The Nugget:
Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
My Comment:
Today, Sunday, March 12, 2024, is Mother’s Day.
There is no question about mothers being important! Motherhood is a wonderful thing. Without mothers, none of us would be here.
The Bible commands us to honor our mothers. The Bible has much to say about mothers. We need to get back to obeying what the Bible has to say about mothers and related subjects.
We need to encourage mothers and motherhood as much as we can.
In many cultures and nations around the world there has been a declining birthrate. This decline has been attributed to a number of things. Economics plays a large part. Young people who attend college often go into debt to do so. Upon graduation, heavy debts and the high cost of housing delay family formation such that couples do not have as many children as they did in the past. The prevalence of abortion has significantly reduced the number of children being born into the world. The reasons for abortion are many, and a wide portion of people in modern society may support this practice. I have been surprised that many teachers support abortion. This is surely counterproductive for their careers for fewer children mean there will be fewer teaching positions needed in the future. In any case we are headed for a demographic disaster that may take a very long time to reverse. It would be better to fully embrace the Biblical worldview to solve these problems.
Here is an outline for your reference about some of the things the Bible says about mothers taken from the Subject Index of The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury:
Mothers:
Blessings of. Psa 113:9.
Comfort of. Isa 66:12, 13.
Devotional spirit of. 1Sa 1:15. Luk 1:25; Luk 1:38; Luk 1:46. Act 16:14.
Devout. Gen 21:6. 1Sa 1:22. Mar 7:26. Luk 1:41; Luk 1:46. 2Ti 1:5.
Dishonor to, punished. Exo 21:15; Exo 21:17. Lev 20:9. Pro 19:26; Pro 20:20; Pro 28:24; Pro 30:11; Pro 30:17. Mat 15:4, 5, 6. Mar 7:10, 11, 12.
Duties of. Pro 31:26, 27; Pro 31:30.
Duty towards. Exo 20:12. Pro 1:8; Pro 19:26; Pro 23:22. Eph 6:1.
Examples of: Gen 21:10; Gen 21:16. Exodus 2:2. 1Sa 1:22. 1Ki 3:26. 2Ti 1:5. 2Jn 1:1; 2Jn 1:4, 5; 2Jn 1:13.
Gift of God. Psa 113:9.
God’s care of. Gen 49:25. Exo 21:22. Deut 7:13. 1Ti 2:15.
Grieve over wayward children. Pro 10:1; Pro 19:26; Pro 29:15.
Love of. Gen 21:16. Exo 2:3. 1Sa 2:19. 2Sa 21:9, 10. 1Ki 3:26. 2Ki 4:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; 2Ki 4:20. Isa 49:15; Isa 66:13. Mat 2:16, 17, 18; Mat 15:22. Mar 7:24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. Joh 19:25.
Love to. Exo 20:12. Pro 1:8; Pro 19:26.
Motherhood. Gen 3:16; Gen 25:21; Gen 35:16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Joh 16:21.
Motherhood, cares of. Gen 3:16; Gen 21:16. Exo 2:3. 2Sa 21:10. 1Ki 3:26. 2Ki 4:19, 20. Isa 49:15. Jer 31:15. Mat 15:22; Mat 24:19.
Praised by her family. Pro 31:28.
Prayerfulness of, exemplified. Hagar, Gen 21:14, 15, 16. Naomi, Rth 1:8, 9. Hannah, 1Sa 1:25, 26, 27, 28. Mother of Zebedee’s children, Mat 20:20, 21. Syrophenician woman, Mar 7:25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. Mary, mother of Jesus, Act 1:14.
Rejoice over good children. Pro 23:23, 24, 25.
Reverence for, enjoined. Exo 20:12. Lev 19:3. Deut 5:16. Pro 23:22. Mat 15:4; Mat 19:19. Mar 7:10; Mar 10:19. Luk 18:20. Eph 6:2.
Suffering of. Gen 3:16; Gen 35:16. Isa 13:8; Isa 42:14. Joh 16:21. 1Th 5:3.
To be honored and cared for. Gen 32:11. Pro 23:22. Eph 6:2. Joh 19:27.
To be obeyed. Deut 21:18. Pro 1:8; Pro 6:20.
Tribute to. Pro 31:1-31.
Wicked. Gen 27:6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.