Chapter 58—The Schools of the Prophets
The Lord Himself directed the education of Israel. His care was
not restricted to their religious interests; whatever affected their mental
or physical well-being was also the subject of divine providence, and
came within the sphere of divine law.
God had commanded the Hebrews to teach their children His re-
quirements and to make them acquainted with all His dealings with
their fathers. This was one of the special duties of every parent—one
that was not to be delegated to another. In the place of stranger lips the
loving hearts of the father and mother were to give instruction to their
children. Thoughts of God were to be associated with all the events of
daily life. The mighty works of God in the deliverance of His people
and the promises of the Redeemer to come were to be often recounted
in the homes of Israel; and the use of figures and symbols caused
the lessons given to be more firmly fixed in the memory. The great
truths of God’s providence and of the future life were impressed on
the young mind. It was trained to see God alike in the scenes of nature
and the words of revelation. The stars of heaven, the trees and flowers
of the field, the lofty mountains, the rippling brooks—all spoke of the
Creator. The solemn service of sacrifice and worship at the sanctuary
and the utterances of the prophets were a revelation of God.
Such was the training of Moses in the lowly cabin home in Goshen;
of Samuel, by the faithful Hannah; of David, in the hill dwelling at
Bethlehem; of Daniel, before the scenes of the captivity separated him
from the home of his fathers. Such, too, was the early life of Christ at
Nazareth; such the training by which the child Timothy learned from
the lips of his grandmother Lois, and his mother Eunice (
2 Timothy
1:5
;
3:15
), the truths of Holy Writ.
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Further provision was made for the instruction of the young, by
the establishment of the schools of the prophets. If a youth desired to
search deeper into the truths of the word of God and to seek wisdom
from above, that he might become a teacher in Israel, these schools
were open to him. The schools of the prophets were founded by Samuel
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