Missed Opportunity - The Word About Women

Have you ever been told a story that seems too good to be true? Have you ever said, “I’ll believe it when I see it?” That must have been what the Queen of Sheba said about the wealth, splendor, and wisdom of Solomon, the great king of Israel. In fact, she loaded up a caravan of camels and traveled over 1,500 miles just to fact check the story. She also brought gold, precious jewels, and the largest import of spices the kingdom of Israel had ever seen.

During her visit with King Solomon, she quizzed him with riddles and questions. She was overwhelmed by all that Solomon was able to explain to her. She was amazed at his wisdom, wealth, and the splendor of the kingdom he had built. The reports she had heard from her own country were true. So she made a big speech and gushed about how impressed she was and how happy everyone in the palace must be. Even though she was a wealthy queen herself, she couldn’t believe how blessed King Solomon was.

She said, “Praise be the LORD your God”. A pagan queen blessed the God of Israel! She even credited Jehovah with giving Solomon his wealth and making him wise. But she never said Jehovah had become her God and there is no evidence that she ever made a confession of her own personal faith in him. She had her own gods back home. Did she return to worshiping them or did she convert to Judaism? Unfortunately, we don't have a clear answer to that question. But we do know for sure that she saw the goodness of Jehovah God first hand, recognized His power, and rightly attributed it to Him. If she never trusted in Him as her Lord it would have been a tragically missed opportunity.

Many Jews in Jesus’s time missed an even bigger opportunity. They could see Jesus in the flesh and hear His wisdom in person. In Matthew 12:42 Jesus said, “The Queen of the South (of Sheba) will rise at the judgment of this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.”

Jesus’s point was that a pagan queen rode on camels from a long way off just to hear Solomon’s wisdom. The Queen of Sheba was commended for seeking hard after wisdom and recognizing that it was from the Lord. But when the Messiah came directly to the Jews, lived among them, performed powerful miracles, and warned them to turn to God and believe in Him, that generation rejected Him. Those Jews in Jesus’s day were rebuked for shutting their ears to Jesus’s wisdom and refusing to believe that it was from God. An extremely tragic missed opportunity.

The WORD about women in this story is that the Queen of Sheba diligently sought wisdom and recognized that it was the LORD God who had blessed Solomon in all things. God revealed Himself but she had to seek Him. Sisters, I don’t want you to miss the opportunity of a lifetime. Jesus has revealed Himself to us and He blesses those who seek Him and accept Him.

Reflect
Have you taken advantage of the opportunity to know God and make Him your God? If not, what is holding you back?

Pray
LORD, You are my God. Thank you for revealing Yourself to me and sending Your wisdom to me in Your Word. May I seek You all of my days. Amen.