YOU remember the Mesusah, of which we spoke on page 120; let us now think of the godly father in Israel, teaching his little children the law of the Lord. In the olden days men had not such nicely shaped books as we now have, but the words of the law of God were written on long pieces of skin, wound up round a roller. In our picture you will observe that the father is holding this roll, and teaching his children from it.
Most particular was the God of Israel that the little children should be taught His commandments, as this one passage suffices to show: “Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law; and that their children, which have not known anything, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God.” (Deut. 31:12, 1312Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: 13And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it. (Deuteronomy 31:12‑13).) And none the less in these our days does our God look to godly parents to teach the young His holy Word. In the New Testament we find how that from his babyhood Timothy had known the Holy Scriptures: his godly grandmother, Lois, and his mother, Eunice, instructed him well in the holy words which are able to make us wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus; and as we think of this, we can but say that the early training by a pious mother is the greatest blessing any man can have.
As well as the large rolls or books, there used to be little rolls for the children containing portions of the Scriptures, so that they might be made familiar with the great truths God has revealed, which the scripture says, “belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:2929The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29).) You observe in the top right-hand corner of our picture several rolls in a cupboard, some of which seem to be the little ones for the children. Indeed the teaching of the word of God to the children was not only insisted upon in the Scriptures, but was practiced diligently in Judæa in the times of our Lord. The boy sitting down is busy writing out some portion of the sacred word.
We would earnestly press upon every Christian parent the solemn necessity of teaching the children the great truths of the Bible. Children are ever pleased to search out things in Scripture. They find great interest in looking out for their parents, or, if too young for that, with their parents, Bible truths as to the Holy Trinity; the hatred of God against sin; the greatness of God’s love to sinners; the value of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ; the everlasting existence of man hereafter; or other great truths God has revealed to us.
Every child in every Christian home should know something at least of such truths, and we are assured that with a parent’s encouragement, the children would delight in searching the Scriptures. The Lord bids us search or explore the Scriptures! We look for things when with our children in our walks, and everything we find in nature fills us with interest. In the word of God there are beauties and wonders in every page, but searching is needed. And in our day those children who have been grounded in the word of God will rise up and call their parents blessed, and in this day of growing infidelity, what greater joy can godly parents have than seeing their children delighting in the word of God?