46
The Desire of Ages
adapted to the opening mind. Fathers and mothers were to instruct
their children that the law of God is an expression of His character,
and that as they received the principles of the law into the heart, the
image of God was traced on mind and soul. 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.
In the days of Christ the town or city that did not provide for the
religious instruction of the young was regarded as under the curse of
God. Yet the teaching had become formal. Tradition had in a great
degree supplanted the Scriptures. True education would lead the youth
to “seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him.”
Acts 17:27
. But the Jewish teachers gave their attention to matters of
ceremony. The mind was crowded with material that was worthless to
the learner, and that would not be recognized in the higher school of
the courts above. The experience which is obtained through a personal
acceptance of God’s word had no place in the educational system.
Absorbed in the round of externals, the students found no quiet hours
to spend with God. They did not hear His voice speaking to the heart.
In their search after knowledge, they turned away from the Source of
wisdom. The great essentials of the service of God were neglected.
The principles of the law were obscured. That which was regarded
as superior education was the greatest hindrance to real development.
Under the training of the rabbis the powers of the youth were repressed.
Their minds became cramped and narrow.
[70]
The child Jesus did not receive instruction in the synagogue
schools. His mother was His first human teacher. From her lips
and from the scrolls of the prophets, He learned of heavenly things.
The very words which He Himself had spoken to Moses for Israel He
was now taught at His mother’s knee. As He advanced from child-
hood to youth, He did not seek the schools of the rabbis. He needed
not the education to be obtained from such sources; for God was His
instructor.
The question asked during the Saviour’s ministry, “How knoweth
this man letters, having never learned?” does not indicate that Jesus
was unable to read, but merely that He had not received a rabbinical
education.
John 7:15
. Since He gained knowledge as we may do, His
intimate acquaintance with the Scriptures shows how diligently His