Mother

 

In some countries, this weekend will bring a celebration of mothers. Some countries celebrate "Parents' Day" at this time of year. If you have this day of remembering and honoring your mother, you are keeping the command of the LORD when He said, "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you." (Ex. 20:12). Honoring mother and father has a long term effect and blessing upon your life, according to this commandment.

We have a mother whom we often neglect to remember and honor. From this mother came all that we know about God. Our Heavenly Father describes Himself as married to her (Isa. 54:5-8, Jer. 31:31-33, Hos. 2:7), so if Israel is our Father's wife, then she is our mother as well. This mother, even in the face of persecution to death, kept the oracles of God for us, the future generations that she did not yet know, and could not even imagine:

"What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles (logion- the words or utterances of God: Root word = logos: a word uttered by a living voice, the sayings of God) of God." 

                                                                                                              Rom. 3:1-2

Because of the faithful dedication of our mother to this commission to keep these oracles of God, other nations recognize the unique relationship that our mother, and consequently we, have with God (Deut. 4:4-8). Not only did our mother keep the oracles in the form of the Old Testament, but in the writing and keeping of the New Testament. The New Covenant, was prophetically revealed to her and planted within her as a seed of promise (Jer. 31:31). And when the time came, our spiritual mother, the Jews, kept and delivered to us the new oracles of God for us, as well.

Our mother kept the oracles of God, and she birthed in faith the Son of God, and consequently the rest of us. In the Book of Revelation, this dedicated and faithful mother is described:

"...the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne...Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent...And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."  Rev. 12:4-17 (excerpt)

With the sacrificial heart of a mother, Israel and the Jewish people received spiritual blindness so that we might be able receive the good news of salvation. They gave up their knowledge of the Messiah for a time specified by God. We may think that this blindness was not chosen by them, but their prophets told them beforehand that it was by the word and will of God (Isa. 6:9-13). Would we have been willing to give up our salvation so that others might receive it? Paul told us that their blindness and falling was for our benefit (Rom. 11:8-11). However, as keepers of the oracles of God, our mother, the Jews, also knew that God promised that all Israel will be saved (Rom. 11:26-27, Isa. 59:19-21). As a mother nurtures hope in her heart for future days, our spiritual mother keeps hope in that promise of God. Shouldn't we also sacrifice - at least in a prayer of agreement with her hopes in the Word of God? It is indeed the least we can do for "Mom".

We cannot and must not separate ourselves from the mother who gave birth to us, who nurtured us diligently, and still provides the daily bread that feeds our souls. Paul makes clear that our roots are Jewish, as he defines the Jew not solely by a physical identity, but as one who is circumcised in the heart (Rom. 2:28-29). As we see with Abraham, Moses, and so many others in scripture, without the faithful obedience of these many generations of Jews, we would not have had the blessing that we walk in today. In Romans 11, Paul describes our Jewish parent this way:

...as life from the dead (v. 15)

...as a holy root (v. 16)

...as the root that supports us (v. 18)

...concerning the election, ... as beloved for the sake of the fathers (v. 28)

We became partakers of this root and fatness of our mother who is described as an olive tree (v. 17). As Proverbs 23:22 says, "Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise (hold as insignificant, disrespect) your mother when she is old." 
We should never become haughty children, believing we are now superior to the one who mothered us, or in thinking that we have surpassed her in understanding, and are now no longer in need of her (Rom. 11:20).

This Mother's Day, as we honor our natural mothers, let us also honor our spiritual mother, the Jews, who sacrificed so much on our behalf. Let's not ignore or neglect our relationship with her any longer. God promised her that her children would be returned to her (Isa. 49:22-23). This is not only the return of her natural children, but also the joyous return of her spiritual children, "the rest of her offspring... who have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Without "mother", we wouldn't be here. Without "mother", we wouldn't have found our salvation, our joy, our hope, and our eternal future.

Our Father provided a faithful "mother" for us.