======================================================================== LESSONS FROM SEVEN WIVES AND SEVEN MOTHERS by Zac Poonen ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon highlights the importance of being a godly wife and mother by examining both good and bad examples from the Bible. It emphasizes the need for humility, faith, dedication to God, and avoiding pride and favoritism in raising children. The sermon encourages mothers to train their children in faith and to be willing to bear reproach for the sake of following God's will. Duration: 1:06:13 Topics: "Godly Motherhood", "Humility in Parenting" Scripture References: Ephesians 5:22, 1 Timothy 2:13, 1 Samuel 1:27, Isaiah 49:15, Hebrews 11:23, Matthew 20:20, Luke 1:38, Acts 16:1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon highlights the importance of being a godly wife and mother by examining both good and bad examples from the Bible. It emphasizes the need for humility, faith, dedication to God, and avoiding pride and favoritism in raising children. The sermon encourages mothers to train their children in faith and to be willing to bear reproach for the sake of following God's will. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ So today, since it is Mother's Day, in most parts of the world actually, and I've never heard of any Wives' Day. I don't know why. So presumably we combine wives and mothers together on this day and appreciate our wives and our mothers and our wives who are mothers. And so I thought I would share with you from scripture the good and bad examples of seven wives and seven mothers from the Bible. So first of all, wives. Most people think of a Christian wife only in relation to Ephesians 5.22 where it says, wives be subject to your husbands. And as the church, verse 24, as the church is subject to Christ, so the wives must be subject to their husbands and everything. So the only example that many people think of, particularly, you know, dictatorial husbands, is, think of the church, submits to Christ 100%. And Christ is perfect, the church is not. So it's easy to submit to a perfect husband like Christ, but there are none like that. So we shouldn't forget that. When the church is subject to Christ, he's being subject to a perfect person. So no husband should take that alone as an example and try to make his wife submit. Because the Bible also says in Ephesians 5.21, be subject to one another. They must, each wife and husband have got a boundary which they must respect. But that's not the only example of submission. You know, wives may feel inferior saying, oh, what an example I have. My husband's example is Christ, but my example is the church, which is not a great example. No, sisters, your example is Jesus Christ. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 3. Here it says, read it carefully. Christ is the head of every man. And man is the head of a woman. And God is the head of Christ. And so the submission of the ultimate example taken here is, he's talking about submission there in that first passage. That's why I asked the woman to wail her head later on. It's the submission of Christ to the father. That is taken as the first example. That's perfect. The man submitting to Christ is not a perfect example because most men don't submit perfectly to Christ. So in this verse, the perfect example is God is the head of Christ and Christ is the head of every man. And so the example that a woman has ultimately of submission is how did Jesus submit to his father? That is the example that you have to follow ultimately to God, because though your head is a man, his head is Christ. So you're ultimately under the headship of Christ, so that if your husband asks you to do something contrary to what Jesus says, you don't have to listen. Contrary to what Jesus says means not what you think Jesus said, but what the Bible says. So keeping that in mind, Christ is the example for every wife. We have good and bad examples in scripture. The first one I want to turn to is of course Eve, the first wife mentioned in the Bible. And we are told in 1 Timothy about Eve and chapter 2. The reason why the Holy Spirit says a woman must not exercise authority over a man, even at home or in the church, is because of two reasons. 1 Timothy 2 verse 13, because Adam was created first. That's the number one reason. And the second reason is, it was Adam was not deceived, very clear. Eve was deceived and fell into transgression. For those two reasons, the Holy Spirit says a woman must not have authority over a man, either at home or in the church, and she must not teach in the church. She can share God's word, prophesying. The Bible says men and women can prophesy, which means encourage, share things to build up others. Certainly, sisters can share something that'll bless all the children. Many Sunday school teachers are women who teach children. 1 Timothy chapter 2 says older women should teach younger women. The only exception is they're not allowed to teach men. So looking at Eve, what was her problem? Even though she was created and she knew that, created to be a helper to Adam, and she knew that Adam was created first, and when she was created, her eyes were open and she didn't see Adam first, she saw God first. Only later on, she knew there was a person called Adam. So ultimately, a wife must be submitted to God first and say, Lord, you're the head of my life. And if you have asked me to be a helper to my husband, I'll do that. She was taken to Adam and she was created to be his helper. I'm sure she knew that, God would have told her. And she knew that Adam was her head. And that's the first mistake she made. She took over the headship. As they walked into the garden, there was one tree that God kept to test Adam and Eve, will they obey me or not? That's all. If there was no tree like that, their obedience would not have been tested. And Eve went towards the tree of life, to the tree of knowledge, sorry, not the tree of life, away from the tree of life. And when the serpent came up to speak to her and suggested something, what should she have done? She should have consulted with her head. She was only the helper. Adam, what do you think? Let's pray about this. Talk about it together. This beautiful animal has suggested that I partake of this fruit of this tree. And together, they could have decided the story would have been very different. But because she did not care to ask her husband and did whatever she felt she should do, she took over the headship and brought chaos and confusion into her home and into the rest of humanity. So that's a great warning for wives. Whenever you come to a decision in your home, it's always good to discuss matters with your husband. Even if your husband's not born again in earthly matters, he may be wise. In spiritual matters, if he's not born again, then you can consult with godly people. But otherwise, a woman has to be submitted to her husband. A second example, which is, so Eve was a bad example. A second example in chronological order, is Mrs. Job. Have you heard of Mrs. Job? Job, the book of Job chapter two, you see Job was written before Genesis, by the way. Because Job lived long before Abraham, and Moses wrote Genesis. So Job is actually the first book of the Bible. And in the first book of the Bible, you read of an extremely God fearing man, such a man that God could point out to Satan as an outstanding godly man, but who had a very difficult wife. That's sad. You've seen that through the years. I've seen it myself. Some wonderful godly men who've got very difficult wives. And Job's wife was one like that. In the beginning, we don't read much about her, she accepted the fact that Job bowed down and her children are all dead. It must have been a terrific time of pressure. Imagine having 10 children and all of them dying in one moment. All your husband's property lost in one moment. And seeing the husband worshiping God and said, well, the Lord gave, the Lord took away. When I came from my mother's womb, I was naked. When I go there, I'll be naked. So I have no complaint against God. I worship God. And it doesn't say that she said anything at that point. Okay, well, at least I've got my husband. We are together. She seemed to be okay up until that point. I don't know. But when she saw that God had removed the other hedge, the first hedge was around the property and that was everything was destroyed. And second hedge was around the children. That was also gone. The third hedge is around, the hedges are described in Job 1 verse 10. And when the third hedge, the one around her husband's body was taken away, that he became sick. And he was probably a leper, leprosy or something like that. Because you read that he's sitting outside the city later on, scratching himself. And you see what she says to her husband in Job chapter 2, with all the boils from top to bottom, from the head to feet. And his wife says in Job 2 verse 9, look at what we have faced. You're still holding fast to your integrity. Curse God and commit suicide. It's the first example of a wife telling her husband to commit suicide because she's fed up. She doesn't believe in a loving God anymore. And Job said, you're speaking as a foolish woman speaks. If God is God, can't we accept good as well as adversity? So instead of being a help to when her husband was sick, because the loss of children was a loss of her husband too, husbands too. The loss of property was a loss of her husbands as well. He suffered as much when the children were lost and when the property was lost. And now when he is suffering with sickness, instead of being an encouragement, she was a pain to him. Here's a warning to wives. When you see your husband suffering something or going through some type of pressure, don't be like Job's wife and add to his problems. Maybe he's facing a lot of pressure in this case of work. You probably don't realize what an evil boss he has. And you know, that shared all that with you. Maybe he's in risk of losing his job. Don't be like Job's wife. Let me go to example number three, a third wife. And that is Sarah, the wife of Abraham. He was known as Abraham in the beginning. And we read something about Sarah in 1 Peter 3, which is very good. 1 Peter chapter 3, it says here, Sarah submitted to her husband, verse 6, 1 Peter 3, 6. Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord. And you wives have become children of Sarah. If you do what is right without being frightened by any fear. What was the fear that Sarah would have had right at the beginning? One day, Abraham comes to her, Abram those days, in Ur of the Chaldees where he was 75 years old and retired and he had built a house and he had enough savings to live comfortably there. And the wife was very happy though they had no children. They had a house and a lot of money to live on and living comfortably. And one day, Abraham says to Sarah, we have to leave all this and go leave this country, leave this country, house, everything. And Sarah says, where are we going? And why? He says, God has spoken to me last night. And I don't know where we're going. We're just going to follow God. How many of you wives would submit to a husband like that? I'm sure Abraham was, though he didn't know the Lord at that time, must have been some type of God fearing man like Cornelius, didn't know Jesus, but he was a God fearing man, a Roman centurion in that extent. So Abraham must have been something like that, that God chose him. And Sarah must have seen this husband of mine, he's an upright man. And he's not telling me a lie when he says God spoke to him. She said, Lord, let's follow. Amazing that she was willing to chuck her home and her land and her relatives and everything and go with Abraham to not nowhere, just believing that God was leading. Abraham submitted to Abraham calling him Lord. I'm not saying that you can have the same confidence in a husband who's not God fearing, but it's an amazing example. That's what I say. If you have a God fearing husband, you're a very fortunate wife. I'll tell you that. If you have a husband who's listening to God, who can hear God speaking to him, boy, don't ever devalue that. You're a very fortunate, blessed wife. If you have a husband who knows how to hear God and speak and speaks to you what God spoke to him. I mean, there are not many husbands like that. So be thankful that you have a husband. But even though Sarah started well, we read later on in Genesis 16, she also made a mistake. No wife is perfect. You know, when she didn't have children for a long time, Abraham had told her, God says he will bless me and bless all the families of the earth through me one day. That was said to him even when he was in Ur of the Chaldees. You read that in Genesis 12. But after a while, you know, when the prayer promises of God not fulfilled, many years go by, they've already been married 10 years and left Ur of the Chaldees 10 years ago and still no child. And Sarah wonders, where's this promise that 10 years ago God said to my husband, he will bless all the families of the earth through my seed. And I don't have any children. She began to lose faith. Very easy after a while for a wife to lose faith, even though she started well. And so one day she tells Abraham in Genesis 16 and verse 2, see the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please marry my servant woman, Hagar, whom they brought from Egypt. And let's have a child to her and I will be there when she bears a child. And I'll take that as my child and let's help God because God seems to have a difficulty here. And so I don't know whether God's promises will be fulfilled. So we have to help God to fulfill that promise. What a crazy idea. Don't think you have to ever help God to fulfill his promises. He can do it very well without your help. And that trying to help God is what created confusion. And Ishmael was born and Isaac and Ishmael started having it when later on, 14, 15 years later, when Isaac was born, Isaac, Ishmael was 15, 14, 15 years older than Isaac and began to fight with him when they grew up and a lot of fights. And finally Sarah said, send him away. And Isaac and Ishmael fought and all these 4,000 years since then, the descendants of Isaac and the descendants of Ishmael have fought with each other, continued for years. But that is all because of one mistake that Sarah made and Abraham, I believe, foolishly listened to his wife at that point. So we have to be careful when we give advice to our husbands, which comes from our own mind, contrary to, and which is a result of not trusting God's promise. If they had said, let's pray God and ask God together, in those days, God would speak to Abraham clearly. Let's ask God together, Sarah should have said, why haven't we got children? How long do we have to wait? God wouldn't have told him how long to wait, but he was still reasserted his promise. Don't, don't fear Abraham. I promised you, you'll see the best of all the families on the earth. They will be blessed. So that was the good and bad of Sarah. The next example we see is, this is Lot. In Genesis 19, we read of God's judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot had gone to make money and in mercy to Lot, because he was Abraham's nephew, God sent angels there to pull Lot out of Sodom and Gomorrah and told him, get out and take your wife and your two daughters, Genesis 19, 13, and get out of the city because God's going to punish the city. And even Lot hesitated, but it says in Genesis 19, 16, those angels pulled his hand in the hand of his wife and two daughters and took them out and said, now escape for your life and don't look behind you, Genesis 19, 17. And then go to the mountains. And then Lot said, okay, you can't go as far as the mountain. Can you allow me to stop somewhere halfway or something? And the angel said, okay, stop in Zohar and I will not punish that city. And then the Lord rained brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah. But it says Lot's wife was 26, was just behind Lot, Genesis 19, 26, looked back. What did she look back for? There's something there. Oh, all my ornaments and jewelry and money and all the fancy clothes I bought with the money that my husband earned in Sodom and my lovely house, which I could build with the amount of money much better than the tents that we were living in when we were with Abraham and all that wealth lost. She turned back and immediately she became a pillar of salt. The judgment that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah fell on her. Immediately she became a pillar of salt. She couldn't make any more progress. That's the point. A wife who is more attached to material things and looks back when God said, don't look at those things, look ahead to what God's trying to save you from the judgment of the world. And you're still occupied with the pleasures and maybe not just the riches, but all the fun she had in Sodom where it's a place full of pleasure and entertainment and everything else. And a lot of wives can be such a drag on their husbands being more interested in watching movies that are not good and TV serials that defile them and drag their husband back. Blessed is Lot, he didn't look back at all. And look back, they become stationary. They don't make any more progress. You may not become a pillar of salt, but what it means you will make no more progress in your Christian life. You'll be stuck there for the rest of your life. That's a tragedy. One who's supposed to be a helper to the husband is now stuck. And the result is her children, her daughters go astray. Imagine the way she brought up her two daughters, that they commit adultery with their father later on. How could two girls do that? Even in the world, we don't hear of such things happening. Sodom must have been such an evil place. And this mother, this wife was a pretty hopeless wife to Lot and that's a bad example. Then the next example we see, which is a good one, is in the book of Ruth, Ruth who married Boaz. In Ruth chapter one, we read that an Israelite called Elimelech, Ruth 1-2, with his wife Naomi, left Israel because there was a famine and went into the land of Moab and remained there. And there his two sons married women from Moab. One was Ruth and the other was Orpah. And then Elimelech, the father died and his two sons also died. Finally, it was Naomi, the widow, plus her two daughters-in-law that were left. Those daughters-in-law had no children, Ruth and Orpah. And finally, Naomi decides to go back to her home country and tells her daughters-in- law in Ruth chapter one, verse eight, go return to your mother's house and may the Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with me. And may the Lord grant you to find rest and maybe you'll find husbands there. And initially they said, no, no, no, both of them, we'll return with you to your people, Ruth 1-10. Both Ruth and Orpah said that. But Naomi said, return my daughters. Because I don't have any more children to be born to be your husbands. And I'm too old now to have a husband, to have a son, to marry you. So are you going to wait till I have sons and their sons grow up even if I get married again? No, it's hard for me. So the thought of, you know, that I won't get a husband is what she put before them. You won't get a husband if you come back with me to Israel. And initially Orpah and Ruth, it says they lifted up their voices and they wept. Oh, we have to leave you, our dear mother-in-law. They looked so loving. But we read Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and went back to Moab. Ruth clung to her and said, her mother said, see your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods. You can also go, you'll find a husband there. And Ruth said, please don't ask me to leave you. I don't want a husband. I want the Lord. Where Ruth 116, your God will be my God and your people will be my people. Where you die, verse 17, I'll die. There I'll be buried and nothing but death will part you and me. She was devoted first of all to the Lord. She didn't want to go back. And that one single decision that I want the Lord more than a husband is what made her a very blessed woman. You read later on in the last two verses of Ruth that she became the great grandmother of David. Amazing. She married Boaz who had a son whose son was Jesse, the father of David. Amazing. And you read in Matthew chapter one, she's in that line of genealogy of Jesus. She was the great grandmother of David. How did that happen? A Moabite coming in this line and Jesus choosing that line because of this wonderful wife, that Ruth was and faithful to the Lord, even though her husband had died and a wonderful daughter-in-law that she was to a mother-in-law. It's very rare to find godly daughters-in-law who will appreciate a godly mother-in-law and value her. There are bad mothers-in-law. I know plenty of them in the world. Most of them are probably bad, but you're very fortunate, my dear sister, if you have a godly mother-in-law. Sometimes you may not appreciate it. I've seen enough mothers-in-law in the world to see how daughters-in-law suffer. And sometimes you can take a godly mother-in-law like Naomi for granted. Ruth did not. She valued and appreciated her mother-in-law and so she became a godly wife later on to Boris. Wonderful example. And example number six now is a bad one. If you turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter six, you read about one of David's wives. David married many wives those days. It was sort of permitted, I presume, unlike today. In 2 Samuel chapter six, David married Michal. Michal was the daughter of Saul. And Saul had promised, he said, I'll give you my daughter if you kill so many Philistines. And he thought David would be killed by the Philistines. If you kill 100 Philistines, I'll give you my daughter. He thought he'll never kill 100. He wanted to get rid of David because David was a threat to his throne. But David went and killed 100 Philistines. And so then Saul said, I can't give you my eldest daughter. I'm going to give her to somebody else. But Michal, one of the other daughters of Saul said, she was in love with David, this wonderful young man who had killed Goliath. And so Saul allowed her to marry David and they were in love with each other. But they didn't remain like that. One day when David was bringing in 2 Samuel 6, bringing the ark into Jerusalem and wanted to bring it all the way to Jerusalem. We read as the ark was brought to Jerusalem, you read later on in verse 16, 2 Samuel 6, 16, as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal, who was the daughter of Saul, looked out of the window and she saw David dancing there before the Lord. And she was disturbed. Oh, my husband is dancing there. And so when she said she despised him in 2 Samuel 6 and verse 16. And it says here that when David finished offering the burnt offering and came back to the house, Michal began to speak rudely to him in verse 20. Oh, how you uncovered yourself. He didn't really uncover himself. He was just dancing. What she meant was you made yourself cheap. You're a king. And you made yourself just like one of the ordinary people. David was a man who says, I'm just one of God's people. He didn't exalt himself as king, but Michal didn't like that. I'm the queen. And how can you behave like that before these ordinary people? You must have some dignity. And David said, I will be humble in my own eyes, verse 22. And the others don't despise me like you do. And what happened? God punished Michal, 2 Samuel 6, 23, that she did not have any children until she died. That's a bad wife who despises her husband, not for something evil that he did, because he took a lowly place to be one like the other people. Sometimes a wife wants her husband to be esteemed and equal to the big shots in the world. And when he is a godly person who humbles himself and becomes like one of the ordinary brothers in the church and seeks to esteem everybody as more important than himself, sometimes a wife can be disturbed by that. You see, that's below your dignity to serve these lowly people. Sad. Don't be a wife like that. Now we turn to one example of a good wife in Acts of the Apostles in chapter 18. We've seen some good and bad ones so far. So example number seven is Acts 18. You read in Acts 18 that there was a man called Aquila who had a wife called Priscilla. And they had met with Paul and he was a tent maker. And through Paul, they got converted. And interestingly enough, Priscilla seems to have come to know more of the scriptures than her husband. Sometimes a wife is more knowledgeable in the Bible than her husband. And here's a good example of that. And we read that when they went to the synagogue one day, Acts 18, 24, they heard a man called Apollos, an eloquent man who was mighty in scriptures, but he knew only as far as the baptism of John. That's all. He didn't know anything further. He esteemed John the Baptist. He didn't know further about Christ dying and being raised up and the new covenant and all that. And he preached as much as he knew in verse 26, Acts 18, 26. And it says when Priscilla and Aquila, notice Priscilla's name comes first, the wife. She heard him. She didn't go up to him and say, hey, Apollos, I want to tell you something. Boy, I really love that. She took a humble place, even though she knew much more of the scriptures than her husband, Aquila. She took a humble place and said, can you please come home? They took him home. I believe they took him home there. It says when it says they took him aside, they took him home and there they explained the way of God, Acts 18, 26 more accurately. I believe Priscilla was the one who did that. That's why her name comes there first. And she did that in such a gracious way, you know, not humbling this man who was obviously a man well-versed in the scripture, but didn't know any more. So you think of a wife who knows about the new covenant because she's submitted to the teaching in the church and is a godly woman. And she hears someone who's knows only as far as the old covenant. Even today there are people like that. And you want to share something with that man, invite him home and sit with your husband and in submission to your husband, as he shares, you also share. Take that place of submission and open the eyes and God can anoint you to open the eyes of even brothers who are ignorant of the new covenant. Not if you act like a bossy woman, but like Priscilla. And later on you read in Romans 16 about Priscilla and Aquila again, they had a church meeting in their home. Wonderful. So there's an example for women who know more of the scriptures than their husbands. So now we've seen seven wives. Now let's look at seven mothers. So again, for mothers, you know, we all know God is a father and God is a loving father, our father who art in heaven. But we all know that God is also a mother. I want to encourage all mothers by pointing out to you that God is also a mother and Isaiah speaks about that more than anybody else. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 66 and verse 13. The Lord says to Israel, as a mother comforts her children, so I will comfort you. As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you. So there God compares himself to a mother. He's not only a father, he's a mother. And that's a wonderful example. And again, in Isaiah chapter 49, he again uses the example of a mother. In Isaiah 49, 15, when Zion said, verse 14, the Lord has forgotten about me. The example he uses is not a father. He doesn't say a father won't forget his child. He says, can a woman, Isaiah 49, 15, forget a newborn baby whom she's nursing? She may forget a grown up child, but a newborn baby whom she's nursing, can a woman not have compassion on this little baby when he dirties the diapers or does foolish things? It's one she's nursing, a little baby. Even a mother may forget her baby, but I will not forget you. I'm a much more compassionate mother than even her. So that's an example for mothers to be compassionate towards your children. God is your example. Whenever you find a difficult child, look at that verse and say, have compassion on him. Like God had compassion on a wayward Israel. It's a great example for mothers. So now turning to the example of mothers, again, we have good and bad examples. The first one I can think of is Eve again. We've seen her as a wife. Now we see her as a mother. In Genesis 4, 1, she gave birth to Kim. Now remember this, no baby had been born into the world until then. Nobody ever thought that a human being could come out of a mother's womb. Today we are familiar with it. But think of Adam and Eve who had seen that only God can create a man, only God can create a woman. God made Adam from the dust of the ground and God made Eve from Adam's rib. It is God who did it. But all of a sudden, Eve discovers that from her womb, a human being has come out. And you know what she says? Literally what she's saying in Genesis 4, verse 1 is, I have made a man. It's not only God who did it. I have made a man with a little help from the Lord. It's very easy for a mother to become proud of her children or what she accomplished. See the type of child I brought up. See the type of so easy. Of course, the Lord helped me a little bit to bring up this godly son, but it was I who did it. Oh, beware of that, dear mothers. If your children are godly children, put your face in the dust. Don't ever follow Eve and say, look at my godly son or daughter whom I brought up with a little help from the Lord. Here's the first example of a proud mother. And what is the result? She imparted that spirit to her son Cain. I'm sure she did. Cain saw that. You know, children invite something. You don't have to say anything. Children look at their mothers and invite something. And they, oh, if my mother can do something like that, I can also do some things with the help of the Lord, but I'm going to be somebody. And it's that pride that finally led Cain to be a one who became jealous of his younger brother and murdered his younger brother. So often, so many children grow up acquiring habits from their mother, bad habits. And they become a pain in the home to the other children and to humanity in general. And later on, they have children who turn out like that because later on, you read at the end of Genesis chapter four that Cain's descendants also became murderers as you read in Genesis four, verse 23. So we reproduce after our kind. So there's a bad example of a mother who thought that she had accomplished something. Be careful. The next example of a mother I can think of is Rebecca, Genesis 25. In Genesis 25, verse 28. Sorry. It says here, Genesis 25, that Rebecca had twins. And verse 24. And when those twins came out and grew up, verse 27, Esau was a hunter and Jacob was a simple man who liked to live in tents. You know, children can be so different, born from the same mother, even twins, completely different. Esau, man who's out in the open all the time and wants to be playful and games are more important than Jacob, the more studious type. God's plan. And sometimes a father can be foolish in favoring one. Isaac loved Esau just because he loved good food. And it's possible that you have a preference for one son because he's good in something you want to be good in. But Jacob, but Rebecca loved Jacob. So this is what led to finally a separation between these two brothers. And that was Rebecca's fault. She should have loved both her children equally. And one has got a taste for one thing, another has got a taste for another. A good mother will not prefer one over the other. She will not prefer the one who's good at games over the one who's studious, or the one prefer the one who's studious over the one who's more interested in games, outdoor life. These are two examples here. One who wanted to be outdoors and one who was mostly at home. She could have loved both of them equally. But because she had preference, and later on, unfortunately, the father also had a preference, it brought a division in that family that divided Jacob and Esau for many years. And Esau almost wanted to kill Jacob, like Cain later on, but God spared him. So there's a bad example of favoritism. Be careful as a mother that you don't show favoritism. It says God has no partiality. And if you want to be like God, ensure there's no partiality in your life. Meditate on these things. I'm going through them quickly. You can later on meditate in your own time. The third example I have is Hannah. In 1 Samuel chapter 1, we read she didn't have, you know, her husband had, again, two wives. It was very common those days. And the first wife had many children. But Hannah, the second wife, had no children, we read in the first few verses of chapter 1 of 1 Samuel. So she prayed. She went to the temple and prayed. And she said, Lord, if you give me a child, I will dedicate him to you as long as he lives. And later on, when the child was born, she kept her promise. That's wonderful thing. Only her son was born, Samuel. And she brought the son to the temple to the high priest and said, in 1 Samuel 1, 27 and 28, for this boy, I prayed. And I promised the Lord that I'll hand him over to the Lord. And the Lord granted my petition and I will not go back on my promise. I have dedicated him to the Lord as long as he lives. He's dedicated to the Lord and he worshiped the Lord there. And she worshiped too. And you see her wonderful prayer in chapter 2, verse 1 to 10, which is the prayer from which you read later on in Luke chapter 1, Mary who bases her prayer when she hears about Jesus being conceived in her womb, bases it on the prayer of Hannah. You compare Mary's prayer with Hannah's prayer. It's amazing. She prayed and thanked the Lord and gave that son over to the Lord. Now, today we are not called to make our son full-time Christian worker because there's no temple today. The Lord is everywhere. What we learned there is not to dedicate our children for full-time Christian work was no mother can do that. No one can go into full-time Christian work until God calls him. My mother did not dedicate me to full-time work. My parents brought me up in the fear of the Lord. That's all. God called me specifically 56 years ago. It was in the month of May, the 6th of May, 1964. God called me specifically. And that is when I responded. When I will inform my parents, I'm quitting my job in the Navy. You cannot dedicate yourself, your son or daughter to full-time Christian work. If God doesn't call them, they'll make a mess of their life if they go into full-time Christian work. Well, what you need to do is dedicate them to the Lord, to be wholehearted disciples of Jesus in whatever profession He may call them. And that's the example we have in Hannah, to keep your promise. Lord, you gave me a child. I'm going to bring him up to fear you and love you and to be your disciple, teaching the ways of God from childhood. Amazing example. And you see the way Samuel was as a young boy and grew up to be a prophet. You have to give a lot of credit to what the mother did in the early years before she took him to the temple, because Eli was a very poor example as a high priest. He could not have helped Samuel at all. He was a backslidden, good-for-nothing high priest. How did Samuel become such a godly prophet? It was the work of Hannah, the mother. In a few years, she knew that in a few years I had to send him off and he won't be with me. I'll only see him once a year or so. But I've got to do everything possible. Remember this, my dear sisters, mothers. Your child is going to be with you also only for a short while. One day he'll leave home, maybe to college or go to work and leave your home. And if you haven't done a proper job by that time of instructing him in the ways of the Lord and showing, teaching him the Word of God, he will fail and part of that responsibility will be in your hands. And if he grows up in a godly way, be thankful for that. But if you want to be that, then give time to God yourself and make sure that you teach your children the ways of God, mothers. The next example I have is Jochebed. Have you heard of Jochebed? Jochebed was the mother of Moses. She was the daughter of Levi and she married Levi's grandson. So she married her own nephew. And we read about her. Levi must have brought her up in some godly way because they were all slaves in Egypt. And Jochebed was a slave and her husband was a slave many years, not an easy environment to bring up a child in. And there was a decree that all sons were born had to be killed. And that was the time when Moses was born. We read in Hebrews 11 and verse 23. White faith, Moses, he's talking about the faith of the parents now. This faith of the parents is mentioned in this wonderful chapter, Hebrews 11, where it speaks of fantastic things like the walls of Jericho coming down and the Red Sea being split and lions being slain by the power of God and people being raised from the dead. And in the midst of all these fantastic things is the faith of a mother. That's Jochebed, Moses' mother. She did not allow for that child to be killed. She did not kill that child. A warning to mothers not to abort the babies God gives them. She did not kill that child. Thank God she did not. There would have been no Moses. She said, no, this is the child that God has given. And so Hebrews 11, 23, as long as possible, because soldiers would be going up and down the Israeli camp to see if there were any babies crying. What a job it must have been to keep that child quiet for three months. I don't know how she did it, but she was so concerned that no soldier must kill this child of mine. Beyond three months, she couldn't do it because the baby becomes bigger. But for three months, she hid it. Remember, it was she who did it because the father would go to work at six o'clock in the morning and come back probably at eight o'clock at night. He hardly saw that. Those slaves were made to work day and night. And here's Amram, the father going to work at six o'clock in the morning, coming back. By the time he goes, the baby's asleep, not woken up yet. By the time he comes back, the baby's gone to sleep. He hardly saw the little baby Moses. All the time, it was Jochebed, the mother who brought up Moses. And she knew that one day, as Pharaoh's daughter said, let her bring him, once he's old enough to sort of run around and take care of himself, bring him to the palace. And she knew that I have this boy with me only for a few years. And after that, he's gone. And I don't know when I'll ever see him again. And look what she did as a mother. It says when Moses was growing up at the age of 40, and out of the 40 years, maybe about 30 years at least, was in the wicked palace of Pharaoh where that wealth and simple pleasure and a lot of evil company. And at the end of that, seeing all that for 30 years, at the age of 40, it says Moses rejected three things. He rejected the pleasures of sin, Hebrews 11, 25. He rejected secondly, the wealth, he rejected the wealth of Egypt, verse 26. And verse 24, first of all, sorry, he rejected the honor of men being called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Secondly, he rejected the pleasures of sin, verse 25 and 30, rejected the wealth of Egypt. These are the three things that people are drawn by in the world, honor, simple pleasure, and wealth. And it says here in verse 24 to 26, Moses rejected all of them. Imagine if you have your son with you only for 10 years, and he goes away for the next 30 years, you don't even see him. And at the age of 40, he remembers those values that you put into his head and stands up for God, you're a blessed mother. Really, you have to appreciate Jochebed what a fantastic job she did in preparing Moses to be the man of God he became finally. He made mistakes, but God chose him because he rejected these three things. The next example, of course, we have is the most wonderful mother of all, Mary. And when we think Mary, you know, many Protestants don't appreciate Mary because they're afraid of being Roman Catholic, because Roman Catholics worship Mary, almost, or probably they do worship Mary. They pray to her and all that. So the result is a lot of Protestants despise her. I don't despise her. I think Mary is the most wonderful mother, perhaps in the whole Bible, because she was willing to face the reproach. When an angel came to her and said, you're going to have a child in Luke and chapter one, you're going to have a baby. And she says, how can I have a baby? Luke 134, I'm a virgin. Holy Spirit will come upon you. You'll have a child and be called the son of God. And look what Mary says. Okay, verse 38, wonderful word for any sister to say. Here I am Lord, born slave of the Lord. Let it be done to you according to your word. Imagine all the thoughts that went through Mary's mind at that time. I, a virgin, conceived in a small village called Nazareth. Imagine how I'll be the gossip of the whole village. I have a big stomach before I'm married. And everybody comes to know this girl is engaged to Joseph, not yet married, and she's already pregnant. And then I thought she just gave herself to some Roman soldier or something like that. Imagine the reproach she would have thought that will come upon me and my little boy will have that reproach all his life as he grows up. She didn't say, oh Lord, this is too much for me. I can't bear that reproach, please choose somebody else. There are many sisters who are not willing to bear the reproach of Christ. Not in this way, this is a tremendous reproach, but in other ways. There is a reproach of being a disciple of Jesus even today, when you stand up for the truth and stand up for the principles of God's word. Brothers and sisters have faced reproach. It says in Hebrews 13, let's go outside the camp, bearing the reproach of Christ. There is a reproach. There is a type of Christianity, which is Babylonian, but you don't have a reproach. But if you're wholehearted and radical, yeah, then there will be a reproach in following Jesus. And Mary is an example of willing to take that reproach because she wanted to glorify Christ. And Mary is an example of allowing the Holy Spirit to come upon her and produce Christ in her. And that's an example for all your sisters. Allow the Holy Spirit to come upon you and fill you and produce the life of Jesus in you. Just like Mary allowed the baby Jesus to be born in, little by little that baby grew and the likeness to Christ can grow more and more in you. Outstanding example for all sisters. And you see later on, when she was in Cana and told Jesus, she knew that Jesus is the son of God and 30 years he had obeyed her in the home. And now in Cana, she goes up to him and says, they don't have any wine. Can you do something? And Jesus turns around to her in John 2, 4 and says, what have I got to do with you woman? My time has not yet come. She does not get offended. Wonderful. He had never spoken to her like that in 30 years. And now he calls her woman. You know, he was saying, now I'm under my father. Don't interfere in my life. He respected her and cared for her. He read of the cross and he was hanging on the cross. He cared for his mother. So he didn't forget about her, but he wanted her to know right from day one. I'm not your son now. I'm a son of God. I have a ministry and please don't interfere with me. Who is my mother? Those who hear the word of God and do it, he said later on. So, and what Mary didn't get offended. That's the wonderful thing. She didn't get offended. Be a mother who's not offended when your son is going to wholeheartedly follow the Lord in some way, which you can't understand. Submit to God. And we read here, she goes to servants and says, whatever he tells you to do, do it. Okay. The next example, number six is Mrs. Zebedee. A bad example. I hope you know who Mrs. Zebedee is. The mother of James and John. She was very happy. She was a disciple of Jesus. And she was very happy when Jesus chose James, her two sons to be his inner circle of three, Peter, James, and John. But she knew that Jesus was gradually training Peter to be more of a leader. And so she comes to try and influence Jesus to put her sons a little more forward. And so you read in Matthew chapter 20 and says to Jesus in Matthew 20, verse 20 and 21, she bowed before Jesus and said, I have a request of you, Lord Jesus. Just one request. When you come in your kingdom, you know, the thief on the cross already said, please remember me when you come in your kingdom. That's all I want, Lord. Just remember me. Don't forget about me when you come in your kingdom. But the mother of James and John had a bigger request. When you come in your kingdom, make sure my two sons, not Peter, James and John will sit one on your right hand and one on your left. How many mothers there are like that who are seeking to push their children forward in an unrighteous way to promote their children above others, even in the church, or trying to show that my children should be exalted over other children in the church. Be careful, dear sisters. Be a good mother and don't follow the example of Mrs. Zebedee. God determines who is going to sit on the right hand and left hand of Jesus. God determines who's going to be anointed to serve him. James finally died before he could even have much of a ministry. You read in Acts 12, and John lived more than all the other apostles. That's all God's choice. Be willing for your children to fulfill God's will for their lives. Maybe others will have a greater ministry than your children. Submit to them. Accept it. Don't seek to promote your children over others in the church by trying to push your children forward in the church. I've seen this happen. Please make my child come forward and do something. Please make my daughter or my son come and do this and do that. And you try to speak to the elders and try to influence them. The same thing happens today that Mrs. Zebedee did. A very bad example. Don't be a mother like that. Let God. Promotion comes from the Lord, we read in Psalm 75. If you are a mother like Mrs. Zebedee, you're a bad mother trying to promote your children. I tell you this, you will ruin your children. Fortunately, James and John were not ruined because Jesus straightaway told her, you don't know what you're asking. You don't know what you're asking, Matthew 20 verse 22. It's not in my hands to do these things. Let them drink the cup which I drink and be baptized with the baptism which I'm baptized. Let them take up the cross. That's what Jesus said. And that's what I would say to you all Mrs. Zebedees today. Teach your children to take up the cross, to drink the cup that Jesus drank instead of trying to promote them in the church. I've seen mothers do this. And I tell you, I have no respect for such sisters who try to promote their children secretly, subtly and delighted when their son or daughter is pushed above others in the church, maybe in playing some instruments or in sharing something. You're an evil mother if you're trying to get your children to be in competition with others. Humble yourself and say, Lord, if you promote them, I'll accept it, but I'm not going to do anything behind the scenes to promote anybody. You will ruin your children. They will get the same pride that you have. I've seen that. Some children are promoted by their mother or by their mother and the children develop the same pride of the mother and exalt themselves and they destroy themselves because God is against the proud, whether it's a Mrs. Zebedee or anyone. Okay. The last example, number seven is Timothy's mother. Wonderful example. We conclude with that. See, if you read in Acts chapter 16 and verse one, that Paul came to Lystra, Acts 16, verse one, and there was a disciple there called Timothy. And he was the son of a Jewish woman who married a Greek. But Timothy had such a good testimony, not only in Lystra where he was, but even in other towns. People from Typonium who came to Lystra said, boy, that's a godly young man, only 20 years old, Timothy. And Paul is a man of discernment. He could see through people in a few minutes. And he looked at Timothy and really heard him testify a little in the church and heard the testimony from others and said, I want you to be my coworker. Imagine a godly man like Paul choosing a 20 year old to be his coworker. And that was not because he was promoted by his mother. No. Timothy's mother was not like Zebedee. This is Zebedee trying to promote her son. He left it to God. And God through Paul chose Timothy. And later on when Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter one, we read, Paul writes to Timothy and says, I am mindful of the second Timothy one five, I am mindful Timothy of the sincere faith within you. Not Bible knowledge, but faith. That's the important thing. It's not how much Bible knowledge you're cramming into your child's head. How much faith in God. They didn't have Bibles in those days, but she could train her child in faith, which was first in your grandmother Lois, and then in your mother Eunice. I think that's how it's pronounced in the Greek, Eunice. And I'm sure that is in you as well. So where did he get his faith from? From his mother. And we know his father was a Greek, probably a businessman who had no interest in God. He was a mother who single-handedly raised this boy to be a godly man. I wonder how she, you know, she had her grandmother also had faith and had put some of that into her heart, but somehow she went astray and married a non-Jew. The Jews were not allowed to marry Gentiles, but she went and married a Greek. Maybe a time in her life when she became a little backslidden and wayward and went and married this Greek businessman who was rich. That happens sometimes to people who have godly mothers. But I'm sure Eunice prayed and prayed and prayed. Eunice is a great example, prayed and prayed and prayed for her daughter. Sorry, Lois is a great example, prayed and prayed and prayed for Eunice and brought her back, even though she was still married to a Greek. And when she had a son, Eunice said, Lord, I'm sorry for backsliding and marrying outside your will, but now please help me at least to bring up this son in a godly way. There are women who miss the will of God in marriage, but who have children and who bring up that child in a godly way, even though their husband is ungodly. Single-handedly bring up their children to be like Timothy. There's hope even for those women who married unbelievers. That's the example here in Eunice, to have godly children and you'll get your reward in the final day. Just because you missed God's will somewhere in life, even in marriage, don't get discouraged sister. God's got a plan for your life and God can make your children grow up to be servants of God like Timothy. But you have to devote yourself and communicate faith to them, not just Bible knowledge. You communicate faith by in a time of trial, Timothy must have seen Eunice's mother saying, let's pray Timothy. And father was not praying, but Timothy and the mother would pray. And Timothy, we are going through a little financial struggle now. Let's pray and ask God to help us. Or we're facing some opposition from relatives. Let's pray and ask God to forgive them and let's love them. Or from neighbors who are difficult, Timothy, let's pray. Let's not be evil towards our neighbors. Let's be good to them. And all types of different situations, God allows in the life to train Timothy to be a man of faith. And the mother was the one who trained that little child from a young age to have faith. So that by the time he was 20 years old, he was a man of God. Blessed are you mothers, not if you cram your Bible knowledge is important because we have a Bible and our children must know the Bible. But more than that, if you can train your children to have faith in God in difficult situations, there are many children who have Bible knowledge who are useless to God. But along with the Bible knowledge, if they have faith in God, God is my father. He will never let me down. He loves me just like he loves Jesus. He will care for me like he cared for Jesus. You have trained them for life, even if they are poor or rich. Blessed are you mothers. I have this picture behind me. You can have a look at it. Jesus washing Peter's feet. This is the calling of all wives and say, Lord, make me a washer on the feet, not literally, but one willing to do lowly jobs like Jesus. Jesus is your example to wash the feet of your husband, to wash the feet of your children. One day they will rise up like it says in Proverbs 31 and say, you are blessed. You're a blessed mother. So dear brothers, mothers, dear wives, follow these examples and stay away from the bad examples that we saw. And God will bless you as a wife and a mother. We want many godly wives and godly mothers in our churches. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we bow before you, only you can raise up a godly wife or a godly mother. I pray you'll do that in our churches. Many, many. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/pCf_faT5cKA.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/zac-poonen/lessons-from-seven-wives-and-seven-mothers/ ========================================================================