5/13 "Mother's of the Old Testament"

Can you imagine Eve's grief realizing her one son killed the other son over the process of sacrificing, which by the way didn't exist until she and Adam had eaten from The Tree.  Mother's nor fathers are perfect, but teaching and modeling for our children to trust and obey God is most important and our best defense against living with regrets.

Title: "Mothers in the Old Testament"

In a Nutshell: God gave mankind the gift of “motherhood.”  Since then it has been ignored, worshipped, belittled, manipulated, scoffed at and dreaded.   The gift of “motherhood” still stands as blessed by God, dreaded by Satan, longed for by many, and respected by some.  We see it all in the Old Testament!

Ice Breaker: What is the best thing you think your mother did?  The worst thing?  What is the best thing any mother can do?  The worst thing?

CONNECTING TO THE TEXT

  1. Mysterious list of the Mothers of Kings
  • How many times did the King follow the example of their mothers?  1 Kings 14:21; 15:2; 22:42; 2 Kings 8:26; 12:1; 14:2; 15:2; 15:33; 18:2; 21:1,19; 22:1; 23:31,36; 24:8,18; 1 Chr. 2:26; 2 Chr. 12:13;  13:2; 20:31; 22:2; 24:1; 25:1; 26:3; 27:1; 29:1
  1. Three key (symbolic) Mother’s in the Old Testament and then spotlighted in the New Testament:
  • Eve (Gen. 3:20, 1-8; 1 Tim. 2:12-15; 2 Cor. 11:3)  deceived by Satan
  • Sarah (Gen. 17:16 – 18:15; Gal. 4:21-31; 1 Pet. 3:1-6) blessed through faith and obedience and an  example for wives today
  • Hagar (Gen. 16:3-7;  Gal. 4:21-31) Symbolic of legalism and man’s attempts to fix problems that only God can fix
  1. Two extremes of motherhood:
  • Jezebel (1 King 16:31; 18:1-21:15; Rev 20:20-24) controlled everything she could get
  • Widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:9-16; Lk 4:26-27)  gave everything she had
  1. Three mother’s you wouldn’t likely want in your family tree:
  • Tamar the mother of her father-in-law’s son (Gen. 38:6-30; Mt. 1:3)
  • Rahab the prostitute (Jos. 2:1; Mt. 1:5)
  • Ruth the Moabite (Ruth 1:16-17; Mt. 1:5)

 

REFLECTING ON OUR LIVES

  1. Of all the mothers mentioned above which one can you most relate to and why?
  2. Of all the characteristics of mothers represented above which ones seems to be most prevalent today?
  3. Of all the mothers referred to above which one best illlustrates a lesson the Church needs to remember?
  4. If Jezebel was at one end of a spectrum and  the Widow of Zarephath was at the other end, which one would you be closer to on the spectrum of being “demanding” versus “giving”?

REFLECTING ON THE WAY WE DO CHURCH

  1. What do Paul’s teachings related to Eve mean for the church today?  1 Tim. 2:12-15
  2. How can the church help build up Godly mothers?
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