Ponder: Just a mother?
Scripture: “He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat who had made Israel sin” (1 Kings 22:52, NKJV).
Have you ever heard a lady say, “I’m just a mother”? Stay-at-home moms have been despised by the feminist movement as fourth-rate nobodies who need to be liberated from the drudgery of marriage and motherhood. In His word, however, God paints a markedly different picture.
At least nineteen of the kings of divided Israel/Judah are known to us in part by who their mothers were. Some kings were good, some not so good; some great, some relatively minor – but they all were kings. In some cases, their mothers played a key role, for better or for worse, in the lives of their sons, and thus in the lives of the people over whom they ruled. William Ross Wallaces’s poem appears to be true: “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” Consider two examples:
Wicked Ahaziah, king of Israel, grew up at a double disadvantage. His father and mother, Ahab and Jezebel, both worshiped Baal and engaged in every imaginable kind of ungodliness. Small wonder, then, that Ahaziah followed their lead. As the father, Ahab assuredly bears heavy responsibility. But don’t discount the influence of Jezebel!
On a happier note, Jedidah, wife of Judah’s wicked king Amon, was the mother of one of Judah’s best kings, Hezekiah. Hezekiah had every opportunity to be evil. His father Amon walked in the early footsteps of his own father, Manasseh, arguably the worst king of either part of the divided kingdom. We have every reason to credit Jedidah with swaying Hezekiah for good.
Just a mother? No, a mother indeed!
Hymn: “Make Me A Servant”
Prayer: Gracious God, we thank you for godly mothers and their good influence. Please bless them, and not just on Mother’s Day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
by Joe Slater
