In this next article, we travel back to the Bible to make some observations about where the prophets went to school. Educational principles can be found throughout the Bible, so it is not surprising to find that prophets and prophecy were cultivated in specific schools in the Old Testament.

Previous articles in this series, Training the Prophetic Voice:

Part 1: The Educational Heart of God

Part 2: Speaking Truth to Power

The Schools of the Prophets

During Old Testament times there were many prophets in Israel. Both when Israel was a unified nation and after the nations divided into the northern and southern kingdoms, there were schools of the prophets. There were six locations where these prophetic schools or guilds existed: Ramah, Bethel, Gilgal, Jericho, Carmel and Samaria. Ira Price, in his article “The Schools of the Sons of the Prophets” (The Old Testament Student 8 [1889], 245-246), describes how at these locations new generations of prophets were trained up, usually under the guidance of a few seasoned prophets. It was very important to figure out who were authentic and false prophets, because these would be the people who not only spoke the words of the Lord, but also the people would lead these prophetic schools.

Unfortunately, we don’t know the curriculum they used. We don’t know the methods they used. But we do know that what made those schools special is a core principle. They were founded upon belief as a first principle. Belief in God’s active communication to his people and belief in the salvation God provides for his people. These prophetic schools were faith-based educational institutions.

It’s fun to imagine a prophet like Elijah as the head of school. What kind of uniforms would they have worn? What would their classrooms look like? What kinds of books would they read? Interestingly, we can guess at several of these. The prophets wore garb that indicated they were part of the prophetic guild. You would know a prophet from the distinct tunic and hood they wore. The classrooms, at least what we learn from Samuel, were associated with local centers of worship; either the tent of meeting in ancient Bethel, or later the temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem. We also know that they studied the revealed word, the written scrolls that existed in their times.

The Training of Samuel

In the early chapters of First Samuel, we learn about the mother of Samuel miraculously bearing him and then devoting him to the Lord by boarding him in the household of Eli (1 Sam. 1:25-28). This section of stories gives us a first glimpse into the early training of a prophet. Eli, unfortunately, wasn’t that great of a teacher or leader of the prophetic school at Shiloh. His own sons had gained a rather bad reputation (1 Sam. 2:12-17). There is a sense of irony, then, that Samuel would be apprenticed to Eli.

Samuel’s training occurred both in the tent of meeting at Shiloh as well as in Eli’s home. This was typical of apprenticeships where the novice craftsman would live with the family of the master. Samuel likely spent much time at the tent of meeting, indicated by the phrase, “Samuel was ministering before the Lord” (1 Sam. 2:18). Here he learned how to carry out the duties of priesthood. The most poignant moment in Samuel’s training, though, occurred in Eli’s house, when he learned how to hear the voice of the Lord and proclaim the Lord’s messages (1 Sam. 3:1-18). He learned the essentials of how to carry out the role of prophet.

Samuel heard a voice calling his name. He ran to Eli, assuming he heard Eli’s voice, only to discover that Eli had not called. It took three times before Eli becomes wise to what was occurring. The text provides the insight that Samuel had not yet learned the ways of the Lord (1 Sam. 3:7). Upon Samuel’s third arrival, Eli now taught Samuel how to respond to the Lord. He told him to return to bed and await the Lord’s voice.

“If he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’ “

1 Samuel 3:9

Although very brief, Eli’s teaching not only conveys the knowledge Samuel needs, but also the proper disposition Samuel should have toward the Lord. The words are no mere formula. Viewing oneself as a servant of the Lord is essential for the individual who desires to truly be used by the Lord. With this training in hand, Samuel was finally able to listen to the Lord. The Lord communicated once more and Samuel received a message of judgement against Eli because his sons had blasphemed God.

The next morning contains another episode of teaching. Eli pressed Samuel to reveal the message he heard from the Lord. Samuel had received a message that the punishment against Eli’s household would soon be fulfilled. Not quite the message you want to share over breakfast. Eli then taught Samuel to be brave. He must share the message, no matter how difficult that may be. Eli’s response to the condemning message taught Samuel that the words of the Lord are good (3:18).

Samuel’s training as a prophet occurs only in two brief episodes. But from these we may gather a few insights about spiritual education. First, Samuel gained core knowledge about listening to the Lord: differentiating the Lord’s still small voice from other competing sounds, delivering a reverential response to the Lord, displaying the appropriate disposition toward the Lord, and conveying the message properly despite one’s own reticence.

Second, Samuel was guided toward mastery right from the outset. There is a right way to interact with the Lord, and there is a right way to share the Lord’s message with his people. Eli’s training of Samuel in this respect can be contrasted with the training of his own sons. For Samuel, only perfect execution of the task would be acceptable. We learn that Samuel continued to grow as a prophet, never letting the words he received from the Lord “fall to the ground” (3:19). Samuel’s reputation throughout Israel grew as well, being acknowledged as a true prophet. The Lord continued to reveal himself to Israel through Samuel from that point forward (3:21).

Finally, Samuel became the key leader for Israel in a time of great need. The Philistines utterly defeated Israel, taking the ark of the covenant. The upheaval in light of this decisive defeat promoted Samuel to a place of leadership drawing upon his skill both as prophet and priest. Samuel became the last judge of Israel before the monarchy, he himself being the prophet who identified and anointed Saul. We can trace Samuel’s mastery as a leader of Israel back to the personalized training he received from Eli. While Eli may have had his shortcomings in training up his own sons, the coaching he provided to Samuel guided him carefully along a path toward gaining a prophetic voice that guided Israel through many years of hardship.

The Training of Elisha

The story of Elisha’s training differs from that of Samuel in many respects. Elijah, the master prophet, found Elisha plowing his father’s fields (1 Kings 19:19). Elijah wraps his cloak around him, which Elisha seems to instinctively understand as his calling to be apprenticed to Elijah. He kisses his father and mother and follows Elijah, becoming his assistant (19:21). Elisha’s apprenticeship lasted roughly five years, the three final years of Ahab’s reign (22:1) and the almost two years of Ahaziah’s reign (22:51). In this interval, we only learn of two major events in Elijah’s prophetic career. In one instance, he challenges Ahab for acquiring the vineyard of Naboth by murder (21:1-29). Later Elijah denounces Ahaziah for sending messengers to inquire of Baal in Ekron (2 Kings 1:13-18). Throughout these events Elisha’s name never occurs, but we can assume Elijah’s assistant is there as a silent observer all along.

During these five years, we learn nothing of Elisha’s course of study. We can only assume and imagine long hours spent together. There are many details, though, in the transition narrative of 2 Kings 2 that provide insight into Elijah’s prophetic guild. Elijah was a master prophet, having delivered messages of challenge to two kings of the northern tribe. There seems to have been a thriving group of apprentices under his care. The transition narrative takes the master and his apprentice to several locations where the prophetic guilds resided. We can imagine that an element of the transition narrative was to complete Elisha’s training and establish him as the head over the prophetic guilds in place of Elijah.

Elisha’s call was geared towards taking up a leading role as someone who would oversee the established guilds and provide a guiding hand in its future direction. The transition narrative of 2 Kings 2 depicts the promotion of Elisha to this new leadership role. The “sons of the prophets” are first mentioned in 2 Kings 2:7 as Elisha accompanies Elijah across the Jordan. After Elijah is taken up, Elisha returns bearing Elijah’s cloak and the sons of the prophets exclaim, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They prostrated themselves before Elisha, indicating their submission to him as their new leader. From this point forward, Elisha carries out a prophetic program very similar to that of Elijah, with several of his prophetic acts echoing those of his predecessor.

Elisha’s apprenticeship to Elijah and his call to be a master prophet provides a couple important ideas for us to consider as educators. First, the relationship between Elijah and Elisha is that of a mentor and apprentice. The text shapes our understanding of the last five years of Elijah’s ministry as a time when Elisha was right there with him. They walked and talked together. One of the ways I see this playing out in our day is time spent with students outside the classroom. Having lunches together with your students can be more formative than the content delivered in class. My wife and I have intentionally opened our home to students for get togethers. Retreats and class trips are other times when we can share experiences. The students gain insight into how you live your life as a human being rather than just seeing you as a one-dimensional teacher.

Second, we can see how Elisha went through a rite of passage. Granted, he was taking up a significant role in actually replacing the departed Elijah, and I don’t imagine our students are regularly replacing us in such a manner. But I like how the text depicts Elisha literally taking up the mantle of responsibility and being recognized by a group of peers. Schools should develop traditions and roles that promote new levels of leadership, responsibility and privilege. One school that I visited in Pennsylvania had the grammar school on the first floor and the secondary school on the second floor. At the end of each year, a ceremony was performed where the sixth graders moved up to the second floor, being welcomed by the upper school students. These kinds of traditions can be so powerful in recognizing the new levels your students are achieving. At my school, there is a student leadership group that students can apply for. These leaders get to plan and implement events, they participate in a mentorship program and they coordinate service opportunities.

Educating the Prophetic Voice

We are developing a prophetic voice in our students, and the model of the Old Testament prophets is instructive. It is important to clarify that prophecy in its classical form had little to do with predicting the future. Even after the transition to apocalyptic, the role of futuristic visions had less to do with some kind of mystical prediction and more to do with addressing the then present concerns of the community. The classic prophets sought to maintain the fidelity of the nation’s adherence to their covenant with the one true God. Prophetic utterance was extremely relevant to the current events of their time and to the daily lives of the people of Israel. The prophets by challenging the community often came into conflict with the institutions of power, namely the monarchy and at times the priesthood. Yet, the centers of power could exist in harmony. Samuel exemplified this as he was simultaneously prophet, priest and judge. The national outcry for a king, though, amounted to an affront against Samuel and by extension God. Thus, a king was anointed who seemed to meet with approbation, but was ultimately rejected by God in favor of a man after God’s own heart. Both Saul and then David had prophets at their elbows evaluating their policies in light of God’s revealed covenant with his people. From this we can gather that the prophetic voice is one that aligns with God’s revealed will and addresses the institutions of culture to challenge and correct them so that God’s people are appropriately shepherded.

As we train our students, we are providing them not only with the information and knowledge they will need to secure a college acceptance, a good job and a decent wage. We are raising them up as heirs of a cultural tradition so that they can both protect and defend that which is true, good and beautiful, but also to speak out again the inevitable corruption of that crops up due to our fallen humanity. How does this occur today in our classrooms? First, we must see as one of our most compelling aims the training of our students as spiritual beings. We must help them to listen for the still, small voice of the Lord. In practical terms, we need to provide training in how to meditate on God’s word, how to pray, and how to articulate what it is they sense God is placing upon their hearts. There is no singular program we can follow to make this happen in a student’s heart. And we cannot expect that every student’s journey will look exactly the same. Yet we should trust the efficacy of God’s word, which means that our classrooms should be places steeped in scripture and prayer.

Second, we should be self-consciously modelling for our students this meditative and prayerful disposition. We must be careful here to avoid dogma and overt displays of piety. But if we are authentic in our own responsiveness to the message of scripture and demonstrate the role of prayer in our own lives, the students that are given into our care will see a pathway forward in their own lives. I want to clarify that training and mentoring is not about sermonizing or indoctrinating our students in our own views on religion, politics or culture. I myself almost never share my own views. Instead, we are trying to cultivate the skills in our students that will enable them to speak for themselves and engage the issues the Lord places upon their hearts. I find it much more helpful to allow them to speak their own viewpoints, to debate with one another, and for me to play devil’s advocate when it seems necessary.

Other articles in this series, Training the Prophetic Voice:

Part 1: The Educational Heart of God

Part 2: Speaking Truth to Power

Part 4: Jesus as Prophetic Trainer

Part 5: Internalizing the Prophetic Message

Part 6: Classical Rhetoric for the Modern World

The post Training the Prophetic Voice, Part 3: The Schools of the Prophets appeared first on .

The greatest liability of education is an undue focus on the intellect. One of the chief concerns teachers have when they plan their lessons is the conveyance of knowledge. This is indeed an important aspect of teaching. But this is not the only aspect of teaching and perhaps actually not the most important, despite the fact that the intellect or mind would seem to be the chief organ we’re concerned with in education. This misunderstanding of our educational aims has the potential to misalign our goals and strategies as educators.

In previous posts, I have shown how a focus on intellectual knowledge has been the chief concern of educational thinkers and policy makers over the past several decades, who boil down the intellect to standards of intellectual achievement measured by standardized testing. Don’t get me wrong, the intellect needs to be trained and it is a lofty goal for educators to train the minds of our young ones.

The point I will make here, though, is that there is so much more to a person than just their intellect, and that it is essential for educators to consider the whole person if we are to properly align our goals and strategies. If the mind is not the only organ of learning, then we do our students a disservice by only training that organ. As we explore what it means to educate the whole person, we will draw upon the wisdom of ancient and modern thinkers as they express the power of habit training.

“With All Your Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength”

When we speak about the whole person, what do we mean? Let us consider the human person from a biblical perspective. Human beings are embodied souls. The concept of imago Dei in Genesis 1:26-27 means there is a spark of divinity that resides within each individual person. The embodiment of this divine spark means, however, that we are physical creatures, existing temporally, regulated by the laws of our natural universe. The imago Dei connects us to our creator such that our soul’s greatest desire is to relate to God. The Hebrew Bible expresses this in terms of a law:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deut. 6:5)

This tripartite expression of our personhood considers three organs: heart, soul, and body. This tripartite division, though, is not as cut and dried as we might want. Ancient thinkers as well as Christian theologians have noted the will, conscience, intuition, reason, imagination, emotion and, yes, the intellect as other constituent parts of our being. Grappling with what we are and what we are made of is not a straightforward exercise. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 in Mark 12:30 and includes an interesting word:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

The mind has now been added to the list. Matthew and Luke condense the list back down to three – soul, mind and strength – combining heart and mind as synonyms for the same organ. The biblical testimony is that we are complex creatures, multifaceted, resonant with our Creator, and fit with diverse organs that operate a wide array of human functions.

In his book You Are What You Love, James K. A. Smith connects our multifaceted nature to learning. He writes:

Every approach to discipleship and Christian formation assumes an implicit model of what human beings are. While these assumption usually remain unarticulated, we nonetheless work with some fundamental (though unstated) assumptions about what sorts of creatures we are—and therefore what sorts of learners we are. If being a disciple is being a learner and follower of Jesus, then a lot hinges on what you think ‘learning’ is. And what you think learning is hinges on what you think human beings are. In other words, your understanding of discipleship will reflect a set of working assumptions about the very nature of human beings, even if you’ve never asked yourself such questions.

Smith, You Are What You Love, 2-3

What Smith enables us to see is that our model of learning and discipleship hinges on our model of human nature. If we fundamentally think of human beings as physical creatures, our model of teaching will be like training. If we fundamentally think of human beings as intellectual, our model for teaching becomes knowledge transfer. Smith challenges the latter of these understandings of human beings, noting that an intellectual model of “assumes that learning (and hence discipleship) is primarily a matter of depositing ideas and beliefs into mind-containers” (3). One might expect Smith to draw upon James for support (“I will show you my faith by my works”), but he actually turns to Paul, quoting his prayer in Philippians 9-11. The key phrase for him is “that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.” We can note along with Smith that the order is not that knowledge may abound, although the mind is not far behind. Instead it is that love may abound.

There is a very different model of the human person at work here. Instead of the rationalist, intellectualist model that implies, “You are what you think,” Paul’s prayer hints at a very different conviction:

“You are what you love.” | What if, instead of starting from the assumption that human beings are thinking things, we started from the conviction that human beings are first and foremost lovers?”

Smith, You Are What You Love, 7

For Smith, the heart better models the seat of learning and discipleship than the mind. This shift in models for learning means that education is not merely knowledge work, but the cultivation of affections. In order to cultivate the whole person in this fuller understanding of what it means to be a human being, habit training becomes an essential tool for learning.

Common Grace Habits

Training the heart comes by instilling habits. This concept, though, has often raised questions in the minds of Christian parents and educators. We can only love because he first loved us. The work of justification and sanctification comes through the work of the Holy Spirit. Isn’t habit training a circumvention of God’s work in our lives?

Jason has written previously on habit training, connecting the dots between moral virtues as expressed by Plato and Aristotle and the Christian doctrine of common grace. His point was so well made that it deserves rearticulation here. He makes the point that even though human beings are born fallen, depraved and sinful,

“human society would completely fly off the rails if God did not also grant the grace of moral virtue, distributed generally (i.e. in common) to people, regardless of their spiritual condition.”

Jason goes on to distinguish the theological virtues of faith, hope and love, which we would say are “imparted by the Holy Spirit as a result of true repentance,” and the cardinal virtues (such as courage, temperance and prudence), which are cultivated by habit or practice. We hear similar refrains from Aristotle and from the wisdom tradition in the Old Testament. In his Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle writes, “The virtues (αἱ ἀρεταί) on the other hand we acquire by first having actually practised them (ἐνεργήσαντες).” (Nichomachean Ethics 2:1 or 1103a15-b25; trans. H. Rackham).

A similar refrain echoes in Psalm 111:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.” Or consider Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” The wise and virtuous person acquires good habits through training or practice.

Returning to our theme, it is noteworthy that virtue and wisdom are acquired through a process that is fairly physical in nature. Constant repetition, like a gymnast practicing a routine or a baseball player repeatedly swinging a bat, is the impression these passages leave us with. This is far more effective than a mere appeal to the intellect by way of a lecture.

Christ Our Habitude

Building on Jason’s work regarding the connection between habit training and common grace, I would like to make the case for habit training as likewise essential to our understanding of saving grace. It is a common misunderstanding of the doctrine of justification by faith apart from works to think that human effort has no place in God’s salvific work. One might call upon James to make this point (“I will show you my faith by my works”), but we can find this point made repeatedly in Paul.

In 1 Timothy 4, Paul exhorts Timothy to train disciples in the faith, “being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.” We might tend to focus on Paul’s injunction in 4:11, “Command and teach these things.” This is quickly followed by Paul telling Timothy to devote himself to “the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” Here is the appeal to the intellect, right? However, we should examine the advice Paul gives Timothy leading up to this command.

Paul says in 4:7, “train yourself for godliness” equating this to bodily training in 4:8, noting that training in godliness is of greater importance to bodily training. Paul notes that we toil and strive in this pursuit of godliness, secure in the “hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” (4:10). So it is not actually an appeal to the intellect that Paul advises, but that Timothy should command and teach this very physical pursuit of godliness. Timothy himself should be an example in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, laying out the pathway his disciples should follow in their pursuit of godliness. This is a very active faith.

Paul’s advice to Timothy resonates with what he writes to the Philippians. Here we can clarify the uselessness of works or effort as it relates to merit. Paul writes in Philippians 3:9 that he is “found in him, not having a righteousness of [his] own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” Human works are worthless in terms of meriting salvation. God saves based on the work of Christ, which is appropriated through faith, not by works.

However, Paul goes on to describe a faith that is very active. “I press on,” he writes in 3:12, “to make it my own.” Paul is making a habitation in Christ. When a person is justified, they now live “in Christ.” We take on the habits that are consistent with Christ, training out the bad habits and training in the good habits so that our lives become more and more conformed to the image of Christ Jesus.

Christian discipleship according to Paul is a putting on of Christ Jesus. This is what it means to take up our cross daily. We become habituated through regularly reconnecting with the cross of Christ. Habit training as a spiritual exercise enable us to live in Christ, to have Christ as our habitude.

Daily Spiritual Habits

Education is not merely about training the intellect. Our exploration of theological concepts has assisted us in conceptualizing how habit training permeates the entirety of God’s grace in our lives. Education deals with the heart and soul as much as it deals with the mind. To that end I would like to briefly consider a number of daily habits worthy of consideration.

Pray always. That’s a tall order. How many of us faced with the immensity of constant prayer wind up never praying, even though we are intellectually committed to the benefits of prayer. Establishing a daily habit of prayer takes some planning. If you would like to grow in consistency of prayer, attach prayer to an already established habit. If you make coffee for yourself every morning, add prayer to that routine. Maybe brushing your teeth every evening is a solid habit. Build another habit on top of it by spending some time in prayer afterwards.

To form habits, one must be able to accomplish something regularly and consistently. So don’t set yourself a goal of an hour in prayer every day if you haven’t done five minutes consistently. Instead, set a small goal – like five minutes – that you know you can do automatically every time. You are likely to do more, but your small goal means you are more likely to follow through each time.

Gratitude has become a catchphrase in positive psychology these days. Yet Scripture calls us to give thanks regularly. For instance, steadfast prayer is coupled with thanksgiving in Colossians 4:2. In the rush of our daily routines, it can be difficult to pause and reflect on the good God has accomplished in our lives each and every day. Just like prayer, we can add a moment of thanksgiving into our daily routines.

There are many practices faithful Christians have found meaningful for their lives. Perhaps there’s a practice you feel called to make a regular part of your life. Personal habit training can be a means to a deeper walk with God in Christ.

If you would like to learn more about habit training, download my free eBook A Guide to Implementing Habit Training.

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