Israel at the Exodus
The plan of types and ceremonies alone appealed to the mind. And even in this inductive method of teaching, the nation seemed slow to learn; for the forty years between the Red Sea and Jordan served to develop scarcely enough faith to carry the people into the promised land. God’s law, written on the tablets of the heart by the pen of faith, appealed to but few. Men ate manna from heaven, but knew not that it was the token of a crucified Saviour: they drank of water flowing constantly from the smitten rock, never dreaming that it prefigured the shed blood of the dying Son of God. Once settled in Canaan, the whole system of education was so planned as to teach the child to accept Christ by faith. Some grasped this spiritual truth; but a few had eyes which saw the things hidden from the multitude, because faith was an avenue to the very soul.
Having the privilege of living by faith, and accepting the divine teaching in this its highest form, they preferred the old way, and walked by sight. “Except ye see, ye will not believe;” “O ye of little faith.” When we look at what the Israelites might have been, and then at what they were, there is a feeling of intense pain, for the fall is inexpressibly great. By little and little, Jehovah strove to reach the higher nature again, and bring Israel to its heaven-selected place. There was steady progress until the days of Solomon, whose wisdom outshone that of the great men of earth, and Israel as a nation was again on the verge of becoming the leading people of the world politically, intellectually, and morally.
Solomon’s wisdom
Solomon was raised to a position of eminence among the great men of earth because he learned from God the secret of true education. His wisdom was not a gift to him exclusively, but was offered to all who would comply with the educational requirements. Of Solomon we read that God gave him a hearing ear. His spiritual senses were awakened by faith, and he found himself so in harmony with the God of nature that all the works of the Creator were read by him as an open book. His wisdom seemed great in contrast with that of other Jews merely because others failed to live up to their privileges. God desired the whole nation to stand before other people as Solomon stood before the kings of the earth.
The surprising feature to most students is the fact that the system of education given by God will, when followed, open to man such material benefits. It is not, as it is often accused of being, ideal and theoretical, but lacking the practical. On the contrary, it is of the most practical nature, and opens to its followers all legitimate lines of prosperity, placing its devotees above all contestants. This is seen in the experience of the king just mentioned. As a statesman and lawyer, Solomon was noted; as a scientist, he excelled the scholars of the world; for wealth and splendor, the half has not been told; during his reign Jewish architecture, as exemplified in the temple, assumed such grandeur that it became the model for even the æsthetic Greek. In tilling the soil and raising fruit it was always intended that Israel should excel other nations.[27] Youth were trained to fill positions of trust, and were taught the practical duties of everyday life. Such training was given to girls as well as to boys, fitting them to fill properly their allotted sphere as housewives and mothers in Israel.[28]
From the fall which followed this exaltation, Israel never recovered. The educational system losing its true character, the nation was at last carried into captivity. When the Hebrew race lost the spirituality of their education, they lost everything; for political power, national reputation, all, hung upon one thread. “Jerusalem was destroyed because the education of her children was neglected.” This destruction did not come suddenly. There was a decline, then a forward lunge, and another relapse, each time the fall being greater and the reaction weaker.
An educational reform
Several times a halt was made, and the national life was prolonged by a return to the prescribed methods of education. Jehoshaphat, for instance, appointed Levites as teachers to the different cities of Israel, and, as a result, “The fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war.”[29] Had the reform been carried on which was then begun, the whole national history would have been changed.
Another noticeable fact is that release from bondage was always heralded by two reforms. For instance, before deliverance from Babylon, Daniel was raised up to give the people instruction in health reform and educational reform. These two always accompany each other. The one affects the body, preparing it to become the temple of the Holy Ghost; the other turns the mind toward truth, that the Spirit of God may think through it. A body purified by right living, and a mind trained according to the laws of Christian education, brings an experience such as Daniel had.[30] That he lived on a plane above the majority of men is evident; for “I, Daniel, alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision.” What to Daniel was the voice of God those whose ears were not in tune with the Infinite heard as thunder or as an earthquake. It had been the privilege of all to see and hear as Daniel saw and heard, but they chose a coarser life, a slower vibratory existence, where the mental strain was less, and the heart strings were looser. It was easier to keep in tune with Egypt or Babylon than with the God of heaven. And when the Son of Man was born, he found it hard to select even a small company whose lives were in harmony with His own.