Sermon Tone Analysis

Mothers in the Bible

 

Hilltop Chapel

 

May 11, 2003

 

 

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Introduction

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Mother’s day

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Motherhood a common topic in Bible – “mother” appears 331 times in KJV

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Uniformly translated

                                                    i.

Single word “ame” in Hebrew – all but 6 times translated as “mother”, the others as “dam”

                                                  ii.

Single word “meter” in Greek – always translated as “mother”

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Motherhood a great responsibility, not just a biologic function

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Bible has both bad and good examples:

                                                    i.

Bad – Rebecca (Gen 27 – teaching dishonesty), Maachah (1Ki 15 – mother of King Asa who practiced idolatry), Athaliah (2Ki 11 – mother of King Ahaziah who was a murderess)

                                                  ii.

Good – Jochebed (mother of Moses), Hannah (mother of Samuel), Mary (mother of Jesus), Eunice (mother of Timothy)

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Will discuss some of the good ones to show the ministry mothers have in the lives of their children  

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Jochebed the mother of Moses

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Jochebed means “Jehovah is glory” #.

Mentioned by name twice – Ex 6 and Num 20, as the wife of Amram

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Ex 2:1-10   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 woman 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.

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Heb 11:23  By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw /he was/ a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.

i.

(explain the story)

                                                  ii.

She trusted in God for his protection during his 1st 3 months of life, probably at risk of her own life had he been discovered

                                                iii.

She trusted God for his deliverance when she placed him in the ark

                                                iv.

Was receptive to God’s leading in the carrying out of her plan – the outcome shows God was prompting her actions

                                                  v.

God even rewarded her monetarily for this – she got paid by Pharaoh’s daughter for nursing Moses! (2:9)

                                                vi.

Additional reward of being listed among the heroes of faith in Heb 11

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Our lesson from Jochebed - Trust in God concerning all aspects of the lives of our children

 

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Hannah the mother of Samuel

#. Hannah means “grace” #.

Discussed in 1Sa 1 – 2

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Was one of Elkanah’s 2 wives – 1Sa 1:1-7  Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name /was/ Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite: 2  And he had two wives; the name of the one /was/ Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

3  And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh.

And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, /were/ there.

4  And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: 5  But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb.

6  And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.

7  And /as/ he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.

i.

Bible mentions polygamy here but does not condone it

                                                  ii.

While she was barren, her husband actually loved and favored her more than his other wife who had borne him children

                                                iii.

Led to strife in the family, just as it had in the families of Abraham and Jacob

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Hannah’s 1st prayer – 1Sa 1:10-13   And she /was/ in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.

11  And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

12  And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth.

13  Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.

i.

Prayed intently, promising to giver her son to the Lord should she have one

                                                  ii.

So much so that the high priest, who was given to drink himself, misinterpreted her actions as indicating drunkenness

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Hannah’s 2nd prayer – 1Sa 2:1-10                                                     i.

An intent prayer of praise and thanks

                                                  ii.

Similar in many ways to the prayer of Mary in Luke 1:46-55

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Our lessons from Hannah                                                     i.

She put God 1st

                                                  ii.

She believed in prayer, practiced it regularly, and prayed for her son fervently both before and after his birth

                                                iii.

She kept her vows

                                                iv.

She gave God all the glory

 

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Mary the mother of Jesus

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Actually as many as 7 different Mary’s in the NT #.

Same word as Miriam in the OT, means “bitter”

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Many references to her – I’m mainly interested in her character traits, best illustrated at Jesus conception

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Luke 1:26-38     26  And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,  27  To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name /was/ Mary.

 28  And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, /thou that art/ highly favoured, the Lord /is/ with thee: blessed /art/ thou among women.

 29  And when she saw /him/ , she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

 30  And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

 31  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

 32  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:  33  And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

 34  Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

 35  And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

 36  And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

 37  For with God nothing shall be impossible.

 38  And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.

And the angel departed from her.