5 Great Mothers in the Bible

I'd like to read something that you can find on the Internet, if you would like, called the Meanest Mother in the World. It's written by Ann Landers many years ago. Here's how it goes. I had the meanest mother in the world. While other kids had candy for breakfast, I had to eat cereal, eggs, and toast. While other kids had coke and candy for lunch, I had a sandwich. As you can guess, my dinner was different from other kids' dinners, too. My mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times.

You'd think we were on a chain gang or something. She had to know who our friends were and what we were doing. I'm ashamed to admit it, but she actually had the nerve to break the child labor law. She made us work. We had to wash dishes, make the beds, and learn how to cook. That woman must have stayed up a week nights thinking of things for us kids to do. And she always insisted we tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

By the time we were teenagers, our life became even more unbearable. None of this tooting the car horn for us to come running, she embarrassed us no end by insisting that the boys come to the door to get us. I forgot to mention that most of our friends were allowed to date at the mature ages of 12 and 13, but our old-fashioned mother refused to let us date until we were 15. She actually raised a bunch of squares. None of us was ever arrested for shoplifting or busted for dope.

And who do you think we have to thank for this? You're right, our mean old mother. I'm trying to raise my children to stand a little straighter and taller, and I am secretly tickled to pieces when my children call me mean. I thank God for giving me the meanest mother in the world.

Our country doesn't need a good five-cent cigar. It needs more mean mothers like mine. Well, you know, you can read that again if you would like on the internet. Just do a search for meanest mother in the world. One thing the world needs now are more mean mothers. I had a mean mother myself. I'm glad for that. It's Mother's Day tomorrow, and it's an excellent time for us to think about our mothers, to express the love and respect and appreciation for them, and to wish all of our lovely mothers a good Mother's Day tomorrow. We hope that you will know how much you are loved and appreciated.

I'd like to begin with a few quotes. Rudyard Kettling said God could not be everywhere, and therefore He made mothers. Abraham Lincoln said, All that I am, or ever hope to be, I owe to my mother. Victor Hiebou said a mother's arms are made of tenderness, and children sleep soundly in them. Proverbs, we read, a mother is clothed with strength and dignity, laughs without fear of the future, when she speaks her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.

You know, mothers are so very important to mankind. Many of our problems today could be resolved if we had old-fashioned mean mothers who were there and reared their children. Today we're going to study some wonderful examples of five godly mothers in the Bible. So the sermon title is Five Great Mothers of the Bible. But before we get to them, I just want to mention a few or refer to a few of the scriptures about mothers. Of course, we know that the fifth commandment is to honor your father and your mother.

Yes, honor your father and your mother. And it doesn't give any conditions on that. It doesn't say if your mother has certain faults and problems that you just can't – don't like or has mistreated you or you're not close, you don't have a good relationship with your mother. The commandment does not put any conditions. It just says honor your father and your mother.

Even if you have a mother that has not been the kind of mother that she should have been, give her honor. And there is – for those who recurse or smite their mother, there is a scripture in Exodus 21 that says there is a death penalty in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, Israel, if someone cursed or were to smite their mother, they would be put to death. There's also a verse in Leviticus 19 that says, revere your mother. Revere means to respect highly. And again, there's a death penalty for cursing one's mother in Leviticus 20.

I want us to very quickly turn to a few scriptures in Proverbs on showing love, honor, and respect. Go to the book of Proverbs. Let's begin in Proverbs 1. Proverbs 1. And let's read verse 8. Proverbs 1 and verse 8. My son hear the instructions of your father. You know, fathers are to be very busy also.

They have a major role to play in the teaching of children. So my son hear, listen to the instruction of your father. And then it goes on to say, do not forsake the law of your mother. I like the way that the implication of that, don't you? The law of your mother. Mothers have the children, first of all. They hold them in their arms.

They bear them. They have them, of course, they carry them for nine months in the womb. And then they hold them and they nurse them. Mothers have the first role of a relationship developing a relationship with the children. And mothers are to lay down rules, certain rules for the children in a family where the father is out working in the field, working on a job. Who is it at home with the little toddlers who are maybe not even a year old? Who's teaching them?

Who's instructing them? Who's laying down certain laws? We call them rules, certain rules. And the Scriptures are then encourage the children as they get larger, do not forsake the law. Do not forsake or reject the rules that your mother has laid down. Let's go to Proverbs 6 and verse 20. Proverbs 6 and verse 20. My son, keep your father's command.

Do not forsake the law of your mother. Again, the mother is to lay down certain rules for the children. Let's go to Proverbs 15 and verse 20. Proverbs 15 and verse 20. A wise son makes a father glad. Children strive to make your father glad. Be wise. Let a foolish man despises his mother. He's rejecting the rules that his mother has taught him when he was small.

In Proverbs 23, Proverbs 23 and verse 22. Proverbs 23 and verse 22. Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old. We would be disobedient to God if we were to despise our mother when she is old. Maybe the mother has certain things that you don't like that may be implied here. You're not to despise her. Scriptures say you are to respect, and you are to revere your mother.

And it goes on to say in verse 24, make your parents proud of you. The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice because the righteous person is going to be living a right way of life. He who begets a wise child will delight in him. Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her who bore you rejoice.

You know, your mother did bear you, and you did not want to be glad. You know, your mother did bear you, and let her rejoice in you as a person. Be a success. Be a good person. Do what is right. So the Proverbs certainly do have a lot to say about mothers. And look at Proverbs 31, last one, Proverbs 30 and verse 11. Proverbs 31, verse 11. There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother.

And this generation is not going to succeed. They're going to be going the wrong way of life. And in verse 17, it goes on to say that the eye that mocks his father and scorns obedient to his mother, the ravens of the valley will pluck it out, and the young eagles will eat it. Bad things are going to happen. They're bound to happen if one rejects his father and his mother in the teaching from one's youth.

For the rest of the sermon, I would like for us to consider five great mothers of the Bible. That's the title of the message.

Five great mothers. Let's begin with Sarah, the mother of Isaac. Let's go back to Genesis chapter 21. Genesis chapter 21. We know the story that Sarah was not able to bear children.

And she and Abraham connived to have a son through Hagar, but that didn't work out well.

But God was still promising that there would be a son to be born through Sarah. And you know, it happened. Sarah laughed at it, but it happened. She became expecting pregnant.

When she was 89 years of age, can you imagine that? Maybe you set a record for someone giving birth, age 90. She would be 90 years of age when Isaac was born. Let's read about it here.

In chapter 21 of Genesis, verse 1, the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. You know, God made Sarah a believer. She didn't believe she could have children. God kept promising her that she would have children, and she didn't believe it. But God made her a believer. In verse 2, Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called his son that was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Other verses show that Sarah would have been 90. Verse 6, Sarah said, God has made me laugh so that all who he had here will laugh with me. She also said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? It was this 90-year-old woman breastfeeding Isaac, nursing Isaac. Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age. Yes, you know, we don't have a lot about Sarah as a mother, but here's what I surmise from the way Isaac turned out. Isaac turned out very well. We don't have any major character flaws. We don't have any major disobedience on the part of Isaac. Every indication is that Isaac was a very obedient and well-mannered child and grew up to be that kind of adult.

In fact, when his father Abraham took him to this distant area to make a sacrifice to God, Isaac was there. He said, Father, where is the animal that we're going to sacrifice? His father said, God will provide. Then his father put Isaac, the son, to the son of God.

Up on this altar to be burned. And God stopped that just in the nick of time, as we know.

But Isaac was obedient to death. His father raised up the knife to kill Isaac. To every indication is that he was a very obedient person in every way. I believe that part of that went back to Sarah. Sarah had her role in teaching and in rearing Isaac.

Scriptures do indicate there may have been a close mother-son relationship. Let's turn to Genesis 24. Verse 63. Here, this is after Isaac's mother, Sarah, had died. And when Sarah died, there was such a close mother-son relationship that Isaac took it very hard. Well, the father sent for him to have a wife brought to him. And the servant went and brought back Rebekah. We're familiar with this story. Brought back Rebekah to be a wife for Isaac. And when Rebekah was brought to Isaac, we read about it here in verse 63, Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and camels were coming. Rebekah lifted her eyes and saw Isaac. She dismounted from her camel. She said to her servant, who is this man? And the servant said, It is my master. She took a veil and covered herself. The servant told Isaac all the things he had done. Verse 67. Then Isaac brought her into, interestingly, his mother's tent. And he took Rebekah, and she became his wife. And he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. So there's indication here of a very close mother-son relationship between Sarah and Isaac. I believe that Sarah then qualifies very well to be one of the great mothers of the Bible. The second mother of the Bible, the great mother of the Bible is Ruth. Let's go to the book of Ruth, chapter 1. Just read a few verses here about this great woman of the Bible. Let's begin in verse 16. Ruth, and he was a great mother. He was a great mother. He was a great mother.

Okay, let me get here where I can...here we go. That little book. Ruth, chapter 1, in verse 16. When Ruth lost her husband, they were living in the land of Moab, and she was a Moabite woman. And her mother-in-law was going to...all of them lost their husband so we're going to go back to the land of Judah. And Ruth would not depart from her mother-in-law, Naomi. In verse 16, Ruth said, and look at these beautiful words of this woman, And treat me not to leave you, or turn back from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die. And there will I be buried. And the Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me. Well, we know the story that they did come on back to the land of Judah. And that Naomi arranges for a near kinsman to raise up children to Ruth's husband who had died. And you can read about that, this near kinsman that she arranged was Boaz. Boaz was actually not the closest near kinsman, but the one that was closest did not want to raise up children for Ruth's husband who was dead. And so Boaz was the one. She came in under the instruction of Naomi and slept at his feet. And he woke up to find this woman there who was asking him to carry out his responsibility of being a redeemer or a near kinsman, a raise up children. This man was aware of Ruth as a very virtuous woman. In chapter 3 and verse 10, it's an interesting story to read the whole thing, all four chapters. If you're not familiar, if you're real familiar with the story, in Ruth chapter 3 and verse 10, Boaz was a very generous woman. And she said, Blessed are you of the Lord my daughter, for you have shown more kindness at the end than at the beginning, in that you did not go after young men, whether poor or rich. She was a virtuous woman. And now my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman. Now it is true that I am your near kensmen. However, there is a kensmen nearer than I. But when they went to check it out with this kensmen that was nearer than Boaz, he did not want to fulfill his responsibility to raise up children for Ruth. And so Boaz did go on to take Ruth to be his wife. And you can read about this in chapter 4. And so in verse 13, Boaz told Ruth, and she became his wife. And when he went into her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. And the women said to Naomi, Blessed be the Lord who has not left you this day without a near kensmen, a redeemer. And may his name be famous in Israel. And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age. For your daughter in law, which would be Ruth, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him. And Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom and became a nurse to him.

Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi through Ruth.

And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. This was the grandfather. They bore the grandfather of David. And we know that the lineage of Christ himself would flow through David, on down to Jesus Christ. I believe we can certainly say then that Ruth is one of the great women or mothers of the Bible.

The third great mother of the Bible is Hannah. This is one of the most moving stories of all. Let's go to 1 Samuel. I'm there already. How about you, if you've been following these verses in 1 Samuel chapter 1. You can read about this man who was an Ephraimite. In the words we believe today, modern-day Ephraim is Britain. This is an ancient British person.

This man had two wives. One was in verse 2, was Hannah, and the other was Penanah. Penanah had children, but Hannah did not. Well, they went up to worship year by year. This rival, this other wife, having two wives doesn't really work out. This wife that had children ridiculed and put down Hannah. Hannah came when they went up. She became very depressed.

In verse 10, she was in bitterness of soul and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish.

So she was really distressed, really discouraged about not being able to have children. In verse 11, she made a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant and remember me and not forget your maidservant, but give your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head. Well, it happened as she continued praying before the Lord that Eli, who was the priest, was watching her. Hannah spoke in her heart. Her lips were moving, but no words were coming out. Only her lips. And Eli, the priest, thought she was drunk and said, How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you. Hannah answered and said to him, No, my Lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but it poured out my soul before the Lord. And here was a beautiful attitude of this woman, Hannah. Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now. While Eli realized the situation, he said to her, Hannah, go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you've asked him. And she said, Let your maidservant find favor in your sight. And so the woman, Hannah, went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

Well, guess what? They went back home, and verse 20, it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel. We're reading here about the mother of Samuel, one of the great prophets of Israel. And so, they went, he went to the house of the Lord, the Elkanah, verse 21, but Hannah did not go up, verse 22, for she said to her husband, I will not go up until the child is weaned. Then I will take him that he may appear before the Lord, and remain there forever. She had vowed to give him to the Lord. She said, I'm going to keep him, though, until he's weaned. Normally, a child is weaned by, what, about age two. So, she was going to keep him those first couple of years of his life. Elkanah said in verse 23, do what seems best, wait until you have weaned him, only let the Lord establish his word. So the woman stayed and nourished her son until she had weaned him. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her with three bowls and half a flower, a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord in Shiloh, and the child was young. Well, we would guess only a couple of years old, just after being weaned. In verse 26, Hannah said, O my Lord, as your soul lives, my Lord, I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to the Lord, for this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of him. Therefore, I also have lent him to the Lord as long as he lives. He shall be lent to the Lord. And you can read about the prayer of Hannah, chapter 2. My heart rejoices in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. Here she was, delivering her young, apparently two-year-old, to the priest for him to be there and to serve. And you can read on how Samuel served as a little boy, and how he ministered, verse 11, the child ministered to the Lord. And he was there before Eli the priest. By the way, Hannah then did not see Samuel, except when they came up to worship. Maybe once or twice, two or three times a year, they'd come up to worship. She would see him then, but she basically gave her son away to serve at the temple area, the Tabernacle area. But guess what? God gave her other children. Look at chapter 2, verse 21. The Lord visited Hannah so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. She had a total of six children, but just five of them still at home.

Meanwhile, the child, Samuel, grew before the Lord. And by the way, it goes on to say that Samuel became a great prophet in Israel, even recognized to be in training for that, when he was a child. In chapter 3, verse 19, Samuel grew, and the Lord was with them, and let none of his words fall to the ground. That's the kind of person that Samuel was. Let none of God's words fall to the ground. And all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord. Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

Actually, Eli and his sons were disobedient to doing God's will. They were, but God was raising up a prophet that would let none of God's words fall to the ground. When you study the example of Hannah, the mother of Samuel, I think that truly this is one of the great mothers of the Bible. Let's go to the fourth one, and I think this will be, no doubt, the greatest one of all. Go to Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1. And let's begin reading in verse 26. Luke chapter 1 and verse 26. In the sixth month of, and that would be the sixth month of the pregnancy for John the Baptist, in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to the city of Galilee named Nazareth. To a virgin betrothed to the city of Galilee to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said, rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women. But when she saw him, she was troubled, and is saying, and consider what manner of greeting was this. The angel said, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and call his name Jesus. But we know then Mary was to become the mother of the son of God. So, no doubt, God didn't just choose anyone, did he, to be the mother of his son.

You will bring forth a son and call his name Jesus. He will be great, will be called the son of the highest, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. Mary said to the angels, how can this be, since I do not know a man. I'm a virgin. The angels said the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you.

Therefore, also that Holy One that is born shall be called the Son of God. There is the mother of the Son of God. Mary. Now, indeed, Elizabeth, your relative, also, has conceived a son in her old age, and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. But with God, nothing will be impossible. What kind of woman was this? She knew that she would be accused of fornication having a child out of wedlock. She was accused of that. Jesus was accused of being born of fornication. He wasn't. He was born of the Spirit of God. What kind of woman was Mary? What kind of mother would she be? Verse 38. Mary said, when she got the picture of what was going on, she said, Behold, the maidservant of the Lord. I'm your maidservant. Do your will. Let it be to me. What a willing spirit Mary had to do what God had chosen her to do. Let it be to me, according to your word.

You know, when I think of the mother of the Son of God, she then gave birth. She began to show size and in her abdomen, she went through the normal nine month period of gestation and then delivery. Then she breastfed and nursed this little baby. What? Must have been going through her mind all this time. Here is the Son of God. She knew that she had never had sexual relationships and yet she had become pregnant with the Son of God and she delivered him. She nursed him, breastfed him. I picture her helping Jesus then as he crawled around, as he learned to walk, as he became a little toddler, helping him, teaching him all during these years. During his teenage years, Jesus wasn't just, like so many teenagers, can become at times difficult, but Jesus must have been the easiest teenager to teach and to rear that ever walked on the earth. She helped him. When he became a young adult, aged 18, 19, 20, she was there. I picture Mary then all along the way teaching the Son of God. Don't you think she would certainly be one of the great mothers of the Bible? The last great mother of the Bible that we will cover, there are others that we will not have time to cover, would be Eunice. Who was Eunice? E-U-N-I-C-E. Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 5. Paul writes to Timothy, When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelled first in your grandmother, Mois, and your mother, Eunice.

Timothy's mother's name was Eunice. So Paul goes on to say, I am persuaded is in you also.

I picture Timothy being taught actually by his mother and by his grandmother. Timothy was a third generation then, wasn't he? His grandmother, his mother. He was a third generation in the truth, in the church. But he had been taught as a child. I picture his mother teaching him God's way. Just like many of our parents in the church. Hopefully all are striving to teach their children the Bible. I've encouraged our parents, don't let your children grow up to be Bible illiterates. Teach them the Scriptures. Teach them stories in the Bible. Talk about them often so that they are not Bible illiterates. In 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 14, notice, as for you, continue. Paul was writing here to Timothy, as for you, Timothy, continue, continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them. And that from childhood, from his childhood, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation. So, from his childhood, who had taught them from his childhood? Eunice. So I picture Eunice as being one of the great mothers of the Bible. So my time is running out of five great mothers of the Bible. Sarah, mother of Isaac. Ruth, the mother of Obed, David's grandfather, and by extension, ancestry of Christ. Hannah, the mother of Samuel. Mary, the mother of the Son of God. And Eunice, the mother of Timothy. I think we could mention others. I believe Rebecca, even though Rebecca had her shortcomings, was a great teacher for Jacob. Rachel, a great teacher. She was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin. Jockabed, who's the mother of Moses. She loved that little beautiful, handsome child. He was a beautiful child. She kept him three months, but it was against the law. She put him out in the river. It worked out that she was able to nurse him, and then turn him back to Pharaoh's daughter to be raised. I think Jockabed did the best she could do under the circumstances. Jockabed, the mother of Moses. Many other great mothers could be found in the Bible. I'd like for us to conclude by reading Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31. We often think of this as being about the Proverbs 31 wife, but I'd like for us to also consider this as a Proverbs 31 mother, not just a Proverbs 31 wife. For example, well, we'll see what happens.

We'll begin in verse 10. Proverbs 31 and verse 10. Who can find a virtuous wife, so this is directed toward the wife and the family. Her worth is far above rubus, and we don't say thank you to virtuous wives and to mothers often enough, as we should. Part of her husband safely trusts in her. I want you to notice in verse 15, the motherhood part of this passage.

Verse 15, she also rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household. So that's for her husband and that's for her children. There's more than just the responsibilities or duties of a wife here, but also that for a mother. In verse 15, she also says, and I will read it to you. 21. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for her husband and for her children. Her household is clothed with scarlet. Verse 25. Strength and honor are her clothing. She shall rejoice in time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her household. She's there ruling the house, actually, but under the overall direction of her husband. She watches over the ways of her household, does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also praises her. So, you know, I think mothers, let me just say a couple of exhortations can be brought out from this chapter. Number one, it is true that mothers can learn things themselves that they want to strive for, as far as being what kind of mother they want to be. They can learn what kind of mother is a virtuous wife and mother from this chapter. And also, we can learn that we should give honor and praise and respect to children. And also, husbands ought to give praise to children for their mothers, husbands for the mother of his children. So, there's exhortation here that we can learn both ways. In verse 30, it goes on to say that charm is beautiful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, a wife, a mother who fears the Lord in the way that is described here, she shall be praised. So, in conclusion then, today we do salute our mothers and we wish you a happy Mother's Day.