Love Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom, and welcome to V'ahavta Yisrael, a Hebrew phrase which means "you shall love Israel." We hope you'll stay with us for the next 30 minutes as our teacher, Dr. Baruch, shares his expository teaching from the Bible. Dr. Baruch is the senior lecturer at the Zera Avraham Institute based in Israel.

Although all courses are taught in Hebrew at the Institute, Dr. Baruch is pleased to share this weekly address in English. To find out more about our work in Israel, please visit us on the web at loveisrael.org. That's one word, loveisrael.org. Now, here's Baruch with today's lesson.

Dr. Baruch Korman: In this study, we're going to see a transition. The reason why I say a transition is because Samuel the Prophet, a man who was very faithful to the purposes of God, he has died. This is going to bring about a change in how Saul proceeds against David.

With that said, take out your Bible and look with me to 1 Samuel and chapter 25. 1 Samuel and chapter 25. Let's begin with verse one, where we read: "And Samuel died. And we see then all of Israel, they were gathered and they lamented for him, and they buried him at his house in Ramah, that is where he was from." And we see that David rose up and he went down to the wilderness of Paran.

Now, I've been to the wilderness of Paran. It's a very desolate place. Some of the rabbinical scholars, they see David going there for the purpose of also mourning this man of God. But we're going to see that while David was there, something very significant took place. And what is that?

He is going to meet a very ungodly individual, one who does not love the Lord, does not apply the word of God to his life and, therefore, does not demonstrate how we are called and commanded by God to love our neighbor as ourself. So, let's press on. Notice what the scripture says in the next verse.

We see here in this next verse, verse two: "A man in Maon, and he worked in Carmel. And this man was very great, and to him were a flock of 3,000, meaning 3,000 sheep, and 1,000 goat. And it came about when he was shearing his flock at Carmel." So, we see something. We see that David, he is going to the wilderness of Paran, this desert place.

But we find that he encountered someone. He encountered this wealthy man, where it says here literally, he was a great man, meaning one of notoriety. And what do we read about him? Well, he had a thousand goats and 3,000 sheep and he was taking them to be sheared at this time in what place? In Carmel, a very, very populous and very, very expensive location. Look now to verse three.

And the name of the man was Nabal. Now, I've shared with you that whenever we come across a name of an individual, as we are right now, or a name of a place, we should stop and we should do some research. And what does that mean? We should find out what that name means.

And this name Nabal has great significance. What does it mean? It speaks about someone who is very foolish. Someone who is not stupid, but rather he does not respond to the information that is provided him, and we'll see this in an undeniable way in a few minutes.

Press on. We are told the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife was Abigail. And the woman was good, and we have a word "sechel". Sechel is a word of intelligence. It also speaks about someone who can discern a situation and understand the significance of what is taking place, what is going on. And we're going to see that she is indeed a woman of great understanding.

Press on. We are also told that she is "v'fat to'ar", which means she was a beautiful woman. But in contrast to this woman and all the good things that are being said about her, notice what it says concerning this man. We're told that the man was "kasheh", meaning hard or difficult. And not only that, we find out more about him.

We have the next word "ra". What does that tell us? The word "ra" means to us that this individual was not interested in the will of God. I've shared with you many times that when we look at the word "tov" in Hebrew, which is good, what is good? The will of God.

But when we see this word "ra", what is "ra"? That which is in conflict with God's will. And therefore, that word always speaks to us in a specific manner, telling us that this individual is opposed to God's will. And how do we know that? Well, it's going to be demonstrated in a moment.

Now, remember what Paul says in the book of Galatians. He wants to summarize something and he says, "All the law in one sentence." And what is that? What summarizes the law? Well, it's to love your neighbor as yourself. Now, we know something. We know that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your very essence.

And when we do experience God's love, what is that going to bring about? It is going to cause us, that love of God in us that we receive, it is going to cause us to demonstrate that love of God in behalf of others. We're going to love others as God has loved us. So, this is the biblical truth in this passage.

Notice what happens. Move on to verse three, the second part of that verse, after saying that he was evil and it says evil indeed. And he was, and there's something that doesn't make sense. It says that he was of Caleb. Now, Caleb was one of the two spies along with Yehoshua, that is Joshua, who were indeed men of God.

We see that a few generations have gone by and we see that Caleb, which was a righteous man, a faithful man, a man who trusted in God, but this relative was no longer like this family. Press on to verse four where it says: "And David heard where? In the wilderness or in the desert."

Now, I've shared with you when that word appears in the scripture, it speaks of one who is trusting, one who is trusting, one who is depending, one who is relying upon God. And this is what David is doing. Look at verse four. "And David heard in this desert that Nabal is shearing his flock."

Therefore, he responded, verse five: "And David sent 10 young men, and David said to the young men, go up to Carmel, that means towards Carmel, because we have the word Carmel, but then we have at the end of this word a very important letter which means towards or in the direction of. So go towards Carmel and you shall come to Nabal and you shall ask for him in my name, Shalom."

Now, what is Shalom? Shalom relates to the will of God being fulfilled. In other words, what David was saying: "I want you to fulfill God's will. I want you to respond in a way that demonstrates the character of God." Now, because of his name Nabal, a fool, we're going to see that he does not respond in a Torah observant way, meaning he is not interested in the character of God.

Move on to verse six: "And you shall say thus to his cheek, meaning his face, say this before him and what is that? And you peace, and your household peace, and all which are to you peace." Now, David is saying something. David is giving a phrase that speaks about the blessings of God.

This word peace, when we are fulfilling God's will, what can we expect? We can expect the blessings of God. When we are walking in obedience, when we are submitting to the instructions of God. So, this is what David is wishing and acting and teaching this man Nabal. "I want to bless you. I want to be a positive influence in your life." So he's saying that to him and to his household and to all that are to him.

Verse seven: "But meaning in contrast, now listen because your shearers that are to you and your shepherds which are to you, they were with us." So David met them. He knew these individuals, those who were shearing the sheep and those who were responsible for the sheep and the goat.

He says, "They were with us and notice this, and they were not treated in an unkind way, meaning they were not abused in any way, nor was anything missing from them, all the days that they were at Carmel." So David is saying, "I blessed these individuals. I never harmed them. I did nothing unkind to them."

Now, what is David saying? Well, in the same way that David is reminding Nabal that he's a military man, that is David, and he could have done something, but he did not. He did not in any way act unkind to them, but he blessed them. And this is what David wants to do with Nabal.

He wants to bless all that is to him, but we're going to find out that Nabal is indeed a foolish individual and does not trust in the Lord. Move on to verse eight. "Ask your young men and they will tell you that the young men found grace in your eyes and all the days of this festival, meaning all this time that we were together, they found grace and they found it during this time of a festival."

Now, the expression here is simply the term "Yom Tov", which means a good day, but that is an idiom in Hebrew referring to a festival day. And it says: "And among us, give please what your hand has found to your servants and to your son David." Now, notice this. David is speaking in a very, very specific way.

Remember what he calls himself: "Your son David." Now, obviously he's not a biological son of Nabal. We'll see this in a moment. But who is he? Well, that term "son" speaks of someone who is humbling themselves and wanting to serve. So David uses this term "your son David" because he's saying: "I'm going to serve you. I want to be a blessing to you. And because of this grace that is motivating me, I'm going to behave in a specific way."

This is what's being said by David to Nabal. But notice what happens. Look now to verse nine. And the young men of David came and they spoke to Nabal all these words in the name of David and what happens? Well, it says literally: "And they rested." Now, most Bibles will say "they waited".

But if we look at this, it's an important clue. And this is why it's so important to take the time and look at the original language. Why? Because in this passage of scripture, we find this word that's derived from the verb for resting, and in the noun form, it's "menuchah". Why is that important? Because menuchah is a kingdom word.

We find that we don't have rest in this world. We are going to know rest when we enter into the kingdom of God. So, this is very significant because it's telling us that David and his men, they want to bless, they are going to be operating under grace. And what else? Well, we see here that they want in Nabal to experience good things.

They're not against him. In fact, David, as we talked about, is pledging loyalty and submissiveness in order that David might serve him, and that's just simply to show his humility. But notice what happens. Look at now verse 10. But, meaning in contrast to this, but Nabal answered the servants of David and he says: "Who is David?"

Now, that is an idiom which is a term in order to put down. So Nabal is not impressed with David, even though David has been a faithful servant of Saul, leading the armies of Israel out and leading them back in a victorious way. But what we see here is that Nabal, this foolish individual, he is not one who's impressed with David.

And what does the scripture tell us? Well, the scripture tells us that David was indeed a man after God's own heart. What does that mean? David was pursuing the thoughts of God. David wanted to be used by God according to the will of God, being faithful to the purposes of God.

But notice something else. He says here, middle of verse 10: "Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse?" Now, this is very, very informative because this tells us that Nabal knows who David is very well. And what's the conclusion? The conclusion is he doesn't care about David.

He doesn't care anything about this individual who is indeed a loyal man of God, one that is pursuing the will of God, the priorities of God, the purposes of God. Nabal is not interested in none of these things. Why? Well, we're going to see in a moment. Keep reading.

He says: "Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse today? For many of the servants"—and the next phrase means to break away. It's a word of disobedience. It is a word of rebelliousness. And this is how Nabal is thinking. Now, he is agreeing with someone. Who is that? King Saul.

And we know something. We know that Saul is not someone who is committed to the things of God. He's not interested in the will of God. He's not interested in the word of God. And he's not interested in serving God. Why? Because Saul is only interested in one thing and what is that? What he wants. And at this time, what does Saul want? One thing. He wants to remain as king.

And he understands that the real threat to his administration, his monarchy, is David, this man of God, this one who is indeed faithful to the purposes, the plans, and the will of God. So he says, "Many are the servants who break away a man from his master." This is how Nabal sees David, as someone who has broken away from in a term of rebelliousness and a lack of commitment.

This is not who David is. Remember something. We see that David fled why? Because Saul wanted to kill David. And this was even shown thereafter by the fact that when Saul did not feel his son Jonathan was committed to the same thing that he was, what did Saul do?

He also tried to kill his firstborn son, Jonathan. And this is all to show us how that Saul is out of control. And when we are not interested in the will of God, when we are not committed to the purposes of God, what are we going to do? Well, there's a very important verse.

When we cast off the revelation of God, some Bibles will say when we cast off restraint, well, what's the outcome? When we do so because we lack what? We lack vision. We lack revelation. And why is that? Well, it doesn't happen in a vacuum. The reason why these individuals are lacking revelation, lacking vision, is very simple.

Because they're not interested in what God has to say. They are in bondage to their desires, their purposes, their wants. And therefore, what's going to happen? God is going to move mightily against these individuals. And we will see this as we press on in this chapter in regard to Nabal.

He is not a godly man. He is not interested in the things of God. So he says here, "Many are the servants who break away a man from his master." Well, let's look at our last verse, verse 11. Because of that, he's saying, "David, you're rebellious. You're not loyal to your master, meaning Saul the King."

He says: "Therefore," look at verse 11, "I should give my bread and my water and we have a word for that which is butchered, meaning my meat, which I have butchered for the ones who are my shearers and give it to people whom I do not know or who where they're from I do not know."

So, what he's saying is this: This is a term of defiance. We find here that Nabal is not interested in doing anything in order to bless the Lord's anointed, meaning he's not wanting to play a part in blessing David, assisting him, providing for him, doing anything even though David—what did he do?

Well, we see in the scripture that David came, he humbled himself. And we're going to see that there's going to be a great change in how David is planning on responding. But not getting too far ahead of ourselves, we're going to find that Abigail, this woman—and by the way, her name Abigail means "my father rejoices."

And why is that? Because we're going to see that Abigail is not just a beautiful woman from an exterior point of view, she's also a wise woman. That word sechel, a woman of great understanding. She's able to exercise discernment and show that she understands what's going on and then behaves.

And this word sechel can also relate to "hochmah" or wisdom. That she's able to take a given situation, respond in it in a way that shows that she is faithful, and hear this, faithful to God. That's what you and I are called to demonstrate. We need the discernment of the Lord in order that when we find ourselves in a situation, we don't rely upon our own understanding.

We don't do what makes sense to us, but rather what do we do? We are wise enough and humble enough to step away, to seek God's face, to seek counsel from him in order that we might act in a way that is appropriate. What is that? That we want to submit to the purposes, the plans, and the will of God.

It is only when we step away and pause, when we fast and when we pray, then and only then are we going to be a recipient of God's knowledge, his truth, his understanding so that we can act in a way that demonstrates discernment. Discernment is never going to be given to you when you are committed to what you want.

Discernment is the outcome of when we humble ourselves, when we come before God in a spirit of submissiveness, when we act in a way that wants to demonstrate an agreement with God, that we do not rely upon what we want, what we desire, what we think is right. But we humble ourselves and we turn in faithfulness to the truth of God.

And let me just pause and remind you of something. I have said this many times, but it's always worth repeating and that is this: The Bible speaks a great deal about faith. We learn from the Torah, let me give you the verse, Genesis 15 and verse 6, that faith leads to righteousness. Not good works, but rather faith leads to righteousness.

And when we are exercising faith, and by the way, that word faith in Hebrew is "emunah". It is derived from the same Hebrew word where we get the noun "emet" or truth from. So emunah is faith. What is faith? Faith is when we are committed to the truth of God.

And in order to know the truth of God, we have to understand something: The truth of God does not come through logic. It doesn't come through human experience, but rather the truth of God comes to us by way of the word of God. And it's only when we are submissive to God's word and only then are we going to have access to truth in order that we can demonstrate faith.

And what does that mean? That we submit to the truth of God. That's what faith is all about: our submissiveness to the instructions of God. And what is the foundation for being obedient to the instructions of God? I'll tell you what it is: It is love. It is when you and I love God and we want to obey God and we want to be faithful to God.

Then that desire that we have will work in our life in order to bring us into a perspective where we will agree with God, meaning this: We'll have discernment and through that discernment we can know the truth and we can implement the truth in our life. That's what we're called to do.

Let me just simply say this: No one who walks in truth has ever regretted it because when we exercise faith, when we do God's truth, what is that going to do? It is going to position us in God's will. We will have the resources in order to do God's will and we will be an individual that demonstrates truth in our life. And that's what discernment is all about.

So, we want to be people who hear from God. How do we hear from God? Through his scripture, through the word of God. And it's only when we approach God humbly, in a spirit of obedience and submissiveness, saying to him, "God, whatever you reveal to me, I want to carry out, I want to do this."

When I recognize that God's will is good and my will is rooted in a sinful nature, therefore God wants to bring about a transformation and that transformation begins with us committing to the truth of God. It's only when we are committed to God's truth, then and only then are we going to hear from him.

God is going to encourage us. He is going to reveal his revelation to us in order that we can implement his plans, his purposes into our life. And when we do that, we are going to be living in a way that bears witness to our faith. I'll close with that. Until next time.

Guest (Male): Well, we hope you will benefit from today's message and share it with others. Please plan to join us each week at this time and on this channel for our broadcast of loveisrael.org. Again, to find out more about us, please visit our website, loveisrael.org.

There you will find articles and numerous other lectures by Baruch. These teachings are in video form. You may download them or watch them in streaming video. Until next time, may the Lord bless you in our Messiah Yeshua, that is Jesus, as you walk with him. Shalom from Israel.