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Chapter 6—The Schools of the Prophets
Wherever in Israel God’s plan of education was carried into
effect, the results testified of its Author. But in many households the
training appointed by Heaven, and the characters thus developed,
were rare. God’s plan was but partially and imperfectly fulfilled.
By unbelief and by disregard of the Lord’s directions, the Is-
raelites surrounded themselves with temptations that few had power
to resist. At their settlement in Canaan “they did not destroy the
peoples, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them, but they
mingled with the Gentiles and learned their works; they served their
idols, which became a snare to them.” Their heart was not right with
God, “nor were they faithful in His covenant. But He, being full of
compassion, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them. Yes,
many a time He turned His anger away. ... For He remembered that
they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come
again.”
Psalm 106:34-36
;
78:37-39
.
Fathers and mothers in Israel became indifferent to their obliga-
tion to God, indifferent to their obligation to their children. Through
unfaithfulness in the home and idolatrous influences around them,
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.
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To meet this growing evil, God provided other agencies to aid
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, com-
municating to the people the messages received from God. But the
name “prophet” 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.
These schools were intended to serve as a barrier against the
widespreading corruption, to provide for the mental and spiritual
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