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Introduction:
Mothers day is often celebrated in such a way as to recognize the caring, sensitive, and tender aspects of motherhood.
Cards with flowers cute sayings such as,
Sending Mother’s Day wishes filled with warm hugs and sweet kisses!
xoxo
Moms are like flowers in the garden of life.
Bloom on!
Mom, you’re nothing short of amazing.
I’m lucky you’re mine!
Mom is a title higher than queen.
So today be sure to wear your crown high.
I’ve always believed in superheroes because you’ve always been Supermom!
For everything I am, I have you to thank.
I love you, mom!
Examples of Fierce Mothers
I think these sentiments are nice, and deserving, but they only communicate a small fraction of what it is to be a mother.
To be a godly mother is far more than just being sweet and kind.
To be a godly mother is to be a woman who is bold, strong, fearless, devoted, and fierce.
I was thinking about these sort of mothers day notes or texts and thought how might it be different if notes were written to the mothers of the bible from their children....
Moses’ son could say to his mother, “Mom, thanks for always being willing to step in when your family needed you.
Like that time you saved Dad’s life, and our family’s life, by taking a knife, circumcising me in order to satisfy God’s wrath.
XOXO”
Or Moses to his mother, “My dearest mother, thank you for being such a sweet anarchist.
Thank you for defying the laws of the land and plotting together with the midwives to deceive Pharaoh so that I might live.
You’re the best!”
Jael daughter might write, “My lovely mother, you have shown me how to be a hard worker, you have taught me not to be afraid to get my hands dirty.
I still remember the time you took the tent peg and hammered it through the skull of the evil king Sisera and saved our village.
You are truly an inspiration!
Lots of love.”
You see, the bible not only celebrates the tender aspects of motherhood, but also the fierce, strong and powerful attributes of a Godly mother.
This morning we are going to see how the story of Rebekah is an example of a godly mother who’s fierce commitment to God saved her family from making a huge mistake.
The Blessing of a Fierce Mother
Tell the story:
Isaac and Rebekah were divinely appointed to be marry each other.
God provided Rebekah to be Isaac’s wife when Abraham, Isaac’s father, sent a servant to find a wife for his son Isaac.
Isaac and Rebekah loved each other very much.
Isaac and Rebekah were unable to have kids because she was barren.
Isaac prayed that God would provide them with children and God answered that prayer and Rebekah
The story jumps ahead about 40 years after Jacob and Esau’s birth
We come to the story where Esau trades his birthright to Jacob for some stew
We find that God promises Isaac that his offspring will continue the Abrahamic promise.
And that that offspring, would be Jacob, not Esau.
And then in chapter 27 we come to the passage where we see Rebekah’s strength and fierceness put on full display.
Isaac is old and he is ready to hand out the blessing to his son.
The blessing is the blessing that God had given to Abraham, and to Isaac, and now it is about to be given to Isaac’s favorite son, Esau.
Isaac calls Esau into his tent and tells him to go hunt game and prepare a delicious meal for him.
And he tells Esau that when he comes back he will bless him.
Esau leaves the tent to go hunt, but Rebekah overheard what Isaac said to Esau.
Rebekah devises a plan to where Jacob will receive the blessing
Rebekah prepares a meal
She disguise Jacob as Esau by wrapping his arms and neck in animal fur so he would feel and smell the same way as Esau
She sends Jacob into the Isaac’s tent with the food and the disguise
And they trick Isaac into giving Jacob the blessing
When Esau finds out what had happened he wanted to kill Jacob
So Rebekah sends him away to her brothers house until Esau calms down.
Now this story, and Rebekah in-particular, has received a bad reputation of being a conniving, evil, sort of women.
Jacob, likewise is seen as a antagonist in this story.
I want to look at five ways we see Rebekah as an example of a fierce mother.
A Fierce Mother Knows and Obeys God’s Word.
The influence of a mother is life changing.
I can say with upmost confidence that I am who I am in large part because of my mothers influence on my life.
My kids are who they are in large part because of Mandee’s influence on their lives
And if any of you have lost your mother you know the void that has left on your life, because a mothers influence is truly life changing
God designed it this way, this is why the call to godly motherhood is such an important call.
And one of the main ways mothers are fierce and godly mothers is by knowing and obeying God’s word.
Proverbs 31.26 speaks to this...
For a mother to speak with wisdom and to teach kindness she must know the heart of God.
And one way she learns the heart of God by soaking herself in scripture.
I am very sad by the bar that has been established for women in the church as it relates to knowing the word of God.
So many bible studies that are designed for women are so watered down that they become emotional sentiments of gnosticism.
What the church needs and what children need and what husbands need and what society needs is women and mothers who know the word of God so well that they are willing to risk everything to honor and obey God’s word.
And this is exactly what Rebekah did.
Rebekah’s choice to trick Isaac into blessing Jacob was not dishonoring to her husband as it was protecting her husbands honor by knowing and obeying God’s word.
Rebekah knew that God told them that Jacob was to be the one to receive the blessing.
That God chose Jacob to be blessed,
and that God chose Jacob to rule
and that it would be through Jacob that the promises given to Abraham would continue.
Rebekah knew God’s words and was not willing to sit ideally by and let her husband rebel against God.
She moved into action protecting Isaac from making the biggest mistake of his life.
For seventy-seven years she had observed Esau’s sins and Jacob’s faithfulness.
And she also recognized what her sinning husband intended to do, for Isaac intended nothing less than the total destruction of God’s covenant.
Giving the covenant to Esau would eradicate everything that God had been doing.
In God’s wonderful providence, Rebekah just happened to be nearby when Isaac announced his wicked plan to Esau.
She determined to do something about it
Rebekah would not have been able to save her family if she did not know and obey God’s word.
Mothers, don’t be afraid of the Bible.
Read it, study it, memorize it, let your words drip with the language of the bible.
And by doing so, you may save your family and honor God.
Its amazing how time in the bible truly forms us.
Our thinking begins to change, our convictions begin to be formed, and our affections begin to be in line with the affections of God.
As we read the bible more and more we begin to love the things that God loves.
This is the second point i want us to see… a fierce mother loves what God loves.
A Fierce Mother Loves What God Loves
So often instead of recognizing that we are created in God’s image, we seek to create God in our image.
And this comes into focus when we consider what God loves.
We so often think that God love the things that I love.
If I think something is lovely than God must think its lovely
When we consider what God’s love is really like, we tend to ponder what our love is like and then ascribe that to God.
However we should be a people who seek to love what God loves.
And we learn what God loves by reading the bible.
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