Read 1 Kings 3:16-28

The Demonstration of Wisdom

Solomon asked for wisdom from God, and the Scriptures state that God granted the king’s request. In addition to this clear affirmation of God’s answer, the Scriptures also provide a demonstration of Solomon’s wisdom in 1 Kings 3:16-28.

Two prostitutes lived together and gave birth to sons within three days of each other. One woman crushed her son during the night and in distress, she exchanged her roommate’s child with the corpse of her own baby. The mother of the living baby was not fooled by the switch, and the two women brought the case before Solomon to determine to whom the son truly belonged. As there were no other witnesses in the house, it was a she said/she said situation with no clear answer.

Solomon asked for a sword to be brought forth. He said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other” (1 Kings 3:25). Any straight-thinking individual would be horrified by such a suggestion.

The actual mother of the baby rightly protested against Solomon’s words. She “yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, ‘O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!” (1 Kings 3:26). Even though she would be losing any legal claim to her child, she did not want him to suffer death.

But the one whose son was dead agreed with Solomon’s decision. Her reasoning was? “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him” (1 Kings 3:26). In essence, she said, “If I cannot have a child, then neither should you.”

Solomon clearly saw who the child’s mother was based on the reactions of these two women. “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his mother” (1 Kings 3:27). The report of Solomon’s wisdom spread throughout the kingdom, and the people “feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice” (1 Kings 3:28).

Let us not be rash in the decisions we make. Consider the consequences of our actions, and consult the word of God in which His wisdom is contained, and make choices based on His will.