It Is Written

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants:

Home

Series Code: IIW

Program Code: IIW001373A


00:00 ♪ [It Is Writ♪
00:07 >: It has stood the test of time.
00:12 God's book, the Bible.
00:16 Still relevant in today's complex world.
00:22 It Is Written, sharing hope around the globe.
00:36 JB: This is It Is Written.
00:38 I'm John Bradshaw, thanks for joining me.
00:41 There's a special day that comes around once every year.
00:45 Mother's Day.
00:46 And none of us would be here without our mother.
00:49 It's not a stretch at all to say that every personal life owes
00:52 his or her existence to his or her mother.
00:55 Now, obviously the same could be said about your father, but
00:58 we'll say that on another day.
01:00 I think I can say with some certainty that I have the
01:04 world's best mother, with the possible exception of your
01:06 mother, of course.
01:08 Any woman who could have endured raising my four brothers and I,
01:11 and our two sisters who I'm sure were angels and were never a
01:15 problem, is obviously a special person on the strength
01:18 of that alone.
01:19 But the fact that I'm able to say I have a wonderful mother
01:22 is a blessing in itself.
01:23 Thankfully, most people can say that.
01:26 Not all, but most.
01:28 And that's the way God set it up.
01:31 Childbirth and child raising and nurture and a mother's love are
01:36 not accidents, despite what some might say about
01:39 Darwinian evolution and the randomness of life.
01:42 God specifically designed that we have mothers, and part of
01:45 that is because a mother and a mother's love show us
01:49 an important part of the character of God.
01:53 Now, the Bible presents God as decidedly male.
01:56 I'm not suggesting otherwise.
01:58 But in God we see a father's love and a mother's love.
02:03 The Bible says in Isaiah 49:15, "Can a woman forget her nursing
02:07 child and not have compassion on the son of her womb?
02:10 Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you."
02:14 The love of God is compared to the love of a mother, except, of
02:17 course, God says His love exceeds a mother's love,
02:22 which is quite a thing.
02:24 In Matthew 23:37, Jesus said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
02:30 the one who kills the prophets and stones those
02:32 who are sent to her.
02:34 How often I wanted to gather your children together,
02:37 as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
02:40 but you were not willing."
02:42 Now, again, I'm not trying to say God is a female, but it's
02:44 clear, the creator embodies the characteristics, the strengths,
02:49 the love, of both a father and a mother.
02:52 What the Bible is making clear is that a mother's love reveals
02:55 something powerful about the love of God, and that makes the
02:59 role of a mother incredibly important.
03:04 Now, when you think of mothers in the Bible, who comes to mind?
03:08 I would guess the obvious ones would be Mary, the mother of
03:10 Jesus; and then, well, who?
03:14 You might say Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist.
03:17 You could think about Jochabid, the mother of Moses.
03:20 Now there's a story.
03:21 Timothy's mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois, are both
03:25 mentioned by name, by Paul in the Bible,
03:28 because of their great faith.
03:30 Sarah was the mother of Isaac, so she was special;
03:33 Rebecca was told that she'd be the mother
03:36 of thousands of millions, which is an honor.
03:40 And then think about the Shunamite woman, the one
03:42 promised a son by Elisha.
03:45 The boy spends a day in the field helping his father.
03:47 He ends up with something that could most likely be heat
03:50 stroke, and he dies.
03:53 The child dies.
03:54 So what does Mom do?
03:56 His mother gets a servant, they grab a donkey, she tells him to
03:59 ride as fast as he can to Elisha at Mt. Carmel;
04:03 when she gets there she dismisses Gahazi, Elisha's
04:06 servant, she charges into Elisha's presence, basically
04:09 rebukes him for promising her a son in the first place,
04:12 saying to him, "Didn't I say, don't deceive me?"
04:17 When Elisha tells his servant to go and check on the boy, the
04:20 mother isn't having any of it.
04:21 She says to Elisha, "I'm not going anywhere without you."
04:25 Well, what could Elisha do?
04:27 When Gahazi gets back, Elisha goes himself to the woman's
04:30 house, and the boy, the boy is brought back to life.
04:35 A mother receives her son again.
04:38 There could simply have been a funeral,
04:41 but this mother wouldn't take no for an answer.
04:45 This was her child.
04:47 And what she did for her little boy was responsible for the
04:49 little boy coming back to life.
04:51 She saved his life.
04:56 Mothers are heroes, really.
04:58 The modern idea of a hero is usually pretty hollow, but
05:02 mothers truly are heroes.
05:04 Heroines, if you'd rather.
05:06 Most of the time their heroism goes unnoticed.
05:09 Up all night with sick children, and whoever knows about it?
05:12 Not even the child in question will even remember
05:15 what was done.
05:17 Mothers of young children are up all night, every night, often,
05:20 and often for months and months, feeding children.
05:24 Now, I remember when our children were young,
05:26 they'd cry in the night and we knew what it would mean.
05:29 It meant Melissa would get out of bed and feed the child.
05:32 Now, me?
05:34 I slept.
05:35 There was no point in both of us being exhausted the next day,
05:38 was there?
05:39 At 2 a.m.
05:40 I had nothing those kids wanted, or 4:30 a.m.,
05:44 or whenever it might have been.
05:46 Now, with one of them it was midnight, then 2, then 4:30.
05:49 And today, who would even know?
05:51 The children don't remember.
05:53 But you know, that's a selfless, heroic act that's performed
05:56 every day by millions of women, usually without anyone knowing,
06:01 anywhere.
06:02 Kids skin their knees and they come running to mother.
06:05 They're tired at the mall, and who picks them up and carries
06:08 them around all day long?
06:09 I'm not trying to stereotype the situation, I know dads aren't
06:12 entirely useless for these things, but we know, both of us
06:16 that most of the time it's Mom who does the heavy lifting, the
06:21 really important stuff, dealing with the physical needs and the
06:24 emotional needs of kids.
06:25 Shaping children into what they'll be later in life.
06:29 In many cases, shaping children into followers of God who will
06:33 spend eternity in an earth made new.
06:35 It's simply impossible to overstate the importance of what
06:38 a mother does.
06:40 Mothers are called to give of themselves, and they do.
06:45 Every single one of them.
06:46 It starts with pregnancy.
06:48 And I'll be honest with you, I'm not sorry that's women's work.
06:52 If men had to carry babies for 280 days, the human race
06:55 probably would have died out thousands of years ago.
06:58 But mothers do what they do because, well,
07:02 because that's what they do.
07:05 It's because it's what needs to be done.
07:08 When it comes to being a mother, a mother does
07:11 what a mother needs to do.
07:14 I'm going to give you an example of this from the Bible.
07:17 Now, if you're expecting it to be a neat and tidy example
07:20 you're going to be disappointed.
07:21 What we're going to look at is the gritty reality of life.
07:25 A mother doing what has to be done, simply because
07:28 she's a mother.
07:30 And, well, that's what mothers do.
07:33 More in just a moment.
07:35 [music] >: You are watching the
07:37 weekly It Is Written program with Pastor John Bradshaw,
07:41 but did you know that there's a daily program, too?
07:43 Every Word is a one-minute Bible-based daily devotional
07:47 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw and designed especially
07:50 for busy people like you.
07:52 Look for Every Word on selected networks, or watch it online
07:56 every day on our website, ItIsWritten.com.
07:59 Receive a daily spiritual boost.
08:01 Watch Every Word.
08:02 You'll be glad you did.
09:07 JB: This is It Is Written.
09:08 I'm John Bradshaw.
09:09 Thanks for joining me.
09:11 When you think about mothers in the Bible, there's a list of
09:14 remarkable women you might think of.
09:16 Mary, the mother of Jesus, Elizabeth, Hannah.
09:19 We could talk a lot about Hannah.
09:21 Sarah, Rebecca.
09:24 But there's another mother who hardly ever makes it onto any of
09:27 the lists of the great mothers in the Bible.
09:30 What she did isn't remembered by many people at all, but she was
09:33 a truly heroic mother.
09:36 Let's talk about her for a moment.
09:38 The story takes place in the Bible, in 2 Samuel chapter 20.
09:42 Israel is in a mess.
09:45 David the king has been forced out of Jerusalem by his
09:48 rebellious son, Absalom.
09:50 Then after a messy war, Absalom is killed and David
09:53 returns to reclaim his kingdom.
09:56 Except, it wasn't going to be that simple.
09:59 A man named Sheba, the son of Bickri, from the tribe of
10:03 Benjamin and therefore someone who was sympathetic to King
10:07 Saul, who lost the kingdom to David, rebelled.
10:11 Second Samuel verse 1 sees Sheba saying this:
10:14 "We have no part in David.
10:17 Neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse.
10:19 Every man to his tents, O Israel."
10:23 This wasn't looking good; in fact, it was an absolute
10:26 crisis in the making.
10:28 David feared Sheba would do more damage to Israel
10:31 than Absalom did, and he ordered his men
10:33 to pursue Sheba and put down the insurrection.
10:36 He said to Abishai in verse 6, "Now Sheba the son of Bickri
10:41 will do us more harm than Absalom.
10:43 Take your lord's servants and pursue him lest he find for
10:46 himself fortified cities and escape us."
10:50 But Abishai, along with his ruthless brother Joab weren't
10:53 able to capture Sheba.
10:55 They cornered him, but they weren't able to take him.
10:59 So what would happen?
11:00 They pursued Sheba to a city called Abel in Bethmaachah.
11:04 Sheba hid himself there, and so Joab's men intended to force
11:09 their way into the city and destroy everything in their path
11:12 on their way to killing Sheba.
11:14 Now, it says this in verse 15.
11:17 Then "they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah."
11:21 And they cast up a siege mound against the city,
11:24 and it stood by the rampart.
11:26 And all the people who were with Joab battered the wall
11:30 to throw it down; which is when a wise woman,
11:33 and it's interesting the Bible calls her wise,
11:36 called out to Joab.
11:37 She said, please say to Joab, come nearby that I may speak
11:41 with you.
11:42 Now, that was bold.
11:43 This woman was engaging Joab, and he had proven time and again
11:47 that he wasn't anybody you'd want to mess with.
11:50 So, she said to Joab, I am among the peaceable and faithful
11:54 in Israel.
11:55 You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel.
12:00 Why would you swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?
12:03 Joab protested.
12:04 He said, that is not so.
12:07 But a man from the mountains of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bickri
12:10 by name, has raised his hand against the king, against David.
12:14 Deliver him only and I will depart from the city.
12:17 All I want is Sheba.
12:19 If I get him, I'll leave in peace.
12:22 Now, the inference was clear: If I don't get this guy
12:25 some other way, I'll bulldoze my way into
12:29 the city and destroy whatever gets in my way until I find
12:32 Sheba and end his life.
12:37 So here's a mother in Israel.
12:38 Wise, according to the Bible.
12:41 Now, we need to keep in mind, this was a different time,
12:44 a different era.
12:47 But this mother in Israel realized that her life
12:49 was in danger.
12:50 Her city was in jeopardy and therefore, her own children were
12:54 facing an uncertain future.
12:56 What do you do when your children are in danger?
13:00 This mother, like most mothers would, decided that she'd do
13:03 whatever it was she had to do.
13:06 And so, she said, watch.
13:09 His head will be thrown to you over the wall.
13:13 Now, that's grim, I know.
13:16 But think about what had to have gone through her mind.
13:19 This Sheba is a scoundrel, and he's endangering us all.
13:23 And the only way we're going to turn this thing around is by
13:25 convincing Joab that the man is dead.
13:29 And we won't be able to convince him of that without proof.
13:32 And so that means - You can imagine her
13:37 thinking this through, and she realized how awful
13:40 this was going to have to be.
13:42 Mothers give life, they don't take it.
13:46 For anyone to take a life, you've got to cross some pretty
13:49 significant mental and emotional bridges in order to make that
13:52 happen.
13:54 This wasn't a warrior in Israel or a solider in Israel.
13:59 She was a mother in Israel.
14:02 But her people were in danger, her children were in danger.
14:06 So what did she do?
14:08 She did what she had to, because she was a mother.
14:14 Now, notice how 2 Samuel chapter 20, verse 22, puts it:
14:18 "Then the woman, in her wisdom, went to all the people."
14:22 So as hard as this might be to really understand, what she did
14:25 is described by God as wise.
14:28 The details aren't recorded in bible, but the end result was.
14:34 "And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bickri and
14:38 threw it out to Joab."
14:41 We're not told how she communicated this to the people
14:43 and convinced them about what they had to do.
14:46 It might not have taken too much convincing, actually,
14:48 I don't know.
14:50 But what we do know is that by the time this episode was over,
14:54 Sheba has met with a very unfortunate end.
14:58 And after all this?
15:00 Abel of Bethmaachah was safe.
15:03 Joab didn't come inside, and the people there,
15:05 including the children, were left in peace.
15:11 That was a tough call, and very obviously, I'm not recommending
15:15 anybody think about imitating what this woman did.
15:18 But this was a desperate time and it called for desperate
15:20 measures.
15:21 And it was a mother in Israel who was wise enough to step
15:24 forward and say, we have to preserve our people,
15:28 our children, and I'll do whatever needs to be done
15:31 in order to make that happen.
15:33 That's what mothers do.
15:35 They nurture their children in a thousand different ways.
15:38 They give and give and give of themselves.
15:41 They're aren't paid for what they do as mothers and they
15:43 work, more often than not, unrecognized.
15:47 They're the glue that keeps thousands of school committees
15:50 and volunteer organizations and children's groups and sports
15:53 clubs and who knows what else held together.
15:56 When often, they don't have the time and they could be doing
15:58 other things or pursuing other interests.
16:01 But mothers do what they do because, well,
16:04 because they're mothers.
16:05 That's what mothers do.
16:07 That's what God has placed in their hearts.
16:11 And so we recognize mothers.
16:13 A day a year.
16:15 Come on, kids, and dads, can't we do better than that?
16:19 Surely we can.
16:21 Along with buying flowers or cooking breakfast or taking Mom
16:24 out to dinner or whatever it might be on Mother's Day,
16:27 make sure that's not the only time you do it.
16:31 And, you do it for them, why?
16:33 Well, tell them.
16:34 Because we love you, and we appreciate you, and because we
16:37 don't say thank you often enough.
16:40 So, mothers, which mother in the Bible do you aspire to be like?
16:45 Or which Bible mother do you most identify with?
16:48 What a question!
16:49 Now, that's one that will put on the pressure, isn't it?
16:51 If there's one you'd like to be like, maybe that would be Mary
16:55 or Hannah or, who do you think?
16:59 But you know what I think?
17:01 I think that, honestly, most mothers probably don't see
17:06 themselves as Mary, the nearest we have to a perfect mother.
17:10 Although we'll come back to that in just a moment.
17:12 Most mothers, most likely, don't see themselves as being like
17:15 Elizabeth or Hannah, these model mothers who seem to have all the
17:20 answers and an endless supply of spiritual wisdom and obedience
17:24 and faithfulness.
17:26 And that's okay, I think.
17:28 Because when you look into the Bible, you see a
17:30 lot of mothers who blew it.
17:34 Let's look at some of them.
17:35 Followers of Jesus strive for Christlikeness,
17:39 or at least they should.
17:40 That's the aim.
17:41 Our experience as Christians ought to see more and more of
17:43 Jesus being seen in us, and less and less of our selfish selves
17:48 seen in us.
17:49 But there's not a single redwood tree in the forest that didn't
17:52 start out as a tiny seedling.
17:55 And on the way from this to this,
17:58 there were a lot of tough days.
18:00 Hot days, freezing cold days, strong winds that blew the tree
18:04 this way and that and maybe even almost over.
18:07 I've seen magnificent sequoias up close, and some of them have
18:10 been ravaged by fire and they're scarred and they're damaged,
18:14 but they're resilient, and the experts will tell you that
18:17 those fires are actually good for the forest.
18:21 It sounds to me a little more like the reality of motherhood.
18:26 Rough days, good days, but rough days, stormy days,
18:31 scars, damage.
18:35 But motherhood, parenthood for that matter, isn't only about
18:38 the moment.
18:39 It's more about the journey, the destination, and that's what I
18:43 believe we see in the Bible.
18:46 So let's look at a couple of case studies of mothers and
18:49 mothering in the Bible.
18:51 Did the mothers in the Bible always get it right?
18:55 Well, first let's consider Sarah.
18:58 Ah, now there's a great mother, the mother of Isaac, the wife of
19:04 Abraham the great man of faith.
19:06 Wonderful Sarah, who lacked faith, didn't believe God and
19:12 actually recommended to her husband that he father a child
19:16 by another woman.
19:17 And we know how that turned out.
19:19 She was then cruel to the woman in question, and that union
19:23 between her husband and the other woman, the union she put
19:26 her husband up to, has had historically catastrophic
19:30 consequences.
19:32 And Sarah lied.
19:34 You remember that?
19:35 Not only did she lie, but Sarah lied to God.
19:40 She's 90 or so years old when God stops by to visit Abraham.
19:44 They prepare a meal, and the Lord says in Genesis
19:49 chapter 18, verse 10, "Sara, your wife,
19:53 shall have a son."
19:54 That's what God told Abraham.
19:56 And Sarah hears this, because she's at the door of the tent,
19:58 and she laughed and she says to herself, "Am I going to have a
20:01 child at my age?"
20:03 And the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh?"
20:08 In Genesis 18:15, the Bible says this: "But Sarah denied it,
20:12 saying 'I did not laugh.' For she was afraid."
20:15 And He said, now that's God, "No, but you did laugh."
20:19 God told her off.
20:21 Sarah, this woman was far from perfect.
20:26 And then you've got Rebecca, encouraging Jacob to lie to
20:29 Isaac, which caused all kinds of strife including that she never
20:33 saw her son again after he fled.
20:36 And how hard must that have been?
20:38 But in spite of this failing, their not insignificant
20:42 failings, how did it turn out?
20:45 How did it turn out for Sarah?
20:48 Sarah is one of only two women to be mentioned by name in the
20:52 faith chapter, Hebrews 11.
20:54 In spite of her failings, which were not trivial, Sarah is named
20:59 by God as a giant of faith.
21:03 Isn't that something?
21:05 Mothers can't always get it right.
21:08 It's the toughest job in the world to master.
21:11 At least that's what I think.
21:12 Mothers are nurses, doctors, counselors, psychologists,
21:17 a mother is a chef, a tailor, a decorator, an event planner,
21:19 a teacher, an emergency room physician,
21:22 a negotiator, a provider.
21:24 Then you've got to balance all of that with the demands of
21:26 work, the demands of being a wife and a daughter and a friend
21:29 and a thousand other things.
21:32 God understands that.
21:34 Sarah is in the faith hall of fame, and she did some stuff I
21:39 hope you would never do.
21:42 It's a journey, isn't it?
21:43 And the question isn't how many potholes you hit along the way,
21:46 or whether or not you have the occasional fender bender.
21:49 The question is: who do you lean on, when you need support?
21:53 Who do you trust your heart to?
21:56 Who's in control of you, even if you don't always feel as though
21:59 you're in control.
22:01 You see, God is gracious.
22:04 And if anyone needs grace and help for the journey, it's a
22:07 mother, because there is no more important job in the world.
22:12 And God knows that.
22:13 And if you're a mother, He's with you in this.
22:17 Wouldn't it be nice if all mothers were perfect,
22:20 all the time?
22:22 Well, they're not.
22:23 Let me give you another example.
22:25 Maybe one you're not expecting.
22:26 Let's think about Mary, shall we?
22:29 Yes, Mary, the mother of Jesus.
22:33 I think it's fair to bring this up.
22:34 Jesus was 12 years old.
22:37 They go to Jerusalem to observe the Passover.
22:40 Look at this, it's in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2,
22:43 verses 43 and 44.
22:46 "When they had finished the days, as they returned the boy
22:49 Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem.
22:52 And Joseph and his mother did not know it.
22:55 But supposing him to have been in the company, they went a
22:57 day's journey and sought him among their relatives and
23:00 acquaintances."
23:01 Walk through this.
23:03 Somehow, Jesus is allowed to linger in Jerusalem.
23:07 He's 12 years old.
23:09 Now sure, it might have been a safer society than we have now.
23:13 I had a whole lot more freedom at 12 than either of my children
23:15 had.
23:17 Times have changed.
23:18 But even so, the Bible says Joseph and Jesus' mother
23:23 did not know it.
23:25 They didn't know Jesus had remained behind in Jerusalem.
23:30 How do you now know?
23:32 They supposed he was in the company, the group of people
23:35 traveling together.
23:37 Supposed?
23:39 A mother "supposes" her son is in the group,
23:41 but she doesn't know?
23:43 They traveled for a whole day and they didn't know Jesus
23:47 wasn't with them.
23:49 And they didn't find him for three days.
23:53 Who'd been taking care of him?
23:55 Who fed him?
23:56 Who tucked him in at night?
23:57 Who prayed with him before he went to sleep?
24:00 Not his parents, not his mother, Mary.
24:03 She "supposed" Jesus was in the group, and she supposed wrong.
24:11 Now, I don't want you to stone me for saying this,
24:13 but you could say easily, Mary was negligent.
24:17 If this happened in modern-day America, she and Joseph would
24:20 get a visit from child protective services.
24:22 She lost her son, because you could say she was careless.
24:28 It's not like he snuck off.
24:30 Mary and Joseph left Jerusalem without making sure they knew
24:34 where their boy was.
24:37 So, I say this to say this: If you're not perfect, well,
24:42 the truth is not even Mary was always perfect.
24:47 I hate to put it like that, as she was obviously
24:49 an incredible mother.
24:50 Don't get me wrong.
24:51 She was blessed among women, chosen by God, raised her son in
24:54 Nazareth, and he still turned out perfectly.
24:59 But you know, mistakes happen.
25:01 And that's not to say they're okay, it's to say that we are
25:03 human.
25:06 Mothers are human, too.
25:08 In spite of Sarah lying to God, in spite of Rebecca messing up
25:12 her family, in spite of Mary losing Jesus for three days,
25:18 it turned out well enough.
25:19 Love makes the difference.
25:21 And love is what affects a child most.
25:25 If you can love your child and lean on God, then that's what
25:28 you need to be a truly great mother.
25:31 God's grace makes the difference.
25:34 And if you're a mother who's ever made a mistake, I want you
25:37 to remember today that God is gracious.
25:42 And God cares, and God loves mothers, and God is with you,
25:47 and God knows a mother's heart.
25:52 Today, I want to offer you this special free book on the
25:55 subject of God's promises.
25:57 You'll find it very encouraging.
25:59 It's called "God's Promises."
26:01 Dozens of promises from the Word of God with encouragement for
26:03 you to know God and grow in His grace.
26:07 Just call or write and I'll send you "God's Promises."
26:10 There's no cost or obligation, it's absolutely free.
26:13 Just call this number 1 (800) 253-3000,
26:18 and ask for "God's Promises."
26:20 If the lines are busy, please just keep on trying.
26:23 Or write to It Is Written, Box 6, Chattanooga, TN 37401,
26:29 and we'll mail a copy to your address in North America.
26:33 Please note, this free book is limited to the supply on hand.
26:37 For immediate access you can download a free electronic
26:40 version of this book "God's Promises" from our website
26:43 ItIsWritten.com.
26:45 Thank you for your continued support.
26:47 Our toll-free number is 1 (800) 253-3000, and our web address is
26:52 ItIsWritten.com.
26:57 Let's take a moment to pray together.
26:59 Our Father in heaven, I think You that in Your infinite wisdom
27:02 you gave all of us a mother.
27:04 I not only thank You, but I praise You for Your perfect
27:07 plan, and I want to pray especially for mothers.
27:10 That they would know Your presence, that they would know
27:13 how much You appreciate them, that they would be appreciated,
27:16 and that they would be given great grace for that most
27:20 important job in the whole world, that blessed role of
27:25 being a mother.
27:27 It's a role full of joys but it has its challenges.
27:30 But with You, the challenge of even motherhood
27:33 is not too great.
27:34 Bless and keep us all, I pray.
27:37 We thank You in Jesus' name, amen.
27:46 [music] I want to thank you for joining me today, and I'm
27:48 looking forward to seeing you again next time.
27:49 Until then, remember: It Is Written:
27:52 Man shall not live by bread alone,
27:55 but by every word that proceeds
27:58 from the mouth of God.


Home

Revised 2015-06-18