Introduction
“The most important occupation on earth for a woman is to be a real mother to her children. It does not have much glory to it; there is a lot of grit and grime. But there is no greater place of ministry, position, or power than that of a mother.”
“What can compare to the teaching of a mother in the life of a child? Do not be so deceived as to believe that it is primarily the influence of so-called experts, government, religious leaders like me, or even institutions of education that shape each and every next generation. The virtue or corruption of the minds of tomorrow’s society is the consequence of the love, training, and coaching of the mothers of today. Surely that old Spanish proverb is filled with truth that says “An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy.”
The rest of the world hopes at best to shape the virtues that a mother seats deep within her child’s heart. In fact, so precious and delicate is the heart of a child and so vastly superior the influence of a mother to any other person that her placing of such virtue requires almost not effort. It happens naturally, by design.
When a mother sacrifices, she teaches her child to sacrifice. When a mother loves her child unconditionally she teaches unconditional love to her child. The truth is that while all of the powerful minds, men, and manipulators in the world try and try to bend and influence and control society, it is mothers who make the greatest impact through their choices, teaching, loving, and influence.
Transition
This morning we are going to look at the influence of one specific mother; Jochebed, the birth mother and nurse of Moses. We’ll touch on the influence of the other women in Moses life but our focus will be on the sacrifice, influence, and impact that Jochebed made that saved and shaped Moses.
CIT: The text is vast and varied. It gives background to the birth of Moses and offers an explanation of how Moses came to be a member of Pharaoh’s house.
CIS: There is no greater potential influence in the world than a mother’s heart.
Exposition
Moses birth and upbringing were not terribly promising. He was not born in the most favorable or fortunate circumstances. There was a bounty on Moses head before he was even born. He was not born to wealth or position; prominence or prestige. In fact, it is a miracle of God that he even survived infancy.
Moses life is reflective of the calling of the prophet Jeremiah. In fact, Moses is the first of God’s prophets; the archetype of all of God’s prophets. In Jeremiah 1:5-7 the calling of the prophet Jeremiah is recorded. “Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth." But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a youth'; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.”(ESV)
The providence of God moves calling servants to proclaim His word, trust in His sovereign will, and to lead His people. The mountains shake at His voice! The seas tremble! Mighty men are humbled by His calling, shaken by at his command.
Yet so often it is not through mighty men that the providence of God moves but through the tender hearts of women. Every man of power had a mother and very often, most often, that mother was used by God to shape, save, or at the very least nurture God’s chosen ones.
Powerful men try in vain to have even a shadow of the influence of the heart of a mother. There were multiple women involved in the salvation of Moses in fact.
First there were the midwives – Shiphrah and Puah. The Pharaoh, fearing the rise and rebellion of the Hebrews who had grown great in number, told these midwives to kill every born but to allow the women to live. These midwives, fearing God more than man, did not obey the order to kill these babies.
Friends, sometimes the culture, or in this case the Pharaoh, gives permission, in this case an order, to murder a baby because of who his. Our culture is little different presently. Little babies are not allowed the opportunity to live similarly because they are likewise unwanted. The circumstances are different, perhaps even much more sinister.
What is more cruel, a king to kill baby boys to prevent them from becoming men who may overthrow him or people denying children the right to live for a lack of convenience, an in utero test which may not even be accurate declaring them unfit for life, or some other matter of expediency?
Oh yes, there were multiple women who saved Moses. There were the midwives who had the courage to disobey a cruel king in favor of obedience to God. O, for a generation of women who would stand on the shoulders of these brave women of old and declare that it matters not what the culture says is acceptable! It matters not what is convenient! And fight for the lives of tomorrow leaders!
When I was in Israel a few years ago I asked the tour guide of our pastor’s group if ending a life of an unborn baby was legal and common in Israel. He said, and I quote, “God forbid. This could never happen in Israel because every mother thinks her baby boy is the Messiah!” I’m reminded of the African proverb which says that in the eyes of its mother every beetle is a gazelle.
There were multiple women who saved Moses. The midwives refused a cruel order. His sister followed closely along the river bank and craftily offered to fetch a wet nurse from among the Hebrew women for the baby – a nurse who just happened to be the child’s very own mother.
While the text says very little of Pharaoh’s daughter, it was her compassion on the little Hebrew baby floating in the river that God used to bring about the deliverance of Moses through whom He would later bring about the deliverance of His people Israel through whom He sent Christ!
Of all of the women in Moses life though, Jochebed’s courage to love through sacrifice and risk was the foundation of Moses life. The story of the deliverance of Moses is the story of the deliverance of Israel which is the story of the Church.
There is no disunity in the Bible. Exodus is the account of our deliverance.
Jochebed’ s humility and willingness to serve as his nurse allowed her to be close to her son and have a strong influence in his life. I imagine a princely little Moses acting arrogant in Pharaoh’s court and his “wet nurse” correcting him sternly. I imagine his “wet nurse” coaching him to fear God.
I imagine it crushed Jochebed’s heart to place her little baby in a basket and send him floating in the river. When Hansel was born, mostly because of his enlarged kidney he had to stay a little longer than Christina in the hospital. She and I were able to sleep in a sort of hostel, small hotel they have at Norfolk General on the 6th floor that one extra night and she went down to nurse him every few hours in the well-kept, well-staffed nursery, and it broke her heart to have to let him stay only several hundred feet away. I Imagine Jochebed making the basket with tears falling to her hands as she wove it. Perhaps she made and discarded more than one basket, struggling in her mind to find another way, there has to be another way… but there was no other way. God’s way is most often sacrifice.
Jochebed’s heart embodied the highest virtue that makes mothers the treasure that they are. The culture tells women, they have the audacity to tell my little girl and your little girls, that beauty is defined in terms of make-upped faces, shapely bodies, models clothing, and other forms of prideful vanities.
Then selfish, self-indulgent, self-focused, foolish men reinforce these stereotypes with their ogling, eyeing, staring, and stupid words. What is precious in the eyes of God in women is a strong compassionate sacrificial heart! What ought to be most precious in the eyes of men is godliness in the hearts of women.
Mothers shape tomorrow as they shape little men and little women. Indeed Fathers have an immense role to play and we’ll get to that, but today let us place upon the altar the heart of mothers who have the courage to mother and honor that most precious of gifts that God has given to His people.
Men, we need to reshape, remember, and relearn a view of women that is consistent with God’s view of women. Honor of women from men is a form of worship to God. When we honor women we remember that they are the gift of God. Mind you, it cost Adam a rib, but the gift far outweighs the cost.
God used Jochebed to deliver Moses twice. She gave birth to Moses then through sacrificing Moses to the river she saved him when Pharaoh’s daughter was moved to compassion and rescued Moses. She was then humble enough to serve as the wet nurse to her own son. Through the great sacrificial love of Jochebed God was able to deliver Moses, through whom He delivered the Israelites, through whom He delivers you and me in Christ. Do you see the connection?
Yes, God is sovereign and will always accomplish His will but friends, the roots of our salvation in Christ run all the way back to the broken, bursting, loving, anguished heart of a Jewish mother in ancient Israel. Later, He continued this patter as He brought the Messiah into the world through a little Jewish girl in a tiny little village along the north shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Mary and Jochebed knew joy, suffering, and sacrifice and so do all mothers with the courage to love their children and be used by God; those mothers who, even in their own imperfection, have the courage to love their children with their whole heart, even when it is in pieces.
Conclusion
“A little boy was talking to the girl next door. “I wonder what my mother would like for Mother’s Day.” The girl answered, “Well, you could promise to keep your room clean and orderly. You could go to bed as soon as she calls you. You could brush your teeth after eating. You could quit fighting with your brothers and sisters, especially at the dinner table.” The boy looked at her and said, “No, I mean something practical.”
I’m of the opinion that the greatest gift that can be given to mothers on mother’s day or any other day is recognition and simple honest appreciation for the importance and profound nature of what they do to shape children.
In so doing, they shape tomorrow. The future of our land will be no brighter than is the loving gaze of mother’s toward their children today. The character of the men and women of tomorrow will be no godlier than is the resolve of mothers and fathers to instill godly character in the hearts of children today.
Today is mother’s day and we must, they must, you must, I must recognize the intrinsic ability of mothers to shape the minds and hearts of tomorrow’s generation. The diapers and nursing and waking and pain of deliver and…
All of that is but an aside to the real work that you are doing and have done in pouring love and planting the seeds of character into your children. There is no greater potential influence in the world than a mother’s heart. Jochebed loved without boundaries. As a result through her son God changed everything. Amen.
