Our mothers love for us

Isaiah 49:14-16

a. Our mothers will not forget us (49:14-15a)

b. Our mothers will have compassion upon us (49:15b)

c. Our mothers remind us of God (49:15c-16)

1. INTRODUCTION

2. BODY

a. Our mothers will not forget us (49:14-15a)

i. This starts in verse 14 where it says that Israel says that The Lord has forsaken me and that the Lord has forgotten me. When we think about the backdrop of the book of Isaiah, the first 12 chapters tell us what this book is about. If you take time, read the book of Isaiah. I have been reading Isaiah as well for my personal reading and it really highlights God’s plan for Israel.

ii. Throughout the first 12 chapters, you see the serious condition that Israel was in. Isaiah records the social practices that were ongoing where the rich oppressed the poor (3:15), women were proud and materialistic (3:16-17;24-26; Amos 4:1-3).

iii. There is a lot of overlap between Amos and Isaiah and similar to Amos, Isaiah indicted the upper classes for social injustice which is what leads to Isaiah’s call in Chapter 6. Isaiah answers the call in chapter 6 by saying send me (6:8) and immediately Isaiah confronts king Ahaz in Isaiah 7.

iv. The message that Isaiah delivers to the king is communicated through the names of three children. The names Shear-jashub (7:3) which means remnant restored, Immanuel (7:4) God with us and Maher shalal hash baz which means soil speeds, prey hastens. This speaks of the reality that although the kings of Israel will fail, God will not fail them. Despite the fact that they will face near destruction, God will remain faithful to Israel. This is finalized by Chapter 12 where Israel thanks the Lord for deliverance and this helps us to understand how the book is outlined.

v. Despite judgment and trials that Israel would face, God promised Israel salvation and His clear faithfulness to them. Throughout the book, the lesson that God was teaching Israel was that they needed to trust God.

vi. Well that helps us to understand our section. Israel states here in verse 14 that God had forsaken them, that God had forgotten them. This again, goes against the whole purpose of Isaiah. It was to reveal to them that God’s sovereignty was in place, and everything that was happening to Israel was not something God was unaware of. God knew what was happening. He was still watching them.

vii. We see this clearly here in verse 15. God responds to this simple statement of Israel stating that God had forgotten them. God asks a simple question, “Can a woman forget her nursing child?”

viii. As some of us in here within the last 3 months have had children, they will be the first to tell you that nursing the child is one thing they can’t forget and is impossible to forget. Why? Because if the child is hungry, the baby will cry. The babies cry because they want something and are making their desires known. They are simply asking a question, “Have you forgotten to feed me?” “Don’t you know I need you?”

ix. Well, these are the same questions and the crying that Israel was doing before God. God helps Israel to understand that just as a mother would never forget to nurse her child, God would also not forget them.

x. I love the illustration of a mother nursing her child. When I ask my wife and other mom’s after their children grow up, the fondest memory of most mothers is this time in their lives. They all look back to this moment in time, although it’s exhausting waking up early to feed, and losing a lot of sleep, they end up missing this time most. Why? Because their children are completely dependent on them.

xi. This makes sense with the biblical job description for women. 1 Timothy 2:15, women will be preserved, more accurately “saved” how? Through the bearing of children.

xii. God’s design for women, for our mothers is that they would be saved, not in the sense of you do this you are saved, but if you live in obedience. Don’t follow what the world tells you how you should be. Obey what God tells you to do. What is your primary task? To care for your home, to love your children, raise your children to continue in the faith. Be an example to your children so they see Christ in you. This means, that they walk in their faith, they exemplify their faith to their children so that their children learn from them. Afterall, the people the children spend the most of their time with is their mom.

b. Our mothers will have compassion upon us (49:15b)

i. But not only are they there to just feed us, but it says here in verse 15, that they would have compassion on the son of her womb. It’s very telling here of what Isaiah is trying to say. He speaks of a woman and her compassion on the son of her womb. Why would the woman have compassion on her son or daughter? Because of the hardship of child bearing and the experience the mother has with the child as the child is growing inside of her.

ii. I loved having babies because I love their smell and just holding their little hands. I would tell my wife after our child grows up a little and say “I miss having a baby” and God would give us another child. I guess this is why mother’s day and father’s day is so different because really, mothers are more significant than fathers in terms of child raising.

iii. Well it’s no different in our passage. Here in verse 15, it asks a question, will a mother not have compassion on her child from her own womb? The word here for compassion, speaks of an attitude against someone, someone who is helpless and needs mercy. It’s to look upon this person who is helpless and in a familial relationship, not a stranger.

iv. Again, the example comes from God’s love for Israel, just as Israel was suffering and at the hands of near destruction, God saw their helpless need. What we see up to this point in chapter 49 is that Israel was conquered first by Assyria in approx. 722 BC and because Isaiah is writing to Judah, Isaiah speaks specifically of Babylonian captivity in 586 BC.

v. If you read Isaiah Chapters 36-39, you see mention of the Assyrian captivity which aligns with 2 Kings 18:13-19:37. But because Isaiah was written to Judah (Southern Kingdom), it speaks primarily of Babylonian captivity.

vi. Well, if we think about the context of what is happening, Israel is weeping and asking the Lord for mercy because of being conquered by Israel. And in this state, God tells Israel, I haven’t forgotten you just like a mother would continue to have mercy upon their child who has gone astray.

vii. Just as a mother would never give up on her child and have compassion on her child, God is promising His love for us. We love our mothers because they are always compassionate to us. They always listen to us and always side with us. We love our mothers because when we are lost and helpless, we can always go talk to mom. We can’t go talk to dad, but we can talk with mom because she will listen and relate to us.

c. Our mothers love remind us of God (49:15c-16)

i. Well, that’s exactly what God tells us in verse 15-16. Even if your mom forgets you, and she will forget you at times, she won’t always be on your side, but behold, Indeed, I have written you, I have cemented you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are continually before Me.

ii. God tells Israel that despite their unfaithfulness to Him, He shows everlasting compassion to them and will never forsake or forget them. Instead, as we have seen since Chapter 40-66, the book of Isaiah promises restoration.

iii. How will this restoration be brought? Through the coming Messiah. This is why in Isaiah 53, one of the most popular beautiful passages of Scripture, God outlines exactly how He would meet our need. Israel’s need was not purely social, but it was more importantly inward. Israel had a heart issue which is why they committed all of these sins. Therefore, God would not simply help them stop committing sins, but would take upon their sins upon Himself. God would send His Son to die for the sins of you and me.

iv. That is the promise of God and as outlined here in verse 15, He will not forget us. Our mothers might get old and forget us. Maybe they might have other plans or forget even though we know they love us. But God’s promise is, He is a better parent than anyone else can ever be.

v. Don’t get me wrong. Mothers are wonderful. Mothers are a constant reminder of God’s grace upon us. Mothers remind us of God’s tenderness when we need that. No matter how tough we are, we all need gentleness and our mothers, wives give us that.

vi. But the purpose of our mothers is not so that we can worship our moms. The purpose why God gave us mothers, no matter how long they are with us, is to show us God’s love for us. It is to teach us how much He loves us. Please don’t forget we love our mothers because like Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2:15, mothers are there to show us Christ. The fact that we love our mothers should cause us a greater love for God.

vii. Well I want to end with this phrase in verse 16. God tells Israel, Behold, Indeed, this is a promise. I have cemented you on my palms. Why is this significant? Normal practice was that the servant would have his master’s name on his hands. It was to show who the servant belonged to. Instead here, the master would have His servant’s hand. This shows us God’s relationship to us. God would not expect His servant to reach His stature, but rather, the Master would come down to the servant’s place.

viii. This idea of writing the servant’s name on the master’s hand is beautiful because it reminds us of John 10:28-30, that nobody can snatch a name out of His hand. Nobody will slip away from God once He holds them. But the other picture is that, because the name is written in His hands, He will never forget them. This is why God says, Your walls are continually before Me.

ix. This idea of your walls are continually before Me is fascinating because the walls of Jerusalem were a total of 4,018 meters (2.497 miles), their average height is 12 meters (39 feet or 3 stories high). These were high walls and what it tells us is that because of their height, they are always visible. God is continually looking after Israel because of His great love for us.

x. I pray that as we celebrate Mother’s day, we are reminded to love our mothers, to be thankful to them, and remember how much of a gift they are/were to us. For those of us who are mothers now and raising children or will be future mothers, I pray that we would learn what task we have before us, to raise our children to know God and love God. Through that, they will come to appreciate you. May the Lord continually work in us that we would have families that love each other and find our greatest joy in Him.

3. CONCLUSION