Meditating the Word of God – 9th October
Today’s verse is about King Solomon from the Book 1 Kings 3: 16 to 27. The passage given below is from the NIV version of the Bible.
Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. One of them said, “Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me. The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.
“During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.”
The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.”
But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king.
The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’”
Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”
The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”
But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”
Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”
God is the source of wisdom. When Solomon had an encounter with God, and enquired of him what blessing he required. Solomon asked for wisdom to rule God’s people, people in his kingdom with wisdom and justice. We also know the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. ( ref Proverbs 9:10)
Here we see two prostitutes who were staying together, and newborn babies approach King Solomon. One prostitute, because of her careless behaviour, rolled over her infant baby during her sleep and the baby died. Yet the wickedness was such she replaced her dead baby with the living baby of the other prostitute.
In the early morning, when trying to nurse her baby, the other prostitute discovered that the baby was lifeless. Yet after an hour, when it was daylight, she could see better, and she realised that the child was not hers. But since there was a dispute, she went to the king. We need the light from the Word of God (revelation knowledge) to see clearly what we are not able to understand, what we fail to discern.
The King gave a ruling to cut the live baby into two. He had a purpose and a strategy for doing this, so that the bluff of the wicked prostitute would come to light.
We could be like any other prostitute, cheated by the wicked one of our living baby. Yet when we approach the King Lord Jesus, he gives us justice. For a moment, it might seem that our baby would be subject to the sword, but little do we realise, it is the route chosen to make us victorious. A process to make us get back what belongs to us. A process to regain possession of what belongs to us.
Only God can give us the wisdom and the discernment required. The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy what belongs to us, we need to be determined to go to our King, Lord Jesus. He gives us justice and victory. Perseverance is required. We need to run to the Lord. We need to be people who know the Word of God by our heart so that we can see and discern what belongs to us. Our Lord and saviour knocks at the door of our soul. Let us let him in, reading the Bible, going to church and having fellowship with saints and have a victorious life
