our hearts in adoring wonder, as we perceive that this is implied in the word

`fulness', for the Church of the One Body is revealed to be:

`The fulness of Him that filleth all in all' (Eph. 1:23).

Here the Church is `one' with the Lord.  On the left hand of the ladder, we

see the wondrous descent, seven steps down to the death of the cross.  Here

at the foot, on the earth He is seen as Emmanuel `God with us'.  Here, it was

fulfilled `He was numbered with the transgressors'.  And by virtue of that

most wondrous `reckoning', He became our Surety.  The word translated

`surety' in the Old Testament is the Hebrew word arab, which in the form

arrabon is brought over into New Testament Greek, occurring in Ephesians 1:14

as `earnest'.  This word corresponds with `pledge' in Genesis 38:17,18, `wilt

thou give me a pledge till thou send it?' The root idea appears to be that of

mixing or mingling:

`A mixed multitude' (margin: a great mixture) (Exod. 12:38).

`The holy seed have mingled themselves' (Ezra 9:2).

`A stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy' (Prov. 14:10).

`In the warp, or woof' (Lev. 13:48).

Arising out of the idea of this mixing and interweaving comes that of

surety, who is so intimately associated with the obligations laid upon the

one for whom he acts that he can be treated in his stead.  So we get:

`Thy servant became surety for the lad' (Gen. 44:32).

`He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it' (Prov. 11:15).

`We have mortgaged our lands' (Neh. 5:3).

`Give pledges to my lord the king' (2 Kings 18:23).

In Ezekiel 27:9,27 we find the word translated `occupy' in the sense of

exchange or bartering.  In a way, we understand the expression, `occupy, till

I come', and still speak of a man's trade as his `occupation'.

Such is the underlying meaning of the word `surety', one who identifies

himself with another in order to bring about deliverance from obligations.

This is clearly seen in Proverbs 22:26,27: `Be not thou one of them that

strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.  If thou hast nothing

to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?'  It is evident from

this passage that the surety was held liable for the debts of the one whose

cause he

had espoused, even to the loss of his bed, and this meant practically his

all, as may be seen by consulting Exodus 22:26,27.  `If thou at all take thy

neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun

goeth down; for that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin:

wherein shall he sleep?' Judah, who became surety for his brother Benjamin

gives us a picture of Christ's Suretyship, saying to Joseph:

`How shall I go up (ascend) to my father, and the lad be not With Me?'

(Gen. 44:34).

If poor erring Judah could enter like this into the meaning of

Suretyship, how much more must our Saviour have done so.  At the foot of the

ladder, the transfer is made, and the first of the seven steps up to the

glory of the right hand of God is made.  Elsewhere in this analysis, these

seven steps `with Christ' have been treated of (see Reckoning and Reality7).

We but draw attention to them here.  The self -emptying on the one hand is