The Wisdom of the Queen of Sheba
2004 : Week 20  |  Printer Friendly Version  

King Solomon was a man blessed with great wisdom from God, but today’s devotion will focus on the wisdom of the Queen of Sheba. The story of King Solomon’s meeting with the Queen of Sheba appears in the Old Testament books of 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles. We are told that the Queen of Sheba is intrigued by the stories she hears of King Solomon’s wisdom. Determined to see if these stories are true, she visits Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba is a woman of great wealth, and her visit to Solomon is a lavish affair. She is accompanied by many attendants on the journey, and she comes bearing gifts of extraordinary value:

	9 Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones; there had never been spice like that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
	2 Chronicles 9:9 (NASB)

Along with an incredible amount of spices and precious stones, she brought Solomon a gift of gold worth about 91 million dollars (*how this number is arrived at is found at the end of this devotion, for those interested).

While her gift to Solomon is staggering, what is even more staggering is the queen’s reaction when she met him and saw that his wealth and wisdom surpassed her expectations:

	3 When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he had built, 4 the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his ministers and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of the LORD, she was breathless.
	2 Chronicles 9:3-4 (NASB)

It’s an incredible reaction; ‘she’s breathless.’ Consider for a moment, that this is not an impoverished person standing before King Solomon. This is royalty before him: a person of great wealth, and she is stunned by what she sees:

	5 Then she said to the king, "It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. 6 "Nevertheless I did not believe their reports until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You surpass the report that I heard.
	2 Chronicles 9:5-6 (NASB)

King Solomon’s wisdom and wealth did not disappoint the queen; her journey proved to be a worthwhile one.

The point of this devotion is to glorify God, and it’s the Queen of Sheba who does this. She praises God for blessing Solomon and Israel so greatly:

	8 "Blessed be the LORD your God who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king for the LORD your God; because your God loved Israel establishing them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness."
	2 Chronicles 9:8 (NASB)

The Queen of Sheba saw that Solomon’s blessings could only come from God. It was the Lord who put him on the throne of Israel. It was the Lord who gave him wisdom and riches. Further, she saw the goodness of God for creating such a wise man to lead Israel; Israel would profit from Solomon’s leadership. She correctly recognized that all of his wisdom, all of his wealth and the throne he ruled were all God’s. The Lord blessed her with great wisdom: a wisdom we could all learn from.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you today and always…

*Converting the gold the Queen Sheba gave to Solomon into dollars:

• The queen brought him 120 talents of gold
• The Old Testament weight of one talent is 125 pounds
• 120 (talents) x 125 (pounds) = 15000 pounds/gold
• A pound has 16 ounces: 15000 pounds x 16 ounces = 240,000 ounces/gold
• An ounce of gold today is worth about $380
• The gift of gold to Solomon was worth $380 x 240,000 ounces/gold = $91,200,000.00.

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