Turn in your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 10. 1 Kings chapter 10. Chapters 9 and 10 are something of a hinge between the golden age of Solomon's reign to the time of apostasy. Chapter 11 will detail Solomon's apostasy when his multitude of wives led his heart away after other gods. Up to chapter 8, we see nothing but positive.
And chapter 9 and 10 are positive, but you do see some foreshadowing of things to come, and we'll see that tonight as we move through 1 Kings 10. I'll begin reading in verse 1. 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.
And 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. Then she gave the king 120 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 almog wood and precious stones from Ophir. And the king made steps of the almog 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 almog 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 weight of the gold that came to Solomon yearly was 666 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 200 large shields of hammered gold. 600 shekels of gold went into each shield.
He also made 300 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.
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 1,400 chariots and 12,000 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 Keva. The king's merchants bought them in Keva at the current price.
Now a chariot that was imported from Egypt cost 600 shekels of silver, and a horse 150. And thus, through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria. Amen.
Introduction
Well, I remember when I was a kid in California, there's a place called Hertz Castle. And my parents, we went there on a vacation one time. Basically, the idea is just to see the splendor and the glamour and the excellence of that particular dwelling place. And that's precisely how Chapter 10 functions in this sort of record of Solomon's ministry.
First, he is visited by the Queen of Sheba, and then the narrator undertakes to explain the great wealth of Solomon and essentially confirms precisely what Sheba discovers on her visit. So we're going to look at those two sections tonight. We're not going to deal with every single detail, but first of all, the queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon in verses 1 to 13, and then second, the surpassing wealth and wisdom of Solomon in verses 14 to 29. Robert Alter says the consensus is that Sheba is far to the south of ancient Israel. somewhere on the Arabian Peninsula along the shore of the Red Sea.
This episode is linked associatively with the immediately preceding passage in which Solomon builds fleets on the Red Sea and carries on trade in rich materials with the South. Now, some say it was about a thousand-mile journey, others suggest it was around 1,500-mile journey, and that will be important for us to remember later. But
The Queen's Knowledge of Solomon
in the first place, we notice the Queen's knowledge of Solomon, verse 1. 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. This reference to the Lord probably is owing that the wisdom and prominence of Solomon was due to the God of Israel. In other words, Solomon was known as the king over Israel, and Yahweh was the God of Israel.
So she hears not only of Solomon, but she concludes or has heard that Solomon's wisdom had come from God. If you go back to chapter 4, you can see how it was the case. that various persons would have heard of Solomon's wisdom and his wealth. In 1 Kings 4 29, it says, God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. Thus Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.
For he was wiser than all men, than Ethan, the Ezraite, and Heman, Calchol, Darda, the sons of Mahal. And his fame was in all the surrounding nations. He spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon, even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall.
He spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish." And I think that explains as well. in the latter part of chapter 10 when these various animals are brought into the kingdom of Israel, the monkeys and then the apes. Now the marginal reading in the New King James for apes is peacocks, others suggest parrots is probably the better translation. but you can see why Solomon would have an interest in collecting sort of exotic animals, because he was given to a love of all things wisdom, not just in terms of theology, though he was a good theologian in his own right, as we see in his prayer at the dedication of the temple, but he was interested in science, he was interested in botany, he was interested in zoology, he was interested in all these sorts of things, truly the mark of wisdom. He sees God's world as God's world, and everything from peacocks or apes or monkeys or trees will lead him back to an understanding of just who God is. But you see how his fame had gone out, and so this queen of Sheba now wants to come and test him.
Apparently this was common in the age to test him with hard questions. It was a means by which you would indeed determine whether or not a particular king or monarch had wisdom. So she probably had a list of three by five cards or a handful of three by five cards with some notoriously difficult questions that she thought might stomp the king of Israel. It's unfortunate we're not given access to what any of these questions were or what his particular responses were.
That would be quite intriguing. Of course, I'm sure it would make the chapter much longer. But we see her knowledge, so she comes to test him with hard questions.
The Queen's Arrival in Jerusalem
Note her arrival in Jerusalem in verses 2 and 3. She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold, precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him all that was in her heart. So she's no slouch herself.
She comes from a particular land, and she is doing quite well. She has heard of his fame. She has heard of his wealth. She has heard of his wisdom, so she brings this Retinue with her, she brings all of these gifts.
There is an aspect of royal generosity involved and something that would indeed mark the kings of the ancient world. They would exchange these kinds of things. Even Solomon sends her on her way, according to verse 13, with a particular parting gift. So she has all this stuff to bring to him.
Now notice in verse 3, it says, Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing so difficult for the king that she could not explain it to her. It's a great testimony concerning his wisdom. She tried to stomp him.
She wanted to test him with hard questions, and he's able to dispatch them quite easily.
The Queen's Testimony Concerning Solomon
Now note her particular testimony concerning Solomon in verses 4 to 9. In verses 4 and 5 it indicates what she saw. 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. Now, I should tell you with some of the commentaries that I use, you move through a particular book of the Bible and you're reading the commentators, you get the feel not only for the text of scripture, but for the particular commentators.
There's one commentator, he actually teaches in Vancouver at Regent College, his name is Ian Proven, and he takes a pretty negative view of Solomon. I'll tell you what he says here in just a moment. But Proven, by and large, understanding the narrative leading up to chapter 11, which records Solomon's apostasy, sees pretty much every step of the way foreshadowing of Solomon's fall. On the other side, you have Dale Ralph Davis, and Davis takes a particularly positive view of Solomon all the way up till chapter 11.
Now, typically, when I read the commentaries, I read Proven first, and then I read House. Paul House is kind of neutral, so I kind of put him in the middle so these two don't fight. And so I read the negative, and then I read House, who's more of a neutral party, just reports the text. And then I read Davis, who's quite positive.
So I try to glean the best insights out of both those particular men. Well, it's difficult to completely neglect Proven's negativity in light of chapter 11. Chapter 11 looms large in the entirety of the Solomon narratives, because we know where Solomon is heading. And in this particular chapter, the shadow of Deuteronomy 17 certainly lingers heavily.
In Deuteronomy 17, the king is prohibited from multiplying wealth and weapons and women. Well, in chapter 10, he definitely multiplies wealth. He definitely multiplies horses and chariots, which were a form of weaponry. And so the only thing he hasn't multiplied in chapter 10 is women.
And that sets the stage for chapter 11, where he does multiply women. So, if we completely neglect chapter 11 in our study, and we completely forget about Deuteronomy 17, then I suggest we can only treat this positively. But we can't neglect chapter 11, and we certainly can't disregard Deuteronomy 17. So I don't think I'm quite as negative on Solomon as, say, a Proven, but I'm certainly not as positive on Solomon as, say, a Dale Ralph Davis.
And I say that with great discouragement because I esteem Ralph Davis probably higher than any preacher that I know. I don't actually know him. I met him a couple times. But nevertheless, I think that there are foreshadowings even here in chapter 10.
And one of the things that Proven points out in verses 4 and 5, notice the emphasis. 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. It doesn't say she toured the streets of Jerusalem. It doesn't say she toured the land of Israel.
It doesn't report on the common man and woman living in an agrarian situation. We don't know that Solomon's reign wasn't good, but what she sees is directly connected to Solomon and to his household. It's directly connected to his sort of luxury. It's directly connected to those things which would benefit him.
Now again, a queen is visiting, this is on display, this was the custom of the times, and we may be wrong to try and read too much into it. But it is suggestive, or at least it should be suggestive, of what Samuel warned against with reference to the monarchy in Israel in 1 Samuel chapter 8. Samuel indicated that the monarchy might not be the sort of thing that the children of Israel were crying out for. Remember, the children of Israel in 1 Samuel 8 said, give us a king just like the other nations around us.
And Samuel said, if you have a king, you need to know that he's going to take your sons, he's going to take your daughters, he's going to take your money via taxation, and he's going to leave you with very little. Again, I'm not suggesting that everything was, you know, it was only downtrodden and poor and destitution outside of Solomon's particular house, but it is interesting that there's no specific report on how things were going in the rest of the kingdom. By the time we get to chapter 12, There is great unrest in Israel, such that there is a division in the kingdom. Now, we could blame all of that upon Rehoboam and the revolt led by Jeroboam, but it seems like there were already seeds of this sort of thing, this sort of an unrest already there present.
I think the Jeroboam revolt against Rehoboam perhaps brought to the surface some things that were already underlying. But nevertheless, I don't want to sully us too much because chapter 10 generally is a positive representation of Solomon. Now, when it says at the end of verse 5, there was no more spirit in her. Literally, she was breathless.
Her breath was taken away. Davis says, the queen of Sheba was no slouch. Witness the inventory of her wares in verse 2. She found Solomon fully up to his reputation and wits and wisdom, but she found Solomonic style literally breathtaking.
Such class she had never seen. So that's what she saw, verses 4 and 5. Now notice what she said in verses 6 to 9. First of all, there is a confirmation of the reports that she heard.
Verse 6, she said to the king, it was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. In other words, what has been circulating concerning the king of Israel who has received this from the Lord God most high. It is true. These are not false reports.
Secondly, there is this escalation of the reports that she had heard. Verse 7, however, I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes, and indeed the half of it was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. So that's an incredible statement.
You know, she has heard this. She goes there to test him with hard questions, and she sees for herself, and it exceeds any expectations that she could have conceived of. Now, I should back up a moment. I don't want to present Solomon as an evil wretch.
I think chapter 11 is going to certainly show us some things about Solomon, but he was a good king. He was faithful. He was seeking to honor the Lord. All in all, his reign, at least up until this point, is very positive and very excellent.
The foreshadowing I'm pointing out I think gives more or lends more to understanding how the Book of Kings is written. It's absolute brilliance the way the author undertakes to weave the tale of these particular kings in Israel. So nevertheless, he's doing a good job, and then she pronounces a benediction concerning his servants in verse 8. Happy are your men, happy are your servants who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom.
It must be a good thing, Solomon, to be on your payroll. It must be a good thing, Solomon, to work for the king of Israel. Happy are they, happy are those who get to stand in your presence and hear your wisdom. And then notice, she gives a declaration concerning Israel's God.
Now, this is a heathen. This is not an Israelite. This is not one in the covenant community. And nevertheless, hear what she says.
Blessed be the Lord your God, the blessing pronounced upon God most high. I think in some respect Sheba, or the Queen of Sheba rather, could teach even professing Christians something in terms of her esteem and in terms of her theology in this brief verse. Notice she acknowledges God's sovereignty. Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel.
There's a sign at the church on the way to our church, and this week it says, choice, not chance, determines your destiny. No, God determines our destiny, and the Queen of Sheba understood that. She realized it wasn't chance, it wasn't choice, but rather it was the sovereign God of Israel that had set Solomon on the throne of Israel. Notice her recognition of God's love, God's love for the nation of Israel.
Again, this is something that is very, very encouraging to hear from a particular heathen. The gods of the heathen were not typically known for their love. They did what they were supposed to do, and they each had utility, and they each had their particular function. But you wouldn't say Baal is love, you wouldn't say Molech is love, you wouldn't say Asherah is love, though 1 John tells us very specifically that God is love.
And this Queen of Sheba recognizes the love of God for Israel. Notice at the end of verse 9, Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king. It's a beautiful statement. Because God loves Israel, He makes Solomon king.
And then he confers upon Solomon the wisdom necessary to rule the kingdom, and he also bestows on him a great deal of wealth. And again, wealth in and of itself is not condemned. It's when it takes the place of God, it's when it becomes our resting place, it's when we become dependent on it. rather than seeing it as a gift given by God and a tool to be used for His glory. And then notice as well, because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king.
Now note, to do justice and righteousness. This is the principal act of government. This is what the king, excuse me, of Israel was supposed to be about. to do justice and righteousness. It would be good for us to consider that reality in light of the sorts of things that we see in our own generation.
You know, as our brother prayed for the government, I've been thinking a lot about government recently, and I don't ever believe God set up government to work against the people governed so that their lives would be more difficult. I mean, you have to go through, you know, jump through a whole host of hoops anymore to try and succeed in this life. And half of the hoops are set up by the government themselves, with this, that, and the other. But the purpose of and the function of government is to do justice and righteousness, and that was precisely Solomon's calling as the king of Israel.
Now, House, Paul House notices this. He says, how must Solomon reflect God's love? By maintaining justice and righteousness in the land. the very gift Solomon requested in 1 Kings 3, 1 to 9. These comments are similar to those Hiram makes in 1 Kings 5.
And then he says, both non-Jewish monarchs recognize God's primacy in Israel's history. Quite ironically, Solomon and future kings of Israel choose to ignore what even non-covenant rulers seem to know is true. God rules Israel and God blesses obedient Israelite kings. I think that is a wonderful bit of irony there.
I mean, here you have the Queen of Sheba. coming and acknowledging the absolute sovereignty of God, purposing to set Solomon upon the throne of Israel as a result of God's love for Israel, he set Solomon upon that throne in order to do justice and righteousness. Now, Solomon in chapter 11 is going to be led astray by a multitude of wives. He's going to give his heart to other gods. This is not what was envisioned by the prophet Moses with reference to the king in Israel.
But the Queen of Sheba recognizes this, and Hiram recognizes this. And as we move through 1 Kings, it will be one sad story after another. There's a few high points, and there's a few encouragements in the Kings in Judah, but for the most part, it's a pretty discouraging situation. We get to 2 Kings 17, and we see the Northern Kingdom fall.
We get to 2 Kings 25, and we see the Southern Kingdom fall. So the queen of Sheba recognizes the purpose for Israel's king, but Israel's king never fully functions in that particular capacity. Now certainly the Messiah does, and Solomon typifies him, and we'll see some of that as we conclude our study later on tonight. So that is the testimony of Sheba concerning Solomon.
She then gives this gift, the royal gift, to Solomon in verses 10 to 12. Specifically, we read, she gave the king 120 talents of gold. This is a lot of gold, gold, gold, gold through this chapter. We might call this the gold chapter, because every time Solomon turns around, people are handing him large quantities of gold.
He's got gold coming out of his ears. And as we start to see what the narrator says in the latter half of the chapter, Solomon doesn't even drink water without a gold cup. I mean, this is a lot of gold. That's the point.
He's got a lot of gold, such that silver really isn't that big of a deal anymore. Silver's chump change in Solomon's Israel, but nevertheless, he still acquires silver. So we see that she bestows this particular gift on him, and then he makes steps of this almug wood for the house of the Lord and for the king's house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers. She then departs after having received a great gift from Solomon as well.
King Solomon, in verse 13, 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. So it's a wonderful testimony concerning King Solomon and his reign in Israel at that particular time.
Solomon's Surpassing Wealth and Wisdom
We move to the latter half of the chapter, we see the surpassing wealth and wisdom of Solomon. Again, the gold and its use. Verse 14, the weight of the gold that came to Solomon yearly was 666 talents of gold. Now I suspect our dispensational brothers would read that and freak out because 666, that's the evil part in 1 Kings chapter 10.
If he had 665 talents of gold, there wouldn't be a problem. If he had 667, talents of gold, there wouldn't be a problem, but because he had 666 talents of gold, that's devilish. That 666 does have no bearing on what is being told us in this particular passage. And by the way, the number of the beast in Revelation 13, my suspicion is that it was Nero's Caesar, not Henry Kissinger, President Obama, or anybody like that.
At any rate, it's telling us that he's receiving gold hand over fist, and then what he does with the gold in verses 16 to 17, he makes 200 large shields of hammered gold, 600 shekels of gold went into each shield. He also made 300 shields of hammered gold, three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. Now some suspect that this house of the forest of Lebanon was an armory and that's where Solomon stored his weaponry.
But the fact that these shields were made of gold would indicate that they were not used in battle. And so others suspect that this house of the Forest of Lebanon was actually a treasury and a place to secure the gold with reference to protecting it from any intruders, foreign or domestic. So either way, he had a lot of gold. That's the point.
Verse 18, moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. So not only is he getting gold, he's getting ivory. The throne had six steps. 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. So you see, it's kind of like going to visit some historic site that is just laden with wealth.
It is a description of and a depiction of God's blessing upon Solomon. So make sure we understand that. As we look at the foreshadowing of Solomon's downfall, we ought not to bypass the reality that up to this point, God has been faithful. to God's promise in 1 Kings chapter 3. When Solomon asks of God wisdom, God says, because you have asked me for wisdom, I'm going to give you wisdom, but I'm also going to grant you great riches.
I'm going to bestow on you great wealth. And again, there's this delicate interplay. God gives wealth. We are to use it and be thankful to Him for it, but we're not to trust in it, and it's not to take the place of God.
And so we need to appreciate that the King of Israel was duty-bound to the God of Israel over and above any wealth or any women or any weaponry. But nevertheless, the Lord is blessing him. Verse 21, all King Solomon's drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were pure gold. You see what the author is doing here?
You know, when you go into your kitchen and you reach for a cup, imagine if you were pulling out a gold goblet to pour your juice into. I mean, this is the sort of thing that was going on in Israel at that particular time. I doubt he was drinking juice. But nevertheless, it is a depiction of God's blessing in terms of wealth and wisdom upon Solomon.
And then the narrator supplies for us a bit of testimony for himself. This is the way that Davis sees it. He says that he doesn't mention Proven in this particular chapter, but I think it's Proven that's in his crosshairs. He says the narrator's testimony matches the queen of Sheba's testimony.
And if you look at verses 23 to 25, here's what the narrator says. So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. Again, I agree with Davis wholeheartedly, but I also agree with Proven that there is some foreshadowing going on in the chapter. Now, all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
The author's conspicuous. He never lets us forget that this wasn't wisdom that was natural to Solomon. It was a God-given wisdom. And as we've read through and as we've studied this particular book up until this point, we need to appreciate the reality of 1 Kings chapter 3.
Solomon asks for wisdom, God conveys wisdom. Every testimony subsequent to chapter 3 that indicates Solomon was in fact wise ought to produce in us an appreciation of the faithfulness of God. He is a prayer-hearing God. He is a prayer-answering God.
Solomon prays for wisdom. God grants wisdom according to His promise to Solomon. So verse 25, each man brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and mules at a set rate year by year. A set rate year by year.
Understand what this means. This is tribute paid to the king. This is a form of taxation. This is a form of make sure that we, the government, have what we need in order to operate in an efficient manner to rule over this particular kingdom.
And then in verses 26 and following, we essentially see Solomon's accumulation of horses and chariots and things like that. Verses 28 and 29 indicate that there was international trade. Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Kaaba. The king's merchants brought them in Keba at the current price.
Now a chariot that was imported from Egypt cost 600 shekels of silver and a horse 150. And thus, through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria. So Solomon is not only functioning in terms of his own kingdom with reference to making sure they have everything they need or want, but he's also facilitating trade into other countries as well.
Application and Practical Lessons
So that's an explanation of the passage. I just want to draw out a few practical lessons, and then we'll close. It's a bit of a difficult chapter to just rehearse somebody else's money, right? I mean, look at what else he had, you know, that sort of a thing.
I mean, it's one of those sorts of chapters we walk through, we admire, we marvel, and we see. But the bulk of the teaching ultimately is one in what the Queen of Sheba testifies and in what the narrator adds. So
The Chapter Calls for Admiration
in the first place, the chapter does, in fact, call for a degree of admiration. calls for admiration. The wealth and wisdom of Solomon are on display for us to admire. It is a display case of God's answer to prayer with reference to Solomon's request. In fact, look back at 1 Kings for just a moment. 1 Kings chapter 3.
Excuse me. 1 Kings chapter 3. Verse 9, Solomon says in response to God's question, what shall I give you? Verse 9, therefore give to your servant an understanding heart to judge your people that I may discern between good and evil for who is able to judge this great people of yours. The speech pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.
Then God said to him, because you have asked this thing and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself, understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your works. See, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. And I also have given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. So if you walk in My ways to keep My statutes and My commandments as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days." So it's a chapter for us to reflect not only on the prestige and the prominence and the wisdom and the wealth of Solomon, but on the answer to prayer that our God affords.
In other words, in 1 Kings 10, the first one we're supposed to admire is God. It's because of God that the Queen of Sheba wants to go and hear Solomon's wisdom. And even the Queen of Sheba recognizes that herself. Yes, she admires Solomon.
Yes, she presents him with great gifts. But it's 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. So we ought to take our cue from the Queen of Sheba when we tour this particular chapter and give the glory to God.
Instead of saying, wow, it's wonderful that they now had monkeys and apes in Israel and they had all these spices that before this point they had never quite enjoyed before. No, it's about God. God gave wisdom, God gave wealth in accordance with 1 Kings chapter 3 and the request made there by Solomon. Davis comments on the prosperity of the people of God.
He says, the prosperity of the people of God is always a gift of God's goodness, which, I would think, demands of us both gratitude, lest we idolize the gifts in the place of God, and joy, lest we despise God's gifts as though they were sinful. Let me just read that again, because I think this is an appropriate way for us to view prosperity. Now, we're certainly not drinking juice out of gold goblets, but we're doing quite well here in North America, aren't we? I mean, when we read about the Sudan, or we read about Ethiopia, or we read about any number of places in the world, I mean, brethren, having a plastic cup to drink your juice in is a blessing from the Lord God Almighty.
But I think at times prosperity challenges people. In fact, Proverbs 30, give me neither poverty nor riches. I'm not sure that we're all able to deal with riches. I think we're all convinced we can't deal with poverty, but some of us might realize as well we can't quite deal with riches.
He says, if I have riches, I may forget God. And I think this is what Davis points out. Prosperity is always a gift of God's goodness, and it demands of us gratitude. gratitude lest we idolize the gifts in the place of God. You see, if we're not expressing thankfulness to God for the gift, we're going to obsess upon the gift itself.
You see, this is a very necessary strategy. Instead of us obsessing on the gift, we are obsessed with the giver. We appreciate the gift, we have thankfulness for the gift, we utilize the gift, but we never forget we've been given the gift by the giver. and then as well joy, lest we despise God's gifts as though they were sinful." We need to appreciate that as well. If God gives you a nice bowl of soup, you don't have to throw ashes in it.
I mean, you don't have to make yourself miserable. Davis points out in his commentary a particular missionary named Don McClure. And I'm not certain where he was, but it was a particular tribe. And the milk was drunk by, was drunk, I don't know if that's the correct form there.
They ingested milk, mainly the women and the children. But the men quite liked the taste of milk, but it was so associated with women and children that to drink milk by itself would associate a man with women and children. So they'd take some cow urine and put it in the milk, and then it would be fit for men to consume. And I think as Christians, we approach God's blessings in this way.
We can't really fully enjoy it. We've got to feel a little bad or have a little bit of guilt to go along with the enjoyment of this thing. That's really not the reason God gives us stuff. It's not so that we'll feel guilty.
Some of us that were brought up Roman Catholics, I mean, they traffic in guilt. I don't know that you can ever shake that. I'm typically guilty for every breath I take, not quite that bad. But 1 Timothy chapter 4, the apostle gives us a strategy here as well, a prohibition against asceticism.
Asceticism is essentially this idea that the physical is bad, we're more holy if we don't touch things, if we don't taste things, if we don't get near things. Ascetics believe that it's good to just go live out in the desert and have nothing, except the bare minimum to keep oneself alive. 1 Timothy 4, Paul says in verse 1, the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. In other words, God didn't give you that steak so you could be miserable. He's okay with you being happy about it.
You know, Israel was castigated for going into the land, enjoying, or eating the fruits of the land, and not returning gratitude to God. And Paul goes on to say, every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. Now certainly, we can overdo luxury. We can overdo the good life.
But brethren, the answer isn't to be miserable when God and his goodness is giving us nice things. You know, if somebody gave you a gift, would you break it because you don't deserve it? Sometimes that's how God's people respond to God. We can't always interpret every good and perfect gift that comes from above as a trap, or as a test, or as a means whereby I'm going to stumble and die.
No, God's actually nice to his people. Dale Ralph Davis in his studies later on in Kings with the Shunammite woman, when Elisha raises the Shunammite woman's son from the dead. That Shunammite woman's son had no significance in redemptive history. He wasn't a prophet.
He wouldn't be a king. He wasn't a preacher. He wasn't anybody in the grand scheme of things. Why did God allow Elisha to raise the Shunammite woman's son?
Because God's nice. He's good. And we ought to appreciate that goodness. We ought to appreciate His gifts and not reject them wholesale because it's holy to be poor.
If it was holy to be poor, then a whole host of people are holy or should be holy, but that really doesn't work that way as far as I'm able to tell. So on the one hand, don't forget to thank God because you'll idolize the gift in the place of God, but on the other hand, don't forget to be filled with joy lest we despise God's gifts as though they were sinful. If God gives us something good, we ought to be joyful. Now, obviously, it's not suggesting if you found crack on your way home, smoke it and be joyful in God.
That's not a good gift. That's not a right thing. It's not a lawful thing for us to possess. But in terms of good gifts, brethren, it's okay to rejoice over those things, and we ought to.
Foreshadowing of Solomon's Downfall
Second, and I don't want to bang this I've drummed too hard, but we ought to appreciate the chapter does indeed continue to foreshadow Solomon's downfall. The chapter in itself is a Solomon presentation, but the accumulation of gold, verses 14, 16 to 18, 21 to 22, 25, and then horses, verse 28, must remind the reader of the prohibitions concerning kings in Israel. It's an amazing thing to me how often we idealize kings without respect to Deuteronomy 17. I'm not suggesting we hate the kings.
I'm not suggesting that we treat Solomon poorly or David poorly. They were men at best. And we need to appreciate that. But the standard for the king of Israel is always Deuteronomy 17.
And if they violate that, we need to hold them accountable, just as God holds us accountable when we violate certain portions of Scripture.
The Principal End of Government
Thirdly, I think we ought to appreciate what has been pointed out, the principle end of government. That phrase is Gil's, by the way. The principle end of government is to do justice and righteousness. Now, David's reign at one particular point in 2 Samuel 8, 15 was described this way.
So David reigned over all Israel, and David administered judgment and justice to all his people. So in David, we had something of that idealism realized. I think as well, with reference to Solomon, his reign was peaceful, the boundaries were extended, everything was going well. So to a degree, Solomon realized that also.
The chapter I submit ends with an unspoken question. It ends with an unspoken question. If you hadn't thought of it, let me just tell you what you should be asking. What's Solomon going to do with all this wisdom and wealth?
Right? We've just walked through his palace. We've heard the Queen of Sheba. We've heard the testimony of the narrator.
We ought to ask the question before we get into chapter 11. What's he going to do with all this wisdom and wealth? Is he going to be like his father David? Is he going to do justice and righteousness?
Is he going to faithfully execute what God had commanded? Because you see, as God gave him the wisdom and the wealth, we read on in 1 Kings chapter 3 wherein the Lord says, as long as you obey my commandments, as long as you do my statutes, as long as you fulfill my word and my law. And so we ought to appreciate that God has bestowed upon Solomon a great deal of resources and equipped him heavily in order to execute this justice and judgment upon the land. So we ought to ask the question.
Certainly when we get to chapter 11, we find out that this is not the case with reference to Solomon. But as well,
Typical Significance: Solomon and Christ
we ought to appreciate the chapter is rich with typical significance. Solomon was not a perfect man, but he pointed toward a perfect Christ. And there are things in this chapter that are indicative of that reality.
Gentile Inclusion in Covenant Blessings
In the first place, the Gentile inclusion in the covenant blessings of God. This queen of Sheba is a pagan coming to Israel's king. This is a down payment of the new covenant era, when the pagans come to Israel's king, when they come in mass, as Isaiah chapter 2 tells us, when the nations stream to Zion to hear and to be taught the law of the Lord. So every time in the Old Testament you see a non-Israelite come into contact with the covenant people, I would submit that's pretty much always typical. of what's going to happen in the New Covenant era.
Ruth the Moabitess is another down payment of the New Covenant inclusion of Gentiles in the people of God.
Gifts Conferred on Israel's King
Secondly, the conferral of gifts upon Israel's king. The fact that she brings all this stuff and lays it at the feet of Solomon is typical of what will happen to Solomon's greater son. If you look at Psalm 72, a psalm written by Solomon that I suspect Solomon knew transcended Solomon. In Psalm 72, specifically verses 10 and 11, the kings of Tarshish and of the isles will bring presents.
The kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts. Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him. Verse 15, and he shall live and the gold of Sheba will be given to him.
Prayer also will be made for him continually, and daily he shall be praised. Turn to the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 60. We have a typical function of the Queen of Sheba serving as a down payment of pagan kings bringing great gifts to Israel's king. Isaiah 60 verses 5 and 6, then you shall see and become radiant and your heart shall swell with joy because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you.
The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you. The multitude of camels shall cover your land, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah. All those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and incense, and they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord.
And then again in verse 11, therefore your gates shall be open continually. They shall not be shut day or night, that men may bring to you the wealth of the Gentiles and their kings in procession. Now turn to Matthew chapter 2. I suggest that this is how we ought to understand the wise man.
This gift-gifting sort of ceremony that we see in Matthew 2 never was intended for us to say, you know, mommy, I want a new dump truck, so make sure I get one on Christmas morning. The idea is that these kings are functioning consistent with the prophetic testimony that the kings of the nations would come and present their gifts before the feet of Israel's king. Notice in Matthew 2 at verse 11. It says, and when they had come into the house, they saw the young child and Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshiped him.
And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Pretty interesting. The same book, Matthew's Gospel, wherein later on, Jesus is going to say, there's a greater than Solomon here. We see as well, with reference to the wisdom of Solomon, it's typical of the wisdom of Christ.
Colossians 2 verse 3, in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And then also we see the character of Christ's rule. Not only chapter 10 in 1 Kings verse 9, to do justice and righteousness, the prophet Isaiah outlining the program for the Messiah tells us He will operate specifically that way in Isaiah chapter 11, verses 1 to 5.
The Exceeding Greatness of Christ
And then we ought to appreciate the exceeding greatness of Christ. Turn to Matthew 12. This is a wonderful passage and most very similar to what we find in 1 Kings chapter 10. Notice in Matthew 12, verse 38.
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, Teacher, we want to see a sign from you. What are they doing? They're testing him, aren't they? This is like the Queen of Sheba, armed with her three-by-five cards and all of her difficult questions as she goes to Jerusalem.
She wants to test Solomon with hard questions. Well, these men want to test Jesus, these scribes and these Pharisees. We want to see a sign from you. We want you to perform.
We want you to satisfy our carnal curiosity. We want you to do what we say. He answered and said to them, an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the son of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. They come to test him, and he confounds them with his wisdom and his exceeding greatness in a manner similar to what we find in the Solomon narrative. But imagine when Jesus said this, when he said in verse 42, "...indeed a greater than Solomon is here." Just consider the magnitude of that for just a moment in this particular context.
Remember that the scribes and the Pharisees knew 1 Kings 10. They knew the story of Solomon. They knew of the Queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon. They knew of her testimony concerning Solomon, and they knew of the narrator's testimony in the latter part of chapter 10 concerning his wealth and his wisdom and his fame and his glory and his majesty and his prominence.
And the Lord Jesus Christ is standing before them with no gold. with no weapons, with no women on his arms, and he says, someone greater than Solomon is standing here. Consider how outlandish this probably appeared to be in terms of the scribes and the Pharisees. In chapter 12, they had accused him of sanctioning Sabbath breaking in 12.2. They wanted to destroy him for what they perceived was Sabbath-breaking in 1214.
They ascribed his power to heal to Beelzebub, the devil, in Matthew 12, 24, and they would request a sign from him to satisfy their own carnal curiosity. And he stands before them and he says, one greater than Solomon is here. Brethren, I am not justifying it, but I understand why carnal men why these godless religious leaders hated and despised the Lord Jesus Christ. They didn't have faith to see Him as a greater than Solomon.
This must have incensed them and this must have outraged them to no end when He said and He claimed to be greater than Solomon in all of His pomp and all of His glory. They had taken the tour of 1 Kings 10. They knew what kind of a King Solomon was. They knew what the Queen of Sheba had testified.
And here they have this Nazarene stand before them and say, one greater than Solomon is here. It's truly an amazing scenario as you consider it and compared to 1 Kings chapter 10. And then this chapter certainly does point to judgment. Notice what Jesus says, the Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it.
For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon." Remember I said it's about 1,000 or maybe up to 1,500 miles that she had to travel to get to Jerusalem. This was before the Learjet. This was before the 747. This was, you know, on donkeys and horses or mules or whatever her, you know, preferred mode of travel was, but that was a long trek to go hear the wisdom of Solomon.
These men didn't have to go anywhere. The Lord God Most High and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ comes to them, and He speaks truth to them. He speaks wisdom in their hearing, and they reject it, and they harden their heart against Him. So Jesus says the Queen of the South on that day, the Day of Judgment, will rise up with this generation and condemn it.
The idea here or the emphasis is upon culpability. Davis says, Jesus' argument is that the Queen had both less truth and less privilege. She had only Solomon's wisdom and was not one of Solomon's people, yet she came to hear Solomon's word. Not bad for a Gentile apparently out of covenant loop.
But now Israel faces something greater than Solomon, Jesus himself and his word and works, and she refuses to hear. Israel's great privilege will not secure her immunity, but will aggravate her responsibility. That is Jesus' point. Davies and Allison say, the queen of Sheba came to Solomon to test him with hard questions.
So like the Pharisees, she tested a king. But unlike them, she could see the truth. It's an amazing indictment concerning the religious leaders in Jesus' day. Well, brethren, as we consider Christ in his typical significance here through Solomon, he is indeed altogether lovely, excuse me, and chief among 10,000, greater than Solomon, greater than the wise man that the kings of the earth fought to to hear his wisdom back in 1 Kings 10.
Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your grace to us. We thank you for your kindness and your mercy. And Lord God, how we thank you that a greater than Solomon has come into this world.
He came to live, to die, and to be raised the third day. We thank you for his session at your right hand, and we look forward to the day when he comes again in glory. to judge the living and the dead. How we thank you for that righteousness that you have given us, the forgiveness of sins. We pray that others would hear this truth, and others by your grace would believe this truth, and they would know the joy of being found in Him.
Go with us now, watch over the entirety of our church, be with your people, grant us grace to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And it's in His name that we pray, amen.
Scripture References
- Deuteronomy 17
- 1 Samuel 8
- 2 Samuel 8:15
- 1 Kings 3; 3:9; 4:29; 10
- 2 Kings 17; 25
- Proverbs 30
- Psalm 72; 72:10-11; 72:15
- Isaiah 2; 11:1-5; 60:5-6; 60:11
- Matthew 2:11; 12:2; 12:14; 12:24; 12:38; 12:42
- Colossians 2:3
- 1 Timothy 4:1
- 1 John 4:8
- Revelation 13