Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne to be king for the Lord your God! Because your God has loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness. (2 Chronicles 9:8)

When The Other Half Was Told

Solomon achieved worldwide fame for his wisdom, wealth, and opulent splendor. When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. She was not disappointed. When the queen had seen all the wisdom of Solomon and his wealth, there was no more spirit in her. After seeing all Solomon had and hearing the prowess of his knowledge above all men, the queen said that only half of the story had been told. In honoring Solomon, the queen of Sheba acknowledged how blessed the king was by the Lord God, who delighted him and set him on the throne of Israel. She knew the Lord loved Israel by blessing Solomon. Because of what she saw in Solomon, she praised the God of Israel.

The wealth of Solomon was so great that silver was as common as stone in Jerusalem. No man could match the wisdom of Solomon as he established the kingdom of Israel. All the nations surrounding Israel lived in peace with Solomon. Israel was the greatest nation on the face of the earth, ruled by one of the greatest men who ever lived. God had blessed Israel with a king who would lead them forty years in prosperity never known by any nation before. The queen of Sheba was overwhelmed by what she saw. What she recognized was how much God had blessed Solomon.

But King Solomon loved many foreign women from the nations the Lord had forbidden. He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart away from the Lord. It was not long before the anointed of God went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father, David. The kingdom suffered under the hand of Solomon. His wisdom was of no use to him. He allowed the lust of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of life to destroy his character.

The records of the Kings and the Chronicles do not suggest the queen of Sheba returned to see Solomon. If she had, she would have found another half of the story that did not give glory to the God of Israel. When she came to see Solomon, she recognized how much the Lord God had blessed Solomon. While her commendation was to the wealth of Solomon and his wisdom, the queen gave honor to God because of the life of Solomon. If she had returned in the dark days of Solomon’s reign, she would have seen what sin and corruption would do to a heart. She would not be giving glory to the God of Israel because Solomon did not show the glory of God in his life. The impression of the queen of Sheba would have been shock and dismay. Solomon was a powerful witness to the blessings of a kind and loving God, but after his wives turned his heart away, he was nothing more than a king like the nations around him.

A Christian is the greatest testimony to the glory of God. Jesus wanted His disciples to shine as lights in the world and to be as salt in a world filled with the unfavorable attraction of sin. When a Christian lives each day for God, an example of purity is shown to a world that needs examples of righteousness. Like Solomon, those in the world will see the good works of the faithful Christian and take note. The queen of Sheba may not have followed the Law of Moses, but she knew and saw an example of righteousness in Solomon. Sadly, if she had returned later, she would have seen what sin does to a faithful man of God. So it is when Christians allow the world to influence them to be like the world. Their example of faith is diminished, and the glory of God is forgotten.

We must live so that others can see Christ living in us. The world must know the wealth of our love for Jesus and dedication to the work of saving souls. The wisdom of God’s word guides the hearts of the faithful showing the world a better path to follow. Do not let them see our example as one corrupted by the world’s influence. When we walk in the world as the world, we become the world. As people of God, we walk in the world, but we are not of the world. We rise above the noise of lust and pride to show others the story that is only half told because it is so wonderful. Then we get to tell those seeking souls the other half of the story – the story about the blood of Jesus Christ.