Encouragement for Teachers from Nehemiah
I get inspired every time I read the following verses for a few reasons. First of all, Ezra worshiped God, which teachers (and all Christians) should do every morning before walking into our classrooms.
Nehemiah 8:6. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
Next, verse seven gives us our duty in a nutshell: “cause the people (students) to understand.” (Italics mine.) That’s our main job – to present the material well and to explain it so that students can understand it. That is one of the reasons we should care passionately about teaching our subject matter well.
7. Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place.
Notice that there are thirteen teachers named, plus all the Levites. We are not in this alone. We have many other teachers working either alongside us, or working toward the same goal wherever God has placed them.
Here’s another bonus nugget: “the people (students) stood in their place.” They were behaving well and not running around being distracting. There is some classroom management in that verse, too.
Verse eight is gold. First, they (the teachers and Levites) read distinctly.
distinctly – a. marking as separate or different : serving to distinguish
b: having or giving an uncommon and appealing quality : having or giving style or distinction
They were teaching in a different way, with uncommon and/or appealing qualities. That’s something all teachers try to do – teach in an appealing way so that students will be intrigued and will discover that learning is an enjoyable, interesting thing to do.
8. So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
And the last part of the verse explains that they, the teachers, caused the people to understand what they were hearing from the book of God’s law. They explained it well enough that the people decided to ask forgiveness for their sins in not following God’s law, and vowed to follow it from that time on. The teaching and understanding of God’s Word had a direct effect on their behavior. With God’s help, may our teaching do this as well.