Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
Normally today, the 28th of February, would be the final day of this short month, but as you may know this is a ‘leap year’ so we’ll have an extra “February day” tomorrow. In some ways it’s similar to the annual time change in some parts of the world where we gain an hour, only tomorrow we’ll gain a whole day.
While we think about gaining a day, consider for a moment that it was 2 years ago that the world was absorbing news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the 24th of February, and by now, 4 days later, many people had died. Now, 2 years later, millions of people are displaced, thousands are dead, and many thousands more wounded, and entire towns destroyed. Have you considered how this war, and the war between Hamas and Israel, have affected the children? So many parts of our world are dangerous, painful places aren’t they, especially for children?
Join me again in Israel about the year 970bc. Young King Solomon, the son of King David, is settling into his role as king of Israel after his remarkable encounter with God, which we witnessed yesterday, as recorded in 1 Kings 3. God had promised He would empower King Solomon with wisdom and discernment beyond that of any living person, especially any other king, anywhere in the world. With that God given wisdom, King Solomon was responsible to lead Israel to be a God honoring nation, safe especially for children who were in such danger in all the surrounding wicked nations. As we continue in the record of 1 Kings 3, we have the report of an amazing event which provides evidence of the promised God given discernment and wisdom for King Solomon.
Occasionally in various parts of the world today we hear of crimes taking place in hospital nurseries where babies are switched or even stolen. King Solomon faced a similar problem. Two women sought audience with King Solomon, both claiming to be mother of a live baby and both accusing the other of being the mother of a dead baby, and both accusing the other of having switched the babies. Of course, Solomon had no way of knowing which woman was mother to which baby and since they were both prostitutes there was no man claiming his child.
It is from this event that the sometimes-used phrase ‘the wisdom of Solomon is needed here’, quiet: “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 my son is alive.’ Then King Solomon said, “Bring me a sword.’ So, they brought a sword for the king. He then gave the order: ‘Cut the living child in two and give 1/2 to one woman and the other 1/2 to the other woman.” (1 Kings 3:16-25)
Look around the King’s court room. Eyes are wide in disbelief! Oh, the horrific thought of slicing a living child in 1/2 with a sword is mortifying, it is beyond imagination. Surely King Solomon is not serious, is he? But the look on Solomon’s face is very serious, he is not kidding, he is not making sport of the difficult situation here. Someone is lying and someone is accusing the other of lying. There is no way to discern the truth here!
Now everyone turns with their eyes fixed on the two mothers. They have turned in anger toward each other and they scowl and scream at each other. Suddenly one of the women bursts into tears and cries out to King Solomon: “Please my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!” Everyone looks at King Solomon and he turns his gaze on the other woman. She is stunned. Finally, she screams: “Neither I nor you shall have the baby. Cut him in two!” (1 Kings 3:26) Horrified, those in this royal courtroom gasp. Could it really be? Could a mother be so cruel, so bitter, so hard hearted? What kind of evil heart devises schemes which target children? Schemes in our day like child slavery or sex trafficking or child pornography or even abortion which never gives the child a chance for life?
All eyes are on King Solomon now as he instructs his attendants to put the sword away. “Then the king gave his ruling: ‘Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill the baby; she is his mother.’ When all Israel heard the verdict King Solomon had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he did have the wisdom from God to administer justice.” (1 Kings 3:27,28) It was a ‘defining moment’ for the kingship of King Solomon. Word spread quickly through Jerusalem and across the land. Solomon really did have the wisdom from God and God given discernment to be able to identify truth from lie.
It didn’t take long for people to begin to imagine what it might be like to live among a people whose king had God’s anointing of Godly wisdom and discernment upon him! Trust rose very quickly in Solomon’s leadership and Solomon quickly began to demonstrate that he expected similar God honoring leadership from all who served in any leadership capacity in Israel. This one phrase in 1 Kings 4:20 is an editorial comment of what at least some felt it was like for the people of Jerusalem and all of Israel with Solomon as King: “The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank, and they were happy.”
God has placed in all of us a natural desire to defend defenseless people from injustice and brutality, especially children. Do you sense this response in your soul when you hear of, or worse yet eyewitness, aggravated assault on a child by any means? Children are precious to God. Do you remember Jesus calling a child to Him when He was once surrounded by some adults questioning Jesus about who are the most important people in the kingdom of God?
Matthew 18:1-6 says: “Jesus called a little child and had him stand among them. Then Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name, welcomes Me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and be drowned in the depth of the sea.“
The implications of Jesus’ words are clear, aren’t they? Children are a precious gift from God to adults with a strong responsibility to love them, care for them, protect them, nurture them, teach them what is right and how to discern what is wrong, and raise them to know and love God. That truth is found throughout Scripture, isn’t it? (Deut. 6:1-9; Psalm 78:1-7 etc.)
But as you and I look around our world, we see a dismal failure in this major mandate from God to all adults, would you agree? I don’t believe this example of King Solomon’s wisdom in protecting the life of a child and discerning the evil heart of a wicked woman is in the Biblical record simply as an arbitrary example. If God has elevated the love and care of children as a high priority for all God honoring people, and it was the God given wisdom of Solomon which protected the life of this child in 1 Kings 3, then can we conclude it is dark kingdom, demonic work which is behind all forms of wickedness which are putting the lives of defenseless children, both born and unborn, at risk?
May I challenge you to think about that my friends, no matter where you live in the world? May I urge us all to consider what God is calling us to be aware of and do to help protect the children and infants of our generation, from those who would harm or seek to destroy them?
Yes, I’ve found a song that I think fits with what we’ve seen in God’s Word today. . . the voices of children pierce our hearts, don’t they? So, let’s worship together with these children:
Today’s Scripture: 1 Kings 3:16-28.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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