Wise Woman: Abigail
Woman of Adversity.
She was married to Nabal. His name meant “Fool”
Nabal had a rich Godly inheritance. Although Nabal had a good background, he was descended from Caleb whose faith and courage was rewarded by obtaining the very land Nabal now owned. However his heart was ugly and mean-spirited
He had evidently been that way for a long time, as his bad name was known even by his servants.
He was married to a beautiful God fearing woman called Abigail “loved of her father “She no doubt had much trouble with this man. The bible calls her intelligent. (Interestingly only two people in the bible are called intelligent, and this woman was one of those.)
This was a time when David,( who had been chosen to be the next King of Israel by Samuel the prophet), was being chased around the country by King Saul.
While in the mountains, David and his men had protected Nabal’s men and flocks against many dangers. Nabal’s own men described them as being a wall to them, night and day
David sent his young men down to ask for help. He asked peaceably and humbly. This was shearing time when Nabal was celebrating and it was customary to give gifts to the workers.
Nabal’s refusal showed his attitude, he was rude and insulting .
Shall I give “my…….my ………my ……”He was nothing, but for the good things he had been given and blessed with from his forefathers .
He knew who David was, he also knew God’s way and yet treated David badly. David was upset and angrily set out with his men to fight against Nabal. He was taking matters into his own hands.
An Approachable Woman
Nabal’s own servants rushed to Abigail. They told her how good David’s men had been in helping them,they called their master a man of Belial (the Devil) with whom no-one could reason .
Abigail a wise woman listened.If David came to fight Nabel, innocent people would be killed.
They were comfortable saying exactly what they thought without fear of trouble.It shows what type of a lady Abigail was.She heard her servants plea. She was not to big to listen to her servants.
She did not talk to Nabal as she knew he was not approachable
A Generous Woman:
This amazing lady packed up supplies on several donkeys She said nothing to Nabal .
A Caring Woman:
She met David and stopped him from going to fight Nabal.She was pleading for the lives of her servants.
A Brave Woman :
She was taking a great risk as Nabal would be furious.
A Humble Woman :
She humbly knelt on the ground. She took responsibility for the situation. She admitted Nabels foolishness.
She asked David to accept her gifts .
A Woman of Insight:
She pointed out that David fought The Lord’s battles. She called David, lord .She showed David the foolishness of his own actions. She knew the plan God had for David. She believed he would be King.
A Woman of Encouragement:
God gave her words of encouragement for David telling him what would happen. She spoke of Saul and told how God would protect David because he served God.
She pointed out that he should not be guilty of taking revenge. He would be sorry.
A Woman of Entreaty :
Her wisdom was taken notice off because she entreated David humbly. He listened and realised God had sent her to stop him from this foolish action.
She asked that when it was over that he remember her. Her life must have been hard with Nabel,yet she put her servants and David’s needs before her own.
A Silent Woman:
She went home, Nabel was extremely drunk, so she kept quiet until next day. She knew when to speak and when to be silent.
When he was sober, she told him what she had done and he had a heart attack and died ten days later.
Because of Abigail’s advice David had not done anything to harm Nabal and the situation was taken care of without bloodshed.
A Rewarded Woman:
When David heard what happened he returned and took this beautiful wise woman to be his wife.
A Servant-like Woman:
This rich intelligent beautiful lady responded
“Just let me be a servant to wash your servants feet.”
She had a true servant heart.
Abigail: A Wise Woman Of the Bible