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Education
spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:
so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with
him.”
Deuteronomy 32:10-12
.
“He remembered His holy promise, and Abraham His servant. And
He brought forth His people with joy, and His chosen with gladness:
and gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labor of
the people; that they might observe His statutes, and keep His laws.”
Psalm 105:42-45
.
God surrounded Israel with every facility, gave them every privi-
lege, that would make them an honor to His name and a blessing to
surrounding nations. If they would walk in the ways of obedience, He
promised to make them “high above all nations which He hath made,
in praise, and in name, and in honor.” “All people of the earth,” He
said, “shall hear that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they
shall be afraid of thee.” The nations which shall hear all these statutes
shall say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”
Deuteronomy 26:19
;
28:10
;
Deuteronomy 4:6
.
In the laws committed to Israel, explicit instruction was given
concerning education. To Moses at Sinai God had revealed Himself as
“merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and
truth.”
Exodus 34:6
. These principles, embodied in His law, the fathers
and mothers in Israel were to teach their children. Moses by divine
direction declared to them: “These words, which I command thee this
day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto
thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house,
and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and
when thou risest up.”
Deuteronomy 6:6, 7
.
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Not as a dry theory were these things to be taught. Those who
would impart truth must themselves practice its principles. Only by
reflecting the character of God in the uprightness, nobility, and un-
selfishness of their own lives can they impress others.
True education is not the forcing of instruction on an unready
and unreceptive mind. The mental powers must be awakened, the
interest aroused. For this, God’s method of teaching provided. He who
created the mind and ordained its laws, provided for its development
in accordance with them. In the home and the sanctuary, through the
things of nature and of art, in labor and in festivity, in sacred building
and memorial stone, by methods and rites and symbols unnumbered,