IMPORTANT BIBLE MOTHERS ON MOTHER'S DAY

In honor of Mother's Day, I thought it would be interesting to discuss five significant mothers who have a special significance in the Bible.  First though I would ask you, have you ever noticed that there are women mentioned in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus?  Not only are they special in that they are part of His genealogy, they are also special because, as women, they have the rare distinction of being listed in the genealogy of a Jew! One need only look at Luke's genealogy of Jesus to illustrate the point (Lk. 3:23-38). 


*  Matthew 1:3 - "Judah the father of Perez and Zara, whose mother was (Thamar) Tamar."
*  Matthew 1:5 - "Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was (Rachab) Rahab."
*  Matthew 1:5 - "Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth."
*  Matthew 1:6 - "David was the father of Solomon, whose mother (Bathsheba) had been Uriah’s wife."
*  Matthew 1:16 - "Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus."  [Note that Joseph is not called the father of Jesus - Luke said it this way:  "And Jesus Himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph...." (Lk. 3:23)].


In addition to these five women being mentioned in the Lord's genealogy, there is something even more astounding, in that, they do more to cause His "family tree" to be rejected, than to be accepted!  *  Tamar (Thamar) needed to "play the harlot" in order to get her father-in-law, Judah, to give her a child!  She had twins named Pharez (Phares) and Zarah (Zara).
*  Rahab (Rachab) was not a Jew, but was a harlot living in Jericho.  She was the mother of Boaz.  Amazingly, she is also mentioned in Joshua 2, 6; Psalm 87, 89; Isaiah 51; Hebrews 11; and James 2!
*  Ruth was a Moabite and not a Jew!  She was the mother of Obed.
*  Bathsheba committed adultery and then married the man who had her husband killed!  She was the mother of Solomon.
*  Mary, the mother of Jesus, was accused of being with child by someone other than her husband to be (Mt. 1:18-19; Jn. 8:41).


As we have seen, even though not all mothers are perfect, these examples would indicate that, like you and me, they do their best.  Yes, like all human beings, mothers sin; but unlike all human beings, mothers love and nurture their children - they have been given a special heart from God to love unconditionally their less than perfect children!  Thanks be to God for mothers!

HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER!