The Love Of Two Mothers Series

THE LOVE OF TWO MOTHERS

Ronald Reagan once said “From my mother I learned the value of prayer, how to have dreams and believe I could make them come true.”

A man is not poor who has a mother that loves him. And that’s particularly true of one of the greatest men of the Old Testament - a man named Moses. Moses not only had ONE MOTHER that loved him… HE HAD TWO. There was Jochebed - the mother who gave birth to him – and there was the daughter of Pharaoh who adopted him. And both These mothers were great mothers because – they both loved babies.

Now, that may seem like a given, but not every woman loves kids.

ILLUS: I once read the story of a woman who went shopping for swimsuits with her mother. In the department store, though, she was having a hard time finding one that fit. After trying on at least 10, all to no avail, she grew increasingly frustrated. Trying to calm her, her mother said "Look at it this way: what would you rather have – the husband and three children who adore you, or a swimsuit that fits?" Before she could answer, a faceless voice from the next dressing room stall replied "I want a swimsuit that fits!"

Not every woman wants kids. But these two did. And that was no small thing in their day, because Moses’ 2 mothers lived in a culture of death. A decree had gone out from the throne of Pharaoh that every male child born to a Hebrew was to be thrown into the Nile and drowned. And Moses’ birth mother – Jochebed – was a HEBREW woman.

Now… she had a choice to make. The society in which she lived made it virtually impossible to keep her child, and so she could have simply decided to throw her child away. I mean – in that culture – her son was not wanted. She could have chosen death (the easy choice)… but she chose life instead.

And that was not an easy decision for Jochebed to make. It required her to hide her child for 3 whole months always fearing that Egyptian soldiers would discover the baby, and not only kill her child but punish her entire family for disobeying the law. Choosing life was not an easy decision.

And then there was Pharaoh’s daughter. She knew who this baby was. Exodus 2:6 tells us, “She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. ‘This is one of the Hebrew babies,’ she said.” She KNEW he was a Hebrew. Her father had decreed these children should die. Her society had decided that these babies shouldn’t live. Common wisdom had determined that these children were a threat to their nation.

It would have been so easy to let the child die. But she chose LIFE instead.

ILLUS: Both mothers lived in a culture of death. Both mothers lived in a society that decreed certain children shouldn’t live. And America has long had that kind of society. About 15 years ago, Florida was considering a law that would have required that abortion providers should offer pregnant mothers the opportunity to see ultrasounds of their unborn children. That’s ALL that law would have required – abortion mills simply had to OFFER to have the mothers see their unborn children. The bill did NOT require the mothers to look at the ultrasounds. And yet that law died in the Florida senate. Why? Because at that time we lived in a culture of death. We lived in a society that decreed - certain children should die

We need to remember that God punished Egypt because of their culture of death. Egypt’s culture of death required that every male child born to the Hebrews was to die. And when God punished Egypt He brought 10 plagues down upon them - do you remember what THE LAST PLAGUE was? The Last plague was that God decreed: “Every FIRSTBORN SON in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill...” Exodus 11:5

Egypt had decreed death for the Hebrew baby boys, and so God decreed death for their children as well. But MOSES LIVED because Jochebed and Pharaoh’s daughter never accepted that culture of death. They chose life.

Now, I usually take a Bible text and follow it where I believe it wants to take me, but that doesn’t mean I’m always comfortable with the destination I arrive at. I know there are many in our nation that have had abortions. Our culture has made it SO ACCEPTABLE that it’s often chosen before a woman or girl has had time to consider its implications. But, from what I’ve read - the aftermath of that decision is often devastating. You may know of someone who has had an abortion, or you may have had one yourself. So, I want you to remember something: Our God is a forgiving God (REPEAT). We need to engrain this into our minds and make sure…others are aware of it. OUR GOD IS A FORGIVING GOD.