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The Heroic Mother

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Submitted By dardar97
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Pages 3
Haleigh Dardar
The Heroic Mother "She combined womanly emotion with manly courage and spoke words of encouragement." Have you ever had someone close to you die? Have you ever witnessed death? The quote above is from 2 Maccabees 7, this passage is about a mother who has to endure the pain of watching all seven of her sons die before her a gruesome death. Then she is killed herself. This is in a time where they have a king, who believes in the Pagan Gods. And then there are the defiant Jews, who believe in one God and refuse to follow in the footsteps of the king and instead stay in Moses'. This particular passage is about an audacious family who chooses to watch each other get tortured instead of just simply listening to the king. There is one part where the king tries to persuade the mother to get her last son to spare his own life, but she refuses. Here's two insights that you can take from this story. Nothing can defeat faith. No matter what you are put through or what happens God is all-seeing and for each person He will make it right in the afterlife. Why is this mother so unique and important, we don't even know her name? She not only watched her sons get maimed but she encouraged them to stay strong, brave, courageous, etc. all the while believing that God is good and would save them. Imagine the obstacles this poor mother had to overcome. She watched her sons tongues get cut out, their heads got scalped, their hands and feet were chopped off, and then they were fried. And she was forced to do this in the space of only one day, all while encouraging them to die bravely. She sets one of the greatest examples of her faith in God for us today. She did not once even reach for the pork they were trying to force them to eat. I don't even think she was tempted at all. What if you were in a similar situation like that today? Such as peer pressure, like losing all of your friends because they don't believe in God and you do. Obviously it's not as severe, people's lives aren't at stake, but what would you do, be a leader or a follower? So when you get into that situation where you think you should pretend or not believe in God, do those drugs your friends have, drink underage with your buddies, you should just think to yourself "God can see me." Because if you stay in Moses' footsteps and not the kings you know you've got a place in eternal life. The mother was the most amazing one of them all, and she deserves a special place in our memory. You deserve a place in people's memories too. Can you be like her? Follow her example? Stay strong? Would you have tried to make the last son spare his life or stayed completely faithful? Would you have reached for the pork?

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