Please open your Bibles to Psalm 72 and we will attempt to glorify God and God only as we go through some of this Psalm. I do not think that we can exhaustively cover this, but we will take a look at what this Psalm is saying. Psalm 72:1-20 says:
A Psalm for Solomon. Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son. He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised. There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be JEHOVAH God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
This Psalm opens up with the words:
Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.
We know that this Psalm was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by King David, because the final verse says:
The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
He is obviously praying here for his son Solomon who is now going to be the king when David dies. But as we read on, it is very clear that this is talking about the Lord Jesus. Solomon was certainly one of the more prominent pictures of the Lord Jesus in the Bible as he was used of God to build that temple, which was a picture of God building His New Testament church.
Turn back to 1 Kings 2:1-4 where we read:
Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,
This word “charged” means “commanded” or “gave him this responsibility”:
…and he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man; And keep the charge of JEHOVAH thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself: That JEHOVAH may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.
Here again in this prayer, we see this as Psalm 72:1 starts out:
Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.
Certainly, the judgments that David is speaking about here are the Word of God, and he is asking God to give these judgments and the understanding of them to his son, Solomon.
All through the Bible, this word “judgment” is used in speaking of the Word of God; certainly, all of Psalm 119 is speaking of the Word of God, and in Psalm 119:7, we read:
I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
And again, in Psalm 119:13, we read:
With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
This is speaking of declaring the Word of God.
But here in Psalm 72:1, David is praying:
Give the king thy judgments…
Again, this is literally referring to Solomon but speaking of the Lord Jesus. He is the King. Even when He was crucified, they asked Him again and again, “Art thou the king of Israel?”
Turn to Jeremiah 23 where we find a verse that speaks of Christ as the King. Jeremiah 23:5-6 says:
Behold, the days come, saith JEHOVAH, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
So David is beseeching God that He would give the king, give Solomon, His judgments and His righteousness.
And Psalm 72:2 says:
He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.
Christ, being the Word, judges the people. He brings the judgments of the Word not only to the people of God but to all the world, and He also will be the Judge at the end of the world. The very One that judges us is also our Savior. We must hear the Word and it must be applied to our heart for us to be saved.
And in Psalm 72:3, we read:
The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.
God uses mountains and hills; He actually gives them a personality in many places in the Bible. Mountains can represent kingdoms in the world. But here, I believe that this is just speaking of people.
Turn to Micah 4 and we will see this (Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah). Micah 4:1 says:
But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of JEHOVAH shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.
This is speaking of the Kingdom of God, how He is going to establish that mountain “in the top of the mountains.”
Also in Micah 6:1-2, we read:
Hear ye now what JEHOVAH saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains, JEHOVAH’S controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for JEHOVAH hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.
He is calling Israel “mountains” here, which is what we read in Psalm 72:3:
The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills…
By the way, this word “little” does not have to be here. Most of the time this word is used in the Bible, it is simply the word “hills.” This word for “hills” actually has the same spiritual significance as the word for “mountains.”
But He says:
The mountains shall bring peace to the people…
This is the peace that we must have with God in order to be saved.
We read in Ephesians 2 that upon being saved, we are now at peace with God. We also read in Romans that before salvation, we are the enemies of God. But in Ephesians 2:14-15, we read:
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
There is an enmity before salvation. There is a division. We are separated from God by the Law, but Christ has broken that enmity down and made peace for us in His work.
This is what we are reading here in Psalm 72:3:
The mountains shall bring peace…
As God’s people bring that message of salvation to the world, as they bring His Word:
The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.
This is done by the righteousness of Christ.
We go on in Psalm 72:4 to read:
He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.
Turn to verse 12 of the same Psalm. He goes on to speak about delivering the needy and the poor. In Psalm 72:12, He says:
For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.
In many places in the Bible, God uses references to “the poor” and “the needy” to speak of those who are coming to salvation, such as Matthew 5:3:
Blessed are the poor in spirit…
Yet they do not have the Spirit of God. They need salvation.
In Psalm 35:9-10, we read:
And my soul shall be joyful in JEHOVAH: it shall rejoice in his salvation. All my bones shall say, JEHOVAH, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?
We know that Satan is spoken of as a “strong man” in the Bible. Before salvation, we are in the dominion of Satan. He is too strong for us and he is our oppressor. He oppresses us with sin. Yet in our unsaved state, we can not blame our sin on Satan. He loves that he is the cheerleader, but he is the oppressor. In the Bible, we read that he oppresses with “deceit and violence.”
Continuing on in Psalm 72, we read in Psalm 72:14:
He…
This is referring to Christ:
…shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence…
This is that oppression being spoken of here.
It continues:
…and precious shall their blood be in his sight.
The more you familiarize yourself with the Bible, the more you begin to see that the oppression of God’s people comes from those who claim to be God’s people. It comes from that visible body who reject the truth and yet claim to be the people of God.
Again, He says in Psalm 72:14:
He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence…
This “deceit and violence” has to do with the deception and the twisting of God’s Word.
Look at Habakkuk (Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and after Habakkuk is Zephaniah). Habakkuk is lamenting the violence that he sees in Israel—the false teaching, the salvation by works being taught, the worshipping of idols—and he actually says that this is doing violence to the Law of God. Habakkuk 1:1-4 says:
The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. O JEHOVAH, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
This violence that he is speaking of is how the unsaved, those who claim to be God’s people, are twisting the Law of God and doing violence to it, yet judgment will be brought.
In Zephaniah (the next book), we read in Zephaniah 3:1:
Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!
He is speaking again about Jerusalem, about His people, and we read in Zephaniah 3:2-3:
She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in JEHOVAH; she drew not near to her God. Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves…
These “princes” are those who are supposed to be bringing the Word and being used of God to save His people.
At the end of Zephaniah 3:3, it says:
…they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.
And then Zephaniah 3:4 says:
Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
This is the violence being spoken of in Psalm 72. As God redeems His people, He says in Psalm 72:14:
He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.
What a beautiful thought this is! Precious in the sight of God will be the blood, the affliction, the suffering of His people!
In Psalm 72:5, we read:
They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.
This is really speaking of eternity.
Then Psalm 72:6 says:
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.
Again, this is speaking of Christ. He is the Gospel:
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.
Turn back to Deuteronomy 32:1-5. I believe that this says basically the same thing:
Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: Because I will publish the name of JEHOVAH: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
He goes on here to say the same thing. He is speaking of false prophets among the Israelites:
They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.
He is not speaking of enemies, like heathen tribes. If you go on to read this, He is speaking about His people.
I just wanted to show you the principle that is spoken of here. He is talking about how the Gospel comes down as rain, as dew, as showers upon the grass, because this theme is also in Psalm 72:6 where He likens His people to grass and Christ, the Gospel Himself, coming down. We read in Psalm 72:6:
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.
And in Psalm 72:7-9, we read:
In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.
This can be speaking of the judgment that God will bring on His enemies. But also, as it says here in Psalm 72:9:
They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him…
Again, this can also be speaking of the enemies of God or of those dwelling in the wilderness, outside of the commonwealth of Israel, being brought into the fold.
Then in Psalm 72:10, we read:
The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
This is also speaking of those outside of the nation of Israel being brought in, those throughout the world, really, who will be brought into the fold of God.
Psalm 72:11:
Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.
Let us go back to Psalm 72:10 and look at what this is saying:
The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
Turn to Isaiah 66 and we will see this principle. Isaiah 66:19-20 is speaking of the Gospel going out into the whole world and those outside of Israel being brought in. Isaiah 66:19-20 says:
And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish…
He is speaking of His people going out into the nations with the Gospel, into the heathen nations:
…and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto JEHOVAH out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith JEHOVAH, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of JEHOVAH.
We can see how He speaks of people being brought into the fold as an offering being brought to the Lord God, to His “holy mountain Jerusalem” or to His kingdom.
Let us go back to 1 Kings 10. There we will read about the Queen of Sheba coming to Solomon. This is after he has finished the building of the temple and the temple is filled with smoke so that no one could enter in. In 1 Kings 10:1, we read:
And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of JEHOVAH, she came to prove him with hard questions.
This is a picture of believers coming from the outermost parts of the earth. Again, Solomon is a picture of Christ, and it says:
…she came to prove him with hard questions.
This phrase “hard questions” is one Hebrew word. We also find this in the beginning of Psalm 78. Psalm 78 has to do with the Gospel, how the Gospel is a mystery and how God has written the Bible in parables.
So the Queen of Sheba is coming and she is coming as most of the people whom God draws to Himself come: with questions. They want to know—all of a sudden they have an interest in the Bible—they want to know about this salvation; they want to know all that they can about this Lord God and the Lord Jesus.
So Psalm 78:1-2 says:
Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
This word “dark sayings” here is one Hebrew word and it is the same word that was translated as “hard questions” in 1 Kings 10:1 where the Queen of Sheba came to prove or to test Solomon with “hard questions.” This word is also translated as “riddle” in the account of Samson and the Philistines.
Again, this has to do with the Gospel. It is not that she is asking him riddles. She is asking him about the Gospel. In the curiosity that God gives us upon salvation, we want to know all that there is to know about God.
So she has come to Solomon now:
…to prove him with hard questions.
1 Kings 10:2 says:
And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices…
This is what we were just reading about in Isaiah 66. Here, this speaks of “a very great train,” or a host. This can actually refer to an army of people. The picture of the Queen of Sheba is that she is as a queen of all those being brought in from outside of the Kingdom of God.
And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices…
Camels are unclean animals. Again, they picture people coming to salvation.
…with camels that bare spices…
These spices are offerings. Spices were “a sweet savour unto the LORD” as He used spices in the making of the incense, as well as in other ways, too.
And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold…
And again, the believers are spoken of as gold. That temple was built with gold and silver and precious stones.
So she brought:
…very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.
Again, a child of God comes to God with a desire to know all that there is to know. She is communing:
…with him of all that was in her heart.
In 1 Kings 10:3, we read:
And Solomon told her all her questions…
This word “told” can be “declared.” It simply means that he answered all her questions.
And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king…
He did not hold anything back. He told her all that she wanted to know.
And in 1 Kings 10:4, we read:
And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built,
This is speaking of Christ, His wisdom. Christ is the Wisdom of God.
So she:
…had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built,
He had finished building that temple.
Then in 1 Kings 10:5, we read.
And the meat of his table…
“The meat of his table” speaks of how the true believers feed on “the bread of life,” the Lord Jesus, as we read in Psalm 23:5:
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies…
1 Kings 10:5 continues, and she saw:
…the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants…
This is speaking of how God’s people now sit. They reign with Him; they are established. Actually, this word is translated as “dwell” or “habitation” sometimes. We now dwell in the house of Jehovah, as we read in the end of Psalm 23:6:
…I will dwell in the house of JEHOVAH for ever.
1 Kings 10:5 continues:
And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers…
This is the same principle.
…and their apparel…
The children of God are now clothed with Christ’s righteousness.
…and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of JEHOVAH; there was no more spirit in her.
Solomon had built that temple up on the top of a hill that was called Mount Moriah. A little bit down the hill, he had built his own house. He had also built some kind of a stairway that went from his house up into the temple. So this is talking about when she saw:
…his ascent by which he went up unto the house of JEHOVAH…
We cannot do much with this word “ascent” here in this passage. However, if we look at this identical passage in 2 Chronicles, this word is changed just slightly so that it is a slightly different Hebrew word that is very often translated as “offering,” as something going up to the Lord. So there is a spiritual picture here, again, of Solomon as a picture of Christ going up into the house of God. We will not develop this anymore, but this is just loaded with spiritual principles here in this passage.
1 Kings 10:5 continues. When she saw:
…his ascent by which he went up unto the house of JEHOVAH; there was no more spirit in her.
There was no more life or breath in her. We know from Ezekiel 36 that when we are saved, God puts a new spirit in us. But this says:
…there was no more spirit…
Or breath:
…in her.
I think what we have to read into this is that her spirit is now dead to Christ. We read in Colossians 2 and Colossians 3 that when we are saved, we are now dead to the things of this world. We are dead in Christ. Colossians 2:20 says:
Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments…
Or the elements:
…of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
Colossians 3:3 says:
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
We are now dead to the things of this world and we have a new life in Christ. I believe that is what we should be seeing here in 1 Kings 10:5 where we read:
…there was no more spirit…
There was no more breath or no more life in the Queen of Sheba. Again, this is just speaking of salvation.
Then 1 Kings 10:6 says:
And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
She had heard some of the Gospel. We must hear the Gospel to be saved. Yet in her own land, she heard of the wisdom of Solomon and she says, “It was a true report,” as she talks of his acts and his wisdom.
Turn back to Joshua 2. This is the account of the spies who were sent into Jericho when the Israelites were coming into the Promised Land. They were hidden by this harlot Rahab who lived in Jericho. Rahab has now hidden them up on the roof, and we read in Joshua 2:8-10:
And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof; And she said unto the men, I know that JEHOVAH hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard…
So Rahab and the people of Jericho have heard:
…how JEHOVAH dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt…
This is the Gospel. God brought the Israelites, a picture of His people, out of Egypt, which is a picture of salvation. He brought them through the Red Sea; He “dried up the water of the Red sea.” This is all the Gospel.
Then we read in Joshua 2:10-11:
For we have heard how JEHOVAH dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for JEHOVAH your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
The people of Jericho had heard all of these things that God had done for Israel, yet it was only applied to Rahab and her family. They were saved and yet all of the other people of Jericho were annihilated. But she heard the Gospel and the people of Jericho heard the Gospel and we must also hear the Gospel.
So again, back in 1 Kings 10:6-7, we read:
And she…
Again, this is referring to the Queen of Sheba:
…said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.
This word “prosperity” is also translated as “good.” In Psalm 85:12, it is speaking of the goodness of God and the good gifts that He gives to men. Psalm 85:12 says:
Yea, JEHOVAH shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.
So the Queen of Sheba says in 1 Kings 10:7:
…the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.
She goes on to say in 1 Kings 10:8:
Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants…
This word “happy” is usually translated as “blessing” in the Bible. Again, this is speaking of salvation.
For example, Psalm 32:1-2 says:
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom JEHOVAH imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
This is a saved person.
So the Queen of Sheba says in 1 Kings 10:8:
Happy are thy men…
They are blessed:
…happy [blessed] are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.
Then we read in 1 Kings 10:9:
Blessed be JEHOVAH thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because JEHOVAH loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.
Is she talking about Solomon? No, we are to hear the Lord Jesus. He loved Israel forever, His people, and He made “Thee King”:
…to do judgment and justice.
And 1 Kings 10:10 says:
And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
“No more such abundance” is speaking of, I believe, the multitude that are coming in at the end. I believe that this is what this is speaking of.
Let me continue reading down to verse 13, 1 Kings 10:11-13:
And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones. And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of JEHOVAH, and for the king’s house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day. And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
He gave her “all her desire.”
Let us look at Psalm 107. In Psalm 107:28, we read of God’s people:
Then they cry unto JEHOVAH in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
This is the trouble that we are in before salvation; we all are in trouble.
Psalm 60:11 says:
Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
There is no help in a man-made salvation.
Continuing in Psalm 107:28-30:
Then they cry unto JEHOVAH in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Again, this is speaking of the Kingdom of Heaven, salvation.
So we read in 1 Kings 10:13:
And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty.
I believe that this might be speaking of the blessings on this earth of a true believer. We are blessed by God, but not with worldly riches or anything like that; it is the blessing of salvation in this life.
1 Kings 10:13 continues:
So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
She went back into her country. She is commissioned now as a child of God to bring the Gospel.
In Matthew 12:39-40, where Christ is speaking to the Jews, we read:
But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign…
They were asking for a sign.
…and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
This sign, the sign of the suffering of Christ, is the only sign that is going to be given to people.
And Matthew 12:41 says:
The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas…
The Ninevites were the enemies of God. But here, He is saying that the enemies of God are going to be brought into the fold. They are the enemies of the kingdom of Israel, yet the Israelites are going to be thrown out. The “first shall be last; and the last shall be first.”
And then in Matthew 12:42, He says:
The queen of the south…
He is referring here to the Queen of Sheba:
The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it…
In that resurrection, in that Rapture, the unsaved of this world and many of those who claim to be the people of Lord God are going to see that they are condemned.
The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth…
Notice that He does not say that she came “from Sheba.” We do not even know where Sheba was—probably down maybe in Ethiopia, somewhere south of Israel—but it just says:
…she came from the uttermost parts of the earth…
This is just speaking of all those coming in from outside of that corporate church.
Matthew 12:42 continues:
…for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
This is that same picture that was mentioned in Psalm 72 of how the kings of Sheba and Seba shall come. Psalm 72:10 said:
The kings of Tarshish…
Tarshish was mentioned in the Isaiah 66 passage also, but let me just finish Psalm 72 here. Psalm 72:15-16 says:
And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised. There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
I am not sure about Psalm 72:16 where it says “handful.” This word “handful” could relate to an abundance of corn or grain or the Gospel, as it says:
…in the earth upon the top of the mountains…
And again, we spoke of what the mountains represent.
…the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon…
I read one commentary that said that this is speaking of the grass waving in the wind. But this word “shake” here is used about 30 times and it is always speaking of trembling, as in the trembling of the earth when judgment comes, or how it is moved, or people shaking or trembling in fear.
…the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
Again here, He is likening men to the “grass of the earth.” But I am not sure what this verse is saying.
Then in Psalm 72:17-18, we read:
His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be JEHOVAH God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.
The Lord does “wondrous things,” and in Isaiah 9:6, we read:
…and his name shall be called Wonderful…
And this is that same word.
Also, when the Angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah and his wife, they asked him His name and He said, “Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?” (Judges 13:18). Again, this is the same word and it speaks of the wondrous work of God in salvation. Salvation obtained by the suffering of Christ as He endured the wrath of God for all of His people.
Then in Psalm 72:18-20, we read:
Blessed be JEHOVAH God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
May all the glory go to God; no glory to man.
(There was no question/answer session pertaining to this study.)