1 Kings 10:10

The tribute paid to Solomon reminds us somewhat of the gifts of the wise men who came from the east when the Lord was born. Her tribute of gold, 120 talents, was a large one, probably weighing between six and nine tons. It was the measure of her appreciation of what she had seen in Solomon. In Scripture, gold speaks of divine righteousness and divine glory. That should challenge our poor hearts about how much we value the divine glory of the Son of God.

Besides her words of appreciation, she expressed this by giving to Solomon 120 talents of gold, spices in great quantity and precious stones (v.10). She was not paying Solomon for anything, but voluntarily giving, which is a picture of a believer giving to the Lord the willing worship of his heart. The gold speaks of the glory of God, that which is the first consideration in worship. The spices picture the fragrances of the Lord Jesus. His whole life, His death and His resurrection were a wonderful fragrance to God. The precious stones stand for the fruit of the Spirit, with their many colours reflected by the light that shines on them.

The Spirit of God points to both the quantity and the quality of the spices the queen of Sheba brought. No other tribute compared with it. No other source gave such abundance or such quality of spices. Our own tribute to Christ, our praise and worship, will depend for both quality and quantity on how much we value His Person, His glory and His beauty. The more time we spend with Him, hearing His word as Mary of Bethany did, the more we will be able to give Him for His pleasure and praise.

Precious stones reflect the light, and display it in its varied colours, according to the nature of the stones. And do we not see in the gift of the precious stones the queen's tribute to the various glories of Solomon? What a privilege we have! We can view the wide range of Christ's glories, and we may speak to Him about them.

She traded for wisdom, and the Lord's anointed king in Jerusalem was her merchant. With him, and for it, she traded gold, spices and precious stones… And the Lord will not stay in her debt. He gives her far more than she had bargained for. Solomon, His servant and prophet, does more than answer her questions. He gives her such a sight of his splendour that it satisfies her.

Solomon gave the queen more than she desired… She got all she asked for. But in his wisdom Solomon gave what would delight her heart, and what would please him to give. So it is with the Lord! We get as much of Christ as we go in for.

Then she gave gold, spices and precious stones of an enormous value. In all this glory that came to Solomon we have a prophetic picture of the glory that will come to Him who is greater than Solomon. When He sits on the throne, the nations will seek Him. They will praise the King as the queen of Sheba praised Solomon: "May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!"