Mothers of the Bible - Part Two
Eve – The First Mother
Without a single role model or mentor, Eve paved the way for us mothers. She was the first woman, first wife and first mother. Although these were great accomplishments, very little is said about Eve. We know in Genesis she makes a big, bad decision. She eats the apple, but not just any apple; it’s the apple from the tree God told her to never eat from. In some ways I feel a little sympathetic for her because I mean come on she’s a women and us women sometimes have to ask other women – “what would you do?” questions. Also think about when she was raising Cain and Abel, she didn’t have anyone to ask about teething or changing diapers. She had to learn on her own. I guess the good thing about that was that she had no one telling her she was doing it all wrong. I have to believe she asked God for guidance and wisdom in her mothering because that’s all she had. All of us must do this today.
Sarah – Wife of Abraham, Mother to Isaac
If you ever starting mothering later in life, then you will love Sarah. When God told Abraham that he would have descendants more than the stars in the sky and that Sarah would bear a son, I can see her coming through that tent with a smile on her face and chuckled in modern day terms – “are you kidding me, I’m 90 years old”. Then when she finds the pregnancy not coming fast enough she decided to take the situation in her own hands (how many of us do that?) and has Hagar take her place. If you read this story in Genesis 17-21 you will catch yourself screaming “No, Sarah, be patient”. Sarah did finally birth Isaac who would father Jacob and give lineage to Jesus. Sarah was the most important mother in the Bible.
These two mothers show us the results of waiting on God’s promises. Eve teaches us that God wants us to freely choose to follow and obey him out of love. Sarah’s story teaches us that when we sometimes feel like God has placed our lives on hold. Rather than take matters into our own hands, a time of waiting may be necessary.
