Abigail…Warm Bread, Fig Cakes, Grilled lamb & the hard stuff

Warm Bread, Fig Cakes, Grilled Lamb and … the hard stuff
I. A Funeral and a Wedding… The story begins with a funeral and ends with a
wedding. And in between there lies the life, which as it unfolds, demonstrates a
wonderful quality called courage lived out in the life of a woman whose name is hardly a household word….except in my household.

Tucked away, however, in the quiet places of life, there have for generations been a handful of men and women who may not have gained greatness in the eyes of their peers, and may not have chapters reserved for them in the annals of history, but who, when the heat was on, demonstrated such depth of character that they truly are worthy of our respect.

Some of them are like the linemen in a football game who dig in the trenches week after week and make it possible for that famous quarterback to have time to throw, or that speedy back to get into the open. Not too many people know about them. But those who are watching with the magnifying glass of the spirit know that without them, the stars would be nothing.

The pages of Bible history are stained with the blood of such men and women, and the stories their lives tell may well teach even deeper truths than the tales of those whose names live engraved in God’s Hall of Fame.
For these next few months, we are going to scan the pages of God’s Word, and
search the hidden places for the lives who, though not well known, are indeed well known to God.

Today’s story is about such a person. Her name was Abigail.
We will be looking in detail at I Samuel, chapter 25. The story begins like this:
Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for
him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David
moved down into the Desert of Maon. (I Samuel 25:1 NIV)
A very simple beginning, indeed. So often new chapters in Scriptural history begin
with the ending of an era. This is the case here. Samuel, the prophet was dead. Having
been scorned by Saul, and rejected by the nation, he chose to live the final years of his
existence as a recluse, living in total obscurity, no longer attempting to rebuke the
people who had scorned him. But as is so often the case, at his death, the whole nation
mourned.
One reason may have been that the last restraining factor who stood between Saul’s
mischief and God’s mercy was now gone. Another may have been that Samuel,
intercessor that he was, had stood in the gap between them and Jehovah for years, and
now that intercessor had gone home.
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Never had the nation needed him more than now. And now he was gone. Verse one
says “They buried him in his house at Ramah. This does not mean they buried him in
his house, but rather that:
a) they buried him within the city gates, a privilege reserved for kings and prophets,
and
b) they built a rock tomb, considered in those days to be “houses for the dead”
where sometimes the entire family would be ultimately buried. His place of burial was
befitting his stature.
c)
“And all the Israelites lamented him”. There was great mourning throughout the
land. David, no doubt, was among the mourners. Fresh from his latest confrontation
with Saul, he and his men proceeded to the wilderness of Paran, an area to the south of
Judea, in the land of the Amalekites.
II. A Fool and a Beautiful lady… The passage goes on:
A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel,
was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three
thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.
His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She
was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a
Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings. (I Samuel 25:2,3
NIV)
What a lot of information is packed into this couple of verses. First, the cast of
characters begins to unfold. Two names that come to the surface are a husband and wife
whose names and whose character qualities indicate that they certainly have little in
common.
They lived in a town named Maon, near Carmel. This was not Mount Carmel, but a
small village located further south on the Mediterranean, in the northern part of the
wilderness of Paran. From this passage we know several things about this man.
1- We know His name was Nabal. The word “Nabal” means “fool” or “foolish”.
Here was a man whose name definitely reflected his character.
2- We know He was very rich. By the standards of his day, he was a man of
such means that he could exercise great control over people and circumstances because
his wealth made others subservient to him. His sheep and goats alone were worth by
todays prices at least $800,000. In that day, as today that was an amount that made
him one of the richest men in the area. In addition, he owned houses and lands and
cattle in such magnitude that it was said, “He was very wealthy”.
3- We know what he was like. He was surly and mean in his dealings. The word
“surly” means he was insolent, angry, inconsiderate, and self-centered. That describes
his character. The phrase “mean in his dealings” indicates that his character was
reflected in his behavior. There are men who are surly and mean, but whose meanness
only surfaces around those who know them best. This man, so impressed with himself
and his wealth, made no efforts to control his temper or restrain his behavior. Everyone
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who met him, and everyone who did business with him, and everyone who worked for
him, and everyone in his family knew him as a mean, inconsiderate fool.
There is, however, an interesting addition to verse three and the only thing good
really said about Nabal. It is those six simple words. “And his wife’s name was Abigail.”
Here was a woman cut from a different bolt of cloth. Here was a woman whose
heart was pure; whose life was radiant; whose demeanor demonstrated dignity. She was
everything he wasn’t. She was “intelligent and beautiful” says the NIV. Other translators
write of her as one “of beautiful countenance”. Her beauty radiated from within. She was
a woman of excellence. But she was trapped in a marriage to one of the meanest men of
her day. Rich? Yes. But disgusting in his behavior. That is the backdrop for what is to
follow. A godly woman married to a wealthy, self-centered fool.
This man had a rich heritage. He was of the lineage of Caleb, but possessed none of
Caleb’s godliness, to be sure.
III. A Hungry man and a Fool… Now the story unfolds:
“While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was
shearing sheep. So he sent ten young men and said to them,
“Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. Say to
him: “Long life to you! Good health to you and your
household! And good health to all that is yours!
Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your
shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the
whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was
missing. Ask your own servants and they will tell you.
Therefore be favorable toward my young men, since we come
at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son
David whatever you can find for them.” (I Samuel 25:4-8
NIV)
David had been through some pretty hard times recently. His men had been on the
run from Saul, supplies were low, and without food and water, there was little way for
them to go on.
I am just surmising here but… to stoop to beg from a wicked man like Nabal must
have been difficult indeed. And yet David was a humble man. His intent was not to
invade Maon and secure supplies, though he had the manpower to do that. As he had
done before with Ahimelech, the high priest, he was willing to bow down and plead for
help, knowing that God honors humility and resists the proud.
At least at the outset, David had God’s perspective. A little farther into the story, he
loses it, and it takes a divine intervention from the heroine of the day to turn it around.
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On the surface, David’s timing seemed perfect. It was sheep-shearing time; a time
when festivity and generosity was normally the mood of the hour. Usually there would
be much drinking, feasts, and celebrations, and large numbers of hired hands would be
fed the finest amidst dancing and rejoicing. At a time like this, even a self-centered fool
might be prone to generosity. Don’t bet on it.
David commissions ten of his finest young men to go in and ask for help. He sends
them with 3 things… 1.) a greeting of respect, 2.) a reminder of indebtedness, 3.) and a
request of need.
A Greeting of respect… His men are told to greet Nabal as a gentleman, and
treat him as a king. He sends benedictions of grace.
Long life to you. Good health to you and your household. And good
health to all that is yours.
It was known (as we shall see) to Nabal and his family that David had been
anointed to be king. Only time and Saul stood between this man and greatness. Yet he
was humbly beseeching his God to bless the family and servants of this foolish man,
knowing that God would honor the man who honored the man of God.
A Reminder of Indebtedness… David, recognizing it is sheep-shearing time,
and that Nabal’s riches, which depended in part on the successful care of those sheep,
calls to Nabal’s attention that his men labored side by side in the wilderness with
Nabal’s shepherds, and that not one incident had ever occurred to bring harm to his
men, nor had any of his sheep been missing. David had seen to it that his men,
struggling though they were, and possibly tempted as they were to take the healthy
sheep from this wealthy man’s flock, did not so much as touch one sheep.
David, a forerunner of the “good shepherd” who would lay down his life for the
sheep and who would not see even one slip from the His Father’s hands, had seen to
that. We see later in the story that, according to Nabal’s own shepherds, David’s
presence was more than acceptable. It was “a wall of protection” around Nabal’s men
and flock. David’s humble reminder was to make it clear that his men were not there
with evil intent, but with a humble request.
A Request of Need… Finally, David’s men get to the point. They ask of Nabal for
some of the overflow of his festivities to keep David and his men from starving to death.
It was a humble, simple request, and it was based partly on need, partly on the
indebtedness this man ought to have felt for David’s kindnesses to his men in the
wilderness. Here was Nabal’s response:
When David’s men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in
David’s name. Then they waited. Nabal answered David’s
servants, “Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many
servants are breaking away from their masters these days.
Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have
slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from
who knows where?”
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David’s men turned around and went back. When they
arrived, they reported every word.
David said to his men, “Put on your swords!” So they put on
their swords, and David put on his. About four hundred men
went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the
supplies (I Samuel 25:9–13 NIV)
IV.A Hungry Man’s Folly
Crises in the mid-east are not new. And one was in the brewing right now. The local
newspapers would have had banner headlines about the buildup in the desert, about
David’s men’s outstanding war record, and about the dangers that lurked on the horizon
for Nabal’s loved ones. Fortunately, God has a better communications system than that.
Nabal’s response was typical of a fool. He replied,
“who is this David? who is this son of David?”
Now Nabal knew who David was. He knew he was the son of Jesse, and he knew he
was anointed to be king. He knew, but he was such a vain, arrogant, evil man, that his
words simply spewed out a venom of indignation. He loved seeing a man supposedly
destined for greatness groveling for food. And he loved making a derogatory remarks
about him to his own men. He implied that perhaps this “son of Jesse” was simply a
runaway slave who had stolen his master’s sheep and was now in trouble. Then his real
character emerges.
He says, “why should I take my bread and my water and the meat I have
slaughtered… and give it to men from who knows where?”
God was about to take care of Nabal. Here was a man who had been blessed with
great wealth and who attributed both the source of his success and the keeping of it to
himself. He thought it was his bread and his meat and his water. It wasn’t and it isn’t.
It’s all God’s.
The “Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the Name of the Lord.” And
if God has blessed your life with wealth or health or family or friends, do not take those
blessings for granted. Nabal did. And as he did, he simply was writing the epitaph for
his tombstone.
David’s men (from the way it is written) must not have stayed to listen to much of
Nabal’s ranting. He had insulted their King. They turned on their heels and left Nabal in
the midst of his tirade, and headed back to David, post haste. The text says “they
reported every word.” In other words, they left nothing out. Not Nabal’s rejection of
their pleas, nor his put-downs of their leader.
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Now here is one of the few times in Scripture we see David, the General, react
instead of respond. He was the master-warrior. From the beginning he had seen God
take nothing and use it to slay thousands. And he had over and again, by exercising
patience and humility, seen that “vengeance was God’s, He will repay.”
On this occasion, however, David reacted. He took 400 of the 600 men he had with
him and proceeded with an “all systems go” invasion plan. No negotiations. No calling
on God for directions. Just go vindicate the name of David and secure what David needs.
It was not like him, but all of us have been there. And this great warrior, who had
exercised such restraint in the previous chapter when he could have easily massacred his
enemy Saul, now releases his anger in its fullest. He was prepared to bring back Nabal’s
head on a platter. But our God lovingly intervened.
V. A Beautiful Lady’s Choice
One of the servants told Nabal’s wife Abigail: “David sent
messengers from the desert to give our master his greetings,
but he hurled insults at them. Yet these men were very good to
us. They did not mistreat us, and the whole time we were out
in the fields near them nothing was missing. Night and day
they were a wall around us all the time we were herding our
sheep near them.
Now think it over and see what you can do, because disaster is
hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such
a wicked man that no one can talk to him.”
Abigail lost no time. She took two hundred loaves of bread,
two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted
grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of
pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. Then she told her
servants, “Go on ahead; I’ll follow you.” But she did not tell
her husband Nabal. (I Samuel 25:14-19 NIV)
The scene now may well be the front porch of Nabal’s household. Abigail is sitting
there, trying to ignore the drunken festivities going on inside. One of Nabal’s
dependable servants rushes up to Abigail, out of breath. Fear is in his eyes. Finally, she
quiets him down enough to hear his story.
He had been in the dining area an hour ago, when these ten visitors from David’s
entourage had arrived and begged for help from the master. He had been crude, rude,
and downright insulting, causing them to turn and head back to David with fire in their
eyes.
Eyes downcast, he tells Abigail how helpful David’s men had been to them while
they were tending sheep in the wilderness. “they were like a wall to us” he recounts.
And he tells of the times they banded together when wild animals came to attack the
sheep, and how David’s troops served as a protection from foreigners who would have
attacked and stolen their sheep.
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No doubt he then added, “David could destroy us in a second if he chose to…” The
servant adds, “no one can talk to the master… you know how evil and hardheaded he
is…” Abigail was faced with a very serious choice. She could try to reason with an angry,
drunk husband, do nothing and see her household destroyed, or she could intercede and
beg for mercy. Fortunately, she chose to do the latter.
And the choice she made places her on the pedestal with God’s greats, though many
believers have never so much as heard her name. One of the key phrases in this passage
is in verse 18. It says, Abigail lost no time.
She was a woman of courage, and she was a woman of action. Neither did she call
in one of her servants and assign them the task of intercession. She did what she had to
do herself.
She took 200 loaves of bread, sheep, grain, raisins, cakes, and wine, loaded them
on donkeys and headed as fast as she could for the wilderness where David and his men
would be camped. It was not the safest move she could make; but it was the best move
she could make. She sent her servants ahead of her, and without telling her husband,
she moved quickly towards her appointment with destiny.
VI.Courage, Quickness, Humiliation
The story takes up there:
As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there
were David and his men descending toward her, and she met
them. David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching
over this fellow’s property in the desert so that nothing of his
was missing. He has paid me back evil for good.
May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning
I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!”
When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and
bowed down before David with her face to the ground. She fell
at his feet and said: “My lord, let the blame be on me alone.
Please let your servant speak to you; hear what your servant
has to say. May my lord pay no attention to that wicked man
Nabal. He is just like his name—his name is Fool, and folly
goes with him. But as for me, your servant, I did not see the
men my master sent.
“Now since the Lord has kept you, my master, from bloodshed
and from avenging yourself with your own hands, as surely
as the Lord lives and as you live, may your enemies and all
who intend to harm my master be like Nabal. And let this gift,
which your servant has brought to my master, be given to the
men who follow you.
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Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the Lord will
certainly make a lasting dynasty for my master, because he
fights the Lord’s battles. Let no wrongdoing be found in you as
long as you live. Even though someone is pursuing you to take
your life, the life of my master will be bound securely in the
bundle of the living by the Lord your God. But the lives of your
enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling.
When the Lord has done for my master every good thing he
promised concerning him and has appointed him leader over
Israel, My master will not have on his conscience the
staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged
himself. And when the Lord has brought my master success,
remember your servant.
David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for
your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this
day and from avenging myself with my own hands.
Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who
has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to
meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been
left alive by daybreak.
Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought
him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words
and granted your request.” (I Samuel 25:20-35 NIV)
Hollywood would have a field day with this scene. David and his 400
valiant soldiers rushing down the ravine, as David mumbles to his second in command
“so that’s the thanks I get for looking out for that guy’s sheep…” They come thundering
around the bend, and lo and behold here comes an entourage of servants, laden with
food and goodies, followed by the wife of the man they were on their way to kill, riding
on a donkey.
Abigail dismounts from the donkey, and bows down to the ground before David.
Her first request is that David place the blame for what happened, not on her worthless
husband, but rather on her. She acknowledges that her husband lives up to his name
which simply means “fool”. And she pleads with this famous warrior not to blemish his
record of judgment by taking innocent lives unnecessarily, in an act of revenge for the
words of a fool.
Then Abigail presents David with supplies enough to feed his entire army of 600
men, and she predicts that Jehovah God would create through David a lasting dynasty
as David let God do the fighting for him. Again and again she refers to him as “my
master”, a title of respect and submission, and begs him not to have on his conscience
the needless slaughter of innocent people. She closes by asking David to
remember her when he becomes king.
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David, man of God that he was, humbled himself before this godly woman and
admitted he had overreacted, and would have regretted it the rest of his life. He credited
Abigail with being a vessel God used to keep him from shedding innocent blood. He
accepted her gifts and sent her home with his blessing. But of course, the story doesn’t
end there. There’s more.
VII.The Demise of a Fool
When Abigail went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a
banquet like that of a king. He was in high spirits and very
drunk. So she told him nothing until daybreak. Then in the
morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these
things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone.
About ten days later, the Lord struck Nabal and he died.
VIII. A Hungry Man’s Proposal & A Beautiful Lady’s
Marriage
When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to
the Lord, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating
me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong
and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.”
Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his
wife.
His servants went to Carmel and said to Abigail, “David has
sent us to you to take you to become his wife.” She bowed
down with her face to the ground and said, “Here is your
maidservant, ready to serve you and wash the feet of my
master’s servants.”
Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five
maids, went with David’s messengers and became his wife.
(25:36-42)
So Abigail returns from her successful mission to save her family. As usual, Nabal
was drunk. Wisely, she said nothing. The next morning, our cranky Shepherd lord
awakens with a terrible Excedrin headache, so she adds to his misery by explaining how
close he came to destroying his entire kingdom by making fun of David rather than
helping him.
The wicked farmer apparently has a stroke and goes into a coma. For ten days, he
just lies there, and then on the tenth day, he dies.
David, upon hearing of Nabal’s death, realizes that God has done in His perfect will
what David was about to do out of His will. Truly, Nabal’s vengeance was God’s. And He
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did repay. David sends a messenger to Nabal’s house and invites Abigail to become his
wife. Her response was,
Here is your maidservant, ready to serve you and wash the
feet of my master’s servants. (I Samuel 25:41)
Hers was a spirit of deep humility. She had every right to lord it over David. She was
the heir of a great estate; an army of men were at her command. David owed her a great
debt of gratitude. She had intervened and possibly saved his life. That wasn’t the issue
with Abigail. God had his hand on David, and she counted it a privilege not only to serve
him, but his servants as well.
And so the living legends of Scripture which so focus on the names of those greats
who have made it to God’s Hall of Fame need to add another to its list. Her name is
Abigail. Her courage prevented God’s man from making a mistake that could have
cost him his future. Her quickness allowed God to stop the bloodshed before it started.
And her humility allowed her to accept the responsibility for her husband’s folly, thus
allowing her to ask for mercy on his behalf. Few men or women in Scripture made a
greater impact. Her moment in history was brief but powerful. The life that came to that
moment was years in the making.
IX. Portrait of an Intercessor
Perhaps the greatest tribute we can pay to this woman of God was that
she was our portrait of an intercessor. She demonstrated how we are to pray for
those who are in dire rebellion, and she demonstrated how Jesus, our intercessor,
intercedes for us.
1- She took the initiative. She saw it as her responsibility, not just to wait and
see what happened, but to rush to David and plead for mercy.
2- She was willing to stand in his place. Her life was free from blemish.
Nabal’s was dreadful. She offered herself in his place, just as Jesus did for us.
3- She humbled herself. This was no “honor me because of righteousness”
prayer. She realized she stood before God’s man, and she bowed herself to the ground.
4- She acknowledged her husband’s sins. She made no excuses for him. She
admitted that he was as foolish as his name.
5- She honored David for who he was… king to be.
6- She begged for mercy on his behalf. She asked David to shorten wrath and
withhold his judgment.
No, Nabal did not repent. God took his life, and Abigail was granted a new
beginning. That choice was his. But the choice to intercede was Abigail’s, and she
did that perfectly.
So often we want desperately for God to deal with those we love who so make a
mockery of Holiness. We sometimes weep, we sometimes pray, we sometimes pound
our fists in disbelief. Seldom do we rush to the feet of Jesus, our David, and humble
ourselves, acknowledging the rebellion of those we are praying for, but pleading, that if
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it were possible, we could stand in the gap for them, and allow God to pour out mercy in
place of wrath.
At some point in time, if they do not repent, God must do what He wills. But will He
not grant more time, on occasions, when those who know how to intercede rush to His
side, fall on their face, and plead for His love?
It’s easier to rail at those we love who are out of the fold than it is to intercede.
Interceding is dangerous, tiring, and hard. It makes us vulnerable, humbles
us, and causes us to be reminded that apart from God’s amazing grace, we
too would be Nabals; and we too would suffer Nabal’s destiny.
Perhaps your name ought to be “Nabal”. Maybe you’re the fool who has taken
lightly the claims of God upon you life.
You may have a godly wife, or a godly mother, or a godly friend who has been
interceding for you for years. They have been standing in the gap between you and God,
taking your unbelief as their burden, casting it constantly before the Lord, begging Him
to give you yet one more chance to repent. Maybe as David went to Nabal, God has sent
one last warning to you… an unexplained sickness, a bout with financial ruin,
unexplained messengers from God, offering you a chance to respond to Jesus, your
David.
Your loved one may be praying for you right now. He or she may well know that the
days in which God will strive with you are coming to an end. I beg of you, give your heart
to Jesus. Do not be a Nabal.
Others of you may be that intercessor. You may have spent the better part of
your life on your knees, begging God to give that husband or that wife or that child or
that parent, yet one more chance. Like Abigail, you may have seen the warfare coming,
and rushing to meet your Master, have asked again and again for the judgement to be
stayed. What a godly ministry…
The role of an intercessor. How few accept it. And yet to it, we all have
been called. Perhaps that’s the difference between us and Abigail. She was little
known, that’s true. But when the pages of eternity unfold before us in Glory, will she not
be a living legend? I think so. Nabal? He was a fool. But he had one redeeming thing that
could be said of his life: …His wife’s name was Abigail. (I Samuel 25:3)
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A Challenge to Further Study
1- Read the story of Nabal and Abigail again. Ask God to give insights into what
Abigail’s life might have been like in our present day.
2- Which character in this story did you most closely relate to?
3- What was the hard stuff for David?
4- What was the hard stuff for Abigail?
5- What could it have cost Abigail for her decision to do the hard stuff?
6- What “hard stuff” are you facing? What could it cost you?
7- What is the reward for doing the “hard stuff?”
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This Study was taught to me by Russell Kelfer. I have added my own commentary and insights. The deep insights should always be contributed to Russell. The shallow and feeble ones I take full responsibility for.