Scripture: 1 Kings 9:1-9; 10:1-13 (NKJV)
9:1 And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished building the house of the
LORD and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he wanted to do, 2
that the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as He had appeared to him at
Gibeon. 3 And the LORD said to him: “I have heard your prayer and your
supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which
you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be
there perpetually. 4 Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in
integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have
commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, 5 then I will
establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David
your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of
Israel.’ 6 But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me, and do not
keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and
serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land
which I have given them; and this house which I have consecrated for My name I
will cast out of My sight. Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all
peoples. 8 And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it
will be astonished and will hiss, and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this
land and to this house?’ 9 Then they will answer, ‘Because they forsook the
LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have
embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore the LORD has
brought all this calamity on them.’”
10:1 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. 2 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. 3 So Solomon answered all her questions; there
was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. 4
And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that
he had built, 5 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. 6 Then she
said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your
words and your wisdom. 7 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. 8 Happy are your men and happy are
these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! 9
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.” 10 Then she gave the king one hundred
and twenty 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. 11 Also, the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir,
brought great quantities of almug wood and precious stones from Ophir. 12 And
the king made steps of the almug 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 almug wood, nor has the like been seen to this day. 13 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.
Devotion
God renewed His promise to Solomon to put His Name in the Temple and to have
mercy there. But He also threatened to abandon the Temple if Solomon and his
sons should turn away after other gods. For a time, Solomon took comfort in
God’s promise and heeded His warning. His wisdom and his riches became famous
throughout the world, and the Temple of the LORD became a beacon to the
nations, so that the queen of Sheba came to Jerusalem from the ends of the
earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and to visit this glorious Temple.
God did eventually abandon Solomon’s Temple when Solomon and his sons went
astray. But it had to happen that way, because only one Son of David could
build a perfect House for God. Only one Son of David, Jesus Christ, could truly
love the Lord His God with all His heart and serve as a permanent King over
God’s people. His wisdom surpasses that of Solomon, and His glory is infinitely
greater.
But the glory of Christ, unlike the glory of Solomon’s Temple, is still hidden
from the eyes. And many, as Jesus lamented in Matthew 12:42, reject His
wisdom—the righteousness of faith—and stand condemned for that rejection. But
we need not cross the earth to find Jesus like the queen of Sheba did to find
Solomon. Jesus is as near to us as His Word and Sacraments, and it is the very
promise of His grace and mercy by which the Holy Spirit convinces us that Jesus
is Who He says He is, the Son of God, the great King, and our Savior from sin.
Posted by The Reverend Jeffrey A. Ahonen on behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran
Diocese of North America, publisher of the Lutheran Herald.
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