Mom’s Week (Part 2: Jochebed)

By John MacArthur@ http://www.sfpulpit.com

This article is adapted from John’s new book, The Extraordinary Mother.

In the centuries after the death of Joseph (circa 1804 B.C.), the last recorded event in Genesis, Israel’s status in Egypt had changed radically from favor to enslavement (circa 1525-1445 B.C.). But despite the harsh conditions, the growth of the Israelite community was phenomenal! In keeping with God’s promise, the seed of Abraham grew from being an extended family to being a nation.

Pharoah instituted a number of measures to curtail their population, but his human power could not compete with God’s continued blessing on Israel. Eventually, Pharaoh demanded that all his subjects become involved in murdering newborn Hebrew boys by drowning them in the Nile River (Exodus 1:22). One mother, Jochebed, managed to hide her beautiful baby for 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” (2:3-4).

In the midst of dire circumstances, Jochebed fully entrusted her child to God’s safekeeping, and her hope was justified. God providentially used an Egyptian princess to override Pharaoh’s death decree and protect the life of His chosen leader for the Israelites (vv. 5-10). Moreover, He gave Miriam the courage and presence of mind to approach the royal entourage and deftly convince the princess to pay the baby’s own mother to nurse him.

Moses needed a miracle to survive, and Jochebed was ready when the miracle came. Her faith in the Lord’s provision was one of the first steps in Israel’s march from Egypt. Did this faith come easily? Certainly not. Jochebed gave Moses everything she could, then gave him up — twice: once when she set him afloat in the river and once when she returned him to be raised by the princess. Both times Jochebed probably thought she’d never see her son again, but she entrusted her child to God’s hands.

Later, as the adopted son of a princess, Moses undoubtedly was granted special privileges belonging to nobility, but none of these persuaded Moses to relinquish his native origin and faith, no doubt taught to him by Jochebed while she cared for him as a small boy. Rather, his spiritual maturity was such that when he came of age, he “refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter” (Hebrews 11:24). As the son of Jochebed, Moses learned faith. As the son of a princess, he learned reading, writing, arithmetic, and perhaps one or more of the languages of Canaan. All these skills and experiences served him well when he became God’s ambassador from Israel to Egypt.

Mom’s Week (Part 1: Eve)

By John MacArthur @ http://www.sfpulpit.com

In honor of Mother’s Day (coming this Sunday), we will be running articles adapted from John’s new book The Extraordinary Mother, a beautiful giftbook that highlights the lives of thirteen different Bible moms.

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Eve (the mother of all living) must have been a creature of unsurpassed beauty. She was the crown and the pinnacle of God’s amazing creative work, the last living thing to be called into existence — actually fashioned directly by the Creator’s own hand in a way that showed particular care and attention to detail. Adam was refined dirt; Eve was a glorious refinement of humanity itself. She was Adam’s necessary partner who finally made his existence complete — and whose own existence finally signaled the completion of all creation.

Eve’s creation reminds us of several crucial truths about womanhood in general. It speaks of Eve’s fundamental equality with Adam. The woman was “taken out of man” (Genesis 2:23). She was of exactly the same essence as Adam. She was in no way an inferior character, but she was his spiritual counterpart, his intellectual coequal, and in every sense his perfect mate and companion. Her creation also reminds us of the essential unity that is ideal in every marriage relationship, and it illustrates how deep and meaningful the marriage of husband and wife is to be. It is not merely a physical union, but a union of heart and soul as well. The intimacy of her relationship with her husband is rooted in the fact that she was literally taken from his side.

Eve’s creation also contains some important biblical lessons about the divinely designed role of women. Although Eve was spiritually and intellectually Adam’s peer; although they were both of one essence and therefore equals in their standing before God and in their rank above the other creatures; there was nonetheless a clear distinction in their earthly roles. Adam was designed to be a father, provider, protector, and leader. Eve was designed to be a mother, comforter, nurturer, and helper.

After creation and before the fall, Adam and Eve were partners and companions, fellow-laboeres in the garden. God dealt with Adam as head of the human race, and Eve was accountable to her husband. This was true paradise, and they constituted a perfect microcosm of the human race as God designed it to be.

But then it was all ruined by sin. Genesis 3 records the temptation and fall of both Eve and her husband, and the subsequent curse they received. The severity of the curse must have shattered Eve’s heart, but God’s judgment was not entirely harsh and hopeless. There was a good deal of grace, even in the curse. Although their relationship would now have tensions that did not exist in Eden, Eve remained Adam’s partner. She retained her role as a wife, and she would still be the mother of all living (Gen. 3:20).

The promise that Eve would still bear children mitigated every other aspect of the curse. That one simple expectation contained a ray of hope for the whole human race. There was a hint in the curse itself that one of Eve’s own offspring would ultimately overthrow evil and dispel all the darkness of sin (Gen. 3:15).

Christ, who was uniquely “born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4) – being born of a virgin, and God in human form — literally fulfilled God’s promise: that the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. As a result, heaven will be eternally filled with Eve’s redeemed offspring, and they will be forever occupied in celebrating the work of her victorious Seed.

(To learn more about The Extraordinary Mother, click here.)

Stay-at-Home Moms

Reuters: "If the typical stay-at-home mother in the United States were paid for her work as a housekeeper, cook and psychologist among other roles, she would earn $138,095 a year, according to research released on Wednesday. . . .The 10 jobs listed as comprising a mother's work were housekeeper, cook, day care center teacher, laundry machine operator, van driver, facilities manager, janitor, computer operator, chief executive officer and psychologist, it said. The typical mother puts in a 92-hour work week, it said, working 40 hours at base pay and 52 hours overtime."