When the Nations Come Knocking Text: 1 Kings 10:1-13
Introduction: The Aroma of Wisdom
We live in an age that is drowning in information and starving for wisdom. Our world is full of experts, pundits, and talking heads, all of them chattering away, and yet the sum total of all their words is a great cacophony of foolishness. They offer us political solutions that create more problems, economic theories that bankrupt nations, and philosophies of life that lead to despair. They have reports and studies and data, but they have no wisdom. And the reason they have no wisdom is that they have rejected the only possible source of wisdom, which is the fear of Yahweh.
The story before us is about a collision of two worlds. It is about what happens when the pagan world, in all its glory and sophistication, comes face to face with the manifest wisdom and blessing of God. The Queen of Sheba is not some rustic chieftainess. She is the monarch of a wealthy and powerful kingdom, likely in southern Arabia, a major player in the spice trade. She is intelligent, shrewd, and accustomed to being the most impressive person in any room she enters. And she hears a rumor, a report so outlandish that it cannot possibly be true. She hears of a king in Israel whose wisdom and prosperity are so vast they defy belief, and that this fame is somehow connected "concerning the name of Yahweh."
This is a direct challenge to her worldview. The gods of the nations were territorial, petty, and capricious. They did not produce this kind of overflowing, orderly, intelligent blessing. So she comes, not as a humble pilgrim at first, but as a skeptic. She comes to test him, to prove him with hard questions, to see if this whole business is a sham. What she finds is a reality so much greater than the report that it undoes her. It leaves her breathless. This is a story about the attractive power of a godly culture. It is a story about what happens when God's people are faithful, and God in His kindness pours out His blessing upon them. The result is that the nations take notice. They are drawn to the light, not by slick marketing campaigns, but by the undeniable aroma of divine wisdom.
And ultimately, this is a story that points far beyond Solomon to a greater King and a greater wisdom. Solomon, for all his glory, was a cracked vessel. He was a signpost, not the destination. Jesus Christ is the true King, and the wisdom He offers is the wisdom that saves the world. The Queen of Sheba came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon, and Jesus tells us that she will rise up in the judgment to condemn the generation that had the wisdom of God incarnate standing in their midst and refused to listen.
The Text
Now the queen of Sheba heard the report about Solomon concerning the name of Yahweh. So she came to test him with riddles. She came to Jerusalem with a very glorious retinue, with camels carrying spices and very much gold and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke to him about all that was in her heart. And Solomon declared to her the answer to all her matters; there was not a matter which was hidden from the king which he did not declare to her. Then the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the disposition of his attendants and their attire, his cupbearers, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of Yahweh, so that there was no more spirit in her. Then she said to the king, “The word is true which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. Nevertheless I did not believe those words, until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not declared to me. You exceed, in wisdom and prosperity, the report which I heard. How blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. Blessed be Yahweh your God who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel; because Yahweh loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.” Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones. Never again did such abundance of spices come in as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon. Also, the ships of Hiram, which carried gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a very great number of almug trees and precious stones. And the king made of the almug trees supports for the house of Yahweh and for the king’s house, also lyres and harps for the singers; such almug trees have not come in again nor have they been seen to this day. Thus King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she asked, besides what he gave her according to his royal bounty. Then she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants.
(1 Kings 10:1-13 LSB)
The Skeptic's Quest (vv. 1-3)
The story begins with a report and a test.
"Now the queen of Sheba heard the report about Solomon concerning the name of Yahweh. So she came to test him with riddles. She came to Jerusalem with a very glorious retinue, with camels carrying spices and very much gold and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke to him about all that was in her heart. And Solomon declared to her the answer to all her matters; there was not a matter which was hidden from the king which he did not declare to her." (1 Kings 10:1-3)
Notice the crucial detail: the fame of Solomon was "concerning the name of Yahweh." This was not just a story about a clever king. It was a story about a king whose wisdom, wealth, and success were explicitly tied to his God. This is what made the report so scandalous and so intriguing to the pagan world. The glory of Solomon was a testimony to the God of Israel. This is evangelism on a geo-political scale.
The queen comes to "test him with riddles" or hard questions. She comes in an adversarial posture. She is not coming to be duped. She brings an enormous entourage and extravagant gifts, not as tribute, but to show that she is his peer. She is not some star-struck fan; she is a monarch sizing up a rival. She wants to see if the reality matches the hype. She unloads everything that was in her heart, all her toughest questions, all the problems that stumped her own wise men.
And Solomon's response is total competence. He answered all her questions. Nothing was hidden from him. This is a picture of the wisdom that God gives. It is not a specialized, narrow wisdom, good for theology but useless for plumbing or statecraft. It is a comprehensive wisdom. Solomon had asked God for a discerning heart to govern, and God gave him wisdom that extended to botany, zoology, architecture, and international relations (1 Kings 4:29-34). This is because all truth is God's truth. The God who wrote the Scriptures also created the world, and so the one who fears Him has the key to understanding both.
No More Spirit in Her (vv. 4-5)
The queen's intellectual defenses were breached, but it was the visible, tangible reality of Solomon's kingdom that delivered the knockout blow.
"Then the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the disposition of his attendants and their attire, his cupbearers, and his stairway by which he went up to the house of Yahweh, so that there was no more spirit in her." (1 Kings 10:4-5 LSB)
She saw his wisdom in action. It was not just abstract brilliance; it was embodied. She saw it in his architecture, the palace he built. She saw it in his administration, the orderly seating of his officials. She saw it in his household management, the quality of the food, the crisp uniforms of his staff. She saw it in the joy and competence of his people. This is a crucial point. Biblical wisdom is intensely practical. It shows up in how you run your home, your business, and your nation. A truly Christian worldview is not just a set of doctrines to be affirmed; it is a blueprint for building a civilization.
But the capstone, the thing that utterly overwhelmed her, was his "stairway by which he went up to the house of Yahweh." Commentators debate whether this was a literal staircase or his burnt offering, but the point is the same. What finally broke her was seeing how Solomon worshipped. She saw the immense wealth, the meticulous order, the profound wisdom of his kingdom, and she saw all of it directed upward, in worship to Yahweh. All this glory was not for Solomon's sake; it was for God's. When she saw that, there was "no more spirit in her." She was breathless, overwhelmed, undone. Her categories were shattered.
The Convert's Confession (vv. 6-9)
Her skepticism melts into astonished praise, first for Solomon and then, more importantly, for Solomon's God.
"Then she said to the king, 'The word is true which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. Nevertheless I did not believe those words, until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not declared to me. You exceed, in wisdom and prosperity, the report which I heard. How blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. Blessed be Yahweh your God who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel; because Yahweh loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.'" (1 Kings 10:6-9 LSB)
This is the confession of a convert. She admits her unbelief. She testifies that the reality far outstripped the rumor. The half had not been told her. This is always the case with the things of God. No matter how glorious the report, the experience of God's grace and goodness is always greater.
She sees that Solomon's servants are blessed, not because they are slaves of a tyrant, but because they get to live in this environment of wisdom. It is a good thing to be near a man whom God has blessed. But then she moves from the effect to the Cause. "Blessed be Yahweh your God." She blesses the God of Israel. She rightly understands that Solomon is on the throne for two reasons: because God delighted in him personally, and because God loved Israel covenantally. God's love for His people is what motivates Him to give them good rulers. And what is the purpose of this rule? "To do justice and righteousness." This is the biblical mandate for government. The king is God's servant to punish evil and promote good. Solomon's kingdom, at its height, was a glorious picture of this.
A Kingdom of Exchange (vv. 10-13)
The encounter concludes with a magnificent exchange of gifts, symbolizing a new relationship.
"Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones... Thus King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she asked, besides what he gave her according to his royal bounty." (1 Kings 10:10, 13 LSB)
The queen's gifts, which she likely brought to impress Solomon, are now given as tribute. The 120 talents of gold alone are a staggering sum, worth tens, perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars today. But the exchange is not one-sided. Solomon gives her "all her desire," answering her questions and satisfying her intellectual and spiritual hunger. But he doesn't stop there. He also gives to her "according to his royal bounty." He lavishes gifts upon her out of his own magnificent generosity. She came to test, but she leaves having been blessed beyond all expectation.
This is a picture of our relationship with God. We come to Him with our meager gifts, our questions, our challenges. And He not only answers us and gives us what we ask, but He pours out His grace upon us far beyond what we could ever desire or deserve. He gives according to His royal bounty.
A Greater Than Solomon is Here
This entire glorious episode is a shadow. It is a type. It is a trailer for the main feature. Solomon's wisdom was a gift from God, but Solomon himself was a flawed man who would later multiply wives and horses and gold, in direct violation of Deuteronomy 17, and his heart would be turned away by his foreign wives to other gods. His glorious kingdom would eventually be torn in two. The signpost was not the destination.
Centuries later, the Lord Jesus stood among the Pharisees and said, "The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here" (Matthew 12:42).
Jesus Christ is the greater Solomon. Solomon's wisdom was a thimbleful from the ocean of wisdom that is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3). Solomon built a temple of stone; Christ is building a temple of living stones, the Church. Solomon's kingdom brought a temporary, earthly peace; Christ's kingdom is an eternal kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. The Queen of Sheba was breathless before the order of Solomon's house; but what will it be to see the New Jerusalem, the bride adorned for her husband, descending from heaven?
The Queen of Sheba came with her hard questions, and all that was in her heart. This is how we must come to Christ. We bring Him our riddles, our doubts, our sins, our brokenness, everything that is in our hearts. And He, the one who is Wisdom incarnate, has the answer for every one. He does not just give us answers; He gives us Himself. He gives according to His royal bounty, a bounty that led Him to the cross to purchase our forgiveness.
The nations are still coming. Just as the Queen of Sheba brought her gold and spices, the prophet Isaiah foretold a day when the nations would stream to Zion, bringing their wealth to honor the King (Is. 60:9-11). This is happening now, as the gospel goes forth and disciples are made of all nations. The church's task is to be like Solomon's kingdom, a city on a hill. We are to build a culture so saturated with the wisdom, justice, and righteousness of God that it has an aroma, a fame that goes out "concerning the name of Yahweh." When the world, in its cynical and skeptical quest for answers, comes to test us, may they find a reality so much greater than the report that it leaves them breathless, and leads them to say, "Blessed be Yahweh your God." For a greater than Solomon is here.