. 4). The word “approving” translating the same word that is rendered “commending” in iii. 1 and v. 12. 

“Do we begin again to commend ourselves?”
“For we commend not ourselves again unto you.” 

Meyer draws attention to the position of heautous in these passages as compared with II Cor. vi. 4. Where the commending of ourselves is used in a bad sense, heautous precedes the verb; but in II Cor. iv. 2 and vi. 4 heautous follows the verb. Alford remarks: 

“This is only one of continually occurring instances of the importance of the collocation of words with regard to emphasis.” 

It would have improved the rendering, and removed the ambiguity of the Authorized Version had it rendered the fourth verse, “In all things, as the ministers of God, approving ourselves”, that is, “as it is meet that ministers of God should do”. 

Referring to this list of afflictions in conjunction with those presented in II Cor. xi. 21-28, Canon Tate says: 

“Forming conjointly a splendid enumeration of particulars, which—unparalleled, as, from their nature they ever must be—may be ranked among the very highest examples of the sublime and the pathetic.” 

II Cor. vi. 8-10 shows the real, as compared with the reputed situation in which the Apostle laboured. It is here, the second in the list, that we meet with our text, “as unknown, and yet well known”, or, as we have suggested, “as ignored, yet recognized”. 

This seven-fold antithesis may be set out thus: 

The word “deceiver” planos, is used of Christ (Matt. xxvii. 63), Antichrist (II John 7), Paul (II Cor. vi. 8) and the seducing spirits of the closing days of this dispensation (I Tim. iv. 1). How closely the apostle followed in the footsteps of his Lord. The Lord Himself is classed with His very opposite, even as Paul was classed with the very demons who will attempt to undo his life’s work. Who are we, therefore, to murmur or complain if, occasionally, we too find ourselves in this same exalted company? In such circumstances the words of Kipling, written on a lower plane, often come to mind: 

“If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken, 

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools.” 

And one wishes that some Christian poet might take “If” as his model, and give us a companion poem relating to true Christian experience. (Since writing this series it has been our joy to read a poem by Reginald Wallis which fulfils this wish.) 

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(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 36, page 17).

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Time and Place. (8)

The Scriptural association of chronology and topography
to doctine and purpose. - Charles H. Welch

#8. The chronology and typical dates of the Flood (Gen. vii., viii.). 

               The simple, straightforward register of births and deaths that providesthe chronological link between Adam and the Flood, carries with it the conviction of truth. 

We now come to the record of the flood itself and upon examination find in it a number of interrelated dates so connected with the narrative that they can be neither removed nor altered without dislocating the whole. Seen in their true place, as records of actual fact, they vivify the story and place the narrative upon the high ground of actual history. 

Let us first of all assemble our data. 

   “For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights” (Gen. vii. 4). 

   “And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth” (Gen. vii. 6). 

  “And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth” (Gen. vii. 10). 

 “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened, and the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights” (Gen. vii. 11, 12). 

  “And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days” (Gen. vii. 24). 

  “And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated” (Gen. viii. 3). 

 “And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat” (Gen. viii. 4). 

 “And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month were the tops of the mountains seen” (Gen. viii. 5).

 “And it came to pass at the end of the forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made” (Gen. viii. 6). 

 “He stayed yet another seven days: and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark” (Gen. viii. 10). 

“And he stayed yet another seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more” (Gen. viii. 12).

 “And it came to pass on the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth” (Gen. viii. 13). 

 “And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried” (Gen. viii. 14). 

We cannot help but be struck with the opening and closing dates given here. In order that the evidence may be the better seen let us use figures, instead of spelling out the numbers. 

Years when the flood came: 600th year of Noah. 

Year when the waters were dried up: 601st year, 1st month, 1st day. 

Six is the number of man, of labour, of failure, and of the measurement of time. Seven is associated with perfection, rest, and attainment. It is significant that Noah, whose name means “rest”, and of whom the word “perfect” is first used (Gen. vi. 9), should at the close of his 600th year experience the flood and the deliverance of the ark, and that the drying up of the waters of judgment should coincide with the New Year’s day of Noah’s seventh century. The type is too clear to be missed, and, linked together with the witness of the first chapter of Genesis, makes us certain that all has been ordered according to a mighty plan. 

If we were asked to say how many days there were in five months, we should have to ask for a clear statement as to the word “month”. The first five months in our calendar have 31, 28, (29), 31, 30, 31 days, so that we should require to know what months were intended before a total could be reached. But the Hebrew month was a period of 30 days which gave 360 days for 12 months, leaving 5 days to be accounted for. Time was measured by the revolution of the sun, as it is to this day, and the year was one of 365 days. The feast, however, were regulated by the revolution of the moon. 

“Blow up the trumpet in the new moon” (Psa. lxxxi. 3). 

“Your new moons and your appointed feasts” (Isa. i. 14). 

“Burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all the solemnities of the house of Israel” (Ezek. xlv. 17). 

We must not make the mistake of imagining that the Hebrew names and number of months must necessarily have been used by Adam, Noah or Abraham: we can only be tolerably certain that no radical changes could have been made at Sinai, for day and night, summer and winter, remained unaltered, and the length of the solar year is independent of any dispensational change among the sons of men. As can be seen from the following data, the narrative of the flood contains positive proof of the average length of a month.

The flood commenced on the 17th day of the 2nd month and the ark rested on the 17th day of the 7th month. Thus we have an interval of exactly 5 months, which Gen. viii. 3, 4 declares to be 150 days. A month therefore must have averaged 30 days. We cannot, however, be dogmatic and say that a month must have been 30 days because the Hebrews reckoned 30 days to the month except when they saw the new moon on the 30th, which then became the 1st day of the new month. 

Kennedy, a chronologer of the eighteenth century, makes the length of time during which Noah was in the ark exactly 365 days. He maintained that Moses measures time by solar years, and computes time by lunar years. His attitude to the Scriptures encourages one to give him a hearing, for he says: 

“The Hebrew text has never been corrupted in the article of Chronology by Jew or Pagan, by chance or design. It is not more certain that there is a sun and moon in the heavens than it is that not a single error of the press, or of Jewish transcriber, has crept into the present copies of the Hebrew Massoretic Text, to give the least interruption to its chronological years.” 

Returning to details, and, particularly, typical foreshadowings, let us look at Gen. viii. 4. 

“The ark rested in the 7th month, on the 17th day of the month.” What is there suggestive about these dates? At first, nothing, but when we remember that in the month Abib, the month of the Passover, Moses instructed the Israelites to reckon that month “the beginning of months, the first month of the year to you” (Exod. xii. 1, 2), we discover that the 17th day of the 7th month is a date to be noted. The 7th month became the 1st month. The Passover was observed on the 14th, and on the 17th the Lord was raised from the dead, consequently, the specific date of the resting of the ark on the mountains of Ararat becomes one of intensely typical importance. 

The rain was upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights. This is the first occurrence of this critical number in the Scriptures. It is the number of trial. We immediately think of the 40 days occupied by the spies in spying out the Land, with the consequent 40 years wandering in the wilderness, (Numb. xiii. 26; xiv. 34); or of the 40 days of Jonah iii. 4; or of the 40 days preceding the temptation in the wilderness (Matt. iv. 2). 

Again we see how complete, and how satisfactory is the account given of the flood, and its particular events. May these studies confirm our faith that these Scriptures are inspired, authoritative and trustworthy. 

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(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 34, page 183).

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