Teach Them Diligently Unto Thy Children

One of the themes of the book of Deuteronomy is the need to teach our children about the Lord and His commandments and goodness. Moses taught the people: “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children” (4:9-10). He urged the people not to forget the things which the Lord had done and then to teach them to their children and grandchildren. He said again concerning the words of the Lord: “And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (6:7). We should constantly seek to teach the words of the scriptures to our children, whether in our homes or by the way or as we go to sleep or wake in the morning. He similarly taught in another passage: “Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (11:18-19). The children of Israel were to literally wear the words of the scriptures on themselves and then teach those words at all times to their children.

                Other passages similarly emphasize the need for the Israelites to teach their children of the Lord. He wanted to make sure that the mighty works He had done for them in delivering them out of Egypt would be remembered: “And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded you? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: And the Lord shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day” (6:20-24). Surely this counsel has great application for us—as we see the hand of the Lord in our lives and experience His miracles, we must be sure to record those and share them with our children. They should know not only that the Lord delivered the children of Israel from Egypt many thousands of years ago, but also what He has done for our families this past week or month or year. Moses said again, “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 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” (31:12-13). We should be frequently gathering together our children to help them understand the words of the Lord so that they can also learn to “observe to do” all that He has commanded us: “Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law” (32:46). As we set our hearts upon the words of the scriptures and living prophets in our day, we will naturally be led to share and teach and testify of those to our children so they too can understand and learn to fear the Lord. Then they can learn to follow that great commandment and teach their own children to do the same: “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (6:5).