Evening star., 1920-09-11
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
THE GLORIES OF SOLOMON'S
REIGN.
Kings, 10.1-13, 23-25.
Golden text.-Blessed is every
one that feareth Jehovah. that
walketh in His ways. Psalms.
1881.
BY REV. HUGH t. STEVENSON.

BY REV. HUGH II. STEVENSON.
Solomon won a place in his day by
his building enterprises. He erected
not only the temple, which was the
subject of our study last week. but he
also built a group of royal palaces
adjoining the temple. The principal
buildings that he constructed during
the next thirteen years that followed
the building of the temple were the
halls of Lebanonic cedar" for him
self. for his audience chamber, and a
palace for Pharaoh's daughter. Tne
house of the forest of Lebanon. which
, name was given it because it's triple
row of cedar posts. that were used by
the kings guards when they attended
the king on his important visits to the
temple, was sort of an arsenal Ihe
sublime porte" of Jerusalem. or
courthouse. where the king dispensed
justice, was constructed of gold and
silver. 1t contained the famous lion
throne of gold and ivory, with two
lions on each of the six steps to rep
resent the lions of Judah. The kings
seat of judgment was the back OF a
golden bull, its head turned over his
shoulder, probably to represent the
OK or bull of Ephraim. These build
ings were in all probability connected
with the kings palace. which he built
after his marriage with Pharaohs
daughters.
| His fame was won by his building
projects, that included a city water
| system, the enlargement and beauti-
flying of the capital city. repairing
| the breaches in the walls of the city
and making it an impregnable fort
had never been captured by any armed
| force without destroying the city.
Solomon lives in history as man OF
wisdom. This is the teaching OF our
Lord, who. referring to the events or
this lesson, spoke of. how the queen
of the south 'came from the utter
most parts of the earth to hear the
wisdom of Solomon" The Master is
Jour authority that it was not his roy
atty or riches that made possible his
!, wonderful works which made Solomon
great, but his wisdom. His fame
spread far and wide until it reached
what the Jews considered the utter
most parts Of the earth, or the
wealthy region of Sheba in the south
of Arabia, on the Red sea Moham-
medan traditions have held that the
queen went up from Moros. which has
had the support of Josephus, VINO
speaks of her as the Queen of Egypt
and Ethiopia. According to this view
was Solomon (Melimelek). and to
whom she gave the name of Makeda.
from whom the present rulers OF
Abyssinia claim descent. The tradi-
| tion that the queen came from Arabia.
seeking wisdom has the strongest
foundation
| The peaceful. prosperous and power
full realm of Solomon was fostered by
| conditions that only wise man
could take advantage of to increase
his nations greatness. Egypt and AS
syria lost their desire to exhibit mill
! tary aggressiveness. SO that they
ceased their campaigns of invasion,
which. gave Solomon opportunity to
enjoy unmoleSted sovereignty over the
states subdued by David. 1t was due
to his wisdom that Solomon did not
take advantage of the change of spirit
on part of Egypt and Assyria to seek
further expansion Of his. empire over
| a larger area Instead of seeking to
develop. his empire he sought to in
crease her foreign trade, which ex-
tended his fame as scientist and
singer, for his poems and proverbs
followed the expansion of the nations
| commerce to the then known world.
| A brilliant Arabian queen heard of
glory were gift from the Lord and
| was filled with the desire to know the
| truth. She lived in the Intellectual
dawn of the world: but she was
morning, SO that when the beams ap-
peared she determined to make the
| journey of 1900 miles and visit the
great king of the north. The trip was
hard and long one. especially for a
| woman who had been used to the
luxury of the court, but the six
months required travelling at twenty
miles day, facing countless perils
| and costing fortune for equipment
and appropriate gifts for the king.
mination to meet Solomon in her
search for the light of wisdom.
l She came with an earnest and honest
heart to see the kings glory and
an attitude of mind there is no reason
for wondering at her readily recognize
ing his wisdom and being impressed
with Solomon's glory. If men would
seek Jesus. who is greater than Solo
mon, with the same spirit and atti-
sought wisdom they would be con-
vinced that he was the truth. the way
and the life. "She communed with
him concerning all that was in her
tests Of that period, but her spiritual
difficulties and doubts. for she had
been prompted by what she heard
concerning the name of Jehovah" to
seek the presence of Solomon. The
gracious queen was satisfied with the
Explanations and interpretations which
she received. She saw with a trained
eye and found evidence of Solomon's
wisdom in the executive management
of his home and public affairs.
The temple, wealth and works of
the king have all disappeared except
those recorded in the Scriptures. His
reputation for wisdom alone remains
He was more than a man of shrewd
wit. as DR.. Park suggests, for his sci
entific knowledge was superior to that
of any man of his time. He ranks
as the leading geologist of his day.
He was an expert botanist, whose in
formation concerning the plant life
from hyssop. found clinging Upon the
city wall, to the cedars of Lebanon
was accurate. His investigations into
entomology made him familiar with
the birds, beasts, reptiles and insects.
His statement concerning the habits
of the harvesting ants. that was dis
puted for centuries. has been proved
true in the writer's lifetime. He
was a master of the political affairs
of his empire and familiar with the
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