Word of the Day: Intellegent
Having intelligence or having a degree of intelligence.
Abigail was the beautiful and intelligent wife of Nabal, and her name meant "joy". Her husband was known to be a wealthy man as well as a rude and selfish man. Nothing is said about her background only that she is the wife of this man. Nabal's name meant "a fool" and he behaved as his name meant.
1 Samuel 25:3
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.
Besides being a rude man Nabal was also a drunken wretch, so it must have been hard for Abigail to live this man. Abigail is described in the Bible as beautiful and intelligent, and she was probably married to this man by an arranged marriage by her parents. which was the custom in those days since Nabal was a rich man.
There was a time in David's life the future king of Israel that he acted in a polite way to Nabal. David sent ten young men to Nabal's house to request anything he had on hand, I would assume that David was probably asking Nabal for food and shelter in return for guarding his flocks.
1 Samuel 25:5–8
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:
6 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.
7 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.
8 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.
The young men came back to David, they told him that Nabal had insulted them and denied everything he had at hand. Nabal's actions just simplified who he was a foolish man. Nabal also pretended not to know who David was, and was not willing to honor his favor.
1 Samuel 25:10–11
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.
11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?
David was furious at Nabal and girded his sword as well as his men. In those days David was an outlaw man with his 600 men who lived in the hills hiding from Saul who wanted to kill him. Nabal was a very wealthy man so asking him for food was like getting crumbs from a table.
1 Samuel 25:13
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.
Abigail was notified about how rude her husband was to the future king's men. Her reaction was not the typical reaction from a woman who suffered at the hands of a man like Nabal. Abigail reminds me so much of those ladies who come to church by themselves and submit to evil husbands but in the midst of everything their wish is to always honor the Lord with their submission. Praise the Lord for this woman's testimony!!
1 Samuel 25:14
But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them.
Abigail knew that her husband was going to be killed she right away moved with perception and precision to avoid the death of her husband. She gathered sufficient food and wine for David and his men and went ahead to meet him, but did not mention anything to her husband. Either way, he was probably drunk
1 Samuel 25:18-19
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.
19 And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.
Abigail used her creative mind to diminished the damage her husband had done to David. She pleaded for her husband's life and blamed herself when she had nothing to do with her husband's action. Abigail was not going to be accountable for Nabal's actions but she maintained her faithfulness to him until the end. She knew David was mad at Nabal and she used the wisdom of the Lord to calm his heart, she knew how to get to the heart of a man. Her sweet voice exorcised the demon of revenge from David's heart and won his heart using kind words of humiliation.
1 Samuel 25:23-31
And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,
24 And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.
25 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.
26 Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden 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.
27 And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord.
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.
29 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.
30 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel;
31 That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.
David listened to her plead and her counsel and her words were never a betrayal to her husband but a demonstration that she was going to be loyal to the marriage commitment no matter what.
1 Samuel 25:32-33
And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:
33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
When Abigail returned her husband was having a banquet but she did not mention anything to him until the next morning. Right after she tells him he gets a hard attack and dies ten days after the heart attack.
1 Samuel 25:36-38
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.
37 But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
38 And it came to pass about ten days after, that the Lord smote Nabal, that he died.
When David found out that she had become a widow, he sent his servants to get Abigail as his wife. He was very impressed with her beauty but most of all her godly gesture as the wife of Nabal. Abigail did not have any children with Nabal but had a child with David and his name was Chileab which meant "God is my judge".
1 Samuel 25:39-42
And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the Lord hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.
40 And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife.
41 And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
42 And Abigail hasted, and arose and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.
2 Samuel 3:3
And his second,Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite:
Conclusion: This story reminds me so much of those wives who have to submit themselves to evil husbands. I would like to dedicate this story to them, women of great courage who keep coming to church hoping that one day that husband is going to be saved. Praise the Lord for those ladies and my deep respect for them. Please don't give up on your prayers!
*Please let me know if this post has been a blessing to you through a comment, for it would be a blessing for me to know.
have added some verses down below for those who are not sure if heaven is your future home. Please share with me if you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior through this post. I will be happy to rejoice with you!
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Romans 10:9–13
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