II CHRONICLES 9:1-12 FROM THE COMMENTARY

 

    (1) “AND WHEN THE QUEEN OF SHEBA HEARD OF THE FAME OF SOLOMON, SHE CAME TO PROVE SOLOMON WITH HARD QUESTIONS AT JERUSALEM, WITH A VERY GREAT COMPANY, AND CAMELS THAT BORE SPICES, AND GOLD IN ABUNDANCE, AND PRECIOUS STONES: AND WHEN SHE WAS COME TO SOLOMON, SHE COMMUNED WITH HIM OF ALL THAT WAS IN HER HEART.

     (2) “AND SOLOMON TOLD HER ALL HER QUESTIONS: AND THERE WAS NOTHING HID FROM SOLOMON WHICH HE TOLD HER NOT. 

     (3) “AND WHEN THE QUEEN OF SHEBA HAD SEEN THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON, AND THE HOUSE THAT HE HAD BUILT,   

     (4) “AND THE MEAT OF HIS TABLE, AND THE SITTING OF HIS SERVANTS, AND THE ATTENDANCE OF HIS MINISTERS, AND THEIR APPAREL; HIS CUPBEARERS ALSO, AND THEIR APPAREL; AND HIS ASCENT BY WHICH HE WENT UP INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD; THERE WAS NO MORE SPIRIT IN HER. 

     (5) “AND SHE SAID TO THE KING, IT WAS A TRUE REPORT WHICH I HEARD IN MY OWN LAND OF YOUR ACTS, AND OF YOUR WISDOM:

     (6) “HOWBEIT I BELIEVED NOT THEIR WORDS, UNTIL I CAME, AND MY EYES HAD SEEN IT: AND, BEHOLD, THE ONE HALF OF THE GREATNESS OF YOUR WISDOM WAS NOT TOLD ME: FOR YOU EXCEED THE FAME THAT I HEARD.

     (7) “HAPPY ARE YOUR MEN, AND HAPPY ARE THESE YOUR SERVANTS, WHICH STAND CONTINUALLY BEFORE YOU, AND HEAR YOUR WISDOM. 

     (8) “BLESSED BE THE LORD YOUR GOD, WHICH DELIGHTS IN YOU TO SET YOU ON HIS THRONE, TO BE KING FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD: BECAUSE YOUR GOD LOVED ISRAEL, TO ESTABLISH THEM FOREVER, THEREFORE MADE HE YOU KING OVER THEM, TO DO JUDGMENT AND JUSTICE. 

     (9) “AND SHE GAVE THE KING AN HUNDRED AND TWENTY TALENTS OF GOLD, AND OF SPICES GREAT ABUNDANCE, AND PRECIOUS STONES: NEITHER WAS THERE ANY SUCH SPICE AS THE QUEEN OF SHEBA GAVE KING SOLOMON.  

    (10) “AND THE SERVANTS ALSO OF HURAM, AND THE SERVANTS OF SOLOMON, WHICH BROUGHT GOLD FROM OPHIR, BROUGHT ALGUM TREES AND PRECIOUS STONES. 

     (11) “AND THE KING MADE OF THE ALGUM TREES TERRACES TO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, AND TO THE KING’S PALACE, AND HARPS AND PSALTERIES FOR SINGERS: AND THERE WERE NONE SUCH SEEN BEFORE IN THE LAND OF JUDAH. 

     (12) “AND KING SOLOMON GAVE TO THE QUEEN OF SHEBA ALL HER DESIRE, WHATSOEVER SHE ASKED, BESIDE THAT WHICH SHE HAD BROUGHT UNTO THE KING. SO SHE TURNED, AND WENT AWAY TO HER OWN LAND, SHE AND HER SERVANTS.” 

     The structure is: 

     1. (Vs. 1) Solomon was a Type of Christ, albeit an imperfect Type, as all Types are. Jesus would say of Himself, “A greater than Solomon is here.” 

     2. (Vs. 1) The Glory of the Lord having now risen upon Israel, the kings of the Gentiles come to that light, bringing their riches with them, and find there a glory and a wisdom such as the world had never seen. None of these monarchs are mentioned particularly except the queen of Sheba, the Holy Spirit reserving that dignity for a woman. She is further honored by the Lord Himself in Matthew 12:42, where He predicts her reappearance in the Resurrection.

       3. (Vs. 1) Sheba communed with Solomon. Until one “communes with Christ,” they can never know the glory and the splendor of all that Christ is and has. For anyone who cares to investigate, the Lord is waiting. 

      4. According to Verse 2, if the honest heart will earnestly seek, that which it desires will be revealed by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word of God is His Voice. 

      5. (Vs. 4) The splendor of Solomon was, in fact, greater than anything in the world. This is a comparison, at least as much as a comparison can be in the natural realm, of the coming reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the coming Kingdom Age. As grand as that was of Solomon, still, even though a Type of that coming day, it will be nothing by comparison to that which will be of Christ. In Solomon’s day, the great blessing pertained only to Israel. In the coming Kingdom Age, the Blessing will cover the entirety of the world. 

      6. (Vs. 5) Everything the Word of God says about the Lord Jesus Christ is “a true report.” 

      7. (Vs. 6) The Lord Jesus invites inspection. His appeal to the hungry heart is, “Come. . . .” 

      8. (Vs. 7) The only true happiness in the world is that which has been provided by the “Greater than Solomon.” It is a happiness that is based on the Fruit of the Spirit, which is “joy.” 

     9. (Vs. 8) Due to the fact that the queen spoke of the Lord as being Solomon’s God, some have claimed that she really did not accept the Lord. However, the same terminology also suggests, at the same time, that she very well may have accepted the Lord, and no doubt did! 

     10. (Vs. 9) What the queen of Sheba gave to Solomon could be measured; what he gave to her could not be measured. 

     11. (Vs. 12) Our “Greater than Solomon” admonishes us to ask of Him accordingly, and He will give (Lk., Chpt. 11). 


THE QUEEN OF SHEBA AND 

 THE FAME OF SOLOMON 


     How the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, no one knows, but she did hear. As well, the whole world must hear of the fame of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is incumbent upon us, the church, to take this great and glorious Gospel to the ends of the Earth. They must hear! Of all of God’s Work, this is priority. And yet, so little attention is presently given to World Evangelism. 

     The world of Islam, which has no message to tell, spends approximately a hundred times more to propagate their false message of Islam than we do our great Message of Christ. Why are we so lax in carrying out Christ’s last Command (Mk. 16:15)?


 THE QUEEN OF SHEBA CAME


     • She came to prove Solomon with hard questions. 

     • She came with a very great company. 

     • She came with a great offering of spices, gold, and precious stones. 

     • She came in order to tell him her heart’s desire.

      The Scripture says, “And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not.”

     If people would come to the Lord with the same demeanor, the same character, and the same plea, as did the queen of Sheba to Solomon, to be sure, they would have every need met, even to a far greater degree than did the queen of Sheba. 

     When one communes with the Lord, which means to tell the Lord all of one’s heart, such a petition the Lord will always answer.


 THE TRUE REPORT


      Evidently when this woman heard of Solomon’s riches and prosperity, she hardly believed her ears. Yet, the stories came to her thick and fast, so much, in fact, that she undertook this long, long voyage in order to see for herself.  

     When she came into Jerusalem, what she witnessed was even far greater than that which she had heard. Her response was, “It was a true report which I heard. . . .” 

    Please understand, everything in the Word of God as it extols Christ, is a “true report.” 

     In fact, it’s not possible to exaggerate the Glory, the Greatness, and the Grandeur of the Lord Jesus Christ.

     To live for God, to walk with Him, and to have Him abide in one’s heart, is the greatest thing that man could ever begin to know, that which money cannot buy, and that which the world cannot give.

     No matter how big and no matter how grand that one might make it, one will find when he comes to Christ that it’s even greater than he had been told, far greater. 

     It is a “true report.” Is this great and glorious Salvation real? 

    Yes, “it is a true report.” 

    Does it change men’s lives? 

    Yes, “it is a true report.” 

    Does it truly bring abiding peace?

    Yes, “it is a true report.” 

    Are we, in fact, given Eternal Life? 

    Yes, “it is a true report.”


 “MY EYES HAVE SEEN IT” 


     The Sixth Verse says, “Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it.” 

    The Lord Jesus Christ invites inspection. His appeal to the hungry heart is,

    “Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” For all who come, they will say, 

    “For you exceed the thing that I heard.” In other words, as the Sixth Verse continues to say, “the one half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me.” If it’s that great, some may ask, why is it that only a few respond favorably? It is the problem of deception! 


DECEPTION 


    The Gospel of Jesus Christ is somewhat like the Tabernacle of old. Outwardly, there was nothing attractive or inviting about it. 

     But, if one had walked into the Tabernacle, what would have met one’s eyes would have been glorious, to say the least. 

    The walls were covered in gold, and the sacred vessels were also made out of gold. Thus is Bible Christianity.

     When men look at it from the outward, they do not understand why anyone would want this. Going to church to them is like being sentenced to a penal institution. They cannot imagine anyone desiring to do such a thing. But, if they come in, as the Tabernacle of old, what is inward is altogether different than that which is outward. They do not understand, 

    “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Cor. 5:17).


 HAPPY!


     And then the queen of Sheba says in the Seventh Verse concerning the subjects of Solomon, “Happy are your men, and happy are your servants.” 

    The only true happiness in the world is that which has been provided by the “Greater than Solomon.” 

     It is a happiness, as stated, that is based on the Fruit of the Spirit, which is “joy.” In this woman observing all of this, she had to admit that it was different than anything that she had ever known, seen, witnessed, or experienced. She then sees the Source of all this, which her eyes behold. She then says, “Blessed be the LORD your God.” 


“BLESSED BE THE LORD YOUR GOD”


     The queen of Sheba now worships and praises the Lord. As well, anyone who feasts upon the “Greater than Solomon” will likewise praise the Lord. A people who called themselves Christians, of which praise is foreign to them, actually do not know the Lord.

     Churches that claim to worship the Lord and never praise Him and, in fact, are ashamed by praise, really do not know Him. 

     To know Him is to truly worship and praise Him. Under the New Covenant, all worship and praise must be anchored in Calvary, even as it was under the Old Covenant. 

    While the understanding of such then was very limited, understanding presently should be more open and obvious.

      Types, by their very nature, as was the Brazen Altar, constitute that which is limited, as far as knowledge is concerned, because it’s before the fact. 

     After the fact, as it is now, and because the Cross is history, everything is much more open, obvious, and understandable, or at least it should be. Everything about Christianity, at least if it’s totally Biblical, has its Foundation in the Cross, including praise and worship, and especially praise and worship.

     The problem with the modern church, and it’s a problem that has always existed, is that the world thinks it can save itself without the Cross of Christ, and the church thinks it can sanctify itself without the Cross of Christ.


 THE QUEEN OF SHEBA GAVE . . .


     Whenever a person comes to Christ, the first thing that happens is that they want to give to God.

     Why would the queen of Sheba want to give Solomon a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones? Solomon already had an abundance of such. That was not the idea. 

    Actually, Solomon already had more of this than the queen of Sheba. The idea was and is, Solomon had given so much to her, she felt she had to reciprocate, at least as best she could. No doubt, her gifts seemed to be miniscule beside the riches of Solomon, but that was not the point. 

    Our gifts to the Lord fall into the same category. In effect, the Lord needs nothing, as should be obvious. But, we give to support His Work because we love Him. 

    Actually, Paul said that we give “to prove the sincerity of our love” (II Cor. 8:8). To be sure, the Lord could finance His Work in any number of ways; however, He has chosen the manner in which we function, which is to give to the Work of God, not for His Sake, but rather for our sakes. 

    Giving builds Faith, assurance, and confidence within our hearts. In other words, our giving is for us and really not for the Lord. He allows us to participate, and what a privilege that is. So, the queen of Sheba will give to Solomon because she desires to do so. He has been so good to her and so wonderful to her, she feels she can do no less, and rightly so. 


ALL HER DESIRE


      The Twelfth Verse says, “And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked. . . .”

     Undoubtedly, Solomon was the only man in the world at that time who could function in such capacity. He had this great wisdom given to him by God, which superceded any individual in the entirety of the world. 

    In other words, there was no human being alive at that time or since that had the wisdom of Solomon, and the queen of Sheba was privileged to be a recipient of that wisdom. Even in a greater way presently, we have a greater privilege now than ever before. We who know the Lord are privileged to tap into resources that literally boggle the mind. 

    Our great problem is that we do not do such as we should. Too often we resort to the counsel of men, which most of the time is wrong.

      We have a “Greater than Solomon” in our midst, but all too often, and sadly so, He is ignored. What a travesty!

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