A Tale Of Two Mothers

A Tale of Two Mothers

JCC Mother’s Day 14.03.10 am

Exodus 2:1-10

Moses wrote this account about his own birth

He shares with us who and what his family was like

But he never discloses his parents names until later in Ex 6:20

Now Amram took for himself Jochebed, his father's sister, as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses

No mention of Miriam here

His parents were Levites; the family of priests

People set apart for the service of the Lord

Godly parents

He starts here in Ex 2 with the story of his own birth

He doesn’t mention here to begin with the other siblings

He tells us how his mother loved him

Most women bond with their babies

There are those who find motherhood very different to what they expected

It’s not easy for some women to bond

They struggle with the whole idea of loving this tiny human being

So not everyone has a loving mother

Some give their babies away for various reasons

Also not every woman can have a child

There are many women who have felt a desperate need to have a child and have gone to great lengths to have one

Be it adopted or IVF

Illustration:

My friend paid over £24,000 to have a baby

It took almost 20 years and a donor egg for her to have this one child, but she felt it was worth every penny

That’s the desperation some women go through

We often hear it said that some natural mothers don’t deserve to have the child

Especially when those who would make excellent mums don’t have any

But here we see Moses mother who loved him

She loved him enough to commit this child into the care of the Lord

She could have been caught at any moment hiding this child

She put herself in danger

She somehow kept him quiet

Any women with children knows it can be difficult to keep a child quiet

In those days, there wasn’t a TV to drown out the cries

No soundproof wall insulation

No dummy to put in his mouth

Yet, she hid him for 3 months

But there came a time when she couldn’t hide him any longer

How her heart would be grieved and broken as she wrapped him up and laid him in the basket

She had to leave her son, by faith, in God’s hands

This is a valuable lesson for us who are parents

We cannot cling onto our children

They are only lent to us

Yet what a responsibility!

There is a time to release them back into the hand of God and trust that He will deliver them back to you

Did she want to give up this baby?

Of cause not

But she had to trust the One who has all things in His control to do the right thing

‘Lord I have come to the end of myself with this child, I hand him to you’

Can you trust the Lord to do the right thing with your child?

Have you come to the end of your own resources and capabilities as a parent?

Hand your child over to God

If not, then He is not Lord of your life and you cannot trust Him

We see how, even though she released him into the Nile which wouldn’t be a place I would put a baby, she kept watch over him at all times

How? By having his sister watch the ark

A big sister

Most big sisters are like mothers too

Mine reared her brothers with me

She looked out for all her brothers when they were little and she still does now!

It’s almost an inbred instinct to many females

And the story continues

The ark came to where Pharaoh’s daughter was washing

Did Jochebed and Miriam discuss this woman who had no children of her own?

Did they appeal to the motherly instinct of this woman?

Perhaps she talked about wanting a child of her own

What we do know is that God placed this woman, an enemy of the Israelites, in a position where she would save this child and in doing so, save His people

She played a major role in the plan of God’s salvation without realising it

How many of us mother’s know what part of God’s plan we are embarking on when we rear our children?

We could mother the next great preacher, pastor or missionary

Now Moses is introducing us to his second mother

Moses was honouring this woman as his adopted mother

She would never be his biological mother, but she was nevertheless a mum to him

She couldn’t feed or wean him herself, but she provided for him

Moses’ own mother became his maid, and she got paid for the pleasure too