There are many notable Bible women characters. Some of those women characters teach us how to be and some teach us how not to be!
A woman we could all learn from is the Old Testament character is Abigail. The Bible says that she was married to a “fool,” but she handled it well. In fact, his name, Nabal, means fool. Yet Abigail dealt with her circumstances and the fallout of his actions and kept her senses. She was a godly and wise woman.
Abigail was remarkable in that she was a woman who was exemplary emotionally and spiritually. She took a situation that could have been disastrous and defused it. Even though we see only this one incident in the married life of this couple, Abigail probably spent her married years heading off the trouble Nabal caused with her and others.
We see Abigail’s character as she deals with David. His men were out in the fields and needed some provisions. In fact, they had been watching over David’s men and sheep and had protected them from potential harm. So David thought in return he would ask Nabal for some provisions for his men.
Word was sent to Nabal and he responded like this: “Who does he think he is?” Nabal rebuffed David. David was determined to “settle the score” with Nabal. He was ready to attack, but Abigail got wind of Nabal’s response from one of the servants and she immediately went into action.
Abigail was organized … she was prepared! In no time, the Bible says she gathered 200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep all ready to eat, roasted grain, raisins, 200 cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys and started toward David and his camp. It is amazing that she had all those items on hand!
When she saw David, he was coming toward her. She got off her donkey and bowed before David and said: “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your maidservant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. Please, let not my lord regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him! But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, since the Lord has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now then, let your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. And now this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord.”
When David saw her he said: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand.
Well old Nabal was drunk back at his house at a party. The next day Abigail told him what she had done. The Bible says that when she told Nabal her story, he had a heart attack and went into a coma. Ten days later he died. Later she became David’s wife.
Abigail was resourceful, prepared, ingenious and diplomatic. Most important, she was a godly woman. Abigail is a woman we can all admire.
The story of Abigail, David and Nabal may be found in 1 Samuel 25:32-33 and 41-42 .
Judy Brandon is a Clovis resident. Contact her at:
cbrandon@plateautel.net
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