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What the Bible says about Queen of Sheba
(From Forerunner Commentary)

1 Kings 11:42

The reign of King Solomon is a rather bittersweet one. Here he was, the wisest man who had ever lived, ruling over a powerful, wealthy nation at peace, yet the evidence that we glean from Scripture is that his forty-year reign was the prelude to disaster. As Solomon breathes his last breath, the kingdom is poised on the brink of rebellion because of heavy taxation and forced labor (see I Kings 9:20-22; 12:1-5); his heir, Rehoboam, is proud and listens only to his foolish friends (see I Kings 12:6-11); and God has been shunted aside to share glory with a menagerie of other deities (see what happened in Israel immediately after his reign; I Kings 12:25-33).

The Bible provides us both sides of the coin of Solomon's time on the throne of Israel. He presided over Israel's Golden Age and the building of the Temple and a grand palace for the royal family (see I Kings 4:20—8:66). The Queen of Sheba and countless others visited Jerusalem to gaze on the wonders collected there by the king and to hear his wisdom firsthand (see I Kings 4:29-34; 10:1-13). Scripture informs us that gold and silver were as common in Israel's capital as baser metals were elsewhere (I Kings 10:14-23; II Chronicles 9:27). Solomon was so strong and the nations around were so weak that no one dared disturb the peace of the time (except at the very end of his reign; I Kings 11:14-40).

But the underside of the coin is far darker. Though Solomon had been humble as a young man, asking God for understanding so that he could properly rule and judge his people, his pride soon led him to disobedience. He began to flout the instructions given by God through Moses to Israel's kings (Deuteronomy 17:14-20). He made alliances with foreign nations, particularly Egypt, marrying hundreds of domestic and foreign princesses to cement these ties (I Kings 11:1-3). Of course, these women brought their own gods and goddesses to worship, and it was not long before Solomon was honoring their wishes to have various shrines and "high places" built to house their idols (see I Kings 11:4-8).

As usually happens, when the people saw that Solomon had compromised with idolatry, they followed suit, visiting the ancient groves and hilltop altars that had lain unfrequented but not forgotten. With few exceptions, subsequent kings either neglected God's command to destroy these high places or made half-hearted efforts. Solomon's reign set an unfortunate standard for most of the kings of Judah who followed him, and the people sank deeper into lifestyles contrary to the law of God.

The number forty is frequently a biblical indication of testing. Solomon received forty years from God to see if he would follow His ways or not. The book of Ecclesiastes indicates that, perhaps at the end of his life, Solomon made an effort to repent—or at least he realized that, in the end, it is a person's chief duty to fear God and keep His commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13). We really do not know if he passed or failed his test, but we can learn a great lesson from the forty years of his wonderful, terrible reign.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh

1 Chronicles 29:23

Perhaps the most remarkable part of the "key of the house of David" is the ownership of David's throne. This verse records that, after David's death, "Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father." David and Solomon sat on God's throne!

The Queen of Sheba provides a second witness to this incredible truth. This apparently Gentile woman understood an important fact about Solomon's throne: "Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne to be king for the LORD your God!" (II Chronicles 9:8).

Remarkably, God twice refers to David's throne as His own. It is God's in the sense that Christ will eventually inherit it. Christ, "the Son of David, the Son of Abraham" (Matthew 1:1), will return to earth, claiming His rightful place as "King over all the earth" (Zechariah 14:9). In Isaiah 9:6-7, the prophet Isaiah writes of the "Prince of Peace" who will eventually sit on David's throne:

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. . . . Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever.

This Child, this Son, whom we know is Jesus Christ, is the Shiloh of Genesis 49:10. There, Jacob prophesies that "to Him shall be the obedience of the people." Christ is of the lineage of David (Luke 3:23-31); He will ultimately sit on David's throne—forever.

Charles Whitaker
Searching for Israel (Part Four): The Kingdom and the Key

Matthew 12:41-42

The men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment and condemn the people of Jesus' generation because they did not respond to the message of repentance He brought. Then He says the queen of the South, the Queen of Sheba, will also condemn this generation because they did not understand the wisdom that Jesus brought—wisdom far greater than Solomon's.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Parables of Matthew 13 (Part 2): Leaven


 




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