May 14
II Chronicles
6:23—I Chronicles 9:25
THE
CURIOUS QUEEN
II Chronicles
9:1
"When the queen
of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove
Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem . . ."
Let us look at this
QUEEN named SHEBA who came all the way from the ancient
country of SHEBA to JERUSALEM to check out KING S0LOMON.
What an inquisitive woman she was!
She did not sneak into
the area unbeknownst. How could she? For accompanying
the wealthy queen was a great company of camels. They
were laden with goods such as spices, gold, and precious
stones. Some say the weight of her gift of "gold" was
4.5 tons. It looked like she planned to stay for awhile.
She meant business! Her gifts signified that she was
royalty and her questions revealed her inquisitive mind.
The country of SHEBA
could have been parts of ERITREA, ETHIOPIA, and YEMEN as
we know them today. Though Solomon called her"Sheba,"
she was known as MAKEDA to the Ethiopian people.
Josephus called her NICAULE. Some say she was born on
January 5th in the 10th century BCE (before
the Christian era).
When QUEEN SHEBA sat
down with the king, she held nothing back. The Bible
says that she communed with him of all that was in her
heart. Are you a bit curious as to what was in her
heart? I am. What had she heard about KING SOLOMON that
she made such an effort to see him? Perhaps this was the
usual thing for a country’s royalty to do to another
country’s royalty. Whatever–she came and asked
"in-depth" queries.
I think that SOLOMON
was intrigued with SHEBA. He told her everything she
wanted to know--and then some (II Chronicles 9:2).
FLABBERGASTED was the word! It is the best one I can
think of to describe the reaction of SHEBA to
SOLOMON–just plain FLABBERGASTED! She saw his wisdom
first- hand. She tasted of his food at his table. She
saw his gracious servants, his impressive cupbearers.
She observed their beautiful attire. She was overwhelmed
with the way Solomon walked into the HOUSE OF THE
LORD–his poise, his reverence, his access to the LORD
God! The grandeur of it all!
After seeing all of
this, her truthful response to Solomon was "It was a
true report which I heard in mine own land of thine
acts, and thy wisdom!" She confessed that she would
never have believed it, if she had not seen it with her
own eyes. With true reverence, she said, "Blessed be the
LORD thy God . . .to set thee on His throne. . .because
thy God loved Israel. . ." It is interesting to notice
that SHEBA recognized that the KING’S THRONE was GOD’S
THRONE not Solomon’s!
SHEBA is mentioned two
times in the New Testament (Matthew 12:42; Luke 11:3).
When I discussed these passages with my husband he said
that Solomon was visited by the Queen of Sheba. She was
overwhelmed with his wisdom and learning. She received
his message, went home filled with wonderful truths. By
contrast, in the New Treatment, the Pharisees and
unbelievers of His day heard Him not as SHEBA heard
SOLOMON. There was a vast difference in the"hearing."
The unbelievers did not accept Jesus’ wisdom as SHEBA
had accepted SOLOMON’S. In teaching this, Jesus told his
hearers that He (JESUS) was greater than Solomon; and He
was there in there midst of them. They could care less!
John 1:11-12 states
clearly, the unbelief of the people in Jesus’ day. "He
came unto his own, and His own received Him not. But as
many as received Him, to them gave He power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.
. ." (ysw)
"MY
HIDING PLACE"
IN THE SHADOWS
OF THY WINGS WILL I MAKE MY REFUGE
UNTIL THESE
CALAMITIES OVERPAST.
(Psalm57:1)
MY SHIELD–
Protesting,
preventing-- His truth shall be my shield.
The armor of
God–I hold His Word before me as a shield against the
enemy.
MY HOPE IS THY
WORD
(Psalm 119:81,
92, 114)
