The Deceitfulness of Riches (Part B)

She came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. And as you know, Christ is notorious for understatement. You know, you just say, I'm greater than Solomon.

Yeah, as the difference is from, you can't even find a scale to measure it. Solomon is a created being. Jesus Christ is self-created, self-existent and eternal past and future.

You go back as far as you can go to eternity past and He is there. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of 1 Kings.

Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now here's Pastor Rick in the book of 1 Kings chapter 10 as he continues his message, The Deceitfulness of Riches. When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, verse five, the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cupbearers, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of Yahweh, there was no more spirit left in her. She saw that it was exceptional and she's looking for something like, oh, we've got that in Yemen. Oh, we do it better. Just the other way. It's like, we don't have that.

We don't do it better. This is what the church should be, to someone that comes through the doors. It's like, man, I'm impressed with the Spirit of God being here. We don't have to have the, I mean, wouldn't you love colonnades?

I mean, wouldn't that be nice? You could hide from people, jump out, boo. But the Spirit of God, one of the highest compliments that I've ever been given as a pastor is by someone who got saved here on a Christmas Eve service and said to me after, I didn't hear a word you said. All I did was feel the Spirit of God here.

What is that? But isn't that a glorious thing, right? That's what we're here for. We're not here to impress people.

We're here to impress upon them the Christ. And he did it and didn't need me to do it that time. Come on. Come on.

Work with me. Well, she knew the value of a palatial setting. She didn't come in and say, you know, she knew what things cost and their value. She knew that I can't afford this.

Look at this thing. And, you know, she was an educated consumer. She's going to go on a shopping spree before this is all over. Her kingdom, as I mentioned, could not produce the tonnage of gold that was surrounding her to be used like it was being used.

And we get to the part where silver was almost, you know, silver and I don't want that. It's just an amazing kingdom, this what, that she was where she was. Otherwise, she would not have been swept away. She lived it.

The ambiance, the fragrances, the mood, the ambiance, the abundance, the exotic. You couldn't see things that she was looking at. And just think, this is nothing compared to heaven.

A comparison would be an anthill to a mountain. But it was surreal, like a dream for her. She was mesmerized by the reality of what she was experiencing. So that's why the historian says there was no more spirit in her, literally leaving her breathless because the Hebrew word there for spirit is the same word translated breath. It took her breath away, the exact equivalent. Now, I can tell you Christians have achieved this effect in witnessing Christ. You leave a person smitten, convicted of sin, no criticisms, anything, just you've taken their breath away and they want salvation. Peter did this when they cried out. Man, what should we do to be saved?

What do we do? He took their breath away. I see the parallels and I like them too.

They're not by accident at all. Nothing to criticize. Nothing was better than what she was experiencing. I'm sure there was a note of sadness when she had to leave, you know, no place like home still. Sadly, far from being a grand witness to God, he was more grand witness to Solomon. Verse 6, then she said to the king, it was true, a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom.

Verse 7, however, I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. So she says, I heard, but I saw.

And that's, you know, her senses were engaged. This time it was true. And sometimes, you know, people fluff it up, well, you got to go to this restaurant. You go, I'm not going back to that place again. Well, they just served me a bowl of salt.

I couldn't stop drinking water. Anyway, I mean, not really, but really. Anyhow, I can imagine what the first thing she saw was the temple as she's approaching Jerusalem. Because, you know, that foyer was just like 20 stories up in the air. And no doubt the fragrances from the sacrifices, the palace, the city itself, this was rushing upon her in waves, her emotions. She was, you know, looking out the window of her little, whatever she was, Palaqueen or whatever she was riding on. And so she says, indeed, the half was not told me.

She's shock and awe. But it's only stuff. It's still only stuff. And what remains? Nothing of what she, those stables that I mentioned that are in Jerusalem, she didn't go see those.

Those are up in the north of Megiddo. Everything she saw is gone now. Our king and his heaven will dwarf all of this. Matthew 12, Jesus said, the queen of the south, I'm reading it from Matthew this time.

Luke was the first time. She came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And indeed a greater than Solomon is here. And as you know, Christ is notorious for understatement. You know, he just said, I'm greater than Solomon.

Yeah, as the difference is from, you can't even find a scale to measure it. Solomon is a created being. Jesus Christ is self-created, self-existent and eternal, past and future.

You go back as far as you can go to eternity past and he is there. Verse 8, she says, happy are your men and happy are these your servants who stand continually before you to hear your wisdom. So like a fairy tale again to her, her servants evidently, you know, remember Nehemiah? Nehemiah said, if I go in front of the king and my face is down, he can kill me for this.

The king's just like, look, I'm not, I'm the king and I'm not putting up with this. You know people in the workplace, like pushing them up a hill and they just come in and there's a little dark cloud that comes before they get there. And it's just they bring everyone down and they get, like a sick day or something, it's like, boy, I had a good time at work today, I wonder why.

And you realize who wasn't there. He's just, man, I hope that's never me. And I hope that's, you know, that's not the Christian, to be that sour puss. Okay, you hate you, I worked with a guy, all he did all day long, I want to win lotto. I want to win, let's settle that.

All day long. Of course, we all want to win lotto, shivering out here in the cold, working like coolies. Anyway, so anyway, happy or, now it's not a little statement, is it?

If you've ever been in a place where they aren't happy, that becomes a big statement. Happy are your men and happy are these, your servants. They're like, you know, hi ho, hi ho, this little line of workers. When I worked in the steel, we'd go to work that way sometimes. We'd sing the song, hi ho, and it'd be a single file heading toward the elevator. I can still remember one guy saying, you know, mothers and wives ought to run these jobs.

Yeah, because we'd all stay nice and cozy in the shanty with nobody. You boys get away from that, it'll hurt you. Verse nine, blessed be Yahweh, your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel, because Yahweh has loved Israel forever.

Therefore, he made you king to do justice and righteousness. Well, you know she's blown away. She's talking like this.

She's like a canary. Yahweh's done this and Yahweh's done that. She's just in it. Then the historian is capturing, I mean, he's a court record. These are everything they dialogued with until they, you know, I'm sure they had time removed from the court, but these are court records that have been preserved. She is not affirming Yahweh as her God, well, as a possibility, a good possibility.

She is not doing that, although I think she is. And the reason why it's not just an easy thing is because those ancient people believed in territorial deities. If, you know, your God was the God of the mountains, but my God is the God of the valley, and we come across that. First Kings chapter 20, then a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel and said, Thus says Yahweh, because Assyrians have said, Yahweh is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys. Therefore, I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am Yahweh of everything.

And, of course, that comes later. It's not at this point in history, but that's how they thought. Each nation had their God or gods, and when you left your land, the power of your God was diminished if it was weaker than the other guy's God, which is what is being said there in First Kings 20 verse 28. Same thing with King Hyrum. First Kings 5, we went over this, so it was when Hyrum heard the words of Solomon that he rejoiced greatly and said, Blessed be Yahweh this day, for he has given David a wise son over this great people.

So he's saying Yahweh, you know, has done this, acknowledging the God of Israel. And you'll find it in other kings too, and you say to yourself, well, are these guys genuine? Is this just statesmanship?

Are they being polite? Or is it genuine? So I'm not committed entirely that in every case it was false. We have no way of knowing. We'll find out in heaven. You go to heaven, you say, Hyrum, are you here? He hearkened unto him. Hark, hark, harkened he.

And if he doesn't hark back, then I don't have a hark attack and just keep going on and on that I was pushing it. All right, well, anyway, Naaman, remember Naaman, he took soil from Israel. He says, listen, I don't even stand on that stuff anymore.

I've truly converted. So he takes soil back. He gets permission from Elijah. He also says, look, when I go into the king's house, I don't believe that stuff. But if I don't go in there, they're going to kill me.

Can I go in there? But I don't believe, okay? And Elijah says, yeah, I get it. I get it.

So he wasn't all hung up. You got to love those prophets, man. They are serious business. Anyway, that's my take on this.

I wouldn't, you know, don't want an emotional response to, you know, emotional response is what you give when someone buys you something you like and gives it to you with no strings attached. And that's it. You go, oh, I love it. I love it. It's crazy.

But in most of the other things in life, you got to check those emotions because they just get in the way. Oh, look at that. Gas prices are down.

Now look what happens. All right. I'm so glad I kept my holes back from the 70s. Once you've tasted gasoline, you'll never forget it.

I'm still washing it out of my mouth. Anyway, yeah, that wasn't prices. That was just a shortage. It was horrible. It was just like hell must be somewhat like that, you know.

People with guns. Anyway, coming back to this, he says, who delighted in you? Well, God did delight in Solomon, and this was public knowledge. Second Kings, Adonijah didn't think so, but for Second Kings 12, this is going back, David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, so she bore a son and called his name Solomon. Now Yahweh loved him. And then the prophet comes, Nathan comes, and Yahweh's given him a nickname, the lovable one. So Solomon was loved, and that's going to factor into his judgment, I think.

I think you'll see Solomon in heaven. You know, the legal is like, no, no, no, you won't. They talk like that, don't they? Don't the people you don't like talk in some high voice like this or like that? There's one or the other, but there's nothing normal about people you don't like.

Anyway, and of course they're not capable of disliking you. Therefore, because Yahweh loves you, therefore he has made you king to do justice and righteousness. Now, justice and righteousness are the dominant themes in Proverbs, when we get to the, not only other books too, but Proverbs is one of the leading books that stresses those themes. Verse 10, then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, spices in great quantity, and precious stones. There never again came such an abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to Solomon.

There's something humorous about that. Now, I mean, they were impressed with her spicy gifts, obviously. And if you're into spices, you would have loved this. You know, it's like, you know, someone giving a cow to someone who's lactose intolerant.

Not a good idea. But you know, I've got a gluten problem. Well, you've just inherited a wheat farm.

You've got to make some corrections. So anyway, here she brings all these spices. She doesn't come empty handed. She's got class. She says, look, you don't just show up. And maybe I don't believe all the hype about Solomon, but I'm not going there empty handed either.

You're not putting that one on me. She's prepared. She comes with about four and a half tons. I don't know how many camels that he calculates to.

But gold is the most mentioned element in the Bible over 500 times, more than any other metal. Maybe she's paying tribute. Chapter four says Solomon's kingdom went to the Euphrates and down to South Egypt.

He doesn't give us the eastern borders. She could be paying tribute. Hyrum gave the identical amount in chapter nine, and maybe that was part.

We don't have enough information. Anyway, she leaves the spices there, and they are impressed by that. Now Solomon's going to also import a lot of Almag wood, and it will be repeated.

You know, there's never again been so much wood like this. And so it was the golden age of Israel, and the writer looks back with nostalgia. He says, man, to have been there then. Verse 11, also the ships of Hyrum, which brought gold from Ophra, not Oprah.

I didn't say that. Brought these great quantities of Almag wood and precious stones from Ophra. Verse 12, and the king made steps of Almag wood for the house of the Lord. It's Yahweh.

And for the king's house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers. There never again came such Almag wood, nor has life been seen to this day. Why somebody would name their boy Almag wood, I don't know.

The phonetics. Hyrum and Solomon developed this partnership. It seemed to be a very profitable partnership for both of them. We are not sure what kind of wood Almag is. It's understood as a luxury item, and so they import it. Now Solomon is going to import horses too, so he can export them.

He's into making a profit, and he may be doing that with some of this wood. Anyway, vanity. Vanity dominates the book of Ecclesiastes, and it sort of takes the delight out of worldly riches, does it not? Here's the richest man that's ever been, the smartest guy ever at that point. Christ, of course, comes later.

And yet, with all of that success, he writes Ecclesiastes. This is all just a waste. That's what vanity means. I wish the translators wouldn't use the word vanity. I think of a cabinet every time I come across it.

You don't have a cabinet anyway. I'm serious. The word would have been better is it's nothing. It's all just nothing.

It's just a frustration in that tone, and it's appropriately applied. So that is an interesting thing, that the man with so much wealth would write the Ecclesiastes. If a poor guy wrote Ecclesiastes, you'd say, well, I get it. He didn't have anything. Of course, he was bitter.

But the author had everything, and he's still saying it just isn't satisfying. Verse 13. Now King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired. Whatever she asked besides what Solomon had given her according to the royal generosity, so she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

Now, there are those, you know, Haile Selassie was a king of Ethiopia, and he said that he was a descendant of Solomon because this verse means that when she was given all that she desired, it was a child. That's a stretch. I mean, I'd hate to go to somebody's house, and, you know, he gave me everything I wanted, and I'd come back with a baby. I mean, that would just not be right.

So, and let's say the lifetime supply of Pampers would make it, you know, doable. Anyhow, whenever I talk about babies, I always feel that the women are glaring at me. Watch it, Buster.

This is our field, and you don't, no, you guys don't do that. Anyway, here at King Solomon, she's smitten. She's so impressed by him.

Love does enter into this, you know, at least we don't really see it come up, but she certainly is taken by everything. She's the queen in the candy store, and here she has on her shopping spree. Now, King Solomon gave Queen Sheba all she desired. I'll take two of those and one of those and this over here, but she has class about the whole thing, and so she departs, enriched from her visit by the gifts that Solomon gave her. She gets back to Sheba, and he says, how was your trip? Made out like a bandit. But did she come away with God?

You just can't get away. Jesus could be telling a parable, and you're into the parable, and at the end, he's going to get you, to convict you or exhort courage, and the Bible does that as it is here. And if you just look at her and say, well, she just made out like a bandit. Did she?

Did she come back with anything concerning the true God? Verse 14, the weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was 666 talents of gold. Verse 15, besides that, from traveling merchants, from income of traders, from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country. So, the income of traders from all the kings of Arabia. Well, Arabia is that land to the east of Israel, which would reach to Yemen, where she likely, again, paid 120 talents of gold as tribute.

These are some of his sources of income. Duty, which is tax on imports, the days of peace and prosperity for Israel, and the region. Israel was the world power at this time. The Assyrians were not yet this great force. You know, many commentators will tell you that Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh, the Assyrian territory, because they were so cruel.

Well, they had not evolved to that cruelty yet. No, Jonah just didn't like them. He didn't like Gentiles. He didn't want to share God with them. Which is the story of the point of Jonah's story. What does it profit a man? You're a prophet, two different uses of the same phonetically sounding word.

You are my man with my message. I want to reach the Ninevites, and he did not want to do it. And that is the story. What is the profit if we don't give him Jesus? If you get somebody to come to a church and you impress them with whatever, but they don't get Jesus. They're not convicted of sin. They're not invited to the throne. What happens if your neighbors know that you're a Christian when you're on the subject?

You don't bring it up. Conversion and sin. I mean, if they don't give you the opportunity, you can't force it.

But if you have the opportunity, you've got to get to the point. We are uncomfortable, at least I am, with Solomon's blessings because of his approaching tolerance for idols. His appeasing. His appeasement of his wives. That's why he did those things.

I just want to keep the peace. Same thing got Adam in trouble. Now, this number, the yearly income was 666 talents.

25 tons, or 50,000 pounds of gold. If you add up Hyrum's 120 talents, the 420 talents in chapter 9 brought by the navy to Solomon, if you add 120 talents from Sheba, you end up with 660 talents. I find no connection between the 666 talents with Revelation 13, 18. Now, I think this is important because if we get into the habit of stretching things to suit something else, just without any fact, then we can enter into, you know, poor Bible teaching. It has to be there. When we make our analogies, we hang it on something. It's not just this, you know, wandering opinion. There's nothing in this to link Solomon's 666 talents with the Antichrist to come.

At least I can't find it, and I don't know of any other commentator that can either. However, that number 6, there's something there. That is, in biblical numerology, a pronounced number. We find this pattern all over the Old Testament and into the New.

It is the number of man. Thanks for joining us for today's teaching on Cross-Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.

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