Abigail, Blessed Are You, Part 1of4, Evans Olang

1Samuel 25:2-42, “Then David said to Abigail: “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”

A question often asked, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” (of course there is no one good by biblical definition). I have one of my own, “Why do some nice people find themselves in what I would call bad marriages?”. Ever asked yourself that question? I have many times. A precious woman ending up with a very, I mean very wrong husband in my opinion or the other way round. This is my conviction, however bad someone is, there are certain people who have the grace to live and endure with them that no one else can. You couldn’t take it because you don’t have that kind of grace. Such people have been prepared for such people to take that responsibility. What could be your mess, by God’s grace could be someone else’ blessing.

Look at these two women in the bible, Job’s wife and Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife. Job’s wife under pressure gave Job wrong advice but he never took it, Jezebel who is an evil woman gave her husband a wrong advise and he headed to it. Let me talk about a different woman by the name of Abigail who also gave a good advice and that advice was taken by someone she wasn’t married to at the time.

Abigail is one of those women in the bible who blesses my heart. About the whole chapter is dedicated to her story. First of all, Abigail means Father rejoices. Her name does not seem to be working in her favor but God knows her dilemma. We are told of her character in 1Samuel 25:3, “…And she is a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance“. By reading her story, I gathered some of her qualities, she is a very intelligent woman, decisive, hardworking, respectful, patient and cares for people. She reminds me of what a virtuous woman as described in proverbs 31. She is married to a man by the name of Nabal who is harsh, evil, arrogant, stingy, lover of himself etc. I know that opposites attract but there is something wrong with this picture. How could a woman of all these qualities be married to a man like this? It seems that a lot of what she needs to know is not conveyed to her. She is not cherished as I gather from what I have read. Her qualities are left to go down the drain because she is not even appreciated for what she does. Her words, opinions, works are criticized by the person who should cherish them the most. How did she end up in a marriage like this? Who is she in this marriage? what is the purpose of her life? we will find out.

David and his men are in Carmel. A while back in Carmel, we are told that he and his man protected Nabal’s life, his family, servants and all his properties. None of the things did they lose, now David is asking for a small favor from Nabal. He is not asking for reward, wealth, partnership in Nabal’s business, all he desired of Nabal was hospitality which is denied to him. Nabal had so much that he forgot the men who helped him, he is asking who David is. vs. 11, “Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, to give it to men when I do not know where they are from?”. The verse has a lot of “I” and “MY” to which means, he was taking all the credit for what had happened. Do not be full and forget who you are, where you came from, those who helped you, by what means things came about. Pride goes before a fall we know that. Nabal is really walking on thin ice, this will not only affect him but the people who are close to him. Nabal the rich man insulted David and his men and David was very angry and wroth that he rose with his four hundred men heading towards Nabal’s territory to destroy him and all that belonged to him but then here comes Abigail.

I wanted to lay a ground work on who Abigail and Nabal are and then tomorrow I will share more on Abigail’s qualities. Though her situation is tough and complicated, her beauty from within and outside is shining brighter and brighter as you will see. IT’S NOT WHAT YOU GO THROUGH THAT DEFINES YOU, IT’S WHO YOU ARE, what a virtuous woman. What you go through may refine you or break you, the choice is yours. She doesn’t look blessed in her situation but she is blessed, check out what her name means and see her character. Blessings Ev