His Mother’s Name
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As part of our daily family devotions, my husband and I read a chapter of the Bible together with our daughters. We want to encourage them to read the Word of God every day. As we read through 1 and 2 Kings, I noticed again that in introducing each king, details of their fathers, how old they were, and when they began their reign were included. Much less often the names of their mothers were included. So in a heavily patriarchal society, why did God see it important to add details about the mothers of the kings? In the days of the kings, many of the monarchs mentioned could fall into one of two groups: those who did what was right in the sight of the Lord and those who did what was evil. I was fascinated to discover that a king as evil as Ahaz (2 Kings 16:1–4) could have a good son like Hezekiah.
But Hezekiah ended up with the evil Manasseh (2 Kings 21:1–9) as his son. You would think that if the king was evil, he would produce an evil child.
Or a good king would produce a good child.
Though it did happen for some, it did not always occur.
Could the mothers have made a lasting impact on how the kings turned out? While the kings were busy ruling or going to war, who was raising their children? The mothers likely had a lot of help, but at the end of the day, they spent more time with their children than the kings did. Most likely, if the mother was good, she passed along those traits to the young princes. As women, God has called each of us to be a mother figure to someone in our sphere of influence—wherever He has placed us. The question is, What kind of influence do we exert? Think of the examples of Mary, the mother of Jesus; Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist; Lois and Eunice, grandmother and mother of Timothy. And the unnamed mothers of Daniel, Elijah, and Deborah. Their influence was felt for generations. Could it be that the Lord has positioned us specifically to raise this generation through whom He can impact the world for eternity? Today He asks us to let Him change us so that the influence we exert on this generation will be for good. Are we willing? By His grace may we all, like Deborah, arise as faithful mothers in Israel.
Lynn Mfuru Lukwaro
