ABSOLUTE FEAR
“Oh no, my lord! Give her the child —- ….
Did I read that right? Giver her the child? Is there more that I need to know? Why would this woman, who is in great anguish, say such a thing? There has to be a reason she is looking at this baby with such absolute fear.
Some time later two prostitutes came to the king to have an argument settled. “Please, my Lord,” one of them began, “this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was with me in the house. Three days later this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there were only two of us in the house.
“But her baby died during the night when she rolled over on it. Then she got up in the night and took my son from beside me while I was asleep. She laid her dead child in my arms and took mine to sleep beside her. And in the morning when I tried to nurse my son, he was dead! But when I looked more closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t my son at all.”
Then the other woman interrupted, “It certainly was your son, and the living child is mine.” “No,” the first woman said, “the living child is mine, and the dead one is yours.” And so they argued back and forth before the king.
Then the king said, “Let’s get the facts straight. Both of you claim the living child is yours, and each says that the dead one belongs to the other. All right, bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought to the king.
Then he said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one woman and half to the other!”
Then the woman who was the real mother of the living child, and who loved him very much, cried out, “Oh no, my Lord! Give her the child—please do not kill him!”
But the other woman said, “All right, he will be neither yours nor mine; divide him between us!”
Then the king said, “Do not kill the child, but give him to the woman who wants him to live, for she is his mother!”
When all Israel heard the king’s decision, the people were in awe of the king, for they saw the wisdom God had given him for rendering justice.
1 Kings 3:16-28 NLT
Now I understand. The real mother did not want her son killed. Solomon was very wise. “Then the king said, “Do not kill the child, but give him to the woman who wants him to live, for she is his mother!”
But think what the real mother went through. It must have seemed like an eternity between the time she found a dead baby in her arms and when they stepped before Solomon. Her voice must have trembled with fear as she told Solomon, “But when I looked more closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t my son at all.” Her hands would have been clasped hard. It would have seemed like the world disappeared and became silent when the man lifted the sword. Her eyes must have wanted to close, so she could not see the sword and, at the same time, her eyes never left her son. Oh how my heart breaks for this mother. She was feeling absolute fear.
Finally she screamed, “Oh no, my Lord! Give her the child—please do not kill him!” Various translations word this sentence differently, but I believe she screamed. There would not have been any calm “and she said.” The real mother would have fallen to the floor and lifted her hands, begging. The real mother would have yelled/screamed at the top of her voice so there would be no chance that Solomon would not hear her. The real mother would then have bowed her head, lowered her arms, and waited.
And as she waited, she heard Solomon say to give her the child. And fear turned to absolute joy!
Now, turn in your Bible and read 1 Kings 3:16-28. Picture the characters. Watch them walk. See their body language as they enter and stop before King Solomon. Hear their voices. Hear them yelling at each other. Watch King Solomon listen and react to the women. Stop and watch a sword being brought into the room. See those in the room, take a deep breath as they wondered what would happen. This is not just words on a page. These were real people. This was a real King who had to judge two women and the fate of one baby boy.
Now picture the real mother holding her son close to her breast. And see the tears of joy fall across a smile that came from the mother’s soul.