SCHOOLS OF THE PROPHETS — THEN AND NOW

The special employments in which the sons of the prophets are exhibited to us in Scripture history, are those of prophecy and sacred song. In 1 Samuel 10 we find a whole company of such disciples meeting Saul on the hill of God, near Kirjath-jearim, with “a psaltery, a tabret, a pipe, and a harp,” before them; and themselves prophesying. And, in 1 Samuel 19 we see king Saul, on another occasion, at Ramah, meeting an assembly of the sons of the prophets prophesying, with Samuel set over them. It is evident, from both these passages, that the art of sacred melody was diligently cultivated in those retired nurseries of piety; and that this art was devoted, according to its original appointment, to the praise of God and the cheering and beautifying of civil and domestic life. Ancient tranditions tell us much of the great attainments of these sons of the prophets in the lovely art of sacred song, and how affectingly they thus poured forth the harmony of their souls. By what is called their prophesying, in 1 Samuel 10 and elsewhere, we understand an outpouring of the language of the heart in song or in prose, under the special influence of the Holy Spirit; and these effusions we must conclude to have been always of the sublimest and holiest nature.

Now, if the final object of these excellent schools was not precisely to form prophets and seers — for such the Lord alone forms and calls — yet the Lord was pleased to have ready such assemblies of his saints, from which, when he saw good, he might select a messenger for himself, endowed with all human preparatives, whenever these were deemed requisite. It is highly probable that most of the prophets proceeded from these institutions; at least, the shepherd Amos seems to point out his vocation to the office as an exception to the rule, when he says, in chapter 7:14,15, “I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an her dm an and a gatherer of sycamore fruit: and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.” At any rate these institutions provided the country with many enlightened teachers, many worthy, well-instructed, and faithful heads of families, and judges. And, even had they not done so, still their very existence answered a high and holy purpose. They were the depositories of Israelitish light and justice; they shone as luminaries in a crooked and perverse nation; and reproved apostasy more severely by their example, than could have been done by the most powerful language. Their quiet but mighty influence served to oppose the inroads of surrounding heathen darkness. They were also a spiritual asylum, wherein spiritual mourners might find instruction, comfort, and peace. And who shall say what streams of living waters, from those fountains of Israel, refreshed and fertilized the country at large!

O my brethren! what sorrow fills my heart, upon turning from the picture of these ancient and piously devoted seminaries back to our own times, to contemplate the establishments for instruction, which modern wisdom has devised, and of which it boasts. O ye sons of Israel, how much better were you provided for than most of our youth in the present day! and yet we are supposed to be—CHRISTIANS! Where are institutions at present to be found in which another spirit rules than that of the world and the profane? Where can we behold flourishing seminaries in which a christian’s hope for his children would flourish also? Alas, they do but rarely, very rarely indeed exist; notwithstanding our systems of education, those boasts of the age we live in. In what, then, consists the vaunted perfection of such systems? Is it in those fragments of classical literature which are crammed into our youths; or in those ornamental accomplishments to which our daughters are made to sacrifice their health and mental cultivation? Or, is it in the almost general separation of modern instruction from the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation? Or, is it in the more popular manner in which individual branches of knowledge are treated, apart from all deeper investigation, apart from their general connection, and above all, apart from the knowledge of God as their chief end and perfection? Or, does the excellence of our modern education consist in purely heathenish conceptions of liberty, morality, and justice, as accredited to our youth in many seminaries by blind leaders, who never study the sacred oracles with half the diligence, zeal, and respect with which they study the classic writers of ancient Greece and Rome? And here I cannot refrain from inserting the remark of an enlightened writer upon the present state of education in Germany. “Education,” he says, “is become a system of seduction. Young men, and even school boys and apprentices, are trained into instruments of faction and rebellion, and are found the most active associates of tumult and revolt in the present day. Yes, the most audacious blasphemies and execrations are uttered in the ears of listening youths, and even of children, against clergy, magistrates, and public institutions, while the minds of the young are thus easily excited, and drink in these iniquities like water. A montrous ignorance of the word of God, an affecting and deplorable want of Scriptural knowledge, exists far and wide; for, during the last thirty years, your youths have been beguiled of all the blessings of holy things in our public and private seminaries; yes, in our very universities, and those who have most distinguished themselves in perpetrating these spiritual robberies, have become the most reputable, popular, and best rewarded. The most vapid and superficial talking passes for religious and moral instruction; and school books full of subtle omissions, or of the most daring attacks upon religion, are introduced by authority. Instruction in history — that memorial of Divine justice and human sins — is commonly abused to the implanting of national pride and the dissemination of the most pernicious principles and doctrines.”

If we do not yet find this gloomy description fully realized everywhere, we have to ascribe it exclusively to an invisible Watcher, who has hitherto set bounds to the floods of Belial. Let us commend to Him, who still cherishes thoughts of peace towards us and not of evil, our places of tuition, both high and low; may he reform, consecrate, and renew them! It is true that greater importance has been attached in some places to religious instruction, and the hours devoted to it have been doubled. But this alone will not cure the evil. Another spirit is wanting in our schools and seminaries to complete, animate, and sanctify every branch of instruction. We ought, therefore, to pray for the outpouring of the Spirit of Christ; and, God be thanked! we shall never seek it in vain. We have Divine promises in abundance which encourage us to look forward, in prayer, for better days. Particularly would I refer you to that prophecy of Zechariah, which shall assuredly come to pass: “In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts,” chapter 14: 20,21. What a glorious prospect is here presented to us of the future condition of the church and of the world! The beauty and lustre of holiness shall then be spread over all we possess, and over all that surrounds us. The Spirit of the Lord shall be universally diffused, and every object will partake of a Divine consecration. The sciences will then be the handmaidens of religion, and their alpha and omega will be the glory of God in Christ. The arts will return to their primary destination, and be again devoted to the service of the living God. “The Lord will hasten it in its time.”

Excerpt from Elijah the Tishbite by F. W. Krummacher

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