Date:  May 9th, 2010

Speaker: Pastor Kevin Snyder

Title:  Breaking the Bondage

Text:  Exodus: 1-3

Introduction 

Saying: Behind every great man there stands a woman.

In Moses’ case...not just 1 but 4.

4 women who God used to not only influence Moses, but to literally turn a nation around.

            God used each of them in their uniqueness to lay the seeds for liberation of the nation.

God used 4 women and a baby.

 

1. God uses 2 midwives.

• Career women who had families as well.
• Knew struggle of balancing career and home.

            Israel in captivity in Egypt.  Pharoah sees their number as being a threat to them.

            Pharaoh had issued an edict that all the Hebrew boys were to be killed at birth.  He told this to these 2 Hebrew midwives who helped the Hebrew women give birth.

But they didn’t do what the king told them because it says: “they feared God.”

 

2. The 3rd woman he uses is a Hebrew woman who gives birth to a son. 

• Moses’ mother.
• A career housewife and mother.

             She nurses the baby and hides him for 3 months until it was no longer safe to do so.  She then makes a little ark, (basket) and places the little boy in it and places him among the reeds on the Nile.

Later she receives him back to raise with pay.(Mother & Foster mother all in one)

 

3.  The 4th woman god uses is Pharaoh’s daughter. 

            Impression is she is a single, rich girl who you’d tend to think would be self-indulgent and unconcerned. She had little to do but get her nails done.

            But she finds him, sees him crying, and feels sorry for him. She has compassion.   A compassion that supersedes the fear of her father for saving the child. 

            She turns him back over to the mother to be his guardian.  And even pays her to raise him until he is old enough to be taken into Pharaoh’s household. 

 

            4 women used of God to save, and mold a young boy’s life.

 

Let me share with you 5 applications from this story.

 

 

1. God  Has a unique role for every woman.

            Women have been cast in molds for generations.

 

A. Housewife (or Traditional)Mold

Up until the last 50 years they were in in a mold established by men.

            That mold said women were to be housewives and mothers - period. 

• Women weren’t allowed to vote until the early 1900’s.
• In the U.S it was 1920. 
• In Switzerland it wasn’t until 1971.
• Up until the 1960’s many States in the U.S. (I don’t know if case in Canada) wouldn’t let a woman sign for an apartment lease, obtain a credit rating, or apply for a loan unless her husband or a male relative agreed  to share the responsibility.
• At that time, many people believed it was smart for women to act dumb. 
• According to a 1965 study, 51% of men thought women were tempermentally unfit for leadership or management positions.

Thank God that mold has been broken.

 

Today:

• Women mayors head up eighty cities with populations over 30,000.
• More than 1/2 of all U.S. professionals - lawyers, accountants, teachers - are women.
• Women earned over 30% of all medical degrees given out in 1985. 

• Times have changed.  This mold that women should only be housewives has largely been broken.  Women have unprecedented opportunity now. 

• Women have been liberated from this “Housewives Only” or Traditional mold, but not truly liberated. 

• Unfortunately in recent years they have simply replaced with another equally restrictive mold.  The mold of other women’s expectations.

 

B. “Woman Working Outside the Home” (or Modern Cultural) Mold

• According to Newsweek,  in 1987, 75% of TV’s female characters were working outside the home ( 20% more than reality).  This was not just true of TV, but women’;s magazines, etc.   

• This led one  women writer to say:
• “Consider the 80’s woman as she’s portrayed in magazine articles, TV sitcoms,- even comic strips.  She has a career.  She may have a husband and child and, if she does, they are important to her.  But the noteworthy fact is that she works outside the home.  Meanwhile those of us who are traditional homemakers are virtually ignored.”   

• She goes on to list how some of the hurts of this mold for the stay-at-home Mom. 
• She cites...
• surveys that label homemakers as unemployed,
• innuendo’s by well-meaning friends who are in “real-jobs” outside the home,
• and the low esteem women’s magazines place on homemaker roles

 

She adds:

All I’m asking for is acknowledgement that people like me exist.  I may “just be a housewife” but working with my family has dignity and value.  Isn’t it time that we understood that all women can’t and shouldn’t live the same way.

 

Point:

Last sentence is key:

 “Isn’t it time that we understood that all women can’t and shouldn’t live the same way.”

 

            Women have been made to think that there is a single mold for all women.

• Before the 60’s the traditional mold was it.
• Today, the mold  is being a working woman.

            The truth is that you as women need to be further liberated to recognize there is not just one mold, but that God has a unique role for all women. 

            You need to be liberated from being “culture-pleasers” to “God-pleasers”.  To  discover what God has for you in the role you find yourself.

 

            For instance, these 4 women in our text all were in a different mold. 

• Midwives - Career women working outside the home balancing family responsibilities
• Moses Mom - housewife & fulltime Mom
• Princess - single, unattached, independent woman.  

 

1. Midwives

            What made the 2 midwives significant in this story  was not that they juggled career and home, but there commitment to obey God.  Even if it meant going against the symbol of patriarchal authority who sought to  control them.  We see they were truly liberated by their courage to obey God regardless of the cost.  It might cost them their jobs, their lives, but they were going to do what God wanted them to do.  That’s liberation.

 

2. Moses’ mother

            She didn’t let fear of society’s banishment, and the danger of being a mother, causeher to quit doing what God wanted her to do.  No, she invested in that child regardless of the cultural pressure.  That woman was truly liberated.  Liberated to do what God wanted not what society pressured her to be.

 

3. Pharoah’s daughter

            How many single,yuppie, women with no kids do you see taking in orphans off the street and caring for them? This woman broke society’s mold.  She resisted the mold to only care for herself, to see children as an interference.  She broke out of the mold of a “princess” and loved orphan kids and sought to care for them.  She was liberated.

 

Women:

            Liberation is not just to be set free from the house to get a job. You may be just as yoked as you were. True liberation is breaking free of being a culture-pleaser, and becoming a God-pleaser wherever you are.  That is true liberation.

           

            The call to you is to reject the notion of a single-mold for all women.  God has a unique role for every woman.  The Lord can use you whatever role you are in. The key thing is that like all these women you offer yourself to be used of God regardless of the cost.  Regardless of what culture says of you.  

• God wants to liberate some housewives from societies negative image and use you where you are.
• God wants to liberate some women who are juggling job and home from the pressure of cultural expectations to listen to him and his will for your life.
• God wants to liberate some single, career women from cultural pressure to be free to minister where he wants you.

 

            God has a unique role for every woman.  You don’t have to fit  the old mold. You don’t have to fit today’s society mold. God has a unique role for you.  But you need to have the courage to step out of being a culture-pleaser to be a God-pleaser. 

 

2.  You’re greatest contribution in life is not what you achieve for yourself, but what you impart to the next generation.

            The biggest lie given to women today is the one we as men have adopted.  That lie is that our significance rests upon what we accomplish and achieve through our work.

            Bill Hybels in commenting on TV’s view of women concludes with this:

 

“Television shows us that women have come along way.  So far, in fact, they can now lay claim to being unidimensional workaholics who live in independent isolation, muddle their lives without regret, and wage unrelented verbal assault on whoever gets in their way.  In short, they have finally reached depravity parity with men!  I have always believed that women who aimed for equality with men were shooting to low.  Unfortunately, that’s where our TV sisters aimed - and hit the mark.”

 

            You see, men bought into the lie along time ago that the most significant thing in our lives is what we do at work.  We left the raising of children to the wife while we went off to do more “important things” like make headlights.

            We diminished the idea that we are shapers of the next generation... the molder of dreams.  We were off doing more important things...making headlights.  Work and money became the be all and end all.

            So what have women done in their liberation  movement?  They bought the lie too.  They abandoned the notion too of being the shaper of society  for “making headlights”.

            And so now we hire others to raise and care for our children so we can do the important business of “making headlights”.

 

Friends, whether you are man or woman, married with children or single, the most important contribution you will make to life is not what you achieve out their, becoming “District supervisor of Headlight Operations”, but what you impart to the next generation.

 

You see, whenever God goes about changing a nation he starts from the bottom.

 

a. God heard the groaning of the people in Egypt.  Did he send them a leader?  A new CEO? 

No, he sent them a baby....and he gave the job to 4 women to be used of him to mold his life.

 

b. When God wanted to rescue the Hebrew people  from an extermination plot cooked up in Assyria, did God send an army?  No, he sent a young teenage orphan girl, named Esther, who had been entrusted and molded by a godly man named Mordecai.

 

c. When God wanted to change the corruption in the Jewish priesthood in the days of Eli the priest.  did he bring in a new priest?

No, he sent a barren woman a baby boy named Samuel.

 

d. When Israel needed a new king, who did God choose?  The strongest military leader, a general, ...no.

            God chose a young shepherd boy who was too young that his father didn’t even bring him in to be considered.  God raised up a boy.

 

e. When God wanted to redeem this world... did he send a fullgrown Messiah who would shake the world with his power.  No, he sent a baby named Jesus and entrusted her to young woman and her husband, Mary & Joseph, to raise.

 

Point:

When God liberates nations, when he turns them around morally, he seems to start from the bottom up.  He raises up children.

Roosevelt quote- change to not just mother’s ...reflects that we abdicated that role to them.  But he says something we all need to hear.

 

i.e.

Roosevelt

“When all is said and done, it is the mother, and mother only , who is a better citizen than the soldier who fights for his country.  The successful mother, the mother who does her part in rearing and training aright the boys and girls, who are to be the men and women of the next generation, is of greater use to the community, and occupies , if she would only realize it, a more honorable as well as more important position than any man in it. The mother is the one supreme asset of the national life .  She is more important by far, than the successful statesman or businessman, or artist,or scientist.

 

            A few years ago, when Joyce’s Mom and Dad were having a garage sale, they brought out these old toys to sell.  There was an old truck about a foot long, and a few others.  They were rusted, scratched, and not very impressive.  I was going to throw them in garbage when they ganged up on me and said “No way”

That thing sold for something like $70.00

 

Point:

            You know, we have had in our hands a very valuable role and position, but like me we haven’t recognized it.  We’ve under-estimated it’s importance and value.

We need to regain that.

            Women, and men, parents and non-parents, we need to realize again the most important and significant role we play is what we impart to the next generation.

            Church - we need to renew in our minds and hearts the importance of children’s & youth ministry. 

 

We hold a significant role in the reshaping of our society.

Moms.

If you abdicate that role,  minimize its importance,  you miss the opportunity to shape tomorrow.              According to Exodus, God used 4 women and a baby to change the course of Israel’s history forever. 

 

2. Observation #3

Moms & Parents:  Don’t under-estimate your influence

            We aren’t told exactly how long Moses’ mother had him before she had to take him to the palace  of Pharoah to be raised as Pharaoh’s daughter.  Perhaps 2 ,5, 10 years. 

            What we do know is that the training and education he got by all the teachers of Egypt would certainly run counter to what he was taught on his mother’s knee.

            No doubt the Egyptians tried to teach him about the Egyptian gods and laws.  He would have had teaching that would have challenged and confronted the simple faith of his mother.

 

But I want you to note something.

Turn to Hebrews 11.  This is a chapter of heroes of faith.  Moses is listed there.

v. 24 - “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.  He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.  He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.  By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger, he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.”

 

            Moses’ home impacted him greatly even though in terms of time they had him only a short time. 

            His parents had greater influence on Moses faith and direction than all the resources and educators of Egypt. 

 

Point:

            You as a mother, as a parent are still the greatest influencers on your child’s life.  Still holds today.  Parents still lead in terms of being the greatest influence’s on their children. 

 

Your faith & love for God can have a profound influence. 

 

i.e.

Timothy - off. thought.

Notice: Doesn’t say anything about a father there.  We don’t know if he died or was still unbeliever.  Many commentators hold that he was an unbeliever.  He was a Greek and perhaps never had a personal faith in Christ.

Isn’t that even more revealing about the influence of a mother’s sincere faith?

To you who are single moms and who have spouses who don’t share your faith, this ought to be encouraging.  You still have a great influence on the boys in your home.  Don’t sell yourself short.

 

The question is:

• Moms: What about your example? What are you influencing your child towards?
• Does your life hold out the example of sincere and loving faith in Jesus Christ?  Or does it hold out a watered down, milquetoast, rollercoaster faith. 
• Do your children see in you that you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength?  Or do they see a ritual faith where Christ is merely a figurehead, someone that you pay lip service too but doesn’t impact how you live your life from Monday - Friday?

Moms: You have the influence and opportunity to raise godly leaders who will influence our nation.

  

3. Observation # 4

Believe in Your children

Moses’ parents believed that God had his hand on this child and had a plan for him. We see that again in Hebrews 11:23

“By faith Moses’ parents hid him for 3 months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.”

They saw he was no ordinary child.  They believed God had entrusted to them a child that God  would use in a mighty way.

 

i.e.

Jesse Jackson tells of someone who believed in him and had a profound influence on his life.

“First day in 6th grade, I’ll never forget it,’ recalls Jesse Jackson, who ran for president of the U.S. in 1988.  “My teacher was Miz Shelton, and she began writing these long words on the blackboard we couldn’t understand, never even heard of before.  We all looked around and started whispering to each other, “She got the wrong class.  she thinks we the eighth- grade class.”

“Somebody finally called out, “Uh, Miz Shelton?  Those are 8th grade words. We only the 6th grade here.”

She turned around.  “I know what grade you are.  I work here. I know what grade I’m teaching.  And you’ll learn everyone of those words, and a lot more like them, before this year is over.  I will not teach down to you.  One of you little brats just might be mayor or governor, or even president, some day, and I’m gonna make sure you’ll be ready.”

“And she turned back and went right on writing.”  At that time, Jackson says, her proposition prompted no glow of possibility in him. “Aim to be governor? Even aim to be Mayor, when there wasn’t a single African-American on the Board of Education, in the police department, the Fire Department?  And aim to be President?!”

There was a teacher who believed in her students.

 

i.e.

As a boy, he worked long hours in a factory in Naples.  He yearned to be a singer.  When 10 years old, he took his first lesson in voice. “You can’t sing.  You haven’t any voice at all.  Your  voice sounds like the wind in the shutters,” said his teacher.

The boy’s mother, however, had visions of greatness for her son.  She believed he had the talent to sing.  she was very poor.  Putting her arms around him, she encouragingly said, “My boy, I am going to make every sacrifice to pay for your voice lessons.”

Her confidence in him and constant encouragement paid off!  That boy became one of the world’s greatest singers - Enrico Caruso!”

  

Moms & Dads:   Do we believe in our children?

                                   Do we as a church?

Do we believe that God has his hand on these children and has a plan & purpose for their lives? 

  

It is critical that we believe in our children, that they grow to believe that through God’s help they can make a difference in our society.

  

4. Observation #5

Entrusting our children to God’s care is essential.

Moses mother knew she could protect him no longer.  She had to give him up, entrust him into God’s care.  She placed him in that ark....leaving him to God’s care.  And isn’t it neat what God did.  He gave him back to her to raise with pay, and no fear.

 

There comes a time for all of us as parents when we know we can’t protect our children any longer and we have to trust them to God’s care.

Barb Fries read a year ago:

 “We must give them up.  but don’t fear. You see, we give them to the one who loves them even more than we do.”

 

Today, the temptation parents face is to try and so overprotect their children and shelter them from harm , and hang on to them so tight for fear of losing them, that we don’t realize God’s care and that he might be raising them to make a difference. 

Sometimes our over-protection and fear of letting go reveals our lack of faith in God’s care. 

  

When we give them over to God we place them in a position for God to use them to change our world.

  

Conclusion

Our society can yet be redeemed.

There are no quick fixes.

 We must again look to building the foundation and that is the home.

To be a part of that rebuilding...

1.You, as women, need to be liberated from culture and tradition pleasers to be ing God-pleasers.  To be willing to do what he wants you to do, regardless of the cost.  Are you willing to offer yourself to God, even if it goes against the molds of culture and tradition?

2. You need to take up again the truth that the most important thing any of us will do, is what we impart to the next generation. Do you need to confess your diminishment of that?

3. You need to take seriously your influence.  It is great. What are you influencing them towards?

4. You need to believe in your children.

5. You need to entrust them to God.

 

4 liberated women and a baby liberated a nation. 

Just a imagine what God could do here if he truly liberated you to see your priorities, believe in your children, and empower you to entrust them to his care.

 

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