DBG - April 20 - I Kings 10-11

In this chapter the Queen of Sheba visits and the wealth of Solomon is described.

vs. 1-13 – The exact location of Sheba is debated.  I have become more convinced that it is the Sabean kingdom that was in modern Yemen.  That royalty visited you and not just sent emissaries was remarkable. The motivation behind this is probably both curiosity and a desire to strengthen trade relations. 

vs. 14-29 - The description here of Solomon’s wealth is simply amazing. His trade brought in luxury and wealth from all over the ancient world. His yearly income in the gold trade was 666 talents, which is around 50 tons.

In this chapter Solomon dies after a troublesome close to his reign.

vs. 1-8 – While Solomon started his reign well in following God, in his later years his heart turned from the Lord.  He may be 55 years old at this time.  In Solomon’s harem there were 700 wives and 300 concubines. He violated the Law in marrying pagan wives (see Exodus 23:32-33, 34:16; Deuteronomy 7:3-4) and the Royal Charter in multiplying wives (Deuteronomy 17:17).

vs. 9-40 – As God had promised to Solomon, if Solomon would not walk in the ways of the Lord, then corrective judgment would surely come. After some thirty years of peace in the land there now arose new adversaries. But God was faithful to His promise to not remove Solomon from the throne, instead breaking the kingdom under his son. Hadad (“mighty”) was an Edomite prince that had escaped David’s conquest and found refuge in Egypt. After David and Joab’s deaths he returned to attempt to reestablish his former kingdom. Rezon (“prince”) was a Syrian rebel that established a kingdom in Damascus after Hadadezer’s defeat in II Samuel 8:3-12. Jeroboam (“whose people are many”) was a superintendent in Solomon’s government. The prophet Ahijah (“Brother of Jehovah”) the prophet met him and prophesied that the kingdom would be divided and that ten of the tribes would be his to rule (vs. 35-37). He appears to have been part of some sort of conspiracy against Solomon (vs. 26) which either failed or was uncovered so that Solomon sought for his life, and he fled to Egypt.

vs. 41-43 - A short time before his death, Solomon wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes.  Solomon dies at the age of 60, a remarkably young age for a ruler with such wealth and in a time of great peace. 

The best of men are still men at best.  Solomon had all the wisdom and wealth, but he was still  just a man.  He learned the hard way that serving God is the best way to live.  We will read the account of his spiritual journey in a few months in the book of Ecclesiastes.  There he looks back over his life and comes to a simple conclusion, one that we would do well to follow: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

Our hymn today first appeared in the 1791 hymnal The Christian’s Duty under the heading “Queen of Sheba”.  It uses the wonder of the queen at Solomon’s greatness and compares it to how a Christian is overwhelmed by the greatness of Christ. 

From Sheba a distant report
Of Solomon's glory and fame,
Invited the queen to his court,
But all was outdone when she came;
She cried with a pleasing surprise,
When first she before him appeared,
"How much, what I see with my eyes,
Surpasses the rumor I heard."

When once to Jerusalem come,
The treasure and train she had brought.
The wealth she possessed at home,
No longer had place in her thought:
His house, his attendants, his throne,
All struck her with wonder and awe;
The glory of Solomon shone,
In every object she saw.

But Solomon most she admired,
Whose spirit conducted the whole;
His wisdom, which God had inspired,
His bounty and greatness of soul;
Of all the hard questions she put,
A ready solution he showed;
Exceeded her wish and her suit,
And more than she asked him bestowed.

Thus I when the gospel proclaimed
The Savior's great name in my ears,
The wisdom for which he is famed,
The love which to sinners he bears;
I longed, and I was not denied,
That I in his presence might bow;
I saw, and transported I cried,
"A greater than Solomon thou!"

My conscience no comfort could find,
By doubt and hard questions opposed;
But he restored peace to my mind,
And answered each doubt I proposed!
Beholding me poor and distressed,
His bounty supplied all my wants;
My prayer could have ne'er expressed
So much as this Solomon grants.

I heard, and was slow to believe,
But now with my eyes I behold,
Much more than my heart could conceive,
Or language could ever have told:
How happy thy servants must be,
Who always before thee appear!
Vouchsafe, Lord, this blessing to me,
I find it is good to be here.