Are You An Abigail?
Meek, Gentle, Humble Creature of God
You may be asking yourself, “Abigail?”
Yes, that’s right, Abigail. We meet Abigail in 1 Samuel. She
is married to a most despicable, barbaric cad, Nabal. “His name was Nabal and
his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but
her husband, a Celebite, was surly and mean in his dealings.” (1 Sam. 25:3 NIV)
Nabal is brutish whereas she is intelligent and beautiful.
She possesses both brainpower and loveliness. Abigail puts both
to work quickly when she learns from her servants of Nabal’s crude responses to
David’s messengers. “David sent messengers from the desert to give our master
his greetings, but he hurled insults at them.” (1 Sam. 25:14) Upon hearing of
this distressing news, Abigail gathers offerings and races to intercept David.
She does so without telling her husband.
As David and his men of four hundred descend toward the camp
of Nabal, Abigail intercepts, armed with “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” (1 Sam 25:18) loaded on
donkeys.
Four hundred men are riding in with David to destroy Nabal
and his family for their impertinence. Four hundred men rein in their mounts
and gape. Some gape at the food; others at the beautiful woman. She is gorgeous
and she has brought a feast for the weary men. Just imagine the picture that
made! A beautiful woman standing in the middle of the road with a great feast
bundled on the backs of donkey! That is enough to make even the most peculiar
person stop and gawk.
The importance of this moment is so immense and Abigail
knows that she is the final obstacle between her family and certain death.
Collapsing at David’s feet, she pleas for her family’s lives. “My lord, let the
blame be on me alone. Please let your servant speak to you; hear what your
servant has to say.” (1 Sam. 25:24) Abigail does not protect Nabal or make
excuses for his barbaric behavior. Instead she agrees he is a wicked man. She
begs for forgiveness, not justice, accepting all blame when she deserves none.
“Please forgive your servant’s offense.” (1 Sam. 25:28) She presents the gifts
from her house and encourages David to let God deal with Nabal and avoid the
oppressiveness of penitence.
David cannot refute Abigail her appeal. “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.’” (1 Sam. 25-32-35)
David and his four hundred men return to their camp. Abigail
returns home to Nabal. When she returns home, she finds Nabal too drunk to
speak with, so she waits until the next morning to relay how close David had
come to their home and Nabal close to death. The news upset Nabal and “his
heart failed him and he became like a stone. About ten days later, the Lord
struck Nabal and he died.” (1 Sam. 25-37-38) When David heard this news he went
to Abigail to make her his wife.
Humbleness saved the day for Abigail and her family.
Abigail’s kindness inverted a river of fury. Humility has amazing power. Apologies
can defuse anger. Contrition can disarm rage. “Through patience a ruler can be
persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.” (Proverbs 25:15)
Abigail teaches us much, the infectious power of
benevolence, the strength of a gentle, compassionate heart. Her greatest
example though is to take our eyes off her beauty and set them upon someone
else’s. She transfers our thoughts from a rustic path to a Jerusalem cross.
Abigail in no way knew Jesus; she lived a thousand years ahead of his
sacrifice. But looking at her life, it prefigures his life.
Look at the facts. Abigail positioned herself amid David and
Nabal. Jesus positioned himself amid God and us. Abigail asked to be punished
for Nabal’s sins. Jesus allowed heaven to punish him for our sins. Abigail
turned away David’s anger. Christ protected us from God’s wrath.
Christ is called a mediator. “For there is one God and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a
ransom for all men – the testimony given in its proper time.” (1 Tim. 2:5-6)
Who is a mediator? One who stands between? What did Christ do? He stood between
the wrath of heaven and us. God treated his blameless Son like the guilty human
race, His Holy One like a lying villain, his Abigail like a Nabal.
Are you trying to cope with your Nabal world? Do as David
did, stop staring at Nabal. Instead shift your eyes onto Christ. Focus on the
Mediator and ignore the troublemakers. “Do not be overcome by evil, but
overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21) One Abigail can rescue a family. One
co-worker can change unethical policies. Keep your eyes firmly fixed on the
cross and find the beauty that surrounds you.
Once you find that beauty, you will become an Abigail and
radiate the beauty of your inner strength. You will show the world that you too
are a mediator with a benevolent spirit and a gentle compassionate heart.
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