Mothers Work Things Out
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NRSV - The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to Amram: Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam.
NRSV - The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to Amram: Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam.
- Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. 3 When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. 4 His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him. 5 The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10 When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”
- Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. 3 When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. 4 His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him. 5 The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10 When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”
The title of today’s message on this Mother’s Day is “Mothers Work Things Out”.
In our text, we begin in Numbers because it gives us the woman’s name, it tells us who she is and from whence she came. Then the book of Exodus tells her story.
Even though at this point in time the Israelites had been placed in captivity by Pharaoh, this man and woman from the tribe of Levi, or Levites, were able to meet fall in love and get married.
Jochebed had a daughter named Miriam, then she had a son, named Aaron and everything seemed to be going along fine, but somewhere in there, before she her third child, before her second baby boy, before she birthed this son, there was a shift. Pharaoh became filled with fear that the Israelites were going to outnumber the Egyptians and overtake them.
Fear will cause people to do strange and sometimes crazy and vicious things, as was the case with Pharoah. Out of his fear of being outnumbered by the Israelites, he first ordered the midwives to kill all the boys born to the Hebrew women.
The enemy will attempt to use the very thing, the very people who are supposed to help bring life, to kill your dream. Be careful who you let touch your dream. You can’t tell everybody, everything. Sometimes you have to birth your dream by yourself, sometimes you have to hide your dream away for a little while.
You can’t tell everyone about your dream as soon as its birthed, because
Out of fear, they may try to kill it.
Out of jealousy they may try to destroy it.
Out of envy they may try to delay it.
Out of greed, they may try to steal it.
Sometimes when you realize that what you’ve birthed is good, or fine as this translation says, you have to protect it.
And so, the enemy will try to kill your dream, now somebody say, “But God”. God will cause things and people to shift and because they feared God more than Pharoah, the midwives disobeyed his directive and when questioned about it, they told him the women were giving birth so fast their babies were born before they could get there.
Because they feared God, the midwives disobeyed this directive and told him the women were giving birth so fast their babies were born before they could get there.
For those who would attempt to destroy someone else’s dream, let me just say to you, be careful. God has given a warning, He said “Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm” and since we don’t always know who the anointed are, you may just want to move out of the way. If you can’t or won’t help, at least don’t seek to hurt.
Sometimes you have to cover your dream. Sometimes that which you’d normally shout from the roof top, you have to hide away like Jochebed hid her son for three months, she hid her blessing until she could no longer hide him.
When the enemy’s first plan fails, don’t think he will give up. Since the midwives killing the boys as soon as they were born didn’t work, Pharoah then told all of his people when the boy children are born to the Hebrews, throw them into the Nile River.
In case you don’t recognize it, this is the very definition of genocide. The holocaust was not the first time someone tried to eliminate the Jews. There’s nothing new under the sun, hate has been around for a long time, and unfortunately it is still alive and well.
Pharoah was desperate to get rid of the males, thinking this would keep the Hebrews from multiplying and outnumbering them.
But how many of you know, a mother will find a way to work things out, especially when it comes to her children? And this mom was no different. Jochebed knew her child was in danger of being killed and she was not about to allow that to happen.
So, like every mother who loves her child, she made a plan, she made an ark, and y’all thought Noah’s Ark was the first one. This mother made an ark, and she outfitted it for her child. She took a papyrus basket, she waterproofed it with bitumen and pitch and she placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river.
She was very strategic even in her placement of the basket,
she placed in the shallow water so it wouldn’t get swept away in the current,
she placed it where there would be less danger of crocodiles getting to it,
she placed it where there would be protection from the heat of the sun.
Sometimes you have to let your dream go for a season, but you make provisions to protect it before sending it out. I work with people who write books and before publishing the book, I copyright the book for them so no one can steal their dream, so no one can take their story and use it for their own gain. Wise musicians copyright the words and the music to a song before sending it out for others to hear it. You have to know how to protect the dream.
Not only was she strategic about where she placed the basket, she had her daughter, the baby’s sister, someone who also loved the dream, to watch over the dream. Who’s watching over your dream? Is it someone who really loves you? Is it someone you can trust? Be careful, watch and pray.
This baby was three months old, three month old babies cry and make noise and being placed in a basket, in the river was not a comfortable experience for him and so he cried. He made some noise and he was noticed.
When you release your dream, expect it to make some noise. Expect it to be noticed and when God has orchestrated the plan it’s going to be noticed by people who can pick it up and protect it.
For this mother’s dream it was Pharaoh's daughter who saw it, sent for it, opened it and took pity on it. In other words, she picked up the mantle of caring for the dream and not only that, his sister who was nearby offered to get a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the dream for her.
She gave the child right back to his mother to take care of, only now instead of hiding the child, worrying about someone coming to kill her dream, she is openly taking care of the child and raising him for Pharaoh’s daughter. Look at God, one of the very children Pharaoh had ordered to be killed is about to become his grandson. He’s about to become the provider for one of the very boys he ordered to be killed not once but twice. He’s about to give this child a room in the palace with a top notch education and all the benefits of royalty.
The very people who would set out to destroy you, the ones who would purpose to kill your dream, are sometimes the ones God will use to raise it up, God will make your enemy your footstool. Step on up.
Jochebed released her dream for a season and God brought it back to her, to nurture, to love and to raise and not only that, now she is getting paid to take care of her own child. When God gives you a dream, don’t worry about letting it go, he will give it back to you, with interest. Your dream doesn’t come back to you without rewards.
Get ready, get ready, get ready, your blessings are on the way and they’re coming with wages.
Jochebed raised her own son and even though when he got older she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter who took him as her own son, it was his mother who taught him in his formative years.
His mother taught him who he was - an Israelite
His mother taught him about his ancestral background
It was his mother who taught him about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
When it was most important, his mother taught him what he needed to know about who he was
She continued to nurture and develop the dream, she took care of her child. Dreams take time to grow and develop, are you still nurturing yours, or have you gotten impatient and let it go? Are you still researching and praying and studying and watching or have you pushed your dream aside and moved on with the thought, well if God wants me to have it He’ll make it happen.
But God is waiting to see how badly you want it, and what will you do to get it.
How much will you invest in your dream?
How much preparation will you make before you place the dream in the river?
How important is your dream to you?
Will you allow man to destroy your dream or will you hide it away until the appointed time for it to come forth?
Will you trust God enough to let it go for a season, recognizing you didn’t just let it go without a covering, without someone watching over it, protecting it, making sure it’s discovered at just the right time, by just the right person, then knowing that He will bring it back to you?
So many questions, but what’s your answer.
Mothers, work it out and let me just say, not every woman who birth’s a baby is a mother and not every mother has birthed a baby. It’s not the science of getting pregnant and giving birth that makes you a mother.
Now let me just say right here, not every woman who birth’s a baby is a mother and not every mother has birthed a baby. It is not the science of getting pregnant and giving birth that makes you a mother.
Anyone ever heard those stories or maybe even lived them of there being a house full of kids and daddy left, but momma always made sure there was enough food to eat, the kids went to college, and most importantly there was always more than enough love to go around?
Now let me just say right here, not every woman who birth’s a baby is a mother and not every mother has birthed a baby. It is not the science of getting pregnant and giving birth that makes you a mother.
Mothers nurture, they protect, they provide, they love, they work, they make sure their families are taken care of.
Mothers - manage resources and their households well. They make sure there is enough of whatever is needed, for whoever needs it.
Mothers - open their hearts and their homes to those in need, especially children.
Mothers - give of their time, so much so they leave little for themselves
Mothers - hold up their children, believing that they can…you finish the sentence
Mothers - are entrepreneurs, they organize, manage, and assume the risks of a business or enterprise, we call it a home and family.
Mothers are resilient. They recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change. When our children fall down, we pick them up, dust them off, wipe away their tears, give them a hug and a kiss and send them back out.
Mothers are strong, in fact their strength is unmatched. She sometimes must deal with rejection and sorrow and pain and suffering and heartache and loss. But a mother will do it all with grace and beauty and love.
Helen Steiner Rice wrote a poem called “A Mother’s Love” and it goes like this
________
A Mother's love is something that no on can explain,
It is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it or take that love away . . .
It is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters even though the heart is breaking . . .
It believes beyond believing when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty of the rarest, brightest gems . . .
It is far beyond defining, it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret like the mysteries of creation . . .
A many splendoured miracle man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence of God's tender guiding hand.
And it still remains a secret
like the mysteries of creation . . .
A many splendoured miracle
man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
of God's tender guiding hand.
And it still remains a secret
like the mysteries of creation . . .
A many splendoured miracle
man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
of God's tender guiding hand.
_______
When God calls a mother home, there’s such a void left for the people who loved her. It’s like our very air has been taken away and we’re suffocating. We wonder what are we going to do now? Who will love us like she did? Who will cheer us on like she did? Who will tell me, baby you can do it? Who will believe like she believed?
For those of you whose mother is in the arms of God, I’ve got good news for you, there is another whose love is even greater than a mother’s love…For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life.
Jesus loved us so much that he gave up glory and put on a mortal body to show us the greatest love of all. He showed us true love as he hung on that cross for our sins, greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends and he calls us friend.
He didn’t have to do it, but he did.
He could have called a legion of angels to get him down off that cross, but he didn’t.
They tried to take his life, but they couldn’t.
They taunted him to save himself, but he wouldn’t.
Jesus not only knew his purpose, he fulfilled it. He did everything God assigned Him to do and then he gave up the ghost.
We come here Sunday after Sunday, we sing, we pray, some of us praise, some of us worship, sometimes we cry, sometimes we shout and for what?
I must ask the question, why are you here? Not why do you exist, but why are you here in this place, in this building, in this space that has been set aside to honor God. This place that has been dedicated to teaching about God and His Son and the Holy Spirit. This place that has been designated as a place for us to stand here and preach to you Sunday after Sunday, with the hope that we can not only encourage you, but spur you on to go tell others about the goodness of the Lord, where we hope to motivate you to bring others here so that this branch of Zion may not only grow spiritually, but also numerically.
Why are you here? Is it for social reasons, is it out of obligation—obligation to who?
This should be the place you sacrifice to come to, it should be a priority, not a duty. It’s the place you should press to make your way to not just on Sunday, but on Wednesday night and on Thursday morning if you’re not working. You feed your physical bodies more than once a week, your spiritual bodies require feeding more than once a week also.
God gave his only and His best for you, Jesus sacrificed his life for you, now what do you have to give back to him? And so, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
The doors of the church are open for salvation
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Rededication
5 The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10 When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses,[a] “because,” she said, “I drew him out[b] of the water.”