Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20030504.htm

1 AND 2 KINGS: ENJOYING GOD'S BLESSINGS IN AN APOSTATE ERA
Part VII: Relating To Challenging, Influential People Well With God's Blessing
(1 Kings 10:1-13)
  1. Introduction
    1. Sometimes we believers can face the trying challenge of relating to influential people well when they like to "test" the limits of our ability, wisdom or authority.
    2. If we look to the Lord in our lives, God provides the capacity to relate well providing we, like Solomon in his wisdom, depend only on God's empowering in facing such people (as follows):
  2. Relating To Challenging, Influential People Well With God's Blessing, 1 Kings 10:1-13.
    1. When the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon, she came to "spar" and "test" him in a competitive manner:
      1. The Queen of Sheba visited Solomon to test him with hard questions, a practice that was "a sport among ancient Near Eastern monarchs," Bible Knowledge Com., Old Testament, p. 507; 1 Kings 10:1.
      2. Ryrie notes "She travelled [sic] 1200 miles on camelback to visit King Solomon, probably because his presence on the Gulf of Aqaba threatened the caravan routes which made S. Arabia rich," cf. Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, ftn. to 1 Kings 10:1. Unger claims Ophir included modern Yemen bordering Sheba and Havilah as well as parts of the African coast near the Red Sea, so Solomon's sea trade for gold probably competed with the land trade of Sheba, cf. Merrill F. Unger, Arch. and the O. T., p. 225, 227.
      3. Whether her economic competition with Solomon played into this meeting, we do know she came to test his wisdom that allegedly came from God according to 1 Kings 10:1b.
      4. Thus, taking the opportunity to "spar" with Solomon in accord with custom, the Queen of Sheba came as a "tough nut to crack" for Solomon in terms of keeping a cooperative relationship with her.
    2. Yet, as Solomon was then blessed of God, such a challenging party became a cooperative ally as Solomon used the wisdom God gave him to cause her to respect and cooperate with him, 1 Kings 10:2-13:
      1. It so happened that the culturally-typical "mental sparring" practice of monarchs played into God's gifting of Solomon, for God had gifted Solomon with unparalleled human WISDOM , 1 Kings 3:12.
      2. When the Queen of Sheba then started to spar with him, Solomon WISELY merely answered all of her questions, apparently not offering to share with her any information she did not ask, 1 Kings 10:2b-3. This activity enabled Solomon to impress her to respect him as he did not show all of his hand while also revealing to him through her many questions what she was thinking so he could better discern what was in her heart, and thus lead her thinking where he wanted it to go!
      3. Then, Solomon let the WISDOM God had given him that had been applied to his administration speak volumes for itself in terms of what the Queen of Sheba could see of that wisdom before her:
        1. She saw the God-given wisdom of Solomon applied to build his magnificent palace, provide and set of his great table, organize his well-heeled servants and produce his meaningful worship of God at the temple site, 1 Kings 10:5c.
        2. Viewing the magnificence of that applied God-given wisdom, the Queen of Sheba was stunned into respecting Solomon, making her easy for him to handle by way of administrative dealings, 10:5d.
      4. When the Queen of Sheba expressed her awe at Solomon's God-given wisdom as applied to his answering her questions and applied to his amazing administration, he exchanged gifts with her to her heart's content, revealing he did not wish to have her as an enemy, but a friend, 1 Kings 10:6-9, 10, 13.
      5. Thus, Solomon was able to continue obtaining gold at Ophir, not to mention its almug trees (black outside rimmed by ruby red wood internally), 1 Kings 10:11-12; Ibid., Bible Knowledge Com., O.T.
Lesson: When Solomon (1) RELIED on his DIVINE GIFT of WISDOM and (2) NOT his own, natural prowess, and (3) let his WORKS produced by that DIVINE GIFTING reveal that wisdom, he was RESPECTED by the challenging, influential Queen of Sheba. (4) Accordingly, he could (a) show her kindness she would appreciate in offering her gifts, (b) and carry on his gold trade in favor with her.

Application: To relate well with challenging, influential people, we must (1) rely on GOD'S leading and gifting, NOT our OWN, and (2) let our achievements by GOD'S enabling cause such people to respect us, cf. 1 Timothy 4:12a, 12b-15a, 15b. (3) Then, we can be kind to such challenging, influential people, and they will accept that expression, and we will enjoy workable relationships with them!