OK, here is something I did for our adult class. I’m sorry that its long.
I want to read to you two passages involving Bathsheba. The first one takes places during David’s reign as Israel’s king. “So Bathsheba visited the king in his room….Bathsheba bowed in homage to the king, who said to her, "What do you wish? (1 Kings 1:15-16)” The second one takes place during Solomon’s reign as Israel’s king. “Then Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and the king stood up to meet her and paid her homage. Then he sat down upon his throne, and a throne was provided for the king’s mother, WHO SAT AT HIS RIGHT. “There is one small favor I would ask of you,” she said. “Do not refuse me.” “Ask it, my mother,” the king said to her, "for I will not refuse you” (2nd Kings 2:19-20).
What is the difference in these two scenarios? Why does Bathsheba get so much better treatment from Solomon than from David, who obviously loved her immensely? Not only does Bathsheba get more respect from him, but Solomon places a chair “at his right”, which is a sign of authority in the ancient monarchies. We see this in the Gospel of Matthew 20:21, “She (James and John’s mother) answered him, ‘Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom.’"
The difference is that in David’s Kingdom, Bathsheba was one of his many wives. Solomon, too, had many wives. According to 1st Kings 11:3, “He had seven hundred wives of princely rank and three hundred concubines…” Now, let me ask you, which one of these wives should be the queen? Any system of determining which wife would be queen would open up a bloodbath among those next in line for the queen’s position. Instead, ancient kingdoms, including Israel, made the King’s mother the Queen. This position, the Gebira, is Bathsheba’s position in Solomon’s Kingdom. The role of the Gebira was as the chief intercessor for the common man, as evidenced by Bathsheba, who was taking a request to the King Solomon for Adonijah, “for he would not refuse her”.
There are other places in the Old Testament that show the queen mother in ancient Israel had real power. Jeremiah is speaking for the Lord in chapter 13:18-20, “**Say to the king and to the queen mother: come down from your throne; From your heads fall your magnificent crowns.**The cities of the Negeb are besieged, with no one to relieve them; All Judah is banished in universal exile. Lift up your eyes and see men coming from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, the sheep that were your glory?” Also in 2nd Kings, the King of Babylon is fixing to route Jerusalem. “Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, himself arrived at the city while his servants were besieging it. Then Jehoiachin, king of Judah, together with his mother, his ministers, officers, and functionaries, surrendered to the king of Babylon… (2nd Kings 24, 11-12). We know from Scriptures that groups of people were most often listed in order of importance. That’s why Peter is always listed first among the Apostles.
Are these just exceptions to the rule in the Davidic Kingdom? Of course not. Throughout 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles, each king that is listed is paired up with his mother. So why is this important? Because one of Jesus’ missions was to restore the Davidic Kingdom. God had promised King David a kingdom that will last forever. The Messiah, from the stump of Jesse (David’s father), would renew this kingdom. In 2nd Samuel 7, verses 12-14, “And when your (David’s) time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm. It is he who shall build a house for my name. And I will make his royal throne firm forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me…” Jesus, of course, is the new King, but it had to be proven to the Jews that Jesus came from the house of David. Matthew does this in chapter 1, detailing the lineage of Jesus. But he traces Jesus’ lineage through Mary, thus introducing her as the queen mother, as well. Do we see this queen anywhere else in the New Testament? Revelations, Chapter 12, verse 1, “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”. This woman is Mary. It’s interesting to note that John never used Mary’s name in his Gospel. He called her “Woman” or “Jesus’ mother”. Similarly, John calls her “Woman” when describing the Queen in Heaven in Revelation. Is this Queen Mary? It says in verse 5 that her son is “destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod” – a direct quote regarding the Messiah from Psalm 2. This child can only be Jesus, so the Woman would be Mary.
What is Mary’s role as Queen of Heaven? As intercessor for the common man, since she is the Gebira of the New Israel. Do we see her performing this role anywhere in the New Testament? In John, chapter 2 at the wedding of Cana.
