The Queen Who Came to See

A long line of camels winds across the desert, swaying under heavy loads. Spices. Gold. Precious stones. At the front rides a queen. She has heard the stories. Now she wants to see for herself.

News of King Solomon had travelled far beyond Israel. People talked about his wisdom, his court, and the God he worshipped. The talk reached the land of Sheba, a long journey to the south. And the queen of Sheba heard it. The Bible says she heard of Solomon's fame, concerning the name of the Lord. She was a ruler herself, rich and clever, and she did not simply believe everything she heard. So she decided to test him with hard questions.

It is no small trip. Week after week the caravan travels, camels loaded with spices, a great quantity of gold, and precious stones. At last the queen arrives in Jerusalem, with a very large retinue, the city buzzing at the sight. She comes to Solomon and talks with him about everything that is on her heart. All her hard questions. Riddles, puzzles, deep matters of life and ruling. And Solomon answers every one. Nothing is hidden from the king, the Bible says, that he cannot explain to her.

Then she looks around. The palace he has built. The food on his table. The way his officials sit and how his servants stand and serve, in their fine clothes. His cupbearers. And the offerings he brings up to the house of the Lord. When she has seen it all, the Bible says, there was no more spirit in her. She is breathless.

“It was true, everything I heard in my own country about your words and your wisdom. But I did not believe it until I came and saw it with my own eyes. And look, not even half was told me. How happy your people must be. How happy your servants, who stand before you every day and hear your wisdom.”

And then she says the most important thing of all. Not about Solomon. About his God. “Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel. Because the Lord loved Israel for ever, he made you king, to do justice and righteousness.” The visitor from far away has understood something. Solomon's wisdom is a gift, and it is meant for justice. Then she gives the king her gifts: a hundred and twenty talents of gold, precious stones, and spices in such quantity that, the Bible says, no such abundance of spices ever came again. Solomon in turn gives her everything she desires, whatever she asks, besides what he gives her from his royal bounty. And the queen turns her caravan around and goes home to her own land.

Where was Sheba? Many scholars link it with Saba, a kingdom in the southwest of Arabia, in what is now Yemen. Saba grew rich on the trade in frankincense and myrrh, carried north by camel caravan, and its ancient capital, Marib, had a famous great dam. Ethiopian tradition, in a medieval book called the Kebra Nagast, tells its own story of the queen, whom it names Makeda. The Bible itself does not give her name.

The visit of the queen of Sheba is in First Kings, chapter 10, verses 1 to 13. Jesus later mentioned her, saying she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. She didn't settle for rumours. She came to see for herself. So here is the question. What big question about God would you travel a long way to ask, and who could help you look for the answer?