Christian Message Boards: Nineveh & The Queen of the South

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Posted by knowHim (Member # 8) on :

During my reading of the “Bible in a Year” on Jan 18th this really stood out. Wow! I think some people may not be paying attention because it could be too easy for them? I just don’t know. See what you think.
~ David Campbell

The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
~ Matthew 12:41-42

The audio is by John MacArthur with Grace to You:
https://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/2295

He is not done; there is one other illustration of the final sentence in verse 42. He recalls another event in their history from I Kings 10. "The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it." Here is someone else condemning this generation: the queen of the South. Who is that?
If you read I Kings 10, and we won't take the time to go into it all, you'd read there about a lady that we know as the Queen of Sheba. The land of the Sabeans was at a great distance from Israel and was a land in Arabia. This particular group of people were very prosperous; they had existed on the trade route to India and they had become incredibly rich because of their proclivity for successful trading. They had also parlayed some agricultural genius into great wealth. The had developed trades and skills, so that this queen was literally wealthy beyond imagination.

It says that she would stand in judgment with this generation and condemn it. She is a Gentile, an Arab, a she! A Gentile Arab woman is going to condemn the chosen people. Why? Because, "She came from the farthest parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon." What does that mean?
She heard about Solomon, that he was the wisest man in the world. And in those days, there weren't any books to speak of, so if you wanted to know what a wise man thought, you had to go and talk to the wise man; there was no other way. She came from the farthest parts of the earth, and that was a long ways away. From their perception, it looked like the farthest parts of the earth.

In Joel 3, it calls this same land, "A nation afar off." Jeremiah 6:20 talks about this being a 'far country,' so it is a great distance, crossing all the desert with her entourage and the stuff she brought with her. If you read I Kings 10, it is staggering what she brought; this wasn't, "I'm going to drop in and see Solomon and I'll be back on Monday." This was a major enterprise.

So what was so big about that? Here is a Gentile, pagan, idolatrous, godless, lawless, woman queen of a bunch of pagan people who hears about a man who has the wisdom of God. She crosses the desert with all of her entourage from a remote land to come without an invitation to seek that wisdom. You know what happened when she got there? It was more than she thought it would be, and she was so astounded that she started unloading on Solomon treasure after treasure after treasure. He didn't need that, but it was her way of honoring him and thanking him. Think about that.

Look at the end of verse 42. "And behold," and there's that exclamation; it's unbelievable! "A greater than Solomon is here." He's saying, "You don't even have to take a journey! I'm here, and you don't care." Here was a Gentile woman with no advantages and no invitation who crossed the desert with all this stuff to hear wisdom from the lips of a man who speaks the truth of God, and they won't even listen when He is in their midst! And He's greater than Solomon, the God of Solomon. No wonder she will rise up and condemn them in judgment.

She would have had an excuse for not attaining the wisdom of Solomon, but the Jews had no excuse for not attaining the wisdom of Christ. So Jonah and the queen will rise up and condemn the unbelieving and unrepentant Jews of Jesus' day.
Do you want to know something? WE can draw that into our own day. There are people today who reject Jesus Christ and the resurrection of Christ and the wisdom of Christ. They may be sitting in a religion, or a church, and someday, pagan Ninevites and a pagan queen, by contrast, will condemn them in judgment. What it is saying is that those who are far off that believe prove that those who are near are responsible to believe. If you try to exist within the framework of Christianity and reject Jesus Christ, yours is the greatest condemnation.

Click here to watch the video tract I made from the above.

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Posted by Betty Louise (Member # 7175) on :

David,

You should post that video you made on Facebook. I believe even Christians will be condemned by those who have to hide pages of the Bible with fear of death while many Christians are satisfied to hear the Bible read to them once a week. I told my husband many years ago that American sinners will be judged harsher then others. We can walk into any Church and ask for a Bible and be given one. We can buy a Bible at the Dollar store but yet many Americans do not even have a Bible in their home. Sadly we take for granted what so many long to have.
Betty

Posted by WildB (Member # 2917) on :

Why did the Queen of Sheba condemn the chosen People?

Posted by Betty Louise (Member # 7175) on :

Because they rejected God. Sadly in the end, so did Solomon.
Betty

Posted by knowHim (Member # 8) on :

So true Betty. They did not repent and served foreign Gods.

John explains it in the video.

I have posted it on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/christianvisualmedia/posts/1072409026114035

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