By
Patsy Norwood © 2025 All Rights Reserved! Any and all commercial use of this study is
prohibited!
I Samuel 25: 1 – 42; 27:3; 30: 1-18; II Samuel 2: 2-3; 3:3; 17:25; I Chronicles 2:16-17; 3:1
Did you enjoy the
first lesson in our study on Abigail, it was a lot to get fixed in our minds
wasn’t it? Last week’s lesson gets us
ready for some really big developments this week, so if you haven’t read it,
please go back and do so. Things will
make so much more sense if you do.
We’re going to
pick up with verses 4 - 8 in I Samuel 25 …
(Get ready, there’s a lot to unpack in these verses as well.)
4 When David heard in the wilderness that
Nabal was shearing his sheep, 5 David sent ten young men; and David said
to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, go to Nabal, and greet him in my name. 6
And thus you shall say to him who lives in prosperity: Peace be to you,
peace to your house, and peace to all that you have! 7 Now I have heard
that you have shearers. Your shepherds were with us, and we did not hurt them,
nor was there anything missing from them all the while they were in Carmel.
8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore, let my young men
find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever comes
to your hand to your servants and to your son David.”
As mentioned in
last week’s lesson, David had a band of men that rode with/followed him
(David’s Mighty Men), and he chose 10 of them to go to Carmel to Nabal, greet
him in his name and request provisions for he and his men.
It seems probable
that David on the run from Saul had difficulty providing food for his men. Hence, it makes sense that David would ask
for provisions from Nabal as the result of the protection of his flocks that had
been given by David and his men … even if Nabal had not asked for the
protection.
On the surface
it’s easy to think that David was being a bit presumptuous, but let’s dig
deeper, this is where understanding the culture of the time is helpful …
Here’s what
Coffman’s commentary has to say on these verses …
“To some people of
our generation, it might appear that David’s method of supporting his small
army was an illegal ‘protection racket.’
But the situation mentioned here was not that at all. David’s
expectations of supplies from Nabal were fully justified according to the
customs and standards of that time and circumstance. …. Nabal’s vast flocks of sheep and goats
would doubtless have been confiscated by roving bands of outlaws had it not
been for David’s protection. After all,
we learned in chapter 23 that such marauders even attacked walled towns
(Keilah); and without David’s wall of protection around Nabal’s flocks, there
can be little doubt that Nabal’s flocks would have been taken away from him.
Hmmm …
Sounds like Nabal
should have been more than eager and willing to help David and his men, but instead,
we find Nabal’s true colors showing in I Samuel 25: 9-13 …
9 So when David’s young men came, they spoke
to Nabal according to all these words in the name of David, and waited. 10 Then Nabal answered David’s servants,
and said, “Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants
nowadays who break away each one from his master. 11 Shall I then take
my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give
it to men when I do not know where they are from?” 12 So David’s young men turned on
their heels and went back; and they came and told him all these words. 13
Then David said to his men, “Every man gird on his sword.” So every man girded
on his sword, and David also girded on his sword. And about four hundred men
went with David, and two hundred stayed with the supplies.
Well, well, well …
it looks like Nabal has met his match!
Let’s outline
these verses:
Verse 9: David’s men relay David’s message to Nabal
and wait for his reply.
Verses 10 -
11: Nabal degrades and insults David’s
men … along with refusing to give them any provisions. He all but calls them riffraff and even
likens David to a run-away servant and then the final straw is strown, he lets
them know unequivocally that they will get nothing from him … not even a drink
of water!
Verse 12: David’s
men report back to him all that Nabal had said.
The humiliation and anger these men felt must have been sensed by David
and his own anger formed and grew.
Verse 13: David prepares himself and 400 of his men for
battle … in David’s mind this insult and degradation must be answered. David is ANGRY! He wants to strike back at Nabal and sets
into motion steps to do just that. How
many times do we let our feelings and emotions cause us to strike back. We have no record of David consulting God, he
just sprang into action, he acted on his anger … on what he was feeling. This is a dangerous state of mind for David
and his men to be in especially with their intended purpose before them.
What was their
purpose? It was to kill and wipe out
Nabal and every male in his household!
Are you hanging on
by a thread? Does the anticipation have
you on the edge of your seat? I hope so
…
Next week we’re
going to see Abigail spring into action … can she keep this slaughter from
taking place? Meet me back here next week and
we’ll find out!
patsy @ From
This Heart of Mine
~ a place for women to
gather and study God's Word ~
Sources used for this
study:
Various
translations of the Holy Bible
Various
commentaries
Several
trusted and biblically sound online sources
Dictionary
of New Testament Background, Editors: Craig A Evans & Stanley E. Porter
Archaeological
Study Bible
All
the Women of the Bible by Edith Deen
Daughters
of Eve by Lottie Beth Hobbs
Halley’s
Bible Handbook by H. H. Halley
No comments:
Post a Comment