Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1915-08-01

himself three times a year making a
great ceremonial occasion of burnt Of
ferings and peace offerings. All OF
this brings us up through the era Of
peace and prosperity before the clouds
arose which dimmed the lustre OF
Solomon's later years.
The Half Was Not Told.
The queen of Sheba, country in
the extreme southern portion of the
Arabian peninsula was inclined to
doubt the wonderful stories she had
heard of the lsraelitish king and Of
the God who had given him such wis
dom and magnificenCe. SO setting out
with royal gifts of gold, spices and
precious stones carried and guarded
by an imposing caravan, she braves
the dangers and discomforts of the
desert to see and hear for herself this
wonderful man. From the language
of the text it is evident that she made
of solomon confidante of her
troubles, her problems and the long
ings of her heart, and when she real
lied the depth of the mastery advice
and consolation given in return all
her haughtiness and pride collapsed
and there was no more spirit in her"
She had heard in her own country
such eXtiavagant reports as to strain
her powers of belief but now that
she was face to face with the actual
reality the Acknowledgement is forced
from her that "the half was not told
me- She takes occasion to express
the belief that the subjects of such a
King must be a very happy people,
and that the God who so signally ia
VOred both nation and ruler must be
very powerful and beneficent deity.
An HNphgn1n of 70 MI
solomon giving her whatever she de-
sired, and the queen departs for home
a humber, but happier and wiser
woman.
The events of this lesson have
been the nucleus of rich crop of
legendary lore, but like most all
other legends the stories are valu-
able only as curiosities and are not
deserving of credence. In order to
get a real view Of the lesson we must
pick them out and dismiss them
from consideration The only au-
thol itatiVe record we have is that
given in the book of Kings-every-
thing else is more apt to be a de-
luSiCn and a snare, rather than a
help to intelligent understanding. Men
have held that the queen propounded
numerous riddles and challenged her
royal host to a test of wits; but the
record, on the contrary indicates that
her conversation was of a serious
nature, for she communed with him
of all that was in her heart. 1t is
also quite a common belief that the
land of Sheba was identical with the
modern Abyssinia, also that a mari
tai understanding was affected which
resulted in a son of Solomon by this
queen succeeding to the throne OF
Sheba. In fact the royal line of
hbyssinia claims descent from the
Jewish king and the religion of that
country is said to be a corrupted
form of the worship of Jehovah.
Researches of Bible history students,
however almost uniformly contradict
these claims. The location of the
land of Sheba is assigned to southern
Arabia, the region now known as
emen. Then there Is no evidence
whatever that the queen accepted
Solomon's religious tenets or that his
bounty" included the founding OF
a new dynasty in her country. These
stories no doubt originated with and
were propagated by men of worldly
conceptions and evil minds 1t Is not
reasonable to think that such things
II true, Wouln nave been omitted
from the scripture record. While the
Bible omits many points of interest
to students Of history and science.
IL. leaves nothing untold that con-
Germs the relation of God TO man
and the working out of his plans for
saving the race. The evgngclizltiOn
of an entire nation. had such a thing
occurred. would not have been over
looked. The claims of the house Of
Mepelik are not worthy our belief
without the support of scriptural
evidence
The story OF this queen Of sheba.