2 Chronicles 9:1 says, And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. The queen of Sheba had heard about Jerusalem, and came to ask Solomon what is said to be some hard questions. People who hear about Jesus Christ today may come to us who are followers of Christ with some hard questions, but we can only share with them the gospel, because until they understand and accept it, they can never understand anything about God. They may have some general knowledge about God's existence, but they will never really understand Who He is until they accept His gift of salvation. The queen of Sheba came with gifts and not in an attitude of demanding. People today should come with an air of superiority demanding to know God. Verse two adds, And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not. Solomon answered all her questions and didn't hide anything from her. We need to answer people's questions about God today, starting with sharing gospel and not trying to hide any of God's truth from them. We are not to view God as ours exclusively. Verse three continues, And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, The queen of Sheba we are told saw the wisdom of Solomon and the house that he built, which I would think means that she understood that God was behind what Solomon had done and gave him both the wisdom and the resources to accomplish it. I do know that whatever we achieve in life as Christians, we need to make sure that people realize that God is behind our success. Verse four concludes, And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her. When the queen of Sheba saw all the work in the temple, we are told there was no more spirit in her. I believe this means she was humbled at what God had done through Solomon, and people must be humbled before God when they see what He did for them when He sent His only begotten Son to die for them. Verse five states, And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom: She said what she had heard about Solomon was true, and people must realize that what we say about Jesus Christ is true today, and they can only know this by hearing and accepting Him as their personal Savior and Lord. Verse six adds, Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard. She then told Solomon that she couldn't believe what she had heard until she saw it with her own eyes, and then when she did it exceeded what she had heard. Until someone personally sees the truth of the gospel, they cannot believe it, and when they do accept it, it will exceed their belief. Verse seven continues, Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom. She noted that Solomon's men were happy to stand before him and hear his wisdom, and we as Christians should be happy to stand before God and hear His wisdom. Verse eight says, Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice. Then, she gave praise to God for Solomon's success. She said God had set Solomon on the throne because He loved Israel and established them forever. Still, the nation of Israel is not the only people God loves. He loved the queen of Sheba just as much, even if He had chosen to work through the nation of Israel. God love each individual the same, no matter where we are from, since Jesus Christ died for the sins of all. Of course, like the nation of Israel, we must be faithful to Him in order for Him to work through us. Verse nine adds, And she gave the king praise hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon. She then gave Solomon many gifts, including a very unique spice. We as followers of Christ should never expect the praise of people nor expect them to reward us for doing what God calls us to do. The praise and rewards should all go to God and we should be content with His providing for us daily. Verse ten continues, And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones. Huram and Solomon's servants also brought gold, algum trees, and precious stones into his storehouse. This was a very prosperous time for the people of Israel, but I don't think that Solomon was using these gifts or profits just for himself, but I believe he was using them for God's glory; at least at first. I do know that we shouldn't use the things that God blesses us with just for our own benefit or glory. Verse twelve states, And the king made of the algum trees terraces to the house of the Lord, and to the king's palace, and harps and psalteries for singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah. We are told that at least with the algum trees that Solomon used them for doing God's work, making a terrace on the temple and harps and psalteries for the singers. Verse twelve adds, And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which she had brought unto the king. So she turned, and went away to her own land, she and her servants. Solomon showed respect for the queen of Sheba as she had for him, giving here anything she desired and asked for, and then she went back to her own land. We as Christians today should have same mutual respect for each other.
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