2 Chronicles 9:1-4

2Ch 9:1-4

1. And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions [or, riddles. A very pointed sentence, indicating a deeper truth and leading to thought. (Comp. Ezekiel 17:2 .) This wisdom, couched in apothegms and riddles, in which Solomon not only distinguished himself, but had an encounter with Hiram of Tyre, was quite a familiar exercise with the Arabs] at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels [bearing the products of her land] that bare spices [the spices of Arabia were famous in all ages. Sheba is mentioned in Eze 27:22 as trafficking with Tyre "in chief of all spices, and precious stones, and gold "], 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.

2. And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not ["not of the mysteries of religion and of the worship of God, but only of questions, the meaning of which lay not on the surface, but was deeply hidden; for it was not Solomon's religious character, but his wisdom, that brought her to Jerusalem." Keil].

3. And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

4. And the meat of his table, and the sitting [ Heb. standing] of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers [or, butlers] 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.

The Queen of Sheba

"The queen of Sheba... came to prove Solomon with hard questions" ( 2Ch 9:1 ).

SOLOMON grows in influence, in glory. As we had already said, whether he may yet play the fool remains to be seen. Praise no man until he is dead. In the meantime we can only speak in modified compliments even when treating the case of Solomon. But he certainly advanced in social status of a moral kind. He was visited by the queen of Sheba.

The queen of Sheba is a model to all inquirers. It was not enough for her to have heard of the fame of Solomon and to have admired him at a distance as a unique genius; her admiration excited her interest, and even her suspicion, and being a woman of penetrating mind she desired to put riddles and enigmas whereby she could test the proverbial wisdom of Solomon. This is what the Bible itself asks for; in effect the Bible says, Prove me, put me to the test, under all circumstances of triumph, joy, need, fear, and see if I have not within me a better answer than can be found in any other book. This is the criticism to which Jesus Christ is always willing to submit himself. It is his complaint that we do not ask him questions enough, the assumption of course being that all inquiries are put in a reverent and faithful spirit. There is a question-asking to which the Bible will pay no heed, and there is a question-asking which Christ will regard as impious and frivolous. Whatever we really want to know with our hearts, whatever is necessary for us to know, Jesus Christ is willing to answer. When we bring our riddles and enigmas to Christ, they must be riddles and enigmas that express the very agony of desire. To our speculation or curiosity Christ may have nothing to say, or if he condescend to speak to us it may be in tones of rebuke and repulse. Do not be afraid to put hard questions to Christ. The queen of Sheba did not put any flippant questions to Solomon; she rather sought out the most difficult inquiries which it was possible to propound. The meaning of this is that we are to ask the very hardest questions which our soul wishes to have answered, always remembering that there are some questions which need not be answered in time, and which indeed could not be answered to our present incomplete or depraved capacity and power. It is on the literary record of the world that Jesus Christ has had more hard questions put to him than any other teacher ever had. Properly considered, it may be impossible to put any easy questions to Christ within the range of the scope which his mission fills. Even were we to put what appears to us a simple question, he would show us that there are no simplicities in human thought and human education; he would instantly take up the filament and thread of our inquiries and connect these with the very centre and life of the universe. The simplest flower is rooted on the earth, and the earth is rooted in the sun, and the sun and his whole system are rooted in some higher relations of things. Thus all processes and organisations go back to the eternal throne; so the violet in its retirement and modesty may claim to be part of the household and treasure of God. Let it never be supposed that hard questions are to be put only outside the Bible, that profound, exciting discussion is not possible within the four corners of revelation; the contrary is the fact: outside the Bible, the Church, outside everything that is involved and signified by the name of Christ, there is nothing but superficiality, evanescence, and the merest trifling. The Church of God should be full of the brightest minds, of the very greatest intellects, that ever led the civilisation of the world. No man need go out of the Bible or out of the Church to find the best food for the mind, or to discover problems most worthy of human intellect and genius. It is recorded that Solomon told the queen all her questions, and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not. The queen was astounded by what she heard and what she saw. She declared that the half had not been told her. This is precisely the result of gospel inquiry. When men enter into the purpose of Christ, and begin to comprehend what it is that Christ wants to do in the world, they are filled with holy amazement, acknowledging at once not only the tenderness of his pity, but the vastness of his mind, and the comprehensive range of his outlook. Statesmen have been more astounded by his propositions than any other men; great warriors and conquerors have stood in simple astonishment before the revealed policy and purpose of the Son of God; the greater the minds the greater the tributes which have been paid to Jesus Christ. Without going into what may be called the piety or the sentiment of his claim, the mere idea that he purposes the sovereignty of the world, the government of all men, through all time, and through all the generations, is a conception which invests his mind with claims to be considered as amongst the greatest statesmen, leaders, and rulers of the world. There was about Solomon something indicative of greatness: his palace was great, the temple was great, the service of which he was the centre was elaborate and costly; the meat of his table, the sitting of his servants, 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; all indicated great pomp and splendour. So surrounded, Solomon required to be mentally gifted, intellectually brilliant, in order to preserve in any suitable degree the harmony between himself and his kingly state. It was different with Jesus Christ; he had not where to lay his head; in his environment there was nothing but bareness, poverty, simplicity; this also was in exquisite harmony with the fitness of things, for Jesus Christ set up claims with which nothing could compare that is of an earthly kind. It was better that no attention should be attracted by his surroundings, that he should stand forth in an almost naked simplicity before the ages, and that, dispensing with all accessories, he should fix the attention of the world upon his mind, his purpose, his love. In a palace education we should expect refinement and intellectual resources of many kinds; but in the cottage at Nazareth, and in all the homes of Christ, if we had found anything to account for his greatness, it would have by so much detracted from our religious amazement; the background of his material poverty seemed but to show in greater vividness the wealth of his spiritual nature. Bring all your questions to the Son of God. Go and tell Jesus everything, and ask him everything; in a childlike, tender, loving, patient spirit, put all your inquiries to the condescending Son of man, and you will find when he replies to you that you will be constrained to exclaim, "Behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard."