Love Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom and welcome to Veahavta 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 installment, we're going to focus in on a woman, the wife of Nabal. This woman who is called Abigail, and that name means, as we learned last week, "my father rejoices." Why is that? Because he knew that this young woman was a godly woman, someone who was committed to implementing biblical truth into her life. Let me just simply say that when someone is committed to that, living a God-pleasing life, it not only makes the father happy, but also you will be happy. When you surrender to the Lord's purposes, his plans, his priorities, and make them your priorities, this is going to bring a joy into you. So we need to be people who are committed to biblical truth, and a great example of that is Abigail.

She was a woman who was truly a woman of faith. What was so faithful about her? Very simply, she was a woman who did not do what was in her best interest from her own perspective. But what did she do? She trusted in God. How do we demonstrate such a trust? Very simply, we know that she was the wife of Nabal. We've been told already, and we'll see again today, that he was an evil man. He was against the purposes of God. He was not interested in doing the will of God. Therefore, what is to be expected when we are a rebellious individual? We are going to meet the judgment of God. But it's going to be this woman, Abigail, that is going to behave in a sacrificial way in order to bring to her husband, not what he deserves, which is judgment, but we're going to see that she's going to behave in a way that brings to her husband a blessing rather than a curse.

So with that said, take out your Bible and look with me to 1 Samuel chapter 25. We're going to pick up where we left off last week. We're now ready for verse 12. Again, 1 Samuel chapter 25 and verse 12, where it says: "And the young men of David, they turned." Now, this word for "turned" means in an opposite direction, and that is very important because it signifies something: that change is coming. What could have been has been overturned, and there should be a different expectation. Remember that.

Once again, verse 12: "And the young men of David, they turned to their way, and they returned and they came, and they said to him," meaning they said to David, "all these words." Meaning all the things that had happened to them, they wanted to recount before David. Look now to verse 13: "And David said to his men, 'Gird every man his sword.' And every man girded his sword. Also David girded his sword." All of this was a call to battle that David had. When he heard this response from Nabal, he had a plan, and that was to have all of his servants that were with him, that they would put on a sword in order to go to battle.

Why? Because this man Nabal was an evil man. He did not fear God, and he was not interested in the will of God. But notice something very important. It says here: "And they went up after David, approximately 400 men." David had more than 400 because if we keep reading, it tells us: "And 200 remained concerning the vessels." Now, the word here is "kelim", which simply can refer to weapons or simply supplies. David took two-thirds of the men who were with him, that is 400, and he caused them to gird themselves with their swords as a way of saying, "We're going to battle." Then he took 200, one-third, and told them, "You stay and guard the supplies." David is acting in a very studious way in preparing for a battle, but not leaving himself vulnerable to someone else's attack. Let's press on. Look if you would to verse 14.

"But to Abigail, the wife of Nabal, one of the young men told to her saying, 'Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to bless our master.'" But notice the response. David wanted to be a blessing, but what did Nabal do? It says here: "But he reviled them." It's a word for to revile someone, to speak very harshly, to speak very unkindly against an individual, and that's why it says: "But he reviled them." Verse 15: "And the good men, the men were good to us," and it says, "very good." "So the men were very good to us, and they did not harm us, and nothing was missing from any of our supplies all the days that we walked with them, being in the field."

As long as these men were with us, things were well. They protected us, they did not harm us, and nothing was missing. This shows that David and his men were men of integrity. They wanted to be a blessing. So let me ask you a very important question: Are you desiring to be a blessing to others? If you are being led by the Holy Spirit, you will. The Holy Spirit equips us so that we can be a blessing to others. And who should we bless? The least of our brethren. And when we do, who are we really blessing? Who is going to receive that action, those kind things, those blessings? Well, it says that what we did to the least of our brethren, we did actually unto him, unto Messiah. We need to have a right perspective, a biblical perspective, and we're going to see that this woman Abigail did.

Let's press on. Look if you would to the next verse, verse 16. Now, verse 16 is a very informative verse speaking about what David was to the men of Nabal. Look at verse 16 where it says: "They were a wall for us, also at night, also the day." What this means is that David and his young men, those who were serving him, those who followed the instructions of David and had the character of David pressed upon them, it says they were a wall at night and day. This speaks about the fact that around the clock, these individuals didn't have to fear. Remember that Nabal was a very wealthy man. He had great possession. We talked about those 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. He had great resources, and that wealth would have made him vulnerable, but David, not because he was asked, not because Nabal thought about it, but simply because of David's character, he was blessing, he was protecting, and he was helping.

All the time David and his men were there, notice something: none of these individuals suffered anything that was unfortunate, but they were being protected. Look if you would to the next verse, verse 16 at the end: "All the days that we were with them, shepherding the flock." Meaning they had protection all those days. Verse 17: "And now," and again, this one young man is speaking to Abigail, "But now, know and see what you shall do." This man is saying, "You need to take action." He says: "Know and see what you will do because evil has been determined against our master and against all of his house." Why? "And he is a son of Belial."

What does that mean? It is an expression we find many places in the Old Testament to speak about a group of individuals that are vile, that are faithless, that are rejecting the character of God, and they are living in a most displeasing manner unto the Lord. Now, we don't want to be sons of Belial. We want to demonstrate that we are the saints of God. In order to be a saint, we have to experience this reconciliation with God, this justification from God by grace. When we are justified, by the way, in Greek, there's only one word for justice and that's the same word for righteousness.

Those who are justified, they are made righteous. What's important is it's in the passive meaning. We don't make ourselves righteous; God has to make us righteous. But there's another truth: frequently that term for being made righteous is not only in the passive but is in the perfect. It speaks about it happened in the past, it's true now in the present, and it will continue to be true in the future. That's who we are in the blood of Messiah. Look on to verse 18. What did Abigail do when she heard all of this? How her husband spoke in a most displeasing way to David and his men? Notice what it says, verse 18: "And Abigail hurried and she took 200," and the implication is 200 loaves of bread, "and also two skins of wine, and five sheep that have been prepared, and five seahs of parched grain, and 100 clusters of raisins which would be grapes that were dried, and also 200 date cakes, and she placed them upon the donkeys."

She was taking a great sum of supplies to David and his men. This was her intent. But where are David and his men? Well, we're going to see undeniably that God is at work. And here's the principle for us: when we are committed to doing God's will, when we want to demonstrate his character, we can expect God to move in our circumstances. A very wise biblical truth. We want to be like God. What does that mean? We want to follow what God has instructed us to do. We want to implement his words, his commands, his admonitions to us. It's only when we do this can we expect that God will go to work in our circumstances. When we are all about what we want, when we are committed to the things that we prefer, God's not going to be moving in our life. That is foolishness. That is the type of discussion that Nabal would have with himself spiritually, not one that's advisable.

Let's keep pressing on. Look if you would to the next verse, verse 19: "And she said to her young men, 'Pass over before me. Behold, I am coming after you.' And to my husband Nabal, do not tell him." Meaning what she's about to do, she does not want Nabal to know. He is an ungodly individual. But what is she going to do? Well, we're going to be amazed with the humility and this sacrificial love that she has for her husband. Does he deserve it? No, he does not. But does she behave in this way? Yes, she does. Why? Because she understands her role as a wife, and she lives sacrificially according to that role.

Press on to verse 20. And it came about that she is riding upon the donkey and she goes down in a secret place of the mountain. "Seter" is a word for secret or hidden. In a hidden place of the mountain and behold—now, that is a word that says "pay attention." Something significant is about to be revealed in the biblical text. So behold, and who is she going to meet? She wants to take these supplies to David and his men. She wants to bless them, as David had blessed Nabal and Nabal's men. So it says, "Behold, David and his men are coming down to meet her." Now, was this something that David had in his mind to do? No. He was going down to kill Nabal and his men. But what happened? We see that she moved with great urgency—the word is "memaher"—she moved with great urgency for a purpose, and that was to take the punishment that was rightly for her husband upon herself. We'll see this in a moment.

David and his men in verse 20 are going down to meet her, and what does it say? "And she met them." All of that is to tell us God is at work. And again, when we become committed to the things of God, we can expect something. When we are interested in serving God, displaying the character of God, doing the commandments of God, all of that is speaking to God saying, "God, I want you to work in my life." When we are committed to our purposes, our plans, what we want, our desires—what is that? It's saying, "God, don't get involved in my life. I don't want you, I don't need you. I can handle everything on my own." That is foolishness.

Let's keep pressing on. Look if you would to the next verse, verse 21. And David said, "Surely..." and then we want to translate this right: "ach lasheker." Now, what is "sheker"? "Sheker" is the word for falsehood. So "ach lasheker" is for falsehood. And what we find here is that he's speaking and he says: "Surely for falsehood I have kept all which was to this one," meaning Nabal. "I defended him, I protected him, I instructed my young men to be kind to him, nothing was lost of all of their possessions. They were able to shepherd the sheep and the goats and nothing happened. I was a blessing to them. But in contrast to that, he returned to me evil instead of good."

Why? The answer is simple. Because he was an evil man. We've already seen that taught to us, and this is the second time it's being emphasized in this passage. Nabal was not interested in that which is good. What's good? God's will. What was he interested in? He was interested in his will. He wanted what he wanted, and therefore he was behaving in a way that did not exemplify the character of God, but he was exemplifying the "yetzer hara," which is that evil inclination. That evil inclination that we read about in Genesis 6 that says that a person is thinking always about evil. What's that? Our desires, our wants, what pleases us rather than being brought into the submissive will of God by obedience.

Obedience is a good thing. Let me just prove that to you. If you look, for example, at Revelation chapters two and three, Messiah says over and over to these seven congregations in Asia Minor, he says: "I know your works." And to most of them, he says: "And your works aren't sufficient." Meaning this: how you are behaving is not in line with the truth of God. There is a gap between what you say you believe and how you are implementing that faith. It's a problem. So he says over and over, "I have not found your works complete."

Press on. The last thing we saw: instead of returning good, what did he do? It says here: "But he has returned to me evil instead of good." Now look at verse 22: "Thus God will do to the enemies of David and thus he will add, if I shall allow to remain from any of those that are to him until morning." Now, most of the time scriptures don't translate the last part of this. I want you to hear what it is: it's "mashtin bekir." Now, "mashtin" is a Hebrew word which means to urinate, and to do so publicly. It says here to urinate against the wall. Now, that is something that ought not to be done. It is not proper to behave in a public way in that manner, and therefore it expresses shame. This is what David's talking about. David is saying this: "If I allow this group of individuals to live, if I don't wipe them all out before morning, it is a shameful thing." That's why we have that expression "mashtin bekir." To teach us that God's judgment is a righteous judgment.

Press on. Look if you would to verse 23: "And Abigail, she saw David, and she hurried and she came down from upon the donkey." And notice what it says: "vaytippol leafey David." She fell before the face of David, and she fell upon her face, and she shows humility. She bows down to the ground. Verse 24: "And we see that she fell at his feet, and she says, 'Please, my lord, allow the iniquity...'" Whose iniquity is she talking about? The iniquity of Nabal. What he did in behaving in such a revolting way against David and his men. She says here: "Please, my lord, the iniquity let it be upon me." And she said: "Please, your maidservant, in your ears hear my words of your maidservant."

When she speaks of herself, she calls herself a maidservant. What is that speaking of? She is responding to David with humility. She's coming here saying, "I'm willing to suffer for the sin of my husband." That is showing a sacrificial character that she has. And if we truly are followers of Messiah, we are also going to display a sacrificial quality. Why? Well, he suffered for my sin and your sin, and we should be willing to suffer for our covenantal relationship with him because it's the right thing to do, because of what he was willing to do for us.

Something very similar to Abigail. She's saying: "Let my husband's iniquity be upon me. I'm willing to suffer the consequences." What was David wanting to do? To put everything to him, to his household, to put it all to death. She's willing to die. This shows her commitment to her husband. Does he deserve such a righteous woman, such a godly woman? No, he does not. But what's important is how she is faithful to the role of a wife. She is putting her husband first without any thought of "How is this going to benefit me? What's going to happen to me?" She's not interested in those things. She simply wants to do faithfully what a wife is called to do.

And this is so rare today: that we see women that are willing to serve, willing to suffer, and willing to honor their husbands. Why? Because God has put the woman in that role. Her value is just as much value as her husband, but she has a call, and she is called to love her husband. And love puts us into a submissive relationship with the one that we're called to love, and therefore she is demonstrating that. She is a godly woman, she is a godly wife, and she's not thinking of herself. She's living sacrificially. Every believer, we are called to live sacrificially. Not putting ourselves first, but putting others first. Remember what the scripture says: "As you did to the least of your brethren, you did also unto me." If we love our Lord and our Savior, we are going to be willing to suffer injustice in order to demonstrate his character—a wonderful character that we should embrace always.

Guest (Male): Well, we hope you'll 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 week, may the Lord bless you in our Messiah Yeshua, that is Jesus, as you walk with him.