Week 10

8/17/2025

Summer 2025

• Central Passage: 1 Kings 10, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

• Check out the Middle School Sunday School Resources page for other books of the Bible resources. Note: the 1 Samuel-2 Kings handout will be available eventually.

Contents

1. The Queen of Sheba
2. Solomon's Wealth, Horses, and Wives
3. Faithful Witnesses Will Condemn (Matthew 12:38-42)
4. Sources

The Queen of Sheba

            This story in 1 Kings 10 seems like an easy story to quickly read through. It does not seem like the most significant story, but it has become a powerfully influential story. The story has influenced legendary, embellished accounts among Arabs, Jews, and Abyssinians, indicating that this was a well-known event that brought much fame to Solomon and God’s name.

The Arabian queen of Sheba comes to test Solomon with riddles to determine whether he is as wise as the rumors suggest. This arrangement did not just prove Solomon’s intellect. Solomon’s wisdom grew him in fame “concerning the name of the LORD” (1 Kings 10:1). Biblical wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord and points back to him (Prov 1:7; 9:10; 15:33)—this was not some mere self-indulgent exercise of intelligence but a display of God-exalting wisdom.

            After testing him, the author notes that “there was no more breath in her” (1 Kings 10:5). A similar phrase occurs in Joshua 2:11 and Joshua 5:1, revealing the Canaanite’s fearful response to Yahweh and His servant, Israel. No mere test of knowledge can produce this same reaction. Though the queen of Sheba reacted this way under far different circumstances than the doomed Canaanites, the principle is the same. An encounter with the God of Israel leaves people annihilated and breathless. This is the fear of the Lord. It is more than a simple reverence—it is the sudden realization thrust upon sinners concerning the immanence of the Holy God of creation that can cause the mightiest, wisest, and wealthiest people to fall to their knees in a breathless, humble state.

            As a result, the Queen of Sheba blesses Solomon and Yahweh. She then gives him four and a half tons of gold and a huge supply of spices. Spices were likely the primary trading commodity that the queen used. They were traded only among wealthy people. 1 Kings 10:10 focuses most of its attention on the spices, indicating that this gift was even more noteworthy and, potentially, more valuable than the gold. The two then established a trade relationship, but this relationship was governed by the wisdom of God (1 Kings 10:13). This story continues to paint Solomon as the fulfillment of God’s promise to David in 2 Samuel 7:8-16, but a turning point in the story will soon take place.

Solomon’s Wealth, Horses, and Wives

            Chapter 10 is the key turning point for Solomon’s kingship. God promised to establish the throne of David’s offspring forever. Solomon, being the first king after David, is the first messiah^[1] according to this promise, but the question remains: will he be the Messiah with an everlasting throne? So far, Solomon has exemplified the wisdom and blessing of a king who rules according to God’s torah. The surrounding nations are watching as Yahweh establishes and blesses His people. However, keep in mind the standards for Israelite kings from Deuteronomy 17:14-20.

            Deuteronomy 17:14-20 limits the king in three ways: (1) he shall not acquire many horses for himself or go to Egypt to acquire horses; (2) he shall not acquire many wives for himself; and (3) he shall not acquire for himself excessive silver or gold. After the Queen of Sheba visits Solomon, he amasses great wealth; however, recall that God promised to bless Solomon with great wealth in 1 Kings 3:13 (cf. 1 Kings 3:5-15). Solomon’s reception of great wealth was not a direct violation of Deuteronomy 17’s prohibition against excessive wealth, since God promised to bless him with riches and honor. The prohibition in Deuteronomy 17 seems arbitrary to us—after all, at what point does wealth become excessive? Matthew Henry helpfully comments:

He must not gratify the love of riches by greatly multiplying silver and gold. A competent treasure is allowed him, and he is not forbidden to be a good husband of it, but [1.] He must not greatly multiply money, so as to oppress his people by raising it…nor so as to deceive himself, by trusting to it, and setting his heart upon it, Ps 62:10. [2.] He must not multiply it to himself.

            Solomon’s acquisition of wealth could not be defined as excessive yet. However, Solomon imported horses from Egypt (1 Kings 10:28-29), a direct violation of Deuteronomy 17. The following chapter reveals that Solomon took on many wives for himself, which caused his heart to turn away from God, causing God to discipline Solomon by raising up Hadad the Edomite as an adversary. Next, in 1 Kings 12:4, after Solomon’s death, we read that he had eventually developed a lust for wealth. His heavy yokes of labor and taxation revealed a king who had moved beyond graciously receiving God’s bountiful provision to a king who lusted after excessive wealth, acquiring it by harsh means. Solomon was a messiah, but he was not the Messiah. His son, Rehoboam, would then permanently split the kingdom of Israel due to his arrogance and folly. Afterward, there are a few glimpses of somewhat godly kings reigning in Judah, but the question remains: when will the Messiah have an everlasting rule over God’s people? Who will truly be this Torah-loving king? We know the answer is Jesus, but just as Israel watched, anticipated, and waited for this fulfillment, we await the return of our king.

Faithful Witnesses Will Condemn (Matthew 12:38-42)

            One final note on 1 Kings 10 and the Queen of Sheba seems appropriate. Jesus claims that both the Queen of Sheba and the Ninevites in Jonah’s day will rise up at the judgment with this generation (the Pharisees who had blasphemed against the Holy Spirit) and condemn it (Matt 12:41-42). For both the Ninevites and the Queen of Sheba, there is no clear indication that they joined the people of God in lasting, fearful worship and communion.^[2] However, according to Jesus, they have received mercy and grace. The Ninevites repented at Jonah’s halfhearted attempt to preach to them, and the Queen of Sheba had marveled at the work of God after testing Solomon’s wisdom. Jesus makes an argument from lesser to greater: the Pharisees had received much greater signs of the Holy Spirit’s work and the inauguration of God’s kingdom. Those who had received far less believed, so their salvation based on less information will bear witness against the hard hearts of the Pharisees.

            When raising young ones to know the God of the Bible, it is my prayer that they would have soft hearts. I have little doubt that many of the children and youth at our church will have great biblical knowledge, both from the home and the church’s teaching and programs. However, when knowledge of God increases in one with a hard heart, their rejection multiplies guilt before God. They, just like the Pharisees, have been blessed with the riches of God’s word. Parents, pastors, and children’s ministry teachers alike should bless them with God’s word. But much greater, we need to exemplify soft hearts to God’s corrective word. We need to demonstrate great humility and grace before them so that they might not be raised to be cynical. We must be constant in prayer that the Holy Spirit would produce soft hearts in them through worshipful means of grace. And we must be in constant anticipation and hope for the return of our king, in recognition that all of creation, including ourselves, has been groaning inwardly as we await our full adoption as redeemed sons and daughters of God’s kingdom (Rom 8:22-23). Always remember, the best is yet to come.

Sources

Carson, D. A. Matthew: Chapters 1 through 12. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary with the New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995.

France, R. T. Matthew. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Grand Rapids: Inter-Varsity Press, 1985.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible. Volume 2. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company. Access provided by Blue Letter Bible.

Youngblood, Ronald F. and Richard D. Patterson. 1 Samuel ~ 2 Kings. The Expositor's Bible Commentary. General Editors: Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009.