Hope From the Word

Guest (Male): The word of God is full of real-life examples we can relate to and learn from, as Pastor Bill Luebkemann explains.

Bill Luebkemann: You kind of see in the Bible so many people go back and forth between being very godly and being very ungodly. Abraham doing what God wanted one minute and the next minute saying, "That's not my wife, that's my sister." Well, she really was my sister kind of because she's really... I married my... because she's three times removed and I'm... trying to justify things.

And you see here even people like David had their finer moments and their worse moments. And here was a guy who, fortunately, the Lord stepped in and prevented a tragedy.

Guest (Male): Fools. We encounter them almost on a daily basis, whether it's on the freeway, at the office, or maybe even waiting in line at the grocery store. Today we learn how to deal with fools. This is Hope from the Word from Calvary Chapel of Marlton. We're moving through 1 Samuel right now. Today, David encounters a foolish man named Nabal. In fact, that's what Nabal means: fool.

We'll see how he deals with a fool and how we should too. Here's Pastor Bill in 1 Samuel 25.

Bill Luebkemann: Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him at his home in Ramah. This book began with the birth of Samuel, even began before that, began with Samuel's mother, who was barren, praying for a child and the priest thinking she was an alcoholic herself and drunk the way she was carrying on, wailing in prayer when really she was just in anguish because she didn't have a child.

The priest prophesied and a year later, sure enough, that came true and she was with child and that child was Samuel. She dedicated Samuel to the Lord. He grew up there in the tabernacle and he led the nation for quite some time. He appointed or was God's guy to call Saul to be the king, and he's the guy who also anointed David to be the king. David is sort of the king-elect, going to be the president when the term ends. David doesn't know when his term's going to take over here.

But Samuel's lived a long time and we don't see him again in this book except for the very curious occurrence where they speak to him after he's departed, and that happens in chapter 28. But Samuel passed away, he died here, and the whole nation assembled and mourned. And it's funny they mourned for him in death, it doesn't seem like they always followed him in life.

There was some amount of respect, I think, but if you recall, he's the one that said, "Look, God doesn't want you to have a king." "Oh no, we want a king like everybody else. We want to be like everybody else." What they wanted was not what the Lord wanted to give them, and not just that they wanted a king, but they wanted a king like everybody else. And so that's what God gave them, a king just like everybody else had a king.

Saul was a terrible king. They got what they asked for, so to speak. They really turned away from the Lord and in so doing, really were turning away from Samuel also. But it seems like maybe at this point they understand that he was right all along and he was an important guy. Maybe the respect was only begrudging, I'm not certain, but the nation assembled and they mourned for Samuel and they buried him at his home, which may very well mean at his hometown.

Then David moved down into the desert of Maon. A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. His name was Nabal and his wife's name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings.

So we have here David, the King James says David arose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. Here in the NIV, it says he moved down into the desert of Maon. The idea is he got up and went down there. It's an interesting parallel here that Samuel died and David arose. And so you get this idea here that David's getting closer to coming into his kingdom.

And he moved down to the desert and there's this guy down there and his name means literally fool, this guy Nabal. And he was quite a fool because he had all this stuff and he didn't want to share any of it. This guy had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep. Now as you go through the scriptures and you see how many animals different people had, this puts him into the relatively wealthy category of people. Four thousand animals to his name here doesn't mention how much property he had, but we're given to believe he had quite a lot of it. And he was shearing his animals here.

The Romans, the way they sheared the sheep, those they just ripped it out, which must have been not pleasant for it, but the Israelites did it by cutting it off somehow. I don't think they had the electric buzzer thing they use to trim your neck at the barbershop, but they cut it off. But it was like a harvest time. The animal grew all this fur, all this wool, and we're going to harvest it off once a year and we're going to use it to make things out of.

So it's a time of celebration, not unlike bringing in the harvest. And we're going to use it, we're going to sell it, we're going to get money for it, we're going to reap finally, been feeding these blasted animals all year long, cleaning up after them, and we're finally going to get something for them. And so it was a time of celebration and we're going to see that here also.

But this guy named Fool was there shearing his animals and his wife was quite a contrast. She was intelligent and beautiful. You get the idea that she had her act together. This must have been an arranged marriage, think in terms of Fiddler on the Roof here now, because she would never have married this oaf if it was up to her.

And her husband, nothing wrong with being a Calebite. Caleb was a famous guy. Joshua and Caleb were the two spies that wanted to go into the Promised Land. They were the two that wanted to follow God. In the two and the ten, when the twelve spies went into the Promised Land, they came back. Two guys said, "Yeah, we should do it. We should take the Promised Land. We can build there. God wants to give it to us. It's flowing with milk and honey."

And the other ten said, "No way, man, we can never do that. The giants are there." And those ten turned the whole two million against Moses. And you remember they took the first congregational vote there known in the Bible and it was two million to two against doing what God wanted. And nowadays people would say, "Well, those two guys just weren't in the will of God. It's too bad they just weren't hearing it like the other two million were. Boy, God gave us a great victory in our vote here. Two million people agreed with the will of God and only two guys were confused."

Well, this guy was descended from Caleb but he wasn't like Caleb. He was surly and mean in his dealings. I think I have another translation here, but the man was churlish and evil in his doing. So he was not a nice guy. Let's put it that way. He was not a guy that you could talk to. We're going to see that in a little while here. He was not a guy you could have a conversation with. You couldn't tell him he was wrong. You couldn't really debate anything with him. He knew the best way to do everything and he wanted everything for himself.

So we have David out in the desert here. This guy is shearing his animals and David hears about it in verse four. While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. So he sent ten young men and said to them, "Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. Say to him: 'Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!'"

"'Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing. Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my young men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.'" When David's men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in David's name. Then they waited.

Look, David hears it's festival time. It's a celebration. They're shearing the sheep. That's when people gave away gifts. It was sort of like Christmas is today, maybe. And that's when they took care of each other and that's when they had parties. We're going to see later on in this chapter this fool guy was having a big party and he was celebrating and he was drunk and he was having a good time. So it further shows that this was a celebratory kind of a time.

And what a perfect time for David to ask this guy for a little bit to help his men, who he's living with him out in the woods. Six hundred guys living out in the desert without much stuff. They didn't have a lot of material possessions. So he said, "Go up and greet this guy." Now everything about David, he did this in a totally class act kind of a way.

My first thought when I read this was I remember as a kid going to Connie Mack Stadium in some less than desirable part of Philadelphia. And I remember I was just a young kid. I was with my father and maybe my brother, we parked the car and I remember some kid came up and said he would watch the car for ten cents or twenty-five cents or something. Which meant that if you gave him the ten cents or the twenty-five cents, he wouldn't damage your car. It didn't mean he was going to really watch it for you. Maybe he was, but he wanted a bribe or a payoff there. It's a protection racket.

That's the first thought you get here but that's really not accurate and we're going to see why as we go through this. David really had performed a valuable service for this guy in the desert and they certainly didn't turn him away and refuse to accept his generosity. So David said, first of all, number one, greet the guy in my name. So when you get there, you're not some anonymous riff-raff guy that just blew in from the desert here. This is in the name of David, the soon-to-be king of Israel. They couldn't say they didn't know who David was.

Remember we saw just a few chapters ago, Saul has killed his thousands and David has killed his tens of thousands. They were singing about David after he slew Goliath and that was a number of years before. So these people knew who David was. Greet them in my name. You're going as my representative and say to them: "Long life to you and good health to you and your household and to all that is yours." In other words, "I bring you tidings of good news or great joy." This is a friendly visit. I've got six hundred guys with me out in the desert. I'm not here to stiff you, take what you got or anything like that.

Nowadays in America, people donate in the election, corporations and big organizations, they donate to both parties so they have their bases covered. Donate to the Republicans, donate to the Democrats. Whichever one wins then they can call in their favor, say, "We helped you get elected and we want you to do this and this and this." In other words, it's seen as being beneficial to be tight or friendly with those people who are going to be powerful.

And wouldn't it make sense to have a nice relationship with the future king? "Yeah, whatever we can do to help you, King, we'll be more than happy to. By the way, here's our address and phone number, don't forget it." So greet them in a friendly way. Tell them you're coming from me, wishing them good health and long life and all the best for their household and everything that is theirs.

"And by the way, we heard it's sheep-shearing time. We heard that it's celebration time. We heard that your shepherds, they brought the sheep in. There's lots of wool there. You guys are doing well. And we just want to remind you when your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing."

You could read that and think, "Well, what's he saying there? We didn't steal anything of yours?" But as you go further into this chapter, you find out what he's saying was, "We were protecting you from the other riff-raff." You had the Philistines nearby. You had other groups in the area there. You had vagabonds and whoever else was in the desert and wild animals even.

So when their shepherds were out there in the desert, there were many things that could have come and harmed the flocks. And David said, "We protected your flocks. We protected your shepherds. We not only didn't mistreat them, we did the opposite. We treated them well. The whole time they were there, nothing was missing. No wild animals came up and took any. None of the Philistines got any of your stuff."

You might not understand that from this verse first, but it'll be made clear here in a little while as we go through this chapter that that's what he did. And they invite the guy, look at verse eight, "Ask your own servants and they will tell you." So a class act here. When you were in the desert, we took care of you. You really benefited by our presence there.

"So be favorable towards us because it's a festive time and you're partying anyway and could you give us a little something, whatever you can find?" David wasn't even asking for himself. He's asking for his guys. "Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them." Well, okay, he was asking for himself but even there you see he does it with respect. "Your son David. Will you give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them?"

This guy has four thousand animals and who knows what else. They weren't asking for a lot. We're going to see later on, it doesn't take much to make David happy. "Do you have anything at all that you can give us to help us out? We're living out in the desert. We could use a little help." Not asking for much and being very polite as well. Not presenting them with a bill. They would have been happy with whatever was given to them. God loves a cheerful giver and I think it applied back then just as much as it does now. It's the attitude of the heart more than the amount that matters.

And David's men arrived, they gave the message to Nabal, Fool. They gave this old fool the message and well, he took a long time thinking about it. Then they waited. I don't know how long they waited but they waited. Now here's a guy that has the opportunity to bless the future king in a small way, but instead Nabal answered David's servants, "Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers and give it to men coming from who knows where?"

This is an insult in the first degree. First of all, who is this David? He's the guy they're all singing about, remember? The reason he said bring the greetings in my name is because his name would be recognized. It wasn't that he was some anonymous riff-raff guy that just blew in from the desert here. "Harry from out in the desert is asking for a handout." Who's Harry? No, it's not that at all. It's David. And he insults him. "I don't know who David is. Who is this son of Jesse?"

Notice they didn't say anything about Jesse, but Nabal knew whose son he was. "Many," he says, "many servants are breaking away from their masters these days." Apparently this guy knows there's some kind of a dispute going on between Saul and David. Now we're going to see in a little while that Abigail, the beautiful and intelligent wife of this fool, she knows that David's being pursued. She knows that they're trying to kill David. She knows that David's going to be the king. She knows that David's in the right.

How can she know all this stuff and her husband not know any of it? The answer is he's just greedy. And he says, at the time of harvest, that's more so than any other time when you want to keep in mind where your blessings come from. And you don't see any recognition from this fool guy Nabal that he knows where this stuff came from. It doesn't seem to strike him that his bread and water came from God.

Instead he says, "Why should I take my bread and water? And the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers." So now we're up to I and my twice each. "And give it to men coming from who knows where? Why should I take what I've got? What I worked hard for? Not what God gave me, what God blessed me with, but why should I take what I got and give it to these guys coming from who knows where?"

He acts like these guys... by the way, these are the guys that just saved the whole city of Keilah, which we saw last week. These are the guys that didn't kill Saul when they had the opportunity. These are the guys that were protecting Nabal's flocks when they were out in the desert. And he says, "Give it to men coming from who knows where?" Look, I want to make sure you understand what the bottom line is here. He just didn't want to give up anything. It has nothing to do with... it only has to do with one thing: this guy was greedy, he wanted to keep it all for himself. That's the only thing it has to do with.

David's men turned around and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word. David said to his men, "Put on your swords!" So they put on their swords and David put on his. About four hundred men went up with David while two hundred stayed with the supplies. This was not David's finest hour here and fortunately the Lord stepped in and prevented him from a massacre because he was on his way to kill Nabal, as we're going to see in a few minutes. Just clean out his clock, clean out all the males in his household. He's just going to wipe them all out.

Well, that's not what God wanted. That's not the way you solve the problem either. Here's David who wouldn't lay a hand on Saul, who was trying to kill him, and now this guy won't give him a few animals, he's going to wipe out the whole... you see in the Bible so many people go back and forth between being very godly and being very ungodly.

Abraham doing what God wanted one minute and the next minute saying, "That's not my wife, that's my sister." Well, she really was my sister kind of because she's really... I married my... because she's three times removed and I'm... trying to justify things. And you see here even people like David had their finer moments and their worse moments. And here was a guy who, fortunately, the Lord stepped in and prevented a tragedy as we're going to see.

He wasn't happy though. "Put on your swords." Now remember just a few chapters ago, there weren't any swords. Only Saul had the only sword. David didn't have a sword. He went down to the priest and got the sword of Goliath. Now it seems like all six hundred guys have their own sword. So we're making some progress here in the armament department. And David put them all up, took four hundred of his guys, two hundred left behind to guard the supplies and four hundred go up and their intention is to take out this guy Nabal.

Meanwhile back at the farm, one of the servants, this guy Nabal, he was a rich fool, he had some servants and his wife had servants. And one of the servants told Nabal's wife Abigail, "David sent messengers from the desert to give our master his greetings but he hurled insults at them." Look, sometimes you read further through the story, you find additional color commentary about what happened.

First thing it looks like, "Well, it's not so bad. The guy was a little abrupt or whatever, but maybe he didn't really owe them anything." But now we're seeing that it's really a little more colorful than that. David sent messengers... look, this servant didn't need to tell Nabal's wife which David this was. He didn't have to say David son of Jesse, David the future king, David the guy with six hundred men out in the wilderness, David this, David who was anointed by Saul. There's other people named David, you know, but David, everybody knew who David was. That's why the husband had no excuse.

And this servant tells Abigail, "David sent messengers to give our master his greetings." You know, he didn't say David sent messengers to try to fleece our flock. David sent messengers to try to steal some stuff from us. No, this guy interpreted David's mission correctly. And if you interpret it differently, you need to read this verse to be reminded what the whole point of it is.

"David sent messengers from the desert to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them. Yet these men were very good to us. They did not mistreat us and the whole time we were out in the fields near them, nothing was missing. Night and day they were a wall around us all the time we were herding our sheep near them."

"Now think it over and see what you can do because disaster is hanging over our master and his whole household. He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him." This guy says, "Look, these servants of David, David and his six hundred guys, they were very good to us. They took care of us. Not only did they not mistreat us, they were like a wall around us. Man, they protected us! It was a pleasure being out there."

"We never had such an easy time herding our animals before. We didn't have to fight off the wild animals, we didn't have to worry about the Philistines coming. It didn't matter if it was nighttime or daytime or what day of the week it was, they always were protecting us. At least we could do is give them a little token of our appreciation, a little gratitude." And he says... he doesn't tell her what to do. David didn't tell his guys what to ask for and they didn't tell Nabal what they wanted. And this servant doesn't tell Abigail what to do. He just says, "Think it over and see what you can do." But he correctly knows disaster is hanging over our master.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Hope from the Word. We're currently in Pastor Bill Luebkemann's study of 1 Samuel. If you'd like to hear this message again, you have several options. Visit our website at ccmarlton.org or download the Hope FM app to your smartphone or tablet. Or look for us wherever you find podcasts.

If you've been thinking about visiting Calvary Chapel of Marlton where Bill serves as pastor, we'd love to have you. Our service times are on Sunday mornings at 10:00. We also meet midweek on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. You can also livestream from home when you visit our YouTube channel at Calvary Chapel of Marlton. For more information, go to ccmarlton.org. We hope to see you soon.

Before the day is done, we'd like to connect with you. Share a praise report, prayer request, or what you're learning from this series. You can easily email us from our website, ccmarlton.org, or just call us at 856-983-1662. There's more to come from Bill's study of 1 Samuel and we'll have that for you next time on Hope from the Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann. This program is brought to you by Calvary Chapel of Marlton.