Good morning,
This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day. A day to remember and thank them for all they have done for us.
This week we will look at three mothers whose sons had a tremendous impact on the world.
Jochebed-Moses (Numbers 26:59, Exodus 2:1-10)
“And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister.”
“And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.7 Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother.9 And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the women took the child, and nursed it.10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.”
Jochebed, the mother of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, is one of the underappreciated mothers in the Bible, yet she also showed tremendous faith in God. To avoid the mass slaughter of Hebrew boys, she set her baby adrift in the Nile River, hoping someone would find him and raise him. God so worked that her baby was found by Pharaoh’s daughter. Jochebed even became her own son’s nurse, ensuring that Israel’s great leader would grow up under the godly influence of his mother during his most formative years.
God used Moses mightily to free the Hebrew people from their 400-year bondage to slavery and take them to the Promised Land. The writer of Hebrews pays tribute to Jochebed (Hebrews 11:23), showing that her faith allowed her to see the importance of saving her child’s life so that he might, in turn, save his people. Although little is written about Jochebed in the Bible, her story speaks powerfully to mothers of today. (Zavada, Jack. “8 Mothers in the Bible Who Served God Well.” Learn Religions, Apr. 5, 2023, learnreligions.com/mothers-in-the-bible-701220.)
Distinctive traits of a Godly mother:
Courage
Faith
Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com
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