I have a message for those standing at the head of our educational institutions. I am instructed
to call the attention of every one occupying a position of responsibility, to the divine law as the
basis of all right conduct. I am to begin by calling attention to the law given in Eden, and to the
reward of obedience and the penalty of disobedience.
In consequence of Adam's transgression, sin was introduced into the fair world that God had
created, and men and women became more and still more bold in disobeying His law. The Lord
looked down upon the impenitent world, and decided that He must give transgressors an
exhibition of His power. He caused Noah to know His purpose, and instructed him to warn the
people while building an ark in which the obedient could find shelter until God's indignation was
overpast. For one hundred and twenty years Noah proclaimed the message of warning to the
antediluvian world; but only a few repented. Some of the carpenters he employed in building the
ark, believed the message, but died before the flood; others of Noah's converts backslid. The
righteous on the earth were but few, and only eight lived to enter the ark. These were Noah and
his family.
The rebellious race was swept away by the flood. Death was their portion. By the fulfillment
of the prophetic warning that all who would not keep the commandments of heaven should drink
the waters of the flood, the truth of God's word was exemplified.
After the flood the people once more increased on the earth, and wickedness also increased.
Idolatry became well-nigh universal, and the Lord finally left the hardened transgressors to
follow their evil ways, while He chose Abraham, of the line of Shem, and made him the keeper
of His law for future
generations. To him the message came, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and
from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee." And by faith Abraham obeyed. "He
went out, not knowing whither he went."
Abraham's seed multiplied, and at length Jacob and his sons and their families went down into
Egypt. Here they and their descendants sojourned for many years, till at last the Lord called them
out, to lead them into the land of Canaan. It was His purpose to make of this nation of slaves a
people who would reveal His character to the idolatrous nations of the world. Had they been
obedient to His word, they would soon have entered the promised land. But they were
disobedient and rebellious, and for forty years they journeyed in the wilderness. Only two of the
adults who left Egypt entered Canaan.
It was during the wilderness wandering of the Israelites that God gave them His law. He led
them to Sinai, and there, amid scenes of awful grandeur, proclaimed the ten commandments.
We may with profit study the record of the preparation made by the congregation of Israel for
the hearing of the law. "In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the
land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. For they were departed from
Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness: and there
Israel camped before the mount. And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out
of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:
Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought
you unto Myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye
shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine."
Who, then, is to be regarded as the Ruler of the nations?-- The Lord God Omnipotent. All
kings, all rulers, all nations, are His under His rule and government.
"And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these
words which the Lord commanded him."
What was the response of the congregation, numbering more than a million people?
"And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.
And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord."
Thus the children of Israel were denominated as a special people. By a most solemn covenant
they were pledged to be true to God.
Then the people were bidden to prepare themselves to hear the law. On the morning of the
third day the voice of God was heard. Speaking out of the thick darkness that enshrouded Him, as
He stood upon the mount, surrounded by a retinue of angels, the Lord made known His law.
God accompanied the proclamation of His law with manifestations of His power and glory,
that His people might be impressed with a profound veneration for the Author of the law, the
Creator of heaven and earth. He would also show to all men the sacredness, the importance, and
the permanence of His law.
The people of Israel were overwhelmed with terror. They shrank away from the mountain in
fear and awe. The multitude cried out to Moses, "Speak thou with us, but let not God speak with
us, lest we die."
The minds of the people, blinded and debased by slavery, were not prepared to appreciate
fully the far-reaching principles of God's ten precepts. That the obligations of the decalogue
might be more fully understood and enforced, additional precepts were given, illustrating and
applying the precepts of the ten commandments. Unlike the decalogue, these were delivered
privately to Moses, who was to communicate them to the people.
Upon descending from the mountain, Moses "came and
told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with
one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do. And Moses wrote all the
words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and
twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of
Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord. And
Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All
that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it
on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you
concerning all these words."
Thus by a most solemn service the children of Israel were once more set apart as a peculiar
people. The sprinkling of the blood represented the shedding of the blood of Jesus, by which
human beings are cleansed from sin.
Once more the Lord has special words to speak to His people. In the thirty-first chapter of
Exodus we read:
"The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying,
Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your
generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. . . . Wherefore the
children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for
a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the
Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed. And He gave
unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of
testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God."
Many other scriptures on the sacredness of God's law have been presented before me. Scene
after scene, reaching down to the present time, passed before me. The word spoken by God to
Israel was verified. The people disobeyed, and only two of the adults who left Egypt entered
Canaan. The rest died in the wilderness. Will not the Lord today vindicate His word if the leaders
of His people depart from His commandments?
I was referred to the fourth chapter of Deuteronomy. The whole of this chapter is to be
studied. Notice particularly the statement: "Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine
heart, that the Lord He is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
Thou shalt keep therefore His statutes, and His commandments, which I command thee this day,
that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy
days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, forever."
The eighth and eleventh chapters of Deuteronomy also mean much to us. The lessons that
they contain are of the greatest importance, and are given to us as verily as to the Israelites. In the
eleventh chapter God says:
"Behold I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; a blessing if ye obey the
commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: and a curse, if ye will not
obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command
you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known."
I have been instructed, as God's messenger, to dwell particularly upon the record of Moses' sin
and its sad result, as a solemn lesson to those in positions of responsibility in our schools, and
especially to those acting as presidents of these institutions.
Of Moses God's word declares, "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men
which were upon the face of the earth." Long had he borne with the rebellion and obstinacy
of Israel. But at last his patience gave way. They were on the borders of the promised land. But
before they entered Canaan, they must show that they believed God's promise. The supply of
water ceased. Here was an opportunity for them to walk by faith instead of by sight. But they
forgot the hand that for so many years had supplied their wants, and instead of turning to God for
help, they murmured against Him.
Their cries were directed against Moses and Aaron: "Why have ye brought up the
congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? And
wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? It is no
place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink."
The two brothers went before the multitude. But instead of speaking to the rock, as God had
directed, Moses smote the rock angrily, crying, "Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water
out of this rock?"
Bitter and deeply humiliating was the judgment immediately pronounced. "The Lord spake
unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed Me not, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of
Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them." With
rebellious Israel they must die before crossing the Jordan.
From the experience of Moses the Lord would have His people learn that when they do that
which gives prominence to self, His work is neglected, and He is dishonored. The Lord will work
counter to those who work counter to Him. His name, and His alone, is to be magnified on the
earth.
For more than twenty years strange things have at different times been coming in among us.
Those who have become unfaithful, who have not exalted the principles of righteousness, need
now to seek the Lord with deep humiliation of soul, and be converted, that God may heal their
transgressions.
The one standing at the head of a school is to put his undivided interests into the work of
making the school just what the Lord designed it to be. If he is ambitious to climb higher and still
higher, if he gets above the real virtues of his work, and above its simplicity, and disregards the
holy principles of heaven, let him learn from the experience of Moses that the Lord will surely
manifest His displeasure because of his failure to reach the standard set before him.
Especially should the president of a school look carefully after the finances of the institution.
He should understand the underlying principles of bookkeeping. He is faithfully to report the use
of all moneys passing through his hand for the use of the school. The funds of the school are not
to be overdrawn, but every effort is to be made to increase the usefulness of the school. Those
intrusted with the financial management of our educational institutions, must allow no
carelessness in the expenditure of means. Everything connected with the finances of our schools
should be perfectly straight. The Lord's way must be strictly followed, though this may not be in
harmony with the ways of man.
To those in charge of our schools I would say, Are you making God and His law your delight?
Are the principles that you follow, sound and pure and unadulterated? Are you keeping
yourselves, in the life practice, under the control of God? Do you see the necessity of obeying
Him in every particular? If you are tempted to appropriate the money coming into the school, in
ways that bring no special benefit to the school, your standard of principle needs to be carefully
criticized, that the time may not come when you will have to be criticized and found wanting.
Who is your bookkeeper? Who is your treasurer? Who is your business manager? Are they
careful and competent? Look to this. It is possible for money to be misappropriated without
anyone's understanding clearly how it came about; and it is possible for a school to be losing
continually because of unwise expenditures. Those in
charge may feel this loss keenly, and yet suppose they have done their best. But why do they
permit debts to accumulate? Let those in charge of a school find out each month the true financial
standing of the school.
My brethren in responsibility, exalt the law of Christ's kingdom by giving to it willing
obedience. If you are not yourselves under the control of the Ruler of the universe, how can you
obey His law, as required in His word? Those who are placed in positions of authority are the
very ones who need most fully to realize their amenability to God's law and the importance of
obeying all His requirements.
In some respects, many of those connected with our schools should be standing on a higher
platform. We know that it is the determined purpose of some to be obedient to every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Such men and women will be given power of intellect to
discern the difference between righteousness and unrighteousness. They have the faith that works
by love and purifies the soul, and they reveal God to the world.
We all need to gain a much deeper experience in the things of God than we have gained. Self
is to die, and Christ is to take possession of the soul temple. Physicians, ministers, teachers, and
all others in responsible positions, must learn the humility of Christ before He can be revealed in
them. Too often self is so important an agency in the life of a man that the Lord is not able to
mold and fashion him. Self rules on the right hand and on the left, and the man presses his way
forward as he pleases. Christ says to self, "Stand out of My path. Whosoever will come after Me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. Then I can accept him as My
disciple. In order to serve Me acceptably, he must do the work I have given him in harmony with
My instructions."-- Review and Herald, August 16, 23, 1906.