Let us think of the godly father in Israel, teaching his little children the law of the Lord. In those days men did not have such nicely shaped books as we now have; the words of the law of God were written on long pieces of skin, wound up around a roller. The father would hold this roll and teach his children from it.
The God of Israel was very particular 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. 31:12-13). 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 only say that the early training by a pious mother is the greatest blessing any child can have.
Searching the Scriptures
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. 29:29.) Indeed, the teaching of the Word of God to the children was not only insisted upon in the Scriptures, but was practiced diligently in Judea in the times of our Lord.
We would earnestly press upon every Christian parent the solemn necessity of teaching the children the great truths of the Bible. Children are always pleased to search out things in Scripture. They find great interest in looking out for themselves, 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, and 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 on 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. In this day of growing infidelity, what greater joy can godly parents have than seeing their children delighting in the Word of God?
Faithful Words for Young and Old, Vol. 13