The prayer of Solomon at the
dedication of the first temple is significant in that it provided
for Gentile blessing: “and as to the stranger also, who is not of
thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy names
sake (for they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy mighty hand,
and of thy stretched-out arm); when he shall come and pray toward
this house, hear thou in the heavens thy dwelling place, and do
according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; in order
that all peoples of the earth may know thy name, [and] that they may
fear thee as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this
house which I have built is called by thy name” (1 Kings 8: 41-43).
The Bible records at least three such journeys to Jerusalem by
Gentiles.
The first Gentile to make the journey was the
queen of Sheba and the record of it follows closely on the record of
Solomon’s prayer (see 1 Kings 10: 1-13). She was a stranger. She had
heard of the glory of Israel’s king and Israel’s God. She came up
out of a far country and when she had seen it all “there was no more
spirit in her” (v 5). She declared to Solomon that “it was a true
report that I heard in mine own land of thine affairs, and of thy
wisdom; but I gave no credit to the words, until I came and mine
eyes had seen; and behold, the half was not told me” (vs. 6, 7). How
much more this will be when the glory shall again shine forth from
Zion and the rightful king “shall reign in righteousness” (Is. 32:
1). Then shall all confess in the words of the queen of the south,
“blessed be Jehovah thy God, who delighteth in thee, to set thee on
the throne of Israel! Because Jehovah loves Israel for ever,
therefore did he make thee king, to do judgment and justice” (1
Kings 10: 9). Thus this first Gentile visitor returned from
Jerusalem blessed and satisfied, glorifying the God of Israel.
A thousand years passed away. Solomon’s temple
had been burned with fire. Herod’s temple had taken its place, but
God was not in it. This shows us that buildings are nothing in
themselves, however magnificent. That temple of old was nothing
apart from Jehovah manifesting Himself there in the midst of His
people. If He was not there, the building was desolate. So it was
proved in the second Gentile journey when wise men or “magi from the
east arrived at Jerusalem, saying, Where is the king of the Jews
that has been born?” (Matt. 2: 1, 2). It was a person whom they
sought not a building. It was the king and not an empty throne.
Hence under divine guidance their backs were soon turned upon the
great city and its temple and their faces directed towards little
Bethlehem instead where they found the One whom they looked for.
Apart from Him their hearts could not be satisfied and until they
had found Him their journey was not ended: “and they having heard
the king went their way; and lo, the star, which they had seen in
the east, went before them until it came and stood over the place
where the little child was. And when they saw the star they rejoiced
with exceeding great joy. And having come into the house they saw
the little child with Mary his mother, and falling down did him
homage” (vs. 9-11).
Sadly, He whom the wise men found was rejected
by the rulers and people of Israel. Both city and temple were indeed
desolate when the Lord was crucified without the gate. Eventually
another seeker came from a far country. He had “come to worship at
Jerusalem, was returning and sitting in his chariot: and he was
reading the prophet Esaias” (Acts 8: 27, 28). He was evidently still
searching for what he had not found in Jerusalem. He was returning
unsatisfied and looking for Him of whom he had heard. He left his
far country with a divinely implanted sense of need of something
which the gods of Ethiopia did not give him. The Scripture record
about him does not direct our thoughts to the joy with which he went
to Jerusalem but rather to the disappointment with which he was
going back. Nothing is said of his journey there or what he did in
the city, but all is told of his returning and of his journey home.
We are shown how he found the object of his search in the desert
(see v 35), and “went on his way rejoicing” (v39). He could not find
Him in Jerusalem. Like the wise men he had to turn his back on
Jerusalem in order to find Him whom his heart sought.
It is significant that when the Lord Jesus was
leaving Jerusalem for the last time He uttered that solemn
proclamation to His earthly people: “Behold, your house is left unto
you desolate” (Matt. 23: 38). Yes, it was indeed desolate without
Him. To our readers we would say, have you also learned this solemn
lesson? Have you learned by a painful but blessed experience that
every place is desolate if Christ is not there? The queen of Sheba
returned to her own country satisfied with the goodness of God and
her lips filled with praise. The wise men from the east returned
rejoicing with exceeding great joy. The eunuch returned to Ethiopia
and went on his way rejoicing. But their backs were to Jerusalem and
their faces towards the living God in heaven. Do you and I feel the
desolation of today in the same way? We are living in a time when
the professing Church has reared places of worship attractive to the
eye, and filled them with a form of worship appealing to the senses.
Christ is outside of all this. Are we outside with Him?
