Abigail's Intervention: The Power of Wisdom in 1 Samuel Chapter 25

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Abigail's intervention showcases the power of wisdom in navigating challenging situations. The chapter begins with the death of the last judge of Israel, marking a pivotal transition in Israel's history. David encounters Nabal, a man of wealth but lacking wisdom, contrasted by his wise and beautiful wife, Abigail. Through her actions, Abigail averts disaster with her wisdom, highlighting the importance of discernment and intelligence in dealing with others.

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Lesson #11 Abigail s Intervention: The Power of Wisdom 1 Samuel Chapter 25

1 Samuel 25 starts with the death of the last judge of Israel. Compiled by the prophets Nathan and Gad. 1 Chronicles 29:29 - Now the acts of King David are written in the book of Samuel the seer, in the book of Nathan the Prophet and in the book of Gad the seer. Pivotal time in Israel s history- out of the Age of the Judges into the Kingdom Age. When a prophet writes history, he doesn t just record events like a history book. God s prophets were compiling prophetic history - God s Story.

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. 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. 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. 1 Samuel 25:1-3

Tents of Kedar Woe is me for I dwell in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar! My soul has dwelt too long with one who hates peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war. Psalms 120:5-7 David was dwelling among a war-like people in the Wilderness of Paran, a people who hated God. The world, it s values its culture, it s materialism seeps easily into our souls 1 Cor 15:33 says, Be not deceived. Bad company corrupts good morals.

Worldly Wisdom - Worlds Voice Fame = Wisdom Nabal dwelt in Carmel In 1 Samuel 15, King Saul had set up a monument to himself in Carmel after he defeated the Amalekites. Nabal meant fool in Hebrew. It did not mean a stupid man, a man low in IQ. Psalm 14:1 The fool (in Hebrew: Nabal ) has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable things.

Worldly Wisdom - Worlds Voice Riches = Wisdom Nabal said to David s servants. This is my meat, my water, my shearers. Mine, mine, mine. The rich fool said This is what I ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I ll say to myself, You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry. Luke 12:17-19. Mine, Mine, Mine.

Worldly Wisdom - Worlds Voice Success = Wisdom Nabal was very great, successful. 1 Samuel 25:2 There are 2 kinds of greatness. You can be great in the eyes of this world - successful career, successful business, even a successful ministry. Or You can be great in God s eyes.

Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at something that doesn t really matter. D L Moody

Nabal answered Davids servants, Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where? 1 Samuel 25:10,11

Your voice We hear David talking to himself It s been useless all my watching over this fellow s property in the wilderness so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good. May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him! 1 Samuel 25:21,22

Your voice Have you also been talking to yourself? Have you been justifying to yourself your desires to sin?

Godly Wisdom - The Voice of the Holy Spirit When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. She fell at his feet and said: Pardon your servant, my lord, and let me speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name his name means Fool, and folly goes with him.

And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent. And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal. And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you. Please forgive your servant s presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord s battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live.

Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies He will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing He promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel, my lord will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the Lord your God has brought my lord success, remember your servant. , 1 Samuel 25:23-31

The Voice of the Holy Spirit Do you know the voice of the Holy Spirit? Do you hear Him remind you of your destiny in God? Do you hear Him telling you to turn away from going down your wrong path of sin?

You In Christ - The Bundle of Life Abigail said, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God Ancient Jewish custom of binding valuables in a bundle to protect them from loss or injury When we accept Christ, God bound us up together in Christ in the bundle of life with Christ. We are safe in the bundle of life in Christ. We are His treasure.

You In Christ - The Bundle of Life God s purpose is not for Jesus to be our teacher or a pattern to follow God s purpose was life. We take Jesus as our life (the divine exchange). God wants to manifest Christ s life in us. This is God s biblical order. First Us in Christ; then Christ in Us.

You in Christ Why did God put us in Christ? We are sinful. We have the Adamic life within us. Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. God does not want to punish the sinner with death so He puts the sinner together in Christ at the Cross. At the Cross, God deals with both the sin and the sinner. The penalty for sin was paid by Christ and the sinner was safe in Christ, the Bundle of Life.

How did God put us in Christ? Bundle of Death Bundle of Life God sees only One Man Christ Through the obedience of the One, many were made righteous. Romans 5:19b God sees only One Man Adam Through the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners. Romans 5:19a

Christ in Us - The Holy Spirit So, this is what the Apostle Paul means: I have been (past) crucified with Christ (Us in Christ) and I no longer live but Christ lives (present) in me (Christ in Us). The life that I live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. Gal 2:20 God puts Christ in us by giving us the Holy Spirit. We have the mind of Christ. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom God has revealed to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 1 Cor 1:7,10.

Christ Became Wisdom for Us 1 Corinthians 1:30 But of Him (God), you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom for us - and righteousness, sanctification and redemption. God has not imparted to us wisdom. God has not changed us from Nabal to Solomon. He has not made us wise. Christ became Wisdom to us

Foundation of All Christian Living is the Divine Exchange God doesn t want to change you from within , from the inside out. God doesn t want you to become a better man. God doesn t want better Adams, only dead Adams. He wants little Christs. We are not changed Adams; We are a new creation. It is not a changed life; it is an exchanged life. We are bound up in the Bundle of Life with Christ; Christ is the wisdom and the life.

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. Isaiah 11:1-3

Biggest Lesson of 1 Samuel 25. David said to Abigail, Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak. Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request. 1 Samuel 25:32-35

David was a man of Gods heart David committed more serious moral sins than Saul. A lot of them. Saul committed the same error-only twice. Saul did not obey God. David was a man of God s heart, God s choice. Saul was your choice & my choice. We would have chosen Saul. Sometimes, God will give us our desires, even when it is not good for us. God gave the people up unto their own heart s lust. Ps 81:12 What is God s choice is always the best for your life.

Know Gods heart First Acts 13:22 I have found David the son of Jesse, a man according to My heart, who will do all My will. We pray to know God s will - wrong prayer. Know God s heart. Seek God s heart first; then you will know His will.

The Fear of the Lord is the Foundation of Wisdom. Revelations 14:6, 7.. the everlasting Gospel is preached to every nation, tribe, tongue and people , Fear God and give glory to Him and worship Him.. . Everlasting Gospel says, Fear God, glorify Him & worship Him Biblical fear of God is the fear that endears us to Him. The church in Acts walked in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit and the church multiplied in Acts 9.

Fear God & Love God The fear of God is astonished reverence. I believe that the reverential fear of God mixed with love and fascination and astonishment and admiration and devotion is the most enjoyable state and the most satisfying emotion the human soul can know. A W Tozer.

The God of the modern evangelical rarely astonishes anybody. He manages to stay pretty much within the constitution. Never breaks our bylaws. He's a very well- behaved God and very denominational and very much one of us, and we ask Him to help us when we're in trouble and look to Him to watch over us when we're asleep. The God of the modern evangelical isn't a God I could have much respect for. But when the Holy Ghost shows us God as He is we admire Him to the point of wonder and delight. A W Tozer.

To Fear God is to Obey God The fear of the Lord - Lord means Lordship. Lordship means obedience David repents when confronted by a woman in front of his four hundred man. He did not fear what those men would think of him. David obeyed God. He feared God more than men

Fear of God Keeps us from Evil. Ps 18:1,2 For the director of music. Of David the servant of the Lord. He sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge David really loved the Lord. David never stopped loving God. But the love for God did not stop David from almost committing mass murder.

This is Mans All The power of wisdom is a person: the Lord Jesus Christ Seek to know His heart first. Surrender to Jesus to be your wisdom everyday. King Solomon, the wisest, richest, most successful man - at the end of his life, said this, Fear God and keep His commandments. This is man s all . To fear God is to obey Him. Jesus said All the commandments are summed up in this, You shall love the Lord with all your heart.