Friday, May 11, 2018
Mothers’ cry
Matthew 2:18
A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.
Our key verse today is a bit strange. It is taken from the account of King Herod losing his temper, after he was deceived by the wise men, killing the boy children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, in an attempt to kill Jesus. As we know, by then Joseph spirited the family away to Egypt.
That’s in the traditional Christmas story but today is almost Mother’s Day. This verse, used to indicate a fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy, was originally penned by the Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 31:15-17. In the original context we need to understand what was happening to better understand the passage and then we can look to apply this to our current situation and to mothers today.
Ramah was a place outside the city of Jerusalem where the Jews would pass through on their way to Babylon when they were taken captive. Rachel was one of Jacob’s wives, his favourite, her offspring were two of the most powerful tribes of the kingdom and there were all being taken captive and the idea used here by the prophet Jeremiah is that she must be turning in her grave to see what has become of her offspring.
Many mothers don’t have to wait to ‘turn in their graves’ their distress is here and now. The news is replete with stories of mothers losing their children to the system, or to the lives they themselves have chosen. Children, especially the young men, are falling victims to drugs, crime, and violence. There are cut down in the street if not by the guns of their fellow combatants, it is by the guns of the police.
Bob Marley version of the woman and her son who was cut down was more popular for a while, he sang this – “Woman hold her head and cry / ‘Cause her son had been shot down in the street and died / From a stray bullet.” Then he continued, “Johnny was a good man,” I – I know! (never did a thing wrong) / Johnny was a good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good man” / Can a woman tender care, she cried, / Cease towards the child she bear? (Johnny was a good man)
It is often very amazing that mothers see their children differently to everyone else. Never mind the evidence, never mind the facts, never mind the witnesses, a woman’s love for her children is almost never affected by those things.
I once lived near the prison in Georgetown and every morning on my way to work I was fascinated by the long line of women who were at the gate every day with meals for prisoners who were on self-support. Some were girlfriends, some were wives, but most of them were mothers and grandmothers. They were undeterred by the evidence in court or the headlines in the newspapers.
Rachel is used here by the prophet Jeremiah to be representative of the nation that weeps for its children, she personalises the concern for a generation and her children’s children. Rachel was a mother who understood that her children had a purpose to serve and could not do so if they were held captive by the forces arrayed against them in their time.
Children are instruments of spiritual warfare in the next generation, David understood this when he said that children are a heritage from the Lord and “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.” Psalm 127:4,5.
Rachel was weeping because the Babylon system (is a vampire) had its grip on her offspring putting limits on them. This is captured in Psalm 137:1-4 “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst of it. For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, And those who plundered us requested mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?”
The passage in Jeremiah that is our text is intended to give us hope that if mothers and grandmothers have done their work, their work would not be in vain and that God would return the children to them from the land of the enemy, there is hope for the future.
Paul said to Timothy “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” 2 Tim 1:5-7 (NIV)
Timothy was in the midst of the battles of his time and, as he seemed to waver a bit, Paul said to him you have a heritage of good teaching from your grandmother and your mother. Paul describes the spiritual warfare of the time and reminded Timothy that from his youth he was taught the scriptures by these two women in his life.
There is still a real captivity out there today, and a real warfare to be fought by mothers for the great escape of a generation.
Think on these things:
- Are you troubled by the plight of young men given the stories we hear and read every day?
- Do you know mothers who are in anguish over the plight of their children?
- How can we help mothers to better cope with the challenges of our time?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today for the mothers in our midst that they would prepare their children for the battles of their time.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
