Mothers, Birth Givers, Pain Bearers

“Mothers, Birth Givers, Pain Bearers”
Isaiah 66:7-9

Introduction

  • The word “mother” is found in the Bible 245 times.
  • The word “mother” is referred to as many things…
  1. Father and “mother” as in a spouse who gives birth to their children. (Gen. 2:24)
  2. “Mother of all living” as in the mother of all born thereafter her. (Gen. 3:20)
  3. “Mother of nations” as in the mother that leads in the birth many nations (Gen. 17:16).
  4. “Mother of thousands and millions” in Genesis 24:60.
  5. “Mother in Law” as in an adopted mother by marriage. (Ruth 1:14)
  6. “Mother” as in a nation (Israel here) representative those born as Jews in (Hosea 2:1, 2)
  7. “Mother of us all” as in the “Mother city” of heaven. Believers are children of the heavenly Jerusalem (Gal. 4:26)
  • The reason for all this preface or introduction to the message I feel that God has given us today is to show the importance of mothers and motherhood.
  • I believe that our world today has the wrong concept of what motherhood is all about. The world (influenced by Satan) has twisted God’s order of marriage, justice, worship, creation, and pretty much anything associated with God.
  • God instituted the marriage and gave woman the honor to bear His children. That’s right…HIS CHILDREN. Children are given to us by God and for God. And with God’s help we are to raise them according to His Divine plan an purpose.
  • It is a special honor to be a mother, and especially an honor to the woman who bears many that are raised to honor God.
  • In looking at the graphics above speaking of the different meanings of a mother, I believe that it is important to see that the common factor in all “mothers” is that they are the woman who has given birth, or given life. We will call them “birth givers” for the sake of our message today.

I.  A Look at Giving Birth

  A) It requires a plan

  • God’s Divine design for a woman is to give birth to children not to work and support a family. Working by the sweat of his brow is a man’s duty to God.
  • Children are to be planned for, cared for, and nurtured in the admonition of the Lord.
  • Giving birth requires some sort of plan as to the…
  1. When – Now or near future?
  2. Where – at home or the hospital
  3. How – Natural birth or controlled birth
  4. Why – Because you love one another and wish to do what God has led you to do? Maybe it is because you want someone to do your house work for you? Or, is it because you want to offer it to an idol or get money by adopting it out.
  • After you figure a plan of how the when, where, how and why, you need to plan for the future of that child.
  • The best thing to do before a child is born, in fact, before it is conceived, is to pray to God and ask for His Divine wisdom in your plans for the family.

  B) Giving Birth Requires Labor

  • Let us look at our text of Isaiah 66:7…Before she travailed (in labor), she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.
  • This verse is much like an earlier verse in Isaiah 13:8, meaning that labor pains is often a figure to describe human sufferings right before the delivery of God’s blessings.
  • Did you know that many times when God allows trials to come in our life, it is right before He blesses us with something.
  • There are two lessons to learn in these verses of Isaiah 66…
  1. Verses 7, 8…No birth can take place without so sort of pains taking labor occurs. It doesn’t matter if it is a child or a nation. It requires work to produce something worth giving birth to.
  2. Verse 9) Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God. What God is saying here to Israel is… When labor occurs (happens) then a birth is soon to follow.
  • The point is that Israel’s suffering will end with a delivery! God will not bring labor pains upon Israel without bringing them into the Kingdom.
  • Christ teaches this in Matthew24:8…All these are the beginning of sorrows (Labor pains). 9) Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. (Also see I Thessalonians 5:3)
  • And of course we know that these verses are talking about the time (Which I believe is today) just before Jesus comes to call out the church. The earth will go through many labor pains. God’s children must suffer trouble and tribulations right before their new birth takes place.

  C) It must get worse before it gets better

  • No man can personally experience labor pains. And not every woman is blessed to give birth to a child or children.
  • But, every one born into this world experiences some sort of pain at some time in their life.
  • If you claim to be a child of God, then you will receive the blessings of God when you do His will and obey His commandments.
  • God always allows bad things and good things to happen in our life according to His purpose or plan in our life.
  • As God’s children we also know that when we go through trials and tribulation here on earth He will always be with us according to His promise “…I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5 as Paul brings to remembrance Deut. 31:6, Joshua 1:5, and I Chronicles 28:20)
  • Knowing that He will never forsake us means that we should be patient as we struggle in life to know that His blessings are around the corner.

II.  Pains of a Mother

  A) Many different kinds of pain

  • Over my 50+ years of life here on this earth, I have talked to many women who have stated something like “I can’t wait until my kids are grown up and get out of the house.” If they don’t say it they act like it.
  • What an awful thing to even think. Children are a blessing, not a curse.
  • If you raise them properly, then you should never have an issue that you cannot handle and work your way out of.
  • Let us look at the “Pains of a mother”…
  1. Labor pains
  2. Birth pains
  3. Pains in child rearing
  4. Pain of seeing your children suffer
  5. Pain of seeing them hurt or abused
  6. Pain in their death
  • Do you now that the first time that the word “pain” appears in the Bible is in Job 14:22
  • But I want us to look at another passage of scripture in Isaiah 26:17…Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.
  • Some would say that raising children are a pain. Isaiah in the above verse compares Israel’s history with God as the pains of woman with child.
  • I believe that we are no different than Israel.
  • God is looking down on earth as He did in Psalm 14:2…The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3) They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
  • Every single one of us believe ourselves to be righteous and worthy of heaven and God’s blessings when in reality we fail BIG TIME.
  • If anyone at all has the right to say that raising children are a pain… it would be God! We are a pain, a thorn in His flesh, a burr under his saddle.
  • BUT… Thanks be to His Son Jesus Christ who shed His precious blood on the cross to redeem our souls from hell and help us stand before an almighty God clothed with “His righteousness,” we can still be in His good graces.
  • Can you list all the pain you have caused God?
  • Let me as you this… Do you believe that your mother wrote down and kept track of all the pain you caused her in your life time? Of course not.
  • So, what makes you think that God does that? Can you imagine the library that would house all the lists of “Pain I have cause God” from all the people in the world?
  • God would have to create another planet just to build that library.
  • Mothers go through mush pain to deliver a child. God went through much pain to deliver us.

III.  Pains of His children (You)

  A) Normal pains

  • NEWS FLASH; God’s children are not exempt from pain.
  • Life being a child of God is not as easy as some make it out to be. However, I will say that it is easier than going through life without God.
  • What I mean by “normal pains” are pains that every person must experience in their life such as death of a loved one, injuries, child rearing and etc.

  B) Spiritual pains

  • I believe that we should have the heart of David in Psalm 73:16…When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;
  • David here in this chapter was reviewing the history of Israel who caused God much pain in watching them rebel, worship false idols, and reject Him as their God. Also the pain God had in abandoning His children because of their sin.
  • It should be painful for us to realize the pain we have caused God and others.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!