Biblical Mothers
God loves us all and would like everybody to be saved. If you've had a difficult life, remember it could have been worse. With your faith and the helping hands of God life can be much sweeter and better. Ladies and gentlemen, whether you have parented a single child, several children, or none at all, I'd venture to say you've never had to endure such harsh and unpleasant life-choices that are about to be presented here for your attention.
To set the scene, let's open with the trials and troubles of Jerusalem's population, around 586 BC. That city was suffering from the divine, though totally justified, judgment of God. All of which was predicted by Jeremiah. Possibly, he might have been the author of the book of Lamentations, documenting the misery and mourning recorded therein. Let's begin there with an ugly narration from chapter 4, verse 10, where the New King James Version displays a rather grotesque truth quite plainly. “The hands of the compassionate women have cooked their own children; they became food for them in the destruction of the daughter of my people.” What a horribly sad commentary about people starving for food and seemingly lacking all hope under the dark and dangerous shadows of the wrath of God.
A similar accounting can be read from Second Kings 6:26-29 about an event that took place in Samaria. The king of Israel was walking on the wall around the city. A woman shouted out to him. She said, “My lord and king, please help me!” The king replied, “If the Lord does not help you, how can I help you? I cannot give you grain from the threshing floor or wine from the wine press.” Then he said to her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give me your son so that we can eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.’ So we boiled my son and ate him...”
Unfortunately, distasteful tales of bad biblical mothers abound throughout the Bible. Consider Athaliah, whose very name meant “afflicted by God.” She was the wife of King Jehoram and because of his sins, the Lord inflicted him with a disease of the bowels. The king suffered from this for two years before dying from that affliction. After his untimely death, his son Ahaziah was crowned king. Athaliah directed her son towards several devilish schemes and used her influence to further establish Baal worship in Judah. Queen Athaliah happened to be away when an assassin arrived and killed Ahaziah. After the death of her son, this evil queen ordered the wanton murders of all the remaining royal family. However, Athaliah carelessly missed one of her grandsons—the newborn infant Joash. Illegally, she took the throne, the seat of power for herself. She was the only female-sovereign to govern from David’s throne in all biblical history.
After Athaliah reigned for six years, a high priest, Jehoiada, ordered the palace guards to surround the temple. Six year old Joash was brought forward and publicly crowned as the rightful king. As the new king was anointed, the people clapped their hands and shouted, “Long live the king!” Athaliah, overhearing the commotion in the palace courtyard, guessed what was happening. She began shouting, “Treason! Treason!” Then, the high priest commanded the troops to capture queen Athaliah and execute her. As a side note to this account, the young King Joash reigned for forty years, and was one of the outstanding kings of Judea, some two and a half centuries before its destruction at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
Possibly the worst mother in the Bible was Herodias, a princess of the Herodian dynasty of Judea during the time of the Roman Empire. Initially, she was the wife of Phillip, who was the brother of king Herod II. This Herod, Herod Antipas, was one of the sons of Herod the Great who had 14 wives. Herod II divorced his first wife, a daughter of King Aretas of Arabia.
According to Josephus, when Herod II visited to his brother Philips estate, he and the still wedded Herodias fell in love and made plans to get married. Thus, Herodias was the sacrilegious spouse who left her husband Phillip in sinful lust. Therefore, her marriage to Herod was illegitimate from day one.
As God willed it, John the Baptist began his ministry during the reigns of Philip and Herod Antipas (Luke 3:1). In the course of his impassioned preaching and denunciation of all sin, John “rebuked Herod Antipas not only because of his marriage to his brother’s wife, Herodias, but for all the other evil things being committed. As a direct result of John's fiery public admonishments, Herod II had John the Baptist tossed into prison” (Luke 3:19–20).
Matthew 14:3–5 provides additional details of this wickedness: “Now Herod had John arrested, bound him, and put in prison because Herodias has first been the wife of his brother Philip. John had been telling Herod II, “It is not lawful for you to have her.' For sure, Herod wanted to kill John. He feared John, knowing him to be righteous and holy, but he was afraid of the people because they considered John a prophet.” Likewise, Herodias, Herod's wife, also hated John and wanted him killed. “So the grudges against John smoldered until Herodias had a spark of an evil idea. She and her daughter Salome's (daughter by Herodias' first husband) conspired to have John the Baptist executed.
Yes, this bad mother was responsible for the death of John the Baptist after Salome's famous dance (Mark 14:8) for which Herod had promised to grant her anything she wished. Prompted by her mother, Salome asked for John’s head on a platter, a wish the reluctant Herod II was honor bound to fulfill.
Well, that's enough wasted space on the “Bad Mothers,” I only mentioned these to show that even 'back in the day' trouble, strife, and sin affected most lives then and those evil sins still continue to affect us today.
Let's move on to better examples for honoring mothers on Mother's Day.
The biblical Eve was the wife of Adam. God created her after allowing Adam to see that among all God's creatures only he was without a suitable companion, a helpmate. Eve, just like Adam, was made in God’s image, but she was made from Adam's rib (Genesis 1:27). Eve was the mother of Cain, Abel, Seth and “other sons and daughters” unnamed in Genesis. Without a single role model or mentor, Eve paved the maternal way to become the first mother of the entire human race. Even Eve's name means “the living” or “life.”
God’s command to Adam, who was responsible to relay the message to Eve, that they were not to eat the fruit from “the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” God warned, that on the day they ate of that tree, they would surely die (Genesis 2:17). The Bible doesn’t relate how long Adam and Eve lived in the garden without any incident, but at some point, Eve was deceived by the serpent and ate from the forbidden tree(1 Timothy 2:13–14). It was the serpent Satan who sowed the seeds of dubiousness in Eve’s mind when he lied, “You will not certainly die. . . . For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4–5).
Well, we all know that the human race was under the gloom and doom of death and original sin from that moment forward. But how often do we consider the other curses Eve had to endure? Two specific curses were cast onto Eve, her daughters, and all women thereafter. God multiplied Eve’s pain in childbearing. God had said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth” (ESV), using a Hebrew word meaning “to increase.” The amplified pain of childbirth would be more severe than it had been.
Secondly, God pronounced that the relationship between man and woman would be characterized by conflict (Genesis 3:16). These two curses have continued to be true in every woman throughout history. No matter what wonderful medical advances are conceived and implemented—childbearing is a painful and stressful experience. And no matter how enlightened or progressive modern society becomes, relationships between men and women continue to develop struggles and strife. Despite the pain of childbirth, Eve continued to bear children, thank God! She just must have been a wonderful mother.
Other than the three named boys, Adam, Cain, and Seth, the numbers of Eve's other sons and daughters are not recorded. So the men of that era had to take their sisters for wives. Then as more children were born, men married their nieces and cousins. These actions are now abhorred and condemned—but back in those days, these were acts dictated by necessity. Personally, I'll suggest Eve and Adam must have shared a pretty good life. Adam was a very lucky husband. After all, he didn't have to contend with—a Mother-in-law, only a multitude of Daughter-in-laws and Son-in-laws.
Now let's highlight another mother. Hebrews 11:11 informs us Sarah was the daughter of a wealthy Chaldean tribesman named Terah. She left her family, her wealth, and position to follow her newfound husband to “a land God would show him.” Which, due to a lack of food and counting the detour to pagan Egypt, turned out to be a trek of more than fourteen hundred miles(Genesis 12:10). That was a risky trip for any Hebrew family. You might think, with all Sarah's wonderful characteristics, like her hard-working, her tenaciousness, her loyalty, and efforts to be the best wife she could be, that she would soon be blessed with children. That was not to be, at least not anytime soon. Year after year came and went and the barren Sarah was not fortunate enough to have a child. As decade after decade passed, she and Abraham became seemingly too old to bear a child.
Although his wife struggled in her faith, God saw fit to name Sarah as the first woman in Hebrews 11, and as far as I know, the only woman that God changed the first name of, from Sarai to Sarah, which means “princess.” Named Sarai at birth, she grew to matriarchal status and a biblical prophetess recognized in Christianity as well as the Judaic and Islamic faiths. All of which depicted her as a pious woman, renowned for her beauty and her bountiful hospitality. Though Abraham was born to a pagan father, he chose to faithfully follow the one true God, trusting Him to do what was promised. Sarah followed his ways faithfully.
Then, God stepped in. When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” As months passed, Sarah completely misunderstood God's message that Abraham and she would become the father and mother of many nations (Genesis 17:1-8, 15-16).
Yes, within the serious errors of her ways, Sarah doubted God and experienced tremendous trouble believing God would or could fulfill his promises. So she plunged ahead with a devious, misdirected solution of her own that caused immense trouble down the road for all of humankind. Sarah directed her maidservant Hagar to sleep with her husband and bear Abraham a child. Thus, Ishmael was born. Then, years later and to Sarah's inconceivable astonishment, she became pregnant and gave birth to Isaac, the son God had foretold by His promise.
Soon bitter brotherly hostility raised its ugly head in Abraham's household. Ishmael became disgruntled over the succession question. Which of Abraham’s two sons would be the one chosen to carry on the family legacy and reap the rewards that normally went to the firstborn son? Fourteen years older than Isaac, Ishmael turned against him. The older boy was angry that Isaac might receive Abraham’s blessings (Genesis 16:1-16). When Ishmael mocked and tried to dominate his younger brother, Sarah banished him and his mother Hagar (Genesis 21:9-21).
In light of this, an angel prophesied the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael would be mortal enemies. This prophecy has proven true for almost 4,000 years. This acrimonious relationship and subsequent separation of blood brothers is the keystone of all the conflicts between the Arab/Muslim struggles with the Jewish nation. Yes, the battles between Saudi Arabia Arabs and Israeli Jews has been ongoing since the time of Abraham. One might wonder how many Arabs and Jews have any idea about the true origins of their ill will towards one another that was started by a pair of angry boys who happened to be half-brothers from different mothers?
God told Abraham that a multitude of nations would come from his line of descent. Ishmael is the father of the modern Arabs while Isaac is the one from which the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, would descend. So, Sarah has to be given recognition and the singular honor of being the grandmother of the twelve tribes of Israel. Sarah certainly was quite the mother. Can you imagine nursing an infant in your nineties ?
Next, we can cameo Rebekah, mother of Jacob and Esau. Rebekah left her father’s home with the blessing of having many children to warm her loving heart. But years of no births passed and that was a miserable position for any woman from the ancient lands to suffer, and how much more so for people who believed the divine promises concerning many children? This is almost a rerun of the problems Abraham and Sarah confronted. Rebekah was subjected to family conflict, she battled infertility, and fought for the future of her boys, Esau and Jacob. During the early years of marriage, she felt abandoned by God. At a point in her life when she was well beyond normal childbearing years, she wondered when and how God would fulfill His promises to her family. Barrenness in that era cast disgrace on both husband and wife but the woman was especially shamed. Isaac and Rebekah experienced a real test of their faith, for God had promised that the seed of Christ the Messiah would come through Isaac (Genesis 21:12), but without any children that promise seemed destined to go unfulfilled.
Rebekah clearly understood that there were problems between Esau and Jacob as she carried them in her womb. She could feel the babies “jostling against each other within her” (Genesis 25:22). She exclaimed, “If it is like this, why go on living!” Troubled and confused, she lifted a prayer to God and asked “what is happening?” The voice of the Lord told her, “The leaders of two nations are in your body. Two nations will come from you, and they will be divided. One of them will be stronger, and the older will serve the younger.”
Even as the boys were coming out of Rebekah's womb their contentions continued: Esau was born first. Jacob came out grabbing his brother’s heel a moment later. From birth, the boys looked very different, Esau's skin was red, and his whole body was thickly covered with hair like a garment (Genesis 25:24). Rebekah's motherly intuition led her to believe there would be continuous conflicts between the boys even as they grew into adults. Just as God foretold. The fact that Isaac preferred Esau and Rebekah preferred Jacob added to stir up more strife and family division. Parents openly picking favorites is never a good child-raising tactic, is it?
Even when God seemed to answer the prayers her husband brought before God, He did so in a way that seemed to bring even more troubles. So much so, that she wondered, “why is this all happening to me?” God’s answer brought even more confusion. Her story is a narration of struggle, faith, and massive mistakes. Her difficulties were so real that we can readily identify with her plight and easily imagine ourselves in the same dreadful situations.
Like Sarah and his father Abraham, Isaac, and his wife initially struggled to have children. After various prayers, Rebekah gave birth to twins, Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25:21). Once again, we see our prayers are answered when and how God wants to fulfill them.
Her story could cause us to ask tough questions about our own motives for our actions or inactions. Do we respond properly when things don’t seem to progress at the pace we expect? What do we do when trouble seems to double down? Do we learn from past mistakes, and how do we avoid falling into the same predicaments? Rebekah’s story reflects the realism of motherhood with its struggles, conflicts, and pain. But it is also a true narrative of God’s faithfulness even when everything looks to be falling apart. We should be encouraged and in awe of God's majesty, wisdom, and workings!
As the married couple grew older, Isaac's vision dimmed to be so hazy he could not tell his two twin sons apart by sight alone. The time arrived for the blessing of the elder son, Esau. But Rebekah hatched a plot to allow Jacob to receive that blessing. Urged on by Rebekah, Jacob put on a disguise that made his skin feel hairy like Esau’s and went to Isaac posing as his brother. With failed vision, Isaac was fooled by the feeling the texture of the hairy costume. Did that deceit and treachery appear to be the proper methods of a “good mother?”
Well, maybe Rebekah can be excused for her deceitfulness. Both she and Isaac had been told by God, before the birth of their twin sons, that “the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). Were Rebekah's motherly motives meant as a rebuke to Esau—or a selfish way to see her favorite son receive the rewards of the father's blessing? Was Rebekah’s garment of deception an act of motherly love or was she acting out a scenario that supported the results of God's promise?
Either way, once Esau learned of the fraudulence act, he stayed rightfully angry. Esau plotted to kill Jacob (Genesis 27:41). Fortunately for Jacob, Rebekah learned about this plan and convinced Isaac to send Jacob away on the pretense of finding a wife among the people of her heritage. When Jacob returned, his father Isaac lived another 15 years or so before dying at the age of 180. At Isaac's death, Esau and Jacob came together again to bury him with their grandparents at the cave of Machpelah.
The faith of Rebekah can stand as an example of perseverance through motherhood's disappointments and reoccurring bouts of animosity between siblings. But faithfulness through these challenges is often rewarded in accordance with God's plan. Real faith does not wish for a “dream life” or not getting everything we want when we demand it. We always need to trust God to provide what is good for us, solely at His timing.
Next, let's visit a dear cousin of the Virgin Mary. As a godly woman in her elder years, God blessed her cousin Elizabeth to give birth. She was selected by God to be the future Mother of John the Baptist, the man who prepared the way for the Lord. According to the first chapter in the Gospel of Luke, Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah were righteous before God. They took care to obey all of the Lord's commandments and ordinances. Yes, they were blameless, but also childless at that advanced age of their marriage. Elizabeth had matured past menopause. Her husband was elderly and we are left to speculate about any sexual activities they might have been sharing. Some say Elizabeth was in her 40's when John the Baptist was born. Even though her age is not given in the Bible, we know that the people of that medically deficient era felt she was at an impossible age to become the mother of a newborn child.
Elizabeth had given up all hope for a child, but her life took an unexpected turn. To the amazement of all, she became pregnant after Zechariah had an uplifting encounter with an angel of God. According to Luke, Zechariah was serving as a priest among a group of priests. The priests chose one priest to offer the incense, and this time Zechariah was the one chosen. So he went into the Temple of the Lord to offer incense. An angel of the Lord came and stood before him. When he saw the angel, he was very afraid, you might even say he seemed upset.
The angel spoke: “Zechariah, don’t be afraid. Your prayer has been heard by God. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a baby boy, and you will name him John. You will be very happy, and many others will share much joy over his birth. He will be a great man for the Lord. He will never drink wine or beer. Even before he is born, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.” The angel went on to add, “John will help many people of Israel return to the Lord their God. John himself will go ahead of the Lord and make people ready for his coming. He will be powerful like Elijah and will have the same Spirit. He will make peace between fathers and their children. He will cause people who are not obeying God to change and start thinking the way they should.”
Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth became pregnant. So she did not leave her house for five months. With unbridled joy, she exclaimed, “Look what the Lord has done for me! He decided to help me. Now people will stop thinking there is something wrong with me.”
My question to the class is: Don't we all often waste too much time over frivolous concerns about what other people might think of our perceived shortcomings or inadequacies? Instead, we need to focus on what kind of good Christian examples we can reflect!
Now, within the confines of this lesson, we get to pay tribute to the Most Holy Mother of all—Mary. The honoring of the Holy Virgin began from the time when the Archangel Gabriel greeted Her with the words: “Rejoice, O Blessed One, the Lord is with Thee! Blessed art Thou among women!”
When Mary's cousin, Elizabeth, reached her sixth month of pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary, a young virgin girl from Nazareth, a small town in Galilee. Mary was engaged to marry a man named Joseph from the family of David. The angel came to her and said, “Greetings! The Lord is with you; you are very special to him.” But Mary was very confused about what the angel meant. She wondered, “What does this mean?” The angel soothed her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, because God is very pleased with you. Listen! You will become pregnant with a baby boy. You will name him Jesus. He will be great. People will call him the Son of the Most High God, and the Lord God will make him king like his ancestor David. He will rule over the people of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end.”
Mary said to the angel, “How will this happen? I am still a virgin.” The angel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the Most High God will cover you. The baby will be holy and will be called the Son of God. And here is something else: Your relative Elizabeth is pregnant. She is very old, but she is going to have a son. Everyone thought she could not have a baby, but she has been pregnant now for six months. God can do anything!”
Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let this thing you have said happen to me!” Then the angel went away. Mary got up and went quickly to a town in the hill country of Judea. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the unborn baby inside her jumped, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.
As Paul Harvey used to say, “the rest of the story,” the birth and life of Jesus Christ, is so well known that we need not repeat it here.
However, the Blessed Virgin Mary, because of her great virtues, her help to the needy, and her preeminent role in God's plan for the salvation of mankind, holds a distinct position of esteemed love among Christians. After her virgin birth of Jesus, Mary and her carpenter husband Joseph had four more boys and an undisclosed number of daughters. From what little we can read of Mary, I venture to say she was a loving, affectionate mother, who knew how to raise children correctly. After all—she was God's choice to be the mother of Jesus, wasn't she?
During Christ's ministry, and His moving from place to place, Mary, no longer a virgin, but as a good mother accompanied Jesus. As did His four half-brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. Before Jesus Christ died on the cross, he asked the apostle John to take care of Mary for the rest of her life. Many historians believe that Mary, along with John, moved to the ancient city of Ephesus, now a part of Turkey. They ended her earthly lives there in peace and tranquility years later.
Ladies, in closing, far be it from me, a male, to provide you any significant guidance on how to be good mothers! However, here are my offerings of attributes, traits, or positive measures on good parenting for your consideration.
1. When you give birth to your newborn child, let their care and upbringing be your top priorities.
2. Baby-proof everything so you don't have to yell 'No!' when they otherwise could get into things they shouldn't.
3. Expand your range of patience, then add even a little more to the mix. Children can provoke exasperation.
4. Think before you yell or slap. If they ratchet their unruliness beyond your well-defined limits, then gentle but firm discipline is likely called for. Let your children know that your loving discipline is a blessing—not a punishment. A few yelps and red marks (not welts) are better than handcuffs and prison time later in their life. After everybody is settled down—love, hugs, and loving kisses provide wonderful remedies for diminishing the guilt of their previous wrongdoings.
5. Be their parent, as opposed to being a chummy peer, for at least the first 18 years or so. Then you can be their best friend for the rest of your life.
6. Always attempt to try to do your best.
7. Strive to build their confidence and self-esteem so they can grow up self-assured and self-empowered.
8. Praise your children when they accomplish anything reasonably well. Encourage them with real activities, not just cellphones, video games, or television.
9. Set aside a little “me” time to relax. We all need rest and recreation—and a little alone time to re-energize and refresh ourselves. After relaxing and rededicating yourself to the challenges of children, you will return as an improved, more balanced, parent.
10. Don't hold yourself, or them, to being perfect. As a parent or child that goal is unobtainable.
The End, Amen!
