This Sunday we wrap up our Chick Flicks of the Bible series here at Grace Church with the story of the wise woman of Abel from 2 Samuel 20. This is a great story that ends as the wise woman throws a decapitated man’s head over the city wall. As we will see, there are many principles and lessons we can learn from these stories that apply to our lives today. One of these principles that we saw last week in the story of Abigail, and that we will see this week as well, is the need for we as men to listen to the women around us.
Last Sunday’s story had soon to be King David leading a charge of 400 armed men to kill a foolish man named Nabal and all the males in his household. And it would have most definitely happened had not he listened to a godly woman named Abigail, Nabal's wife, who intercepted him on his path to vengeance with some wise and godly advice. I asked every man in our church last Sunday to underline a phrase spoken by David after his encounter with Abigail in 1 Samuel 25:35. He says to her these words,
“See, I have listened to you!”
Back in verse 17, Nabal, whose name means “fool” was described as “worthless” because he would listen to no one. So what separates a fool from a king? In this case, the king was willing to listen to a woman. The fool wasn’t. And by listening to Abigail, David was prevented from making a horrible mistake that would have had great consequences.
Last Sunday’s story had soon to be King David leading a charge of 400 armed men to kill a foolish man named Nabal and all the males in his household. And it would have most definitely happened had not he listened to a godly woman named Abigail, Nabal's wife, who intercepted him on his path to vengeance with some wise and godly advice. I asked every man in our church last Sunday to underline a phrase spoken by David after his encounter with Abigail in 1 Samuel 25:35. He says to her these words,
“See, I have listened to you!”
Back in verse 17, Nabal, whose name means “fool” was described as “worthless” because he would listen to no one. So what separates a fool from a king? In this case, the king was willing to listen to a woman. The fool wasn’t. And by listening to Abigail, David was prevented from making a horrible mistake that would have had great consequences.
In the story we will see this week, there is a similar principle. Joab will be leading the army in attacking the city of Abel because a traitor by the name of Sheba is hiding inside. No one is talking. No one is listening. Joab is attacking. Sheba is hiding. And who knows what the elders of the city were doing. The city would have been leveled had it not been for a "wise" (v16) yet unnamed woman who speaks “wisely” (v22)
Three times she implores Joab to listen to her words. “Hear, hear,” she says in verse 16. “Listen,” she says in verse 17. And then come Joab’s words back. They are much like King David's to Abigail. In the end of verse 17. Joab says,
“I am listening.”
And by his listening to this wise woman whose name we do not even know, a city was spared and many lives were saved. We’ll hear the full story this Sunday in all three of our services. If you can't be here, then watch our 10am service live on the web (http://www.gracechurchworship.org/).
Now, let me pose a question to all of us men. If David was saved from making a horrible mistake because he listened to a woman that God put in his path, and if Joab was saved from continuing on with a bloody assault because he listened to a woman that God put in his path, don’t you think it is possible that you and I could be saved from making some mistakes in our lives as well if we will be willing to humble ourselves enough to listen to the wise and godly women God has put into our lives?
2 comments:
What's your opinion the naming of our children?
Some would ask, "What's in a name?" According to the Bible from which we are to learn some valuable life chankging information as to who our God is, who His son is, and how to live life, a name was important and God saw fit to assign and change names.
As Christians we know there is a lot in the name of Jesus, and yet Jesus was a common name of the day according to historians. We know our Jesus lived up to his name, but what about the other Jesus' of the day.
Does or can what we name our children have an effect on who they become?
The Bible seem to give a number of examples of peoples names in association to who or what they did. In your story here, Nabal means "fool" and apparently that's what he became, but were parents of that day aware of such possibilities; why would a mother name her child "fool"? I thought there might be a possibility that children were not named immediately at birth and were later named after considering the childish behavior and/or characteristics.
Today, we can find some long standing tradional names that have meanings in Latin or Greek. I think sometimes thought goes into what those names mean, and then today we have some concocted names that seem like letters were randomly selected from the alphabet, were thrown in blender and what poured out was a name that means nothing, is hard to spell, hard to pronounce and that we are learning especially from employers that they reject people simply by there name.
So, what is in a name? One thing for sure, Jesus knows our inside as well as our outside no matter what the name.
Thanks in advance if you will share your thoughts.
Hi Anonymous! Sorry it took so long to post your comment. That was my oversight.
There is no question that names had valuable meanings in Bible times and names often changed after defining spiritual moments, such as in the case with Jacob, Peter and Matthew. Even the half-brother of Jesus named Judas shortened his name to Jude (wouldn't you have if you were in his shoes?).
As far as Nabal, his name does mean "fool". I seriously doubt that was a name given to him at birth by his mother. More than likely it became more of a nickname, or perhaps a name everyone used behind his back, once his character began to be shown.
As far as names today, I'm not sure that in our culture we put a lot of stock in the meaning of names. We name our kids based on names that we like or after people we love. I'm not sure one name is more spiritual than another. The most important part of us is our character and our walk with the Lord no matter what name we bear.
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