Category: Queen of Sheba

Solomon and Jesus #13

Monday, July 17, 2023

“And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever” (2 Samuel 7:12,13 KJV).

Let us search the Scriptures to see how Solomon is a type of the antitype Jesus….

The (Gentile) Queen of Sheba “…gave [Solomon] the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon” (1 Kings 10:10). “And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year” (1 Kings 10:24,25).

Psalm 72 has a dual application. Firstly, as its subtitle indicates, it is “A Psalm for Solomon.” Notice verses 10 and 11: “The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.” Secondly, this points to Jesus Christ, for all nations will serve Him. Gentiles give material riches as presents to Solomon and Christ. Recall the Gentile wise men bearing gifts for the Christ Child in Matthew 2:11.

Isaiah chapter 60 describes the Lord Jesus Christ’s literal, physical, visible, earthly, Davidic, Israeli kingdom in the ages to come, when Gentiles are attracted to the LORD and the Jewish people (as was the Gentile Queen of Sheba!). “And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising…. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba [!] shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD” (verses 3,5,6).

Still, there is more….

Solomon and Jesus #12

Sunday, July 16, 2023

“And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever” (2 Samuel 7:12,13 KJV).

Let us search the Scriptures to see how Solomon is a type of the antitype Jesus….

While King David was celebrated, comparatively speaking, he was more of a “local hero,” for it was by means of King Solomon that the Davidic throne gained international attention and admiration. Observe: “And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart” (2 Chronicles 9:22,23). Again, this hints at the Lord Jesus’ reign in the ages to come.

Read 1 Kings 10:1-9 (cf. 2 Chronicles 9:1-8). This Queen of Sheba was likely from Yemen, some 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) south of Jerusalem. Far away from the land of Israel, she nevertheless heard of an extremely clever and tremendously wealthy Jewish king. Therefore, she set out on a long journey to see if those rumors were true. When she views Solomon’s kingdom firsthand and meets with him personally, the Bible tells us “there was no more spirit in her” (1 Kings 10:5). She is in such disbelief, such shock, she was liable to faint or perhaps undergo cardiac arrest! Her response is, “Behold, the half was not told me!” All the stories she overheard about him, his empire, and its furnishings were much too inadequate to serve as accurate descriptions. “Thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard” (verse 7).

The Queen of Sheba remarks to Solomon: “Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the LORD thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice” (2 Chronicles 9:8). Once more, it loops to the Christ Jesus’ future reign in Israel….