I want to welcome you to another segment of our Women in the Bible series. This week we will study the women of Solomon’s life found in 1 Kings chapter 10, and we’re going to start with the Queen of Sheba.

We know that Solomon asked God for wisdom and he was known for that wisdom. Because of this, he was also given fame and riches. There hadn’t been a king as wise as him. The news of this king reached the ears of the Queen of Sheba, whose kingdom was found in the southwest of Arabia, what is modern-day Yemen.

She went to test Solomon with difficult questions. It was a custom at this time to propose enigmas or difficult questions to test the competence of kings or wise people. She came to learn just how wise Solomon was, but she also came with gifts: camels, gold, precious stones. She asked questions of all sorts. “Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her” (v. 3). When the Queen of Sheba saw his wisdom, she was in awe. Even though she had heard news of him in her land, it didn’t measure up to reality.

This woman was intelligent; she brought these enigmas before the king. Afterwards, she praised God, “Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness” (v. 9).

She gave him all the gifts she brought, including so many spices that there had never been that many in one place after that. The riches she had grew as well, because Solomon shared with her. Afterwards, the Queen of Sheba returned to her land with all of her servants.

Chapter 10 talks of all the riches King Solomon had. Other kings wanted to hear Solomon and see if he was as wise as they had heard. They brought him gifts, and that is how Solomon’s kingdom became richer.

However, King Solomon fell away from God because of women. In chapter 3 of 1 Kings, we find that he had married the daughter of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. This wife brought her gods and idols from Eypt, and in chapter 11, the Bible tells us clearly that because of this foreign wife, Solomon loved many other foreign women – Moabites, Ammonites, Sidonians, people from which God had told the Israelites not to marry.

These foreign women would incline the Israelite’s hearts toward foreign gods, just as it was said in Exodus and Deuteronomy. Solomon didn’t pay attention and had 700 wives and 300 concubines that diverted his heart. When he was old, the women brought their idols and made sacrifices, so the Word says that his heart wasn’t perfect before God like the heart of his father, David. He allowed the foreign women to do what they wanted.

God became angry with Solomon. The Lord told him, “you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you. I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son” (1 King 11:11b-12).

It didn’t matter that Solomon had riches, fame, or wisdom. His heart was diverted and he didn’t follow God’s ways. He went after idols brought by his many wives. We should be careful that the fumes don’t go to our heads! We should be careful to choose our friends, because it says in this passage that it was because of the foreign women that Solomon inclined his heart towards idols and did things that the Lord had previously prohibited.

So, where does your wisdom lie? God said that he would take away the kingdom from Solomon’s son and later we can see how the kingdom was always divided during the reign of Solomon’s son, all of this as a consequence of sin and disobedience for not obeying the precepts and statutes of God.

Thank you, brothers and sisters, and may God bless you. We hope you join us for another installment of Women in the Bible.