Moses' Mom

Review

We’ve been going through our series on heroes of the faith, and I think it is fitting for us to look at a mother on Mother’s Day. It could be argued that some of the greatest heroes have been the mothers. We have a great many mothers we could take as examples: There’s Mary and her amazing faith and trust in God, and we’ve talked about her many times before. There is Naomi who was such an amazing mother, she continued to be a mother to her daughter-in-law Ruth even after both of her sons made her a widow. They would be obvious choices. There’s also Hannah who trusted God so much to give her a child that she gave him right back to God. But I want to talk about one mother in particular. This mother had what I’d call extreme faith!

Before we get to our text this morning, I want to tell you little story since its Mother’s Day. It starts out one afternoon, when a man came home from work. As he drove up and parked his truck in the driveway he noticed his 3 kids, ages 6, 4, and 3 were all outside playing in the mud and there were a couple of empty cereal boxes and candy wrappers strewn all over the yard. The front door to the house was open and so were the doors to his wife’s car. Walking into the house the man found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, the TV was blaring out some cartoon show. A pile of sugar was in his recliner and the family dog was foaming at the mouth, running around in circles (obviously it had been licking the sugar). There were dirty clothes scattered all over the living room and his kids toys were as well. In the kitchen dishes filled the sink and a broken pitcher that had probably once contained Kool-Aid was all over the floor. The refrigerator door was wide open and it looked like the dog had also probably drug out several items include at least a dozen eggs. The man was really getting worried now. Had something happened to his wife? He quickly ran up the stairs, stepping over more toys and piles of clothes and opened up the bed room door. There he saw his wife, curled up in bed, still in her pajamas, reading her favorite book. She looked up and smiled at him and asked him how his day was. He looked at her totally confused and said, “What in the heck happened here today?” She smiled again and answered, “Well, you know how ever day when you come home from work and ask me what in the world I did all day? Well today I didn’t do it.”

I truly believe, with all my heart, that mothers are one of the most important roles in all earth. George Washington, our 1st President said this about his mother – “All I am, I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in this life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.” Our 16th President Abraham Lincoln said – “I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” Our 25th President (and distant relative) William McKinley said, ““By the blessings of heaven I mean to live, die and in all things please God, in the faith of my mother.” The great preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, “I cannot begin to tell how much I owe to the solemn word of my good mother. All the books of the world could not contain her godly influence upon me.” And John Calvin said this – “The noblest calling in the world is that of mother. She who rears a family of God fearing sons and daughters whose immortal souls will be exerting influence throughout the ages… long after paintings have faded and books have worn thin, deserves the highest honor that men can give.”

Let’s go to the text:

Exodus 2:1–11 NKJV

And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank. And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?” And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the maiden went and called the child’s mother. Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.” Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.

Over the last decade or so we’ve heard all the calls for men in this country to return to being fathers to their children. But the need for mothers to be mothers is just as great. I’ve read through the Bible many times… more than 10 and I can tell you that there’s nothing more important to the future of the Church, and there’s nothing more important to the future of this country than Godly parents doing what God has called them to do. And in our text here, I think we see a model of motherhood. Let me give you the background and set up the story.

The people of Israel have been in Egypt for a long time, and they began to multiply and grow in number… and as they did that, the Pharaoh began to get a little nervous. He was afraid that they would become too powerful. And so he enslaved them. He put them into slavery… but they were still having babies and growing in number, so he came up with an idea. He gave an order that ever boy that was born to the Hebrews was to be thrown into the Nile River. And so… when Moses was born, his mother hid him away for three months. That’s verse 2 from our text… and it’s interesting because it doesn’t say anything about Moses father doing this. This was his mom. I don’t know why Moses’ dad wasn’t involved in any of this, but there’s no mention of him. And then in verse 3, when she could hide him no longer, she made a little basket and floated him down the river. And people say, “Why in the world would she do such a thing.” And you’ve got to realize that she’s Hebrew… she’s been taught from the day she was born about how God saved Noah in an ark. So what does she do? She builds an ark, and trusts God to save her son.

Now it’s also interesting to me that we don’t even know Moses’ mothers name until we get to Exodus chapter 6. Her name was Jochobed… and she’s only mentioned by name twice in the entire Bible. And I think this is God’s way of saying to us that motherhood isn’t some high profile occupation where your face is always plastered on TV and your day is filled with signing autographs. You don’t get your own line of Nike shoes named after you. But don’t let that cause you to think it’s not an important role. Society has a way of exalting the non-important and diminishing the most important. Think about it… What’s more important to our society: Teachers or Movie Stars? Teachers right! Out of those two, who gets paid the most? Who’s always asked their opinion on things? Whose more important, the soldier or the professional athlete? But who makes the money? Who do we always see on the news or being made much of? Don’t let your lack of celebrity status ever lead you to believe that mother’s aren’t important. NOTHING IN THIS WORLD TODAY is more important than the role of shaping the next generation. And moms have more impact on that than anyone!

And notice something else here… Jochobed builds an ark for her son, puts him in, and she trusts God. Moms… sometimes things are going to come, and you’ve got to just trust God. Things are going to come that are completely out of your control. And so you’ve got to do the best you can, do whatever you can… but ultimately you’ve got to trust God. Just this week, I read a survey of mothers and in this survey it said that something like 73% of all mothers feel totally unequipped and inadequate . And that’s true… it’s true for moms and dads. None of us have a perfect contingency plan for every single issue that’s going to come up in the lives of our families. And just when you think you do… something pops up. BAM! Something serious happens. And we have to learn to be thankful in these situations because they force us to rely upon God… they force us to stop thinking we’re the masters of our own universe. These situations drive us to our knees which is exactly where we need to be.

So let this story encourage you this morning… you might be going through something… your family might be facing a serious crisis, but God is bigger than that. Pharaoh’s plan was to kill Moses… God had a bigger plan! And Jochobed… she had no way of knowing what God was going to do, but she trusted Him. She knew Him and His word, and she trusted Him.

Let’s go on… in verses 4 – 10 we see God’s plan in action. Pharaoh wanted to kill Moses, and God ends up having Moses raised in that very house, right under Pharaoh’s nose. And not only that, God had Moses’ own mother nurse him!

And we don’t know how long that went on, or how long Jochobed had with her son Moses… but verse 11 tells us something very important. It tells us that when Moses was grown, he went out and looked upon HIS people. Turn with me to

Acts 7:20–23 NKJV

At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. “Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.

the Bible never specifically tells us how Moses learned he was Jewish or when he learned, but it does give us some pretty good clues as to how that happened. Just think about it… when he was 3 months old he was taken in by Pharaoh’s daughter… Jewish history and faith in God wasn’t taught there… but his mother was called in to nurse him. And at age 40 he sides with his people.

Hebrews 11:24–25 NKJV

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,

Faith comes by hearing… how did Moses know he was one of the Hebrews? How did he hear in order to have the faith to do these amazing things he ended up doing? His mamma that’s how! And that’s the 3rd lesson that we see here. As parents, none of us know how long we’re going to have with our kids… It seems like yesterday that mine were in diapers, now Amanda’s getting ready to graduate from the University of Arizona… Elisha just finished his Freshman year in high school and has already begun to talk about going to University himself. And I can’t slow time down. But Moses’ mom obviously knew how to redeem the time. Like I said, we don’t know how long exactly she had with her son, but she obviously used it very well. Moms, teach your children. Teach them right from wrong, good from bad… teach them how to make decisions that will glorify and honor God. They are your very own little disciples. And so most importantly; teach them about God, and His son Jesus who came to die for our sins. Teach them… not just by saying words, but by living out your life in light of the faith you have.

This is your calling, and it’s your ministry, and it’s one of the greatest in the world.

Numbers 6:24–26 NKJV

“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’