Life Of David - Lesson 12

David & Abigail - 1 Samuel 25

Prayer: Lord I thank you for this interesting passage we get to look at today, and I thank you for the way your Holy Spirit worked through the author of this passage.  I thank you that your Word is so compelling, so intriguing, so worthy of continuous study. 

1 Samuel 25 v1: Samuel was still seen as a prominent figure in Israel, and his death brought about a time of national mourning.  Samuel had apparently been able to live out his later years peacefully, at home in Ramah.  With the death of Samuel the era of the Judges is completely finished, the book is closed, the transition to a monarchy is unquestionably complete.  During this time, or shortly afterward, David and his entourage move from En Gedi to the wilderness region of Paran (Maon).

At this point we come to my favorite passage on the life of David, the story of David & Abigail.  Abigail is one of my favorite Bible characters, she's an amazing woman (the likes of Proverbs 31), and she has an amazing impact.

1 Samuel 25 v2-3:  Here we meet a very miss-matched couple, Nabal & Abigail.  Nabal is very wealthy & powerful, harsh, evil, God-less, and a complete fool.  Abigail is intelligent, thoughtful, beautiful, and God-fearing.  Her marriage was probably arranged, seeing their personalities I can't imagine Abigail would have chosen Nabal (though we don't really know), and probably her parents thought they were taking good care of their little girl by marrying her off to a rich husband... but riches don't solve problems, in fact they tend to create problems - especially if in the wrong hands.

Nabal's name means "fool", in the Scriptures a fool was a person who was morally deficient, who said "there is no God" (Psalm 14:1 & 53:1)  and lived his life as if there were no God.  If this is his real given name that tells us a bit about his parents, who may have been atheists and named him this as a means of expressing their point of view (but that's just an educated guess).  There are some who think this wasn't his given name, but more what people called him behind his back, though scripture doesn't indicate this - it says Nabal was his name.  Whatever the circumstance behind his name, his name suits him in many ways... not only was he foolish, he was living as if there were no God. 

Nabal is a descendant of Caleb, the name Caleb means "dog" and the author is likely throwing that information in as another way of demeaning Nabal since calling someone a "dog" was an insult.  Soon Nabal is going to be a "dead dog", which like "apple of your eye" and other expressions that are commonplace today, is an ancient term that comes from the Bible (I thought you might find that interesting).

v4-8: Its sheep-shearing time!!  To you and I that doesn't mean much, but in those days this was when you made your money (from wool) and it was considered a festive occasion.  

Though Saul was still king and had extensive forces at his command, he didn't use his forces to protect against local difficulties (perhaps that just was too daunting a task).  David on the other hand is looking out for the shepherds and flocks while he and his men are in the area - this is pretty amazing, this band of misfits is being honorable, they are not taking what they want from those who are vulnerable, but instead protecting them.  I'm sure they were hungry at times, it must have been tempting to pilfer a sheep, but they didn't.  David and his men protected the shepherds and the sheep both from wild animals and from wandering tribes that would come in and steal livestock or pillage small villages, in essence providing a protective wall about them - this is a beautiful picture of how God protects His shepherds & His sheep.

David & his men were dependent on the generosity of local farmers to provide for their needs; there just wouldn't be enough wild game in the area to feed so many mouths.  David's sending of the young men was a conventional method of asking for a gift, in the customs of that day the owner of the animals would set aside a portion for those who protected the shepherds in the fields (David as a former shepherd would be well aware of this custom).  It was kind of like a waiter expecting a tip in our culture, how much of a tip is dependent on the generosity of the tipper, but a tip is still expected.

v9-11:  David's men arrived, gave Nabal David's greeting, and waited. Nabal was a selfish & stingy man, he was going to have nothing to do with providing a gift, and instead of demonstrating appreciation for all that was done he hurled insults regarding David.  His words imply that David is a nobody & a vagrant who has run away from his master, an outlaw - this would have been a monumental insult in that day.  David had served Nabal honorably, but Nabal is repaying David's service with dishonor.

v12-13:  David's response to being dishonored, to having his name slandered, was typical in his day.  This was the sort of thing that started wars in ancient cultures, but this still doesn't excuse David's hasty angry response - David is not stopping to seek God, David is taking matters into his own hands.  I love the way scripture deals with this, it shows us David is normal & struggled with sin & failed at times - just like we do.  David didn't just go himself, he took 400 of his armed men with him... and he left quickly, not bothering to move his entire entourage but rather leaving 200 men behind to guard their supplies.  David is enraged & on his way to teach Nabal a lesson... 

In scripture we see that God doesn't take lightly the insulting of one's name, here are two examples:

Exodus 21:17 - children toward parents

2 Kings 2:23-24 - youths toward God's prophet

v14-17:  In the mean time Abigail is informed by one of the servants what Nabal has done.  The servant knows Abigail is reasonable and approachable, and that Nabal is completely unreasonable & unapproachable.  A disaster is looming if no action is taken - after all David and his men are a sizable group of warriors - so even if they didn't have direct news telling them David was coming in retaliation they would by rights have expected this response, especially in light of the insults spewed against David.

v18-20:  Abigail takes action immediately, she prepares a feast worthy of a small army, and sends it out ahead of herself.  I'm impressed with Abigail, this would have been a huge amount of food to prepare & she seems to pull it together at a moments notice.  I'm also impressed with what she sends: bread, wine, meat, roasted grain (a cereal of sorts), raisin cakes & fig cakes (sweets).  She sends a variety of foods, the sort that would allow the recipients to enjoy a nice meal (not just sustenance).  But that's not all, she's also going to go along to present this gift.

I'm also impressed at Abigail's wisdom, she doesn't even bother to try to reason with her unreasonable husband, and she doesn't bother to inform him (she probably knew he wouldn't even notice she was missing).  Abigail knows what the right action is to take and she sets things in motion.   Abigail isn't acting against her husband, she is acting in his favor - in reality sparing his life; wisely, she is acting without his knowledge.

Abigail rides into a mountain ravine, right toward an angry mob of fighting men...

v21-22:  As Abigail is riding toward them David is expressing his anger quite openly, and his anger is gaining steam, not only is he planning on taking out Nabal but also all of the males of his household.  His desire was to send Nabal & his household into complete ruin.

v23-25:  I can't help but think that on the way to meet David Abigail must have been fervently praying for the Lord to give her words and actions that would sooth David's anger.  When she finally is face to face with David she humbles herself & bows before him, she takes blame for not sending a gift.  Abigail doesn't try to hide her husband's faults, she is honest about them, but she willingly takes responsibility for the fault of not providing David & his men with provisions.

v26-31:  David allows Abigail to speak at length, and again I believe that God was speaking through her.  Normally women would not have addressed men - and she was addressing a leader of men, so this is an interesting encounter.  She speaks of David's honor & reputation, asking him not to harm his good name with bloodshed.  She speaks of David's dynasty & of his security, how they are wrapped up with God.  She encourages David not to do something that he will later regret.

Abigail acts as a type of the Lord, convicting David and turning away David's wrath.  Abigail's words about David's dynasty sound prophetic, seeming to indicate that she had some knowledge from God about the importance of David's throne (its messianic nature).  I think its interesting that she, as woman of position, doesn't take that position for granted but instead humbles herself and calls herself David's maidservant, by taking this humble posture she not only acknowledges David as God's chosen leader but protects his dignity.  Abigail gives David, and us as well, the reminder that we should evaluate our situation & our choices from God's perspective & with eternity in mind - this world will cause us trouble, but this world is not our home!

v32-35: This beautiful intelligent & Godly woman has got David's attention... her gifts and her words have turned aside David's wrath.  David doesn't make excuses, he openly admits that he had been on a wrong path, his ready confession shows why he is a man after God's heart - not perfect, but teachable.  I think its interesting that David's pride is what got him into trouble, but his pride has now receded and he has gone from being out of his mind with anger to being calm & reasonable.  We all fail, sometimes its the little things that trip us up, we need to emulate David: when faced with our failure we should quickly repent & get back on the path God has set for us.  David is more than just calm & reasonable, he tells Abigail to "go home in peace", only someone of great character can so quickly accept their failure, repent, and make peace with their enemy.  David is demonstrating meekness, a character attribute of Christ: strength that is harnessed and under control.

v36-38: Nabal is acting like he's a king, in this we see parallels to (or a caricature of) Saul.  Scripture doesn't mince words, he was drunk... and Abigail is wise not to speak to him in this state.  Can you imagine the night she had, a drunk husband on her hands & knowing she was going to have to confess her actions to him once he sobered up... its possible she slept well, as honesty doesn't seem to be a problem for her, but seeing his reputation as a mean & evil man she may have been in for some terrible treatment.  Morning comes, she breaks the news, and Nabal has a literal physical reaction to the news - we can assume from the description that its a stroke, but we really don't know; whatever the medical cause the scriptures teach us that the Lord allowed him to remain like that for 10 days and then took his life.  Seeing Abigail's character, how she protected his life by her actions, I'm guessing she cared for him as best she was able during his last days - honoring her husband until his end.

v39-40: David gets the news, God has upheld David's cause and punished Nabal for his wrongdoing.  David wastes no time, he sends for Abigail and asks her to be his wife - yikes!!  David must have realized what an amazing woman Abigail was: her faith, her wisdom, her humility, her strength... and wanted her by his side.

v41-44: Abigail also doesn't waste any time, she quickly goes to meet him and become his wife.  Abigail becomes a wife of the future king, and she is a wife worthy of a king; a wise, humble, God-fearing wife.  I wish I could say this is a "happy ending", but in a way its a bit sad... Abigail was probably making the best of her situation, and it wasn't a foolish choice, but it is rather sad.  

As a widow Abigail likely wouldn't have taken over her husband's business, that's just not how that culture worked, instead the business likely would have come under the control of a close male relative of Nabal.   If she & Nabal had grown sons they would have taken over the business, but it sounds like she was childless at this point.  Widows in Israel were at the mercy of friends and family, and if Nabal was any indication of what his family was like she'd have had a tough time.

We also learn that Abigail is wife #3 - Michal was wife #1 (and still technically his wife even though given by Saul to another), Ahinoam os Jezreel is wife #2, and more are yet to come.  As a woman I can tell you I would not be happy sharing my husband with anyone else, he is precious to me and I am very selfish when it comes to his affections, this must have been hard - though perhaps not as hard as dealing with a mean-spirited & evil man like Nabal.  

As far as David is concerned in this we need to remember that having multiple wives was never part of God's plan, even for kings (Deuteronomy 17:14-17), though at this point in the time of David's history he may not have been aware of these regulations.  As we will see David will be led astray... but that will be covered in another lesson.

Final thoughts:

Nabal's life is a shadow of another, several commentators point out that Nabal is a type of Saul.  Nabal, like Saul, has a bad attitude toward David who had guarded his men and his flocks - we can't help but see David as also guarding God's men & God's flocks (the nation of Israel).  Saul is also a fool, and Saul will also soon be meeting his end.

David's angry flare toward Nabal, his response to the insult and injury directed at him, show us that David's dealings with Saul were dealings of tremendous restraint & self-control.  David certainly had the temper, the skill, and the opportunity to remove Saul forcibly, but held back.  Its interesting that this passage dealing with David's vengeful behavior toward Nabal is sandwiched between the two chapters (24 & 26) in which David refrains from taking Saul's life when Saul was at his mercy.

Closing Prayer: I thank you for the honesty of your Word, which openly shows the failings of one of your "good guys".  As we reflect on passages like these help us to realize that our failings don't hold us back from being useful in your will, as long as we keep our hearts  open and soft toward you.