1 Kings 10:1 When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard questions.
Can you imagine the leader of one country coming to the leader of another country and actually asking for help solving a problem? Leaders at that level are generally so ego driven that they would never ask for help, and certainly not from another leader of another country. But other countries have differing perspectives that could often help to solve problems.
Our text tells us of an instance of just this type of thing happening. We have the queen of a place called Sheba, variously identified as somewhere in current Saudi Arabia or even Ethiopia. But where ever this place was, the queen was in need of some wisdom.
This queen had heard about Solomon, the king of Israel. This type of knowledge would have spread fairly rapidly along trade routes from territory to territory. The previous passage from our text deals with trade relationships with other trading partners to Israel. Perhaps this territory of Sheba was along one of these trade routes and therefore important to Israel’s influence.
She comes because of Solomon’s fame, but also because she had heard about his relationship to the LORD. Remember, the LORD had shown up in a visible manifestation from the Temple. People could see His presence rising above the Temple in Jerusalem.
And Solomon had a relationship with this God who showed up. The LORD had spoken to him and provided him with wisdom and knowledge of such a kind that this queen wants to hear for herself.
So she shows up with her list of top ten most difficult questions. She starts with number one and before she gets through her list, Solomon has wowed her socks off. Solomon’s wisdom was unmatched. She was seriously impressed.
I have met a fe very intelligent people in my lifetime. But I have met even fewer people who have wisdom. But people with wisdom like Solomon’s, I have yet to meet. He was on a whole different level.
I have been noticing how the questions that get asked by the public or even the media of leaders in our world have gotten simpler and smaller. They ask about their favorite foods or shoe size, not about how they would actually solve the pressing problems of this world. Or they only ask the hard questions to those of a particular political or ideological persuasion.
This queen came and asked Solomon the hard questions. I would have loved to be in the room when he was answering those questions, wouldn’t you? To hear that level of wisdom. What a privilege that must have been.
She does go away impressed. Her life was changed. She probably returned home and made changes in her society that reflected some of the things she had learned. Who know how this encounter changed history!
Do your encounters change history? Do you deliver wisdom, or do you just spout your own ideas? Are you willing to wait and obey when the LORD wants to pass wisdom through you?
The Arnold Journey 