Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1915-07-28
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON FOR AUGUST |
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Text OF the Lesson, I Kings y, I-7S.
Memory Verses, &, 9-Goiden Text,
Prov. VIII, Commentary Prepared
by Rev. ID. NJ. Stearns.

/ utfnOFt ttFSt>, o, J-1Olutn
Prov. VIII, Commentary Prepared
by Rev. ID. VI. Stearns.
We saw In a previous lesson that
! Solomon's wisdom excelled all the wis
dom Of the east and of Egypt and that
people came from all the earth to
hear his wisdom Il Kings iv. 20. 80. "a; ii
! Chron TX, 81, His writings are men
toned in / Kings iv. 81. 80 The Song
Of Solomon was probably written in
| the JOY of his first love TO the Lord in
ais younger days when he first became
king. Proverbs reads like his more
! mature experience while Ecclesiastes
is the sad retrospect OF his great folly
! and sin after he had turned away
from the Lord, for his wives turned
away his heart after other gods. and
his heart was not perfect with the Lord
his God IL Kings ri. 4. O. Although
he was beloved of his God and among
many nations there was no king like
him. nevertheless even him did strange
women cause to sin (Neh. xiii. 2Gl. Aft
er the dedication of the temple the
Lord appeared TO him the second time
and assured him that His eyes and His
heart would be perpetually upon that
house because His name was there
Il Kings tx. LID. What precious as
surance for all the redeemed to APP
propriate. for what was true OF
building is surely true Of those who
are temples of the Holy Spirit He
and his people were warned, however.
that If they forsook the Lord He would
make them n proverb and a byword
among all people q Kings tx, 6, y. So
we are warned that if the salt loses its
SAVIOR 1t is good for nothing but TO be
trampled under foot Of man. The les
son of today. with the parallel record
in III Chron. tx, shows how ii might
have been If Solomon had continued
faithful and how it will be when a
greater than Solomon shall sit on Da-
vid's throne and the glory of the Lord
upon Israel shall draw all nations.
They shall come from Sheba. bringing
gold and incense, and shall shew forth
the praises of the Lord. and the wealth
of the nations shall be brought to Is
rael when the Mighty One of Jacob
shall be their Lord and Saviour lisa.
TX, l-3, g, IL. l6i.
The queen of Sheba heard Of the
fame of Solomon concerning the name
OF the Lord, therefore some one must
than Solomon and Of "A greater glory
than he ever had. which our Lord aud
Saviour wants TO share with all who
are willing TO receive Him and follow
Him, but so few think il worth while
to tell these good news that two-thlrds
of the people on the earth never heard
yet When the queen heard she came
to see for herself If the report was
true. She came with great retinue
and with camels. bearing spices and
gold and precious stones. Such an
abundance of spices never came TO
Jerusalem before, and she gave TO Sol
ONION 100 talents OF gold. which. ut
$4,000 n talent, would be about 49,
100000. See verses and 10.
According TO verse IA, Solomon was
in the habit Of receiving 66G talents
of gold yearly. That would be over
S16,0o0,O00 in gold alone. SO we do
not wonder that silver was as stones
and nothing accounted OF oversees y,
90. The queen had many bard ques-
tons TO ask Solomon but liz told her
all. There was nothing hid from him
that he could not tell her. And when
a..I I.ss al.
buildings and his home and his serv-
ants there was no more spirit in her.
and she had to acknowledge that.
while before she came she did not be.
lieve all that she heard, now she had
to confess that his wisdom and pros
perity exceeded all that she had heard
and the half had not been told her
verses 40. 1t reminds us Of lisa.
Xiv, 4; l Cor. H. 8, where we read that
the things which God hath prepared
for His redeemed exceed all.
The Spirit has indeed told US some
what, but we are slow to receive 1t.
and we are not like the apostles, who
said, I'VE cannot but speak the things
which we have seen and heard (Acts
iv, 20). If the queen of Sheba carried
back to Arabia with her saving
knowledge Of the Lord God of Israel
then her visit was to some purpose.
but If 1t was only to see and admire
and wonder and give and receive gifts
oversees $40, 49, then it was a mere
passing affair and great only to hu-
man sight From verse 10 we might
conclude that she had learned to know
the true God and can only hope that
1t was even so. From Isa. xxx we
barn that the visitors from Babylon
did not learn from Hezekiah of the
true God. the God of Israel, but only
saw HeZekiah's greatness and his pre-
cious things. Christians might be a
bit perplexed sometimes If the Lord
should inquire after visitors had gone.
What have they seen and heard In
thine house?" lisa. xxx. A.