Did you know there was an Abigail in the Bible?
Yes Sir! Sure was and God lead me to learn about this courageous woman that God used & her wicked husband that was foolish!
Let's look in the book of Samuel Chapter 25- KJV
| 1 | And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. ¶ And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran. |
| 2 | And there was a man in Ma'on, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. |
| 3 | Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Ab'igail; 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. |
| 4 | And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep. |
| 5 | 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 aught missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. |
| 8 | Ask thy young men, and they will show thee. Wherefore let the young men find favor 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. |
| 9 | ¶ And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. |
| 10 | And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants nowadays 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? |
| 12 | So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings. |
| 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. |
| 14 | ¶ But one of the young men told Ab'igail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them. |
| 15 | But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields. |
| 16 | They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. |
| 17 | Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Be'li-al, that a man cannot speak to him. |
| 18 | ¶ Then Ab'igail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. |
| 19 | And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. |
| 20 | And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them. |
| 21 | Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. |
| 22 | So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. |
| 23 | ¶ And when Ab'igail 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 Be'li-al, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal 4 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 offense 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. |
| 32 | ¶ And David said to Ab'igail, 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. |
| 34 | For in very deed, as the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. |
| 35 | So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person. |
| 36 | ¶ And Ab'igail 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. |
Now to summarize a few things in the verses that God showed me:
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| Seeking God's Will |
Abigail was chosen in marriage by Nabal. Nabal was a mean, dishonest, rude, wicked and very wealthy man. His name means "fool". Nabal was verbally abusive and had a high self-righteous ego. He was a very selfish man!
Abigail was a Carmelite woman that worked as a homemaker and handled matters of the house. She loved the Lord and provided for her family and was a wonderful wife to Nabal despite his wickedness. Even though Nabal did not treat Abigail right, she remained a loyal and loving wife to him. Her faithfulness to the Lord spared Nabal from God's judgement.
When David and his men were camping not far from Nabal & Abigail's home, David sent his servants to ask if Nabal could provide the necessary substance "supplies" they needed for him and his army of men. Nabal sarcastically replied denied their request to David's servants. He was egotistical, rude and selfish! When Abigail heard of her husband's insulting comments from one of David's young servants, she immediately went into action! Abigail began to make preparations to make up for her husband's foolish actions. She prepared up and gathered up: 200 loaves, 2 bottles of wine, 5 sheep, 5 measures of corn, 100 clusters of raisins, 200 cakes of figs, and loaded them onto the donkeys to bring to David and his men. Abigail sent her servants out before her and she followed behind them. She did not tell Nabal what she was doing or where she was going.
She risked her life to in 2 ways-
1st by not telling her husband of her plans, and in those times women were their husband's property and she could easily lose her life and everything she had by doing God's will, which was against her husband's wishes.
2nd by going to meet David and the huge army of over 400 plus men with swords standing on guard and having an angry leader at their head due to Nabal's reply! The ride through the mountain and the ravine was treacherous and dangerous and anything could happen!
Once Abigail and her servants reached the camp, she approached David and asked forgiveness of her husband's actions. Abigail took the blame for the sin of her husband. Desiring to intercede on behalf of one's family requires a character of humility, sacrifice, and personal cost. Abigail had no idea what situation she would face when she got back home to Nabal. She spoke prophetic words to David and counseled him. She interceded for her people before David. What a courageous woman! Abigail prevented certain disaster regarding herself and her family by humbling herself before David. David's heart was softened and he knew she was of the Lord. As a result of her faithfulness to the Lord, and her humbling character, much bloodshed was averted that day! Abigail had the courage to do what her husband would not do!
When Abigail and her servants returned home, she came to Nabal, he was having a huge feast big enough for a king! Nabal's heart was happy because he was very drunk. Abigail decided not to tell him that evening, but to wait until the morning when he was sober. Once the morning sunlight shone through the windows, she went to Nabal and told him what she did and Nabal's heart failed him and he was like stone! For the Lord smote Nabal and he died!
Wow, what a courageous woman of God! God was with Abigail throughout her marriage and saw how she was treated by her wicked husband. She continued to do God's will despite her husband's approval. God saw Abigail's sacrifice she made and many times God spared His judgement on Nabal due to Abigail's faithfulness to the Lord. Nabal would not turn from his wicked ways and God saw the courageous act Abigail did and said enough is enough and God smote Nabal down by allowing his heart to fail! Nabal's time was out, God would not allow Abigail to be mistreated anymore and so God said ENOUGH!
We can learn a valuable lesson from Abigail by learning humility and courage to stand up and do God's will despite of any Nabal's in your life! God will protect you and help you every step of the way. We just have to step out on faith and know that what God calls us to do, no matter how large the assignment is or how insignificant it may seem, He will honor your faithfulness to Him just as He did dear Abby!
