140
Welfare Ministry
put their energies to the very best use, that there may be improvement,
and that their work may move forward?—
Testimonies for the Church
6:188, 189
.
God’s Word Reveals the Solution to the Problem—There are
largehearted men and women who are anxiously considering the con-
dition of the poor and what means can be found for their relief. How
the unemployed and the homeless can be helped to secure the common
blessings of God’s providence and to live the life He intended man to
live, is a question to which many are earnestly endeavoring to find an
answer....
If men would give more heed to the teaching of God’s Word, they
would find a solution of these problems that perplex them. Much might
be learned from the Old Testament in regard to the labor question and
the relief of the poor. In God’s plan for Israel every family had a home
on the land, with sufficient ground for tilling. Thus were provided
both the means and the incentive for a useful, industrious, and self-
supporting life. And no devising of men has ever improved upon that
[196]
plan. To the world’s departure from it is owing, to a large degree, the
poverty and wretchedness that exist today....
In Israel industrial training was regarded as a duty. Every father
was required to teach his sons some useful trade. The greatest men in
Israel were trained to industrial pursuits. A knowledge of the duties
pertaining to housewifery was considered essential for every woman.
And skill in these duties was regarded as an honor to women of the
highest station.
Various industries were taught in the schools of the prophets, and
many of the students sustained themselves by manual labor....
The plan of life that God gave to Israel was intended as an object
lesson for all mankind. If these principles were carried out today,
what a different place this world would be!—
The Ministry of Healing,
183-188
.
Multitudes Might Find Homes on the Land—Within the vast
boundaries of nature there is still room for the suffering and needy to
find a home. Within her bosom there are resources sufficient to provide
them with food. Hidden in the depths of the earth are blessings for all
who have courage and will and perseverance to gather her treasures.
The tilling of the soil, the employment that God appointed to man in