Jochebed & Miriam Series

HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY TO YOU ALL!

[Excitedly]

I HAD THIS GREAT IDEA FOR A MESSAGE TODAY – I WAS GOING TO CALL IT “MOSES, JESUS & ME!” WHAT DO WE HAVE IN COMMON? ALL THREE OF US HAD MOTHERS WHO RAISED TROUBLEMAKERS! SO I SAID TO MY WIFE, “WHAT DO YOU THINK, HON – IS THAT A GREAT IDEA OR WHAT?!” AND YOU KNOW WHAT SHE SAID? YOU KNOW WHAT SHE SAID? SHE SAID…[dejectedly] ”NO!”

OH WELL, BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD… IF YOU’RE GOING TO START OVER, IT’S BEST TO GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING. SO THAT’S WHAT I DID – I WENT BACK TO GENESIS, AND HOW GOD CREATED BOTH MAN AND WOMAN IN HIS IMAGE. BEAR WITH ME HERE, BECAUSE WE HAVE SOME IMPORTANT GROUNDWORK TO LAY.

I’VE SPOKEN BEFORE ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT NAMES WERE IN BIBLICAL CULTURE. REMEMBER, TO THE HEBREWS, A NAME WASN’T JUST A LABEL – IT WAS THE VERY ESSENCE OF A THING OR PERSON. EVEN IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, WHEN WE SPEAK OF “THE WORD OF GOD,” WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE VERY ESSENCE OF GOD. AS JOHN REMINDS US, “IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD.”

BECAUSE A NAME WAS THE TOTAL EMBODIMENT OF A PERSON, THE HEBREWS HAD A LONGSTANDING PROHIBITION AGAINST SAYING THE NAME OF GOD. TO CALL ANYONE BY NAME WAS TO INDICATE FAMILIARITY, EQUALITY, OR EVEN AUTHORITY OVER THAT PERSON. THAT PRACTICE CONTINUES EVEN TODAY WITH “IMPORTANT” PEOPLE – YOU DON’T WALK UP TO THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND AND SAY, “HEY, LIZ, HOW’S IT GOING?” YOU REFER TO THE QUEEN BY HER TITLE. IT’S A MATTER OF COURTESY, OF RESPECT. BUT NOTHING COMPARES WITH THE REVERENCE AND HONOR DUE ALMIGHTY GOD.

SO, BECAUSE THE HEBREWS WERE FORBIDDEN TO SAY THE ACTUAL NAME OF GOD, THEY REFERRED TO GOD BY TITLES. AND THE PRIMARY TITLE USED FOR GOD UP UNTIL THE TIME OF MOSES WAS “ELOHIM.”

AND THAT’S WHERE IT GETS REALLY INTERESTING.

REMEMBER, THE “EL” SYLLABLE IN HEBREW ALWAYS REFERS TO GOD. IN ALL THE BIBLICAL NAMES ENDING IN “EL”, THAT IS ALWAYS A REFERENCE TO GOD. FOR EXAMPLE, THE NAME OF THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL MEANS “WHO IS LIKE GOD?” IT’S A RHETORICAL QUESTION, FOR NO ONE IS LIKE GOD.

SO, WE KNOW “ELOHIM” REFERS TO GOD. THE LAST SYLLABLE, “IM” INDICATES THE MASCULINE PLURAL. FOR EXAMPLE, SERAPHIM MEANS MORE THAN ONE SERAPH, SAME WITH CHERUBIM AND SO ON.

SO NOW WE HAVE A PLURAL TITLE FOR THE ONE TRUE GOD. MAKES PERFECT SENSE WHEN YOU THINK OF THE HOLY TRINITY.

BUT THAT MIDDLE SYLLABLE IS THE ONE THAT UPSETS THE APPLECART. BECAUSE THE FIRST TWO SYLLABLES OF THIS TITLE OF GOD – “ELOH” – A SHORTENED FORM OF “ELOHA” – THAT PART OF GOD’S TITLE IS FEMININE, NOT MASCULINE. IT LITERALLY MEANS “FEMALE GOD – GODDESS.”

IN OTHER WORDS, THE PRIMARY TITLE FOR GOD USED BY THE HEBREWS HAS BOTH MASCULINE AND FEMININE COMPONENTS. IF WE WERE ANCIENT HEBREWS, WE COULD BE JUST AS COMFORTABLE WITH THE CONCEPT OF GOD THE MOTHER AS WE ARE WITH GOD THE FATHER - IT’S IN THE TITLE! ELOHIM!

DON, WHY DID YOU TAKE US DOWN THIS RABBIT HOLE? FOR A VERY IMPORTANT REASON.

THE TRADITIONAL VIEW OF BIBLICAL SOCIETY IS PATRIARCHAL – THE MEN RAN EVERYTHING, RIGHT? THE WOMEN WERE ALL SUPPORTING ROLES, RIGHT? WELL, ANYONE WHO REALLY BELIEVES THAT HAS NEVER BEEN MARRIED…

WE HAVE A TRIVET IN OUR KITCHEN THAT CAME FROM MY WIFE’S GRANDPARENTS’ HOUSE. IT SAYS, “I AM THE BOSS OF THIS HOUSE, AND I HAVE MY WIFE’S PERMISSION TO SAY SO.”

AS A MATTER OF FACT, EVERY CHILD LEARNS AT AN EARLY AGE THE NUMBER ONE RULE FOR SURVIVAL: “IF MAMA AIN’T HAPPY, AIN’T NOBODY HAPPY.”

YOU SEE, HUMAN NATURE DOESN’T CHANGE – IT WAS THE SAME THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO AS IT IS TODAY. WE TEND TO THINK OF BIBLICAL CHARACTERS AS ONE-DIMENSIONAL CARDBOARD CUTOUTS, BUT THEY WERE FLESH AND BLOOD JUST LIKE US, WITH THE SAME EMOTIONS, LONGINGS AND FEARS.

SO, IF THE BIBLE IS SO PATRIARCHAL, WHY ARE THERE SO MANY STORIES ABOUT WOMEN – WOMEN OF FAITH, WOMEN OF COURAGE, WOMEN WHO WERE DEVOTED TO THE LORD?

I ENCOURAGE YOU TO EXPLORE THOSE STORIES ABOUT RUTH, ESTHER, TAMAR, HAGAR, ABIGAIL, RACHEL, ELIZABETH, HANNAH, ANNA, AND MORE MARY’S THAN YOU CAN KEEP TRACK OF. BECAUSE TIME AND TIME AGAIN, IT WAS WOMEN WHO WERE CALLED UPON BY GOD, TO SAVE THEIR PEOPLE.

TODAY I WANT TO FOCUS ON JOCHEBED AND MIRIAM. JOCHEBED – WHOSE NAME MEANS “YAHWEH IS MY GLORY” - WAS THE MOTHER OF MOSES, AND AS THE SCRIPTURE READINGS REMIND US, PHAROAH HAD COMMANDED THAT MALE HEBREW CHILDREN BE KILLED.

SO WHAT DID JOCHEBED DO? SHE HID MOSES AS LONG AS SHE COULD, AND THEN ENTRUSTED HIM TO THE LORD’S CARE.