Mothers in the Old Testament

I know I said I'd post this Sunday, but after giving the talk, I really just wanted to be done with it. Warning: It's sort of long. I mean, really, I had to speak for 15 whole minutes, and I'm a bit of a speed talker.


I was chatting with Sister Holt, the institute secretary the other day and she told me how her family was preparing for Mother’s Day. Her daughter, Heather, asked her father and Sister Holt’s husband, Bruce, what he was planning on doing for Sister Holt for Mother’s Day. His response was, “She’s not my mother!”

Very few of us are mothers, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from scriptural stories of mothers and act as mothers ourselves. I’m going to talk about a few mothers from the Old Testament and what we can learn from them.

Pharaoh’s daughter is a prime example of a woman who was not herself a mother, but took it upon herself to help raise children. The pharaoh’s daughter was washing herself near the river when she saw Moses in his ark in the reeds. She asked her attendants to get the basket and she adopted Moses as her own and raised him. Now, we may not adopt children but there are definitely opportunities for us to help raise children.

Sheri Dew, who has yet to my knowledge had the privilege of bearing her own children, said, “We are all mothers [in Israel] and we have always been mothers. [It is] our calling to love and help lead the rising generation through the dangerous streets of mortality.” In reference to family roles, Elder Russell M. Nelson said, “Masculinity has no monopoly on the mind, and femininity has no exclusive dominion over the heart.” This means you brethren can be mothers, too.

Most of us have nieces and nephews. Are there times when your siblings might be overextended but you could take the time to make some quality memories with them? Have you ever thought about places you can volunteer in the community? Some of my favorite college experiences came while I was volunteering at Slate Canyon, a detention center for at risk youth. A friend of mine expressed his love for being a merit badge counselor for local scouts. Being a mother to these people doesn’t necessarily mean they need to be younger than us. Many people are shocked when I tell them that I moved to Boulder without knowing anyone, but I was confident that someone in the ward would notice I was new and help me out, and they did, and now that I’m more settled, I try to do the same.

Mothers look for ways to improve their communities.
Number chapter 27 tells the story of the daughters of Zelophehad. Zelophehad was a man with five daughters and no sons who died in the Wilderness of Zin. At that time, if a man died with no male heir, the right to property which would be granted to families when they entered the Promised Land was lost. Zelophehad’s daughters petitioned Moses that they might inherit the land instead, because if they didn’t, Zelophehad’s name would be lost to the clan. Moses prayed about it and the Lord told him their plea was just. Because of the daughters of Zelophehad, the inheritance laws of ancient Israel were changed so men without male heirs could pass on their inheritance to their daughters, and then the next of kin. The daughters and their families were also blessed to be able to carry on the family name. These women saw a need for something to be changed, and so they took the proper action to change it. By proper action, I mean they approached the correct authorities and raised their concern in a legal and respectful way. President Ezra Taft Benson counciled us that, “As Latter-day Saints we should pray for our civic leaders and encourage them in righteousness.” Now, I’m not saying we should start a revolution or that we all need to change the world. We make significant changes to our current community. My former roommate was on the Student Advisory Council, or SAC, at BYU. They take suggestions from students a try to implement them on campus. SAC improvements to BYU’s campus include changing the honor code to allow shorts and sandals without socks, installing Wi-Fi in Brigham Square, BYU’s main plaza on campus, allowing remote printing from laptops to campus printers, and accepting credit cards at the on-campus food court. All of these improvements began when a student noticed something could be improved and so they took initiative and approached the right authorities with their ideas.

Mothers stand for what they believe.
Esther was one of my favorite biblical women when I was little—I’m pretty sure it was because she was a queen and I my highest life aspiration was to grow up to be a princess. Esther was a Jewish girl whose parents had died, so she was raised by her cousin Mordecai. Mordecai worked for the king of Persia, who happened to be looking for a queen, so Mordecai presented Esther, and she was chosen so she became queen. Haman, the chief prince in the king’s court, didn’t like Mordecai because he wouldn’t pay homage or bow down to him. Haman deviously convinced the king that there were certain people who wouldn’t obey the king’s laws and should therefore be destroyed. Haman obtained the king’s permission to handle these people, so he sent out a decree ordering all Jews to be killed. Mordecai notified Esther of this decree and asked her to go to the king and plead her case for his people. Ironically, he had previously told her not to tell the king she was Jewish. Going to the king without being summoned was punishable by death, unless the king held out his scepter and allowed them to live, so Ester was hesitant to go. She asked Mordecai and other Jews to fast for her and she went. At the king’s court, the king held out his scepter, so she was spared. She arranged a feast where she revealed herself as a Jew and she exposed Haman’s plan to kill all the Jews in the kingdom. Her plea to spare the Jews was granted. Through Esther’s fasting, faith, and courage, she was able to act as protector over her people much like our mothers do. Like Esther, we may find ourselves in situations where we are required to stand for truth and righteousness, which isn’t always easy. Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” But like Esther, “who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Mothers do not procrastinate righteousness.
Rebekah is great example of obedience, and not just obedience, but being obedient in a timely manner. Abraham had commanded his eldest servant to go find a wife for his son Isaac, and the servant found Rebekah. After meeting with the family, the scriptures say the following:
and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master.
And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go.
And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath aprospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.
And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth.
And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.
And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.
Because of her righteousness, Rebekah was blessed to be the mother of thousands of millions.
“I’ll do it tomorrow,” is a plague of our generation. Have you ever had a task at hand and thought, “I’ll do it tomorrow?” and tomorrow becomes the next day and the next day and the next, and it goes on, possibly for weeks, that you will do this task, tomorrow. Spencer W. Kimball said One of the most serious human defects in all ages is procrastination…[It is] an unwillingness to accept personal responsibility now.” Procrastination is tricky because you don’t mean to neglect your responsibilities or the commandments; you really plan on getting things done, tomorrow. But being righteous can’t wait. Let us be like Rebekah and instead say, “I will go.” I will choose to follow the Lord’s commandments today so we, like Rebekah, will secure our eternal rewards.

Mothers are peacemakers.
Abigail was married to Nabal, who the scriptures describe as being very wealthy but “a man of churlish and evildoings.” Abigail, in contrast, was described as a woman of good understanding and beautiful countenance. During his wanderings, King David and his army came into the area Carmel area where Nabal had his flocks. King David sent a group of ten men to meet Nabal and ask him for provisions for his army, and in asking he also implied that Nabal was able to do so well because his army kept the area safe for shepherds. Nabal’s response was, “Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse?” This made David angry, and he prepared 200 men to attack Nabal’s household. Meanwhile, a servant from Nabal’s household told Abigail what had transpired and how the army really was a peaceful army that protected them, and how he feared what the army would now do. Abigail recognized the need to act, so she gathered provisions and took them to King David and his approaching army. King David was pacified and he stopped the impending attack. Abigail was able save her household because she recognized the need to act as a peacemaker. We can be peacemakers by practicing and teaching forgiveness. We can be peacemakers by keeping our home orderly. We can be peacemakers by avoiding criticism. Henry B. Eyring said, “To be that peacemaker, you need to have the simple faith that as children of God, with all our differences, it is likely that in a strong position we take, there will be elements of truth. The great peacemaker, the restorer of unity, is the one who finds a way to help people see the truth they share.”

Mothers have lasting influences for good.
The final piece of council I will bestow you with today is to remember the influence you have on generations to come. Two very contrasting examples are as follows. First, look at Jezebel. She was the evil Queen of the northern kingdom of Israel. She introduced the worst kinds of Phoenician worship to the nation. The Bible Dictionary says of her marriage to Ahab, “This marriage, more than any other single event, caused the downfall of the northern kingdom.” Jezebel and Ahab’s daughter, Athaliah, tried to kill all her sons to solidify her position of power. It’s hard to blame her, because her family life I’m sure was less than ideal. In contrast, look at Keturah. Keturah was the third wife of Abraham. Not much is mentioned about her, but we know she had six sons, one of whom was Midian, from whom the Midionites are descendants. After Moses killed the Egyptian, he fled to the Midionites where he met Jethro. From Jethro, learned more about the delegation of responsibility and he received the priesthood. We can assume Keturah was righteous because the priesthood was passed through her heirs. Image what the Old Testament story would have read had Moses not received the priesthood! And though we don’t know much about her, look at her lasting influence. As we live the simple principles of the Gospel, we too, can have lasting effects on those around us.

In remembrance of Mothers’ Day, may we all embrace the opportunities we have to be mothers just as the Pharaoh’s daughter did. Like the daughters of Zelophehad, may we improve our communities. Like Ester, may we stand for truth and righteousness, and might we do so today, like Rebekah. May we be peacemakers like Abigail. Through exhibiting these characteristics from mothers in the Old Testament, we, like Keturah, will create a lasting influence for good.