Chapter 152. 1 Kings 3: 15-28. The two Mothers.
AFTER Solomon had had his wonderful dream in Gibeon, he returned to Jerusalem; there he offered sacrifices and offerings unto the Lord, and stood before the Ark of the Covenant worshiping God. Now he began to show his great God-given wisdom. Two women came to the king for him to decide a difficulty. Each had a little baby. One of them was alive and well, but the other was dead. The women were angry and quarreling with each other. One said, Oh, my lord, I and this women live together in one home. We each had a little son. This woman lay over her child during the night and it died. When she found it was dead she brought it to me, and laid it in my arms, when I was asleep, and stole away my own baby from me. When I awoke and looked at the dead child in my arms I knew it was not mine. But the other cried angrily, ‘Nay, but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son.’
So they spoke before the king. What should Solomon do? How could he know the right mother of the living child? His wonderful wisdom which God had given him helped Solomon to judge rightly. “Bring me a sword,” said he to his servants, and when it was set before him, he told them to cut the living baby in two, and to give one-half to each of the women. Was this cruel of Solomon? No, he wanted to know who was the right mother. He knew she would be distressed, and cry to have the babe saved, while the other woman would not care so much. And so it happened. The true mother cried, “O, my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it.” But the other woman said, “Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.” She did not mind its being cut in two, because it was not her own. Then Solomon said, “Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it; she is the mother.” Solomon knew now who was the mother of the living child. It was the woman who loved it so much she could not bear to have it killed.
All Israel heard of the judgment of the king, and they feared, because they felt the wisdom of God was in him.
Solomon had much to make him happy. He had riches, possessions, honors, knowledge. These things in themselves cannot bring happiness. On the contrary, they often bring trouble and sorrow. But Solomon had more than these—he had God’s love and blessing. By his wisdom he understood many things, and wrote many learned books. He wrote about animals, trees and flowers. He knew the names and histories of them all. When we learn about the wonderful works of God, the beautiful animals and plants around us, the sun and moon, the stars which shine so brightly in the sky, we should praise God, who gave them all to us, and thank and bless Him.
Solomon knew more than any man ever knew; more than the wise men of Egypt, the most learned nation of that time, and people from all around heard of his fame. He wrote three thousand proverbs, or wise sayings, and one thousand and five songs. He wrote much for young people. He told them riches and honors cannot make them happy, for “all is vanity and vexation of spirit,” and advises them to think of God before it is too late. “Remember now, thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.” (Eccles. 12:1.) Then Solomon says that “even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure and whether it be right”; that “A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the sorrow of his mother.” He says also that wisdom makes a man kind, unselfish and happy. The Lord Jesus he calls God’s “Wisdom” in the 8th chapter of Proverbs. How true for while we admire Solomon’s wisdom, we know that the one who gave it to this king is greater than He. And if we follow the Lord Jesus in this life down here, as he is spoken of in the Gospels, if we listen to His answers to those who stood tempting Him, as well as to those who were troubled and sought peace, we shall be compelled to say, “A greater than Solomon is here.” Who, but “Wisdom” and “Love” could have planned and worked out the way of salvation for fallen man? Who but He, the Divine One, could have atoned for our many sins, and make us fit to stand before the holy Presence of God?
“What raised the wondrous thought,
Or who did it suggest?
That we, the Church, to glory brought
Should with the Son be blest?
O God! the thought was Thine!
Thine only it could be
Fruit of the wisdom, love divine,
Peculiar unto Thee.
ML 02/13/1916