On Mother’s Day, Inspiring Women of the Bible Offer Faith, Hope and Strength

Throughout the Bible, mothers have played important roles in the lives of their children, their communities, and the world at large, both behind the scenes and in the forefront.

In honor of Mother’s Day this year, Fox News Digital asked religious leaders across the country to weigh in on some of their favorite mother figures from the Bible — and explain why these women are notable to them and for many others.

“A mother’s legacy lasts far beyond her own lifetime,” noted Patti Garibay, founder and executive director of American Heritage Girls based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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Here’s what a number of religious leaders had to say about the Bible’s remarkable mothers.

Women of the Bible

1. Yocheved, mother of Moses, and other maternal figures

In the book of Exodus, five courageous women had to do what they believed was right to save the child Moses from death.

The first were Shiphrah and Puah, two midwives named in Exodus 1:15.

They “defied Pharaoh’s command and allowed the little boys they helped deliver to live,” New Jersey-based Rabbi Cecelia Beyer told Fox News Digital.

Beyer is rabbi at Temple Sholom in Bridgewater.

She “desperately wanted Moses to escape his fate.”

After Moses was born, his mother, Yocheved (also spelled Jochebed), a slave, “hid her little boy for three months and then sent him down the river, desperate for him to escape his fate, while his sister Miriam watched over him. from the riverbank until he was found and safe,” Beyer said.

“And ultimately it was Bat Pharoah, the daughter of the king who sought to destroy the Israelite people, who rescued the baby from the river and raised him as her own,” Beyer said.

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Other religious leaders also cited Yocheved as an example of motherly love and courage in the Bible.

When she put Moses in a basket, Yocheved “was all too aware that her precious child was floating above countless lifeless bodies, baby boys who had been forcibly drowned in that same river,” said Laura Gallier, Christy Prize author, based in Houston. award-winning novel series “The Delusion,” told Fox News Digital.

Yocheved’s act of sending his son across the Nile was an act of “selfless love and courage that would ultimately liberate a nation,” Gallier said.

Garibay of American Heritage Girls noted, “This child, taken from the water (that’s the meaning of Moses), grew up to become the prophet who received the Ten Commandments and was instrumental in preserving the Jewish people and in their escape from slavery to the Egyptians. »

2. Hannah, mother of Samuel

Mother of the prophet Samuel, Hannah was one of Elkanah’s wives, and at first she was unable to have children.

Remaining faithful, Hannah promised God that if she had a son, she would “give him to the Lord all the days of his life” (1 Samuel 1:11).

“Hannah went through many years of wanting to be a mother. Her journey was marked by deep pain and disappointment,” Pastor Jesse Bradley told Fox News Digital.

Bradley is pastor of Grace Community Church in Ashburn, Washington.

“The people closest to her provoked her and did not understand her desires,” he said. “She waited on God and cried out in prayer. Hannah poured out her soul to the Lord.”

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Katie McGrady, a Catholic author, speaker and radio host based in Lake Charles, Louisiana, said she, too, was inspired by Hannah.

“I really enjoy contemplating Hannah in 1 Samuel,” McGrady told Fox News Digital via email.

“Hannah’s perseverance in faith, and then her delight in having a son and giving God great thanks and praise, remind me that I should never be afraid to pray and trust that God hears me.”

“Here is a woman, sometimes mistreated by her husband and family because she cannot have children, who prays patiently and fervently for a child,” she said.

McGrady continued: “His perseverance in faith, and then his delight in having a son and giving God great thanks and praise, reminds me that I should never be afraid to pray and trust that God hears me. ”

3. Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist

Elizabeth also suffered from infertility, as did Hannah. His story is told in the Gospel of Luke.

“The angel Gabriel promised Zechariah and Elizabeth that they would have a son, even in old age (Luke 1:36),” said Bradley of Washington.

The unborn child in Elizabeth’s womb, John the Baptist, “leaped for joy” in the womb when the pregnant Virgin Mary came to visit, Bradley noted.

Elizabeth exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Luke 1:42) – part of the Hail Mary prayer.

4. Mary, mother of Jesus

The Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ, is “the primary spiritual matriarch in Scripture,” Bradley told Fox News Digital.

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“Giving birth and raising the Savior of the world is so much more than our minds can comprehend,” Bradley said.

“God chose Mary as a young virgin to fill this role, fulfilling the prophet Isaiah’s prophecy about the birth of Jesus.”

“Think of the many beautiful examples in the Bible, including Mary, mother of Jesus, the Savior of the world,” said Garibay of American Heritage Girls.

“Mothers matter,” she added.

Julie Clinton, president of Virginia-based Extraordinary Women Ministries and author of “Women Follow Jesus,” noted that Mary’s love for her Son never diminished.

“Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a powerful reflection of a mother’s love,” Clinton told Fox News Digital in an email message.

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“Even as Jesus died on a cross for humanity, he acknowledged her and her impact on his life by declaring, ‘Woman, behold your son’ (John 19:26).”

Clinton added: “A loving mother’s presence and prayers and influence mean everything. »

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