WHAT WAS TAUGHT IN THE SCHOOLS
OF THE PROPHETS.
WHAT was taught in the schools of the
prophets? To know this is important, not only for
its own sake: but because, when we know
this, we know what should be taught in the
Lord's schools always. These things are in
the Bible. They were written for our learning.
And being in the book of Daniel, they are
written especially for our instruction and
admonition "upon whom the ends of the
world are come." In this chapter we shall have
space only to discover and enumerate these
studies. What each subject involved will be
studied afterward.
Daniel and his three companions were
"skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge,
and understanding science." This
education was acquired in the college, or school of the
prophets in Jerusalem. This, therefore,
certifies that wisdom, knowledge, and science
were taught in those schools.
Another thing that was taught there was
music, instrumental as well as vocal. This we
know from the fact that the first time that
we meet any of the students of such a school,
they have "a psaltery, and a tabret,
and a pipe, and a harp, before them;" and they were
playing with such spirit, and with such
power in the Spirit, that the man who then
personally met them was drawn to God and
converted. Thus all the circumstances show
that this was trained, harmonious music,
played by the students of this school. And this is
plain evidence that music was taught in the
schools of the prophets.
Another thing that was taught there was
work, or "manual training" as it would be called
to-day. This we know from the record of
these schools in the time of Elisha: "And the
sons of the prophets said unto Elisha,
Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is
too strait for us. Let us go, we pray thee,
unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam,
and let us make us a place there, where we
may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. And one
said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with
thy servants. And he answered, I will go. So he
went with them. And when they came to
Jordan, they cut down wood." 2 Kings 6:1-4.
This shows that in those schools, work was
taught and the love of it; because
when the school building became too small
for the attendance, the students themselves
suggested that they themselves should build
the new and larger house that was needed.
There was no thought of hiring other people
to do the work, nor of letting it by contract.
No; they themselves said, "Let us go,
. . . and let us make us a place."
They were also so in love with work that
they would borrow tools with which to
work; for when one of the axes flew off the
handle and into the river, as one of the
students was chopping, he exclaimed to
Elisha, "Alas, master! for it was borrowed."
More than this, even the principal of the
school -- Elisha -- went with them to the
work, and joined with them in the work; for
he was among those who were chopping on
the bank of the river when the ax flew into
the water.
All this shows, as plainly as needs to be
shown, that work and the love of it, real
industry, was taught in the schools of the
prophets -- the Lord's schools of ancient time.
Another thing that was taught there was
temperance -- healthful living. This is
shown by the fact that Daniel and his
companions refused the king's dainties and royal
food, and the wine which he drank, and
asked for a simple fare, a vegetarian diet. Dan.
1:5, 12-16. That they were taught this in
the school of the prophets which they attended is
plain from the fact that this was a
thoroughly grounded principle with them. And that
such was the diet in the schools of the
prophets is taught by the fact that in that school, in
the time of Elisha, even when "there
was a dearth in the land," Elisha, giving directions to
prepare food, said, "Set on the great
pot, and seethe pottage." And in following this
direction, "one went out into the
field to gather herbs." 2 Kings 4:38, 39. When herbs
were gathered in response to the ordinary
direction to prepare food, and this when "there
was a dearth in the land," surely this
is strong evidence that a vegetarian diet was the
regular diet in the school. This is
confirmed by the further fact that "there came a man
from Baal-shalisha, and brought the man of
God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of
barley, and full cars of corn in the husk
thereof. And he [Elisha] said, Give unto the
people, that they may eat." Verse 42.
Here was a man bringing a present of provisions to
the principal of the school, and he brought
only food from the vegetable kingdom.
All this is evidence that a vegetarian diet
was the diet of the students and teachers
in the schools of the prophets; that this
temperate way of living was a part of the
instruction; and that temperance was so
inculcated as to become a living principle in the
lives of the students.
Another thing taught there was law --
statutes, justice, and judgment. This was
directly commanded to be taught:
"Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments,
even as the Lord my God commanded me, that
ye should do so in the land whither ye go
to possess it. Keep therefore and do them;
for this is your wisdom and your understanding
in the sight of the nations, which shall
hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great
nation is a wise and understanding people.
. . . What nation is there so great, that hath
statutes and judgments so righteous as all
this law, which I set before you this day? Only
take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul
diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine
eyes have seen, and lest they depart from
thy heart in all the days of thy life; but teach
them thy sons, and thy sons' sons."
Deut. 4:5-9. "Justice, justice, shalt thou follow." Deut.
16:20, margin.
Another thing taught there, and this
"specially," was morals; for after urging upon
them the obligation to teach carefully and
diligently the statutes and judgments of the
Lord, he commanded them to teach to their
sons and their sons' sons, "specially," the ten
commandments which they heard, said he,
"the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy
God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me,
Gather Me the people together, and I will
make them hear My words, that they may
learn to fear Me all the days that they shall live
upon the earth, and that they may teach
their children. . . . And the Lord spake unto you
out of the midst of the fire; ye heard the
voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only
ye heard a voice. And He declared unto you
His covenant, which He commanded you to
perform, even ten commandments; and He
wrote them upon two tables of stone."
Another thing taught there was history:
"When thy son asketh thee in time to
come, saying, What mean the testimonies,
and the statutes, and the judgments, which the
Lord our God hath commanded you? then thou
shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's
bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us
out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and the
Lord showed signs and wonders, great and
sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all
his household, before our eyes." Deut.
6:20-22. This study was not confined to the history
of the deliverance from Egypt; it embraced
all as it was given in the sacred writings. We
know that this history was one of the
studies of Daniel; for the form of government,
having three presidents, one of whom was
chief, which was introduced by Daniel as
prime minister in the days of Darius the
Mede, was adopted literally from the records of
Israel as to the government of David.
Yet another thing taught there was poetry.
This was an essential accompaniment
of the teaching of music, and the songs of
worship of which their music was composed.
With all this, of course, the fundamentals
of knowledge, reading and writing and numbers,
were taught.
We find, then, that the teaching in the
schools of the prophets embraced at least
the following studies: --
1. Wisdom,
2. Knowledge,
3. Science,
4. Manual labor,
5. Music,
6. Poetry,
7. Temperance,
8. Morals,
9. Law,
10. History,
11. Reading,
12. Writing,
13. Numbers.
But the one greatest thing over all, in
all, and through all, in the Lord's schools
was the pervading presence of the divine
Teacher, the Holy Spirit. In the schools of the
prophets the Spirit of God was the one
all-pervading influence, the one great prevailing
power. The first time we meet one of these
schools is in 1 Sam. 10:5-12, when Saul came
"to the hill of God," and met
"a company of prophets coming down" with instruments of
music, and prophesying. "And the
Spirit of God came upon him," and "God gave him
another heart;" he was turned
"into another man," and "he prophesied among the
prophets."
That this should occur in the case of such
a man as Saul was so great a wonder
that the people of Israel were astonished
at it to such an extent that henceforth it became a
proverb in Israel, "Is Saul also among
the prophets?"
Yet this was but the usual degree of the
manifestation of the Spirit in the school.
For we find after this that Saul, by
disobedience to God and jealousy of David, had
separated himself from the Spirit, and was
constantly seeking to kill David, and David
escaped, and fled, and "came to Samuel
to Ramah," and "he and Samuel went and dwelt
in Naioth. And it was told Saul, saying,
Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah." This was
where there was a school of the prophets.
"And Saul sent messengers to take David: and
when they saw the company of the prophets
prophesying, and Samuel standing as
appointed over them, the Spirit of God was
upon the messengers of Saul, and they also
prophesied. And when it was told Saul, he
sent other messengers, and they prophesied
likewise."
When Saul saw that his first messengers had
yielded, of course he sent the second
time such ones as he supposed would not
yield. And when he found that they also had
yielded, he determined to trust no more
messengers -- he would go himself. Therefore in
his wrathful determination "went he
also to Ramah," and demanded, "Where are Samuel
and David? And one said, Behold, they be at
Naioth in Ramah. And he went thither to
Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was
upon him also, and he went on, and
prophesied."
All this shows, and it was written to tell
to us, that the Holy Spirit was so fully
manifested that stern, hard-hearted, and
even exceptionally unspiritual men were melted
and subdued by His gracious influence
whenever they came in contact with the school. It
shows also that the Spirit of God in these
schools manifested Himself in prophesyings.
Thus it was the Spirit of prophecy that
pervaded and controlled the school. "The Spirit of
prophecy" is "the testimony of
Jesus" (Rev. 19:10), in counsel and instruction. Thus Jesus
Christ Himself, by the Spirit of prophecy,
was the real Head of the schools of the
prophets.
And all this is to teach to us now, for our
own time, that in the Lord's schools, the
Spirit of prophecy, the testimony of Jesus,
must be the great guide and instructor, and that
the Spirit of God is to be courted until He
shall become the all-pervading influence and
the all-controlling power in every school
established in the name of the Lord.
These things are written in the Bible for
us. They center and are emphasized in the
book of Daniel specially for the last days.
We are now in the last days. The instruction
given, the course of study in the schools
of the prophets, is instruction for the Lord's
schools for all time. This is the
instruction that belongs to-day in every school that makes
any pretensions to being a Christian
school.
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