The Mothers Of The Kings Of Judah And The Serpent Crushing King Of Kings!

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8

Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered . . . . Revelation 5:5

I was reading the book of Kings with a friend, and she keenly noticed in the section we were reading, often the mothers' names of the righteous kings are mentioned, but the mothers' names of the wicked kings are not. After further research, I found this:

1. Of all the 20 kings of Judah, every time the Bible speaks of them becoming king, with only 2 exceptions, every other time their mothers' names are explicitly mentioned. 18 mothers! 7 of these kings were righteous, while 13 were wicked (Amaziah is sort of on the borderline).

2. Of all the 19 kings of Israel (all of which are evil), with 1 exception (Jeroboam I - a transition period), their mothers' names are never explicitly mentioned at all when they became king.

So generally, the mothers' names of the kings of Judah are recorded. But the mothers' names of the kings of Israel are not recorded.

Guess what kings' names are recorded in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1? The line of Judah whose mothers' names are mentioned! 

I'm not sure about the significance of this, but I wonder if the mothers' names being mentioned serves to highlight and emphasize the fact that the Seed of the WOMAN, the righteous King of all kings, would eventually come to crush the head of the serpent on that cross?!

Then, I asked Dr. Iain Duguid about this (he's my favorite O.T. scholar in the whole world! And he answered my email at 2:19am! - what a blessing!), and he directed me to this excellent article in the Tyndale Bulletin: "MOTHERS OF OFFSPRING IN 1–2 KINGS A MESSIANIC HOPE IN DAVID’S LINE?" by Jesse R. Scheumann

Scheumann comes to my same conclusion! Here are some highlights from Scheumann's article:

Summary

In the books of 1 and 2 Kings, the mothers of Judaean kings are given a unique focus in being mentioned. Historically-minded scholars, neglecting a more message-minded approach, have not sufficiently explored why this is the case. However, when viewed as an allusion to Genesis 3:15, the focus on mothers reveals a literary marking of each Judaean king as an offspring of the woman, maintaining messianic hope within a dark period of Judah’s history.

Genesis 3:15 Sightings In Kings (these are AMAZING!)

It is likely that the editor of Kings has the Genesis 3 account in mind, because there are three probable allusions to this passage in the narrative. Before David publically announces his successor, Adonijah exalts himself as king (1 Kgs 1:5). Adonijah, however, is an imposter, since David has promised that Solomon would reign next (1 Kgs 1:13, 17, 24, 30), and the reader is told that Adonijah is sacrificing ‘by the Serpent’s Stone’ (1:9). Adonijah is, at least literarily, allied with the serpent. Solomon describes David’s military victories in the language of Genesis 3:15, declaring that ‘God put them [his enemies] under the soles of his feet’ (1 Kgs 5:3; cf. Gen. 22:17b; 24:60; 49:8; Num. 24:7, 17–19). Hezekiah’s actions are compared to David’s (2 Kgs 18:3), and the editor relates next that ‘he beat into pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made’ (2 Kgs 18:4), because it was used as a place of sacrifice. Again, at least literarily, Hezekiah defeats the serpent to secure sole devotion to God.

Conclusion

Attention given to mothers in Kings contributes to the book’s message in a twofold way. First, only mentioning the Judaean mothers strengthens a dichotomy between Israel and Judah as distinct, rival lines. Even the Judaean kings J(eh)oram and Ahaz, whose mother’s names are omitted, are evaluated as walking like Israelite kings. The evil of Israel is spread to Judah through Jezebel and her daughter Athaliah, who attempted to exterminate David’s offspring. Second, frequently mentioning the Judaean mothers animates the hope that one of David’s offspring would be the serpent-crushing offspring of the woman. The true Judaean line is marked by kings whose mothers’ names are given, literarily marking them as offspring of the woman. This line of promise is preserved in times of peril by Bathsheba and Jehosheba. Even in exile, hope remains kindled in the continuation of David’s line through Jehoiachin. Although many scholars have made a strong case for a messianic reading of Genesis 3:15, they have done so almost exclusively from the angle of ‘offspring of the woman’. In doing so, they have produced a truncated Messianism, because Scripture also develops Genesis 3:15 from the complementary angle of ‘mother of the offspring’. This study suggests that the editor of Kings focuses on motherhood, a theme throughout Scripture, to highlight how the line of promise is preserved and to heighten hope that the Messiah will yet come.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

I've been reading the Bible in a year for almost 30 years, and I've never seen this before! There is always more to see in God's Word! Keep reading! Keep meditating! And keep praying!

God And The Gospel

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, His cross, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here with a free, 3 day trial.