(1 Samuel 25:1-3 KJV)  "And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah.

And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran. {2} And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. {3} Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb."

It’s been a long time since the anointing of Saul until Samuel’s death.  If you remember it was Samuel’s sons whom he had made judges over the people and they were wicked in their judgments accepting bribes and favors.  The reason Samuel appointed his sons as judges was because of his old age.  The people were unhappy with because of their evil Samuel’s sons, which precipitated the people wanting a king over them like all of the other nations. So God had Samuel anoint Saul as King.  Later after Saul proves himself in battle 1 Samuel 11 by rescuing the city of Jabesh from the Ammonites is Saul officially crowned king.  In 1 Samuel 12 Samuel gives his farewell address to the people leaving the running of the government up to Saul however he still remains a very prominent prophet.

Because of King Saul, Samuel was not respected or appreciated as the prophet that he was however at his death all Israel turns out to mourn him.  Samuel was at least eighty plus years considering he might have married at the age of twenty, had two sons and perhaps by age 40 made them judges and add almost forty-two years for the reign of Saul.  Samuel had to be well over eighty, perhaps ninety.  As such we are getting close to the end of Saul’s reign.

Samuel’s heritage lived on in a remarkable way. 1 Chronicles 9:22 suggests that Samuel laid the foundation for the organization of the Levites for the service of the sanctuary which was completed by David and Solomon. 1 Chronicles 26:27-28 says that Samuel began to collect the treasures for the building of the temple in Solomon’s day. 2 Chronicles 35:18 says that Samuel remembered the Passover, and kept Israel in remembrance of God’s great deliverance. Psalm 99:6 and Jeremiah 15:1 commemorate Samuel as a man of great intercession. Hebrews 11:33 puts Samuel in God’s “Hall of Faith.” (David Guzik)

The scriptures indicate that Samuel died, but David moved, indicating that God’s work is not finished by the death of one man, but that the work passes on to another.  That person is of course David.

When David moved he moved further into the desert near a settlement called Maon.  Carmel was close by so it was not unusual for one to live in Maon and have business interests in Carmel. Nabal was indeed a very wealthy man even by today’s standard with three thousand head of sheep let alone a thousand goats.  Goats milk was in high demand and in many parts of the world today it’s still in high demand.  While David’s men were in the desert, they kept away the thieves and wild animals that preyed on the herds.  Nabal had a very lovely wife named Abigail who was beautiful as she was gracious, while Nabal was just the opposite.

The names of people during this time told something of the character of the people.  Nabal in the Hebrew means stupid; wicked (espec. impious):--fool (-ish, -ish man, -ish woman), vile person. (Quickverse Vol 4 – Strong’s concordance)

The fool says in (Psalm 14: 1 KJV)  “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.”

(Proverbs 26:11 KJV)  "As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly."

This next verse is interesting

(Proverbs 26:12 KJV)  "Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him."

(Romans 1:21-22 KJV)  "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. {22} Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,"

How did Abigail get linked up with Nabal?  Since marriages were arranged in those days chances are she was sacrificed by the riches Nabal’s parents apparently offered her parents. Though Abigail finds herself in these circumstances, she is content knowing that the Lord will take care of her.  As we see below she trusted in the Lord as much as David.  Just because we do not have a loving spouse does not mean we should get out of the marriage for so called irreconcilable differences.  The Lord has a reason for this marriage even though you should have never married the person in the first place.  Perhaps we are there to be an offset or balance to your partner.  It’s a tough place to be in.  If your jerky spouse leaves you or puts you out that is a different story.  God will take care of you just as he takes care of Abigail.

(1 Samuel 25:4-6 KJV)  "And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep. {5} And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: {6} And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast."

When the time for the annual shearing of the sheep, it was quite festive.  At long last there will be money coming in for the price of the fleeces sold.  All debts could be paid and everyone looked forward to a new and even more prosperous year.  Now David and his men protected the herds while they were among them and the sheepherders lost no stock while David’s men were around.  Neither did David or his men take an occasional sheep or goat for food, as they might have been entitled.  Instead David waits for the shearing time to ask for compensation.

(1 Samuel 25:7-9 KJV)  "And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. {8} Ask thy young men, and they will show thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David.

{9} And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased."

David explained through his men what he had done for Nabal and he did not ask for a set amount of money.  He asked not demanded Nabal to please pay them what he thought their services were worth.

(1 Samuel 25:10-11 KJV)  "And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. {11} Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?"

Nabal was very crude in his response to David’s men.  He knew who David was.  He knew David had killed Goliath and protected the nation from the Philistines in Saul’s service and after he fled Saul’s service.  He even mocked David as being from a poor family and the fact he had run away from his father’s herds, which we know and Nabal knew, was not true.  All of Israel knows that David will one day be king.  Both Jonathan and Saul knew it and admitted to it we’ll see below Abigail knew it. So therefore Nabal knew that he was talking to the next anointed by God through Samuel king of Israel.

What did we say above about a fool in (Psalm 14: 1 KJV)?

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.”

It made no difference to Nabal about David or his anointing by God.  Nabal knew in his mind that there was no God and he acted as such.  Atheism goes a long way back doesn’t it?

We read that Nabal was harsh and evil in his doings (which needs no explanation, only appreciation, understanding that the Bible is never given to overstatement in such matters). The fact that he was of the house of Caleb may also be told as a bad description of Nabal, because Caleb means dog, and to be of the house of a dog was no compliment. (David Guzik)

“As the word caleb signifies a dog, the Septuagint have understood it as implying a man of a canine disposition, and translate it thus . . . he was a doggish man. It us understood in the same way by the Syriac and Arabic.” (Clarke)

(1 Samuel 25:12-13 KJV)  "So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings. {13} And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff.

David became angry when he heard Nabal’s response.  He ordered 400 his men to put on their swords they were about to pay Nabal a visit he would not like.

This is not one of David’s finest moments.  David has withstood a lot of abuse from Saul and yet never lifted a finger towards Saul.  He is now abused by Nabal and he is ready to go out and take Nabal’s life.  This is what Jesus meant by turning the cheek.  This is not a war that people should be killed.  This is a fool who has overstepped his bounds, and though David may have felt he was in the right, this would be an action that if David had gone through with would have been a black mark on his entire reign.  The people would never be able to trust him as king for the action David is about to take.

As he leaves to hunt down Nabal, Davis leaves behind 200 men to guard the supplies, to watch their rear and for back up if needed.

David had so wonderfully resisted the temptation to take vengeance against Saul in 1 Samuel 24; but here, it seems that he will fail when a similar temptation comes again. This reminds us of our constant need to be on guard. (David Guzik)

“Does it not show beyond all possible doubt that I cannot stand against the enemy of my soul unless the Lord upholds me moment by moment? This story tells me that however long I may have been on the Christian path, however often I may have overcome one temptation or another, however many times I have defeated sin in one area, it can strike in another and crush me in a moment.” (Redpath)

(1 Samuel 25:14-17 KJV)  "But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them. {15} But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields: {16} They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. {17} Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him."

Nabal was so much the fool that he never realized just how angry David would become.  You don’t talk to the future king in an unfriendly manner.  On the other hand Nabal’s servants saw the writing on the wall.  No one had to tell them that David would be coming back with a lethal force toward Nabal and his family.  So one of the servants tells Abigail so that she could do something to prevent the annihilation that was soon coming.

Abigail . . . a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance: Nabal’s wife was both beautiful and wise, in contrast to Nabal himself. The Bible gives Abigail great praise when it says she was of beautiful appearance, because the only other women who have this Hebrew phrase applied to them are Rachel (Genesis 29:7) and Esther (Esther 2:7). (Guzik)

Tomorrow We will pick up from here to see what Abigail does to prevent the destruction of Nabal’s household and prevent David from making a serious mistake.

24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:

25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.

Numbers 6 KJV

Have a blessed day

Lee

A Watchman 

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