Bible Study II

Written by Eric

1 Kings 3:16-22 (KJV)

¹⁶Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.

¹⁷And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.

¹⁸and it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.

¹⁹And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.

²⁰And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.

²¹And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.

²²And the other woman said, Nay; but the living child is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.

            Now, King Solomon who had been given a wise and understanding heart by God (1Kings 3:11) says use the sword and divide the living child in two and give half to each one (1Kings 3:25). Well, that's not the answer you would expect from the wisest king that would ever live, is It?

            How do you think these two woman felt? First, there is a dead child, then, there is deception, and now, King Solomon wants to slay the living child. Let's compare each woman's emotions and motives.

In my opinion, the mother with the dead child was extremely upset. She's desperately trying to revive her newborn son. But as her attempts fail she begins to sob in disbelief and starts to panic. Looking to end the confusion, guilt, and pain she rushes to switch the baby with the other woman in the house before she can notice. The scheme was purely evil. Although she probably acted impulsively and made an obvious immoral choice she had opportunities to repent. However, she kept lying and grew more and more bitter. Bitter to the point that she didn't care that King Solomon would slay the living child. Not only slay the child, but be given half of the child's lifeless, bloody, and gruesome body.

In my opinion, the mother with the live child was also extremely upset. At first, she thought her child had indeed died in the night, so she went through a similar emotional experience and she too wept. When she realized she was deceived by the other woman in the house, she wanted to get her son back, rightfully so, and sought after the king's help. After seeking the king's wisdom, she refused to let the child be slain and divided among them, so to spare her child's life she gave her child over to the other woman.

Now for a piece of mind, King Solomon was the wisest because God granted him wisdom to rule over His people, therefore, King Solomon was not going to divide the child in half with a sword. But using his wisdom (God's word) as a sword, he knew he would divide the women to reveal the living child's true mother, and so the living child was reunited with his mother.

            There are a couple classic lessons in the story. There is the good against evil and judging a book by its cover. The two women were harlots. Given their reputation, we may expect them to have completely fallen from the grace of God and went purely evil. However, we see the one woman wanted justice not revenge. Both women's hearts were broken, weak, and vulnerable to sin, but one took the right path. God will always triumph over Satan. Second, we can't judge people by their mistakes, leave that to God. And a third, God will be there for you when you do it His way not your own, even if it is a terrible situation! Don't be dismayed, seek God and allow Him to deliver you from your circumstances.

            The point I wanted to make in this bible study is not listed above. I wanted our study group to really dig deep and think about what they would have done. How would you have protected your child? What would you have done? Here's how great God is! He didn't punish those that persecuted Jesus. He didn't seek revenge on those that whipped Jesus, smacked him, threw objects at him, and spit on him. He didn't even punish those that partook in His death. In fact, he allowed it to happen because He could have stopped it anytime. God's plan was bigger and better than what our minds can fathom. God's plan was to show us His sacrifice for His love for us. For me, the story symbolizes how much God loves us. Although the scripture is in the Old Testament, it's an introduction to the New Testament. 

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