Prophetic Principles, Properties, & Performances-
Wise Judgement & Rightly Dividing Truth
As the Truth about the recent election results continue to unfold, the political theater within the courts surrounding the future of the country has people wondering if the nation will ultimately be torn in two. Scripture records the most famous court decision in history and how a wise judge decided who truly loved and would protect the future generations.
The account of Wise King Solomon and the two mothers is one of the most famous stories in the Bible and often one of the first that young children learn in Sunday school. Unfortunately, most adults haven’t had the opportunity to be shown the multiple complex levels of this tale.
The familiar narrative starts with two women approaching King Solomon asking him to judge between them. The first woman explains her story that both she and the second woman live in the same home and that the first woman had given birth to a son, while the second woman gave birth three days later. The first woman accuses the second woman of falling asleep on her own child, and then in the middle of the night, taking the dead infant’s corpse and replacing it with her live child. The first woman is started to discover that the dead child was not her own.
The second woman simply retorts, “No! The living one is my son, and the dead one is your son”.
The first woman refracts her statement “No! The dead one is your son, and the living one is my son”.
Solomon takes careful note of each woman’s argument and especially their phrasing. He emphasizes that one woman focuses first on claiming the living son as her own, while the other concentrates on making the audience believe the dead child belongs to the other woman.
G3D’s Wisdom helps him realize who the true mother is at that instant, but he needs to prove this soundly to the rest of the kingdom, so performs an infamous act that is still discussed in judicial circles today. He orders that a sword be brought forward to him and orders to have the child cut in two and half given to each woman.
This was not some insane order by a mad king, but had legal precedent as property, whether it be a cloak, sets of tools, or a piece of land, was often divided between two parties who could not decide between the two of them who is rightfully belonged to. Of course a living child cannot be rightfully divided justly, and the Midrash (Koheles – Ecclesiastes 10:16-17) records that when the order went out, the whole of Israel wept over the fact that they were cursed with a maniac for a king. But the crowds could not anticipate the surprise the court would receive next.
The second woman, whose child was the living one, was so distraught at the proposal to kill her beloved child in front of her, she pleads desperately to King Solomon, crying, “Please, my king! Give her the living child, and do not kill him!”
While most mothers would have taken the grand opportunity to see that their child was safe no matter what, the second woman did not take up the offer and instead replies “He shall be neither mine nor yours; cut him!”
King Solomon orders that the living child be given to the sacrificial woman, stating that she was indeed the true mother. After the rest of the country hears about the judgment that Solomon handed down, they honor him because they saw the Wisdom of G3D in him to administer Justice.
Most people recognize that Wise King Solomon knew the real mother would not allow harm to come to her flesh and blood, but there are some cultural contexts that help us understand the thinking behind the mother of the dead son and why she would want the other woman’s child dead as well.
Jewish oral tradition recorded in the Midrash (Yalknt Shimoni 2:175) holds that the two women were mother and daughter in law, whose husbands had died during their pregnancies, which explains why they shared the same home. If a woman was left widowed with no children from the marriage, then her husband’s brother was required to marry her in order to provide at least one heir through them. If there was no other close family, then the wife would be left with no way to access family land and resources and forced to marry someone else to provide for herself.
This practice called Yibbum ensured that the family line would not die, and that inheritances would remain with relatives so that widows and orphaned children had an established safety net. Most Christians are aware of this concept through the example of Tamar waiting for her father-in-law Judah to give his youngest son to her as a future husband and the illustration of Boaz telling Ruth that she had a closer relative who was required to perform Yibbum before Boaz could be considered.
While Yibbum was set up to protect widows, orphans, and family lines, in extreme cases like the one presented to Solomon, it didn’t benefit the woman. If the surviving child belonged to the mother-in-law, then the daughter-in-law would be required to wait thirteen years, till he was age of majority in order to marry him or for him to perform the removing of the shoe ceremony (Chalitizah) which would absolve her of the obligation to marry him. If the child belonged to the daughter-in-law, then the baby would serve as the heir to its grandfather, placing no additional requirements on the mother-in-law and allowing the daughter-in-law to marry freely as she was legally a widow.
Though division of land and inheritance was usually something that needed to be considered, the fact that some translations include that these women were harlots implies that there was no resources these women could turn to for support, which is why they resorted to prostitution after their respective husbands died. This adds another element to the imposter mother’s logic: if the baby was cut in half, she would not only be free from any obligations to marry it in the future but was not required to take care of the child now in the present. There would be some benefit to convincing the court that the stolen child was hers, but she would have an even better deal if the child was not alive at all.
Despite these considerations, the true mother still wants her child to live. Her focus is on keeping her son alive, instead of the fraudulent woman’s insistence that the dead child be forced onto the other. The true mother has no real benefit in keeping the child alive, there are no resources that come with its survival, the daughter-in-law is not even required to look after her till the son is of age. In her extreme poverty, which has led her into prostitution, she now has an additional mouth to feed. Most modern women would make the “choice” to rid themselves of such a burden.
But all of this could not have been revealed if it were not for King Solomon’s G3D Given Wisdom to test the hearts of both of these women. It would not have been enough just to have determined who the true mother was, but by showcasing the thoughts and mentalities of each of them through their words and actions, Solomon was able to show the court and the rest of the nation who spoke Truth.
This story may be the first recorded historical instance of jurisprudence, which is the study and philosophy of law. Many of these issues are still taken into consideration in major cases and will invariably be measured during the Court’s deliberations regarding the elections.
Likewise, when you spend time with your family and friends these upcoming holidays, make sure to use your own spiritually inspired discernment regarding others’ conversation and attitudes. Key issues parallel the women’s own arguments: do they focus on life, prosperity, and love of G3D, country, and family, or do they emphasize anger, revenge, and defending those who destroyed their own communities. Even when they have nothing to gain, do they and those they support try to protect that which they love even if it is to their own detriment or is their affection and backing conditional and they are willing to abandon their candidate when they no longer serve a purpose. This discernment should not stop at assessing others, but most importantly our own alignments.
While the individual state and district court judges make decisions about how to distinguish and process legitimate ballots while removing dishonest and illegal votes, we must pray that G3D fills them with his Wisdom and Justice to ensure that His Will is done. Just as Solomon was tasked with discerning the hearts and intensions of the two mothers, we must use this opportunity to judge our own souls. Are you ready for what is about to take place quickly and are you a part of His Remnant?
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