"“Students should be given a practical education in agriculture. This will be of inestimable value to many in their future work. The training to be obtained in felling trees and in tilling the soil, as well as in literary lines, is the education that our youth should seek to obtain. Agriculture will open resources for self-support. Other lines of work, adapted to different students, may also be carried on. But the cultivation of the land will bring a special blessing to the workers. We should so train the youth that they will love to engage in the cultivation of the soil. CT 311.1"
"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
While Genesis 3:19 is a consequence of the fall, it establishes the connection between labor and the soil. EGW's passage advocates for agricultural training, suggesting a positive and beneficial relationship with the land, which can be seen as a redemptive application of the principle in Genesis.
"“There should be opened to the youth means whereby many may, while attending school, learn the trade of carpentry. Under the guidance of experienced workmen, carpenters who are apt to teach, patient, and kind, the youth should be taught how to build substantially and economically. Cottages and other buildings essential to the various lines of schoolwork are to be erected by the students themselves. These buildings should not be crowded close together, or built near the school buildings proper. In the management of the schoolwork, small companies should be formed, who should be taught to carry a full sense of their responsibility. All these things cannot be accomplished at once, but we can begin to work in faith.” CT 311.2"
"And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the Lord hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work."
Both passages highlight the importance of skilled craftsmanship and the value of learning trades like carpentry. The Exodus passage describes God empowering individuals with skills for building, while the EGW passage advocates for carpentry training in schools, drawing a parallel between divine empowerment and practical education.