“Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb” (1 Sam 25:3).
Introduction
The story of David and Abigail is gripping. It is a story of a woman who acted in sheer wisdom to save not only her household, but also the reputation of the mighty man David. It is the story a man who acted foolishly in his haste for revenge. And it is the story of a man who was a selfish fool in his actions towards God’s beloved. If we scrutinize ourselves closely enough, we will more than likely be able to see a little bit of ourselves in all three of these characters. We at times act in urgency and do not allow ourselves the time to step back and look over our situations properly. At other times we can be so blinded by self, that the obvious needs of others are not so obvious to us as we recline in the comfort of our own mighty accomplishments. Finally, at other times, being void of selfishness, having put the cares of others before our own, we can see beyond our meager existence into the needs and desires of others, and follow the words of the law: “But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth” (Deut 15: 8). So as we begin pulling back the layers of this story and revealing the true characters of Abigail, David, and Nabal, we have to pry into our own minds and notice the fool in us, for only after we recognize our problems, can we begin to piece together a solution.
The story opens for us in 1 Sam 25. Before Scripture even alludes to the household of the fool, or the generousness of David, Scripture reveals to us that a mighty hole had been created in David’s life, a hole which would be filled before the chapter’s end. “And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran” (1 Sam 25:1). So Samuel was dead: the great mentor, the father figure to David, had passed away. The two had spent time together: “So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth” (1 Sam 19:18).
David scarcely had time to mourn for the great man who had affected him so immensely. Saul wanted David dead, and had armies all over Israel trying to flush him out of hiding so he could be killed. Unbeknownst to David at the time, he would not see his greatest companion Jonathan again, his wife Michal had also been taken from him and given to another man, and he had no place to call home. All he had was his six hundred men who forsook their old lives and followed him in his flight from Saul through the wilderness. David was in desperate need of a companion, a companion that would be much closer and much more spiritual than what the six hundred men could offer, and at the absolutely perfect moment, God intervened. David would march into the account of chapter 26 having been refreshed, reinvigorated, and ready to take on the challenges that lay ahead with an honest, endearing, and most of all, spiritually uplifting wife, given to him from His Heavenly Father.
Nabal
We come onto the scene of 1 Sam 25 with the description of the wealth of Nabal. We are told he possessed thousands of livestock and a household overflowing with goods which he had accumulated in his greed. Nabal indeed was a man who needed bigger and bigger barns to hold all his goods. With all of Nabal’s greed, Scripture then chooses to introduce someone who was a total opposite of Nabal. Scripture is very specific when it introduces these two characters onto the scene, Abigail is described first as a woman of good understanding and a woman who was of a beautiful countenance (1 Sam 25:3). The last person Scripture described in this way was actually David himself: “Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him” (1 Sam 16: 18). After the introduction of Abigail, we are then introduced to a man who Scripture labels as a fool, a man who was “churlish and evil in all his doings.” Nabal was not only a fool, but he was rude, arrogant, and would do anything to anyone without giving a second thought to their wellbeing.
So the inquiring and inquisitive mind has more than likely asked a couple questions. Why would any loving parents name their son a name symbolizing a “fool”? Secondly, how did the God fearing woman Abigail end up with such a fool as her husband? Well, perhaps both questions can be answered by suggesting that Nabal simply became a greedy fool further into his life and he simply allowed that greed to overtake him. Over the course of time he would have developed a reputation of a complete fool to those with whom he came into contact. We are told Nabal was of the house of Caleb, (1Sam 25:3) so somewhere in the history of this family there was an upright and faithful line of individuals. If Nabal had started out this way, it would certainly explain that the name “fool” was developed rather than bestowed at birth, and it would also explain why Abigail would agree to marry this kind of man. If Abigail found traits that reflected some sort of spirituality in this man at one time, the thought of a spiritual, wealthy man may have attracted her. Another possibility is that Abigail was under the custom of an arranged marriage, in which case she would have had no choice but to marry Nabal. But whatever the cause of Nabal’s character, the lesson must be derived from what Scripture reveals to us, and that was his folly. It was this fool and his family who had been the benefactors of David’s kindness.
David’s flight had brought him to the wilderness of Paran. The wilderness of Paran was known for its occasional attacks on the citizens of the area as the Amalekites would sweep through this land on their way north into Judah. (1Sam 30) With David and his 600 men stationed in this area, it greatly discouraged the advances of these Amalekites into the wilderness. It discouraged them so much in fact, that we are told no one was harmed while David and his men kept watch over the shepherds of this area. We are not told exactly how long David stayed in this area to keep and protect the shepherds and families, but it was perhaps a few months in time, enough time to leave a great impression upon the shepherds: “But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields” (1Sam 25:15).
This was possibly long enough for rumors to reach the palace of Saul of David’s whereabouts. However long it may have been, David’s help was greatly appreciated and it was time for him to depart. No doubt during this time in Paran he would have heard of the wealth (as well as the folly) of the man Nabal. Before he departed, he sent ten of his men to kindly ask Nabal for provisions for their labors.
“And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast. And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David” (1 Sam 25:5-8).
We see that David had high hopes of receiving quite a bit of provision in the fact that he sent ten of his men to collect. When the young men arrived at the household of Nabal they were met with a very different attitude then they probably expected. Nabal, with a complete lack of respect, denied them any reward or wage — instead he mocked David and David’s men. Nevertheless it is highly likely that Nabal knew exactly who David was despite his comment: “And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master” (1 Sam 25:10).
Most of the nation would have heard of the brave young man who slew the giant and brought a victory to Israel over the dreaded Philistine army. Nabal knew that David had found employment in Saul’s army, and that this ‘rebel’ David was fleeing from his master. Nabal seems to be a large admirer of Saul, his king who was a head taller than the rest, a man who the flesh could look up to, a king that was like a king of the other nations. Saul seems to be an idol of a sort to Nabal. Many similarities can be found between Saul and Nabal in their dealings with David. It is also fairly obvious that Nabal had heard of David prior to this because he refers to him as “the son of Jesse” a phrase which Scripture does not say was used by the young men, but rather a common known fact of the time. One man who was known very well for his derogatory use of the phrase “son of Jesse” was Saul himself. Despite the greatness of David, and despite the kindness David had showed him, Nabal still refused to aid the man who his king was hunting down.
David’s reaction to Nabal
Upon the return of the the young men to David, we are introduced to another fantastic lesson from which we can greatly benefit. The ten young men bring Nabal’s response back to David, and David’s immediate reaction is to retaliate with violence. Now we must note that first off all, this reaction of David’s was a dire mistake on David’s part, but not only that, but there are no words uttered by the 600 men! There are no words of rebuke, no calm warnings about being too hasty, there was only a taste of revenge that was shared by every individual present. We have to ask ourselves, if we had been numbered in the 600 men who followed David through the wilderness, would we have the faith to stand up against David and 599 others and preach righteousness? Or would we notice that our opinion would be hopelessly outnumbered and choose rather to stay behind: “And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff” (1 Sam 25:13)?
In ecclesial life, going with the flow as it were can be a dangerous path to take. If we see a brother or sister struggling in their efforts in the truth, and no one is reaching out a hand, where do we stand? Is our arm outstretched? Is our hand open to them? Do we take the time out of our lives to help instruct and guide our brother or sister along the path to eternal life? Or are we somehow equally choked by the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of our possessions, as in the parable of the sower: (Matt 13:22)? It is a hard task, but a vital task. Had just one individual stood up against David, and carefully criticized his actions, the wisdom of David may have overcome his hasty lust of revenge and David may have been enlightened to his actions. But no one stopped him, rather 400 of them simply girded themselves with swords and followed him to exact ‘justice’ on Nabal and on his household. It was at this moment that we see a certain characteristic of David that is only revealed a handfull of times. David seems to have had a sense of act now and think later — a characteristic that got him into quite the quandary with Bathsheba. We see the same instinct here with Nabal, instead of stopping to think what repercussions his actions would have, he instead followed the calling of his emotions and not his head. How often do we fall into the same trap? In our emotions we make unintelligent and foolish choices, as David did, nevertheless in both instances with Nabal and Bathsheba, by God’s grace, the shame and regret that David suffered built him into a better servant of God than he was before the trial.
Likewise we, when we have erred, should look back at the mistake and search out how we can better ourselves from it. David grew exceedingly that day, thanks to guidance of a wonderful and Godly woman. How much David would have wished someone like Abigail would have been there the day he glanced and saw the woman bathing on the roof.
Abigail
It was to this fascinating woman that the servants rushed, the ones who owed their lives to David. As quickly as they could they warned her of the impending destruction that David had planned for the household of Nabal. We learn a lot from Abigail, in her speech to David as recorded in 1 Sam 25:24-31. For example, from vs. 28: “I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.”
From this, we learn that her priorities were focused on things above. We also learn that she knew her husband was indeed a fool, and that she was perfectly aware of the greatness and might of this man David (1 Sam 25:28). And it was with this knowledge of David as a man of reason and a man of faith that she knew that he could be enlightened to the error of his ways. So she hurried and gathered enough food for the entire company of David and gave them to the servants to bring to David. “Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses” (1 Sam 25:18). So five sheep are already dressed and ready to be eaten before she even addresses David.
Two skins of wine
This indeed was a very wealthy family, to have that much food just sitting around ready to be devoured. It makes Nabal’s refusal to help just that much more shocking. We also see the wisdom of Abigail brought to light here. In the piles of food to be brought to David, it is only two skins1of wine that she brought. There was no doubt in her mind of the dangers of wine, for her husband was a drunkard as we learn “And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light” (1 Sam 25:36).
So in the heaps of food for the men, there is only a small amount of wine to be distributed among 600 men — this was a wise woman indeed. It was this wisdom that led Abigail to do something which David would never have forgotten. The moment she saw David, she got off of her animal and prostrated herself on the ground before him and took the blame of the entire incident upon herself. How these words would have moved David from fury to regret. It was in the speech of Abigail that David was awakened out of his trance of vengeance and saw that God had indeed intervened on his behalf. Her words spoke of her faith in the promises of the Heavenly Father, they spoke of her understanding of David’s future position as King over God’s people, and her words solved the dispute of an imminent clash of violence. How often does our loving Heavenly Father send these Divine interventions into our lives? How often do we allow ourselves to see them? Abigail saw it. David saw it. David’s 600 men saw it. The words of the wise woman Abigail saved two massive households that day. I wish we had time to speak of the lovely exhortations which Abigail gave that day, the soft answer that turned away wrath and saved her house.
Once the men had eaten, once David had been made aware of the error of his ways, and once Abigail had soothed the quick temper of her future husband and king, both David and Abigail returned their own ways. It is quite amazing how our Heavenly Father works, for only the morning after this incident, God struck Nabal with a paralyzing disease and ten days later he was dead. David would have been so grateful that it was the hand of God that took Nabal’s life, and not his own vengeful hand. How this would have helped him in his flights from Saul, and the restraint he would show towards sparing the life of God’s anointed. So upon hearing the words that Nabal had died, he sent for this incredible woman, desiring that she become his wife — a phenomenal improvement to the wife Michal who had been taken from him. A similar replacement to his best companion Jonathan which he would not see again on this side of the kingdom. She could also be seen as a successor from God for Samuel, his mentor in the truth. Upon hearing the words of David, we are told that Abigail was ecstatic, she hasted and rushed to become the wife of a future king rather than the foolishness of this world. She takes with her five damsels, five wise women following the future bride to meet her husband and they together leave behind the foolishness of the world, a beautiful type of those of us waiting to be retrieved by our coming Groom.
Conclusion
What a perfect ending to the story of David and Abigail. David needed a spiritual influence in his life and it was in the mercy of the Heavenly Father that he was provided this in a way which he would never forget. He was given a wife, a friend, a spiritual companion, and someone who not afraid of putting herself in harm’s way to do what she knew what was right to the benefit of the truth. So we, as we pull lessons from this fantastic couple, should see ourselves as an Abigail, a servant of our Father who will do whatever necessary to guide our brothers and sisters into that great day when our Groom will call forth his bride as he prepares this earth to be filled with the glory of his Heavenly Father.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One