[The queen of Sheba] emptied her heart to Solomon, talking over everything she cared about. And Solomon answered everything she put to him - nothing stumped him. (9:2-3)
When the queen of Sheba experienced for herself Solomon's wisom and saw with her own eyes the palace....the meals...the impressive array...and then the elaborate worship extravagant with Whole-Burnt Offerings at The Temple of God, it all took her breath away. (9:4)
King Solomon, for his part, gave the queen of Sheba all her heart's desire -- everything she asked for. She took away more than she brought. Satisfied... (9:12)
These twelve verses about the Queen of Sheba's visit can seem out of place, somewhat irrelevant to moving the plot of the story along. But, I found myself wanting to rest in these verses, to pause here awhile. They relate a story of expectations being exceeded, not disappointed. How often does that happen in life?
I think that God may have included this passage in His Holy Story to remind His exiled and discouraged people of who He is and to point them to His Son.
"In this letter, unlike 1 and 2 Kings, I offer no record of the kings in the Northern Kingdom. They were not worth mentioning to My discouraged people because I found nothing in them that reminded Me of My Son." (66LL)
How does the Queen of Sheba's story point me to Christ? This passages makes me aware of my deep longing to "empty my heart" and be completely understood and have everything answered. To be so overwhelmed with the extravagance and beauty of a place that it takes my breath away. To be given all of my heart's desire and more. To be satisfied.
These dreams and hungers cannot be met in this life. They cannot be satisfied by any human. They are useful for God's purposes.
"My people felt their emptiness in a desolate city, they longed for a satisfaction that only My Son can provide. Suffering is necessary until evil is finally banished. Suffering opens the holy space in your soul that will be filled only when you're dancing with Me at My party. I want My people, you included, to persevere through suffering with the hope of full satisfaction when My Son sits on David's throne and with occasional tastes of that satisfaction now." (66LL)
2 comments:
Here are a couple of points that caught my attention today:
1) I was intrigued by the Queen of Sheba's response to Solomon. She took note of his wisdom, the palace, the meals he served, the impressive servants, and the elaborate worship. She was blown away by what she saw in Solomon. And her response was to bless God! She recognized all of the outward stuff as a sign of God's love for Israel.
It makes me wonder what people see in my life. Do they notice all my stuff and think I'm just a really great/successful/lucky girl? Or do they bless my God and recognize His blessings as a sign of God's love for me?
I want to be clear and vocal about where anything good in my life comes from. I know it's all from the Lord, but do my unbelieving friends know that? Do I always give credit where credit is due?
2) By the time Rehoboam had secured his kingdom and was strong again, he, and all Israel with him, had virtually abandoned God and his ways. (12:1)
This reminded me of a point that Larry Crabb made in the 1 Kings chapter of 66 LL: "WIthout the hope of holiness filling your soul, the need to fill yourself with something will lead to compromise that will seem necessary, even wise."
Rehoboam was trying to secure his kingdom and lost connection with his God. I'm sure security seemed pretty important to him at the time. He could lose his life in addition to the kingdom, but instead he lost his soul.
How often do I make compromises in my relationship with the Lord, ones that seem necessary, even wise? How often do I justify my disobedience "just this one time, God" or ignore that nagging feeling in my conscience or try to tune out what I don't want to hear? More often than I care to admit. But those "little" compromises are leading me down a path I don't want to go, a path where it's easy to virtually abandon God and his ways.
But the final verdict on Rehoboam was that he was a bad king - God was not important to him; his heart neither cared for nor sought after God.(12:14)
May the same thing not be said about me!
Yay!!! Staci's scheduled post for today magically reappeared, so here it is...
Post a Comment