A Mother in Israel I. Base Text: Judges 5:7, 2 Samuel 20:19 II. Context and Interpretation A. The role of mothers in development and growth of young people is well known 1. All children gestate within the mother and are sustained by her milk at the beginning of life 2. Mothers continue to sustain and nourish children and help to raise them up 3. Motherhood has connoted tender care, unconditional love, sustenance, and encouragement in every generation B. Deborah in Judges 5:7 1. Deborah, wife of Lappidoth, no doubt is a mother of children herself 2. Nevertheless, in the Song of Deborah, she speaks of herself as a “mother in Israel” in contrast to what came before (Judges 5:6-7a) a. Deborah does not have kind things to say about Shamgar’s rule b. It is a time of civil distress and upheaval: travel is impossible because of robbers, no real authority was present 3. She stood up as a ruler in Israel, one who would practice adjudication of cases (cf. Judges 4:4-5) 4. Thus, her role as “mother in Israel” is as a ruler who sustained and nourished Israel, facilitating Israel’s growth and prosperity C. Abel of Beth-Maacah in 2 Samuel 20:19 1. After Absalom’s death, as David is re-consolidating his hold on power over Israel, a “son of Belial,” Sheba son of Bichri of Benjamin, revolted against David; the author of 2 Samuel declares that all Israel went with him (2 Samuel 20:1-2) 2. Sheba ends up in Abel of Beth-Maacah; Joab, David’s general, begins to besiege the city (2 Samuel 20:13-14) 3. A wise woman asked to speak with Joab: she spoke of how people used to come to Abel to seek counsel, and asked why he wanted to destroy a city that was a mother in Israel (2 Samuel 20:15-19) 4. Joab responded that he only came for Sheba; the woman brought together the city, persuaded them in her wisdom to deliver him over, killed him, cut his head off, threw it over the wall, and the last revolt against David’s rule was over, and Abel of Beth-Maacah was preserved (2 Samuel 20:20-22) 5. And so the wise old woman speaks of an Israelite town as a “mother in Israel,” nourishing and sustaining Israel in some way D. What shall we make of these descriptions of “a mother in Israel”? III. Cities as Mothers in Israel A. Deborah was a “mother in Israel,” providing sustenance in administration; she would prove to be the rare positive female ruler in Israel 1. Athaliah reigned as queen for awhile, but universally hated and condemned (2 Kings 11:1-20) 2. Thus, we have no other model of a compelling female ruler as “mother in Israel” 3. In terms of men, Job speaks of himself as a “father” to those in need, providing for them (Job 29:16); Eliakim son of Hilkiah, whom YHWH would elevate as royal steward of Hezekiah, would be a father to Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem (Isaiah 22:21) 4. The “Father in Israel” role otherwise goes to YHWH with the king as His “adopted son” of sorts (cf. 1 Chronicles 22:10, Psalm 2:1-12, Isaiah 63:16, Jeremiah 31:9) B. Abel in Beth-Maacah, a town, as a “mother in Israel” is not entirely unique C. Jerusalem / Zion in Maternal Imagery 1. Isaiah and Ezekiel will speak of Jerusalem through maternal imagery, as if she is the mother of the Israelites who lived there 2. Explicitly seen in Isaiah 50:1: YHWH as having “put away” the “mother” of Israelite audience for “adultery,” that is, Jerusalem to be destroyed for idolatry 3. Ezekiel speaks of the “mother”, a “lioness,” of the princes of Israel; he means by it Israel in general, Judah in particular, or especially Jerusalem (Ezekiel 19:1-14; cf. Ezekiel 16:45) 4. The “barren woman” should rejoice, because she will have more children than the married woman (Isaiah 54:1-17): Zion laments her barrenness, but YHWH will remember her even beyond the nursing mother, and Zion will ask regarding all the children who are now a part of her since she was solitary and in exile (Isaiah 49:13-23) 5. Zion will give birth without labor to a whole nation; all should rejoice for Jerusalem and be satisfied with the nourishment of consolation from her breast (Isaiah 66:7-14) 6. The idea of the people of Jerusalem as her children is also known to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 2:30, 5:7) and Joel (Joel 2:23) D. Babylon is also envisioned as an overweening and presumptuous queen, thinking she will not know widowhood, but it will come upon her quickly (Isaiah 47:8-9) E. Therefore, while not disparaging the role of a mother in the home, “a mother in Israel” speaks primarily toward cities and towns 1. But how can it be that a city or a town can be a “mother”? 2. First of all, it is important to remember that in many languages which mark nouns for gender, cities and towns tend to be female; to this day we tend to speak of a city or a town as a “she” if we personalize it, and ascribe maternal imagery to the place we were born and raised, or the earth in general (i.e. Mother Nature) 3. If we return to maternal imagery, nourishment, sustenance, development, even instruction, the parallel becomes a bit clearer: roads and structures and infrastructure are not as much in view as the community of people who would comprise the town or city 4. And so cities and towns can be “mothers” in Israel: some towns may have specific prestige because of the type of people whom they have cultivated, developed, and sent out (like Abel of Beth-Maacah), but towns and cities in general can be seen as having “children,” the people who were born there, grew up there, and developed there (like Jerusalem) F. Cities or towns as “mothers in Israel,” therefore, speaks to the power of community in the sustenance, nourishment, development, and instruction of its members IV. The Community of God’s People as Mother A. In the new covenant between God and all mankind in Jesus of Nazareth, can we find a comparable “mother” figure? 1. For many, Mary the Lord’s mother is made into a major maternal figure, reckoned as “Mediatrix” and even the “Mother of the Church” in Roman Catholicism, yet in Scripture, while she is lauded as the mother of the Lord, she is not reckoned as the mother of the church or of the people of God in general; instead, Mary herself is seen in a figure as the embodiment of the people of God begetting the Christ child (cf. Revelation 12:1-17) 2. In Christ mothers according to the flesh are highly commended for their role (Ephesians 6:1-4, 2 Timothy 1:5, Titus 2:3-5) 3. In Romans 16:13, Christians are to greet not only Rufus but “his mother and mine”; while it is possible that Rufus is Paul’s brother in the flesh, it is more likely that Paul recognizes Rufus’ mother as a spiritual mother figure a. In this way we do well to commend those women in our lives who have taken care to sustain, nourish, and even instruct us as spiritual mother figures b. They do great work in the Kingdom! 4. Yet it is in Galatians 4:26, in an allegory, in which Paul makes the direct parallel: “the Jerusalem above” is “our mother” a. Paul goes on to cite Isaiah 54:1 in Galatians 4:27 b. Thus, to Paul, the ultimate fulfillment of Isaiah’s declaration about Jerusalem as the barren woman who bore many children is the ingathering of the Gentiles as part of the people of God in the church! B. The New Jerusalem 1. Throughout the New Testament, Jerusalem/Zion imagery from the Old Testament is understood in terms of the church 2. Galatians 4:26-27 as above 3. Hebrews 12:22: Christians as having come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem; the Hebrew author makes the same Sinai/Zion contrast of old covenant and new covenant as Paul did in Galatians 4:21-27 4. Revelation 14:1: the Lamb is seen on Mount Zion, surrounded by the people of God 5. Revelation 3:12, 21:2: Jesus testifies to and John sees the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, as a bride adorned for her husband 6. Revelation 21:9-10: when an angel wishes to show John the bride, the wife of the Lamb, he shows him the new Jerusalem 7. Ephesians 5:22-33: who is reckoned to be the bride of the Lamb, Jesus? The church! C. Thus the Apostles very deliberately perpetuate the association of “Jerusalem” as a “mother in Israel”; in Christ, new Jerusalem is a “mother in Israel”, the community of the people of God, the church, as sustaining, nourishing, instructing its members! D. We do well to understand the church, as the community of God’s people, as a “mother in Israel” 1. Ephesians 2:18-22: all Christians as members of the household of God, all having access to the Father in the Spirit, all as brothers and sisters in Christ 2. Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12:12-28: the image of the church as a body speaks to the role of members encouraging one another, rejoicing with one another, weeping with one another, thus strengthening one another through life 3. Ephesians 4:11-16: roles in the church to equip saints for the work of ministry; the body works to build itself up in love, reinforced in doctrine, with the growth of its constituent members nourished in its midst 4. Thus we can think of specific local congregations which are like Abel of Beth-Maacah, congregations which nourish and send out faithful, strong Christians, and thus are a “mother in Israel” 5. It would be a good standard to which to aspire! V. Conclusion A. We have explored a mother in Israel 1. Judges 5:7: Deborah was a mother in Israel, providing leadership and sustenance 2. 2 Samuel 20:19: Abel of Beth-Maacah as a mother in Israel 3. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Joel speak of Jerusalem/Zion as the “mother” of their inhabitants B. As physical Jerusalem was the “mother” of its physical inhabitants, so the ultimate fulfillment of all the promises made about Jerusalem are manifest in Christ and the new Jerusalem, His Bride, the church (Galatians 4:26-27) C. Thus, while we may have individual women who prove to be spiritual “mothers” in our lives (cf. Romans 16:13), and we should be thankful for them, we are to see the church, the community of the people of God, as a “mother” D. We could thus speak of any given individual congregation as a “mother in Israel,” nourishing, sustaining, and strengthening the people of God in its midst E. In a highly individualistic world and culture, we do well to affirm the necessity of the community, a group which can provide support, strength, nourishment, and sustenance; it does indeed “take a village”! F. May we prove thankful for the “mothers” that have brought us this far, and may we strive to encourage one another so that our local congregation can be seen as a “mother in Israel”! Scripture, Meditation, and Application 1: The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased / Until that I Deborah arose / That I arose a mother in Israel (Judges 5:7). Deborah served as a mother in Israel, providing leadership and direction so that Israel could grow and be sustained. Mother figures prove very important in life, giving us nourishment, sustenance, and strength. May we prove thankful for those who have served as spiritual “mothers” for us, and make sure our thanks are given to them explicitly! 2: I am of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of YHWH? (2 Samuel 20:19) A wise woman thought highly of Abel of Beth-Maacah; people used to come to it in order to seek good counsel and wisdom. She considered it a “mother in Israel.” Her concern is less about the structures and infrastructure and more about the community. Communities could be seen as “a mother in Israel.” May we trust in God and find strength in the community of His people! 3: “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife”, saith YHWH (Isaiah 54:1). The prophets frequently speak of Jerusalem and Zion in terms of a “mother,” and its inhabitants in terms of her “children.” Jerusalem was “widowed” in her destruction and the exile of her inhabitants. She would begin to have reason to rejoice when the Israelites returned from exile; her ultimate joy came as God welcomed all people to Himself in Christ. May we become part of the Israel of God and be saved! 4: But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother (Galatians 4:26). The church is envisioned as the bride of Christ, new Jerusalem. Through its work of encouragement and edification, churches ought to be sustaining, nourishing, and instructing its constituent members unto maturity just as a mother does her children. And so the church is a “mother”; a given local congregation could be seen as a “mother in Israel.” May we aspire to strengthen the local church so that it may be reckoned as a “mother in Israel!”