Haftorah Beam - Eikev

When I read the Haftorah for this week's reading at shul on Saturday, a theme that jumped out at me was Motherhood.  There are three references to it: at the beginning, middle and end.

First, we read:

^49:14 Zion says,"The Lord has forsaken me,My Lord has forgotten me."¹⁵ Can a woman forget her baby,Or disown the child of her womb?Though she might forget,I never could forget you.

Later on,

^50:1 Thus said the Lord:Where is the bill of divorceOf your mother whom I dismissed?And which of My creditors was itTo whom I sold you off?You were only sold off for your sins,And your mother dismissed for your crimes.

And finally,

^51:2 Look back to Abraham your fatherAnd to Sarah who brought you forth.For he was only one when I called him,But I blessed him and made him many.

While G*d begins by proclaiming His love for us to be more steadfast than a mother's love for her child, He seems quite callous in casting away a mother on account of her children's transgressions.  Seems the mother is actually sticking by her kids, through good and bad, while G*d is prone to rejecting those who fall short. This is resolved in the final excerpt, where the Matriarch Sarah is cited. "But I blessed him and made him many," -- Sarah herself IS the blessing.  Motherhood IS the link to G*d's love for us. Even when we feel rejected, looking back to our ancestors (both distant and recent), we can reconnect with our Source.