We teach them every day by example, if not by precept, and example is the
teacher whose lessons are followed easiest. What can be worse for a
child than to have a parent who teaches his children to sin? Perhaps at
the Day of Judgment, the most terrible sights will be where children will
reproach father or mother or both, for shewing them the way to the left
hand of God!
XLV. A SERVICE IN THE OLDEN TIME.
NEHEMIAH viii.
I.--The Congregation.
All who could understand were present (verses 2-3). None should absent
themselves from public worship and the preaching of God's word, except
infants and idiots.
II.--The Behaviour of the Hearers.
We are told (verse 3) "All the people were attentive." There are some
who go to God's house, and make such poor use of their ears, that they
will wish at the Judgment Day they had been born deaf. We read also of
the reverence of the people. They "stood up" to listen, and joined in
the prayer with a great "Amen!" What a scene we have depicted in verses
5-6.
III.--The Preachers.
There was a PULPIT, but not the tub-like thing that we see in some
places--it held more than a dozen. It would be high enough for all the
people to hear and see. But Ezra had more sense than to have it so high
that he and his helpers were separated from their hearers. Pulpits
should help, not hinder the preacher.