Results of Transgression
41
and rules over all. “Solomon told her all her questions: there was not
anything hid from the king, which he told her not.”
1 Kings 10:1-3
;
2
Chronicles 9:1, 2
.
“When the Queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and
the house that he had built, ... there was no more spirit in her.” “It was
a true report,” she acknowledged, “which I heard in mine own land
of thine acts, and of thy wisdom: howbeit I believed not their words,
until I came, and mine eyes had seen it:” “and, behold, the half was
not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I
heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand
continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.”
1 Kings 10:4-8
;
2
Chronicles 9:3-7
.
By the time of the close of her visit the queen had been so fully
taught by Solomon as to the source of his wisdom and prosperity that
she was constrained, not to extol the human agent, but to exclaim,
“Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on
the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore
made He thee king, to do judgment and justice.”
1 Kings 10:9
. This is
the impression that God designed should be made upon all peoples.
And when “all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon,
to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart” (
2 Chronicles 9:23
),
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Solomon for a time honored God by reverently pointing them to the
Creator of the heavens and the earth, the Ruler of the universe, the
All-wise.
Had Solomon continued in humility of mind to turn the attention
of men from himself to the One who had given him wisdom and riches
and honor, what a history might have been his! But while the pen
of inspiration records his virtues, it also bears faithful witness to his
downfall. Raised to a pinnacle of greatness and surrounded with the
gifts of fortune, Solomon became dizzy, lost his balance, and fell.
Constantly extolled by men of the world, he was at length unable to
withstand the flattery offered him. The wisdom entrusted to him that
he might glorify the Giver, filled him with pride. He finally permitted
men to speak of him as the one most worthy of praise for the matchless
splendor of the building planned and erected for the honor of “the
name of the Lord God of Israel.”
Thus it was that the temple of Jehovah came to be known through-
out the nations as “Solomon’s temple.” The human agent had taken