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In and Out
Unlike many of us, David could take constructive criticism, and he observes in Abigail’s words the workings of God. In a moment he sees the consequences of his proposed actions in perspective, and he is thankful that God has intervened to prevent a bloodbath. Abigail arrives home to discover that her husband is once again in no condition to listen, and so she wisely waits until the next morning to inform him of what has happened.
Nabal is terror-stricken. He most likely suffers a stroke and dies ten days later. David has not forgotten Abigail and sends men to make a marriage proposal for him.
Consider Abigail’s last recorded words in the context of this week’s study (1 Sam. 25:41). What do they tell us about Abigail? What other biblical examples can you find of the same principle in action?
Abigail was a woman of influence. She had five maids; and yet, she was willing to serve. Much later Jesus would say, “ ‘the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve’ ” (Matt. 20:28, NKJV).
Abigail’s life was no fairytale, even after her marriage to David. As was the custom in those days, David had many wives, and family life was far from God’s ideal. Abigail was David’s second wife and had to be constantly on the run from King Saul. At Ziklag she, along with the other men’s families, was captured by the Amalekites and later rescued. It is here where Abigail finally disappears from the biblical narrative. We would all expect to see this wise and beautiful woman at King David’s side, playing an important role as David’s story develops further, and there’s only silence instead. All we know about her further is that she had a son called Daniel (1 Chron. 3:1) or Chileab (2 Sam. 3:3), who was second in line to the throne by birth order. However, both Abigail and her son disappear from the picture. Some scholars believe that both she and her son died violently. Given the later rapes, murders, revolts, and rebellions that David’s oldest sons were involved in, an early death was perhaps not the worst that could happen.
As followers of Jesus, our lives are not necessarily fairytales, either. God knows the end from the beginning, and so all the turns of our lives do not need to make sense to us. We need, instead, to trust in the goodness of God.
Submission to others, even when appropriate, is not usually easy, for it requires a sense of humility and dependency. How well do you fare in that area? How can you learn to submit when necessary? How can we learn from Christ’s incredible examples of submission?
| THURSDAY | October 28 |
Unlike many of us, David could take constructive criticism, and he observes in Abigail’s words the workings of God. In a moment he sees the consequences of his proposed actions in perspective, and he is thankful that God has intervened to prevent a bloodbath. Abigail arrives home to discover that her husband is once again in no condition to listen, and so she wisely waits until the next morning to inform him of what has happened.
Nabal is terror-stricken. He most likely suffers a stroke and dies ten days later. David has not forgotten Abigail and sends men to make a marriage proposal for him.
Consider Abigail’s last recorded words in the context of this week’s study (1 Sam. 25:41). What do they tell us about Abigail? What other biblical examples can you find of the same principle in action?
Abigail was a woman of influence. She had five maids; and yet, she was willing to serve. Much later Jesus would say, “ ‘the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve’ ” (Matt. 20:28, NKJV).
Abigail’s life was no fairytale, even after her marriage to David. As was the custom in those days, David had many wives, and family life was far from God’s ideal. Abigail was David’s second wife and had to be constantly on the run from King Saul. At Ziklag she, along with the other men’s families, was captured by the Amalekites and later rescued. It is here where Abigail finally disappears from the biblical narrative. We would all expect to see this wise and beautiful woman at King David’s side, playing an important role as David’s story develops further, and there’s only silence instead. All we know about her further is that she had a son called Daniel (1 Chron. 3:1) or Chileab (2 Sam. 3:3), who was second in line to the throne by birth order. However, both Abigail and her son disappear from the picture. Some scholars believe that both she and her son died violently. Given the later rapes, murders, revolts, and rebellions that David’s oldest sons were involved in, an early death was perhaps not the worst that could happen.
As followers of Jesus, our lives are not necessarily fairytales, either. God knows the end from the beginning, and so all the turns of our lives do not need to make sense to us. We need, instead, to trust in the goodness of God.
Submission to others, even when appropriate, is not usually easy, for it requires a sense of humility and dependency. How well do you fare in that area? How can you learn to submit when necessary? How can we learn from Christ’s incredible examples of submission?
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