The Bible contains the experiences of many mothers down through human history. Let’s look at a few of them.
Eve: The first mother was Eve. “the man called his wife’s name Eve [life], because she was the mother of all the living.” (Genesis 3:20) Eve was the first woman without a mother. Imagine her life, no human mother’s example to follow. She was also the first woman to bury her child.
A Sarah: Genesis 15:4 “one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” God promised an heir. 15 long years later reminding them of this promise. 25 years later before fulfilling the promise. Sarah got impatient and gave her housekeeper to her husband as a surrogate. But this was not God’s will. Sarah laughed and gave her son his name, Isaac, meaning laughter. Sarah’s late start to motherhood reminds us that good things often wait.
Hagar: Genesis 21:17-18 “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” Hagar suffered as Abraham’s second wife, being forced to leave to keep the family peace. God blessed her and her son Ishmael. Hagar reminds us that God can turn our suffering into joy.
Rebekah: Genesis 25:35 “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.” Rebekah wanted to play favorites with her children, contrary to her husband’s wishes and cultural norms. She plotted deception, which caused a family rift for generations to come.
Four Mothers: Genesis 30 Rachel, Leah, Zilpah and Bilhah each bore children to Jacob. The competition was fierce and affected the children, twelve sons and a daughter. God worked with them despite the imperfect situation and the family rivalry. Our situations are also not so perfect, but God can still bless us.
Samson's Mother: Judges 13:3-5 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” Samson’s mother is unnamed, but her obedience is legendary. God’s angelic messenger told her not to cut his hair as he would be a Nazirite. He was probably bullied growing up, but his mother obeyed God. The bullying probably toughened Samson up for the task to which God had called him. His mother’s faithfulness set the stage for Samson to rescue Israel.
Naomi: Ruth 1:16-17 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.” Ruth was a Moabite, people God had banned Israel from marrying, not because of race, but because of their opposition and idolatry. Yet, following her mother-in-law’s example, Ruth became a worshiper of the true God, and became the great grandmother of David. Yes, women sometimes can get along fabulously with their mothers-in-law.
Elizabeth: Luke 1:41-42 Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” introduces us to Elizabeth, wife of the priest Zechariah. They both had prayed for a child but she believed the angel who said they would have a child, John the Baptist and Zechariah doubted. It is Elizabeth who was given divine insight to utter the famous saying to Mary, blessed are you among women.
Mary: Although she witnessed her son beaten and murdered, Mary is most blessed because her son is the Son of God. Her son came to save the whole world. She cooked for Jesus, washed his clothes and do all the things that moms do for their children. She looked frantically for him after a festival, to be told He was just doing his father’s business. At a wedding in Cana, she tells servants He will do something. After the crucifixion disciples scattered, but she stayed.
Jerusalem Above: Our spiritual mother is either Babylon below or Jerusalem above. Some choose “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” (Revelation 17:5) Some choose “the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.” (Galatians 4:26)
Mary, Israel, the Church: Mary symbolizes Israel and the Church. “I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head… the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child… Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days… And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent… So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” (Revelation 12:1, 4, 6, 13-14, 17)
The mothers in the Bible are not painted with unrealistic fantasy, but are real women with real world experiences. They disappoint us, and inspire us. They reveal God’s mercy in working His perfect plan through imperfect people like you and me.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
