1 Kings 10:1-13.
Solomon Told Her All Her Questions
When the Lord Jesus had been rejected by His earthly people, in replying to the request for a sign by certain of the scribes and Pharisees, He said, "The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold a greater than Solomon is here" (Matt. 12:42). Solomon's divinely given wisdom "excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt, for he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all nations round about" (1 Kings 4:30-31).
It was the report of "the fame of Solomon concerning the Name of Jehovah" that brought the queen of Sheba "to prove him with hard questions." At the beginning of his long reign Solomon was concerned with the honour of Jehovah's Name, and it was because of this that his fame was spread abroad. Alas! "when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods … and Jehovah was angry with Solomon." So long as he cared for the interests of Jehovah his fame and glory were untarnished. and he could say "Jehovah my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurent" (1 Kings 5:4); but when the honour of Jehovah's Name was forgotten and the lustre of his glory was besmirched, then Jehovah stirred up adversaries for him (see 1 Kings 11:14, 23, 26).
How different was the course of the True Solomon. the Lord Jesus Christ. The glory of His Father's Name was ever before Him and controlled every thought and movement of His life on earth. When the cross with all its suffering and judgment loomed before Him he said, "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy Name" (John 12:27-28). Never for a moment did He think of Himself, the honour and glory of His Father's Name were everything to Him and governed every step and action in life and in death.
Solomon's wisdom was greater than that of all men, but its brightness pales before the excellence of the divine wisdom manifested in the Son of God. All the hard questions that the queen of Sheba asked were answered by Solomon, but there were questions asked, both in the Old and New Testaments that could not have been answered by Solomon, but which were answered by the Lord Jesus Christ. The question asked by Agur the son of Jakeh in Proverbs 30:4, "What is His Name, and what is His Son's Name, if thou canst tell?" is answered in the Person of Jesus, who revealed the Father's Name.
Job and his three friends asked many hard questions which would have taxed the wisdom of Solomon to answer, some of them indeed, he could not have answered. In Job 9:2 the patriarch asks "How should man be just with God?" It is from the Lord Jesus we have the answer when He spake a "parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous." The proud Pharisee who presumptuously paraded his self-righteousness before God is condemned, but the repentant publican who "smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner … went down to his house justified rather than the other" (Luke 18:9-14). The Lord answered Job's question by showing that the way to be just with God is by condemning ourselves before Him, confessing in true contrition that we are sinners, and casting ourselves on His mercy. The full answer to the question awaited the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and in the Epistle to the Romans we learn that we are justified by God's grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, and on the principle of faith.
Another of Job's hard questions, which would have been beyond the wisdom of Solomon to answer, is found in Job 14:10, where he says, "Man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost"; then he asks the question, "Where is he?" The patriarch had often observed that when a tree was felled "through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant," but it was very different when man died; there was no present resurrection, and no evidence of where he had gone. Job believed in resurrection, saying, "Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me" (Job 19:27). He also believed in a resurrection in the last day, for he speaks of man lying in death and rising not "till the heavens be no more" (Job 14:12). He evidently believed that man would rise from his place of death when the heavens passed away, as it shall indeed be for the unregenerate (Rev. 20:11-15).
But what perplexed Job was the whereabouts of man between the time of his death and resurrection. In Luke 16, the Lord Jesus draws aside the veil of the unseen world to give us the answer to the question of Job. The rich man, who had left God out of his life, "died, and was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments." His whole life had consisted in present things, in gratifying the natural desires of his heart with everything that wealth could provide, and God was excluded from his thoughts and life. The Scripture even tells us that he was buried, and no doubt his burial would be a grand one. With Lazarus it was very different. In life, he had little comfort; there is no mention of him having a burial, but when he died he "was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom" where he was comforted. On the cross, the Lord Jesus threw further light on Job's question when He said to the repentant, dying thief, "Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise."
Many hard questions were put to the Lord when He was upon earth, but the wisdom of Him who is greater than Solomon was sufficient for all. The disciples, in John ix, asked the Lord concerning the blind man, "Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" What could a Solomon have answered to such a question? None but the Son of God could have given the perfect answer, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be manifest in him." And how richly was God's work manifested in him: not only in the giving of sight to his natural eyes, but in the opening of the eyes of his heart to behold the glory of Jesus, and in the opening of his mouth to glorify him.
All questions put to the Lord Jesus were not because of genuine difficulties. Indeed, the question of the scribes and Pharisees in John 8:5 was put to perplex Him. Had Jesus said, Do not stone the sinner, they would have said, You are opposing the law of Moses. Had He said, Let her be stoned, they would have said, Where is this grace of which you have been speaking? How rich was the wisdom that not only answered the question, but spoke to the consciences of those who had asked it! The Lord virtually said, If there is one among you that is a fit executor of the law, let him carry out its sentence. There was only One "without sin" (vv. 7, 46), but He had come "not to judge the world, but to save the world" (John 12:47).
Another question of the same nature, put by the disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to entangle the Lord in His words, was "Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?" (Matt. 22:15-22). They thought that they had the Lord on the horns of a dilemma. Had He said, You ought not to pay tribute to Caesar, they would have charged Him with sedition; had He simply said, Yes, you ought to pay tribute, they would have proclaimed that He was not a loyal Son of David. His astonishing reply not only answered the question, but also those who asked it. The coin with Caesar's image surely belonged to Caesar, and was therefore rightly his. That answered the question; but the words that followed answered them: "Render to God the things that are God's." Each man, as created of God, had the divine impress of His image upon him, and therefore rightly belongs to God. All that they were, body, soul and spirit, belonged to God, and therefore should be rendered to Him. Well might they marvel at the answer of a wisdom that was greater than Solomon's.
The same day, the Sadducees came with their question. Sincere ignorance of the conditions in resurrection might have brought such a question, but cynical unbelief wrapped it in a form that endeavoured to cast ridicule on the truth. They did not believe in resurrection of the dead, and sought to make it appear confused and absurd by asking of the woman that was supposed to have had seven husbands, "In the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her." How little were they prepared for the simple, powerful answer, that exposed their ignorance of the conditions of the world to come, of the Scriptures they pretended to accept, and of the power of God. When God spoke to Moses, He did not say, I was the God of Abraham, but. "I am the God of Abraham." God is indeed the God of the living and could speak of Abraham being then alive in His presence, as Luke 16:23 shows, awaiting there the resurrection morning.
Two men put the same difficult question to the Lord, one a lawyer, the other a ruler. Their motives in questioning the Lord were very different, the former was tempting Jesus, but the latter was doubtless genuinely desirous of obtaining the divine blessing. The question was, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25; Luke 18:18). Neither lawyer, nor ruler, realised that eternal life was the gift of God, and could not be obtained by works of righteousness, for both said, "What shall I do?" The Lord tests both as to the law, showing to the lawyer, in the parable of the Good Samaritan, that the law could not help man in his ruined, wretched and helpless condition; only divine compassion, made known in Jesus could rescue man in his hopeless plight. The young ruler who had a lovely character, evidently thought that he loved his neighbour as himself; but when tested by the Lord he was found wanting. Riches held his heart; he loved them more than he loved his neighbour; nor was he prepared to take up the cross and follow a rejected Christ to have eternal life with Him in the world to come.
Not a question brought to Jesus on earth perplexed Him: the wisdom of the True Solomon, the Greater than Solomon, could meet and answer every hard question. Nor is it different now, for Christ, risen from the dead, and glorified in heaven, "has been made to us wisdom from God" (1 Cor. 1:30). There is not a question that the troubled, anxious sinner can bring to Him but what He will answer in wisdom and in grace. Every difficulty of the saint of God, whether in relation to his individual life, his service for the Lord, or connected with the exercises of the assembly of God, can he brought to Him to resolve. Christians do not require the help of the wise men of this world, for God has said, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent" (1 Cor. 1:19.) All wisdom for the Christian is in Him in whom "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," and we are "complete in Him, which is the Head of every principality and power" (Col. 2:9-10).
The House He had Built and the Food of His Table
We have already considered the divine wisdom of the True Solomon, evinced in His perfect answers to the many hard questions taken from the Old and New Testaments. Even as Solomon's wisdom was also displayed in the building of his house, and of all that surrounded him, so is Christ's wisdom and glory set forth in what He has wrought, and in those who surround Him.
The glory of God was displayed in the temple, the shrine of His glory, which was built by Solomon, but for which David prepared with all his might, receiving "the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit," and largely supplying the gold, silver and precious stones for its adornment. But the house in which the queen of Sheba saw Solomon's wisdom displayed was his own house, that which manifested what he was; his own skill and workmanship, his own peculiar glory. The church is not only viewed in the Scriptures as "the house of God" (1 Tim. 3:15), but also as a divine structure that Christ is building, and of which He speaks as "My church" (Matt. 16:18).
The building of the church as committed into the hands of men in responsibility has sadly broken down. Not only gold, silver and precious stones have been built into this edifice, but also wood, hay and stubble; and it has been corrupted by evil men (1 Cor. 3:12-17). Like the temple built by Solomon, its glory was dimmed; and in the lament of the Lord over Jerusalem, He speaks of it as "your house," and as "left unto you desolate." That which bore the character of God's house at the beginning, and is spoken of as such in 1 Timothy, is likened unto a great house in 2 Timothy 2:20, where are not only vessels unto honour, but vessels unto dishonour.
But that which Christ is building takes character from Himself, and it therefore displays what He is in His wisdom and glory. The gates of hell have indeed prevailed against that which was committed to man, but Satan cannot mar or defile what Christ is building. Everything in it is His own workmanship; every one in this spiritual structure has His life and nature, and bears His own heavenly character of grace and moral beauty. All is divine; nothing of the first man has part in it, and because of this there is nothing Satan can lay his finger on, and the gates of hell prevail against. How the glory of the Son of God will radiate from this heavenly building in the coining day of display!
The food of Solomon's table captivated the Queen of Sheba. How much more wonderful is that which has been provided on the Lord's Table! At the Lord's Supper we have the bread which speaks of His body, given in love for us, and the cup of blessing, the cup of the New Covenant in His blood, shed for us. What joy there is for the hearts of those who are Christ's in remembering all that He was in the giving of Himself upon the cross so that He might procure for His own the wonderful blessings now enjoyed, and possessed for evermore.
When Israel passed through the wilderness, God provided them with "angels' food," the manna that strengthened them for their wilderness journey. Like them, God has given us bread from heaven, the True bread, that which is spoken of by the Lord in John 6 as "the bread of God," "the bread of life," and "the living bread." In feeding upon Christ we not only receive eternal life, but we are sustained in the path of His will, and enabled to set forth His features in testimony here. The soul feeds on all that He was as Man and as Son here for His Father's pleasure, and upon Him as giving Himself in death to tell out the love of God, and to bring us where we can rejoice in all that the Father is as made known in Him.
On the table of the True Solomon there is also "the old corn of the land," that which sustains the people of God for the conflict involved in their calling. We not only have the privilege of feeding on "Christ once humbled here," the True Manna, but on Christ glorified in the presence of God, the True Old Corn. How wonderful it is that we can be engaged with Christ in the place in which the Father has set Him down at His own right hand as the Man of His counsels. It is in a glorified Christ that all the will and purpose of God is secured, and that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing. Looking up to heaven by the Spirit we see Him as the glorified Head, head over all things to the church, head of the body, head of every principality and authority; and as we are thus engaged with Him we are strengthened to meet the foes who seek to hinder our entering into all that God has called us to.
For priestly service, in which all the saints have their part, we have the Meat Offering from the table the True Solomon has spread. The meat offering, composed of fine flour and olive oil, with frankincense, all of which was offered as Jehovah's portion on the altar, was for all the sons of Aaron. It speaks to us of the heavenly humanity of the Lord Jesus, in whom every feature that belonged to man was found in perfection. He had all the thoughts and feelings proper to man; passed through all the circumstances of life in this world as Man before God; all the inward springs of His being answering wholly and perfectly to God's will. Conceived by the Holy Spirit, and anointed by the Holy Spirit, He lived a Man for God's pleasure and for the good and blessing of men. On such a Christ we feed to sustain us in priestly service in the worship of God.
This blessed table has also provided the Peace or Communion Offering, and in this all the saints may have their portion. Jehovah had His portion, all the inward excellency of the sacrifice; the offering priest had the right shoulder; Aaron and his sons had the wave breast; and the offerer had what remained for himself and his house and friends. We too have our part in all that the death of Christ has provided for God Himself, and for His own. The strength of Christ we may feed upon, and also upon the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, and on all that is brought before us of Him in His death, to have communion with Himself, with His God and Father, and with all His own.
Those who fed upon the Sin Offering were relatively few. The special sin offerings, whose blood was taken into the holiest or into the holy place, were consumed outside the camp of Israel; but the ordinary sin offerings were "killed before the LORD," and the priest that offered it was to "eat it: in the holy place … in the court of the tabernacle" (Lev. 6:25-26). Here is food on the table the Lord has spread for those who can eat it: for those who can take up the sins of others before the Lord, feeling and confessing them as if they were their own. To feed on this divine provision calls for a measure of self-judgment, spiritual power and divine intelligence that relatively few evince before God. This food sustains in priestly service that is of the greatest value to the saints of God, and that serves the Lord in essential ministry for the well-being of His church.
The Grapes of Eschol have been provided in the Lord's rich bounty, so that we may anticipate the joys of the heavenly land to which we are bound while passing through the wilderness. How sweet are the delights of heaven that we foretaste in the presence of the Lord now, while awaiting His call to be with Him in the heavenly inheritance for all eternity. The Holy Spirit is the Earnest of the inheritance, and it is by the Spirit that we taste the things of heaven. He enables us to enjoy the fruits of the country, the heavenly country, to which we belong, in communion with the Lord Himself as we sit before Him at His table.
New wine has been given to us to gladden our hearts. The man of the world has no taste for this new wine, he says "the old is better." But this new wine that Christ has provided is like the wine of the feast of Cana of Galilee, it is the "good wine." Heavenly joys, brought to us by the Son of God, cannot be entered into by man after the flesh; that is why he prefers the old wine that gratifies his flesh. The Lord told His disciples, "I will no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God." He will not have His joys with His earthly people until the coming kingdom; but He has His present joy with the heavenly company that has its joy with Him where He sings praise to the Father in the midst of the assembly.
His Servants, and His Ascent
In considering the fame of Solomon we have been led to contemplate the fame of Him who is greater than Solomon, and of whom Solomon, in many ways, is a type. Solomon was able to answer all the hard questions of the queen of Sheba. but the Lord Jesus had answered questions, raised both in the Old and New Testaments, that Solomon never could have answered. The building of Solomon's house, and the food of his table, manifested something of his great wisdom and glory, but how surpassing is the wisdom and the glory manifested in the building of Christ's assembly, a structure that the gates of hell can never overthrow; and in the wonderful provision of the Lord's table, which supplies His own with the food to sustain them in their journey towards His glory, and maintains them for every service to which He has called them.
The deportment of Solomon's servants so displayed the wisdom and glory of the king that it caught the eye of the queen of the south. Every detail of the servants' duties, every action, every word, expressed what was in the heart and mind of the master. And is it not so with the servants of Christ? We have been called to serve Him, not to please ourselves, not to express what we are, but to do His will that we might express what He is. Even the most menial task may be taken up in service to Christ. Writing to the bondmen at Colosse, the Apostle Paul says, "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men … for ye serve the Lord Christ" (Col. 3:22-23). The consciousness that in everything we may serve the Lord will elevate the character of the most humble task, and our deportment in carrying it out will witness to the wisdom and glory of the Master.
There were ministers in attendance on Solomon whose special duties, and the way they were carried out, gave fresh glimpses of his wisdom. So it is with the ministers in Christianity. There are some in the church who have been specially gifted by Christ "for the work of the ministry" (Eph. 4:12); they are not self-appointed, nor have they been selected and ordained of men, but are the gifts of the risen and glorified Head of the church. In their work they are directed by Christ Himself. They have been called to this work to glorify Christ, to do His will, so that He might have praise. Other kinds of ministers for service in the local assembly, called in 1 Timothy 3 "overseers" and "ministers," were also to serve for the praise and glory of the Lord.
The apparel of the ministers must have been very striking, when it held the attention of such a glorious queen. Solomon would require his ministers to exercise the greatest care with respect to their garments. From 1 Timothy 3 we learn that the Lord requires His servants to have habits in keeping with their calling. The overseer was to be "blameless, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous… ." Paul showed the kind of garments that became the minister of Christ, when he wrote, "by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God" (2 Cor. 4:2); "giving no offence in any thing that the ministry be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions … as having nothing, and yet possessing all things" (2 Cor. 6:3-10).
Cupbearers had their own special service with the king: it was a dignified position, as Nehemiah shows (Neh. 1:11), and one that called for a heart and mind set free from all anxiety, if joy and gladness were to be ministered to the king. This is the dignified service of those who minister to Christ in His assembly, and belongs to every true Christian, brother and sister alike. We may all surround Him where He leads the praises to His Father in the midst of the assembly, and there minister to His Heart, who is "anointed with the oil of gladness above His companions." Two or three, gathered to the Name of the Lord, may have this holy, happy privilege. Having been set free from all that would hinder, having no more conscience of sins, and being engaged with Christ Himself, we can in praise and worship present to Him the cup of joy for the delight of His heart.
Solomon's ascent was his crowning glory in the eyes of his royal visitor. It was evidently a structure connecting his house with the house of Jehovah, and becoming in dignity and splendour with the glory of these wonderful buildings. But it reminds us of a more wonderful ascent, the path taken by the blessed Son of God in passing through this world, onwards and upwards to the Father's House. Every step the Lord Jesus took towards the Father's House was fragrant with His perfections for His God and Father, and resplendent with His moral glory; yea, John could write, "We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father."
A very special aspect of this wonderful ascent is given to us by the Holy Spirit in Luke's Gospel. Having come down from the glory mount, where He had been speaking with Moses and Elias "of His departure which He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem" (Luke 9:31), the Lord commences a journey which brings Him to the Temple, the Cross, and to the Father's House. The beginning of this blessed ascent comes before us with the words, "And it came to pass when the days of His receiving up were fulfilled, that he stedfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke 9: 51). The blessed Lord turned towards Jerusalem, knowing all that it would mean for Him, but it was the way towards the Father's House with all its joys through accomplished redemption.
Because His face was towards Jerusalem, the Samaritans would not receive Him; and the "sons of thunder" thought that such an affront to their Master merited the judgment of God; but this only brings out the heavenly grace of Jesus in their rebuke, when He said, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save" (Luke 9:55-56); and He went on to another village in His ascent to the House of God. "In the way" (Luke 9:57) He has valuable lessons to teach on the subject of disciple-ship to the one who would without His call follow Him, to the man who would delay after receiving the call, and to him who desired to give precedence to what was natural.
In chapter 13 He is still going "through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying to Jerusalem" (Luke 13:22); and warns the mere professor of his grave danger. It is not enough to have come under His teaching, and to have "eaten and drunk" in His presence; there must be reality and a living link with Him if we are to be with Him, "The Master of the House" inside the door. The same day there were some who said to Him, "Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee." He had not come to escape the malice of wicked men; He had come to protect the children of Jerusalem from the impending judgment. They would not have the protection of His wings, and could therefore but be left to the cunning and ravaging of "that fox."
Every step taken in that wonderful ascent is pregnant with blessing for those who will heed His words, and for those who seek His help. In Luke 17:11 we read, "As He went to Jerusalem, He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee, and as He entered into a certain village, there met Him ten men that were lepers," and they cry to Jesus, "Master, have mercy on us" (v. 13). If His ascent displays the divine wisdom of His words, it is also radiant with the glory of His grace. How rich is the mercy and the grace of Jesus as displayed towards these poor men, whether Jews or Samaritan. His rejection by both did not deter Him in the rich display of His mercy and compassion.
Jesus has now passed through Galilee and Samaria in His ascent, and in Luke 18:35 "was come nigh unto Jericho." There His mercy still freely flows as He opens the eyes of the blind man; and as He brings salvation to the house of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). Being now "nigh to Jerusalem" (Luke 19:11), and His disciples looking for the immediate establishment of the kingdom, the Lord tells them in a parable that He must needs go "into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom," before they can reign with Him. Continuing His "ascending up to Jerusalem," the multitude of the disciples anticipate the triumph of the coming day in their praises, saying, "Blessed be the King that cometh in the Name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest" (v. 38). His ascent had taken the Lord Jesus "nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives" (v. 29), and it was "at the descent of the mount of Olives" that "the multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen" (v. 37). If the ascent of Solomon so astonished the queen of Sheba that "there was no more spirit in her," the ascent of the Son of God filled His disciples with praise to God.
"When he was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it" (v. 41). How deeply moved was Jesus as He looked upon the city that had been so glorious, had been so highly privileged, and was soon to be destroyed because of its rejection of the overtures of God. Now He enters the temple, casting out those who had defiled it, being grieved that His house, which ought to have been a house of prayer, had become a den of thieves. He lingered there, "and taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy Him" (v. 47). Thus it was until His hour had come, "In the day time He was teaching in the temple; and at night He went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives" (Luke 21:37).
But the temple on earth was not the end of the ascent of the Son of God: His wondrous pathway led through the place where He "kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but Thine, be done." It took Him to where He was betrayed, denied and forsaken by His disciples; to where He was buffeted and mocked before the High priest and before Herod; to where He received the injustice of the world's court, and the derision, mocking and cruel scourging of those who crucified Him. Amidst it all His moral glories shine in heavenly lustre, and His grace against the background of man's evil, as He says to the repentant thief, "Today, shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43).
He must needs pass through the darkness that was "over all the earth until the ninth hour," entering into and exhausting the judgment of God our sins had merited, but reaching the place where He could cry with triumph, "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit" (v. 46). Coming out of death the mighty victor, He walks with two of His own to Emmaus, causing their hearts to burn within them, even though they knew Him not. He appeared to Simon, stood in the midst of His own as they were gathered together, "opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures," and after His forty days in resurrection, "He led them out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them, And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven" (Luke 24:50-51). As His own behold His glorious ascent, "They worshipped Him." What a fitting close to beholding "His ascent, by which He went up to the House of the LORD."
The Queen's Response and Solomon's Gifts
After having all her hard questions answered, and beholding the glory of Solomon in his house, his servants and his ascent, there was no more spirit in the queen of Sheba, and she is constrained to say, "It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it." She was like Thomas who, foreshadowing the attitude of the remnant of Israel, would not believe until he saw for himself. But the company of the faithful are indeed blessed, even as the Lord said, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (John 20:29).
Having seen his glory, the queen praises Solomon, saying, "Behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard." How much we have heard of the fame of Jesus, the Spirit of God giving a perfect record in the four Gospels of His life on earth, and opening out to us in the Epistles the glory that is His in the Father's House, and of what shall soon be His publicly before the universe, according to the purpose of God. Nevertheless, it remains true that "There are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one … the world itself could not contain the books that should be written" (John 21:25). Regarding the place where Christ now is glorified, the apostle Paul wrote, "that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable things, which it is not lawful for a man to utter" (2 Cor. 12:4). Like Sheba's queen, we can praise the Lord, for we have seen His glory, even as we read, "We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18); and "We see Jesus … crowned with glory and honour" (Heb. 2:9).
In her praise, the raptured monarch says, "Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom." The privilege of Solomon's servants was indeed great, but how much greater is the privilege of those who know the blessedness of the Lord's presence. When on earth, the Lord said to His disciples privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: for I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them" (Luke 10:24). Great as was the privilege of the disciples on earth, how much greater is the privilege of Christians now, to hear all that Christ speaks, and to behold by the Spirit the wide range of His glories. We are indeed a happy people as blessed in His own company, as knowing the blessed reality of "Christ among you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27).
From the praise of Solomon, the queen turns to bless, saying, "Blessed be Jehovah thy God which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because Jehovah loved Israel for ever, therefore made He thee king, to do judgment and justice." What a pattern for saints in this day. Can we not say, in the language of the apostles Paul and Peter, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"? (2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3). Yea, there is abundant cause, as we may see by examining the Scriptures referred to.
If Jehovah delighted in Solomon, how much more precious is the Father's delight in His well-beloved Son, upon whom He opened the heavens at the waters of baptism, and on the glory mount, to say, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17; Matt. 17:5). As the True Solomon, Christ will yet sit "on the throne of Israel," even as He now sits on His Father's throne as the Man of His pleasure, having glorified Him in life and death. Jehovah's love for Israel is indeed for ever, "For the gifts and calling of God are not subject to repentance" (Rom. 11:29); and His love for those He has given to share Christ's place of glory will be displayed in His coming kingdom (John 17:23). In that day He will reign in righteousness, as the prophets foresaw, for the accomplishment of God's will and the blessing of men.
The tribute paid to Solomon reminds us somewhat of the gifts of the wise men who came from the east when the Lord was born, although they brought no precious stones, and their spices are named. We are told at the commencement of the story that the camels "bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones" (v. 2). Her tribute of gold, "an hundred and twenty talents" was a large one, probably weighing between six and nine tons. It was the measure of her appreciation of what she had seen in Solomon. Gold in Scripture speaks of divine righteousness and divine glory; and this would challenge our poor hearts as to our appreciation of the divine glory of the Son of God. We are living in days when religious men speak much of the Manhood of Jesus and little of His divine glory. The queen of Sheba had a very great appreciation of the royal and supreme glory of Solomon, for in the beginning of his reign none dared to challenge him. Oh that we had a greater sense of the greatness of Christ! and that the divine light as to His Person as brought out in such Scriptures as John1, Colossians1 and Hebrews1, held our hearts before Him.
Of the spices given we read, there was "very great store," and "there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon" (v. 10). In 2 Chronicles 9:9 our attention is called to the quality of the spice, where it is recorded, "neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon." The magi from the east brought "frankincense and myrrh," which speak of what the Lord Jesus Christ was in Manhood, in life and death, for the pleasure of His God and Father. They bring before us the moral perfections of the Son of God, all the lovely traits of His Manhood, the graces and beauty that were so attractive to those whose eyes God had opened. The leaders of Israel, and the nation as a whole, were blind to all that Christ was, they could not discern the greatness of His Person, nor, to their eyes, was there "beauty" that they "should desire Him." They had neither a tribute of gold or spices to bring to Him. Yet there were those, in whose hearts God had wrought, who brought their treasures to the feet of Jesus. Tributes of gold came from "Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto Him of their substance" (Luke 8:2-3). The woman of Luke 7, who "loved much," anointed the Lord's feet with the ointment from her alabaster box; Mary of Bethany, who had sat at His feet to hear His word, and had seen His glory as the "Resurrection and the Life," took "a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus"; and "Joseph of Arimathea … also Nicodemus … brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus and wound it in linen clothes with the spices" (John 12:3; John 19:38-40).
The Spirit of God calls our attention both to the quantity and the quality of the spices brought by Sheba's queen; there was no other tribute to compare with it, no other source that provided such abundance or such quality of spices. Our tribute to Christ, our response in praise and worship, will depend both for quality and quantity on our appreciation of His Person, of His glory and His beauty. The more we are engaged with Him in communion, hearing His word like Mary of Bethany, the more shall we be able to give to Him for His pleasure and praise.
There were also precious stones in the queen of Sheba's gift to Solomon. Precious stones reflect the light, and display it in its variegated colours, according to the nature of the stones. And do we not discern in the gift of the precious stones the queen's tribute to the various glories of Solomon? How great is our privilege as being able to view the wide range of Christ's glories, and to be permitted to speak to Him of them. When we think of the "unsearchable riches of Christ"; all the glories that belong to Him now on the throne of God as His anointed Man; all the glories that belong to Him as Son of God, Son of Man and Son of David, and that we are enabled by the Spirit of God to gaze upon Him in these glories, surely it bows our hearts in adoration, and brings from our hearts and from our lips a tribute of praise.
Having received from her such an amazing tribute, Solomon is then the giver, for he "gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked." All the wealth of his kingdom was before her eyes, and from his treasury she could gratify and satisfy her every longing. This is what Christ does for His own! When we come into the presence of Christ in the assembly, our object is not to receive; we are there to give to Him our tribute of praise, adoration and worship. But we could not be consciously in His company without receiving. It is in His presence that He opens out to us His wonderful treasury, that every need might be met, that every desire might be satisfied. Paul, who knew much of this divine treasury, wrote to the saints at Philippi, "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." God would have our hearts "knit together in love, and unto all the riches … of the mystery of God … in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:2-3).
But Solomon gave the queen more than she desired, there was what he "gave her of his royal bounty." She got all she asked for, but of his wisdom Solomon gave what would delight her heart, and what would give him pleasure in giving. So it is with the Lord! We get as much of Christ as we go in for; He will satisfy every longing that we have in regard to Himself and His things; but from His own treasury He will give us what He desires, for His own pleasure, and for the delight of our hearts.
With a satisfied heart, and a heart delighting in what came from Solomon's royal bounty, the queen of Sheba returned to her own country, where she would be able to confirm the report of what she had heard of his fame, and testify of all she had seen and heard. How richly has Christ endowed His own for their testimony of Him. All the riches of His treasury are at our disposal for His service, even as He said, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name that will I do," and again, "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My Name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John 14:13; John 16:24). It is as the heart is satisfied with Himself and His things, and delighting in all that He brings before our souls, and provided with grace from His infinite resources, that we can rightly testify for the Lord during the little while we are left for His will in this world.