Lessons From Grandmothers

  Did you ever stop to consider the four women on Noah’s ark? Scripture refers to them simply as wives, “Noah, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives.” According to Genesis 10, the roots of every nation reach back to one of these women.

  We know that all four of these ladies were from ungodly families. Their moms and dads, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins all died in their sin, outside the ark.

  But these women rejected those gods in preference to the One True God. Like Joshua, they determined, “but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15). Today, godly wives and mothers are those who have made the break from the gods of this world; they are sold out to the one true God. Their god is not in the things they possess, nor the way that they look, nor a place of prestige.

  Secondly, our grandmothers left their ungodly families in preference to their godly husbands. According to Ephesians 5:21-33 husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the Church. Wives are responsible to recognize and revere their husbands as the head of the home. These women of the ark followed their husbands, even when God was leading them to do the unusual for Him. God’s way works and His way honors Him.

  Thirdly, they were unaffected by the scorn and ridicule resulting from their husbands building a ship in the desert, and preaching God when the whole world had forsaken Him. Today there is certain to be scorn, ridicule, and persecution if we put God first, and perform that to which we are called.

  Finally, we notice that every family descending from these four eventually departed from the faith. Somewhere along the way two important ingredients were obviously missing. First, the things that the Lord had done were not rehearsed in the hearing of the children. And secondly, the Word of the Lord was neglected in the home. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7a).

  Please accept these as lessons from your grandmothers!