It was in the school supremely adapted to divine ends that Jehovah,
trained his people to be his spokesmen to the world.

[Sidenote: _Guided by unique spiritual teachers_]

Other peoples, however, had their crises and yet had no such message as
did the Israelites. What made the crises in the history of the
Israelites richly fruitful in ethical and spiritual truth was the
presence within their midst of certain devoted, responsive teachers, and
especially the prophets, who guided them in their time of peril,
interpreted its significance, and appealed to the awakened conscience of
the nation. Like begets like. At the beginning of Israel's history
stands the great prophet Moses, and during the long centuries that
followed the voice of the prophets was rarely hushed.

[Sidenote: _Taught by inspired prophets_]

In seeking the ultimate answer to our question, How were the Israelites
prepared to be the chosen people, we are confronted by a miracle that
baffles our power to analyze: it is the supreme fact that the Spirit of
the Almighty touched the spirit of certain men in ancient Israel so that
they became seers and prophets. This is their own testimony, and their
deeds and words amply confirm it. The experiences of men to-day also
demonstrate its possibility. Indeed it is not surprising, but most
natural, that the one supreme Personality in the universe should reveal
himself to and through human minds, and that the most enlightened men of
the most spiritually enlightened race should be the recipients of the
fullest and most perfect revelation. It is the truth that they thus
perceived, and then proclaimed by word and deed and pen, that completed
the preparation of the chosen people, for it was none other than the