The Wisdom of Solomon

One day, about five years ago, I felt called to re-read 1 Kings 3 in depth. It contains the well known account of King Solomon asking for wisdom:

“In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and the LORD said, Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto Thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before Thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with Thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that Thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, O LORD my God, Thou hast made Thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And Thy servant is in the midst of Thy people which Thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. 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?

And the words were pleasing in the eyes of the LORD, that Solomon had asked this thing. And the LORD said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. And if thou wilt walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.

And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants."

Immediately after this gift of Heavenly wisdom, the following account occurs of two women; there is no pause, no gap, no extra verses in between:

"Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. 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. 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. And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it. 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. 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. 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. 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. And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 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. Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof."

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 passage of the two women, straight after the giving of wisdom, is put there I believe to highlight Solomon’s unparalleled wisdom.

But as I sat there something hit me and I began to question the LORD! This is the conversation that followed:

"LORD, You gave Solomon wisdom and You described it as wisdom so great “that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.” LORD, forgive me for saying but I don’t think that’s amazing wisdom. Solomon was clever in his judgment but not unparalleled. If my children argue over the last piece of cake, even I tell them, “One cuts, the other chooses”. And I’m just a normal parent. This "wisdom" that Solomon was illustrating came from You. You’d just given it to him, so it was Heavenly Wisdom. But what was so Heavenly about his wisdom in the story of the two women? It was clever but it doesn’t, at face value, look Heavenly. Even I could have come up with that judgment. What’s so heavenly about what Solomon said, LORD?”

There is a Jewish word called Chutzpah, meaning "the quality of audacity, for good or bad." This would be a good example of that!

Rather than be cross, the LORD had given me this chutzpah to ask, in order to find something treasured, prophetic and hidden. I got the sense that My Heavenly Father was pleased, happy and deeply affectionate of my honest questioning. Here is the conversation that followed, as best as I can remember. The tone was deeply gentle, strong and loving. I pray before the Living, Holy LORD and Judge of the Universe that this is truly word for word from Him and if any part of it isn't, may the blood of Yeshua cover me and correct me. But before Him I believe this is, to the best of my understanding, what I heard:

*the words in brackets were not spoken in the conversation but are there to hopefully make comprehension even clearer.

The LORD: How many babies were there?

Me: Two

The LORD: What are the main two babies in My Word?

Me: Yeshua (Jesus) and Moshe (Moses)

The LORD: What do these two babies mean?

Me: Moshe represents the Law and Yeshua represents the ability to fulfil the Law.

The LORD: What happened to the first baby?

Me: It was smothered, it died. It didn’t bring life.

The LORD: What does the Law bring?

Me: It doesn’t bring Life. You can’t follow it ever perfectly, no matter how hard you try.

The LORD: How many women were there?

Me: Two

The LORD: Where are there two women in the Bible?

Me: The Book of Revelation. (*There are other accounts of two women. Many of the matriarchs were in pairs. But this was the only "two women" that came to my mind and heart at this point in the conversation.)

The LORD: What do they both have in common?

Me: They were both unmarried. They both didn’t have a husband, they were both in sin.

The LORD: What do they represent?

Me: The harlot represents the false church. The woman represents the true church. The Marriage Supper hasn’t happened and we are all in sin, not one is holy without the LORD.

The LORD: So which baby was still alive?

Me: The one that brings Life.

The LORD: And what did the false mother want to do?

Me: Divide the baby. The false church wants to divide Yeshua, the living baby, from Himself. But you can’t separate Yeshua from the Ability to Fulfil the Law. Grace doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter if we’re not holy. Grace is the ability to be holy.

The LORD: They’ve (the false church) become Proud of Grace.

Me: Wow! That’s amazing. Proud of Grace. Jewish teaching says the Law of Mount Sinai was given on the Festival of Shavu’ot, the Festival of Weeks. This is the same day that the modern church call Pentecost. Pentecost is Your Festival of Shavu’ot in Leviticus. So you sent the Holy Spirit on the same day (as Jewish writings say the Law was given) to show us the Holy Spirit is the power for us to be holy, to follow the Ten Commandments. The modern church sometimes thinks the Holy Spirit is like a good experience with no holy purpose, like a good drug.

The LORD: What does Solomon mean? (in Hebrew)

Me: Peace.

The LORD: So King Solomon means?

Me: King of Peace. That’s Yeshua!

The LORD: So why is King Solomon’s wisdom so Heavenly?

Me: Because he’s prophesying! He’s prophesying about things in the future. He’s prophesying about the end times and the church!

The LORD: How?

Me: Because the end time church, the harlot, will try to divide Yeshua’s Holiness from Him. It will try to divide the baby. Cut the baby in half and the church dies. Whereas the Bride, the true mother, will follow the whole of Yeshua. She will see that the Holy Spirit is given in order to be holy, not as an excuse not to be.

The LORD: And who do I give the baby to?

Me: The true church.

Pause:

Me: LORD, are You saying You actually give Yeshua as a baby to the church to raise?!!!

The LORD: In the sense that as the true bride grows up in her holiness from a baby to maturity herself, she ‘raises’, or shows, the whole of My Son into all He is supposed to be in the world.

Me: That is so humbling to think we, as the Bride, get to ‘raise’ the baby, get to allow Yeshua’s power to grow up (in us), to show all He is.

The LORD: King Solomon is a prophecy of My King of Peace. My King of Peace is saying “Don’t divide the baby. Don’t separate the baby from the Ability to Fulfil the Law. Don’t separate Grace from the ability to be Holy. Don’t separate the baby. I will only give My Son to the woman – the bride – who loves My Son so much that she can’t bear to see Yeshua divided from My Holiness on Mount Sinai. He is the ability to obey it; My Holy Spirit is the ability to obey the Ten Commandments. Be Holy as I am Holy. Then I will give you My Son and you will be My Bride. You will then be married and have your Husband. King Solomon asked for Heavenly Wisdom in order to lead My precious people Israel because He knew how much I treasured them. Tell this to the church. Each person in the church has a decision to make - to be My Bride or to be a harlot. It’s not as easy as it sounds. This prophecy was given to King Solomon because he asked for wisdom to lead My People Israel. My Son, the King of Peace, will lead My people Israel because I truly treasure them. I treasure you.

Me: I’d read that ‘story’ so many times before. How come I didn’t see it?

The LORD: Things that are hidden will now become shown. I love you.

***

Is this conversation true of a growing Holy division between the bride and false church today? Remember, He gave me this conversation five years ago but it hid away until last month, when He asked me to work on it again to publish it here. If I had written this publicly five years ago, many, many people would have thought I was being judgemental. But now, it completely makes sense.

REFLECTION: Can this conversation be backed up by Scripture?

Hebrews 5.9 "And being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him.

2 Timothy 2.19 "And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."

Hebrews 13.21 "Make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ); to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

1 Peter 1.16 "Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy."

Romans 6.11-15 "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our LORD. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid."

I am not saying we need to be perfect to be saved. That is impossible, while we are in the flesh. But we can try, and live humbly before God. If the LORD convicts us of a sin through His Word then we must turn from it, run from it, cut it off, get it out of our lives, even at great cost to the status quo of our lives. There is nothing, nothing, nothing worth holding onto, nor doing or confessing, if we lose our salvation:

"Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before the LORD. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." (Revelation 3.2-6)

A good place to start? "LORD have mercy on me a sinner." (Luke 18.13). And we must have courage to change the sin in our lives, even if it means great change, potential embarrassment and needing to go to others and repent before them. Not sure if you have sin in your life? Leave the world outside the door and spend time just in His Word. Pray to Him and ask Him to show you the sin in your life.

"And He said to them all, If any man wants to be My disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or loses his soul? For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and My words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He shall come in His own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God." (Luke 9. 23-27)

The LORD has really helped me in this area by taking me back to His Sermon on the Mount. The level of holiness I find there is profound. Meditating on His teachings in Matthew chapters 5-7 brings such repentance and such an awareness of how unholy our lives, and some teachings, have become in the modern church age. And Romans 10 is a great passage to read in balancing out this aiming for Holiness with His Grace.

But at the end of the day, at any moment, it boils down to one thing. If I say I love Yeshua/Jesus but do not seek to obey His commandments, what does He say to that? "If ye love Me, keep My commands." (John 14.15) But if we say, "Ah, but Jesus is my friend, not my judge", what does He say to that? "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." (John 15.14)

The most loving thing I can think of doing for others is to share as much of the Word of God as possible in the time I have left, to love others as best I can by obeying His Word before them, even at great cost, and to repent every single day before Him, while making sure I never go too long in any one day without reading, repenting and living according to His Holy Word. LORD have mercy, in Yeshua's Name.

TO RECAP:

The LORD: And what did the false mother want to do?

This is the prophetic wisdom of Solomon: The King of Peace is coming back and He will see which woman is true by which cries out, "Don't cut Yeshua off from His own Words, don't cut the baby in half, let Him live!"

HEBRAIC AND PROPHETIC CONFIRMATION: This is where He may blow your mind!

1) How do I know that King Solomon was prophesying of the Messiah and seeing the end of days? Because of when the baby, who brings life, was brought into the account to collide with the story of the baby that died.

"And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered..." (1 Kings 3.18) Who was raised from death to life on the third day?! "And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." (1 Corinthians 15.4)

2) And how do I know that when King Solomon asked for "an understanding heart" that he was given the ability to proclaim the hidden Messiah, whether he realised what he was doing or not? Because in the English, it just says that Solomon asked for an "understanding heart" and that the LORD gave him an "understanding heart." But in the Hebrew, Solomon actually asks for "a listening/hearing heart." It is from the Hebrew verb: "to listen, hear, discern, announce, proclaim, obey, to sound out, to completely comprehend." And it is this verb which forms the most central prayer of Israel even today, "Hear/listen, O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is One." (from The Shema and from Deuteronomy 6:4)).

And yet, in the Hebrew, the LORD does not repeat this verb back to Solomon, even though the same word is used both times in the English. That is a mistranslation. In response to Solomon asking for a heart to hear, obey and completely proclaim something over the people Israel, the LORD gives him a "wise heart." And Who is the Personification of the same Hebrew verb for "Wisdom" calling out in the first person narrative in Proverbs 8?

"Blessed is the man that heareth Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors. For whoso findeth Me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. But he that sinneth against Me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate Me love death." (Proverbs 8.34-36) That is the Messiah, calling out through the "Old" Testament, calling Himself the Biblical Personification of Wisdom. So, King Solomon cries out for a hearing, obedient, proclaiming heart to reign over the LORD's people Israel and the LORD in turn gives Him "the Person of Wisdom" in his heart. This is because the LORD desperately wants His people Israel to know and recognise their Messiah. Did King Solomon consciously know he was proclaiming a future prophecy of Messiah? I don't know yet....

3) And how do I know that I know that I know (!) that this account of King Solomon and the two women is both an historical account of a King of Israel and a prophecy of the future? Because in the Biblical Hebrew there is a verb-use that doesn't appear in English. It is called the Vav Conversive. It is when just one letter is added to the front of a verb to change what would be the future imperfect tense, or continuing action, to be read as if it were the past perfect tense. We humans tend to want to think in terms of finite, linear time but the God of Israel doesn't. This verb conjunction is all through the so-called "Old" Testament and forms the main verb conjunction used in most of the narration of the Hebrew Scriptures. So, how can an action be both in the past, the present continuing and the future tense at the same time?! The King of Glory, the One True God, the Messiah, is all these things. "I am the beginning and the ending, saith the LORD, which is (present continuing), and which was (past), and which is to come (future), the Almighty." (Revelation 1.8) The Messiah is effectively the essence of the vav conversive Hebrew verb structure!

And finally, what is this one letter, which is added to the beginning of a verb, that changes so much of the tenses in the so-called "Old" Testament? It is the Hebrew letter "vav", and each letter has a meaning in Hebrew and "vav" means... "a man." God became man! One of the difficulties my Jewish brothers and sisters have in seeing Yeshua as the Messiah is that we are commanded not to worship man. But this Man is God, walking around in a flesh. God is Spirit but that doesn't mean He can't also decide to put on a body for the salvation of His Creation. This strikes me as exactly the love the One True God of Israel would show, for He is the Most Loving God, and yearns to constantly walk around among His people. This "Man" is hidden in the Biblical Hebrew verb structure, in the narration of so many of the accounts in the "Old" Testament, ensuring that what is past, is and will be.

And so, to conclude where we started, with King Solomon and the two women and two babies - now we can see that the verse describing the birth of the baby on third day in 1 Kings 3 could read: "And it will be, and it was, and it is continuing through all time, that on the third day, the baby Who is alive (Yeshua), collided with the baby that died (the law brought through Moses), and I was delivered!" HalleluYah! Thanks be to God!

Known by him or not, this is the Heavenly Wisdom of Solomon, hidden in the Hebrew. It is a prophetic glimpse of Messiah, given to King Solomon to rule over and bless the LORD's people Israel.

Jerusalem of Gold

The Wisdom of Solomon