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Mothers' Day Bible Story


And there went a man from the house of Levi, and took
as his wife a Levite woman.  And the woman conceived
and bore a son;  and when she saw he was beautiful to
God, she hid him for three months.  When she could no
longer hide him, she made for him a basket of bulrushes,
placed the child in it and placed it among the reeds by
the riverbank.  And his sister stood at a distance to see
what would be done to him.  Exodus 2:1-4; Acts 7:20

Since this is the one Sunday of the year that we celebrate
Mothers, this is a good passage from which to discover
what traits in a Mother that God uses to accomplish His
work in the world.

You are probably familiar with this old testament story.
The children of Israel were captives in Egypt and had
been for several generations.  But even in captivity,
"the children of Israel were fruitful and increased
abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceeding mighty
and the land was filled with them."

Historically as has been the case when God's people
begin to gain strength and numbers, un-believing
governments, rulers and kings always decide that the
best way to deal with them is to start killing babies.  In
any land where the true God is rejected, it has always
been and is now that the life of the child has always
been deemed expendable by tyrants.

So the king of Egypt commands the midwives that as
they deliver the babies of the children of Israel, if it is
a male, kill him, if it is a daughter, let them live.

But in this case, Jochebed, the mother of Moses, shows
some down to earth qualities of a God-fearing mother
which would insure that the work of God in the world
would continue according to His plan.  It is true that
Moses was a great man and did great things for God,
but if it was not for a mother who loved him and
was willing to exchange her life for his, he would have
been nothing. 

We hear much about great men in the world, and very
little about the mothers who raised them and taught
them by example and precept,how to live and serve.

There are three qualities in Jochebed, the mother of
Moses which reveal why Moses became and still is
a hero to his people.  Perhaps the bottom line message
here is that if men are to do the job of men, they need
gracious, kind and loving mothers to guide them when
they are young.

The first quality of note in Jochebed is faithfulness to
God.  Of course she makes the list of faith in Hebrews
chapter eleven.  Faithfulness in the life of a mother is
perhaps the one foundation which insures the doing
of all the other qualities necessary to bring up a child
in a Biblical manner.  The 137 chapters in the Bible
devoted to the life and exploits of Moses would never
have been possible except for the one paragraph here
devoted to his faithful mother.  Faithfulness to God
may well be a mother's greatest virtue.

The next quality which stands out here is courage.
History books are full of men who were strong and
brave and did great things for their country and for
their people.  Where did Moses learn that strength?
From his mother.  He was never more courageous
than his mother.  Funny thing, that this time of year
when we are in the midst of such a ridiculous, evil
version of politics, that we would be praising a
mother for her courage in defying the edict of an
ungodly leader.  The truth is, it was the courage of
a mother in defying the political weakness of the
king which saved her son, and set the children of
Israel free from bondage.

Here is a woman whose only duty in life was the
birthing and raising of her children, yet she makes
the hero's list in the old and new testaments, and
was great in the eyes of God.  She was not afraid
of the King's law, and she was not afraid of the
King.  Suffice it to say that the greatest need in
our country today is godly mothers who are not
afraid to defy culture and politics in order to obey
the one true God.

And of course, if you read the old testament, you
find that Moses, when he was grown, had that
same quality.  He was not afraid of the wrath of
the king, and he aquired that trait from his mama.

Last quality of Jochebed is care for her son.  You
can read the story, she gave him up to God, cared
for him all the way, and God gave him back to
her to raise.  Funny thing, during the time the king
was making an industry of killing babies, the
mother of Moses was raising a son who would
deliver the Jews from this monster of a king.

One more thing, what if she had given up, done
what the king said, taken the easy way and let
Moses be killed.  After all, that was the law of
the land.  Should she have obeyed it?  Should
we?  Echoing down through history the answer
is a resounding NO.  The law of God always
takes precedence over the law of man,
especially when man's laws stand in violent
opposition to the laws of God.

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a
woman who fears the Lord, she shall be
praised.  Her children shall rise up and call
her blessed and her husband also.  Happy
Mothers' Day.



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