Verses 1-9, “Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. Then she said to the king: 'It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.' ”
Word of Solomon's fame spread far away to the other nations. So the queen of Sheba set out on a journey to meet him and find out for herself if the rumors were true. She clearly had riches herself, bringing them along with her on her trip, but Solomon had something that intrigued her. He had wisdom from God. She observed his behavior, tested him with difficult questions, and watched his servants, coming to the determination that his God, the God of Israel, was indeed real. According to His promise, He delivered blessing and protection to the nation for their obedience, and all nations would be blessed through them.
When we walk as true believers before the rest of the world, living in obedience to God's word, others will observe our conduct and see that God is real. Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Unfortunately, the opposite is true as well. When our words and actions do not line up and when our beliefs are tested and we come up short of genuine faith, we cause others to blaspheme our God. Even in our persecutions, we must suffer in a godly manner, not after the pattern of the world.
I Peter 4:12-19, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now 'If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?' Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.”
Verses 10-13, “Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great quantity, and precious stones. There never again came such abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. Also, the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought great quantities of almug wood and precious stones from Ophir. And the king made steps of the almug wood for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers. There never again came such almug wood, nor has the like been seen to this day. Now King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, besides what Solomon had given her according to the royal generosity. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.”
The queen of Sheba and Solomon exchanged gifts with each other. The queen gave an abundance of spices and almug wood, which was used to make steps for Solomon's house and the house of the Lord. King Solomon gave to the queen according to his royal generosity, which implies that he gave her lavishly. God gives to us richly, but most of all, He gave us His son as payment for our sins, an everlasting gift that never fails. Romans 8:32, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”
Verses 14-20, “The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, besides that from the traveling merchants, from the income of traders, from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country. And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round at the back; there were armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.”
It is obvious that Solomon began heaping up his wealth, making useless items such as shields of gold. Their only purpose was to make a display to others. Along with that, he made a throne of ivory and even imported a chariot from Egypt. Not being content with what God provides, causes us to seek after the things of this world. There was nothing that Egypt could provide that Solomon needed, but he desired it nonetheless, as though God's abundant provision was just not enough. Is the gift of Jesus on the cross enough for you, or are you still going after the things of the world? Matthew 6:31-33, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Verses 21-29, “All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. For the king had merchant ships at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the merchant ships came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys. So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. Now all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year. And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland. Also Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price. Now a chariot that was imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse one hundred and fifty; and thus, through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.”
Solomon had asked God for wisdom, not riches, and because of that, God blessed him with both. Sadly, his prosperity would lead him into sin, even though his heart was right in the beginning. I Timothy 6:6-10, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, besides that from the traveling merchants, from the income of traders, from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country. And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. I Kings 10:14-17
ReplyDeleteKing Solomon much riches and was known by others for his wisdom. The Lord had blessed him riches and popularity as He promised, but what Solomon was not supposed to do is store up riches for himself. That is exactly what he did. Solomon started importing riches from different places. He might of thought he wasn't sinning, but after time it became much than riches.
Many times we sin, and not even had thought we did. We might try to justify and say to ourselves we aren't sinning. We might even have a reason for what we are doing, but as time goes on our sin becomes bigger and we start sinning with other things and then after time we get strayed as Solomon did. It's the little things that we do that stray us, not the big sins. The big sins are just the tipping point on where our heart is at. We need to never try to justify sin nomatter why we think it's okay.
In this chapter, Queen Sheba went out and journeyed to see kind Solomon and the kingdom of Isreal. God had blessed Solomon and the kingdom abundantly, and it was well known by other nations of Solomon's wisdom and wealth. This is why Queen Sheba journeyed so far to meet Solomon and ask questions.
ReplyDeleteThis blessing was a fulfillment of God's old covenant promise which said Israel was going to be an example to other nations by either blessings from obedience or extreme punishment for disobedience. Right now, they had extreme blessing from the Lord because they were obedient. Deuteronomy 28:1-2' “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God"
Now, when we are obedient to the Lord, we will be blessed, but that doesn't necessarily mean with worldly riches. Money and riches can cause problems, and cause us to sin. I Timothy 6:10- "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." God may be protecting us from falling into sin regarding money and riches. Matthew 19:24- "And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” The blessing of God does not mean worldly riches. God will always provide, and sometimes we will have just enough to get by, but praise God for that! We don't need to worry about worldly riches because if we are in His will, He will guide us, giving us peace, joy, and wisdom in this present day.
Solomon never asked for this abundance of worldly riches, but it was evident that the kingdom had plenty. The yearly salary of gold just showed how much the kingdom truly had. God warned the kings of Israel about riches, which was a danger for king Solomon. Deuteronomy 17:17- "Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself."
He also was multiplying horses and importing them from Egypt, which God also warned about. Deuteronomy 17:16- "But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again." Solomon was starting down a slippery slope, and often sin starts with making a good justification or excuse for it. Even though Solomon was blessed with wisdom from God, He was still in danger of falling from sin, and ultimately did turn away from God.
No matter what is going on in our lives. We can't convince ourselves that we are able to escape temptation on our own. This is why we need to cling to God! Even Solomon fell in all his wisdom, so why should we think we would stand without God? James 4:7-8- "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded."