David and Abigail: The Wilderness Journey

David and Abigail: The Wilderness Journey

>>>>1Samuel 25<<<<

 

. . . Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.   1Pet. 5:8

 

Adam was a man alone, desiring affection from a suitable counterpart – so God brought the woman to him and joined them in a special union of intimacy and partnership. Isaac was Abraham's beloved son, destined to inherit the blessings that God had promised to him. This cherished son was also alone – he needed a wife who could enjoy his affection and share in the richness of the blessings they would inherit together. For this reason, Abraham sent his most trusted servant to bring a suitable bride to Isaac.

 

The story of Adam and Eve pictures the Church – hidden in Christ – becoming a New Creation and joined to Him in a relationship of intimate union (Mark 10:6-8). In this relationship to Christ, we draw our life from Him and He delights in us. The story of Isaac and Rebekah is a picture of God's love for His Son. Abraham typifies the Father, who sent the Holy Spirit to earth to get a Bride for His beloved Son (Acts 15:14). Rebekah represents individual believers, and the Church as a whole, when she leaves everything she knows to make a home with a groom she has never seen (Luke 14:26).

 

We are not given details about Rebekah's trip from Mesopotamia, across the desert, to Isaac's home. Instead, the Bride's journey is pictured for us in the account of David and Abigail. Before we look at this story, we need some general background (you can read the full background in 1Samuel chapters 8 through 24).

 

God was Israel's loving, benevolent ruler but the people wanted a king like the other nations. The prophet Samuel told them that this request demonstrated their rejection of God's care over them. He warned them that an earthly king would turn their sons and daughters into servants; he would take the best of their goods, and their people, for his own greedy use (1Sam. 8:5-21; 10:17-19). Still, the people insisted on having a king, so God gave them Saul.  He was tall and handsome – exactly what the people wanted; however, he trusted in himself rather than in the Lord. He disobeyed the Lord's commands and justified himself in his disobedience. Saul was concerned about gaining honor in the eyes of the people and cared nothing for the commands of the Lord. For this reason, God was going to replace him with "a man after His own heart" (1Samuel 13:13-14).

 

While Saul was still King of Israel, Samuel anointed a young shepherd, David, to replace him. David's heart was tuned to the Lord and even before he took the throne, he became well known as a warrior for the Lord. David's reputation among the people caused Saul to become suspicious and jealous of him; as a result, David had to flee for his life.

 

 Now, while David was hiding from Saul, he gathered about 600 men around him; they lived in the mountains and in the desert as they fled from Saul and his men. While they were in the Wilderness of Moan, they stayed near an area where a wealthy man named Nabal (which means fool) kept his flocks. David and his men protected the flock and shepherds from harm and from theft while they were there (1Sam. 25:15, 16). When David's men needed food and supplies, he sent 10 young men to ask Nabal if he could spare something for his men. Nabal's churlish (harsh, evil, rude) reply caused David and 400 of his men to arm themselves for vengeance.

 

Nabal was a wealthy man; he and his wife, Abigail (source of delight), were prominent in their community. When Abigail heard about the way Nabal responded to David, and learned that disaster would be the result, she went into action.  She had her servants load food and wine onto donkeys and sent them ahead as she made her way to meet him. Abigail bowed down to David as she acknowledged her husband to be a fool; she declared herself David's servant and presented him with the food.

 

This is how our story begins, and these are the characters: David who typifies, Christ – the king who is not yet recognized by the world; Nabal who personifies the world's attitude world toward Christ (vs 9-11); and Abigail who exemplifies the Church. She saw, with the eyes of faith, that David was indeed the anointed king. Although we don't see Saul in this chapter, he is in the background, as the enemy of the Lord, seeking to destroy the true king and those who follow him.

 

The LORD will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my master . . .    1Sam. 25:28 NIV (spoken by Abigail to David)