Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG002852
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00:09 It's been 2000 years since the glorious light of the cross
00:12 illuminated a world veiled in darkness and confusion about the 00:15 character of God. And still today the greatest need of 00:19 mankind is a revelation of God's love as revealed in the life of 00:23 Christ. Amazing Facts presents the Everlasting Gospel with 00:27 Pastor Doug Batchelor coming to you each week from Sacramento 00:30 Central Church in sunny California. Discover hidden 00:33 treasures in God's word today. 00:38 And today we're going to talk about a story that we've heard 00:41 about and even Hollywood has talked about and it's dealing 00:45 with the subject of the Queen of Sheba. You find this story in 00:50 I Kings chapter 10. You can find it in a couple of parallel 00:54 passages. Little bit of additions and variation 00:58 between the two. I Kings chapter 10 verse 1 and we'll be looking 01:03 at this together. I Kings chapter 10 verse 1: Now when the 01:08 Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the 01:14 name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions and 01:19 she came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue; with camels 01:25 the bore spices, very much gold and precious stones. And when 01:29 she came to Solomon she spoke with him about all that was in 01:34 her heart. So this goes down in history as an unusual story 01:38 because first of all it's a royal visit. Usually kings and 01:43 queens send ambassadors, they send messages, they send 01:47 emissaries. When one king would go and visit another king it was 01:53 a sign of submission. You know it's usually the lesser would go 01:57 to and visit the greater. The greater, like a mountain, would 02:01 say I'm not going anywhere. If you want to talk to me you come 02:04 to me. I'm not saying that Solomon had that attitude but 02:07 the very fact that she came was a tremendous honor when a queen 02:12 comes to visit you. She came in person. She had heard about the 02:16 wonderful wisdom of Solomon and she wanted to see it firsthand. 02:23 You know it was back in May 2007 when Queen Elizabeth visited 02:29 our country and she made a royal visit. She was coming to 02:34 commemorate the 400th anniversary of a founding of an 02:38 English town on our continent called Jamestown. I was thought 02:42 that was a very interesting significance that the Queen of 02:45 England comes for the 400th anniversary of the celebration 02:49 of the English settlement on our shores. And it was a big event, 02:55 you know. All the cameras got out and they gave her, as you 02:58 would say, a royal welcome. Now as we prepare to study the story 03:01 of the Queen of Sheba, I just want you to know that this was 03:06 the fulfillment of a prophecy. If you've got your Bibles, turn 03:11 to Psalm 72. We've talked before about how King Solomon was 03:16 really a type of Christ. Solomon was the son of David just as 03:21 Jesus is called the Son of David. King David wrote some 03:26 time before this happened, his last psalm. You might be 03:30 thinking the last psalm of David was 150. David didn't 03:35 write all of the psalms. He wrote many of them. Asaph, the 03:39 chief musician, wrote many of them. But the last psalm of 03:42 David is Psalm 72. It says so right at the end of the psalm. 03:47 And it says, verse 1, a psalm for Solomon. David wrote a psalm 03:51 for his son Solomon who he knew would be king. We're not going 03:55 to read all of this, but just notice, it's a psalm for 03:58 Solomon. Give the king thy judgments O God and 04:01 righteousness unto the king's son. Solomon, like Jesus, was 04:06 the son of David, the king of righteousness. Go to verse 10: 04:10 The kings of Tarshish and the isles will bring presents. The 04:14 kings of Sheba and Seba will offer their gifts. Now this is 04:18 David writing. Did that happen? David was not only a psalmist 04:23 and a king, he was a prophet. The royalty of Sheba did bring 04:27 gifts to Solomon. Yea kings shall fall down before him and 04:32 all nations will serve him. Now this is not just prophecy about 04:36 Solomon. This is a prophecy ultimately about Jesus. And then 04:40 you can read verse 15. And he shall live and to him shall be 04:45 given the gold of Sheba. There you've got it again. To Solomon 04:49 shall be give the gold of Sheba. Sheba represented the gentile 04:53 nations. To Christ the worship and the recognition and the 04:57 wealth of the gentiles come. And then you read in Psalm 72, the 05:02 last verse, verse 20, the prayers of David the son of 05:06 Jesse are ended. Now this is the last psalm of David. I think 05:10 that's interesting that the last psalm of David he writes sort of 05:14 as a will for his son, that he would prosper, that he would be 05:17 righteous and a prophecy that other nations would come to him 05:21 as long as he was faithful and he could be a witness for them. 05:25 So then you've got the record in the Bible of this royal visit. 05:29 You can also read the parallel verse if you go to II Chronicles 05:33 Chronicles comes right after Kings, II Chronicles chapter 9 05:37 verse 1. It also tells about the visit of the Queen of Sheba. 05:41 Now in our last study on Solomon I told you that during 05:43 this time in Solomon's history it was the zenith or the highest 05:48 part in the history of King Solomon. And so kind of the 05:53 cherry on the banana split, so to speak, was the visit from the 05:57 Queen of Sheba because it represented the nations of the 06:00 world coming to Israel to learn about their God. What was the 06:06 purpose for God calling Israel as a nation? Because they were 06:10 the chosen people he just said you know I like you better than 06:15 everyone else. No. He chose them to be a nation of kings and 06:19 priests that they might be witnesses to the other nations. 06:23 That they might share their light. Their nation was to be a 06:27 light on the hill for all nations and when the Queen of 06:31 Sheba came to Solomon because she had heard about his God 06:34 this was the ultimate fulfillment of that prophecy 06:38 of what God wanted from his people, for all nations to flow 06:43 unto them. Let me read this to you first. II Chronicles 9 verse 06:48 And the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon and she 06:53 came to Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem with a 06:56 very great company and camels that carried spices and gold in 07:01 abundance and precious stones. And she came into the Solomon 07:05 and spoke to him of all that was in her heart and Solomon told 07:09 her all her questions and there was nothing hid from Solomon 07:13 that he did not tell her. Is there any prayer that you can 07:17 pray to Jesus that he does not have an answer for? Is there any 07:21 question you might ask Jesus that he is bewildered by? 07:26 Is there any enigma too hard for him, any conundrum he can't 07:30 grapple with, or does Jesus know all things? So Solomon, again, 07:35 here is a type of Jesus who is the real King of kings. And you 07:40 must you know imagine what it must have looked like, this 07:44 armada of camels coming across the desert because they'd heard 07:49 about the wisdom of Solomon. Now maybe before I go too far I 07:53 should answer this question, where is Sheba? Where is this 07:57 nation, this country, called Sheba. There's been some 08:00 speculation about it. If you talk to our Ethiopian friends 08:04 they have a very rich tradition that their land was the land of 08:08 Sheba. And while there is some truth to that, let me explain. 08:12 You've got to look at the map here. If you see the straits 08:15 there that separate the Red Sea from the Arabian Sea it's a very 08:20 narrow strait and there was country in southern Arabia 08:25 called Sheba. You can see it's the green territory there, but 08:28 then also their kingdom reached across that very narrow channel 08:32 into Ethiopia. But the royal residence was actually in 08:36 southern Arabia. Matter of fact Sheba means south country. 08:40 It was the farthest south you could go in Arabia and that's 08:44 why it got that name. It was a very rich country, not only 08:48 because evidently they had access to the mines of Ophir 08:51 and the golden mines of Havilah, but they controlled the naval 08:59 trade that went from the Indian ocean and the Pacific 09:03 and the Arabian Ocean up into the Mediterranean and Europe. 09:06 All of that trade had to go through that isthmus there. 09:10 How many of you have heard about the Somali pirates today? Well 09:14 that's right there off that horn of Africa. It's the same trade 09:17 route that they're controlling and that's why they're able to 09:21 exploit it the way they do. Well the country of Sheba controlled 09:24 that. They got a tariff, they got a tax from everybody that 09:27 brought they goods. They had the richest goods from all over the 09:30 world came through them. They also had an access to the gold 09:34 mines of Africa. So it was probably there in southern 09:37 Arabia. But it was a very wealthy country. Now that 09:40 also means when you consider where she was coming from, you 09:43 take your little ruler on your map when you get home and you'll 09:48 find out that the trip was 1,400 miles. The fact that she was 09:52 able to go, and that was one way, she had to go home. One 09:58 thousand four hundred miles to hear somebody's wisdom, you 10:04 must really treasure wisdom if you're going to make a trip that 10:08 far. And that is what the Bible says is the most important 10:11 thing. You need to commend her. By the way, you know Jesus 10:15 speaks about the Queen of Sheba. If you ever want to know if 10:18 something is legend of true, find out what Jesus said about 10:21 it. Jesus speaks about the visit of the Queen of Sheba as a 10:25 historical fact. I think you can believe it. Matthew 12:42, Jesus 10:31 says the Queen of the South, that's what Sheba means, will 10:34 rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it 10:38 for she came from the ends of the earth. So when Jesus refers 10:41 to the country of Sheba how does he call it? The ends of the 10:43 earth. I mean when you sent to Sheba back then you came to the 10:46 sea and it stopped. It was as far south as you could go in 10:49 Arabia. Christ says it was the ends of the earth. To hear the 10:53 wisdom of Solomon and then Jesus said, a greater than Solomon is 10:57 here. Now if I lived back in Bible times during the time of 11:01 Solomon, knowing what I know now, I'd want to get there. 11:04 I would want to see the temple that he built. I would want to 11:08 hear the wisdom of Solomon. I'd like to look at Solomon and see 11:12 if he looked more like David or Bathsheba. But I'd like to be 11:16 there. I'd like to hear, of course, I have to speak Hebrew, 11:20 but assuming I could, I'd like to hear the gems of truth and 11:24 wisdom and knowledge that poured from his lips. He had to sit as 11:28 a judge every day and hear all kinds of very difficult cases. 11:31 You remember the two women that brought the baby and how he 11:35 dealt with that? That was only a small sample of what Solomon did 11:39 to demonstrate his wisdom on a daily basis. Wouldn't you want 11:43 to hear Solomon? Jesus said, A greater than Solomon is here. 11:48 There was another Son of David that was even wiser than 11:52 Solomon and that's Jesus. That other King. You have the wisdom 11:56 of Jesus right here. Of course, we've got a lot of the wisdom 12:00 of Solomon here too don't we in the Proverbs? So she came to 12:03 hear it. Now you might ask the question, how did she hear 12:07 about Solomon? How'd she hear about this wisdom. Well no doubt 12:11 all of the sea traffic and the caravans that came through her 12:16 country. You can read for instance in I Kings 9, that's 12:19 the previous chapter, where the Queen of Sheba appears in 12:23 chapter 10; Then Hiram sent his servants with the fleet seamen 12:27 who knew the sea to work with the servants of Solomon, these 12:31 sailors went down there, and they went to Ophir to acquire 12:35 420 talents of gold. A talent's about 60 pounds. From there they 12:40 brought it to King Solomon. So as these ships went back and 12:43 forth they would have to stop at the straits there where the tax 12:49 collectors for Sheba lived and she would hear these reports 12:52 when they stopped to be reprovisioned, about the wisdom 12:56 and the glory of Solomon and she'd see their ships going back 12:59 with all this gold and she'd say wow, what kind of king is this? 13:03 What kind of king is this. And she was searching for the truth. 13:07 Now we don't know exactly what the religion of Sheba was but it 13:11 was probably a melting pot of the religions of the world 13:16 because it's often true that when you have a country that is 13:20 sort of on a trade route, they would pick up some of the pieces 13:25 of truth in religion from many different belief systems. And so 13:29 she probably had sort of a potluck of different beliefs 13:32 from the different gods of the different nations and she was 13:36 wondering what is the truth? She heard little snippets and 13:41 little quotes and reports about the judgments of Solomon and the 13:45 glory of Solomon and the wisdom of Solomon. She thought this 13:50 king knows the truth. He has the truth. I want that truth. 13:54 She cherished it more than anything. You know so many in 13:58 positions of leadership become cynical. Like when Jesus stood 14:03 before Pilate and he spoke of the truth. There one wiser than 14:07 Solomon was in the presence of Pilate and that ruler said, Ah 14:10 what is truth? Who can know? And he didn't even wait for an 14:14 answer from Jesus. How sad. Well that wasn't the attitude of the 14:17 Queen of Sheba. She was willing to give everything and go to the 14:20 ends of the earth to find out what is truth. You know some 14:25 things are absolute and there is an absolute truth. I'm surprised 14:28 how often I hear people say well you know your truth is truth 14:32 is true for you and then I got my truth that's true for me and 14:35 my truth is just as important as your truth. It's like everybody 14:38 has their own truth and whatever you think is true is true. 14:42 You make it true by believing it. That's a very deadly belief, 14:46 that every man can sort of just create his own truth. Solomon 14:50 said, there is a way that seems right to a man but the end 14:54 thereof are the ways of death. There is only one truth friends. 14:58 We cannot make our own, Amen? So she had heard about this 15:03 wherever the ships of Tarshish sailed they carried the 15:09 wonderful report of Solomon. Why did she come all that distance? 15:14 Well you can even look back to some of Solomon's gems of truth. 15:20 Solomon said in Proverbs 8, verse 11: For wisdom is better 15:25 than rubies and all things that one might desire cannot be 15:29 compared with her. Now we've already read enough about the 15:33 Queen of Sheba to know she was fabulously wealthy herself. Just 15:39 the constant income. You know it's amazing. In Saudi Arabia 15:44 today things now are sort of like they used to be back in her 15:48 day. You think how can they get so wealthy out there in the 15:52 desert? You ever wondered about that. How many of you have seen 15:56 some of the treasures of Dubai. They've built an indoor, out 16:00 there in the desert, they've built an indoor maul with a snow 16:04 skiing mountain. You've seen some of the pictures floating 16:07 around on the internet of that. The tallest building in the 16:11 world costing over a billion dollars, I forget, it's some 16:14 phenomenal amount. They're going to build one there that's over a 16:17 mile high now. In the desert. They've got a gold plated 16:21 Mercedes, some of these sheikhs that live there. Largest 16:25 airplane built is an airbus, I forget what the number is. 16:29 It's a double decker 747 is what it is. It is a real airbus. One 16:36 of these has recently been purchased by a sheikh, one of 16:38 the richest people in the world, multibillionaire, I think he's 16:42 paying three billion dollars, he bought one brand new. 16:45 He's going to outfit it as a flying palace for him and his 16:50 entourage and family. Out in the desert. Dubai was becoming 16:55 one of the most popular tourist attractions until this economic 17:00 unraveling that they've had because all the oil money that 17:03 was flowing in there. So just to let you know it can happen. 17:06 Out there in the desert, controlling that flow of those 17:09 continents through that strait, through the caravan trade. She 17:13 had lots of money. All the best spices and the best clothes and 17:17 the things from India and the Orient came through her front 17:21 yard and she got to take the best of everything. But she was 17:25 not happy. She wasn't satisfied. She wanted to know what is 17:28 truth. You know Jesus said you'll know the truth and the 17:31 truth will set you free. That's what she cherished. She wanted 17:35 that wisdom. She wanted that knowledge. So her crews and her 17:38 ambassadors had heard about it. She could have sent somebody, 17:42 but she wanted to see it first hand. I Kings chapter 10: When 17:47 she heard of the fame of Solomon she wanted answers. You know I 17:52 actually found a quote where it says in Psalm 19 verse 10: More 17:57 to be desired are they than gold, speaking of the truth, the 18:01 law of the Lord, yea then much find gold, sweeter than honey 18:04 in the honeycomb. She had gold, she had the best food, she had 18:08 the spices, but she wanted truth. She head of Solomon's 18:13 wealth, she heard of his works, she heard of his wisdom and she 18:18 heard about his worship. It says she heard about the name of his 18:23 God. She wanted to know about his God. You know Josephus, the 18:26 famous Jewish historian, he talks about the Queen of Sheba. 18:30 He gives a little additional insight. Here's a quote from 18:34 Josephus: When this queen, this is from the writings of Flavius 18:39 Josephus, when the queen heard of the virtue and the prudence 18:44 of Solomon she had a great mind to see him. She being desirous 18:49 to be satisfied by her own experience and not by bare 18:53 hearing, for reports thus are likely enough to comply with a 18:57 false opinion. She resolved to come to him in order to have a 19:01 trial of his wisdom while she proposed questions of great 19:06 difficulty and entreated that he would solve their hidden meaning 19:10 She had a long time to think about those questions too during 19:14 that caravan journey across the desert 1,400 miles. Well it took 19:18 Lewis and Clark to cover that kind of distance, of course, 19:22 then they were doing some of it by river, it took them about a 19:26 year to get to the west coast; over two years round trip. 19:32 So she wanted to know what was the truth and she made that 19:36 great journey. She not only wanted to know, she wanted to 19:41 know for herself. It's one thing to say well you know my parents 19:45 they had an experience with the Lord, they were converted, 19:48 they're Christians and so I'm a Christian because they made a 19:52 decision. Or my grandparents or my great grandparents. And you 19:55 are trying to ride on the coat tails or the apron strings 19:59 of some experience that your parents or grandparents had. 20:03 You know, you have to admire the Queen of Sheba because 20:06 though she was a queen and she could send somebody, she could 20:11 have said Solomon could you please text message me, but she 20:16 didn't. She said I want to see for myself. I want to experience 20:20 for myself. Friends, do you want your own experience with the Son 20:24 of David, Jesus? Are you satisfied to have it vicariously 20:28 through several generations. It's not going to be enough. 20:32 You want to have it yourself, it needs to be personal. 20:36 Luke 11:31. I quoted Matthew. Here's Luke's quote. The queen 20:40 of the south will rise up in judgment with the men of this 20:44 generation to condemn them for she, the Queen of Sheba, in the 20:47 judgment, sounds like she's saved. Says she can rise up and 20:51 condemn those who did not appreciate the truth of Jesus. 20:54 For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of 20:58 Solomon and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. God 21:02 invites us to come and to ply him with questions. In our 21:07 prayers, in our meditations as we read the word. It's okay to 21:10 not understand everything. That's why the Lord implores 21:14 us to reason with him. Isaiah chapter 1 verse 18: Come now 21:18 says the Lord, Let us reason together. He wants you to probe 21:22 him with questions. Though your sins be like scarlet they will 21:26 be white as snow. Now there's a question. How does that 21:29 happen. Can a leopard change his spots? Can an Ethiopian change 21:33 his skin? That's a mystery. Reason with him about that. 21:37 How can I have a changed heart? How can I be a new creature? 21:41 Now there's the big question we need an answer to, amen? 21:45 Though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool. Then 21:49 another wonderful point I want you to consider is she came all 21:52 that way and Solomon was a busy man. He's building temples. 21:55 He was a great builder. And he's involved in international trade. 22:00 He had hundreds of wives and concubines. I mean you know how 22:04 many weddings you have to plan for? You know how much time that 22:09 takes. He was busy. Okay you've got another wedding today on 22:14 your schedule. So here you've got this busy king and she says 22:17 I'd like to have an appointment with you. He stops what he's 22:21 doing and he gives her the time that she needs. He receives her. 22:24 He receives her. Who does Solomon the son of David 22:28 represent? Jesus the Son of David. Christ even makes a 22:32 comparison, doesn't he, between Solomon and himself. Did Solomon 22:36 stop and have time for her? Does anything in the record that 22:39 we read say that he was really busy. He gave her all the time 22:44 and attention she asked for. A king. I mean that's a lot to 22:49 think about that Jesus would have that kind of time to give 22:53 us. If Solomon would give it to Sheba. By the way she showed 22:58 she was interested. She came seeking. She had put so much 23:02 time and energy into seeking. How could Solomon tell her no? 23:06 When someone comes all that way. You know sometimes I'll do an 23:10 evangelistic meeting. I'll go to another part of the world to do 23:14 this evangelistic meeting. And they'll be people who are living 23:17 in a house or a hut right next door to the stadium and they 23:21 don't come and it kind of hurts me and I'll chastise the 23:24 neighborhood and say look I came all the way from the United 23:27 States to share with you. I want you to walk the next 300 yards. 23:32 And I kind of shame them into coming. Whatever it takes, right 23:37 When someone puts all that energy and time into seeing and 23:42 spending a little time with you, you want to see them. And I 23:46 expect that she probably sent riders out ahead before she came 23:50 to announce her arrival and to make sure that the king 23:53 understood what her intentions were and he received her. Jesus 23:58 will receive you. Now. I've got to stop right here. Oh by the 24:03 way; Proverbs 18 verse 16, again I'm quoting from Solomon's 24:08 wisdom: A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before 24:13 great men. When the messengers came from the Queen of Sheba to 24:17 Solomon and said you know there is not just a little caravan. 24:21 There is a big caravan and if you're bringing 120 talents of 24:27 gold, 120 talents, one talent 60 pounds, 120 x 60 pounds, 24:32 someone quick, what's 120 x 60? 7200 pounds of gold. That would 24:39 even make a camel tired. Where you're carrying that much gold 24:45 you not only have your caravan you've got an armed escort. 24:49 Then you've got all the food that you need to take those 24:52 people across the desert. She must have looked like the 24:56 children of Israel coming out of Egypt. I mean it was a big deal. 25:01 When Jacob was going to meet with his brother and his brother 25:06 was still miffed over his stealing the birthright, 25:08 what did Jacob do before he saw? He sent a gift out ahead. 25:12 And the gift prepared the way. Kind of softened his heart. 25:15 And so they said wow she's bringing a lot of gifts and when 25:19 people came to see a king they brought their gifts. That was 25:23 very common. And so she came bringing her gifts. Now I tell 25:27 what I wanted to say. In spite of the romantic notions you 25:32 might have or movies that have been produced it's a fable that 25:38 Solomon and the Queen of Sheba had a love affair. That's a 25:45 video cover I captured off line of Yil Brynner and Gina 25:51 Lollobridgida. Anyone remember them? My mom was actually in a 25:54 couple of movies with Yil Brynner. That's not my mom 25:58 though. Hollywood always wants to turn it into a romance. 26:03 Matter of fact, even the story of Moses in the 10 Commandments 26:07 they make it out like Moses had some sordid affair with the 26:10 Queen of Egypt. Where is that in the Bible? That's not in the 26:13 Bible is it, but you've all seen the 10 Commandments, right? 26:18 There's nothing at all in the text that says that Solomon and 26:22 Sheba had anything other than an intellectual relationship. 26:26 She was coming seeking truth. She had enough money she could 26:30 have any man she wanted. She didn't need Solomon like that. 26:33 Now the Ethiopians have a tradition that they had an 26:38 affair and she became pregnant and she went back home and she 26:44 gave birth to a son and that later Solomon sent the Ark of 26:48 the Covenant down and gave it to the Ethiopians and the 26:51 Ethiopians claim, we've got the real Ark of the Covenant 26:55 because Solomon gave it to the son of the Queen of Sheba but 26:58 there are some Bible problems with that. The Ark was still in 27:01 the temple up until the time of Hezekiah 100s of years later. 27:05 So that fable doesn't go along with the Bible. No offense to my 27:09 friends that may believe in the Ethiopian tradition. But there 27:12 are all kinds of stories that spring up. Everything you read 27:16 about the Bible, she was looking for truth, she had questions. 27:20 Her interest was a mental interest. Solomon had plenty of 27:24 wives also. Just because she was a woman and he was a man. We 27:27 don't know. She might have been 80 years old. You know the Bible 27:30 doesn't say. There's a picture for you. That ruins everything 27:33 doesn't it. She might not have looked at all like Gina 27:36 Lollobridgida. It says that she treasured truth. It doesn't say 27:42 she was some voluptuous seductive queen. It just tells 27:47 us she was interested in truth. So I just wanted to destroy 27:51 those romantic notions that you may have had in your mind 27:54 because it really ruins the real message of the story. She's 27:58 seeking for truth, she's seeking for wisdom, she's seeking for 28:01 answers, she's seeking for God, she's seeking for something that 28:05 can be trusted. It had nothing to do with any kind of sensual 28:09 relationship. Now I've just ruined it for you didn't I? 28:12 What was her response to what she found? II Chronicles chapter 28:21 9 verse 3: And the Queen of Sheba, she saw the wisdom of 28:26 Solomon and the house that he built. Now do you mark in your 28:30 Bibles? I'm just wondering. How many of you make any kind of 28:33 notation or marking in your Bible just for your own personal 28:35 By the way, it's okay to do that. By the way, if you didn't 28:38 do that if nobody ever did that your Bible would not have 28:41 chapters and verses. You know how we got chapters and verses? 28:43 Somebody took a long trip and they were reading their Bible 28:46 and they wanted to find things again and so they put in chapter 28:49 numbers and verse numbers and it helped them. Later it was 28:51 adopted by everybody. That's why you've got marking in your 28:55 Bible. You might circle some words in here. What did she see? 28:59 Look at II Chronicles 9, I'm reading verses 3-8: When she saw 29:04 the wisdom, you might circle the word wisdom of Solomon in the 29:09 house that he had built and the food, I've circled the word 29:14 house, I've circled the word food of his table and the 29:18 sitting of his servants, you can circle servants, even sitting of 29:23 his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, I've circled 29:28 ministers and their apparel and his cup bearers, I highlighted, 29:34 and their apparel and his burnt offerings that he offered up in 29:39 the house of Jehovah. You know you look at these things here 29:44 and this is really a picture of what God wants us to see in the 29:49 church. Notice what her response was. There was no spirit in her. 29:54 How many of you have a different translation there for 29:57 no more spirit? What does it say? I'm reading now from the 30:01 New King James. Does anyone have it there's no more breath in 30:06 their translation? It says there was no more breath in her. The 30:10 word for spirit there is ruach. In Hebrew it's the word breath. 30:14 It's the same word when God breathed into Adam he became 30:18 a living soul. Same word. Have you ever heard the expression 30:22 breathtaking? You know where that word comes from, where that 30:25 expression comes from? This verse. Have you ever heard the 30:30 expression I was breathless? I waited breathlessly? It was a 30:34 breath taking view. It comes from this verse where when the 30:39 Queen of Sheba saw the glory of Solomon, she heard the wisdom of 30:42 Solomon, she saw the servants of Solomon, the house that he built 30:46 She took all this in. She was breathless. That's where the 30:50 phrase, the expression, comes from. Lot of expression you use 30:54 come from the Bible. In the nick of time, the skin of my teeth. 30:57 That's from the book of Job. Turn the other cheek. Of course, 31:00 lot of expressions, as you know, they come from the Bible and 31:03 this is where that expression comes from. Queen of Sheba 31:07 couldn't find any words other than it took her breath away. 31:09 Have you ever heard a girl say ah he took my breath away. 31:13 First time that's recorded in history is when the Queen of 31:16 Sheba tried to explain what she saw. Maybe that's why they wrote 31:19 a romance novel about it. Solomon in his glory left her 31:23 breathless. It was a breath taking experience. Now I'm going 31:28 break those things you circled down a little bit. First of all, 31:34 she saw his possessions, his provisions, his people, his 31:40 piety and his place. His possessions, his provisions, his 31:47 people, his piety and his place. And it was extraordinary. His 31:52 wisdom: Now whose wisdom is it that Solomon's wisdom 31:57 represents? It's the wisdom of Jesus. Romans 11 verse 33 32:02 speaking of Christ, it says O the depth of the riches of the 32:07 wisdom and the knowledge of God. It's unsearchable, it's deep. 32:13 His house: Jesus said in John 14 you know this verse, verse 2: 32:17 In my father's house are many mansions. You think that the 32:21 house of Solomon was better than the mansions that Jesus is 32:25 preparing for us? Doesn't the Bible say that we can't even 32:28 imagine that. She saw his food. What kind of food does Jesus the 32:33 Son of David have? Christ said, I am the bread of life. He who 32:37 comes to me will never hunger. He who believes in me will never 32:42 thirst. Jesus said I am the bread that came down from 32:44 heaven. So that's the food in the house. The sitting of his 32:48 servants: Can you imagine what it must have looked like? You've 32:51 probably seen some important meetings where you've got these 32:54 assemblies of attendants from all over the place. They've got 32:57 this new building they built in Brussels for the European Union 33:01 and people from all over that union come and they sit and it's 33:04 just very exquisite. It's a beautiful design. It overwhelms 33:07 the sense of importance when you see these leaders from all these 33:10 nations in the European Union come together in this 33:13 beautifully designed building. Probably pretty dangerous 33:15 prophetically what happens there but that's a different point. 33:18 Can you imagine what it must have looked like. You've heard 33:22 of King Arthur's round table? Can imaging if Solomon invited 33:25 you for dinner. Have you ever seen a nice spread for dinner? 33:29 That was really something to behold. Can you imagine what it 33:32 will look like when you sit down and Jesus serves us and we sup 33:36 with him in his kingdom? Who's at that table sitting down with 33:40 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, sitting down with King David and 33:45 the apostles? The Bible talks about that in Revelation 5 verse 33:49 Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels round 33:54 about the throne and the living creatures and the elders and 33:58 the numbers of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of 34:03 thousands, his ministers, all around the throne and the 34:07 creatures and the leaders of other worlds. If you think it 34:11 was glorious in Solomon's cabinet, can you imagine what 34:14 it's like around Christ's table? The Bible tells us that some of 34:19 the kings of antiquity, they sat down and they had 27 other kings 34:24 that sat around them. The royalty. Can you imagine what 34:28 it must have been like at Solomon's table? And she sees 34:31 all this and he's trying to really put on a show because 34:35 he's got a queen and it is breathtaking. Because of course 34:40 Solomon was very rich as well. And their apparel. What kind of 34:44 apparel do they wear in Jesus' kingdom around the throne? 34:48 Revelation 4:4: Around the throne were 24 thrones and on 34:52 the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting clothed in white robes 34:55 and these aren't just any kind of white robe. They're like the 34:59 white robes you read about in Mark chapter 9 when Jesus was 35:02 glorified and his garments became so white they couldn't 35:05 find words to describe it. It's a different kind of white. It's 35:09 like a living white. It's like a flaming sun. And so the garments 35:13 of Solomon's servants were all clean. You didn't come with 35:16 stains into the presence of King Solomon. And by the way, we 35:20 can't have stains when we come into the presence of King Jesus. 35:23 That's what this life is for. He's to prepare a bride without 35:28 spot or wrinkle or any stain, right? Their apparel. And then 35:32 she saw his offerings to the Lord. Revelation 8 verse 4: 35:35 And the smoke of the incense were the prayers of the saints 35:39 ascended before God in the angel's hand. Now you remember 35:43 before Solomon even built the temple he went up to Gibeon. 35:47 You remember that study? And he offered a thousand animals. Can 35:52 you imagine the billowing cloud of this incense going up before 35:58 the Lord and the sacrifice. Matter of fact, I read this 36:03 morning, but I haven't checked on it that that word in Hebrew 36:06 is similar to the word holocaust because there was an absolute 36:10 holocaust of offerings. And I know you're going to think 36:13 that's kind of a grizzly word but Solomon when he offered to 36:16 the Lord it was a generous, a lavish, an outpouring of 36:20 offerings and they offered animal sacrifice back then. 36:24 And there was a whole army of priests bringing these offerings 36:27 to this enormous altar and the smoke would just billow up. 36:30 You know Josephus says something that's interesting, just an 36:34 amazing fact, a foot note, that the record of history is that in 36:37 spite of the fact there were all of these animals being brought 36:41 and sacrificed to Jehovah in the temple of Solomon, they never 36:45 saw a fly there. No insect ever entered the courtyard. 36:49 Now that's believable because it says that when Solomon 36:53 dedicated his temple fire came down from heaven, the glory of 36:57 God was there and that's a great repellant I suppose for insects. 37:01 If you could just sell that in a bottle of lotion, right? But 37:05 there were no insects they said during that. So she saw all of 37:10 this and it left her absolutely breathless. How did she respond? 37:15 This is beautiful. In II Chronicles 9 verse 6. 37:19 Matter of fact I'm going to read this to you actually not just 37:23 from my notes but I want to read it to you from the scripture. 37:30 Turn in your Bibles there. Go to verse 5. Then she said to the 37:36 king, it was a true report, and by the way I think this is the 37:42 first time she speaks. It was a true report that I heard in my 37:47 own land about your words and your wisdom. What is it about 37:53 Solomon that she heard that attracted her? His word. What is 37:57 it about Jesus that changes lives and changes worlds and 38:02 countries? It's his word and his wisdom. However I did not 38:08 believe their words and so I came and saw with my own eyes. 38:12 Is it important for us to see with our own eyes? Well you know 38:16 Jesus said, Blessed are those who believe without seeing. 38:19 He said to Thomas you believe because you've seen. Blessed are 38:22 those who believe his word without seeing. But you know 38:26 when you live there on the thoroughfare of all these 38:29 caravans you hear all kinds of stories. She wanted to know it 38:33 was the truth. She wanted a firsthand experience and you 38:35 can't really fault her for that. You know you need to see for 38:39 yourself some things. Christ said if I am lifted up I will 38:43 draw. You need to see. What brought about the conversion of 38:47 Paul? Saul saw the Lord. The thief on the cross was converted 38:51 when he saw the Lord. What is it that Zacheus wanted when he 38:55 climbed the tree? He wanted to see Jesus. When he saw him for 38:59 himself was his heart transformed? When Moses lifted 39:03 up that serpent in the wilderness and the people were 39:06 bitten by the venomous reptiles what did they need to do to 39:10 live? They needed to look. Can you look for someone else? 39:14 You've got someone sick in the tent and say well I'll look for 39:17 you. Would that save you? Or did you need to look for yourself? 39:20 We all need to see sometimes something for our self. Now we 39:24 can see in his words. I'm not saying you know that you've got 39:28 to see Jesus physically. But she wanted a personal experience. 39:32 We need to really commend her for that. I didn't believe till 39:37 I came and I saw. You come to Jesus the Son of David and you 39:42 see. Come to him the way you are. Indeed the half of your 39:46 greatness and wisdom was not told me. You exceed the fame of 39:51 what I heard. When the enemies of Jesus sent spies to try to 39:55 trap him they came back without Christ being arrested. And they 39:59 said why have you not brought him? You know what their 40:00 response was? Wow, never a man spake as this man. They were 40:07 breathless. The words of Christ. She said the half was not told 40:14 me. You know I remember the story of Marco Polo after his 40:18 adventures in China and all that he saw, incredible journey and 40:21 the time he lived there and learning the language and going 40:25 around the nation of China and the wonders of China and he came 40:28 back and he told the people in Venice and Venice was in the 40:33 dark ages during this time. It was like 1200 something. He told 40:36 them about this wall over 1000 miles long and they said Ah come 40:40 on, now that's another sailors story. He says they use paper 40:44 money. That'd been the craziest thing in the world. That's what 40:48 they said to him. And he was telling them about their food 40:51 and silk and how they harvest the worms and silk comes from 40:54 worms. They didn't believe it. They knew they bought silk, they 40:58 didn't know where it came from. And so as Marco Polo was telling 41:01 them all these stories, they said you're a liar. Matter of 41:04 fact, on his death bed the priest came by and they begged 41:07 Marco Polo to recant of his lies and tales that he had told and 41:12 the only way he responded, he said, recant? He said I haven't 41:17 told you the half of what I saw. And you know so often when you 41:22 hear stories things are exaggerated but every now and 41:25 then it's even bigger and better than what you've been 41:28 told. Anything I might tell you about Jesus the Son of David 41:33 or type of Solomon in his kingdom, I can't come anywhere 41:38 near explaining it to you. She said indeed the half of the 41:42 greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You exceed the fame of 41:46 which I heard. Happy, notice this. She said, happy, happy, 41:52 blessed. Happy are your men and happy are these your servants 41:57 who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom. Blessed be 42:02 the Lord your God who delighted in you in setting you on his 42:06 throne to be king for the Lord your God. She noticed that 42:10 Solomon was not the ultimate king. Solomon taught her that he 42:15 was a servant of the real King. Because your God has loved 42:19 Israel to establish them forever. Spiritual Israel does 42:23 last forever and you can be part of that. Therefore he made you 42:27 king over them, Jesus is king over that people forever, to do 42:33 justice and righteousness. This is an incredible declaration of 42:37 what she says about the goodness of God. Now I want to go back 42:40 here and I want you to notice something. Turn with me in your 42:43 Bibles to Deuteronomy 4 verse 5. I see I've got a couple moments 42:47 left. Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 5. That's of course the 42:54 last in the books of Moses. What was the plan for God's people? 43:06 Moses is speaking. Surely I have taught you statutes and 43:09 judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me that you should 43:13 act according to them in the land that you go to possess. 43:16 Listen, verse 6. Therefore be careful to observe them, observe 43:21 my words, statutes and laws, for this is your wisdom, notice the 43:26 word wisdom, and your understanding in the sight of 43:29 the peoples who will hear. He's talking about all these nations 43:34 around you, these statutes and say surely this nation is a wise 43:39 and understanding people for what great nation is there that 43:43 has God so near. The temple was right there in Jerusalem with 43:48 the presence of God as the Lord our God is to us and whatever 43:51 reason we might call upon him he's right here to ask him. 43:54 Can you imagine any question you got Solomon's right there in 43:59 your kingdom. And what great nation is there that has such 44:03 statutes and righteous judgments as in all this law that I set 44:07 before you this day. You hear what Moses is saying. This is 44:11 the last message of Moses. He said my goal for you is you've 44:15 got the best truth of any nation you've got the truth around the 44:20 world. You are a nation of priests. You are to be a light 44:22 to the world. When people see your righteous judgments and 44:25 your statutes they're going to say there is no people that have 44:28 the truth like these people. By the way, you know virtually 44:31 every nation in the world, it's civil law is based on the law of 44:38 Moses. I mean what nation is there that doesn't at least go 44:42 by the last six commandments? Don't steal, don't lie, respect 44:45 for marriage, of course we're starting to lose some of that 44:48 here aren't we? Respect for your parental authority, not coveting 44:52 everybody's suing everybody. I mean, you know, you can see what 44:57 happens when that stuff implodes. But virtually every 45:00 nation in the world used the law of the Jews as the foundation 45:06 for social and civil and moral law. What nation of the world is 45:10 there that has such righteous laws. This is what the Queen of 45:15 Sheba did. Let me tell you what I'm trying to say before I'm 45:19 done with the sermon, the essence, the core. This story is 45:24 the peak example of what God's will was for his people. 45:29 He wanted to bless them. He said if you obey me, as they did 45:33 during this time of Solomon. Now part II of Solomon or rather 45:37 in the next message on Solomon, things take a turn. But at this 45:41 point they'd reached the actual peak and the evidence of that 45:46 zenith was the other nations were coming to find out about 45:50 their God. That was God's plan. He didn't want to keep it just 45:53 among the Israelites. He wanted it to disseminate all around 45:57 the world. And so she said, you're blessed, happy, happy, 46:01 blessed. That's what God wants for you when we obey his laws 46:06 and do his will. So as she departs she probably gave him 46:10 some spices and gifts along the way. Verse 10 of I Kings 10: 46:16 She gave the king 120 talents of gold. That by our standards is 46:22 nine million two hundred and sixteen thousand dollars of 46:27 gold. A very great store of spices and precious stones. 46:32 No spice came anymore for abundance that the king of Sheba 46:36 gave to Solomon. Whenever Israel looked at their history they 46:41 never saw more and better gold and spices and gems coming into 46:45 the treasury and into the nation as when the Queen of Sheba came. 46:50 Everybody got a little of that spice back then because there 46:53 was so much of it that she brought in her caravans. 46:56 She gives a gift. You know she's so thankful for all that God 47:00 has done for her she basically unloads everything and says 47:03 you know I just want to bless you. I want to give you a gift. 47:06 Thank you so much for answering my questions. I know your God is 47:10 the true God and she took the knowledge of Jehovah back to her 47:13 country to spread it everywhere and that was God's plan. 47:19 Something else you notice. She brought the best she had. Have 47:25 any of you had to buy a gift for someone difficult? Can you 47:30 imagine trying to buy a gift for Solomon. What you get him, an 47:35 electric razor. They don't have electricity. What do you get 47:40 King Solomon when he's got billions of dollars of money. 47:44 What do you think made Solomon the happiest? The money and the 47:49 gold and spices that she gave or the questions that she asked. 47:53 What did Solomon treasure the most? His riches or wisdom? 47:57 What did Solomon ask for when God said what do you want? 48:00 Wisdom. Seek first the kingdom of God. That's what she did. His 48:04 righteousness, his wisdom. I think Solomon was satisfied that 48:08 she had come looking for wisdom, looking for knowledge, looking 48:11 for truth. He gave her as much time as she wanted. Another 48:16 point I don't want to rush past. When she went to visit King 48:20 Solomon she did not go alone in her pursuit of truth. It says 48:24 she brought a very great company a very great retinue of others 48:29 with her and on your journey, on your pilgrimage through this 48:32 life looking for truth is this a journey we take one day, hop on 48:36 a plane, find out truth and come home? Or are we on a caravan 48:40 right now crossing the desert in this wilderness? 48:42 We're looking for truth every day. There is absolute truth but 48:46 it's progressive in the way we learn it and the more you walk 48:50 in the light the more God gives you. You walk in the truth he's 48:54 given you he'll give you more, amen? Bring others with you in 48:58 your search for truth. Then finally what I think is 49:02 beautiful. The story's not quite over yet. II Chronicles 9 verse 49:08 12. You'll have to go to Chronicles for this one. 49:11 II Chronicles 9 verse 12: Now King Solomon gave to the queen 49:16 Wait a second. I thought she was giving to the king. Now he's 49:21 given to her. Now King Solomon gave to the Queen of Sheba all 49:26 she desired whatever she asked, much more than she had brought 49:32 to the king. So she turned and went to her own country, she and 49:36 her servants. Wait a second. Whenever I hear about the story 49:41 of the Queen of Sheba I think that she's the one who's asking 49:45 for knowledge. She comes and she pays for her knowledge. 49:48 But before she heads back home she says boy you've got some 49:51 things in this country we just don't have out there in the 49:54 desert. We don't have cedar. Can we take some cedar trees 49:57 back with us. He said all that you want. He was a very 50:00 generous king. And she said you know there's some spices that we 50:02 brought, but you've got things here that we don't have and I 50:05 don't have. I don't know what she asked for. I bet you that 50:09 she said can we have copy of your law? I mean after this 50:12 whole trip do you think that she left without a copy of the Torah 50:15 I think she said I would like your sacred writings. Can we 50:19 take them back with us. And along with provisions for the 50:23 trip. They had a long way to go back home. But it said she left 50:27 with more than she brought. Did I make that up of is that what 50:30 it says? I'm showing you my notes. It's in the Bible too. 50:35 Does it mean she left with more money? It doesn't say money. 50:40 But she left with more. What does a woman represent in the 50:45 Bible analogy/prophecy. How many times have you heard me ask that 50:50 question? A woman is a type of the church. When we come to the 50:55 house of God we're seeking wisdom aren't we? And we bring 51:00 our gifts. But do we leave with more than we bring. That's the 51:06 way it ought to work. When you come to worship God and he gives 51:10 you of his Spirit and he gives you of his wisdom, you open the 51:13 Bible and read you're going to leave with more than you brought 51:17 You can't out give God. You know this is a principle that you 51:20 should never forget whatever the category. Whether it's talking 51:24 about spiritual truth or your time or your means. Whenever you 51:28 give anything to others or God. Jesus said it's more blessed to 51:32 give than receive. She came and she unloaded her caravan in 51:36 Solomon's kingdom. She stored her treasure in the old 51:40 Jerusalem, right? When she left she said blessed, blessed, happy 51:46 She was enriched, she was satisfied. She left with more 51:49 than she brought. You and I are to store our treasures in the 51:53 New Jerusalem. We bring them before our King Solomon. We'll 51:57 end up receiving more than we give. She went home. She came 52:01 kind of bewildered pondering all these questions, perplexed, a 52:05 little anxious. She left breathless, overflowing. 52:09 She had enough memories to last her a lifetime. She took the 52:12 knowledge of the true God back down to the straits there of 52:16 the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea and everybody that came by she 52:19 would talk about the true God Jehovah. She wasn't confused 52:23 about what the truth was anymore. She became an 52:26 ambassador for the God of heaven because of the witness of 52:30 Solomon. Now that's God's plan for his church. When people come 52:34 into our church do they say what the Queen of Sheba said when 52:39 they behold our apparel, the righteous robes of Christ, our 52:42 food, the bread of life? When they come to our church and they 52:46 behold the setting, the order, of his servants and the way 52:49 things are done. They say surely God is in this place. Wouldn't 52:53 you like to have a visitor come to our church and say what the 52:56 Queen of Sheba said? Have a breathtaking experience when 53:00 they come to the house of God. Amen? And she saw their offering 53:04 before the Lord, the sacrifice of them self and their praise. 53:08 That I believe is God's plan for his church. Final question: 53:13 She prepared a long time for that journey to go to Jerusalem 53:18 to meet the son of David. Probably spent months 53:20 preparing for that journey. She packed, she loaded, she thought 53:25 about what it would mean to make that journey. Are you preparing 53:29 for a journey to the New Jerusalem now? I'm hoping that 53:33 you'll be able to put yourself in the place of this noble queen 53:38 and say like that woman, I want to be part of God's people that 53:42 prepare for this trip to the New Jerusalem and are willing to 53:46 invest everything to know what is and to live by what is truth? 53:51 Jesus the Son of David is the truth that will set us free. 53:55 Can you say Amen friends. I thought it would be good for us 53:58 to close our service by singing an anthem. You'll find it in 54:02 your song books as number six and we're going to sing praises 54:06 to God. Now I will excuse myself from the platform because I'm 54:09 going to prepare for a baptism. And if your able to stay by 54:12 we'll be having a special baptism for a young lady in just 54:15 a moment. O Worship the Lord. Let's stand together as we sing. 54:18 ¤ ¤ 54:26 O worship the Lord In the beauty of holiness. 54:35 Bow down before Him, His glory proclaim; 54:41 With Gold of obedience and incense of lowliness 54:49 Kneel and adore Him; the Lord is His name. 54:57 Low at His feet lay thy burden of carefulness; 55:04 High on His heart He will bear it for thee, 55:11 Comfort thy sorrows and answer thy prayerfulness, 55:18 Guiding thy steps as may best for thee be. 55:26 Fear not to enter His courts in the slenderness 55:33 Of the poor wealth thou wouldst reckon as thine. 55:41 Truth in its beauty and love in its tenderness, 55:49 These are the offerings to lay at His shrine. 55:57 These, though we bring them in trembling and fearfulness, 56:04 He will accept for the name that is dear; 56:11 Mornings of joy give for evenings of tearfulness, 56:20 Trust for our trembling, and hope for our fear. 56:29 Please be seated. Just before we have the baptism 56:38 let's just bow our heads and we'll pray and thank the Good 56:42 Lord for the sermon we heard this morning. 56:45 Gracious Father in heaven, we want to think you so much for 56:49 the story of Solomon. We appreciate the way Pastor Doug 56:53 has taken us through this history of this man's life and 56:57 we pray that the things that we've heard this morning and 57:01 the lessons that we have learned the spiritual lessons that we 57:05 can apply to our own lives. And as the Queen of Sheba was 57:09 was willing to go many, many miles to hear the wisdom that 57:14 you had given Solomon, may we be willing to go, as it were, to 57:18 the ends of this earth that we might find that same wisdom, the 57:23 of salvation through Jesus Christ. Thank you so much 57:27 Lord that you give us your word which is a lamp unto our feet 57:30 and a light unto our path and we praise you for this and give 57:34 you all the praise, all the thanks for you are worthy. 57:36 In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. 57:40 Thank you for joining us for this broadcast. If you've missed 57:42 any of our Amazing Facts programs visit our website at 57:45 amazing facts. org. There you'll find an archive of all our 57:48 television and radio programs including Amazing Facts Presents 57:52 Central Study Hour, Everlasting Gospel, Bible Answers Live and 57:56 Wonders in the Word. You'll also find a storehouse of biblical 57:59 resources geared towards answering some of your most 58:01 difficult questions. And our online Bible school is just a 58:05 click away. One location. So many possibilities. |
Revised 2014-12-17