SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/5/2022 9:04 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “The Last Sentence”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt.
12:41-42
Message of the verses: “41 “The men of
Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it,
because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than
Jonah is here. 42 “The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment
with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to
hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.”
We
looked at verse 41 in our SD from yesterday, which spoke of Jonah, and now
today we want to look at verse 42 as Jesus talks about the queen of the South
where He says “The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this
generation and condemn it” MacArthur
writes “The Queen of ancient Sheba, the country of the Sabeans, was often
called Queen of the South, because her country was in lower Arabia, some twelve
hundred miles to the southeast of Israel.
The Sabeans were an extremely prosperous people, having earned their
wealth from highly productive agriculture and from the lucrative Mediterranean
to India trade routes that passed through their land. Yet the wealthy and prominent Queen of the
South—who was a Gentile, a woman, a pagan, and an Arab—came to visit Solomon,
the king of Israel, to learn God’s wisdom from him and to pay him homage (1
Kings 10:1-13).”
Now
in today’s high speed travel we probably would not say something like the ends
of the earth. Let us look at Joel 3:8
where he refers to it as “a distant nation.”
“"Also I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of
the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant
nation," for the LORD has spoken.” Now
we will look at Jeremiah 6:20 “"For what purpose does frankincense come to
Me from Sheba And the sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable And
your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.’”
The queen and her large entourage made the long trip,
a trip that would have been very arduous as they crossed the Arabian Desert in
order to hear the wisdom of Solomon, a man of God. This powerful woman brought treasures upon
treasure to the king, who was as we know, was very wealthy beyond description, and
she did it as a testimony of honor and gratitude for the godly wisdom he
taught.
Once
again we see that Jesus makes a comparison to the rebellious Jews who rejected
Him. What He was saying in effect “That
pagan woman brought great treasures to Solomon and sat at his feet to gleam
wisdom from his lips. Now you should sit
up and listen because I am something better than Solomon, and I came here to
you preaching not only wisdom but salvation from sin and the only way of
eternal life, and you refused to come.”
Now as we compare this pagan queen with these Jewish leaders that Jesus
is talking to we will see that “queen of the South will rise up in the judgment
with this generation and condemn it.” This
Gentile woman, with no advantage and no invitation, came on her own initiative
to learn God’s truth from Solomon.
However the Jews of the generation of our Lord who have had countless
centuries of divine advantage and blessing and who have the invitation of God’s
own Son to come to Him and be saved have rejected the Son and thereby rejected
forgiveness and eternal life. There is
then coming a day when these Jewish leaders shall stand condemned even by the
faith of Gentiles, and those Gentiles were as we learned were the Queen of the
South and the people of Nineveh.
3/5/2022 9:30 AM
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