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The Book of Kings – 1Ki 3:16-28 “Behold, I Come Quickly: Hold that Fast Which Thou Hast…

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1Ki 3:16-28 – “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown”

[Study Aired August 26, 2021]

1Ki 3:16  Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
1Ki 3:17  And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
1Ki 3:18  And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.
1Ki 3:19  And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it.
1Ki 3:20  And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
1Ki 3:21  And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.
1Ki 3:22  And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.
1Ki 3:23  Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.
1Ki 3:24  And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
1Ki 3:25  And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
1Ki 3:26  Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.
1Ki 3:27  Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.
1Ki 3:28  And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.

In this study we will look at the fruit revealed in Solomon’s life regarding the prayer that was made in the night while he was dreaming “Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?“of 1Kings 3:9.

The ability to judge and discern good and evil is a gift from God that is received of those who are given a hunger and thirst to ask for it in faith (Jas 1:5, 1Jn 5:4, Mat 5:6, Rom 3:27).

Jas 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Rom 3:27  Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

Light will come out of darkness while we lie dead in the street as God’s two witnesses (Rev 11:8). Christ likens the two witnesses’ death, and all death, to sleep (Joh 11:11-14), which tells us that when we are dead to our sinful flesh, then are we alive in Christ (Rom 6:11).

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Joh 11:11  These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
Joh 11:12  Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
Joh 11:13  Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
Joh 11:14  Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The living waters God gives to those who thirst for it, are being stored up in the lives of God’s elect (Joh 7:37, Joh 6:44) and are being distributed as we come together often to break spiritual bread and drink spiritual drink in Christ (1Co 11:27-28). We are being judged now so that we learn to “eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord” worthily.

Joh 7:37  In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

1Co 11:27  Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
1Co 11:28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

It is through this communion we share that teaches us to judge all things, through a judgment which starts at the house of God that we will in fact learn of His righteousness in our earth (1Co 11:31, Luk 6:37, Joh 7:24, 1Pe 4:17, Isa 26:9).

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

Luk 6:37  Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

This section of the book of Kings is instructive in showing us how Christ judges us in this age so the manchild can mature as we put off our flesh and learn there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Rom 8:1).

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

The world within us (1Jn 2:16) represents the harlot who wants to destroy the manchild’s life by taking it from its true mother, who represents Jerusalem above the mother of us all (Gal 4:26). With God’s spirit within us we can each be a joint that supplies in love (Eph 4:16), a love that provides the spiritual nourishment the manchild will need to grow to maturity in this life as we overcome those powers and principalities through Christ (Eph 6:12, Eph 1:19-21). Those negative powers are represented by the harlot who inadvertently killed her child by laying on it (Gen 45:5), a shadow of burying God’s gift in the earth (Mat 25:25), and then misappropriated the name of Christ by saying that the living child that represents Christ was hers, laying claim to His name (Isa 4:1).

Mat 25:25  And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

It is by going to king Solomon, a type of Christ, that we will be given the discerning spirit to know how to continue to fight a good fight of faith and protect the crown of life we’ve been given by resisting false doctrines unto the shedding of blood. That resisting of sin is represented by the crown of thorns that were put on Christ’s head, the “thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned” (Gen 3:18, Heb 6:8) that only our head can give us the power to overcome (Heb 12:4, Joh 19:2, Joh 8:36). The crown of life is the life of Christ in us, represented by the manchild, the living child in this story, and Christ promises those who overcome through resisting false doctrines, which are sin, once we know it is wrong (Jas 4:17) “will I make a pillar in the temple of my God” (Rev 3:11-12, 1Ti 6:12).

Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

Joh 19:2  And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown [the manchild].

1Ti 6:12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

God is coming quickly, and He is quickening God’s elect to give birth (Joh 6:63, Exo 1:19-20) giving witness to the world of His workmanship operating by His faith (Eph 2:8). God is our true husbandman, and Christ is the author and finisher of our faith (Joh 15:1, Heb 12:2-4)./p>

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Exo 1:19  And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
Exo 1:20  Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.

[God’s elect are typified as the Hebrew women who are not as the Egyptian women or churches of Babylon, and we are also the midwives to the Hebrew women helping them in the birthing process as we bear each other’s burdens in this life (Gal 6:2), burdens or tribulation (Act 14:22) which must accompany the maturing of the manchild who is being judged in this age (Rev 12:5). The validity of the statement of the midwives – “the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them” – is not what is in question. It is what it means for God’s elect, and so we see that God was hiding the manchild as we are hidden in Christ (Col 3:3) and the quickness in which the babies were delivered is a type and shadow statement of the quick work God will do on the earth in the body of Christ(Rom 9:28)].

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Joh 15:1  I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

1Ki 3:16  Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
1Ki 3:17  And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.

These verses in 2Timothy 2:20 and Romans 9:21-23 explain to us who the two harlots are being spoken of in this section of Kings that represent the same lump, which is why “I and this woman dwell in one house” (Rom 11:16).

2Ti 2:20  But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.

Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

Rom 11:16  For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so  are the branches.

Of one of the women God was “willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known” as He “endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction” who was represented in this story by the harlot whose child died. The other woman in the story, who has the living child, is there to show us, “that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory.” In short this entire story is a parable revealing to us what we find written in this section of Romans 11 and is an admonition for us to never take anything for granted as we behold the severity and the goodness of God being expressed in this story of the two harlots in the one house (Rom 11:22 Rom 11:31-36).

Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed [woman without child], that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35  Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. [the woman who gives birth to the child (Joh 3:3). It is with that mind of Christ that we do instruct one another in the Lord through the manifold knowledge of God made known by the church (Eph 3:10)].

God reminds us that all flesh is Gentile and cannot inherit the kingdom of God and that there is none righteous (Rom 3:10), and so we have two harlots who witness to this truth – “Then came there two women, that were harlots“. Even after all the creation is redeemed, God deemed it necessary that we never forget where we came from by being called beasts around the throne of God who are now spiritually domesticated servants of the living God and Creator of all things (Rev 4:6-11). God is God, and it was for his pleasure that these things were created and unfolded in the order in which He ordained them to unfold from the foundation of the world “which he had afore prepared unto glory”.

The first woman to speak is the one who represents Christ’s first fruits, who are like Christ in having preeminence (1Jn 4:17, Col 1:18) which is demonstrated by her boldness to come first before the throne of grace to obtain mercy in time of need in type and shadow (Heb 4:16). All she could do at this point is just what we all can do and that is to come before God and throw ourselves on His mercy: “And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.” This story of the two harlots and the children involved explains how God will, and does, through heresies make manifest who is approved (1Co 11:19). At this juncture of the story, Solomon is just gathering the information and not rushing to judgment (Pro 25:8-12).

1Co 11:19  For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

Pro 25:8  Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.
Pro 25:9  Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another:
Pro 25:10  Lest he that heareth it put thee to shame, and thine infamy turn not away.
Pro 25:11  A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
Pro 25:12  As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.

This story reveals who has the obedient ear between these two woman, and we’ll see that it is the one who does not want to divide Christ, who is represented by the living child, she being filled with mercy and compassion placing the greatest value on the life of the child even to the detriment of her own great loss, which she was willing to endure to keep the child alive (Eph 4:3-6, Mat 10:39).

Eph 4:3  Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Eph 4:4  There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Eph 4:5  One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

1Ki 3:18  And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.

The events revealed of this woman who was the mother of the living child demonstrate that these women represent God’s anointed and God’s rejected anointed respectively. They both delivered “the third day” which we know represents a process of judgment, and for one this judgment was bringing about a new life and for the other the child was lost. They were both “together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house” reminding us that the tares and the wheat grow together in the house, and in their infancy there is no detection of a “stranger with us in the house“, and yet the mother whose child died was truly a stranger to Christ in how she callously treated and stole from the other woman (Joh 10:10-11).

Joh 10:10  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Joh 10:11  I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

She then went on to claim that she was the rightful mother to this child, demonstrating what we do in Babylon when we claim that the Christ child is ours and should be nourished by us, even as the words or doctrines of Christ are rejected (Luk 6:46). There really is no stay of bread or water to feed this baby (Isa 3:1). In the final analysis she had no regard for the living child (Luk 6:46). Without God’s judgment in our lives we would have no regard for the spiritual life and death importance of not dividing Christ. So the woman with the child that lives represents those who are judged in this life being received of God through those judgments which reveal His love for us that can only be learned through fiery chastening trials (1Pe 4:12, Heb 12:6).

God uses the most precious example in the flesh, a newborn child, to demonstrate to us how precious His word is that is not to be divided or handled carelessly by a stranger, as this woman was (Mat 22:14, 1Co 4:6, 1Jn 4:6).

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

1Co 4:6  And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

1Ki 3:19  And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it.

What we are being told in verse 19, in type and shadow, is that the doctrines of Christ will die in the night if we bury them underneath us in the earth “because she overlaid it” (Mat 25:25), but if we are truly hearing the voice of the true shepherd then those doctrines will be rightly divided as we are received as a mother hen receives her chicks (Luk 13:34). We “would not” be that brood gathered under her wings unless we were dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44) and so boasting is excluded by the law of faith (Rom 3:27) which tells us that the Lord did all these things in the order He did to bring about the salvation of all (Gen 45:5).

Mat 25:25  And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

Luk 13:34  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Rom 3:27  Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

1Ki 3:20  And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
1Ki 3:21  And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.

This selfish act of desperation on the part of the woman who had lost her child, “she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me” is akin to some man, any carnal man, trying to take our crown, and is an admonition for us to hold fast to the doctrine of Christ (Rev 3:10-11). We are as God’s elect bound to the altar (Psa 118:27), and so although we all lose our first love (Rev 2:4), if we are His that love will be rekindled, and this very short-lived event of being separated from the living child that represents Christ will be turned around when the mother discerns “in the morning” that what was hers “which I did bear” has been taken and replaced by another child. The expression “in her bosom” and “in my bosom” is significant in that it reminds us that we can hold life or death in our bosom, but God has granted His elect to enter into His rest today where the manchild is in his bosom (Luk 16:22, Joh 13:23).

Rev 3:10  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown [2Sa 12:7].

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Luk 16:22  And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

Joh 13:23  Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

When Christ gives us victory over sin by rightly dividing the word “when I had considered it in the morning” in our life as Solomon did for the woman who was the real mother of the child, then she entered into that rest that came about by Solomon’s judgments being in her life, which typify God’s judgments in our lives that teach us His righteousness (Heb 4:9-12, Isa 26:9).

Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. [This verse in Hebrews 4:12 typified in “the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment” (1Ki 3:28)]

Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

We are admonished to watch and pray (Luk 21:35-36) because we don’t know at what hour our Lord is going to return, and yet if God tells us to watch, we know assuredly that we won’t (Rom 7:19) until we are awakened through Christ to trim our lamps (Mat 25:5), which in this case was typified by what she did in the morning with eyes that were now awake to what God was allowing. Now she knew the child is not hers because it couldn’t receive even the milk of the word which is what we are being told when she says “And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead“.

Luk 21:35  For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Luk 21:36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Mat 25:5  While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

In regards to the other mother who took the child, this is the negative example of trimming your lamp at “midnight” as it had nothing to do with losing her life and making the light of Christ burn brighter in her heavens, but rather was all about making the best of a bad situation even at the expense of someone else. This mother who lost her child is telling us something very important in this age, and that is that the world has no regard for those things we consider to be precious and priceless and are willing, as she was, to steal and starve the manchild, the crown of life that God had given to us and does not belong to her (Mat 10:22, Rev 3:11, Heb 13:10).

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved [Php 4:13].

Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

God shows us through this story what is really in the heart of the churches of this world without the manchild in their midst. They want the living child without receiving the counsel of God that says buy gold tried in the fire so you can see: “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” (Rev 3:18).

It is not theirs to be rebuked and chastened in this age and so there is no repentance possible if God is not orchestrating that in their lives: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent “(Rev 3:19). The most horrible of all feelings that your child has been stolen from you is a shadow of how great our fear should be of God, not wanting to lose our crown of life and the immeasurable blessing of being in that blessed and holy first resurrection (Heb 5:7, Rev 20:6).

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

When Christ is in our lives we will discern the voice of the true Shepherd in each other as well as not follow the voice of another who is not Christ (Joh 10:27-29). This is being expressed in type and shadow by the mother who knew this was not her child “but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear“.

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

1Ki 3:22  And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.
1Ki 3:23  Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.
1Ki 3:24  And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.

God’s word is the final arbiter in this story which is why “the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king“. It takes safety that is found in a multitude of counsellors in order to remove Babylon from our thinking, and these two woman represent the first and second Adam who both lay claim to Christ each saying ‘yours is the dead child [false doctrine] and mine is the live child [true doctrine]’, but only one is the rightful mother of the living child who represents the manchild of God who is caught up to heaven (Rev 12:5, Gal 4:26).

Rev 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

1Ki 3:25  And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
1Ki 3:26  Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.

Solomon’s new found wisdom, which is a gift from God, is now on full display for these two women who represent who we are when we are in Babylon and who we are when we are coming out of Babylon (2Co 6:17). They are both going to hear what Solomon knows is going to manifest is in each of their hearts (1Jn 4:6). The lack of regard that we have for God’s words while we are in Babylon is shown to us by the woman who thinks nothing of dividing the child who represents Christ and His doctrine, which is not divided (1Co 1:13).

Our perception of Christ is all wrong at this point as we think He is an austere man who would carry out such a cruel act. Yet now we know that Solomon, who typifies our Lord, was only saying these things to show who of the two womean was froward in heart and who of the two women was pure in heart (Psa 18:26), and so “the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other“. Then, the woman who represents our time in Babylon says, “Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it“.

Luk 19:22  And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

Psa 18:26  With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

Tit 1:15  Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
Tit 1:16  They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

When we look at the descriptions of the other woman who represents the true church, a picture is painted for us of how the bride of Christ thinks with the mind of Christ, uttering these words: “Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it“. This great contrast between the two woman is shown for our sakes. The mother to whom the child belongs had “bowels” that “yearned upon her son” not wanting a hair on this child to be touched (Luk 21:18) “and in no wise slay it“, a type and shadow of the strong desire God is working in the body of Christ to keep us “of one mind” with “bowels of mercy” and with a likemindedness that comes with the singleness which is in Christ, reflecting His love toward one another (2Co 11:3).

1Pe 3:8  Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

Col 3:12  Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Col 3:13  Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

Php 2:1  If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
Php 2:2  Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity [singleness] that is in Christ.

1Ki 3:27  Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.
1Ki 3:28  And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.

This type and shadow language of King Solomon, who is a type of Christ, is of great comfort to God’s elect as it reminds us that what God has ordained to happen will happen because the king has commanded it: “Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof“. Giving her the child is another way of saying ‘give her the inheritance, an inheritance that can only be nourished by “the mother thereof” which we know is Jerusalem above the mother of us all’. Solomon then saying “in no wise slay it” is the same as Christ saying: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (Joh 10:28-29).

So, we need to watch and pray, and not cast away our confidence which has great recompence of reward, knowing the scriptures are written for our learning that we might have comfort and hope (Rom 15:4). When we fear the king as “they feared the king“, we understand that fear spiritually as obedience to the life of Christ in each other. This brings about unity in the body of Christ, a unity and singleness of mind that will render this last verse of tonight’s study applicable to each of us, individually and collectively as a body, because of the life of Christ within us: “And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment” (Col 1:27, Php 2:12-13).

Rom 15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

It takes “all Israel” hearing the entire body of Christ, the Israel of God (Gal 6:16), to fight against the wiles of the devil and having done all stand “in the evil day” (Eph 6:12-13) as we continue to believe (Joh 6:29) these words “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Rev 3:11).

Gal 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Rev 3:11 BeholdG2400 [G5628], I comeG2064 [G5736] quicklyG5035: hold that fastG2902 [G5720] whichG3739 thou hastG2192 [G5719], thatG2443 no manG3367 takeG2983 [G5632] thyG4675 crownG4735.

Gen 4:7 If thou doest well,[“hold that fast which thou hast”] shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

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