Word of Salvation – Vol. 15 No.21 - June 1969

 

The Influence Of A Mother

 

Sermon by Rev. M. P. Geluk, Th. Grad. on 2Chronicles 22:3b & Proverbs 31:30

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Proverbs 31:10-31, 2 Chronicles 22:1-12

PSALTER HYMNAL: 219; 281; 260; 404; 493

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Advertisements in shops and papers remind us every year when Mother's Day is approaching.  In the homes where this day is observed, mother receives special attention.  She may be given a respite from cooking duties, and, if the other members of the family can remember in time, she may even be presented with breakfast in bed.  Members of the family often express their gratitude to mother for all her care and concern by way of a small gift.  However, there are those who argue that there should not be a special day for mothers.  A mother has such a key function in the home, they say, she should be treated with that extra attention every day of the year.

Well, we are not going to argue whether or not we should have a special day for mothers, although it will not hurt to remind the father and children in the home that mother should never be taken for granted.

But now that we have put mothers in the centre of things, let us go on and see what God's Word has to say about mothers.  Of course, we cannot possibly examine in detail all that the Bible has to say about the role of a mother, especially the Christian mother.  Therefore we will confine ourselves to the two verses we have chosen for our text.

The verse in 2Chron.22:3b reads: “...for his mother was his counsellor in doing wickedly"; and in Proverbs 31:30: "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

It is very striking, congregation, when you read through the books of the Kings and Chronicles in the O.T., that very often the name of the mother of the King is mentioned.  Not the name of the king's wife is mentioned, but that of his mother.  The same words and the same phrases are used each time.  So-and-so was so many years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for so many years, and his mother's name was.....!  And then follows her name.

In the writing of the Holy Scriptures, God thought it very important to mention the name of the mother of the king.  And the reason for this was not to make the historical record more complete, but because mothers have taken a great place in the shaping of the history of God's people.

The way and manner in which the kings of Judah and Israel went about their business and responsibilities could be explained to a large extent from the influence that the mothers had upon their kingly sons.  Mothers have a tremendous influence upon their children.  Even when these children have matured and grown old, then the stamp of their mothers influence is still on them.

Now the verses of our text can be summed up in the theme:

                         THE INFLUENCE OF A MOTHER.

            1.  For evil.

            2.  For good.

1.  First of all then, the influence of a mother can be for evil.  The mother we want to take as an example here is Athaliah.  It was her son, Ahaziah, who reigned for one year over Judah.  With regard to this mother, Athaliah, the Bible says that she counselled her son in doing wickedly.  She gave him instructions and advice which was of a wicked and sinful nature.  Consequently, her son is classified among the kings of Judah as an evil king.

Now in order to properly describe this mother Athaliah, we will first have to draw a picture of her background.  Reading through the books of the Kings and Chronicles and trying to remember the names of the kings and queens, and when they reigned, is a formidable task.  And there is also the fact that there were two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south.

The best thing to do, therefore, is to direct our attention first to King Ahab and his wife Jezebel.  We will all have heard of this royal couple before, no doubt.  King Ahab reigned over Israel and was a very evil king, because he led the people to worship idols and did many other things which were totally unacceptable to the Lord.

It was during his reign that the prophet Elijah had that famous contest with the Baal priests on top of Mt. Carmel.  It was also king Ahab who became the owner of Naboth's vineyard by unlawful means.  You will remember that Naboth was murdered at the instigation of Ahab's evil wife Jezebel.  The Bible does not say one good word about Jezebel.  She was an evil, immoral woman.

Now King Ahab and Queen Jezebel had a daughter and she was the bad mother mentioned in our text.  Her name was Athaliah.  And she married Joram, who was king over Judah.  And from Joram and Athaliah, Ahaziah was born.  They had other sons too, but these were all killed by plundering bands of Arabs who invaded Judah from time to time.  So Ahaziah became king when his father died, and reigned for one year only.  Then he was killed by Jehu, the man who wiped out the whole house of Ahab, and took the life of the King of Judah in his stride as well.

When we read about all these killings and murders, and think of all the corruption and wickedness that existed in those times, then, it is not surprising to us that the Lord sent His own people into captivity to Assyria and Babylon as punishment for their sins.  But what concerns us this morning is that many of the king's mothers were partly responsible for the downfall of Judah and Israel.

We must understand that, in those times, the queen-mother was considered far more important than the king's wife.  The queen- mother had quite a say in the affairs of the kingdom, and was a "V.I.P." in the royal palace.  Now Athaliah used all her influence as queen-mother on her son who was king.  She gave him counsel, she advised and instructed him, and, says the Bible, it was wicked.

Athaliah's influence, as mother to her son, was wicked in all aspects.  Wicked with regard to morals, and wicked with regard to religious matters.  Mothers can wield such a lot of power it can be for good, but also for evil.  And Ahaziah just drank in all the evil of his mother as a sponge soaks up water.  His mother completely dominated him.  She encouraged him to establish good relations with the house of Ahab which ruled over Israel, and Ahaziah blindly followed his mother's advice.

And it brought him ruin and death.  Ahaziah should have learnt a lesson from his great-grandfather, the good king Asa, who also had an evil mother, but who firmly put her out of the palace.

We know that children do not inherit their parent's faith and trust in God; neither do they inherit a particular wickedness of their parents.  But it is true, nevertheless, that parents exercise a tremendous influence upon their children, especially the mother.  A child spends more time with his mother than his father.  Father is often away at work.  Mother is usually at home.  Mother's determine, to a large extent, the thinking of their children.  Godly kings usually had godly mothers, and wicked kings usually had wicked mothers.  Oh, how great is the influence of a mother.  There is no closer tie than between the child and its mother.

Mothers have brought their children to Jesus.  Yes, what a wonderful task and privilege it is to bring children to the Saviour.  But mothers have also brought their children down with them to hell.  It is a terrible possibility a mother can lead her child away from God and into hell.  Even late in life people still say sometimes - "My mother always used to say...!” Or: "I can never forget what my mother did once...!” The things that father has said or done seem to be forgotten more quickly.  But mother is everything.  Some people simply can't live apart from their mother.

Well, Athaliah really and truly stamped her evil influence upon her son.  He swallowed her advice without so much as giving it a thought as to whether it was right or answerable before God.  Athaliah led her son to destruction.  Athaliah was no lover of God.  She not only helped the Baal-religion to prosper, but she undid all that had to do with true service to God.

Of course we can say, what a pity that Ahaziah had such a mother.  Humanly speaking, he would have been a different person had it not been for the sinful influence of his mother.  But actually we shouldn't say "what a pity Ahaziah had such a mother", but we should go back a bit further, and say, "what a pity Ahaziah's father ever married such a woman.”

Someone has once said, "Trouble in the home does not begin with the upbringing of the children, but it begins at the wedding ceremony when people marry the wrong person."  When King Joram married Athaliah, he knew very well that she had absorbed a great deal of the evil and sinfulness of her wicked parents, Jezebel and Ahab.  And if Joram perhaps didn't fully see it at the beginning of the marriage, then he saw it soon after.

Athaliah, a mother who should never have had the privilege of motherhood.  When her only remaining son died, she quickly murdered all her grandchildren, so that she was the only one left to reign over Israel.  Athaliah was a mother without pity, extremely cruel and thoroughly self-centred.  A mother who was blinded by Satan.  Yet, she was fully responsible for all her actions, and had to give account at her own death of all her actions before God, the Almighty and the Just One.

2.  Then secondly, we see that a mother's influence can also be for good.  A mother may counsel her children to do wickedly, but it is also possible for her to counsel her children to fear the Lord.  The verse from Proverbs says "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

Charm and beauty are not thought of very highly here.  It is of course not wrong for a woman to appear charming and beautiful.  But these things are secondary.  To fear the Lord, that's far more important.  And perhaps this ought to be a special warning to the mothers and young women of today.  Our times seem to demand that women make much use of cosmetics.  Some chemists have recently said that if it wasn't for the cosmetics they were selling in their shops, they would be out of business.  Again, it is not wrong to make moderate use of cosmetics but it must not be forgotten that outward charm and beauty are never as beautiful as inward Christian charm and beauty that indicates true devotion to God.  Would that those who spend hours trying to beautify their outward appearance, spent some more time with God and His Word.

The last chapter of the book of Proverbs is a good passage to start with and to put into practice.  There you will find a picture of a woman, or a mother, who fears the Lord:
            "Strength and dignity are her clothing.'
            "She opens her mouth with wisdom,
                        and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue."
            "She looks well to the ways of her household,
                        and does not eat the bread of idleness."
            "Her children rise up and call her blessed;
                        her husband also, and he praises her."

These words about a truly virtuous woman were written by a man, who, of course, was divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit.  But what is striking is this: the man's mother had taught him these words.  He had a mother who influenced him for good.

To come back to the wicked Athaliah for a moment, we said before that she murdered the whole royal family.  All, that is, except the youngest son of Ahaziah, Joash (that is, the grandson of Athaliah), who escaped Athaliah's thirst for blood and power, because he was hidden by another woman.  This woman was a half-sister of Ahaziah and was married to the priest Jehoiada who served in God's house.  She was the aunt of the young Joash, and she and her priest-husband protected the young child, and undoubtedly gave him a solid training in the service of God, for he later turned out to be a good king who served the Lord whole-heartedly.  So the wife of Jehoiada, the priest, although not the real mother was the one from whom Joash received such a Godly up- bringing.  His foster-mother exerted an influence which was for good, for his spiritual good.

The influence of a mother upon her children.  It can be for evil, but also for their spiritual good.  Of course no mother is perfect.  Even the best Christian mothers will have made sinful mistakes, and her children will have noticed them.  But children will also notice if mother fears the Lord from the heart, and seeks to serve Him in every respect.

In the home, the mother is the centre of attention.  She can do very little where she is not being observed by her children and her husband.  And if mother sets a bad example, yes, then what?  There may not be mothers in our circles like Athaliah.  She was the extreme.  But we may learn from the faults of others.  She openly and deliberately sent her children upon the broad path leading to destruction.  Mothers of today may do it in more subtle ways, and perhaps even in ignorance.

Mothers can instruct their children and give them advice by speaking to them.  But they also give advice and counsel even when they don't say anything at all.  For mothers do it by their attitude and their behaviour.  Naturally, mothers will be careful not to lead their children to spiritual destruction, but it sometimes happens that sons and daughters excuse their sinful behaviour by saying that mother did the same.  "Mother did it, so why shouldn't I?" Or, what is even worse, "Mother didn't do it, so why should I do it?"

We can cause a great deal of damage in the lives of our children, by not doing those things the Lord expects from us.  If mother never prays, or hardly ever; if mother never reads from God's Word, or hardly ever; if mother does not insist on regular attendance at God's house – well, why should the children do these things?

Mothers can lead their children to God, to the cross of Christ the Saviour from sin; but they can also lead them away from such things.

Few Christian mothers will consciously and purposefully encourage their children to do evil, but do they also encourage their children to be holy, and to be servants of God?  Mothers, you shall not lead your children to evil.  Quite true, indeed.  But that's not all.  Undoubtedly, you will be careful not to give your children poison, but do you give them food, spiritual food?  Mothers, speak to your children.  Be a Christian example to your children.

It is good to be reminded of the promise that most mothers have given to the Lord once or several times already at the baptismal font.  As parents we have promised to instruct our children, as soon as they are able to understand, in the Christian faith, to the utmost of our power.  To the utmost of our power!  Certainly the mother has a tremendous influence over her children, for good or for evil.

Mothers, take time to be holy,
Speak oft with the Lord;
Abide in Him always,
And feed on His Word.
Make friends of God's children (yes, also your own),
Help those who are weak (yes, also your own),
Forgetting in nothing,
His blessing to seek.

Mothers, spend time with God, and then spend time with your children.

Before we end there is one more thing to say.  We have used the word "mother" a great many times.  But that doesn't mean of course that we have forgotten all about the fathers.  We hope that the fathers also have listened carefully, for what has been said about and to the mothers applies also to the fathers.

Amen.