Jochebed: An Insignificant Mother’s Significance
When I was in the trenches of postpartum depression, Jochebed often popped into my mind. In the face of one of history’s greatest tragedies, Jochebed trusted her God and saved her son by sending him straight to her people’s persecutor. She is barely mentioned in the Bible except for this single story, deep rooted in Israel’s and Jewish history.
Women were rarely noticed in those times, much less written about in the history books, and though she got a mention, it was just barely. So why do we care about a mother named Jochebed? Why is this barely known woman a Biblical woman of influence?
Her faith and trust in God, her clever plan to save her child by possibly sacrificing herself, and the fact that she is the mother of three children each individually renowned in history leaves her legacy.
Miriam, Aaron, and Moses.
When I was a new mother, everything seemed so insurmountable and just plain hard. In the depths, Jochebed often came to mind. How difficult and uncertain would it have been to receive that edict from Pharaoh, that every male Hebrew child born be thrown into the crocodile infested Nile. She hid Moses for three months before she fashioned a basket to carry him over that same river to Pharaoh’s daughter.
When Pharaoh’s daughter opened the basket, she knew right away where that baby had come from, and took pity on the the grieving mother out there somewhere who would go through such lengths in desperation. Jochebed, through Miriam’s referral, later became Moses’ Hebrew nurse – she gave him a firm foundation in her God for a couple of years before he weaned and she disappears from record for the rest of his life.
I got to thinking – this woman who faced so much grief in Egyptian slavery and loss of child – was redeemed in the end, not by her acts but by her prayers and through her children. She lit the torch for a legacy. We don’t know if she ever saw the freedom her son liberated her people from – but her three children did, they led it.
I get so bent out of shape sometimes about how I’m not where I want to be in life. A career on hold for the family, not enough time to pursue my passions, often wishing I was doing something of real substance instead of wiping faces and folding laundry.
As mothers, it is imperative that we don't see anything we do for our children as insignificant. There is no such thing as mundane. All aspects of raising and training them is significant to God. Share on XDid Jochebed think similarly? We know she courageously trusted her God and had a deep faith. We know that she risked everything for her child, fearing Pharaoh’s rules but fearing not following God more. She would have likely prayed heavily for her people to be free, I’m guessing it was a common Hebrew prayer at that time that felt unheard.
How often do we feel our prayers aren’t being heard, a total dead space in our suffering?
How often do we not notice that our prayers are actually being answered, in His time and maybe not for our benefit?
In this story, God used both Jochebed and Pharaoh’s daughter, an unbeliever, to eventually deliver the Hebrew people forty years later. The answer to Jochebed’s seemingly unanswered prayers came in God’s time in the legacy she left in her son and his two siblings.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.” – Romans 8:28
Outside of postpartum depression, I am still reminded of the barely mentioned Jochebed. In those times that I feel like my life is on hold, I remember her and the torch she passed to her children. As mothers, our vocation is to raise our children up to be constructive adults. Today’s world is anything but helpful to that end. I think of Jochebed sitting in Pharaoh’s palace nursing a toddler Moses, who would grow up in a secular, hollow and empty world. How important that insignificant and uncertain mother’s job was, to pour into him everything she could in the time she had.
Aren’t we charged similarly today?
See also: When God Gives You More Than You Can Handle OR The Reason You Didn’t Get Anything Done Last Year: A New Year, A New Focus
Trust God, have the courage to fight for our kids, pray deeply, and teach our children. Who knows who they will be, or what lessons they will need? Our God does, and He sends people to guide and nurture that life. When we feel like we are so “insignificant” in our daily dinner routine, maybe it’s because we are supposed to be, and instead courageously face the hard stuff our kids are faced with in their daily routine and raise them up.
We are charged with a significant purpose, especially in our own daily (perceived) insignificance.
By day, Ashley works from home with her recruiting and employee management business and blog.By night, she writes on GrowingSpangs, a motherhood lifestyle blog, mostly about parent mental health, family life with young children, DIY projects, and recipe reviews.
In her free time, she enjoys black coffee, gardening, reading, and creating beautiful things with her hands.
- Jochebed: An Insignificant Mother’s Significance - May 13, 2018
This is an amazing post because it causes me to think about how we as mothers hold so much in our hands when we hold our children in prayer and love. We may not know how they are going to impact our lives and the lives of others down the line but we do know that they are going to make a difference and we have such a crucial role to play in their lives. It is a privilege and an honor to be a mom to such wonderful children. Thanks for the post