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TO HEAR THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON

I should like to remind the brethren of the words of the Lord as to this incident. He says that the queen of Sheba “came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon” and He adds, “and behold, more than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12: 42). The Lord Jesus is more than Solomon — He is all that Solomon was but He is more. He is “God’s wisdom”, as the apostle says, “...Christ God’s power and God’s wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1: 24). It may be that someone has come here, like the queen of Sheba, from the ends of the earth, whose heart may be at a great distance from the divine centre, which is Christ. Christ is the centre of God’s universe, according to what He said Himself, “...I, if I be lifted up out of the earth, will draw all to me” (John 12: 32). He must be the centre of attraction around which moves everything which is of God.

The queen of Sheba came to Solomon with her enigmas. There are probably some here who have enigmas. At the present time there are great enigmas in the world and, in the human heart, what serious questions are raised! What are we to do about our sins? There is an enigma! What shall we do when the Jordan overflows its banks? What shall we do when the flood-tides of death rise? “...how wilt thou then do in the swelling of the Jordan?” (Jeremiah 12: 5). That is another enigma. The queen of Sheba came to Solomon with all her enigmas and he answered them all. There was not a single question which he did not answer. Christ can answer all your heart’s questions. He can settle the question of your sins. He can tell you how to cross the Jordan. He can tell you what will happen after death. He can tell you what there is in heaven.

I wonder if all who are here have come to Jesus suitably. The queen of Sheba came with spices, with sincere desires, with genuine prayers. She came with her gold, that is, with love in her heart; she did not hate Solomon. Why would anyone hate Jesus? Of some, alas, it says, “They hated me without a cause” (John 15: 25). There is no cause to hate Jesus; there are many causes to love Him. The queen came with her spices, with her gold and with her enigmas. She found someone who was able to answer all the desires of her heart.

Now, what did she see when she came? She saw what anyone with right desires can see, what we can see in the very locality where we live, where Christ is honoured, where the temple of God is found. It says that she saw “the wisdom of Solomon”. Where did she see this wisdom? It does not say that she heard it but she saw it, in the servants, in those who loved him, in the house which he had built, in the ascent which he had made, in the food which he provided, in the apparel of his servants. It says of Solomon that God gave him “wisdom and very great understanding and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea-shore” (1 Kings 4: 29). Think of a heart like that, as broad as the sand that is on the sea-shore, a heart that can think of all the people of God, right up to the present day!

It says that Solomon spoke of the trees, “from the cedar-tree that is on Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall” (1 Kings 4: 33). I have no doubt the queen of Sheba heard about all these things. The cedar is the king of trees; it is Christ in His royal glory as Man. The hyssop is Christ in his humility, ready to take the smallest opportunity to do as the hyssop, which springs out of a crack in the rock. We can think about the Lord in this way, as He appears in John 4, ready to take His place in the heart of the woman of Samaria. He was sufficiently lowly also to enter the heart of the dying thief. This is the hyssop. But there was also the cedar. The thief saw in Him the King; he says, “thy kingdom”. That is the cedar.

Solomon spoke about animals. He spoke about the lion, “mighty among beasts, which turneth not away for any” (Proverbs 30: 30). Such is Christ; He never turns away. He also spoke about the lamb, which is so humble, accessible, lovable. What little boy or girl does not love a lamb? Everyone loves it; it reminds us of Jesus.

Solomon spoke about birds. He spoke of the powerful eagle, whose wings allow it to rise. The Lord could ascend into heaven. Solomon was also able to speak about the sparrow. “I watch, and am like a sparrow alone upon the housetop” (Psalm 102: 7). No one wants to have a sparrow; it is not sought after; it is outside the life of man, solitary upon a housetop. Such was Jesus.

Solomon spoke about fish. They all serve the Lord. If He needs a great fish for His service, He can create it. He can prepare it (Jonah 2: 1). And if He needs one with a stater in its mouth, He can procure it, since all the fish are His (Matthew 17: 27). He controls the seas.

He also speaks of the reptiles, of the creeping things. Among the animals, he must also have spoken about the badger. Remember that badger skins were used in the tabernacle. A badger is an animal which is difficult to catch. No one was able to lay hands on Jesus until it was allowed (John 7: 44). He was humble, out of sight in this world, and no one could take Him until the time for that arrived. He also spoke of the ant, of all the wisdom found in it. He said, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise (Proverbs 6: 6). It can also be seen as referring to Jesus, from another point of view — we are called to go to Him and consider His ways. The Scriptures also speak of the worm — “I am a worm”, said the Lord, “and no man” (Psalm 22: 6).

We can thus take account of what was presented by Solomon in his wisdom. We can understand how the queen of Sheba must have been struck. There was no spirit left in her. She saw “the house which he had built”. I wonder if you have seen this house. The apostle says — “whose house are we” (Hebrews 3: 6). The house built by Christ is not made of bricks and stones. It is a spiritual house composed of all those who love Christ, of all those who have received the Holy Spirit. It is the most magnificent edifice in the universe, a “great and wonderful” house. The queen of Sheba saw it in figure.

She saw “the food of his table”. She had never seen such food. Cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic may be found in the land of Sheba or in the land of Egypt, but the food of Solomon’s table is not there. The apostle says, “Ye cannot partake of the Lord’s table, and of the table of demons” (1 Corinthians 10: 21). The Lord has a table. What is there on this table? A wonderful feast — “Take, eat” (Matthew 26: 26). “This is my body which is given for you” (Luke 22: 19); His precious body delivered up to death in love for us. Then there is the cup — “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22: 20); “Drink ye all of it” (Matthew 26: 27). That is what there is on His table. She had never seen food like that. I wonder if we are all partaking of it. Some have fallen so low that they think that it is not necessary for them. It is the food of Solomon’s table, the best food in the universe. It gives a constitution that allows entrance into eternity. The material food which we take will perish (John 6: 27) but the strength which we derive from the Lord at the Supper fortifies us to enter eternity, to rise up to heaven. In Matthew and Mark, it says that, after the supper, “having sung a hymn, they went out to the mount of Olives”. How can we move up the holy mount, rise into the spiritual sphere? By the strength provided by “the food of his table”.

She saw “the deportment of his servants”. She was profoundly struck by the deportment of Solomon’s servants. Neither the servants of the land of Sheba, nor those of the land of Egypt, stood as those did. How did the servants of Solomon stand? The Lord tells us of their deportment when He asks the question, “For which is greater, he that is at table or he that serves? Is it not he that is at table? (Luke 22: 27). Servants in this world do not act in this way. They are concerned with wearing uniforms, decorations and ecclesiastical vestment but it is not thus with the servants of Solomon. They act like Christ; they are of His spirit.

She saw “the order of service of his attendants”. There was no confusion in the service; everything was orderly; every attendant was in his place. The priests were in their place, the captains were in their place, those who supervised the provision of food were in their place. All the servants fulfilled their duty, according to the words of the Lord; “...to each one his work” (Mark 13: 34). Every Christian has his task. There is no confusion. No one is out of his place in Solomon’s kingdom.

She saw “their apparel”. As she looked around, she noticed how his attendants were dressed. What a joy to look around and see how Christians are dressed, especially in our days. They are not dressed like the world. Sisters do not have their hair cut and neither their faces nor their nails are painted. They are dressed in the same way as the true servants of Solomon. How are they dressed? It says, “Let thy garments be always white” (Ecclesiastes 9: 8). The servants of Solomon are always in white, that is, pure. In their relations, whether between husband and wife, between parents and children, in business, among the saints, at all times their garments are white. That is how the servants of Solomon are dressed.

She saw “his cupbearers and their apparel”. What a wonderful service to be a cupbearer! Are we His cupbearers? Do we provide refreshment for the true Solomon? Do we make His heart happy, that heart which has been broken by grief? “Reproach hath broken my heart”. He says (Psalm 69: 20). He was “despised and left alone of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53: 3). He now has millions of cupbearers who bring to Him that which rejoices His heart. We can well recall what the servant of Joseph said, speaking of his master’s silver cup — “Is not this it in which my lord drinks, and in which indeed he divines?” (Genesis 44: 5),

‘You have stolen the cup of my lord.’ Have we stolen Joseph’s silver cup? Perhaps you reply, “But it is Joseph’s servant who had put it in my sack.” What he did was what they themselves had done. These ten brethren had stolen Joseph’s portion; they had stolen from him what belonged to him. Their sheaves should have bowed to him; the stars ought to have bowed down before him. It was his cup, what God had in view for him and his brethren had taken it from him. That is why he raised the question, “Where is my silver cup?” They bring it back to him, recognising his lordship. They fall down before him — “...we are my lord’s bondmen,” they say. Do we bring the silver cup to Him? Are we His cupbearers? Is He our Lord, our only Lord? Other Lords have had dominion over us but Jude says that He is “our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ”. These cupbearers are all clothed in white. They do not say, “Lord, Lord”, without that having meaning. They obey Him; they confess with the mouth Jesus as Lord.

She saw “his ascent by which he went up to the house of Jehovah”. This is perhaps what is more elevated. You can imagine how the queen’s gaze was fixed on this ascent, considering the way by which this wonderful king moved up towards God. The way in which David descended is spoken of. Eliab said, “Why art thou come down?” (1 Samuel 17: 28). He came down into the valley. What a descent was that of Jesus. “He that descended is the same who has also ascended” (Ephesians 4: 10). First of all He descended, like David. He descended to the field of battle, where the giant was, where death was, where man could do nothing, where every heart was full of fear. God has been “manifested in flesh”. He came down as man to the earth to meet the enemy, to annul him who had the power of death, to take Goliath’s sword and use it Himself. Death is now in the hands of Jesus. He has descended in order that every heart should love Him. When David went up from the valley, the women bore testimony to the affections of the people as they sang his praises — “Saul has smitten his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Samuel 18: 7). The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David and he loved him “as his own soul”. Hiram was ever a lover of David. Who does not love David?

Who does not love Him who has descended from heaven, who has descended into the valley, who has descended as far as death, who has descended to vanquish the power of death? The Lord has triumphed gloriously. The queen of Sheba saw his upward movement; she saw the ascent by which he went up to God. What wonderful steps, those by which he went up! The Lord Jesus ascended up to heaven in steps. The first step was when He came out of the sepulchre. Standing beside the sepulchre, He says, “Mary”. He is no longer in death. The angel says, “He is not here, for he is risen, as he said, Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” (Matthew 28: 6) but He is no longer there. The Lord Jesus has risen from the dead. What a wonderful step! Then Luke says that He was “carried up into heaven”; Mark, that He was “taken up into heaven”. In John, He says, “I ascend”; He ascends by His own right. Peter says, in the book of Acts, that heaven must receive Him (Acts 3: 21). To be able to be in Solomon’s courts, you must receive Him. It was no matter for Him of forcing His way — heaven received Him. Paul says that He “has been received up in glory” (1 Timothy 3: 16). He has ascended “up above all the heavens” and not simply into heaven. The resurrection is one step, then the heavens are each one further step. The first heaven is a step, the second heaven is another, the third heaven is another one still. Paul went up to the third heaven, up to where the Lord ascended — to paradise. “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” the Lord said to the malefactor; paradise is the third heaven. But the Lord went even higher than that. In type, the queen of Sheba considers the ascension. She sees Him ascend as far as the presence of God, beyond the creation. He created the heavens and the earth, and He is Himself above the heavens. He “humbleth himself to look on the heavens” (Psalm 113: 6). “He will call to the heavens from above” (Psalm 50: 4). Jesus has gone there, “up above all the heavens”, seeing which, in type, the queen of Sheba becomes a worshipper.

“There was no more spirit in her”. There was a reply to her enigmas — her soul was filled with the glory of Solomon, with the greatness of the house which he had built, with the food of his table, with the deportment of his servants, with the order of service of his attendants and their apparel, with his cupbearers and their apparel, as also with the ascent by which he went up to the house of God. She becomes a worshipper.

“The Father seeks such as his worshippers”. It was for this reason that the Lord had come to the well at Sychar. He had come there to meet another human heart to which He desired to bring the knowledge of God. “If thou knewest the gift of God”, He said to her, “and who it is who says to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water”. Who is this who has approached men in this way? If the woman had known, she would have asked of Him and He would have given her “living water”. So the Lord says, “God is a spirit, and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.” All true worship is in the light of the glory of Christ. This is what the queen of Sheba reached in figure.

“And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in very great abundance, and precious stones; neither was there any such spice as that which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon... And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides what she had brought to the king. And she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.” The queen of Sheba now appears as a giver. What can we give to the Lord? “The earth is Jehovah’s, and the fulness thereof” (Psalm 24: 1).

The silver and the gold are His. “The cattle upon a thousand hills” are His (Psalm 50: 10). What would we be able to give Him? It says, “My son give me thy heart” (Proverbs 23: 26); it is all that we can give Him. This is what the gold and the spices mean, the beauty and the fragrance of a heart which loves Solomon. The queen of Sheba had given him that and he had given her all her desire. But what would she desire? She could not desire the pleasures of the world after having seen Solomon. What could she desire? something which would speak to her of Solomon. The Lord will always grant to a heart all that it desires. The Lord said to the woman in chapter 4 of John, “Every one who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinks of the water which I shall give him shall never thirst for ever, but the water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life.” Certainly, the greatest gift which God could give us is the Holy Spirit — “how much rather shall the Father who is of heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him” (Luke 11: 13). Solomon gave her all her desire and returned to her what she had brought. If one brings something to Christ, He receives it and He returns more than what was brought.

The first verse of chapter 11 of the Revelation is a verse of which very sober account must be taken. John receives a measuring reed. “Rise”, he is told “and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship in it”.

“Measure the temple”. Does it attain to the divine measures? If you were to set the divine measures alongside the cathedrals of men, would they reach the divine length? In the temple of God, “doth every one say, Glory!” (Psalm 29: 9). In the temple of God, everything speaks of His glory and of the glory of Christ, for the temple was built to house the ark. The ark is Jesus — small externally, but so great internally. The house was built for the ark. If I go into the temple of God, I notice that the occupation of all there is God and Christ and everything that relates to the divine glory. There is no place for anything else. “In his temple doth every one say, Glory!” Is there something here for the glory of God, for the glory of Jesus? It says, measure it. Let us measure it, dear brethren, so that we take account of whether that with which we are linked corresponds to the divine measure.

“Measure... the altar”. The altar is the means of access to God. It is on the altar that sacrifices are set. What would happen if all the altars in Christendom were measured? They would not answer to the divine measures. The epistle to the Hebrews speaks of the altar — “...he is able to save completely those who approach by him to God” (Hebrews 7: 25). No one can approach God other than by Jesus. He is the altar. The altar is greater than the sacrifice. It is the altar, which sanctifies the sacrifice. Where is there an altar like this? Only in Jesus. “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually to God, that is, the fruit of the lips confessing his name” (Hebrews 13: 15). Do we have this altar?

“Measure... them that worship in it” — measure the worshippers. Christendom measures the worship but God measures the worshippers. In the world, it is thought that, if there is beautiful music, a fine building, a sophisticated service, it is pleasurable to God. But God says, ‘Measure the worshippers; measure the persons’. What are they? That is the important thing. The Lord says, “the Father seeks such”. He does not seek organs, vestments or breviaries; no, He is looking for persons, hearts who love Him and who love Christ. Measure them, He says. When the Lord measures us, what does He find? Do we answer to the divine requirements?

May the Lord give us to discern this wonderful scene, so that we may become worshippers, worshippers of God and worshippers of Jesus, for the love of His name.

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