What is that long procession approaching Jerusalem? I think, from the
pomp of it, there must be royalty in the train. I smell the breath of
the spices which are brought as presents, and I hear the shout of the
drivers, and I see the dust-covered caravan, showing that they come from
far away. Cry the news up to the palace:
“The Queen of Sheba advances.”
Let all the people come out to see. Let the mighty men of the land come
out on the palace corridors. Let King Solomon come down the stairs of
the palace before the Queen has alighted. Shake out the cinnamon and the
saffron, the calamus and the frankincense, and pass it into the treasure
house. Take up the diamonds until they glitter in the sun!
The Queen of Sheba alights.
She enters the palace.
She washes at the bath.
She sits down at the banquet.
The cup bearers bow. The meat smokes. The music trembles in the dash of
the waters from the modern sea. Then she rises from the banquet, walks
through the conservatories, gazes on the architectural marvels, and asks
Solomon many strange questions. Thus she learns about the religion of the
Hebrews, and then and there she becomes a servant of Jehovah.
The Queen of Sheba is overwhelmed. She begins to think that all the
spices that she brought, and all the precious woods which are intended to
be turned into harps and psalteries and into railings for the causeway
between the Temple and the palace and the $1,800,000 in money--she begins
to think that all these presents amount to nothing in such a palace; and
she is almost ashamed that she has brought them, and she says within
herself:
“I heard a great deal about this place and about this wonderful religion
of the Hebrews, but I find it far beyond my highest anticipations. I must
add more than 50 per cent to what has been related. It exceeds every
thing that could have been expected. The half was not told me.”
What a beautiful thing it is when social position and wealth surrender
themselves to God! When religion comes to a neighborhood, the first
to receive it are the women. Some men say it is because they are weak
minded. I say it is because they have quicker perception of what is
right, more ardent affection and capacity for sublimer emotion.
After the women have received the Gospel, then all the distressed and the
poor of both sexes--those who have no friend except Jesus. Last of all
come the greatly prospered. Alas, that it is so!
Do you know where Sheba was? Some say it was in Abyssinia; others say it
was in the southern part of Arabia Felix. In either case it was a great
way off from Jerusalem. To get from there to Jerusalem the Queen of Sheba
had to cross a country infested with bandits and go across blistering
deserts.
Why did not the Queen of Sheba stay at home and send a committee to
inquire about this new religion, and have the delegates report in regard
to that religion and wealth of King Solomon? She wanted to see for
herself and hear for herself. She could not do this by work of committee.
She felt that she had a soul worth ten thousand kingdoms like Sheba, and
she wanted a robe richer than any woven by Oriental shuttles, and she
wanted a crown set with the jewels of eternity.
Bring out the camels. Put on the spices. Gather up the jewels of the
throne and put them on the caravan. Start now--no time is to be lost.
Goad on the camels. When I see that caravan--dust-covered, weary and
exhausted--trudging on across the desert and among the banditti until it
reaches Jerusalem, I say: “There is an earnest seeker after truth.”