David and Abigail (recapping only a few key phrases, to read the whole story please review last week.
Upon hearing the servant’s report, “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 a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys…” “And it was so, as she rode on the donkey that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met — them. And when Abigail saw — David, she hasted, and lighted off the donkey and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground.
Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even — Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not — the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send…” ” Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withheld thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal…” “Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek — thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God; and — the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle — of a sling.” (1 Samuel 25:18,20,23& 25-26 &29, 33-34)
Part one of this story was a little rough. I hope you were able to understand the just of it. I was in L.A attending classes and my time was limited. The story is a wonderful story in that it is extremely “human” and practical. Here is David with all this military success behind him, and a reputation among all the other surrounding nations as the one not to mess with. Then there’s Nabal who though is extremely wealthy owes his living to David’s military success. Had David lost any of his battles Nabal’s wealth, goats and land would be in the hands of foreigners, and he’d probably be dead. Nabal does not even realize or acknowledge this, as he is not willing to share from his abundance. David knows that Nabal’s wealth was guarded by Israel’s success. By the blood of men who gave their lives in battle. Therefore Nabal’s stinginess is more than angering, it is worthy of death – at least in David’s mind. So with that as a clearer understanding. Let’s continue.
Lets discuss another point. I will hear from time to time how the Bible is male based. Women will quote one verse in particular without understanding the context and thereby deriving their conclusions. You may know the verse I am referring to. However in this story there is one champion, one person that saved both man and beast without ever pulling out a sword. In fact her weapon was her wisdom and of course she brought food to sweeten the deal. What do we know about Abigail? We know she was Nabal’s wife and that she was obviously gifted in managing a large household. She was respected among the servants and trusted enough for them to share their opinions of her husband with her. What else can we learn about her? The scripture says,
“she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance:” The word for understanding “Sekel” means more than just book learning. It means wisdom and understanding that only comes from God. It could also mean a “light countenance” referring to her inward beauty being readily seen. Could it be that Nabal was so wealthy not because of anything he did, but that God blessed his work because of Abigail? Her understanding speaks to her relationship with God .
In other passages such as with Bathsheba “who was very beautiful to look upon” (2 Samuel 11:2). The word “beautiful” means comingly having adoring qualities but it references only the outward of a person. The same word is used for Abigail except “countenance” succeeds it. So incorporating these two definition we have an inward beauty that distinguishes the outward beauty. Not the other way around.
In I Peter 3:3 true beauty is defined “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” This definition would define Abigail. Sure she was attractive, but the real pull of her attraction came from her heart. Her beauty radiated outward. This is such an important point. In our society we place all our value on the outward and on chemistry. After the first couple of fights the chemistry goes out the window. What has happened to the importance of looks? Reality sets in and the need to live together in peace outweighs the chemistry.
There are those men who worship outward beauty and there are those women that want to be worshipped. They are each a trap for each other. How many times was Racquel Welch, a sex Icon in her time married? Four times. How many times was Pamela Anderson married? To date she’s on her fourth, another sex Icon. If the outward and sex is so “all that” why did their marriages fall? Why do ours? I believe we know the answer. Because there is no inner beauty, no peace or kindness (meekness) to adore the outward. The lust wears off as the arguing and the “me first” attitude tears away at whatever feelings may remain. Divorce can ensue based on “irreconcilable differences” which is just an excuse. In other words “sex was fun, but me first.”
The biggest mistake made is when we try to compete on an outward level. There’s always someone more attractive who has more of this or that etc. But when the outward is combined with the inward, with the inward taking the dominate role, then there’s no competition because there’s nobody like you! When God has his way in us, then it’s a win,win, win. For God because he now has the soul he loves. For us because now we have the opportunity to grow in peace and become happy with the man/woman in the mirror. And for our spouse, now they have someone being loved by God who in turn takes that love and loves them with it. This has always been God’s design. That each spouse be loved by God who then inturn love each other, and Christ makes that way for us.
Father God,
There are two ways to live, only two – one with You and one without You. To have a good marriage on our own is very doable. Especially if both spouses had good parents. How much more could our relationships be, and our children secure when you are in the middle? The difference is huge. Help us to understand this and run to You and not from You. Thank you and Amen.
Move Forward in His Grace – Arthur