Where did Daniel and his three companions obtain the education which enabled them successfully to pass the examination required by King Nebuchadnezzar? Where did they obtain an education which made them "skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, [and which gave them] ability" (Daniel 1:4) in all these things? It must be borne in mind that these words mean more in themselves, and to Daniel and to us, than at that time they meant even to Nebuchadnezzar. For instance, the word "wisdom" meant to Daniel, and means in itself, "the fear of Jehovah." (Job 28:28)
But Nebuchadnezzar at that time, being an idolater, had no respect for Jehovah; therefore the word meant to him only respect for the gods in general.
Where, then, did they get this superior instruction and education? Without hesitation it can be answered, In a "school of the prophets," the divinely established schools in Israel. There was at that time a "college," or "school of the prophets," in Jerusalem. For in the eighteenth year of Josiah, king of Judah, which was only fifteen years before the captivity of Daniel, there is the clear record of such a school in Jerusalem.
In the eighteenth year of Josiah, while at his command the temple was being cleansed and repaired from the abominations of Manasseh and Amon, a copy of the Pentateuch, or "book of the law of the Lord by Moses," (2 Chronicles 34:14) was found by Hilkiah the priest. "Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan [the scribe;] And Shaphan carried the book to the king, ... And ... read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes." (2 Chronicles 34:15-16,18-19)
And he commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Shaphan the scribe, and others: "Go, enquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found. And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess...now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college [margin, "in the school"], and they spoke to her to that effect." (2 Chronicles 34:21-22)
Here was, in Jerusalem, a college, or school, in which "dwelt" the prophetess. This at once shows this school to have been a school of the prophets, because that which made those schools the schools of the prophets was the fact that a prophet dwelt with the school, and was, under God, the head of the school. This fact is revealed in the two other instances in which they are mentioned: "They saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them." (1 Samuel 19:20)
In 2 Kings 6:1-6 we meet again "the sons of the prophets," and Elisha the prophet is dwelling with them; for they said to Elisha: "The place where we dwell with you is too strait for us." (2 Kings 6:1) Thus we find three schools of the prophets in three widely separated ages,--the age of Samuel, the age of Elisha, and the age of Josiah,--and in each instanced a prophet is dwelling in the school.
These three passages were written to give us information as to the schools of the prophets. And first, they show why these schools were called schools of the prophets-because a prophet was the head of the school; they show also that the college, or school, in Jerusalem, in which dwelt Huldah the prophetess, was a school of the prophets as certainly as was the school where dwelt Elisha the prophet or Samuel the prophet.
It was, then, in a school of the prophets, in the Lord's school, where Daniel and his three companions obtained the education of which we read in Daniel 1:4,--the education which made them "skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding sciences," and gave them "ability" in all these.
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 Samuel 10:5-12, when Saul came to the hill of God, [and met] a company of prophets coming down" (1 Samuel 10:5) 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." (1 Samuel 10:10,9,6,11)
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?" (1 Samuel 10:12)
It is evident, then, that in that school of the prophets, the Spirit of God prevailed to such an extent that an exceptionally hard case was converted by coming under the living influence of that Spirit in the school.
Yet this was not an exceptional manifestation of the power of the Spirit of God in the school of the prophets; this was but the usual degree of the manifestation of the Spirit in the school. For we find after this, when Saul, by disobedience to God and jealousy of David, had separated himself from the Spirit, and was constantly seeking to kill David, that 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." (1 Samuel 19:18-19)
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." (1 Samuel 19:20-21)
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." (1 Samuel 19:22-23)
All this shows, and it was written to tell us, that the Holy Spirit was the all-pervading influence and the all-controlling power in the schools of the prophets. So fully was this so, that stern, hardhearted, and even exceptionally unspiritual men were melted and subdued by His gracious influence whenever they came in contact with the school.
All this 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," (Revelation 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. A prophet was with the schools, through whom the testimony of Jesus was made known for the guidance of the school, and the Spirit of God was the great instructor of the students.
This is not to say that there was never more than one such school at a time; for in the time of Samuel there were at least two: nor is it to say that when there were more than one, there was necessarily a prophet dwelling permanently in each school; for in the time of Samuel there were at least two of the schools, yet there was but one prophet--Samuel himself. It is only to say that a prophet was in charge, whether there was one school or more; and that the Spirit of prophecy was the great guide and instructor therein, whether there was one school, or whether there were more than one.
And all this is to teach 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.
Next we shall inquire, What were the studies in the schools of the prophets, and especially in the school where Daniel was educated?--Advent Review, February 1, 1898.