Living Fearless in the Training Grounds of Wisdom

We are going to look in chapter 25 of 1 Samual which is the story of Abigial, Nabal and David. First, I want to establish the main characters and the context this story opens up to. In the first verse we read David is grieving over the death of Samuel. In fact, the whole nation is grieving and has paid homage to the burial in Ramah just north of Jerusalem. In addition, David is fleeing from King Saul as Saul is attempting to kill David. All the while knowing of a promise of becoming king of Israel in the future. Another note, David is from the tribe of Judah and the same lineage of Jesus. In contrast in verse 3, Nabal is described as a cruel, evil, foolish (his name evens means fool), worthless man, can’t be reasoned with, extremely wealthy, and a Calebite. Just as in the Biblical times, names are reflective of a person’s image, nature or character. The term Calebite refers to coming from the tribe of Judah and a descendent of Caleb who was one of the spies who attested the Jews could take the promise land before their 40 years in the wilderness. Finally, we have the heroin of the story also in verse 3, Abigail. She is the only woman in the Bible who is described as both beautiful and discerning. She is wise and humble in her dealings. Being the wife of Nabal, she also is wealthy and has much responsibility for running her household. So, let’s read this chapter together. Up until this time David has shown great restraint in dealing with Saul in running away from the God’s appointed King rather than taking vengeance at Saul’s repeated attempts in killing David. Ironically, Nabal lives near the very town Saul has erected a monument in his own honor. This has led to the rejection of Saul by God in 1 Samuel 15. (Note in 1 Samuel 14:52 Saul was at war with the Philistines his whole reign as king sounds like today’s war, doesn’t it?) In verse 7, we see David is only asking for customary payment for compensation for keeping the flocks and shepherds safe while in his protection. It also has to be remembered; both of these men are of the same tribe of Israel which also comes along with the same customs of hospitality and care. However, we see Nabal’s behavior is much like Saul’s behavior with David. In verse 10, Nabal rejects any customary hospitality and even calls David riffraff of the troublemaker types. Out of fear, men of the household are not willing to leave their lives in Nabal’s hands. Rather, they go directly to his wife as stated in verse 14. Abigail is familiar with the knowledge of David’s future kingship; his victories in fighting the Philistines; and his reputation of giving glory to the Lord rather than himself. In verse 18, Abigail does not hesitate to act and is sure to seek the help of the household servants. Just as her husband is enjoying a time of feasting and drunkenness, Abigail prepares a feast for the men of David. Abigail does not tell her husband presumably because he would have prevented her from going. Also, as noted in her return, he is drunk and unreasonable. Abigail waits for a more opportune time to tell Nabal about her saving the household after sobering up. Even though Abigail is wealthy she doesn’t put her trust in her wealth or in the comforts of life. She stays vigilant in learning and developing skills of discernment while running her household. She wasn’t caught off guard when her household was threatened. Instead, she is humble and takes leadership responsibility when it is deemed necessary. We can see God was building character within Abigail’s heart as she lived in the household of Nabal. This provided her the practice and a reputation of respect and provided her with the power to respond to adversity. Even though Abigail appears to have the reason to nag Nabal with his dealings with David. Abigail’s attitude of humility and honor afforded her the boldness to face David to save her household and David’s integrity and legacy. Abigail identifies herself as a maid servant in verse 24 as she gives a wonderfully articulated plea acknowledging David as Lord. Abigail has developed discernment by practicing her living with a difficult man. She is quick to listen not to respond. She is quick to listen and to respond with careful evaluation to a situation. She is able to evaluate how the current situation needs to be addressed and how to use her resources wisely (just look at the amount of food she was able to pull together in such a short time). She is willing to bow in prostrating position to call out who God is. She is willing to remind David, a man of power and of God, who He is and what he is destined to become. She is willing to risk her life to take responsibility where she did nothing wrong and to be careful not to pick sides in this conflict. Genesis 50:20 articulating forgiveness surpasses personal grievances. Abigail is also strong enough to remove herself from the revenge business. She trusts God to judge righteously and justly. She is willing to approach the situation as a peace maker and points out the Lord is trustworthy enough to deal with Nabal. Deuteronomy 32:35 Further, Abigail’s faith in God allowed her to focus in on the needs of David and his men of physical needs instead of fear. Her examples of bitterness and unforgiveness don’t mix with humility, honor, respect and wisdom. As we see, which is written in Proverbs 11:2; Proverbs 22:4; Proverbs 16:5; Proverbs 29:8. Abigail identifies herself as a maidservant and David as Lord. David accepts her pleading countering her good sense and wisdom and his own oath of bloodshed with a new oath of restraint of shedding blood of the household of Nabal. As a result, God is left to avenge this whole situation. God shows the consequences of a man with an evil heart becoming like stone. Nabal meets his fate measure for measure in the petrification of his hard heart turning to stone. In today’s culture we are encouraged not to put up with disrespect. We are told we don’t deserve to be put down or placed below men. We need to give “them” a piece of our mind and take our control back. But we see through Abigail’s example even while living under a cruel husband, God was building attributes of a future queen. We may be tempted to think Abigail rides off into the sunset with David as he returns to make her his wife at the end of the chapter in verse 39. However, let’s not forget what is just around the corner. She is now going to be living in the wilderness with 600 soldiers. When she does arrive at the palace, she will not be the only wife. She will be sharing her husband with 5 other wives. David will be having an affair with Bathsheba and a child will be born to take the throne. Abigail’s own child will never be considered for the throne. We never hear anything more regarding her life. In many ways this may be because she, in her wisdom, knows how to stay away from trouble and sin. However, we are given a clear insight into the power of honor, humility and respect that can defeat our enemies and even turn others to repentance. When we experience rejection and mistreatment, we can also uncover the power of humility, respect and honor while living in the challenging times we face today. Finally, how we deal with a difficult people in our lives can influence how they see God. We have to realize we can’t change people; only God can. God can change people’s hearts if we relinquish our self-righteous trying to change them. Once we do so, we are free of the frustration of trying and failing when people in our lives don’t change. Whether a husband, family member, neighbor or co-worker, we can’t carry the burden of changing their hearts. When we step back and let God work on the heart issues of other people, we allow God the room to deal with their restoration and salvation. While the times appear to be dark and we don’t know how God is going to work out the difficult situations in our lives, we don’t have to be paralyzed by fear and know there is nothing God doesn’t see. We can be assured God is going to be our avenger, defender, refuge, and comforter. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Shining Light into the Dark

 

2024 Paris Olympics, public domain taken by Irene Leoline

Shedding light on evil is painful. We don’t like confronting the reality of the ugliness of human history. Instead, we prefer to look at the illusion of how wonderful life was back then, and the great wonders man has achieved.

It deeply saddens me that modesty and appropriateness for children have now become a toxic free-for-all, with all restraint gone. This did not happen overnight. It has been a systematic shift, purposefully orchestrated by those who want free will to do as they please and to have acceptance from all cultures, including the church. As long as the church is present on earth, there will be a voice calling out sin for what it is. So, they need to get the church to relent, just like a child desires a parent to change the limits.

Even a child understands the fundamental principle: if you want to do something you have been told not to, get the parent to change their mind by any means possible. Today, the means involve desensitizing the vast majority into acceptance a little at a time, moving the standard of acceptance one inch at a time until finally, you have moved the full length of the yardstick.

Calling into question Genesis 1-11 has allowed this shift away from holding onto a foundational standard of the Bible. The new standard of thinking, "I am not the worst person on earth," clears the way to lower the standard indefinitely. As long as you are not the worst, you are okay. This is how the standard is moved over time to allow for acceptance of any depravity of the human mind. Today, we call against sex trafficking but hold up the shiny glory of days gone by in ancient Greece and Rome, which supported the sex industry and enslavement as part of daily worship within the temples of stone and wood gods. In a few years, we may be back to that standard.

We are crying for the saving of children and the harm being perpetrated by self-worshipping evil people, all the while giving freedom to kill the very children who have not even left the womb. This is in the name of the god of self and the right to live life as one wants. Today, we protect children out of the womb and keep them safe. In the name of prosperity and wealth, children were sacrificed at the temple of the gods by the very hands of their parents. I fear we are returning to this reality as we have provided the means to mutilate the bodies of the very young. The children who, until this time, were understood to be incapable of understanding the long-term consequences of their choices and were much too young to have the skills and experience to make life-altering decisions. Magically, this has changed to give approval and acceptance for adults to have the comfort of enjoying the pleasures of sexual deviations. The confusion of a 7-year-old can lead them to choose to alter their body; but a 17-year-old is incapable of handling nicotine, alcohol, or firearms. The logic behind this rationale can only be traced back to what will justify the god of pleasure.

This all brings us to this past week. The show of what was said to be “art” and the reverence for history has caused a firestorm of both disgust and approval. This was no accident. By using the world platform to create shock and awe, the pebble in the lake has started the ripple effect. The question is, will the people of the church be silent?

The fact of the matter is humans are inherently sinful, and not everyone is always going to make the right choices or decisions. I am included in this nature. Earlier today, I was absolutely disgusted and disappointed with the justification of the parading of acceptance for debauchery, sexual free pleasure, and approval of public drunkenness. I spoke out when I should have been more cautious. As I am human, I will make mistakes, and I express my regret over my first ranting. But the very elements that keep harm from coming to people are the very same restraints people are complaining about, keeping people from having their fun. We all cry foul when a family in a car accident has been killed by a person who was intoxicated after a night of partying. We cry foul when a perpetrator rapes but wants free rein to express their sexuality and satisfy their pleasures.  Instead, they call on the “public” to look away to allow for their enjoyment parading down the streets. The reality is you can't have free will without restraint. There will always be a point where your free will comes into the sphere of another’s free will. Just by living our daily lives, we all affect each other.

God knew this and established the guidelines for us to live. Not a single law or guideline in the Bible is established to harm us or prevent us from a life of joy or peace. The only stealing of peace and joy is by the very sinful nature of our own will to serve self.

The Olympic opening ceremony was an example of our human want to become our own gods, to serve ourselves, and to celebrate our achievements in attaining this. Sadly, this has tainted all the hard work and dedication many of the participants have put into this event. We should not stop supporting the spirit of the accomplishments these athletes have achieved. Nor should we stop supporting the spirit of the want to have peace and work together. We should hold those in leadership of the Olympics accountable and call out the distasteful charades of personal agendas. Future events should be monitored and reviewed for discreetly appropriate displays.

How should the church respond? We need to call attention to what is sin. Yes, we will offend. That is the point. Calling sin for what it is will be offensive. The Gospel is offensive to evil. But we need to also be tempered in our expressions and remember we are all of the same human race in which we all sin and are all struggling against the desires of self. That is why we are in desperate need of rescue. There is only one way of rescue, and that is through the Gospel and Jesus. Your good works won’t get you to heaven; killing people or completing penitence won’t get you to heaven; praying to a saint or paying your way won’t get you into heaven; thinking good thoughts or worshipping wood and stone statues won’t give you peace. There is only one true way that will solve your sin problem, and that is through knowing and believing in who Jesus is, the only Son of God.  When you die, do you know if you will be going to heaven?

20  Woe to those who call evil good

and good evil,

who put darkness for light

and light for darkness,

who put bitter for sweet

and sweet for bitter!

Isaiah 5:20

27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Matthew 26:27-29