“And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well.” Nehemiah 2:12-13
“Mom, STOP!” I stopped, and so did the story of Nehemiah and the beast he was riding upon. “Let’s turn all the lights off and read this by flashlight!” our oldest son said, with eyes full of boyish adventure.
“Good idea! Go get your flashlights and your pillows!” Daddy worked nights so I had to lead in reading God’s Word with the boys in the evenings. Soon everyone returned and we put our heads together like the hub of a large spoke wagon wheel in the middle of our living room floor. Living way out in the country made it very dark without the lights! With our Bibles illuminated by our flashlights, and with as hushed a voice as I could, we proceeded once more with Nehemiah.
“By night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned” (Neh. 2:12-15). I will never forget the effect that spontaneous change made in how the boys responded to our Bible reading that night. A little creativity can be very helpful in both learning and remembering God’s Word. “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading” (Neh. 8:8).