The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1896-11-21
Sl,ela.

n,S. \: ," T"'s 's sss;sv ' Of
! SsJSthh ~ the lessons concern
,S.t. z'W'- ing Solomon, in or
So. ~, der that we may APP
! 5rfsts.,sz @s-~= preciate what the
:::;; ;: Of ; S" :'' r $:;
-"m~ she found. and also
that we may see in
this story another safeguard for Solomon
| against falling. IT seems as if the Lord.
seeing his great danger from wealth and
! power aud that he was walking on the
very verge of a prccipice, not only an
pearod to him again in dream Uesson
VIII. with bright promises and earnest
warnings, but used this visit of Sheba' g
uIeen as an additional safeguard, Tor
solomon would be reminded of his reli-
siouS duties and privileges and Of the fact
mat the honor Of God and of true religion
throughout the world were in his keeping.
! Jesus himself used this story for an IL
iustration Matt. 12: A2), and we may
wisely use it in the same way to teach
s'mc very important lessons. making the
! applications as we go along and not watt
lGg I'LL the end of the story.
The section includes the story of the
( ~ ''N queen VI EDil'bd do 'ol' ~ =
Kings 10; 10 and Chron. 8: LIP. to-
! se'her with review of soomon's great
ness in the remainder of these chapters
Historical SettngsLTime. About 3. c.
''z-?9l. After the twentieth year Of Solo
mon S reign q Kings 9: 100; and ten years
after the completion of the Temple. Place:
ID Jerusalem, where Solomon had his
royal palace. (2) Sheba, or Sebaea. a
wealthy region in Southern Arabia. Dor
dering on the Red Sea, 1t was 1,50o to
2oCo miles from Jerusalem. Solomon's
Kingdom had an area of 10000 square
miles. and population of about 60O0,Oo9
lsraeiites according to Chronicles). The
glory of the kingdom was now at It's
height.
The text OF to-day's lesson, with eS-
planatory notes. is as follows:
Y. |. When the queen Of Shebh.'
Sheha was country in Arabia Felix,
famous for Its traffic in gold, frankf-
cense. and precious stones. "-Farrar
J. "And Solomon told her all her ques-
TONS her problems, enigmas and ques-
tons of religion. Nothing was too deep
for him in all she asked; he discovered
the correct answer and gave it to her.
Cambridge Bible
q. "All Soomon's WISDOM" in his ar
rangements the ordering of the kingdom.
architectural inventions and everything
that required great skill. But especially
his wisdom in answering hard questions.
And the house that he had built The
reference Is probably not to the Temple.
but to the beauty and richness of his pal
ace as the particulars that follow relate
to the elegance of the style in which he
lived and the admirable manner in which
everything was arranged.-Prof. w. II,
Green.
5. And the meat of his table" I. e.,
both the great variety of food that was
placed upon the kings table q Kings 4:
22-20 and also the costly furniture of the
table q Kings 1O 2D. His banquets were
of the most superb kind. All his plate
and drinking vessels were of gold. "The
sitting of his servants" Here servants"
signifies the officers and distinguished
persons who were privileged to sit at the
kings table, and were ranged according
to rank and in large numbers at the royal
banquets. "The attendance of his min
isters." This refers most probably to
those persons who stood to serve the
guests. And their apparel (cf. Matt.
6: 2O). The rich and costly dress of East
ern courticrs and attendants is sometimes
furnished by the king Gen. 4o: %: I Sam.
Is: 4: 2 Kings s. 5: Dan. 5: 7: Esther 6: 81.
Pulpit Commentary. "And his ascent"
the passage from the palace to the Tenn
pie up the Tyropean valley, referred to in
2 Kings 16: Is. This valley was a ravine
over 100 feet deep between Zion and the
Temple hill. The robes of the king are
described as so laden with the richest
perfumes of India and Arabia that they
seem made of myrrh. and aloes, and cas-
Ir,tn 'I,n ~, ,r f,;r
ments floats round him out of ivory pal
aces. The queen sits on his right hand in
robes glittering with the gold of Ophr."
-Geikie. 'There vas no more spirit
breath, in her" Her amazement was so
great that, as we say. it took away her
breath: she was lost in admiration ZAP
parently the queAn had come with some
hope that she might get the better of Sol
omoh either in her display Of queenly
sp1ehdor or in the questions which she
propounded "-Camlridge Bible.
6. at was true report" She nobly
acknowledges the truth, without any
envy or conceit.
T.! Behold. the half was not told me.
Nor would she have believed 1t If it had
been told. Much of It could not be told
in such a way that she could really un-
| derstand 1t. any more than a native Of
central tropical Africa could understand
that water could be changed into ice or
comprehend the workings of the tele-
phone. telegraph or the photograph
|. S. "Happy are thy men," Not because
of their fine clothes. of their high posi-
ton. of their splendid possessions, did the
queen regard the people and the servants
of Solomon as blessed and happy but
because they could always listen to his
wisdom. Pulpit Com. 1t is a great advan-
tage to be in good families, and to have
| opportunity of frequent converse with
| those that are wise and good.-W. Henry.
o. blessed be the Lord thy God !"
| This shows that the queen understood
| Solomon to recognize all his wisdom and
wealth as the gift Of God. He was faith
| full to his God, and 1t Is possible. as lew.
ish writer's claim, that she was convert
ed to the true God through solomon's
| influence. 1.-The Lord loved Israel for.
ever" with love which was so strong
as never to fail. Gods love was indeed
an everlasting love. We live under it's in.
! fiuence to-day. Therefore made he thee
kingv This was the highest possible
compliment to Solomon
10. "A hundred and twenty talents Of
gold" About s3,0OO.GOO. See on verse 2
mo such abundance of Spices"
49, "And Solomon gave unto the queen
Of Sheba all her desire" "A royal prog
ress in. the East Is always necessarily no.
companied by train of costly gifts pro-
p"rtioned to the wealth and Importance
| of the sovereigns who are to be the dom