The Schools of the Prophets by M. E. CADY

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 18, 1915

The Schools of the Prophets

By M. E. CADY

— No. 2

Purpose and Establishment

M. E. CADY

“THE system of education established in Eden centered in the family. Adam was ‘the son of God,’ and it was from their Father that the children of the Highest received instruction. Theirs, in the truest sense, was a family school. “In the divine plan of education as adapted to man’s condition after the fall, Christ stands as the representative of the Father, the connecting link between God and man; he is the great teacher of mankind, and he ordained that men and women should be his representatives. The family was the school, and the parents were the teachers. “The education centering in the family was that which prevailed in the days of the patriarchs. For the schools thus established, God provided the conditions most favorable for the development of character. The people who were under his direction still pursued the plan of life that he had appointed in the beginning. Those who departed from God, built for themselves cities, and, congregating in them, gloried in the splendor, the luxury, and the vice that make the cities of today the world’s pride and its curse. But the men who held fast God’s principles of life dwelt among the fields and hills. They were tillers of the soil, and keepers of flocks and herds; and in this free, independent life, with its opportunities for labor and study and meditation, they learned of God, and taught their children of his works and ways.”

—“Education,” pages 33, 34.

One of these patriarchal family schools was the household of Abraham, which, with his trained servants, must have numbered nearly a thousand; for when Lot, with his family and goods, was carried away by the enemies of the Sodomites, Abraham, with three hundred and eighteen of his “instructed servants,” went to the rescue. See Gen. 14:14. What a mighty, uplifting influence was wielded by this large household living the tent life! Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent this school of Abraham on its pilgrim journey with rich gifts and their good will. God greatly blessed it, both temporally and spiritually. This was God’s testimony concerning Abraham and the teaching of his household: “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.” Gen. 18:19.

Lot and his household pilgrimaged with Abraham for a time, and the Lord greatly blessed him with souls and substance. “And Lot also, which went with Abraham, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together.” Gen. 13:5, 6. Abraham very generously gave Lot his choice of the land for the grazing of his flocks and herds; and selfishly Lot chose the best and greenest pastures. “And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere. . . . Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east; and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abraham dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.” Gen. 13:10-12. The result of the separation was that Lot and his household forsook God’s plan for their education and training, and soon left their tents to dwell in the city; and only Lot and two of his daughters escaped the destruction of Sodom, by fleeing to the mountains, and there they dwelt in a cave. The Lord’s plan brought Abraham and his household happiness and prosperity; a departure from it brought Lot and his family sorrow and disaster.

“This was the method of education that God desired to establish in Israel. But when brought out of Egypt, there were among the Israelites few prepared to be workers together with him in the training of their children. The parents themselves needed instruction and discipline. Victims of lifelong slavery, they were ignorant, untrained, degraded. They had little knowledge of God, and little faith in him. They were confused by false teaching, and corrupted by their long contact with heathenism. God desired to lift them to a higher moral level, and to this end he sought to give them a knowledge of himself. “In his dealings with the wanderers in the desert, in all their marchings to and fro, in their exposure to hunger, thirst, and weariness, in their peril from heathen foes, and in the manifestation of his providence for their relief, God was seeking to strengthen their faith, by revealing to them the power that was continually working for their good. And having taught them to trust in his love and power, it was his purpose to set before them, in the precepts of his law, the standard of character to which, through his grace, he desired them to attain.”—Id., page 34.

What a school was this in the wilderness! All Israel was in school from the day they left Egypt through the Red Sea, until they passed over the Jordan into Canaan. Christ and angels were their instructors. In the wilderness school they were taught how to live in the land of plenty. Here they were taught God’s plan, and method in education, that they in turn might know how to train their households for God, as did Abraham, their father.

“Wherever in Israel God’s plan was carried into effect, its results testified of its Author. But in very many households the training appointed by heaven, and the characters thus developed, were alike rare. God’s plan was but partially and imperfectly fulfilled. . . . Fathers and mothers in Israel became indifferent to their obligation to God, indifferent to their obligation to their children. Through unfaithfulness in the home, and idolatrous influences without, many of the Hebrew youth received an education differing widely from that which God had planned for them. They learned the ways of the heathen.

“To meet this growing evil, God provided other agencies as an aid to parents in the work of education. From the earliest times, prophets had been recognized as teachers divinely appointed. In the highest sense, the prophet was one who spoke by direct inspiration, communicating to the people the messages he had received from God. But the name was given also to those who, though not so directly inspired, were divinely called to instruct the people in the works and ways of God. For the training of such a class of teachers, Samuel, by the Lord’s direction, established the schools of the prophets.”—Id., pages 45, 46.

“The schools of the prophets were founded by Samuel to serve as a barrier against the widespread corruption, to provide for the moral and spiritual welfare of the youth, and to promote the future prosperity of the nation by furnishing it with men qualified to act in the fear of God as leaders and counselors. In the accomplishment of this object, Samuel gathered companies of young men who were pious, intelligent, and studious. These were called the sons of the prophets. As they communed with God, and studied his Word and his works, wisdom from above was added

to their natural endowments. The instructors were men not only well versed in divine truth, but those who had themselves enjoyed communion with God, and had received the special endowment of his Spirit. They enjoyed the respect and confidence of the people, for both learning and piety. In Samuel’s day, there were two of these schools—one at Ramah, the home of the prophet, and the other at Kirjath-jearim, where the ark then was. [See 1 Sam. 7:1, 2, 15-17; 10:5-13; 19:18-24.] Others were established in later times. [See 2 Kings 2:1-22; 4:38-44; 6:1-7.]”—“Patriarchs and Prophets,” page 593.

By reading the Scriptures just referred to, we learn that the leading prophet of the time had general oversight of these schools: the prophet Samuel (standing as one appointed over them) in his day, at Ramah and Kirjath-jearim; and later the prophet Elijah had oversight of the schools at Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho. When Elijah was translated, Elisha took general oversight of these schools, and because the students of the school at Jericho said, “Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us” (2 Kings 6:1-7), he gave his consent to have it removed to Jordan, where they found a more suitable location.

Saul, when he was anointed king, came in contact with the students of one of these schools; and after his rejection as king, he went to the school at Ramah to seek for David, who, after his anointing, was for a time at the school in Ramah.

As to the enrollment of these schools, we find but meager mention of the one at Gilgal. One hundred students were together at one time (2 Kings 4:43); and fifty students (strong men) from the school at Jericho “stood to view afar off,” hoping they might behold the translation of Elijah (2 Kings 2:7, 16).

“In both the school and the home, much of the teaching was oral, but the youth also learned to read the Hebrew writings; and the parchment rolls of the Old Testament Scriptures were open to their study. The chief subjects of study in these schools were the law of God, with the instruction given to Moses, sacred history, sacred music, and poetry.”

“The pupils of these schools sustained themselves by their own labor in tilling the soil, or in some mechanical employment. In Israel, this was not thought strange or degrading; indeed, it was regarded as a sin to allow children to grow up in ignorance of useful labor. Every youth, whether his parents were rich or poor, was taught some trade. Even though he was to be educated for holy office, a knowledge of practical life was regarded as essential to the greatest usefulness. Many also of the teachers supported themselves by manual labor. . . .

“These schools proved to be one of the means most effective in promoting that righteousness which ‘exalteth a nation.’ In no small degree they aided in laying the foundation of that marvelous prosperity which distinguished the reigns of David and Solomon. . . .

“In the reigns of David and Solomon, Israel reached the height of her greatness. The promise given to Abraham and repeated through Moses was fulfilled: ‘If ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves. Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours; from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. There shall no man be able to stand before you.’”—“Education,” pages 47, 48.