One of the glamorous women in the Bible is the queen of Sheba. Different historical books have documented different versions of her story and given her different names based on their traditions. I will stick to the account in 1 Kings 10. We have seen different women who occupied different roles in the Bible. From slaves, to prostitutes, from wives to mothers, from Judges to warriors among many others, the Bible is not a book that is silent on women. The Bible projects different shades of women and we see the different systems that helped the women succeed, suffer or be shamed. The Christian is reminded that women played an important historical role and they are very important and relevant in our days. The queen of Sheba was obviously an influential woman. She was exceptionally rich and commanded authority. The exact location of Sheba has been a contention for archeologists. While some claim that Sheba is in Africa, others are of the view that Sheba is in Arabia.
When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard questions. (1 Kings 10:1)
The queen of Sheba would be a rich national figure, a woman of good understanding and dominated an obvious rich monarchy. She lived in the era of king Solomon. God gave king Solomon exceeding wealth and knowledge. He was a global icon and people from all over the world travelled to Jerusalem to experience his wisdom. Therefore "when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard questions" (1 Kings 10:1). She did not travel empty. She arrived at "Jerusalem with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind" (1 Kings 10:2). All her questions were answered by the king and there was nothing too hard for the king to explain to her (1 Kings 10:3). The queen of Sheba was amazed at the wisdom of Solomon, the orderliness in his palace, the beautiful temple of the Lord and the organisation of the activities in the Palace. She was amazed. She said to the king,
“The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard. How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.” (1 Kings 10:6-9)
The rich queen of Sheba presented gifts to king Solomon. "She gave the king 120 talents of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon." (1 Kings 10:10). In turn, king Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. The queen of Sheba left Jerusalem and returned with her retinue to her own country (1 Kings 10:13).
The queen of Sheba travelled to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions and she left satisfied. When men rule in wisdom, kings and queens will seek them. Similarly, when we live our lives in integrity and understand and apply the Kingdom principles of elevation, kings will come to our rising. May we be sought-after because of the grace of God on us.
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