The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1889-12-05
SUNDAY SCHOOL
THE LESSON FOR DECEMBER &
solomon aud the Queen Of sheba,
Kings, x, t>13-Goidcn Text,
Matt. xii f2--Notcs.

very summit OF his prosperity: ne had a.ts.l
Tor wisdom and God had given him vis,Ion,
which excelled the wisdom OF all the children
OF tnc EAST and all the wisdom OF Egypt. 80
that people came from all Kings Of the earth
20 hear his wisdom. IL Kings iv., 30. .34l Uis
great wealth and some of the uses he made of
~ 10 described in the portion of this CHAPTER
whicb Follows our lesson and i'm Ecc.les. a.
l. And when the Queen of Sheha henri,
OF the fame Of Solomon concerning the name
OF the Lord, she came TO prove him Viii,
hard questions" Tho fact that this visit H.
fuliy recorded both here and in III Chrun 4,
aud that our Lord Jesus Himself ,-rscrrol ~
~ matt xii, AZ marks 10 as an event OF mora
tnan ordinary Importance; and our Saviour's
rctercnce TO IL points 20 II time and siyuif
canoe yet future. Sheba was evidently
the uttermost part In one direction
or the then known world, n country
lying around the extreme south os en-,
ked Sea. To this remote land the fam.
SI solomon concerning the name of jehovah
nad been carried. Observe here snd
throughout tho lesson that IL was not Solo.
mon, but Jehovah, whose name and glory
had thus spread abroad; Solomon being only
the human and visible channel OF this great
glory. e''"'
=. "She communed with him Of all that was
IN her heart.n She came with n yreat trail,
OF camcls bearing spices, very much cold and
precious stones; somewhat as the wise m,n
from the East came long afterward to tbs
King OF the Jews, bearing gold, and FRANK.
Incense, and myrrh Matt H.. /, .. III: and
as sn hauo,s VIII yet do when once the glory
OF the Lord is risen upon Israel usn X I m
3. And Solomon told her all ber nu.s
lions" The first verse says that she cam. 10
prove him with hard questions. but now
That she sees and hears him, evcry question
Is answered Seeing Jesus is the way ont of
oVery dinlculty; and the many things which
now sceni To us so hard, dark and mvsterious
will all be cleared up when we So. Him ns
He is. ''''' ~
4, 8. "And when the Queen OF Sheha had
scon there was no more spirit I'm
her" She had seen the Wisdom of Jehovah
tnroush MN rs he answered all her hard
questions, aud now she bcholds with her eyes
ms house, his table, his servants. their stand
ing, their apparel, his cupbearers and his
ascent To the house of jehovah; and as She
looks upon this seven hued rainbow OF Glory
all sense OF her own Importance is gone with
OUT an effort. A sight of the glory of God
IN the race OF Jesus will efectually blind MS
TO the Importance of self and 20 the attrnc.
tveness OF this present world.
%. ~ was true report that heard So
must all those have said who. having heard
OF the fame of Jesus, came 10 prove Him.
every question was fully and wisely an
swered, every case OF disease completely
cured
q "howbeit believed not the words" She
must nave believed something or sho wou,d
not have come on this long Journey: hut She
uld not believe all she heard for il seemed
zoo zoo grand To be true. lsraers oppression by
the enemy was always because 'thpy belisved
not In God and trusted not i'm His salvation "
lacharins was deaf and dumb for a season.
because he did not believe God; and we are
warned to take heed lest there be in any OF Ms
an evil heart of unbelief aud lest we thus
come snort OF our rest. tPs. lxxviii, ~:
Luke L., 20, 62; Heb. ill.,, IL. iy.. I-3l No
ttce, ON the other hand, the blessin,u of faith
as seen In Abram, Daniel, Mary aud others.
VGen; ~, O; Dan. vi, 80 Luke l., 40: Acts
xvii, 25).
Behold the half was not told me. thy wis
dom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which
l heard" 10 is impossible 10 tell the half of
the hundredth part OF the goodness of God
either OF that which has been manifested In
the gift OF His dear Son or of that which Ia
laid up Tor those who fear Him Il John iy..
y; rs. XXI, 19l. Eye hath not seen. nor ca,.
heard, neither have entered into the heart OF
man the things which God hath prepar.d
for them that love Him, but God hath r,,
vealed them unto us by His Spirit Il Cor.
H., =, lO and yet how few believed the thing;
which are revealed
8. Happy thy men, happy these thy SER
wants which stand continually before tho,
that hear thy WISDOM This was hor .sti
mate of the privileges which they enioyed
ana We do not think she said too much. but
whether those who enjoyed these privileges
thoughtas much of them as she did Is sanother
matter.
Q. blessed bo the Lord thy God, who de
lighted IN thee, To set thee on tho throne of
Israel" In III Chron. tx, s, the throne is
called the throne OF the Lord, and Solomon
is said to bc King for Him Such is the state
ment also concerning this most wonderful OF
all the thrones of earth, in Chron. xviii,
.. xxx, 49, pointing us forward to Jer iii,
|. Zpnh <. It,lyn
because the Lord loved Israel forever
or, as in III Chron. iS., 4, ITO establish them
forever The unsearchable and unchange-
able love OF God is the reason of all His deal
ings with Israel, or with the church, or with
nations.
TO- There came no more such abund-
ance of spices as these which the Queen Of
Sheba gave to King solomon Gold worth
three million OF dollars, precious stones and
OF spices very great store; such was her Of
fering TO the King because of tho name OF Ie-
hovah. What life from the dead 1t shall be
when the Kingdom Is restored % Israel and
the wealth OF the nations is poured In upon
them because OF the name of Jehovah.
tRom. XII, 10; lisa. k, II, II. W
ii, IL. mo such almug Tor algum) trees
were seen unto this day" The navy OF Hi
ram brought not only gold and precious
stones, but great plenty of these trees
which Solomon seems to have used chiefly
for musical instruments I'll Chron. TX, III.
Thus We have the Gentiles supplying the ma
terials for prayer and praise, inasInuch as
incense was a symbol of prayer QPs cxli., y,
and the musical instruments were 10 praise
God with.
10. And King Solomon gave unto the
Queen OF Sheba all her desire, whatsoever
she asked" Besides that which he gave her
Of his royal bounty he gratiGed her every
desire. He gave as King, royaly and
cheerfully. Do we in any measure realize
that We are joint heirs with Christ, that He
will fulfil the desire of them that fear Him.
that Heis saying: "If ye shall ask anything
in My Name l will do it," and that we are
even now blessed with all spiritual blessings
in Him, while He eagerly longs 70 show us
all His gloryf lPs. cxlv., 10; John xiv, Il:
xvii, "A; Eph. l., 81. A full surrender 10
Him will cause us TO enjoy all these things
and Himself as including them all; but there
Is no other way.
$50 she turned and went 10 her own coun-
try, she and her servants" She came think
ing good deal OF herself. and laden with
presents for the far famed King; she returned
emptied OF self and laden with his favors.
Jesus will cheerfully receive whatever we
willingly bring Him, but II we come with
any sense OF our own Importance, and get
anything IKE a glimpse Of Him, we shall
wonderfully fall In our own estimation and
be glad to receive graciously from Him, in
stead OF thinking that we can give Him any
tllng. HSInsa.