Jochebed - A Woman Of Faith

Jochebed - A Woman of Faith

Exodus 2:1-8

Behind every great man is his mother. Someone imagined the mothers of these well-known sons making the following comments:

Mrs. Morse: “Sam, stop tapping your fingers on the table--it’s driving me crazy!”

Mrs. Lindbergh: “Charles, can’t you do anything by yourself?”

Mrs. Washington: “George never did have a head for money.”

Mrs. Armstrong: “Neil has no more business taking flying lessons than the man on the moon.” - Reader’s Digest, March,1988

Can you think of anyone else in the world that has more potential for a positive influence on a child than a mother does? A mother creates a close bond with her children that will last for a lifetime. Mom's influence will be either positive or negative. A mother has the opportunity like Timothy's mother, to plant the seeds of faith in a child that God can use to lead a child into a life of daily walking with and service to God. One of life’s greatest blessings is to have a godly mother. Abraham Lincoln declared, "no man is poor who has had a godly mother."One of the greatest gifts you can give your children is to be a godly parent. This morning I want you to consider the example of one godly mother taken from the pages of the book of Exodus, the mother of the human writer of that book, Jochebed.

I. Her Identity - A godly mother

A. Jochebed - her name yaw-keh-bed means “glory of Jehovah” or, “Jehovah (is her or our) glory.”

B. Alan Carr points out that "Jochebed was an Israelite, one of God's chosen people. She was also a member of the tribe of Levi from which would come the priests and those who would carry out the duties of the Tabernacle and later of the Temple."

C. She was a godly woman who as we will see stood for her faith. She had a relationship with God as her Sovereign Lord and King.

D. Nothing will have a more profound and lasting influence in the lives of our children than having good, godly examples in their homes.

E. Dr. Benjamin Carson, director of pediatric neurosurgery at the John’s Hopkins Children’s Center wrote an essay, entitled, “There Is No Job More Important Than Parenting,” about the influence of his mother on his life. He wrote: "Over the years my mother’s steadfast faith in God has inspired me, particularly when I had to perform extremely difficult surgical procedures or when I found myself faced with my own medical scare. A few years ago I discovered I had a very aggressive form of prostate cancer; I was told it might have spread to my spine. My mother was steadfast in her faith in God. She never worried. She said that God was not through with me yet; there was no way that this was going to be a major problem. The abnormality in my spine turned out to be benign; I was able to have surgery and am cured. My story is really my mother’s story – a woman with little formal education or worldly goods who used her position as a parent to change the lives of many people around the globe.” - Dorothy Valcarcel, Christian Post Guest Contributor.

F. What does a godly mother (or Father) look like

1. One who prays for and with their children (James 5:16)

2. One who studies God's Word and teaches it to their children (Deuteronomy11:19)

3. One who sets an example by the life they lead (2 Timothy 1:5)

4. One who has a compassionate heart (Psalm 103:13)

5. One who stands firm in their faith (Philippians 1:27)

G. 1 Peter 2:9 " But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light"

II. Her Dilemma

A. She was living in an hostile environment. Jochebed’s life was no bed of roses. Born in Egypt as a daughter of Levi, she had known only the curse of slavery.

B. The Egyptians dreaded the Israelites and made life difficult. In Exodus 1:13-14 (NLT) "The Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy. They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all we read that their demands."

C. She could have whined and complained about the difficulty of life’s circumstances but she did not. Jochebed would not allow herself to surrender to the hopelessness of life as a slave in Egypt.

D. In hatred and fear of the Hebrews, Pharaoh ordered the killing of all Israelite male infants by casting them into the crocodile infested Nile River. (Exodus 1:22)