WEBVTT 00:00:09.610 --> 00:00:13.410 Tonight, we're going to continue looking at our 00:00:13.410 --> 00:00:16.010 characters, little women, not so little women 00:00:16.010 --> 00:00:17.949 in the Bible. We're going to continue to look 00:00:17.949 --> 00:00:21.530 at characters that we find in the Old Testament. 00:00:22.190 --> 00:00:25.609 Tonight, we'll be looking at a woman named Abigail. 00:00:25.750 --> 00:00:30.690 Her story is confined. within 40, I guess, what, 00:00:30.789 --> 00:00:33.990 two verses of 41 verses, or 43, I don't know, 00:00:34.090 --> 00:00:39.490 40 -some verses, of 1 Samuel. And so, before 00:00:39.490 --> 00:00:42.810 I tell you the story about David and Abigail, 00:00:42.909 --> 00:00:44.990 which you may or may not know the story, I was 00:00:44.990 --> 00:00:51.429 told most of it by now. But before we actually 00:00:51.429 --> 00:00:53.369 look at the story, I want to make sure that we 00:00:53.369 --> 00:00:56.140 kind of understand where we are. Just did the 00:00:56.140 --> 00:00:57.979 overall story of the Bible. Because if we just 00:00:57.979 --> 00:01:01.979 focus in on this one story, if you don't know 00:01:01.979 --> 00:01:03.780 anything about the Bible, you won't get anything 00:01:03.780 --> 00:01:06.379 out of it. If you know a little bit about the 00:01:06.379 --> 00:01:09.140 Bible, you might actually be more confused when 00:01:09.140 --> 00:01:12.959 you leave than before you came in. Because what 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:15.659 is going on with David and who? This is a bald 00:01:15.659 --> 00:01:19.700 guy and what's going on? So, in the first couple 00:01:19.700 --> 00:01:22.799 of minutes of art lesson tonight, I'm going to 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:27.040 do a brief history of the Bible up to this point. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:33.079 So the Bible is a story of God interceding first 00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:37.400 with a guy named Abraham and promises him a large 00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:39.659 family. Nations, actually, will be born out of 00:01:39.659 --> 00:01:47.480 his line. And then we do see that lesson. We 00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:50.799 find also that... As those children begin to 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:53.620 grow into tribes and nations of their own, eventually 00:01:53.620 --> 00:01:58.180 they are down in Egypt and because they grew 00:01:58.180 --> 00:02:00.640 in such number, they became enslaved by the Pharaoh. 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:04.480 400 years pass. This guy Moses comes along, leads 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:08.759 them out of bondage, across the Red Sea, into 00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:11.219 the wilderness. 40 years later, they cross the 00:02:11.219 --> 00:02:15.199 Jordan River and they enter what land had been 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:17.900 promised initially to Abraham, the promised land. 00:02:18.829 --> 00:02:21.449 Canaan. The people lived there forever and they 00:02:21.449 --> 00:02:23.669 were governed by these people called judges. 00:02:23.909 --> 00:02:26.729 We have a book in the Bible called Judges that 00:02:26.729 --> 00:02:30.330 talked about that time. Because when God, when 00:02:30.330 --> 00:02:35.009 you are the people of God and God is your supreme 00:02:35.009 --> 00:02:38.509 leader, right, it's hard to justify the idea 00:02:38.509 --> 00:02:42.509 of a king. Because God's already the king, right? 00:02:42.770 --> 00:02:49.439 Except that when you're living in In Jewish land, 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:53.479 in the land of the Israelites, rather, or the 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:56.060 Hebrew people, and you look at your Canaanite 00:02:56.060 --> 00:02:58.860 neighbors who do have a king, right? There's 00:02:58.860 --> 00:03:01.599 a lot of advantages to having an earthly king 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:05.599 versus a king you can't see. You can get a job 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:07.919 working for the government, maybe in a way that 00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:10.599 you wouldn't be able to get a job working for 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:12.439 the church, right? Because you're not born of 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:16.840 the right tribe. So there's advantages to having 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:18.960 an earthly king. And so the Israelite people 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:21.659 during this time of judges, they just kept clamoring 00:03:21.659 --> 00:03:23.639 and clamoring and clamoring and praying and praying 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:25.099 and praying and praying. They could have an earthly 00:03:25.099 --> 00:03:27.939 king just like God. But God sent prophets along 00:03:27.939 --> 00:03:30.099 the way and said, you guys don't need a king. 00:03:30.199 --> 00:03:35.000 You've already got a king. Me. Right? Yes. 1 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:39.060 Samuel 2. I'm sorry. 1 Samuel chapter 25. Oh, 00:03:39.060 --> 00:03:44.180 okay. Okay. Sorry. Well, we're going to do 1 00:03:44.180 --> 00:03:50.860 Samuel chapters 2 through 44 tonight. 25. Sorry, 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:53.680 sorry, sorry. I started to write that 2 and I 00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:55.379 got sidetracked. That was supposed to be the 00:03:55.379 --> 00:03:59.120 25 and then 2 and 44. But 25, 1 Samuel 25, 2 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:04.419 and 44. So, we want a king, we want a king, we 00:04:04.419 --> 00:04:06.039 want a king. God says, you guys don't need a 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:07.939 king. And if I give you a king, things are going 00:04:07.939 --> 00:04:10.180 to go really badly. And the people said, no. 00:04:10.750 --> 00:04:12.550 we don't think so, we'll be really good this 00:04:12.550 --> 00:04:14.330 time. Please give us a king, please give us a 00:04:14.330 --> 00:04:16.990 king, please give us a king. The end of judges, 00:04:17.129 --> 00:04:20.769 the time of the judges ends, and God gives the 00:04:20.769 --> 00:04:23.610 people a king, a guy by the name of Saul. Right? 00:04:24.069 --> 00:04:27.790 But right off the bat, Saul is told to act in 00:04:27.790 --> 00:04:30.209 a specific way by God, to do specific things 00:04:30.209 --> 00:04:33.209 in God's way, and right off the bat he does them 00:04:33.209 --> 00:04:38.430 in his own way, and his prophet, Samuel, comes 00:04:38.430 --> 00:04:42.360 along and And says, Saul, you're screwing it 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:46.800 up. And says, God liked you enough to be king. 00:04:46.939 --> 00:04:50.639 You get to be king. But because you did things 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:53.139 the way God didn't want you to do them, your 00:04:53.139 --> 00:04:57.939 lineage will now no longer be able to be kings 00:04:57.939 --> 00:05:00.620 of Israel. We're going to go with somebody else. 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:06.220 Right? This guy, Samuel, he happens to know. 00:05:06.759 --> 00:05:10.220 who the son of the other person is, because he's 00:05:10.220 --> 00:05:13.259 called to go to the home of a guy named Jesse, 00:05:13.459 --> 00:05:16.500 who has a young shepherd boy by the name of David, 00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:20.939 whom God has shown is the actual anointed king 00:05:20.939 --> 00:05:25.279 of Israel. David grows up, gets to be about probably 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:29.540 14, 16 years old, encounters this really tall 00:05:29.540 --> 00:05:33.100 guy, right, named Goliath, kills Goliath, becomes 00:05:33.100 --> 00:05:38.139 super, super famous. The time period after David 00:05:38.139 --> 00:05:40.899 killed Goliath, but before David became king, 00:05:41.019 --> 00:05:45.899 was like he was a, I don't know, I'm trying to 00:05:45.899 --> 00:05:48.839 think of some cult hero that's really famous 00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:53.000 today. I can't, I don't know. He'd be like today's 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:57.360 Billie Eilish, right? He'd be super, he'd be, 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:00.259 no, not a BTK, not BTK. What are they called? 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:08.550 The Korean band people. BTS. BTS. David was a 00:06:08.550 --> 00:06:13.490 sensation. David was Elvis Presley. As a matter 00:06:13.490 --> 00:06:16.750 of fact, as a matter of fact, as a matter of 00:06:16.750 --> 00:06:19.730 fact, Bible even records that Saul was very, 00:06:19.750 --> 00:06:21.910 very jealous of David because he would talk about 00:06:21.910 --> 00:06:26.649 how the thousands of people show up to proclaim 00:06:26.649 --> 00:06:31.290 Saul's great name, but the tens of thousands 00:06:31.290 --> 00:06:35.009 show up to sing praises for David. And this is 00:06:35.009 --> 00:06:38.170 really at the root of their relationship with 00:06:38.170 --> 00:06:42.149 Saul's jealousy of David. Because David is just 00:06:42.149 --> 00:06:44.970 trying to do what God tells him to do, for the 00:06:44.970 --> 00:06:49.610 most part. And Saul already knows his time is 00:06:49.610 --> 00:06:53.810 limited. And so it leads to this conflict between 00:06:53.810 --> 00:06:57.589 King Saul and his number one favorite general, 00:06:57.769 --> 00:07:00.870 David, who's in charge of the armies. And he 00:07:00.870 --> 00:07:04.230 would be, right? He killed the Philistines. Claim 00:07:04.230 --> 00:07:07.170 victory over him. So he's the head of the armies. 00:07:08.009 --> 00:07:10.610 Well, when the king wants you dead, it doesn't 00:07:10.610 --> 00:07:12.230 matter whether you're head of the armies or not. 00:07:13.329 --> 00:07:15.129 Because there are other people that are going 00:07:15.129 --> 00:07:18.269 to be willing to kill you. So David goes on the 00:07:18.269 --> 00:07:23.949 run. And while Samuel the prophet is still alive, 00:07:24.170 --> 00:07:28.970 David is in this region right here. If you can 00:07:28.970 --> 00:07:30.930 see, next to this thing, you won't be able to 00:07:30.930 --> 00:07:33.089 read what that red dot is, but it says Ramah. 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:36.680 This is about the region where they hung out. 00:07:37.740 --> 00:07:42.759 When Samuel died, David and his guys on the run 00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:46.819 actually went down here to the Negev, which is 00:07:46.819 --> 00:07:48.740 in the Sinai Peninsula, it's close to Egypt, 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:52.279 into something called the wilderness of Paran. 00:07:53.019 --> 00:07:55.399 The wilderness of Paran. And this is where they're 00:07:55.399 --> 00:07:58.120 hiding out from King Saul who wants to kill them 00:07:58.120 --> 00:08:01.480 because David has a legitimate claim to the throne. 00:08:02.519 --> 00:08:08.339 Right? Samuel has proclaimed his anointed nature. 00:08:08.740 --> 00:08:12.000 The great prophet has said, David is a special 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:15.300 guy. David has claimed victory over the Philistines. 00:08:15.300 --> 00:08:19.639 David is a special guy. Saul is a powerful king, 00:08:19.720 --> 00:08:23.680 but he's incredibly individually flawed. Right? 00:08:23.879 --> 00:08:26.600 So there's a real reason that Saul would be worried 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:29.379 about somebody like David taking over his throne. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:32.940 So he's trying to execute David. And David is 00:08:32.940 --> 00:08:34.799 just trying to stay alive. So he's down here 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:38.960 in the wilderness of Parnon, hiding out, and 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:42.720 he's run out of provisions. He needs food and 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:45.700 water and stuff like that for his men. And this 00:08:45.700 --> 00:08:48.019 is actually where we pick up our story tonight. 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:49.940 Now I'm going to go ahead and read at the beginning 00:08:49.940 --> 00:08:52.360 here. I'm going to go ahead and read through 00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:54.679 44. So get yourself comfortable. We're going 00:08:54.679 --> 00:08:56.980 to go ahead and read the whole thing. We don't 00:08:56.980 --> 00:08:58.379 normally do that. We're going to do the whole 00:08:58.379 --> 00:09:02.360 story, then we'll go back. And in my meticulous 00:09:02.360 --> 00:09:05.820 detail, verse by verse, explain its meaning. 00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:14.639 So, verse 2, a certain man in Maon. Maon is right 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:16.139 here where my finger is, right? So here's down 00:09:16.139 --> 00:09:18.179 here in the wilderness of Parnell next to Carmel. 00:09:18.519 --> 00:09:21.700 Not Mount Carmel, the village of Carmel, right? 00:09:22.419 --> 00:09:25.320 Certain man in Maon had property there at Carmel, 00:09:25.340 --> 00:09:27.799 was very wealthy. He had 1 ,000 goats, 3 ,000 00:09:27.799 --> 00:09:31.240 sheep, which he was shearing. in Carmel. His 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:34.039 name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail, 00:09:34.139 --> 00:09:37.120 the character of our story. She was an intelligent 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:41.039 and beautiful woman. But her husband was surly 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:44.580 and mean in his dealings. And he was a Calebite, 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:46.919 which we won't talk about probably, but maybe 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:50.899 we will. When David was in the wilderness, down 00:09:50.899 --> 00:09:55.009 here, right? He heard that Nabal was doing this 00:09:55.009 --> 00:09:58.990 sheep shearing in Carmel. So he sent ten young 00:09:58.990 --> 00:10:02.909 men and said, go to Nabal at Carmel and greet 00:10:02.909 --> 00:10:07.429 him in my name. Go tell him Elvis is hungry. 00:10:08.129 --> 00:10:11.590 It's what's being said here, really. Tell him 00:10:11.590 --> 00:10:14.610 it's me. Say to him, long life to you, good health 00:10:14.610 --> 00:10:16.350 to you and your household, and good health to 00:10:16.350 --> 00:10:19.990 all that is yours. That's a formulaic blessing. 00:10:20.889 --> 00:10:22.950 That one in the Middle East would give to another 00:10:22.950 --> 00:10:26.529 in the Middle East to show that there's no ill 00:10:26.529 --> 00:10:29.470 harm, that we're not trying to cheat anybody. 00:10:29.889 --> 00:10:32.309 We come on the up and up. You know, it's like 00:10:32.309 --> 00:10:34.929 when the dealers do that thing. That's what that 00:10:34.929 --> 00:10:38.389 statement is verbally doing. Now, I hear that 00:10:38.389 --> 00:10:40.590 it's sheep shearing time. When your shepherds 00:10:40.590 --> 00:10:43.710 were with us, we did not mistreat them. And the 00:10:43.710 --> 00:10:45.529 whole time they were at Carmel, nothing of theirs 00:10:45.529 --> 00:10:48.090 was missing. Ask your own servants and they'll 00:10:48.090 --> 00:10:51.309 tell you. Therefore, be favorable to my men since 00:10:51.309 --> 00:10:54.809 we come at a festive time. Please give your servants 00:10:54.809 --> 00:10:57.730 and your son David whatever you can find for 00:10:57.730 --> 00:11:00.370 them. When David's men arrived, they gave Nabal 00:11:00.370 --> 00:11:02.570 the message in David's name and then they waited. 00:11:02.669 --> 00:11:07.610 Nabal answered David's servants by saying, Who 00:11:07.610 --> 00:11:13.490 is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many 00:11:13.490 --> 00:11:15.669 servants are breaking away from their masters 00:11:15.669 --> 00:11:18.049 today. Remember, he's on the run from King Saul, 00:11:18.169 --> 00:11:21.629 right? Why should I take my bread and water and 00:11:21.629 --> 00:11:23.429 the meat I have slaughtered for my shears and 00:11:23.429 --> 00:11:27.470 give it to the men coming from nowhere? Who knows 00:11:27.470 --> 00:11:29.750 where, sorry. David's been turned around and 00:11:29.750 --> 00:11:32.190 went back. When they arrived, they reported every 00:11:32.190 --> 00:11:36.009 word. David said to his men, each one of you 00:11:36.009 --> 00:11:38.710 strap on your sword. So they did, and David strapped 00:11:38.710 --> 00:11:41.649 his on as well, right? Regulators, mount up. 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:46.320 About 400 men went up with David, while 200 stayed 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:49.220 with the supplies. Verse 14. One of the servants 00:11:49.220 --> 00:11:51.879 told Abigail, who was Nabal's wife, David sent 00:11:51.879 --> 00:11:54.399 messengers from the wilderness to give our master 00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:57.120 greetings, but he hurled insults at them. Yet 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:00.240 these men were very good to us. They did not 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:02.360 mistreat us, and the whole time we were out in 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:05.120 the fields near them, nothing was ever missing. 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:07.879 Night and day they were a wall around us the 00:12:07.879 --> 00:12:09.740 whole time we were herding our sheep near them. 00:12:10.379 --> 00:12:13.799 Now think it over and see what you can do. Because 00:12:13.799 --> 00:12:16.879 disaster is hanging on our master and his whole 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:19.480 household. He is such a wicked man that no one 00:12:19.480 --> 00:12:23.440 can talk to him. Abigail acted quickly. She took 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:26.200 200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five 00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:33.460 dressed sheep. Five say is about a bushel. about 00:12:33.460 --> 00:12:35.840 five bushels of roasted grain, a hundred cakes 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:37.919 of raisins, two hundred cakes of pressed figs, 00:12:37.940 --> 00:12:40.139 loaded them on donkeys. Then she told her servants, 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:43.220 Go on ahead, and I'll follow you. But she did 00:12:43.220 --> 00:12:46.539 not tell her husband Nabal. As she came riding 00:12:46.539 --> 00:12:48.340 her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were 00:12:48.340 --> 00:12:50.340 David and his men descending toward her, and 00:12:50.340 --> 00:12:52.740 she met them. David had just said, It's been 00:12:52.740 --> 00:12:55.000 useless all my watching over this fellow's property 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:57.200 in the wilderness, so that nothing of his was 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:00.340 missing, and he has paid me back evil for good. 00:13:01.019 --> 00:13:04.500 May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, 00:13:04.740 --> 00:13:08.879 if by morning, David is saved. Let God do whatever 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:11.299 he wants to me, and I don't care what he's got 00:13:11.299 --> 00:13:13.740 to do, but I can promise you that by tomorrow 00:13:13.740 --> 00:13:20.759 morning, I will leave one male of all who belong 00:13:20.759 --> 00:13:24.480 to him. It's going to kill everybody. When Abigail 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:26.860 saw David, she quickly got off her donkey, bowed 00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:28.679 down before David with her face to the ground. 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:31.000 She fell at his feet and said, Pardon your servant, 00:13:31.059 --> 00:13:32.860 my lord, and let me speak to you. Hear what your 00:13:32.860 --> 00:13:37.740 servant has to say. Same kind of formulaic act 00:13:37.740 --> 00:13:40.039 of submission here. Please pay no attention, 00:13:40.220 --> 00:13:44.559 my lord, to that wicked name Nabal. He's just 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:47.620 like his name. His name means fool, and folly 00:13:47.620 --> 00:13:51.179 goes with him. Nabal means fool. It also means 00:13:51.179 --> 00:13:56.220 the word churlish. As for me, your servant, I 00:13:56.220 --> 00:13:59.029 did not see the men my lord sent. And now, My 00:13:59.029 --> 00:14:03.129 Lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and 00:14:03.129 --> 00:14:06.250 as you live, since the Lord has kept you from 00:14:06.250 --> 00:14:10.429 bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your 00:14:10.429 --> 00:14:14.450 own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent 00:14:14.450 --> 00:14:17.870 on harming my Lord be like Nabal. And let this 00:14:17.870 --> 00:14:19.950 gift which your servant has brought to my Lord 00:14:19.950 --> 00:14:23.950 be given to the men who follow you. Please forgive 00:14:23.950 --> 00:14:27.529 your servant's presumptions. The Lord your God 00:14:27.529 --> 00:14:29.990 will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my 00:14:29.990 --> 00:14:33.429 Lord. Because you fight the Lord's battles. And 00:14:33.429 --> 00:14:35.610 no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as 00:14:35.610 --> 00:14:38.250 you could live. She missed on that part. Even 00:14:38.250 --> 00:14:40.789 though someone is pursuing you to take your life. 00:14:41.149 --> 00:14:43.750 The life of my Lord will be bound securely in 00:14:43.750 --> 00:14:45.789 the bundle of the living by the Lord your God. 00:14:46.429 --> 00:14:48.990 But the lives of your enemies he will hurl away 00:14:48.990 --> 00:14:51.470 as from the pocket of a sling. That's a beautiful 00:14:51.470 --> 00:14:53.830 phrase that I'll explain here later. When the 00:14:53.830 --> 00:14:56.840 Lord is fulfilled. For my Lord, every good thing 00:14:56.840 --> 00:14:58.759 He promised concerning Him and appointed Him 00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:02.580 ruler over Israel, my Lord will not have on His 00:15:02.580 --> 00:15:05.179 conscience the staggering burden of needless 00:15:05.179 --> 00:15:08.580 bloodshed or having avenged Himself. And when 00:15:08.580 --> 00:15:10.639 the Lord your God has brought my Lord success, 00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:15.980 she says, remember your servant. David said to 00:15:15.980 --> 00:15:18.080 Abigail, Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, 00:15:18.220 --> 00:15:21.370 who sent you here to me today to meet me. May 00:15:21.370 --> 00:15:23.090 you be blessed for your good judgment and for 00:15:23.090 --> 00:15:25.769 keeping the bloodshed of this day and for avenging 00:15:25.769 --> 00:15:29.649 myself with my own hands. Otherwise, as sure 00:15:29.649 --> 00:15:32.429 as the Lord, the God of Israel lives, who's kept 00:15:32.429 --> 00:15:35.269 me from harming you, if you had not come quickly 00:15:35.269 --> 00:15:38.210 to meet me, no, not one male belonging to Nabal 00:15:38.210 --> 00:15:42.169 would have been left alive at daybreak. Then 00:15:42.169 --> 00:15:44.370 David accepted from her hand what she had brought 00:15:44.370 --> 00:15:46.889 to him and said, Go home in peace. I have heard 00:15:46.889 --> 00:15:49.769 your words and granted your request. When Abigail 00:15:49.769 --> 00:15:51.750 went to Nabal, he was in the house holding a 00:15:51.750 --> 00:15:54.649 banquet like that of a king. Remember, it's sheep 00:15:54.649 --> 00:15:58.110 shearing time there in Nebraska, right? And so 00:15:58.110 --> 00:16:02.590 they're feasting. This is a time of plenty. He 00:16:02.590 --> 00:16:06.629 was in high spirits and very drunk. She told 00:16:06.629 --> 00:16:09.330 him nothing at all until daybreak. So he gets 00:16:09.330 --> 00:16:11.070 drunk all night. She's not going to mess with 00:16:11.070 --> 00:16:12.610 starting a fight with him tonight. He's drunk. 00:16:13.409 --> 00:16:15.470 So she waits till the morning when he's sober. 00:16:16.169 --> 00:16:18.509 His wife told him all these things. Everything 00:16:18.509 --> 00:16:21.029 she had just told him about David, she stopped 00:16:21.029 --> 00:16:24.190 David, the guy who killed Goliath, David, from 00:16:24.190 --> 00:16:26.830 coming with 400 dudes and slaughtering your whole 00:16:26.830 --> 00:16:31.889 family. I stopped David. Remember Goliath? I 00:16:31.889 --> 00:16:35.029 stopped him from coming and slaughtering our 00:16:35.029 --> 00:16:38.149 whole family. And when his wife had told him 00:16:38.149 --> 00:16:40.210 these things, his heart failed him. It became 00:16:40.210 --> 00:16:43.450 like a stone. About 10 days later, the Lord struck 00:16:43.450 --> 00:16:45.620 the ball and he died. It's believed that he probably 00:16:45.620 --> 00:16:48.539 had a stroke. That's a stroke, not a heart attack. 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:50.940 When David had heard that Nabal was dead, he 00:16:50.940 --> 00:16:54.399 said, Praise be to the Lord. It was my cause 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:56.840 against Nabal for treating me with contempt. 00:16:57.159 --> 00:16:59.639 He's kept his servant from doing wrong. He's 00:16:59.639 --> 00:17:02.940 brought Nabal's wrongdoing down on his own head. 00:17:03.500 --> 00:17:06.079 Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:08.519 become his wife. The servants went to Carmel, 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:11.470 and she said to Abigail, David has sent us. to 00:17:11.470 --> 00:17:13.230 you to take you to become his wife. She bowed 00:17:13.230 --> 00:17:14.589 down with her face to the ground and said, I 00:17:14.589 --> 00:17:16.789 am your servant and ready to serve you and wash 00:17:16.789 --> 00:17:19.069 the feet of my Lord's servants. Abigail quickly 00:17:19.069 --> 00:17:21.369 got on a donkey and attended her five female 00:17:21.369 --> 00:17:23.789 servants, went with David's messengers and became 00:17:23.789 --> 00:17:30.349 his wife. David also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. 00:17:30.390 --> 00:17:32.009 They were both his wives. It's an interesting 00:17:32.009 --> 00:17:34.950 story here too. But Saul had given his daughter 00:17:34.950 --> 00:17:38.230 Michael, David's wife, to Patil, the son of Laish. 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:40.619 who was from Gallium. And that's why we're not 00:17:40.619 --> 00:17:42.420 sure whether she was the second or the third 00:17:42.420 --> 00:17:44.880 wife, because Michael was the first wife, but 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:47.299 then Saul gave David's first wife to another 00:17:47.299 --> 00:17:50.000 dude. But then she came back to the house. So 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:53.279 it's kind of confusing about how many wives this 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:58.279 guy David had. She didn't want him more than 00:17:58.279 --> 00:18:03.059 the ball. So what we see in Abigail here is highly 00:18:03.059 --> 00:18:06.309 intelligent, apparently beautiful. Young woman, 00:18:06.450 --> 00:18:09.289 but she's married to an arrogant, selfish drunk. 00:18:10.230 --> 00:18:14.529 Right? Whose name is Nabal, which in Hebrew literally 00:18:14.529 --> 00:18:17.549 means fool. Now, people have talked about this, 00:18:17.569 --> 00:18:20.089 like, why would she have married, if she was 00:18:20.089 --> 00:18:22.049 so intelligent, why would she have married a 00:18:22.049 --> 00:18:24.549 guy like Nabal, first and foremost? Secondly, 00:18:24.630 --> 00:18:26.250 why would she have married a guy whose name was 00:18:26.250 --> 00:18:32.009 fool? Right? Right. Well, one, she didn't probably 00:18:32.009 --> 00:18:33.630 have a lot of choice in the matter as far as 00:18:33.630 --> 00:18:36.619 marriage. Two, the name thing, it's like, um, 00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:41.019 uh, anybody have a friend named Smokey? Yep, 00:18:41.019 --> 00:18:44.259 yep. Literally walk around, and the clock would 00:18:44.259 --> 00:18:51.079 be mine. Oh, right. Uh, Rocky? Yeah. Rusty. Rusty, 00:18:51.079 --> 00:18:53.259 that's a good one. Anybody know a Rusty? Yeah. 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:57.640 Is he Rusty? No, no, no. Okay, Nabal means fool, 00:18:57.799 --> 00:19:00.700 but Nabal's also a name, right? Just because 00:19:00.700 --> 00:19:03.769 his name is Rusty doesn't literally mean... He's 00:19:03.769 --> 00:19:10.930 oxidizing. Now, so first and foremost, we need 00:19:10.930 --> 00:19:12.690 to understand that this was going to be probably 00:19:12.690 --> 00:19:14.509 the result of an arranged marriage between these 00:19:14.509 --> 00:19:18.470 two, which is a great warning to all of us. Though 00:19:18.470 --> 00:19:22.509 we see tonight how God can and does often overcome 00:19:22.509 --> 00:19:25.890 things in a bad marriage, I'm going to say it 00:19:25.890 --> 00:19:28.809 again so we can all hear it. While God often 00:19:28.809 --> 00:19:32.920 does work through our lives, To prevent bad marriages, 00:19:33.099 --> 00:19:35.720 the most important thing that God tells us to 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:39.359 do is to not enter into bad marriages in the 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:43.779 first place. Tonight is all going to be about 00:19:43.779 --> 00:19:47.680 husband and wife relationships. But we need to 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:51.299 get to a hierarchy here of what exactly God does 00:19:51.299 --> 00:19:54.960 in fact desire. And first and foremost, God desires 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:58.240 that if you have a desire for someone that is 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:02.000 not... In God's best interest for you, the first 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:05.180 step is to probably not enter into that marriage 00:20:05.180 --> 00:20:09.420 to begin with. Right? Abigail, again, probably 00:20:09.420 --> 00:20:12.819 didn't have that privilege. But the sad fact 00:20:12.819 --> 00:20:18.640 is that even those today who do, and the truth 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:21.380 is that the people who do have a choice, and 00:20:21.380 --> 00:20:24.519 the people who are, they think, intelligent and 00:20:24.519 --> 00:20:30.650 thoughtful and careful. with the process, right? 00:20:30.829 --> 00:20:34.869 Even asking for God's careful guidance in the 00:20:34.869 --> 00:20:38.450 relationship and believing that they have it 00:20:38.450 --> 00:20:42.589 and go through with the marriage, often those 00:20:42.589 --> 00:20:47.509 relationships still end up broken. People realize 00:20:47.509 --> 00:20:50.009 after just a short period of time that maybe 00:20:50.009 --> 00:20:53.349 they've married someone that changed all recognition 00:20:53.349 --> 00:20:55.529 of the person that they had fallen in love with. 00:20:57.289 --> 00:21:00.069 If you've ever found yourself in a situation 00:21:00.069 --> 00:21:04.029 like that, then tonight's story about Abigail 00:21:04.029 --> 00:21:11.549 is just for you. Now, the story does have a happy 00:21:11.549 --> 00:21:16.829 ending. But like most love stories and like most 00:21:16.829 --> 00:21:20.789 happy endings, there is heartbreak and heartache 00:21:20.789 --> 00:21:23.769 and pain along the way. And I'm sure you probably 00:21:23.769 --> 00:21:27.500 can identify with that feeling as well. So the 00:21:27.500 --> 00:21:29.279 first thing I want to do is just kind of set 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:32.480 the scene here. When we open up our story in 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:35.400 verse 2, we find David at this low point. Remember 00:21:35.400 --> 00:21:38.500 how I just described David. He's on the run for 00:21:38.500 --> 00:21:42.259 his life. David is seen as being someone, if 00:21:42.259 --> 00:21:45.259 you recall, Nabal is going to make this statement 00:21:45.259 --> 00:21:48.160 about there are so many servants breaking away 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:53.940 from their masters, which means... Indicatively, 00:21:53.940 --> 00:21:56.779 that Nabal understands what's going on between 00:21:56.779 --> 00:22:01.039 Saul and David. And Nabal is on Saul's side. 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:04.759 Right? In that instance, David is the servant 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:08.019 and Saul is the master. And I'm going to have 00:22:08.019 --> 00:22:10.619 this breakaway guy. And I'm going to give him 00:22:10.619 --> 00:22:13.480 all these provisions. He's just a runaway slave 00:22:13.480 --> 00:22:15.960 in my mind. That's the way Nabal takes it. Because 00:22:15.960 --> 00:22:18.279 he understands what's going on between Saul and 00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:23.480 David. And he's with the current king. Abigail 00:22:23.480 --> 00:22:25.759 is not, and for that, she's going to be one of 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:29.900 the seven women, recognize seven women prophets. 00:22:30.200 --> 00:22:32.880 Because she does make a prophecy within her statement 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:40.440 to David. We'll get there. So, now while David 00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:43.660 has begun to run out of these provisions, right? 00:22:43.740 --> 00:22:47.000 So he sent these guys down to check when the 00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:49.380 ball, to see if they could get something, some 00:22:49.380 --> 00:22:53.299 provision. Now why? Let me explain why they would 00:22:53.299 --> 00:22:56.700 think that they would have provisions coming 00:22:56.700 --> 00:23:00.380 to them. So what David and his men had been doing 00:23:00.380 --> 00:23:03.660 was living in this wilderness area. Scripture 00:23:03.660 --> 00:23:06.319 backs this up. Remember, they talked to the servants 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:08.640 and the servants say that, look, whenever the 00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:12.500 sheep were near his men, nothing ever came up 00:23:12.500 --> 00:23:16.640 stolen. Everything was always protected. He said 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:20.359 David and his men acted like a wall, right? around 00:23:20.359 --> 00:23:24.460 our property, around our sheep. They've actually 00:23:24.460 --> 00:23:29.019 done a job for Nabal. Now, Nabal is obviously 00:23:29.019 --> 00:23:34.200 celebrating a great harvest of wool, if you will. 00:23:34.519 --> 00:23:39.960 They say that his flock of about 3 ,000 sheep 00:23:39.960 --> 00:23:42.920 would have produced perhaps maybe up to 2 tons 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:46.319 of wool, which would have been of significant 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:53.950 value. in 1000 B .C. Two tons of wool. So, Nabal 00:23:53.950 --> 00:23:57.369 has a large, a commercially large agricultural 00:23:57.369 --> 00:24:01.569 program. Right? Nabal doesn't have the county 00:24:01.569 --> 00:24:08.089 sheriff to come out and handle what do they call 00:24:08.089 --> 00:24:09.769 that when you steal a horse at Wranglin? Not 00:24:09.769 --> 00:24:13.269 Wranglin. Rustic. Right? They don't have the 00:24:13.269 --> 00:24:15.109 county. They don't have rangers to come out and 00:24:15.109 --> 00:24:21.880 handle rustlers. And for large agricultural ranching 00:24:21.880 --> 00:24:24.799 operations like this, protecting the livestock, 00:24:25.220 --> 00:24:29.119 as much as it is today, is of your most supreme 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:32.319 importance. Because every cow or every sheep 00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:35.700 or every goat or whatever that you allow to be 00:24:35.700 --> 00:24:40.279 stolen is maybe not just one animal gone, but 00:24:40.279 --> 00:24:43.309 if it does. Mother that could have had calves, 00:24:43.430 --> 00:24:46.450 right? I mean, there's a generational thing that's 00:24:46.450 --> 00:24:49.230 lost here. Livestock are very, very important 00:24:49.230 --> 00:24:52.089 animals. They're super important at this time. 00:24:52.430 --> 00:24:54.670 Problem is with sheep, right? The sheep, what 00:24:54.670 --> 00:24:58.369 do they do all day? They just eat grass, right? 00:24:58.750 --> 00:25:02.190 Now, I'm not asking any of you if you're a geographer, 00:25:02.250 --> 00:25:04.650 but I'm just going to ask basic general knowledge. 00:25:04.789 --> 00:25:08.289 What do you think? Down here near Egypt, in the 00:25:08.289 --> 00:25:11.720 Middle East, Little bit of grass, lots of grass. 00:25:11.940 --> 00:25:15.259 Little bit of grass, right? So you've got to 00:25:15.259 --> 00:25:18.200 keep these herds moving around so they can have 00:25:18.200 --> 00:25:20.980 places to forage. Which means that every time 00:25:20.980 --> 00:25:25.539 you go to a new place, you run the risk of encountering 00:25:25.539 --> 00:25:31.119 more danger to your flock. And so for Nabal to 00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:36.119 have celebrated a season of wool growth, a season 00:25:36.119 --> 00:25:40.519 of sheep production, and not have any significant 00:25:40.519 --> 00:25:44.920 losses, and not have to pay anybody for protecting 00:25:44.920 --> 00:25:49.440 all of those livestock, is a significant additional 00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:52.799 amount of money in his pocket. But it's not the 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:57.000 right thing to do. Because in this time, the 00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:04.319 one way that you, I mean, how do you, in 1000 00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:06.519 B .C., how do you think you distinguish between 00:26:06.519 --> 00:26:12.700 a robber, and a security guard. Did he rob you 00:26:12.700 --> 00:26:16.279 first? Right? I mean, the robber can be the security, 00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:18.640 but the security guard can be the robber. You 00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:20.440 don't want to pay the security guard? Guess what 00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:24.660 he does? He becomes the robber. Right? It's a 00:26:24.660 --> 00:26:28.299 fact of life. It's not like Nabal just says, 00:26:28.299 --> 00:26:31.039 well, I didn't, I mean, Nabal doesn't have like 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:33.990 some... Workers' comp claim or something. Nabal 00:26:33.990 --> 00:26:35.829 doesn't have a small claims court thing where 00:26:35.829 --> 00:26:37.750 he could just go, well, I never entered into 00:26:37.750 --> 00:26:41.210 a contract with David and his men. This was a 00:26:41.210 --> 00:26:44.470 condition of doing this kind of life at this 00:26:44.470 --> 00:26:48.109 kind of time. And if you chose to take advantage 00:26:48.109 --> 00:26:51.009 of people that protected your agricultural interests, 00:26:51.210 --> 00:26:54.630 and you chose not to reward them, guess what? 00:26:54.670 --> 00:26:57.589 They stop being the security guard, and they 00:26:57.589 --> 00:26:59.490 start becoming the robbers. And that's exactly 00:26:59.490 --> 00:27:02.299 what David's threatening here, right? Oh, you're 00:27:02.299 --> 00:27:05.180 not going to pay us really what we're owed? Well, 00:27:05.180 --> 00:27:06.880 there's not going to be one nail in your family 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:10.859 life tomorrow. Let's see what happens to the 00:27:10.859 --> 00:27:14.140 sheep then. Right? That's what's going on here. 00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:19.539 The boy has an obligation. Given his abundance. 00:27:19.740 --> 00:27:23.039 Given what's been through the, I'm not sure what 00:27:23.039 --> 00:27:25.000 they call it, the growing season of the sheep, 00:27:25.099 --> 00:27:28.500 right? And he's had success. He knows he owes 00:27:28.500 --> 00:27:33.759 this money. But he's a fool. Right? So this is 00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:36.079 the very, very first thing that I think we need 00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:38.420 to understand in this story. That it kind of 00:27:38.420 --> 00:27:44.279 seems crazy. Like, it kind of feels like, oh, 00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:47.480 you know, you see movies about like mafia extortion 00:27:47.480 --> 00:27:49.299 in New York City or something. Where the guy 00:27:49.299 --> 00:27:53.140 comes in and says, this is a really nice place 00:27:53.140 --> 00:27:56.099 you got here. It would be a shame if anything 00:27:56.099 --> 00:28:00.039 bad were to happen to it. Well, it sure would 00:28:00.039 --> 00:28:02.759 be a shame if... You showed up tomorrow and then 00:28:02.759 --> 00:28:06.539 nice front windows were bashed in. Boy, that 00:28:06.539 --> 00:28:08.819 would really stink. Why don't you gain me a little 00:28:08.819 --> 00:28:10.480 bit of money and I'll make sure that that never 00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:13.859 happens for you. Right? And it is kind of like 00:28:13.859 --> 00:28:18.960 that. But this is a necessity. And I think the 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:21.500 same thing probably in larger cities with the 00:28:21.500 --> 00:28:25.160 mafia. It's a necessity of doing business. Right? 00:28:25.240 --> 00:28:27.160 Because the truth is that the police in New York 00:28:27.160 --> 00:28:29.839 City can't provide... You the same level of protection 00:28:29.839 --> 00:28:31.680 that the mafia could if you were paying them 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:33.900 protection money. You know what I mean? Think 00:28:33.900 --> 00:28:37.500 about it. For free, I get to depend on the NYPD. 00:28:38.279 --> 00:28:41.720 Or for a fee, I could have the mafia protect 00:28:41.720 --> 00:28:44.440 my place. Which one do you think you'd feel most 00:28:44.440 --> 00:28:47.660 comfortable with? The mafia. That's right. That's 00:28:47.660 --> 00:28:49.839 right. See, that's what we're talking about here. 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:55.380 Abigail sees this, though. Abigail sees this 00:28:55.380 --> 00:29:01.640 like, man. This is not right. This isn't even 00:29:01.640 --> 00:29:04.859 living with integrity. Because the ball, you 00:29:04.859 --> 00:29:07.740 know, this isn't even about a disagreement of 00:29:07.740 --> 00:29:11.420 how much. You know you owe this guy something. 00:29:11.720 --> 00:29:16.299 And so, contrary to what we might think would 00:29:16.299 --> 00:29:19.039 be the historical character and nature of a woman 00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:22.519 in first century B .C. Middle East, Abigail acts 00:29:22.519 --> 00:29:25.640 quickly. Right? She gets all of this stuff. She 00:29:25.640 --> 00:29:29.500 gets 200. Loaves of bread, verse 18. 200 loaves 00:29:29.500 --> 00:29:32.140 of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, 00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:36.619 60 pounds of roast grain, 100 cakes of raisins, 00:29:36.619 --> 00:29:39.579 200 cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on 00:29:39.579 --> 00:29:43.200 the donkeys. And once she meets David on the 00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:46.920 road, verse 24 to 32, right? She begins this 00:29:46.920 --> 00:29:51.740 appeal, right? But what we see here is Abigail's 00:29:51.740 --> 00:29:55.259 words and her actions actually have the effect 00:29:55.980 --> 00:30:01.099 of averting the wrath of David. Right? And in 00:30:01.099 --> 00:30:03.700 the process, at least saving maybe not Nabal, 00:30:03.740 --> 00:30:07.200 but any male that was around the place. Right? 00:30:09.140 --> 00:30:14.220 So, in verse 2, we see that Nabal was rich, 3 00:30:14.220 --> 00:30:19.299 ,000 sheep, 1 ,000 goats. Abigail, it seems, 00:30:19.339 --> 00:30:21.660 probably agrees with the Beatles that money can't 00:30:21.660 --> 00:30:24.839 buy me love. Right? It certainly didn't for her. 00:30:25.390 --> 00:30:27.890 Verse 3, the second of it, we find that Nabal 00:30:27.890 --> 00:30:31.769 is this harsh and evil guy. In verse 11, we see 00:30:31.769 --> 00:30:34.349 the fact that he's so selfish. Check this out. 00:30:35.369 --> 00:30:37.230 If you're reading the King James Version, you 00:30:37.230 --> 00:30:39.589 can read along with me. I check different versions 00:30:39.589 --> 00:30:42.589 of the Scripture that I'm reading whenever I 00:30:42.589 --> 00:30:45.869 teach. I've been using the NIV tonight, but for 00:30:45.869 --> 00:30:48.430 this one, I use the King James Version because 00:30:48.430 --> 00:30:52.509 in one verse, in verse 11, and I think that I'm 00:30:52.509 --> 00:30:57.000 right. I counted seven times in one verse where 00:30:57.000 --> 00:31:02.240 Nabal refers to himself. He says, Shall I then 00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:08.019 take my bread and my water and my flesh that 00:31:08.019 --> 00:31:11.400 I have killed for my shears and give it unto 00:31:11.400 --> 00:31:16.160 men whom I know not whence they be? In one sentence, 00:31:16.200 --> 00:31:21.819 refers to himself seven times. Right? Then we 00:31:21.819 --> 00:31:24.359 also see verse 17, the second half. He's also 00:31:24.359 --> 00:31:29.500 very stubborn. And so, verse 36, near the end 00:31:29.500 --> 00:31:32.319 of the account, so we've got this guy who's extremely 00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:35.279 arrogant. He's extremely stubborn. Verse 36, 00:31:35.400 --> 00:31:37.400 near the end of the account, we also find he 00:31:37.400 --> 00:31:41.140 has another problem. He was drunk, right? Based 00:31:41.140 --> 00:31:43.359 on what we know so far about Abigail, sounds 00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:46.019 like these two are probably incompatible, right? 00:31:46.460 --> 00:31:50.210 We hear that kind of language all the time. Abigail, 00:31:50.309 --> 00:31:52.309 to her eternal credit, tries to make the most 00:31:52.309 --> 00:31:56.569 of what is definitely a terrible situation. And, 00:31:56.589 --> 00:31:59.150 in my opinion, this is a great example of the 00:31:59.150 --> 00:32:02.589 unequal yoke that we read about in the New Testament. 00:32:02.630 --> 00:32:04.410 You may or may not have heard that term before. 00:32:04.970 --> 00:32:09.269 2 Corinthians 6 and 14. Do not be yoked together 00:32:09.269 --> 00:32:12.589 with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and 00:32:12.589 --> 00:32:15.710 wickedness have in common? What fellowship can 00:32:15.710 --> 00:32:20.410 light have with darkness? While I said she made 00:32:20.410 --> 00:32:22.950 the best of it, I also want to make it clear 00:32:22.950 --> 00:32:27.410 that this probably would have not been easy for 00:32:27.410 --> 00:32:30.670 her to pull off. So not only was she incredibly 00:32:30.670 --> 00:32:34.789 intelligent, incredibly compassionate, she was 00:32:34.789 --> 00:32:38.289 also incredibly brave. For her to even pull this 00:32:38.289 --> 00:32:42.750 stunt off might have put her own life in danger. 00:32:43.569 --> 00:32:47.509 But you know, maybe Abigail felt suffocated in 00:32:47.509 --> 00:32:50.839 her marriage. Maybe she hated being paired with 00:32:50.839 --> 00:32:55.680 such a bad husband, right? Maybe this is just 00:32:55.680 --> 00:32:59.759 the result of her own personal selfish desires. 00:33:00.859 --> 00:33:02.980 I don't think that's the case, and I'll explain 00:33:02.980 --> 00:33:09.200 why. She's definitely attached by a chain to 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:13.920 this fool, right? In verse 14 to 17, we see that 00:33:13.920 --> 00:33:18.309 Abigail, after her servant came, to apprise her 00:33:18.309 --> 00:33:21.269 of the situation and how she had heard of David's 00:33:21.269 --> 00:33:24.609 men coming, right? And that they were angry, 00:33:24.750 --> 00:33:28.410 remember, because they had acted as a wall of 00:33:28.410 --> 00:33:31.730 protection around them. And then she finds that 00:33:31.730 --> 00:33:34.569 David is breathing murderings and threatenings, 00:33:34.569 --> 00:33:38.150 just like Saul of Tarsus, by the way, that we'd 00:33:38.150 --> 00:33:40.690 read about in the New Testament. Look at the 00:33:40.690 --> 00:33:45.089 weight of verses 21 and 22, right? He was going 00:33:45.089 --> 00:33:51.400 to kill. Everybody around him. Right? That was 00:33:51.400 --> 00:33:58.079 real anger. Now, we also find that Abigail here 00:33:58.079 --> 00:34:01.259 plays the role of wise counselor. And another 00:34:01.259 --> 00:34:06.500 weird thing here about the writing of Abigail 00:34:06.500 --> 00:34:11.880 is how Abigail is, I don't think, is ever actually 00:34:11.880 --> 00:34:15.860 told to do anything. That whenever she speaks, 00:34:16.079 --> 00:34:20.039 she's actually always the one making a demand. 00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:23.800 Even though she's being very comfortable and 00:34:23.800 --> 00:34:26.199 kind with her words to David and she's using 00:34:26.199 --> 00:34:28.860 the your servant this and your servant that, 00:34:28.960 --> 00:34:35.480 everything she says is not a will you, but do 00:34:35.480 --> 00:34:38.659 so. And when that happens, remember how cool 00:34:38.659 --> 00:34:41.860 I am about it. Right? I mean, it's very interesting 00:34:41.860 --> 00:34:48.179 here. The agency that Abigail is given in being 00:34:48.179 --> 00:34:51.280 able to counsel David. You guys know who counseled 00:34:51.280 --> 00:34:56.760 David just before Abigail began counseling? Samuel. 00:34:57.119 --> 00:35:00.320 And it's only Samuel who died in verse 1 of this 00:35:00.320 --> 00:35:03.659 story. Halfway through the next story of Samuel 00:35:03.659 --> 00:35:06.159 dying, here's this woman, Abigail, and how it 00:35:06.159 --> 00:35:10.869 dies in the future king of Israel, David. for 00:35:10.869 --> 00:35:13.550 the writers of 1 Samuel to have given a woman 00:35:13.550 --> 00:35:19.769 this much power in the story is of note. We should 00:35:19.769 --> 00:35:24.710 pay attention to why Abigail had such boldness 00:35:24.710 --> 00:35:29.889 in her interaction with David. And I think it's 00:35:29.889 --> 00:35:32.269 because of the result of, personally, that it's 00:35:32.269 --> 00:35:34.849 the result of the Spirit descending upon Abigail 00:35:34.849 --> 00:35:38.030 that not only provides her the ability to be 00:35:38.030 --> 00:35:42.170 wise, as a counselor, but also be forceful in 00:35:42.170 --> 00:35:46.210 her womanly way with David to get what she wanted 00:35:46.210 --> 00:35:48.809 accomplished, I think that it's the result of 00:35:48.809 --> 00:35:50.230 the Spirit of the Lord. Because not only does 00:35:50.230 --> 00:35:52.170 she have the ability to do that, but she'll also 00:35:52.170 --> 00:35:55.730 have the ability to prophesy. She makes a prophecy 00:35:55.730 --> 00:35:59.369 over David that has only been spoken of by David 00:35:59.369 --> 00:36:02.909 except by one person, one other person. The guy 00:36:02.909 --> 00:36:06.449 who died in verse 1, Samuel. Samuel, the great 00:36:06.449 --> 00:36:08.590 prophet of the nation. The guy who actually gets 00:36:08.590 --> 00:36:12.789 to bless. God says you're the king. Nope. God 00:36:12.789 --> 00:36:16.429 says you're the king. That's Samuel. Abigail 00:36:16.429 --> 00:36:20.909 is the next person in the story to understand 00:36:20.909 --> 00:36:24.010 the prophetic meaning of David and his future. 00:36:24.769 --> 00:36:31.070 Okay? And look at verse 26. And now, my Lord, 00:36:31.210 --> 00:36:33.469 as surely as the Lord your God lives, as you 00:36:33.469 --> 00:36:36.510 live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed 00:36:36.510 --> 00:36:38.590 and from avenging yourself with your own hands, 00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:41.679 May your enemies and all who are intent on harming 00:36:41.679 --> 00:36:45.599 my Lord be like Nabal. Be foolish. Right? Now 00:36:45.599 --> 00:36:47.400 what we're pointing out here, she's pointing 00:36:47.400 --> 00:36:50.420 out that David, you have a much bigger job to 00:36:50.420 --> 00:36:52.539 do than worrying about Nabal. Because if you 00:36:52.539 --> 00:36:55.760 just run around killing people willy -nilly because 00:36:55.760 --> 00:36:58.900 they didn't give you a big cake or something, 00:36:59.139 --> 00:37:02.000 right? You're not going to be able to rule God's 00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:05.579 people with integrity. You're a stone -cold -blooded 00:37:05.579 --> 00:37:09.360 murderer. Right? And Abigail is actually saying 00:37:09.360 --> 00:37:12.139 something in prophetic language here. She's saying 00:37:12.139 --> 00:37:14.219 it's actually really great that you made this 00:37:14.219 --> 00:37:17.500 decision because when you become king, you're 00:37:17.500 --> 00:37:20.340 not going to have blood on your hands. You're 00:37:20.340 --> 00:37:23.539 going to be able to operate the kingdom with 00:37:23.539 --> 00:37:26.820 godly intent because you're not going to be riddled 00:37:26.820 --> 00:37:29.539 with the guilt and shame of being a murderer. 00:37:31.320 --> 00:37:33.639 What I want you to see is that Abigail points 00:37:33.639 --> 00:37:38.159 something out to David. God has brought me to 00:37:38.159 --> 00:37:41.800 you. At the beginning of verse 26, we see as 00:37:41.800 --> 00:37:46.440 well at the end, she points out that God is the 00:37:46.440 --> 00:37:49.940 only right avenger. Right? That's the inference. 00:37:50.679 --> 00:37:55.880 David, this is not your fight to fight. Whenever 00:37:55.880 --> 00:37:59.340 Nabal did what he did to you, he didn't offend 00:37:59.340 --> 00:38:03.239 you as much as he offended God. And it's not 00:38:03.239 --> 00:38:06.699 your place to take blood. It's not yours to spill 00:38:06.699 --> 00:38:09.539 blood. It's not your place to take life. That's 00:38:09.539 --> 00:38:12.719 God's job. God will take care of it. And sure 00:38:12.719 --> 00:38:17.360 enough, that is what happens. David is saving 00:38:17.360 --> 00:38:20.659 himself from having blood on his hands. It's 00:38:20.659 --> 00:38:23.440 interesting that this story is a direct opposite 00:38:23.440 --> 00:38:25.880 correlation with David having an interaction 00:38:25.880 --> 00:38:29.420 with another man's wife, Bathsheba. David has 00:38:29.420 --> 00:38:32.960 an interaction who becomes his wife too. He has 00:38:32.960 --> 00:38:35.780 another interaction. With Bathsheba only this 00:38:35.780 --> 00:38:38.440 time, David doesn't follow the advice of the 00:38:38.440 --> 00:38:42.599 godly woman. David takes things into his own 00:38:42.599 --> 00:38:45.320 hands, and while he doesn't actually kill the 00:38:45.320 --> 00:38:50.619 Hittite, no, I can't think of his name, Bathsheba's 00:38:50.619 --> 00:38:55.360 husband, Uriah. He does put Uriah on the front 00:38:55.360 --> 00:38:58.650 lines and then tells... And tells Joachim, the 00:38:58.650 --> 00:39:01.869 leader of the army, to pull back once he's out 00:39:01.869 --> 00:39:05.530 there. So he is responsible for his death. I 00:39:05.530 --> 00:39:10.130 mean, the way that inappropriate situations break 00:39:10.130 --> 00:39:12.150 down between husband and wife, whenever it comes 00:39:12.150 --> 00:39:15.190 to the story of David, Nabal, and Abigail, it's 00:39:15.190 --> 00:39:17.449 completely different than the way that it breaks 00:39:17.449 --> 00:39:20.630 down with David, Bathsheba, and Uriah, right? 00:39:22.610 --> 00:39:26.349 But in the end, people still end up dead, right? 00:39:30.030 --> 00:39:33.230 So Nabal was the fool because he doesn't listen 00:39:33.230 --> 00:39:36.989 to Abigail and her advice. And David is the wise 00:39:36.989 --> 00:39:39.329 one in the story because he listens to her advice. 00:39:39.869 --> 00:39:42.010 David accepted from her hand what she had brought 00:39:42.010 --> 00:39:44.309 him and said, go in peace. I've heard your words, 00:39:44.349 --> 00:39:47.630 granted your request. Disaster and bloodshed 00:39:47.630 --> 00:39:50.369 averted. But then the story takes another turn 00:39:50.369 --> 00:39:54.050 because she returns back home and she comes to 00:39:54.050 --> 00:39:57.820 tell Nabal. What she's done and how the threat 00:39:57.820 --> 00:40:02.579 has been averted. Verse 36. When Abigail went 00:40:02.579 --> 00:40:04.300 to the ball, he was in the house holding a banquet 00:40:04.300 --> 00:40:05.940 like that of a king. He was in high spirits. 00:40:06.559 --> 00:40:11.079 Very drunk. Right? He would have been a lot of 00:40:11.079 --> 00:40:14.460 use had David actually shown up and tried to 00:40:14.460 --> 00:40:16.440 start a fight with him in the night. But the 00:40:16.440 --> 00:40:18.679 wise woman, what does she do? You probably know 00:40:18.679 --> 00:40:21.860 this from your own experience, right? Comes home, 00:40:21.980 --> 00:40:23.880 finds him drunk. Does she grab a frying pan? 00:40:24.960 --> 00:40:29.000 No, she's going to be smarter than that. She's 00:40:29.000 --> 00:40:31.000 going to wait until tomorrow whenever he's sober. 00:40:32.019 --> 00:40:34.940 Right? If I punch him in the head right now, 00:40:35.039 --> 00:40:38.159 then I'm just as bad as he is. No, no, no. We're 00:40:38.159 --> 00:40:40.880 going to do this in the light of day. Right? 00:40:41.780 --> 00:40:46.199 So that happens. We find out in the story that 00:40:46.199 --> 00:40:50.199 Nabal, because he realizes what incredibly... 00:40:50.539 --> 00:40:53.800 A poor decision he had made. He suffers some 00:40:53.800 --> 00:40:57.000 sort of physical ailment and dies. So in the 00:40:57.000 --> 00:41:00.579 last few moments that I have here, I just would 00:41:00.579 --> 00:41:03.460 like to tease out a few of what I think to be 00:41:03.460 --> 00:41:08.099 timeless truths, scriptural truths, that are 00:41:08.099 --> 00:41:09.860 important that we need to take and think about 00:41:09.860 --> 00:41:12.559 in our own relations. The first truth that we 00:41:12.559 --> 00:41:17.719 find is that an unequaled yoke between two people 00:41:17.719 --> 00:41:21.989 can cause unequal... unimaginable pain and anguish. 00:41:23.090 --> 00:41:27.409 Again, the best way to get out of a bad marriage 00:41:27.409 --> 00:41:29.949 is to not get into the bad marriage and to begin 00:41:29.949 --> 00:41:35.590 with. Right? Unequaled yokes can bring untold 00:41:35.590 --> 00:41:40.030 pain and anguish. Right? A second timeless truth 00:41:40.030 --> 00:41:42.989 though that we have to also admit here is that 00:41:42.989 --> 00:41:47.849 bad marriages happen. Mismatches are common. 00:41:48.619 --> 00:41:52.320 Now let me qualify. It's important because some 00:41:52.320 --> 00:41:56.599 marriages improve. Just because marriages start 00:41:56.599 --> 00:41:58.719 out rocky doesn't mean that they can't improve. 00:41:58.960 --> 00:42:02.500 And praise God for that. There's nothing too 00:42:02.500 --> 00:42:07.059 hard for the Lord and God's grace is great. Once 00:42:07.059 --> 00:42:10.059 a partner is saved or there's a spiritual transformation 00:42:10.059 --> 00:42:13.500 in the life of a spouse, they just seem to grow 00:42:13.500 --> 00:42:16.480 spiritual maturity and they quite frankly become 00:42:16.480 --> 00:42:20.440 easier to live with. And when that doesn't happen, 00:42:20.480 --> 00:42:26.880 they don't. But some bad marriages don't end 00:42:26.880 --> 00:42:30.639 up as good marriages. Some bad marriages don't 00:42:30.639 --> 00:42:33.840 have happy endings. And the truth is, we need 00:42:33.840 --> 00:42:38.019 to live in the real world. And this story confronts 00:42:38.019 --> 00:42:41.280 that. In verse 39, it says that Nabal was judged 00:42:41.280 --> 00:42:43.659 and many people would launch in right there and 00:42:43.659 --> 00:42:45.980 say, well, there you go, right? God bails out 00:42:45.980 --> 00:42:50.690 Abigail. Thank you for that. This bad situation 00:42:50.690 --> 00:42:55.110 with Abigail. God bails her out and kills Nabal, 00:42:55.170 --> 00:42:59.369 right? But note what verse 39 says. Nabal was 00:42:59.369 --> 00:43:02.989 not judged for Abigail's sake, but for David's 00:43:02.989 --> 00:43:07.849 sake. Because he was to be anointed king. Right? 00:43:08.469 --> 00:43:12.949 God did not bail out Abigail from a bad marriage. 00:43:15.449 --> 00:43:17.989 This whole story saved the future king of Israel 00:43:17.989 --> 00:43:24.030 from an integrity problem. And that's of greater 00:43:24.030 --> 00:43:28.070 import to God and His larger plan with the people 00:43:28.070 --> 00:43:30.949 of Israel. That's my opinion, that that's of 00:43:30.949 --> 00:43:35.989 more import. What Abigail teaches us is that 00:43:35.989 --> 00:43:41.329 she believed and she exhorted to David that revenge 00:43:41.329 --> 00:43:46.300 is God's business. Not mankind. People, humankind. 00:43:47.199 --> 00:43:50.519 Right? There's also, I think, a bit of encouragement 00:43:50.519 --> 00:43:53.659 in this acknowledgement of this bad marriage. 00:43:53.860 --> 00:43:56.760 And that is, right? And that is that if you're 00:43:56.760 --> 00:43:58.599 in a bad marriage, you don't have to despair. 00:43:59.199 --> 00:44:03.099 Because you can glorify God in a bad marriage. 00:44:04.119 --> 00:44:07.500 Right? It can get better. God transforms it. 00:44:07.659 --> 00:44:11.380 Can transform it supernaturously. Wonderously. 00:44:11.860 --> 00:44:15.110 But if you ever find... in such a situation, 00:44:15.230 --> 00:44:17.570 remember that not all hope is lost. Even if that 00:44:17.570 --> 00:44:20.429 marriage seems to end and that you've done all 00:44:20.429 --> 00:44:22.869 your power to prevent it, you can still glorify 00:44:22.869 --> 00:44:27.510 God no matter what ends up happening. Right? 00:44:28.250 --> 00:44:31.809 If you focus on bringing glory to God and not 00:44:31.809 --> 00:44:35.710 focus on your personal desires. Even when the 00:44:35.710 --> 00:44:37.969 worst thing in a relationship that could happen. 00:44:38.010 --> 00:44:42.969 Even in divorce. you can still glorify God through 00:44:42.969 --> 00:44:46.289 a bad marriage. That's what Abigail does here. 00:44:46.550 --> 00:44:50.869 She continues to glorify God, not paying attention 00:44:50.869 --> 00:44:54.570 to her immediate circumstance whatsoever. The 00:44:54.570 --> 00:44:57.630 third thing is, and that's this, that your spouse, 00:44:57.750 --> 00:45:01.409 or what kind of a jerk he or she is, is no excuse 00:45:01.409 --> 00:45:05.269 for your lack of spiritual growth. You still 00:45:05.269 --> 00:45:09.090 have a responsibility to God. Bad marriages can 00:45:09.090 --> 00:45:14.449 happen. Right? Well, and you can't flip it around. 00:45:14.570 --> 00:45:16.789 Well, bad marriages happen, good marriages happen. 00:45:16.989 --> 00:45:18.849 It doesn't really matter who I marry because 00:45:18.849 --> 00:45:20.750 God will make it all right in the end. No, no, 00:45:20.750 --> 00:45:23.530 no, no, no, no, no. You have a job to do in this 00:45:23.530 --> 00:45:27.090 too. Right? The covenant in a marriage covenant 00:45:27.090 --> 00:45:31.309 is not just between you two, but you three. You 00:45:31.309 --> 00:45:36.250 have a job to do. The fourth lesson that God... 00:45:36.570 --> 00:45:39.510 even in bad situations like that, can bring and 00:45:39.510 --> 00:45:42.409 will bring other encouraging believers along 00:45:42.409 --> 00:45:46.730 your path. Just like He does for Abigail and 00:45:46.730 --> 00:45:50.190 for David. When they come and they seek fellowship, 00:45:50.349 --> 00:45:52.650 right? And they take their counsel and their 00:45:52.650 --> 00:45:57.030 advice. And fifthly, the last thing, maybe the 00:45:57.030 --> 00:46:00.349 penultimate thing, but next to last. Even good 00:46:00.349 --> 00:46:03.650 marriages have their problems. Human relationships 00:46:03.650 --> 00:46:08.510 are tough. And the only way that you can guarantee 00:46:08.510 --> 00:46:12.130 that God will provide for you in the relationship 00:46:12.130 --> 00:46:17.030 is if you place your trust and your faith in 00:46:17.030 --> 00:46:20.449 God's plans for you versus your own plans for 00:46:20.449 --> 00:46:23.510 you. Now that gets into the difference between 00:46:23.510 --> 00:46:26.909 happiness and joy. Right? That gets into the 00:46:26.909 --> 00:46:28.690 difference between happiness and contentment. 00:46:29.150 --> 00:46:32.469 All of that only becomes really truly understood 00:46:32.469 --> 00:46:36.809 with spiritual maturity. But these are things 00:46:36.809 --> 00:46:39.349 that can be true. Now finally, let me just give 00:46:39.349 --> 00:46:44.429 you a few things. First, if you are married, 00:46:44.690 --> 00:46:47.949 be godly examples to your husbands. And if you're 00:46:47.949 --> 00:46:49.969 not married, be godly examples to other men. 00:46:50.869 --> 00:46:53.869 Again, your involvement in a bad relationship 00:46:53.869 --> 00:46:56.369 is no excuse for your lack of spiritual growth. 00:46:57.050 --> 00:47:01.510 1 Corinthians 7 -16, Paul says, How do you know, 00:47:01.590 --> 00:47:04.690 wife, whether you will save your husband? Or 00:47:04.690 --> 00:47:06.289 how do you know, husband, whether you'll save 00:47:06.289 --> 00:47:09.090 your wife? Some people feel that Abigail was 00:47:09.090 --> 00:47:12.010 actually rebellious in her relationship here. 00:47:12.090 --> 00:47:14.329 And I don't know. I haven't quite figured out 00:47:14.329 --> 00:47:18.289 where I come down. Because people say, well, 00:47:18.369 --> 00:47:22.570 she went behind her husband's back to do all 00:47:22.570 --> 00:47:24.769 this. She didn't tell him of her plans ahead 00:47:24.769 --> 00:47:29.050 of time. The fact of the matter is that in Ephesians 00:47:29.050 --> 00:47:33.500 chapter 5, Men are to love their wives like Christ 00:47:33.500 --> 00:47:37.219 loves the church. And wives are to obey their 00:47:37.219 --> 00:47:42.099 husbands and submit to them in the Lord. That's 00:47:42.099 --> 00:47:46.219 what that actually says. People like to... Dudes 00:47:46.219 --> 00:47:56.280 like to stop it. But you have to submit to the 00:47:56.280 --> 00:47:59.159 Lord, not to the man. And that means... And if 00:47:59.159 --> 00:48:01.519 that means that glorifying God means that this 00:48:01.519 --> 00:48:04.940 relationship ends, then you focus on glorifying 00:48:04.940 --> 00:48:08.360 God and let the court take care of the rest. 00:48:09.059 --> 00:48:12.460 Right? Amen to that. Don't get into bad relationships 00:48:12.460 --> 00:48:22.739 first. Right? I did. Why didn't you listen? Right? 00:48:23.679 --> 00:48:26.420 And look, this isn't a wives versus husbands, 00:48:26.519 --> 00:48:29.250 husbands versus wives thing. Whenever our spouse, 00:48:29.409 --> 00:48:31.409 whenever our partner, whenever the person that 00:48:31.409 --> 00:48:34.570 we are paired with, when they are failing to 00:48:34.570 --> 00:48:37.730 do the godly thing, what is your responsibility? 00:48:38.849 --> 00:48:42.489 To do the godly thing. And that's what Abigail 00:48:42.489 --> 00:48:47.489 shows us. More than anything, you are not the 00:48:47.489 --> 00:48:51.050 product or the responsibility of your spouse 00:48:51.050 --> 00:48:55.969 or mate's spirituality. Your commitment to God 00:48:55.969 --> 00:49:00.550 and your faith to God is your responsibility. 00:49:01.710 --> 00:49:04.329 We can live on several levels, I think, in this 00:49:04.329 --> 00:49:05.909 story. I think it's very interesting what this 00:49:05.909 --> 00:49:08.929 story tells us. Right? One thing that it definitely 00:49:08.929 --> 00:49:15.409 tells us is this. What is the good in ever returning 00:49:15.409 --> 00:49:21.429 evil for good? Like Nabal wanted to. Never. Right? 00:49:21.750 --> 00:49:24.980 Or... What is the good like David in returning 00:49:24.980 --> 00:49:32.460 evil for evil? Not good still. And apparently 00:49:32.460 --> 00:49:35.059 it says Abigail as well. Vengeance is God's, 00:49:35.059 --> 00:49:38.320 not yours, David. Or we could be like Abigail, 00:49:38.460 --> 00:49:43.460 right? And we could return good for evil. Jesus 00:49:43.460 --> 00:49:46.119 is blessed of the peacemakers. For they indeed 00:49:46.119 --> 00:49:49.219 are the children of God. What a story, right? 00:49:49.440 --> 00:49:51.239 This is a great woman. This is a great example. 00:49:52.519 --> 00:49:59.219 Now? Now it's all on us. Well, I'll take that.