George H. Warnock — Anthropology
b4 — The Hyssop that Springeth Out of the Wall
The Human as Hyssop: Weakness as God’s Instrument
Warnock builds the entire argument on the contrast between the cedar (Lebanon; greatness, glory) and the hyssop (low-growing, insignificant, but precisely therein God’s instrument). The hyssop typifies the human condition in its weakness as the level at which God works:
“True greatness reveals itself in areas of meekness, mercy, compassion and forgiveness. The world considers a meek man to be a weak man. But God considers the meek to be strong. They shall inherit the earth; because in their meekness and weakness, their confidence is not in themselves but in Another.” — The Hyssop that Springeth Out of the Wall, hyssop1
“A temple would be built of Cedar in the centuries that lay ahead… But the humble little hyssop that could make boast of greatness or of strength would become, in the purposes of God, the instrument in the hands of the elders of Israel for the applying of the blood of the passover lamb. Why the hyssop? Because it was so insignificant and ordinary… and easily within the reach of all.” — hyssop2
Interpretation: Warnock establishes that God’s method structurally prefers the weak human over the strong. The hyssop is not merely a historical plant but a type of the human condition before God: low, fragrant, bitter, yet within the reach of all and thereby useful to God.
The Inner “Man of Sin”
Warnock formulates an anthropological axiom about human nature as an inner stronghold of sin:
“by nature there is within everyone of us the ‘man’ of sin who would seek to keep the throne room of the ‘temple’ of our heart unto himself, and deny the Lord of Glory His full Lordship in our lives.” — hyssop2
Warnock links this to the difficulty of taking up the hyssop of humility:
“We find it difficult to take the hyssop of humility and repentance because by nature there is within everyone of us the ‘man’ of sin who would seek to keep the throne room of the ‘temple’ of our heart unto himself.” — hyssop2
Interpretation: The “man of sin” in Warnock is an inner power that resists God’s lordship in the heart — not an external enemy but a constitutive property of unregenerate human nature. [DEEPENS b2’s “WILL as king of Amalek”: in b2 Warnock described the human will as the last stronghold of the old life; in b4 this stronghold receives the name “man of sin” and is located in the “throne room of the temple of our heart.“]
Moral Responsibility and Original Sin (Psalm 51)
Warnock simultaneously upholds the reality of original sin (Ps. 51:5) and personal responsibility for one’s own sin. He cites David’s prayer and points to the tension within it:
“‘Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me.‘” — hyssop2b; citing Ps. 51:5
Warnock acknowledges the unbroken chain of sin back to Adam:
“there is in reality an unbroken link of problems all the way back to Adam. God broke that link at the Cross.” — hyssop2b
At the same time he rejects any shifting of blame on the basis of inherited sin, environment, or the devil:
“I cannot blame Adam, or my forefathers, or my parents… it’s now my fault. The sooner we leave our excuses aside, and take the responsibility, the sooner will we know the joy of His salvation.” — hyssop2b
“Acknowledge the Truth. I’M WRONG. GOD, YOU ARE RIGHT!” — hyssop2b
Interpretation: Warnock upholds both truths in parallel: original sin makes humanity sinful by nature (Ps. 51:5; the chain back to Adam), yet releases no one from personal responsibility. [TENSION with b2’s emphasis on the bondage of the human will: if the will is bound by nature, how can one “take responsibility”? Warnock allows this tension to stand without resolving it.]
Three Stages of Redemption (agorazo / exagorazo / lutroo)
Warnock develops in hyssop2 a threefold concept of redemption as a process that transforms the anthropological status of the human being step by step:
“The word ‘redemption’ in the New Testament carries with it a three-fold connotation. Its simple meaning is: we were ‘bought with a price.’ The Greek word is ‘agorazo’… ‘purchased at the market-place.’ A second word like it is prefaced with the preposition ‘ex’ (exagorazo) and means ‘purchased out of and away from the market-place.’ […] And it is ‘lutroo,’ and it means, ‘to set free by paying a price.‘” — hyssop2
Warnock adds a fourth, voluntary stage based on Ex. 21:2-6:
“O that we might learn with that liberated slave in Israel, that the only true freedom we shall ever enjoy is that freedom which comes to us when we become forever the captive and obedient servants of the One who purchased us and then set us FREE. O that we might have our ears pierced to hear only what He says.” — hyssop2; cf. Ex. 21:2-6
Interpretation: The anthropological movement redemption describes runs: slave at the market → purchased → removed from the market → set free → voluntarily a lifelong slave. True human freedom is paradoxical: it consists in voluntarily being the servant of the liberator. This complements b3’s kenosis theme (cf. Phil. 2:7-8).
The Conscience as Inward Awareness of Self
In hyssop2b Warnock gives a specific definition of conscience in connection with the cleansing of the heart:
“The conscience is that inward ‘knowing with one’s self’… that inward awareness of SELF.” — hyssop2b
Warnock argues that the cleansing of Christ’s blood is intended to purge even the conscience fully — not merely from guilt but from the sin-burdened self-awareness:
“God has a cleansing for the mind that is so total and so complete that the very conscience is purged from dead works to serve the living God, and there will remain ‘no more a conscience of sins.‘” — hyssop2b; cf. Heb. 9:14; 10:2
“In the New Creation the former things are done away, neither shall they come into mind. We have New Creation life now. But it is still in embryonic form.” — hyssop2b
Interpretation: The conscience in Warnock is the inner “self-awareness” that has been enslaved by sin. Redemption aims not merely at legal acquittal but at the experiential cleansing of this inner self-awareness. [DEEPENS b3’s conscience-as-impartation: in b3 Warnock defined conscience as an impartation of God at creation; in b4 it appears as inner self-knowledge that must be cleansed by the blood.]
Unity of All Humanity before God in Sin (Rom. 3:22-23)
Warnock cites Rom. 3:22-23 in connection with the unity of all humanity before God, regardless of race or culture:
“As citizens of this country or that, we all recognize the natural barriers that exist between men of different cultures and different racial backgrounds. But God, looking upon mankind with His own standard of righteousness and glory, and with the judgments of the Cross in view, declares: ‘THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.‘” — hyssop1; cf. Rom. 3:22-23
Warnock connects this to a charge to the church:
“As Christians let us stop wasting our efforts trying to rebuild the walls of partition that God tore down at the awful expense of the Cross.” — hyssop1
Interpretation: The equality of all humanity before God is grounded in the universal reality of sin (Rom. 3:22-23). Race, culture, and nationality are not distinguishing categories before God — humanity stands before Him as a unity in guilt, and as a unity in redemption.
Abraham as Pilgrim Prototype: The Human as Stranger
Warnock develops at length how Abraham is a prototype of the true human identity as pilgrim — a stranger even in his own inheritance:
“He confessed that he was but a ‘pilgrim and a stranger’—and the Holy Spirit reminds us that such a testimony as this indicated that he and his Seed were ‘looking for a City which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God.‘” — hyssop1; cf. Heb. 11:10
“He was a foreigner in his own land!” — hyssop1b
Warnock draws the conclusion that the true human will always be “unsatisfied” until he has reached the fullness of God — and that this unsatisfied longing is God’s design:
“Happy is that man or woman who comes to that place in his walk with God when—in spite of all the knowledge and understanding he may have concerning his inheritance in Christ Jesus, he still finds it within his heart to say: ‘Yes, I thank thee, O Lord, for thy Truth… but I am not fully satisfied… there is something lacking… what is it Lord?‘” — hyssop1
Interpretation: The pilgrim character of humanity is not a temporary phase but a structural feature of created human existence before God: unceasing progression, never a final resting point. This is consistent with the eschatological anthropology concept in b1 (the sons of God growing ever further into Christ).
Hyssop as Type of the Human Will Bowed before God
Warnock describes the hyssop in its liturgical use (Passover, cleansing of the leper, Ps. 51) as a type of the humbled, pliable human will:
“the hyssop would speak of that humiliation and abasement of the human will before God—a bitter medicine as far as the sickly human heart is concerned—but fragrant and beautiful in the sight of God as He stoops low to heal the broken and the contrite heart.” — hyssop2
“The use of the hyssop was not optional. There could be no distinction here… for there is no act of the will, no refinement of character, no manner of good works or appearances before God that would ensure the covering of the Blood on our behalf.” — hyssop2
In his exposition of Ps. 51:7 Warnock returns to this:
“grace and forgiveness and cleansing are growing there at our feet. Salvation is there within our grasp, if we would but acknowledge the Truth instead of trying to excuse ourselves and deceive ourselves.” — hyssop2b; cf. Ps. 51:7
Interpretation: The stooping to pick up the hyssop is the archetypal human act of humiliation. This is not works-righteousness but an act of grace — the hyssop grows “at our feet,” within the reach of all. [LINKED to b2’s “WILL as king of Amalek”: in b2 Warnock describes the human will as the last stronghold that must be broken; in b4 he describes the bowing of that will as the “hyssop act” — humility before God as the path to cleansing.]