Word pictures for worship and teaching.  Religious images were strictly forbidden under the Mosaic law, but Israel’s leaders often used vivid imagery in their story-telling to teach the people and to help them worship. Chapter [9](http://www.esvbible.org/Nehemiah+9.1-38/ "Nehemiah 9:1-38") gives an example of this, as the Levites publicly recite the nation’s history, from creation to the present.