A Visit From The Queen of Sheba

A small store owner was being pressured to sell his store to the owners of a large department store who had bought every building on the block, except his. Frustrated by the man’s refusal to sell, they eventually opened their huge store on either side of the small one, with … More

Wisdom

Solomon’s wisdom captured international attention. It even reached out to the Queen of Sheba, which in modern terminology is Arabid which is about 1,200 miles from Jerusalem. Probably Solomon’s merchants had been operating along the Arabian coast and made contact with this prosperous and important kingdom.

The Queen of Sheba decided to visit Solomon and it seems that her primary purpose was to see if he was really as wise and wealthy as she had heard. Her very great company of followers and the expensive gifts she brought reflected her own prestige. The Queen was quite wealthy as she gave Solomon 120 talents (4 ½ tons) of gold and great quantities of spices and precious stone (v. 10). In return, Solomon gave the Queen gifts and all that she desired and asked for (v. 13).

The Queen had been quite skeptical about all of Solomon’s wealth and wisdom, but she said it all far exceeded what she had been told. Even though she was probably a pagan she was willing to credit the Lord with giving Solomon all that he had (vv. 6-9).

The last half of this chapter gives a summary of Solomon’s wealth. The annual revenue of gold was almost 25 tons or an equivalent of over 67 million dollars (vv. 1-15). God had told his kings not to multiply god (Duet. 17:17), but Solomon disobeyed. The reason for this prohibition was that the Lord wanted His people to depend on Him and not on their wealth. It was soon evident that the heart of Solomon and his people were turned away from God.

Application

Because of Solomon’s wisdom the people were happy and content. In James 3:17 it says that wisdom brings peace. Am I seeking wisdom that brings peace in my relationships?

I Kings 10:1-29 (English Standard Version)


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