Today is Mother’s Day and I wanted to begin our service with a few significant questions to test your knowledge about Mothers. First, how many people here have had a mother? Good, just checking to make sure you’re arms all work. Does anyone know who was considered the greatest prophet in the Old Testament? Does anyone know who was the mother of the greatest prophet in the Old Testament? Although it sounds like an old cliché there is a lot of truth to the saying that ‘None of us would be where we are if it wasn’t’ for our mother.’ Behind most every successful and happy person there is a happy mom.
Today I want to examine the faith of Moses mom, and consider how her life might support the mother’s we want to honor today. Through faith, Moses’ mother prepared the future deliverer of the Israelites for his task. Let’s consider what we can glean from Jochebed’s faith.
I. By Faith Jochebed Protected Her Child
The first action we discover in Jochebed’s story is that she acted in faith to protect her child from any harm.
As a child I remember my mom telling me the story of a mother hen who had a brood of young chicks. This hen lived on a farm in the prairies, and one evening looked up to see the sky alight with a strange glow. You see a spark had ignited a prairie fire and the flames were licking their way across the fields burning everything in their path. The mother hen began to call her chicks to herself, and one by one she gathered them under her wings. Just in time the chicks were gathered in, with a blazing heat the flames came on, but that mother hen didn’t budge. In the morning the farmer was walking through the farmyard surveying the damage. He was sure he could hear the sound of muffled chirps that seemed to come from the edge of the field. He pushed something with his foot and to his surprise found that beneath it were each of the chicks, alive and well. The mother had given her life for the sake of her young. I remember feeling very sad for the poor mother hen as a child, but her sacrifice reflects the attitude of most mothers for their children.
Jochebed is no exception. Scripture tells us that Jochebed was living in a perilous time. A time when the king had ordered that all the male babies born of slaves were to be immediately thrown into the river and drowned, in a desperate attempt to stem the population growth of the Israelites.
I wonder how Jochebed felt when she discovered she was pregnant. Surely it wasn’t’ a planned pregnancy, who would have a child at a time like that. I imagine she must have prayed that God would let it be a little girl. Can you imagine the sleepless nights she must have had as her time drew near.
But when the baby came it was a little boy. A perfect little boy, scripture tells us that she looked upon him and saw that he was beautiful. Is that why she saved him? Because he was beautiful? Scripture tells us more than that, it tells us that she had faith. Faith that this baby was special, a child set apart for a special purpose by God. In those moments after the birth she made a perilous decision: she would not let the baby be taken, she would hide the baby. According to the bible she did this because she feared God more than she feared the Pharaoh of Egypt.
Turn with me to Psalm 139:13-16 and follow along with the words David wrote: For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mothers womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
Many of you are familiar with the words of this Psalm, many of you know that David sets out a case for the fact that from the point of conception a child is a work of God who ‘knits it together in the mothers’ womb. But have you caught that part in verse 16 before? That before we were formed the Lord had fashioned our days for us? What does that mean? Nothing less than the fact that God has a plan for every child, before they even make their appearance. But perhaps you need more, consider Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. That’s right, we discover in Christ that God has prepared work for us, he has a purpose for bringing a child forth, YOU HAVE A PURPOSE! But do these passages only apply to certain people? Consider one more passage in Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. Did you catch that last part? God doesn’t make mistakes… to God there is no such thing as an ‘unplanned pregnancy’ nor an ‘unwanted child’. Everything that is created is created FOR HIM.
We should not wonder at the faith of Jochebed who saw that this child had a place in God’s plan, we should wonder that so many parents fail to grasp the fact that every child has a place in God’s plan. That we have been created for Him!
Parents have a serious responsibility toward those they bring into this life. Think of it! God has given a father and a mother the ability to bring into existence one who has an immortal soul. This act has more far-reaching consequences than any other act a man or woman can accomplish. Mom’s and dad’s your children are your legacy, long after your trophies have faded and your accomplishments are forgotten the soul of your children will live on. Once brought into existence that soul will live somewhere for all of eternity!
Jochebed, by faith that God had a plan and purpose for her child, chose to protect her child from physical death. How much greater are the stakes in 21st Century Canada where our very culture seeks to devour our children. We live in a time when the popular idea is to give children less discipline, to offer less correction. Recent studies have shown that preschoolers watch more TV through the week than any other group. A mother needs to have the faith to believe that God has a purpose for every child.
Susanna Wesley, who raised 17 children stated that the most important job of a mother was to SUBDUE THE SELF WILL OF A CHILD and in doing this she would work together with God to save his soul. How strongly this contrasts with the relaxed disciplinary attitude of our world that frowns on parents who squelch a child’s creativity by saying ‘no’ to it.
II. By Faith Jochebed Surrendered Her Child to God
What were you thinking Jochebed? Did you weep as you wove the little basket? Did you pray as you covered the little ark with pitch? Did the other children pry you with questions? Did you tell them the story of Noah and the ark that God used to save his life? Did your faith waver? Did you feel hollow from hopelessness? Did you feel weak and powerless? Did you dare sing to your baby as you wove the little ark? Did you brush cheek one last time and kiss his little forehead before you closed the lid? Did you go to the river, or was that too much to bear? Did you dare to hope that the God to whom you so desperately clung had some sort of plan? Did you dare to hope your child would see another day? Or was it all you could do just to pray?
Have you been there before? To the edge of hopelessness, the verge of panic, the perimeter of powerlessness?
Have you sat in the hospital emergency room just trying to breathe?
Has your heart broken as your child cries because of some bully at school?
Have you kissed your child good-bye and watched them walk through the kindergarten door, or out the door for high-school, college or a year abroad?
WHO WILL GUARD MY CHILD NOW?
Maybe your turmoil is different. maybe it’s not apprehension at what might happen, but sorrow over what has already occurred.
The police call to say your child is in custody for shoplifting.
The doctor calls with the test results… you’d better come in so we can talk.
The hospital calls your child was just brought in.
Perhaps over the years your child has turned away from the Lord. Perhaps there came a morning when they said, “I’m not going to church anymore, mom.” Maybe they’ve turned their back on you.
Perhaps you, like Jochebed, have found your hands trembling and your eyes blurred with tears. But when you find yourself with Jochebed, follow her lead. When there’s nothing to be done, then it’s time to let go and let God. I imagine Jochebed spent hours in prayer as she prepared to release her child into God’s hands.
In Hebrews 11:23 we read of Jochebed’s faith, a chapter of the Bible that begins with the words, ‘Now faith is being sure of what we HOPE for, certain of what we do not see.’ The writer of Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages those at the edge of hopelessness to, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.
It is significant that the little basket Jochebed wove for her son is called an Ark. The word is used only here and in the story of the deliverance of Noah. Jochebed built an ark for her baby with faith that God would do what she could not and then she surrendered him into God’s hands.
Mom’s, each of you will reach the day when you are unable to act- when you are powerless. When you reach that point, won’t you build an ark of prayer to lay your child in. A place where faith allows you to entrust them to the hands of God.
III. By Faith She Trained Her Child
Dr. I.M. Haldemand records an interesting list of contrasts in the life of Moses. Consider it with me:
He was the child of a slave, but the son of a queen.
He was born in a hut, but lived in a palace.
He inherited poverty, but enjoyed unlimited wealth.
Indeed Moses is a case of a child who went from rags to riches, but the list changes at this point. In Hebrews 11:24-26 it says: By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. Therefore the list continues:
He was the leader of armies, but the keeper of flocks.
He was the mightiest of warriors, but the meekest of men.
He was educated in the court, but dwelt in the desert.
He had the wisdom of Egypt, but the faith of a child.
He was fitted for the city, but wandered in the wilderness.
He was tempted with the pleasures of sin, but endured the hardships of virtue.
He was backward in speech, but talked with God.
He had the rod of a shepherd, but the power of the infinite.
He was a fugitive from Pharaoh, but an ambassador from heaven.
He was the giver of the law, but the forerunner of grace.
He died alone on Mt. Moab, but appeared with Christ in Judea.
No man assisted in his funeral, but God buried him.
Could a mother hope more for her child? But what does Moses’ choices have to do with his mother’s faith? Will you allow me to speculate for a moment? Look closely at Exodus 2:5-10 – Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maids to get it. And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, ‘This is one of the Hebrew’s children.’ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?’ And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Go.’ So the maiden went and called the child’s mother. then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed him. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, ‘Because I drew him out of the water.’
Imagine the moment when little Miriam burst through the front door with the news that a princess had found the baby and wanted to keep him, but that she would hire Jochebed to raise the child for her. What a tremendous answer to prayer.
What did Jochebed teach Moses in those few years she had with him? What values did she instill, what attitudes did she cultivate, what instruction did she give?
Studies conducted recently have suggested that 50% of a child’s attitude is learned in the first 3 years of life. The Soviet’s used to say, ‘Give us a child for the first 4 years and we’ll have him for life.’ Many school teachers will tell you that by the time a child is in kindergarten they have already been trained how to act.
What would you teach your child, mom, if you knew that you’re time was limited? What attitudes would you seek to coach and what values would you instill? What would be important enough to occupy that time? How many opportunities would you let slip by if you knew the day would come when you would surrender the child to someone else? Think carefully on that answer, for if you are honest with yourself you will realize that the time is limited, that with every passing year your child grows less teachable, seize the moment while it lasts.
Conclusion: So we see that Moses mother, through faith, prepared the future deliverer of Israel. What would have happened if she had never had the faith to believe that God had a plan for him? What would have happened if she had not had the faith to surrender him to God and lay him in that tiny ark? What might have happened if she had failed to seize the moment and instill Moses with a knowledge of right and wrong?
Mom’s (and dad’s as well), it is important that Christian parents realize their children are loaned to them by God to be spiritually trained and prepared for his use. It’s not enough to provide only materially and physically for the children. It is a sobering responsibility as parents realize that – by training their children for God’s use – many lives may eventually be affected by those children. But from the life of Moses we see that God expects that faith to begin with the parents.
