Today is the day that has been designated in this country as mother’s day. Today is the day when everyone in this country celebrates this special date by recognizing the crucial role that all mothers play. In reality the role that mothers plays is very frequently underestimated or not appreciated, but the role of the mother is crucial to the growth of every person. With this being said, I want to stop her for a brief moment to make something very clear, I do not want to be misunderstood. I want it to be very clear that I am not saying or implying that the father’s role is not important or less important than that of the mother. The role that a father plays is also of extreme importance as the father is normally the one that sets the example to follow, and typically is the one that dispenses the discipline when needed. But the role of the mother in the life of a child is different, and that is why today I want us to have a special recognition for every mother in this congregation, y for every mother that receives this preaching. Today we are going to honor them by exploring small piece of the scriptures that clearly reflect the role that mothers play in the home, but that is often underestimated or undervalued. Let’s now turn to the Word of God.
Exodus 2:1-10 - And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. 3And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink. 4And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. 5And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. 6And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said this is one of the Hebrews’ children. 7Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? 8And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother. 9And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the women took the child, and nursed it. 10And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, because I drew him out of the water.
As I always say, to have a better understanding of the message that God has for us today, it will be necessary for us to conduct a brief review of history. In all reality, the book of Exodus is a register of the birth of Israel as a nation. I say this because when we look up Bible history we quickly realize that this nation had its beginning from a Jewish family that consisted of only seventy people. But this small number of people in a period of approximately 400 years multiplied until growing to be a nation consisting of approximately two to three million people. This is something that is very well reflected in Exodus 1:7 when we read “And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.” During this period of growth these people prospered in such a way that the Egyptians were frightened. This fear led to the enslavement of these people. Look carefully at how this is declared in Exodus 1:11-14 when we read “Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. 13And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: 14And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.” But it doesn’t stop here; it did not stop at that because the king was afraid that the men could lead an insurrection. This fear led him to order the death of all male children who were born; look carefully at how this is stated in Exodus 1:22 when we read “And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.” This more or less leads us to this point in history. Why is it necessary for us to know these details?
It is necessary to know these details because in them we see the grave circumstances that this mother faced, but regardless of these circumstances or situations, the motherly qualities of this woman came shinning through. Let’s examine these verses a little closer so you can understand what I am saying.
In these verses we read “And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.” As we observed in our brief review of history, the Pharaoh had ordered that all new born male children be killed, but that order did not stop this woman. In reality the action that this woman took could bring grave circumstances to her life, I say this because if she had been discovered, her actions would not have been seen as those of a loving mother. Her actions would have been seen as an open defiant act of insurrection, and it could have caused her freedom, and even her life. How was could she ignore the consequences that could have occurred if she had been found out? She was able to ignore them because the love that she felt for her child was greater than\n anything that existed.
Let’s now stop here for a brief moment, and let’s reflect in the love that our mother has demonstrated toward us throughout the years. I know that not everyone has pleasant memories of their childhood. I know that some may have memories of displeasing or difficult situations, but I also know that not all aspect of the childhood of a person was difficult or painful. I am sure that we all have suffered through times that have been painful or displeasing, but I am sure that when we take the time to reflect in our life, we will quickly determine that the happy moments far out weigh those of anguish or pain. The problem that exists is that with great frequency the happy moments are quickly forgotten or undervalued. Unfortunately, many allow the happy memories to be annulled by isolated and unimportant incidents. This is why today I call you to reflect in your life. I want you to examine your life very closely, and if you find that when you think of your mother all that comes to mind are unpleasant or painful memories, then I say to you it is time to present that load before our Lord. Never forget what He told us in Matthew 11:28 when we read “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Why do we need to lie this before the Lord?
We have to lay these thoughts before the Lord because that load, just as the slavery that was placed on the people of Israel, was placed there by our enemy. This load only serves one purpose, and that is to lead us away from God, to lead us into a life full of anguish and resentment. That load is placed upon us to prevent us from doing what God has told us to do, and so that we will suffer the consequences that not listening to the Word of God brings to our life. Look carefully at how the Lord declared this in Matthew 15:4 when “For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.” Why does God call us to honor our mother? He does it because the reality of it all is that besides any difficult or painful moment that we may have experimented, all of us here were protected by our mother. Let’s think about this for a brief moment and see if what I have said makes any sense. When a baby is born, can this baby survive without the protection of his mother? The answer is no. The reality of it all is that of all of God’s creation, the human being is the weakest. Weakest in the sense that when a human being is born he can not take care of himself; a new born has to depend on an adult for his survival. Without the protection of an adult, a newborn will quickly perish. When we reflect in our life, we will all see that our mother has protected us in numerous situations, and has kept us from evil. Out mother protected us physically so that we could survive. Therefore honor her today and say, thank you mom for your protection.
Continuing with our study we read “And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.” This verse here is something that at first glance may appear to be the incorrect way of protecting of a child, as tossing a baby in the river inside an ark would be something dangerous. But we must note that she did not throw him in the river as the movies would have you believe, carefully laid him inside the ark that she constructed and placed it by the river banks; and she only did this after taking great precautions to ensure that the ark was water tight and that it would float. Not only this, when we continue reading we find that the Word tell us “And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. 5And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.” Here we see that although she was distanced from her son, her protection never stopped. How can you say this pastor? I can say it because as we saw, she sent his sister to watch over him, and I am sure that if she had seen that he was about to be in any sort of trouble, she would have saved him. I can say this because I am sure that she placed him inside the ark and in this location of the river by coincidence. She knew that the Pharaoh’s daughter was near and that she would find him. But did she place all of her trust in the hands of another woman? The answer is no, she trusted God, she was a faithful servant. It is like we find in the Bible in Psalms 27:10 when we read “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.”
What was her reward? God granted that she raise her child. Here we read “And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said this is one of the Hebrews’ children. 7Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? 8And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother. 9And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the women took the child, and nursed it.” Brethren, nothing that happened here happened by coincidence. Do you think that Moses grew up to be the man that he was by mere coincidence? The answer is no. God gave this mother the responsibility of raising her child because in her home, Moses would be very well instructed in the principles of Judaism and in the knowledge of the patriarchs of Israel. In other words, he would learn to distinguish between good and evil; he was being prepared to accomplish God’s purpose with his life. If we reflect in our childhood, I think that the majority of us will remember that mom was the one that taught us right from wrong. No wonder in Proverbs 6:20-23 we find that it states “My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: 21Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. 22When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. 23For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.” Therefore, today say, thank you mom for your teachings.
Continuing we read “And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, because I drew him out of the water.” Can everyone here see the pain that this mother felt? Without a doubt we can all respond with a big yes. Let’s imagine this for a brief moment; she had to turn over her son to a stranger, but not only was this woman a stranger, this woman represented the enemy of the Jewish people. This had to be very painful, but this pain is something obvious to see. This is the pain that lies on the surface, but I tell you today that there was even a bigger hurt deep within her heart. What pain am I talking about? Brethren, when we read between the lines we quickly realize that the deeper pain that she felt was the fact that she raised her child, but did so without being able to tell him that she was his mother. What does this mean? This means that her love and affection was more than likely never returned. This means that Moses never recognized her for who she was, but rather saw her as an inferior person; Moses saw her as a slave that could quickly be dismissed at any time. Can you now see the deeper pain in this mother’s heart? The problem is that many of us do exactly the same. It’s not that we don’t know who our mother is, but I tell you that quite often we do not give our mother the merit and recognition that she deserves. We do things that oftentimes hurt them, and on occasions we may even see them as inferior. This is particularly true when they are of advanced age and no longer have the mental and physical agility that hey once possessed. But no matter how we see them, no matter how at times we may hurt them, her love is always unchanging. Therefore today, take the time to honor you mother and say, thank you mom for your love.
In conclusion. As we have observed, Moses mother had to go through some very difficult times, she had to suffer through what must have seemed as an eternity, but she remained strong, and she remained faithful. If upon reflecting in your life today you find that you have not given your mother the merit she deserves, if you find that you have not appreciated her, if you find that either accidentally or on purpose you have caused her pain, ask her for forgiveness today. It may be that you mother may no longer be alive, but if this is the case, you can still honor her with your memories. I say to you, stop concentrating in the bad moments that may have come between you and her, stop concentrating in the bad memories that may exist, honor her today remembering how she protected, taught, and loved you. Let’s honor our mother, thanking her today for never leaving our side when we were the weakest and helpless. Let us thank our mother today for teaching us between good and evil and for protecting us at all times. Let’s thank our mother today for her love, patience, and understanding. The mother’s job is oftentimes is unappreciated and unrecognized. Oftentimes the mother’s love and affection is undermined by bad memories of difficult moments. But I say to you today, don’t allow a misunderstanding, don’t allow a bad experience or circumstance, don’t allow a bad memory to stop you from recognizing her today, and giving her the merit she deserves. Tell her today and always, “thank you mother, I love you.”
