– 16 Min Read
Introduction
As we consider the topic of children being present for corporate worship, we need to look at the Old Testament Scriptures. There are three sections I wish to examine in this brief article. 1) The Passover in the Exodus account. We see that children were a part of this holy assembly and ordinance that God established. 2) Entering the Promised Land in the book of Joshua. 3) The reading of the Books of Moses by Ezra during the rebuilding of Jerusalem in the book of Nehemiah. I think examining at least these three instances in the Old Testament will help shed some light on God’s view of the assembly of His people.
Exodus 12
We see in the beginning of Exodus chapter 12 that God commands Moses and Aaron to “Speak to all the congregation of Israel” (v.3) concerning the ordinances God is about to give them. God maps out their annual calendar (v.2) and tells them that on the 10th day of the first month, they are to choose a spotless male lamb that is 1yr old (v.5), house it for fourteen days, and then “the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight” (v.6).
After each household kills its lamb it is then to paint the blood on the two doorposts and lintel of the house and then eat the entire lamb which is to be roasted with fire (v.7-9). God then instructs them to burn any remains of the lamb that they can’t eat (v.10). He also instructs them how they are to eat the lamb; that they are to eat dressed to go, sandals on their feet, staff in their hand, and in haste for this is the sign of them existing Egypt (v.11). If all is obeyed, the household will be passed over by the Lord and He will not slay the firstborn because He will see the blood that covers the house (v.12-13). Moses then gathers the Elders and gives them these commands from the Lord and explains;
For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you. 24 And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. 25 When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’” And the people bowed low and worshiped.
– Exodus 12:23-27
What we see here is that not only are children participating in the ordinance of the Passover but because it is to be a perpetual ordinance (v.14) it is focused upon them. Surely, the entire point of this worship is to draw our attention to the mighty power and merciful deliverance of YAHWEH (v.31), but we can’t help but observe that children play a significant role throughout this entire event. We see that the curse of the event is every firstborn, from both man and beast, will be slain by the Lord (v.12) who do not have the blood of the lamb upon their house. The term “firstborn” is an important word throughout this entire scene. God kills every firstborn among the Egyptians and then in chapter 13 makes “holy” every firstborn of Israel.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me.” 3 Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for by a powerful hand the Lord brought you out from this place. And nothing leavened shall be eaten. 4 On this day in the month of Abib, you are about to go forth.”
– Exodus 13:1-4
This is because God was setting up His kingdom around the offspring of His people. God is not interested in being the God of one generation, but the God of every generation. He is concerned with children and wants them to be a part of the worshipping of Him. The children of the households participated in the Passover ordinance so they would ask questions. “Why are we doing this Dad? Why are we doing this Mom?” And the answer that is given brings much glory to God; “Because God told us to. And He has promised to save us from slavery, He has promised to deliver us from the hand of the Egyptians.“
God loves to hear children ask their parents about Him. He explains how the conversation is to go during their celebration of Passover; “And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’” (Exodus 12:26-27). Do you want to know why God made children curious and eager to ask questions? For His glory. It pleases God so much for parents to share the gospel with their children. It pleases God so much to have little ones hear of His mighty power and awesome salvation. In Exodus, the children were a part of the “whole congregation” (v.3,6).
Joshua 8
Joshua is leading the Israelites to the Promised Land and one of the cities they need to conquer is Ai (Joshua 8:1-2). After Joshua and the Israelites destroy Ai (v.24-29), Joshua builds an altar to the Lord just as Moses had commanded (v.30-31). Then Joshua copies the law of Moses on the uncut stones that made up the altar (v.32). But what happens next in v.33-35 is where I wish to spend most of our time. Joshua begins to read the entire law of Moses.
All Israel with their elders and officers and their judges were standing on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the stranger as well as the native. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had given command at first to bless the people of Israel. 34 Then afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel with the women and the little ones and the strangers who were living among them.
– Joshua 8:33-35
To understand what is going on we need to go back to Moses’ final words. In Deuteronomy 31 Moses is giving his final instructions to the Israelites and to Joshua, who will be taking over as the new leader (viceregent) of Israel (v.7-8). Moses writes down “this law” (or command) and gives it to the priests who carry the ark of the covenant and to the elders of Israel (v.9). Then;
Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the time of the year of remission of debts, at the Feast of Booths, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place which He will choose, you shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and the alien who is in your town, so that they may hear and learn and fear the Lord your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law. 13 Their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live on the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”
– Deuteronomy 31:10-13
So when we go back up to Joshua 8:33-35 we understand now that Joshua is doing everything Moses commanded of him. He has built the altar just as Moses had commanded him but now he is to assemble all the people, men, women, children, and foreigners so that they can all hear him read from the entire law. Joshua is to do this “in front of all Israel in their hearing” and that is what he does. Joshua is not only obeying his predecessor but also his God. God spoke to Joshua saying;
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
– Joshua 1:8
It says that Joshua read “all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law” (Josh. 8:34). And that there was “not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel with the women and the little ones and the strangers who were living among them” (v.35). Children were present for worship at the altar and the reading of the word of God. Children listened to Joshua read the entire book of the law.
This is because they, along with the adults, needed to know how they were to live when they entered the Promised Land. God’s words and commands are not rated PG-13. His words are to be heard by children too. This is not the only time we see something like this take place. It is something that would be seen again.
Nehemiah 8
And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel. 2 Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women and all who could listen with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. 3 He read from it before the square which was in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the law. 4 Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden podium which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam on his left hand. 5 Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Then Ezra blessed the Lord the great God. And all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, explained the law to the people while the people remained in their place. 8 They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.
– Nehemiah 8:1-8
We read here in the book of Nehemiah that Ezra, who was a scholar and teacher of the law (Ezra 7:6,10), stands up before the people and reads “the book of the law of Moses” (Neh. 8:1). This would be the Pentateuch (Torah), the five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). We read in v.1 that this was per request of the Israelite congregation that had gathered. In the next verse, we read that this assembly was made up of men, women, and “all who could listen with understanding” (v.2). This refers to little children.
Inside a city in shambles, we have the most glorious scene; an assembly of people gathering together to hear from God. What matters more than a city and its walls; is the people. What good is a city and what good are its walls without people to dwell in it? This is a great shadow of what is to come in the New Covenant. But for now, let’s look at the people who are casting this shadow. These people are families. They are men, women, and children. And they have asked Ezra to read to them the words of God.
Another sad component is that these families have been in captivity for so long that they do not speak the original Hebrew language. Ezra has to have men translate the words into Aramaic “to give the sense so that they understood the reading” (v.8). Maybe some adults there knew Hebrew but the children who were born in captivity most likely did not. It says the leaders “explained the law to the people while the people remained in their place” (v.7). They were eager to hear and learn what God had spoken to them. And when they did, they fell down in worship (v.6).
Another observation is their reverence for the word of God. When Ezra opened up the book of the law of Moses all the people stood up (v.5). What we gather then, is that they were standing for the reading and sitting for the teaching. The respect for God’s word would not stop there or be limited to this one event.
Then on the second day the heads of fathers’ households of all the people, the priests and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe that they might gain insight into the words of the law. 14 They found written in the law how the Lord had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel should live in booths during the feast of the seventh month. 15 So they proclaimed and circulated a proclamation in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hills, and bring olive branches and wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches and branches of other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”
– Nehemiah 8:13-15
We see that the heads of households, the fathers, go back to Ezra and the Levites to “gain insight into the words of the law.” This is what fathers are to do for their families. They are to learn as much as they can so that they can go back and lead their wives and children in the things of God. The people were deprived of the words of the Lord. They had not remembered God’s words, His promises, His commands. Now that they had the words of YAWHEH, they were ecstatic. They also realized that they were supposed to celebrate the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles).
So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. 17 The entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them. The sons of Israel had indeed not done so from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day. And there was great rejoicing. 18 He read from the book of the law of God daily, from the first day to the last day. And they celebrated the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly according to the ordinance.
– Nehemiah 8:16-18
It is important to note that the children participated in this. They lived with their families in the booths and most likely helped in making them. During this time the families would reflect on the time of their ancestors in the wilderness living in booths. The parents would tell the stories to their children of how God delivered their people out of slavery in Egypt and brought them through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. It says that there “was great rejoicing” (v.17), no doubt because of the remembering of what God had done in the past, while they were looking forward to what God would do in the future.
God loves to see families worship Him.
Conclusion
These three assemblies we have studied have several things in common and one of them is that children were present. Three major events of redemptive history in the Old Testament had children there worshipping alongside their parents, listening to the words of God. One assembly was under slavery in Egypt, another in the wilderness sojourning to the Promised Land, and another during the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
Children belong in the worship of our God. He wants them there to see the parents and other people singing praises, offering prayers of praise, and listening to the Scriptures read and taught. God is pleased when a child asks his/her father or mother, “Why do we do sing? Why do we pray? Why do we sit and listen attentively? Why do we eat bread and drink wine? Why are submerged underwater?” How will children be prompted to ask these glorious questions if they do not witness these things occurring before them?
Let’s start asking ourselves, “What does God want for my children?“