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True Education
prodigality, and indulgence bore fruit in cruelty and exaction. He
who had been a just, compassionate, God-fearing ruler, became
tyrannical and oppressive. He who at the dedication of the temple
had prayed for his people that their hearts might be undividedly given
to the Lord, became their seducer. Solomon dishonored himself,
dishonored Israel, and dishonored God.
The nation, of which he had been the pride, followed his leading.
Though he afterward repented, his repentance did not prevent a har-
vest from the evil he had sown. The discipline and training that God
appointed for Israel was designed to cause them, in all their ways
of life, to differ from the people of other nations. This peculiarity,
which should have been regarded as a special privilege and blessing,
was to them unwelcome. The simplicity and self-restraint essential
to their highest development they longed to exchange for the pomp
and self-indulgence of heathen peoples. To be “like all the nations”
(
1 Samuel 8:5
) was their ambition. God’s plan of education was set
aside, His authority disowned.
The downfall of Israel began in the rejection of God’s ways for
the ways of heathen contemporaries. It continued until the Jewish
people became prey to the very nations whose practices they had
chosen to follow.
As a nation the children of Israel failed to receive the benefits
that God desired to give them. They did not appreciate His purpose
or cooperate in its execution. Though individuals and peoples may
separate themselves from Him, His purpose for those who trust Him
is unchanged. “Whatever God does, it shall be forever.”
Ecclesiastes
3:14
.
While there are different degrees of development and different
manifestations of His power to meet the needs of people in different
ages, God’s work is forever the same. The Teacher is the same.
God’s character and His plan are the same. With Him “is no variation
or shadow of turning.”
James 1:17
.
The experiences of Israel were recorded for our instruction. “All
these things happened to them as examples, and they were written
for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”
1 Corinthians 10:11
. With us, as with Israel of old, success in
education depends on fidelity in carrying out the Creator’s plan. Ad-