ABIGAIL
[p. 298] ABIGAIL
I thought it would be opportune, and helpful to all of us, to dwell a little on the assembly. No doubt most are aware that this chapter presents one of the types of the assembly. Next to the types of Christ Himself, the types of the assembly are most interesting. And not the least of these is Abigail, who represents the church, as we speak, militant.
We do not need to be reminded that the saints are in a militant position; we must hold our heavenly ground against the forces of evil, contending earnestly for the faith. It is not that we seek war; on the contrary we should be characterised as sons of peace, that is, in our relations with men. The assembly normally is formed of sons of peace. You will remember that when the Lord sent out the seventy to every city and place whither He Himself would come (Luke 10), He directed them to inquire in each city for a son of peace and to remain in the house of such a one, adding that they should say, “Peace be to this house”. So we should not be seeking a quarrel or war. The time is near at hand when the Lord Jesus will come out as an armed warrior, with the armies of heaven following Him. For the moment it is a question of peace, as regards our attitude towards men. But we are never at peace with Satan or his agents.
We see the element of peace in David’s message. He says to his young men, Say to Nabal, “Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace be unto all that thou hast”. But Nabal was not a son of peace; he assumed a hostile attitude. Typically, he was not material for the assembly. So while we seek not war, war is often forced on us. If this be so, we have to choose suitable weapons, remembering that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Some of the reformers and others used carnal weapons to enforce the testimony.
[p. 299] But those who take the sword shall perish by it. The weapons of our warfare are spiritual; and they are “mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God”, (2 Corinthians 10:4,5). This is the character of the church’s warfare.
But, as I said, the members of the assembly are characteristically sons of peace. We do well to bear this in mind. It is not merely that they are peaceful persons, but sons of peace. This means they are developed in the quality of peace. They do not quickly take on a quarrel. Indeed, they do not quarrel at all in the way in which men understand it. But war is sometimes forced on the assembly. Then its position is militant and that is the phase presented in Abigail. As regards spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies and opposition to the truth, our position is always militant. Abigail is quite a leading character in this book. It will be found by students of the Bible that when Scripture brings women forward in any book, they usually represent the subjective result to be reached. Abigail is a striking character in this book of Samuel. She stands in relation to others, but she is a figure of the church, which no other woman in this book is exactly.
The book begins with another woman not less distinguished, Hannah by name. We need to understand Hannah in order to understand Abigail. Hannah was a woman who suffered in the keenest way from a rival, but she was a woman of prayer. I would remark here that there is always a constructive line in each book; the various incidents recorded are not isolated records. Each book also has its own particular object. To understand 1 Samuel we need to pay special attention to Hannah — her exercises ran in relation to the house of God. She besought Jehovah for a man child but she asked for him in relation to the house of God. She [p. 300] sought prayerfully and in bitterness of soul. Jehovah answered her prayer for she obtained a son; it is then recorded that she weaned him. Many mothers never wean their children. I mean, of course, in a spiritual sense. I have known mothers who even hold on to their sons after they are married. Hannah would never do that. She weaned her child. She relinquished the natural, making room for the spiritual, so that it is not only said that Samuel was weaned, but that his mother weaned him. Isaac too, was weaned, but it does not say that Sarah weaned him. Scripture merely records the fact that he was weaned. Of course, she did it, but Scripture does not put it that way, it is very accurate, and presents things in their own setting. In mentioning Hannah thus, God honours her and sets her forth as a model; she was one who would relinquish her natural claims so that God might have full possession of her child. She hands him over to the Lord, and this book shews what a man he became. But although she had weaned him, she went up to the temple year by year and noted his growth; she saw that growth in relation to Jehovah. Of what value are our children in growth save as in relation to God? If our ambition is to centre them around themselves, the result will be for time only; but in making God the object we are setting them in relation to what is eternal.
Another notable woman in this book is the wife of Phinehas the priest (chapter 4). She died at the birth of her child, and named him Ichabod saying, “The glory is departed from Israel; because the ark of God was taken”, (verse 21). There are thousands of our brethren around us who do not know that the glory has departed from that with which they are connected; who go on with the shell without the substance. We cannot be in the assembly according to God’s mind unless we understand the glory. It is a substantial thing and we cannot be without it; and God would not have us to be without [p. 301] it. So at Bethany the Lord would bring in the glory, and Mary could discern if it departed. We need to understand this; many go on with the empty form without the substance. The assembly is the vessel of the glory, and is being invested with it now. Presently she will come down as “having the glory of God”, (Revelation 21:10). That is a marvellous statement.
Even such a notable saint as Mary the mother of the Lord did not discern that the glory was absent in the day’s journey from Jerusalem (Luke 2:44). It is said they went a day’s journey without Him. She and her husband thought He was in the company, but He was not. There are many christians today like them — they think the Lord is in their companies, but He is not. The question thus arises whether they have ever known the glory of the divine Presence. Have they ever known the presence of Christ in the assembly? But at last Mary and Joseph missed Him and sought Him sorrowing. Unless He is missed He will never be sought and found.
So the wife of Phinehas said that the glory had departed from Israel, and it truly had. But she had no thought of how that glory could be restored. So the line of recovery is taken up in the two milch kine (chapter 6). If we are not available to God He will still find some means of looking after His glory. He has need of every one of us, but He will carry out His designs whether we are available or not. The two milch kine were available, and they were prepared to go against nature. One of the principles set forth in this book is that of going against nature. Hannah did this. She did not wish to hold her child on that line. We must be spiritual to be pleasing to God. We cannot be truly in the assembly without being spiritual. Of course, every christian is of it, but the principle is to be spiritual. Hannah sets forth this principle in the beginning and the thread runs through. The yoke has never been on these [p. 302] kine; they leave their calves behind, and go forward, lowing as they go. They felt the wrench from their young, but nevertheless they went, and by the one highway, which was the divine way. Thus they take the ark to the border of Beth-shemesh, to its own place. It is only as we are prepared to go against nature that we can be used of God. In going thus, the kine maybe compared to Jesus, who would go into death to restore the glory of God. He restored that which He took not away. He was the glory Himself, but it is also true that He carried it, so to speak. Then as the cart reaches the border of Beth-shemesh, as the milch kine reach the end of their journey, they are slain. They become like Jesus. The cart on which they drew the ark becomes the wood on which they are offered, a burnt-offering unto the Lord. You can see the principle: they denied natural links; they went along the one highway, and in the end were offered up for a sacrifice. There is an instructive spiritual touch in that the levitical feature comes into view as soon as the sacrifice is made: the levites took down the ark.
In all these incidents we have the spiritual line running through the book leading up to Abigail. Saul comes in and fails. He was head and shoulders above the rest of the people, but he was not spiritual. It is those who are lowly and little like Paul, who are spiritual. So the Lord says to Samuel, “fill thy horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have provided me a king among his sons”, (1 Samuel 16:1). And also, “Take a heifer with thee”, (verse 2). It was to be a female offering, also seen in the milch kine, and was intended to bring out the great subjective result before God — love. If I have not love, I am nothing. Saul did not have the love, but David had and was lovable. His name means beloved; he is a beautiful type of Christ. He was beautiful-eyed and of a lovely countenance. The heifer is a symbol of the response of the assembly [p. 303] to Christ. So as David returned from slaying Goliath the women came out of all of the cities of Israel singing, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands”. He was loved of all Israel and Judah (1 Samuel 18:6,7; 1 Samuel 18:16). He was personally lovable, as a type of Christ. Think of that, dear young people. How lovable is Christ! He is “the chiefest among ten thousand ... yea, he is altogether lovely”, (Song of Songs 5:10,16). And every little feature of attractiveness you see in Christ affects you so that you are formed according to it. As the loveliness of Christ comes before us and is appreciated, the Spirit forms us as material for the church.
Now we come to a concrete example of this in one person, namely, Abigail. A woman “of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance”, and one who knew what to do in a crisis. If we are in the assembly we shall have to go through crises. Indeed, its history is one of a succession of crises. The history of Abigail teaches us how to meet every emergency arising in connection with the testimony.
In our chapter we have a crisis of the most extreme character. Samuel had died and Saul was still in power. Samuel had been a great spiritual asset in Israel. Although Saul was officially on the throne, it is recorded: “Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life”, (1 Samuel 7:15). He ruled Israel in spite of Saul, for his influence was there. There are many like Samuel today; although unofficial, they have a wide-spread influence for good among the people of God. But Samuel had died, and his death was an epoch in Israel.
So Nabal immediately comes into evidence. He was a distinguished man according to the flesh; but stood squarely athwart the path of God’s anointed king. Whether in great measure or small, woe to the man who selfishly stands across the path of one whom God has anointed. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy, are we [p. 304] stronger than He? Many set up their own wills against the saints of God forgetting that the Lord is in their midst. “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints”, (Psalm 89:7). The Lord will stand by His saints, but woe to those who oppose. Nabal was a man of great wealth and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Carmel means a park, a place of pleasure. Nabal had plenty of means and evidently looked after his affairs, as men do. He is representative of the natural man in these connections. But, like the Jew, he is both contrary to God and contrary to man, as the apostle says (1 Thessalonians 2). The flesh of the Jew in the Acts represents the flesh in its worst form, acting against the Spirit in the assembly. How terrible it is! It is seen there in the most awful development; so that for this, wrath has come upon the Jew to the uttermost. It is bad enough to act against Christ personally but a word spoken against the Spirit shall never be forgiven (Matthew 12:32). That shews how serious such opposition is.
But it was not so with Nabal’s wife. She was of good understanding and of a beautiful countenance. She represents the divine thought at the outset. The two things should go together; intelligence and attractiveness. Abigail is a type of the church in these respects. There is nothing more attractive than the church save Christ Himself. It is His body and fulness. All that He is shines in it. It is said typically of the church by Adam of Eve, “bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh”, (Genesis 2:23). He knew her for he recognised she was of himself. But Eve does not represent the church militant, nor does Rebecca, but Abigail does.
Now I desire to call attention to what is very practical in this chapter, and that is the service of David’s young men. Young men have a great place in Scripture, and they are presented here as employed in David’s service, in a peculiarly interesting way. There were ten of them,
[p. 305] and they were very commendable, being David’s young men. ‘Ten’ gives the element of responsibility, but they were capable if young. They are sent to Nabal, and in being sent, great tact would be needed. So it is if you go out to preach Christ on the street. The listeners do not care much about it, so that it requires much courage and tact. It is not a question of much speaking, because brief statements are the most effective. What are needed are brief attractive statements concerning Christ and conveying the terms of the gospel.
If we turn to the Lord’s first preaching in Mark, we find it of much brevity: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel”, (Mark 1:15). Yet there was nothing left out that was necessary; it is a complete statement. It is very valuable to have the power of condensation in spiritual things. There is no book so condensed as the Bible, yet we could not exhaust it, though we read it a thousand times; its moral texture is so wonderful. It is lucid, but condensed. And the gospel of Mark is particularly so. How much was involved in the first preaching: “Repent ye, and believe the gospel”! A very long book could be written on the subjects of repenting and believing the gospel.
So the ten young men go to Nabal, who was neither interested in nor appreciative of David. We can often accomplish a great deal if our audience is interested. But here there was entire opposition. It is what we may expect on the street corner. Nevertheless if we find one in a thousand the effort is well worth while. There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. But we may have to contend with the opposition of the nine hundred and ninety-nine, and it is here we need the utmost tact and patience.
The ten young men go to Nabal and speak to him “according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased”. The words had been put into their [p. 306] mouths; there was no sermonising. It is useless to sermonise if you wish to get people’s attention; make brief statements, but be sure you present David’s message; that is always calculated to bring down a man. This message was beautifully brief, terse and peaceful. It concluded with, “Thy son David”. The young men give Nabal all the courtesy he might expect. Their manner is very becoming and calculated to touch Nabal’s heart. And having delivered their message, it is recorded that they ceased: “They spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased”. It is a great thing to know when to stop. The assembly is bored by people who do not know when to stop, in prayer it may be, or in ministry, or as preaching the gospel. I believe that 1 Corinthians 14 is given to prevent this. We should learn when to stop. They made no effort to embellish David’s words. Like the words of Christ, they cannot be improved upon, though many try to do this.
In verse 14 we come to another young man, one of Nabal’s young men. He had heard Nabal’s dreadful answer to David’s message, his refusal of the peaceful requests of the anointed of God. He is one who sees danger imminent. That is another point: We are not all called to preach; the fact that I am a young man is not a proof that I am a preacher; preaching is based on gift. But if I am not a preacher I can be a watcher. The Lord said, “what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch”, (Mark 13:37). We should not leave all the care of the testimony to the elder brethren, inasmuch as everyone in the assembly is responsible for it. This young man saw the danger, and at once went to the right one as to it; typically he went to the assembly, to where such matters belong. There only can such matters be handled properly; for even though one be an elder he cannot of himself handle them. The Lord is owned in the assembly, and the Spirit is there, and thus it is there that [p. 307] proper attention is given to these things. So this young man goes to Abigail and says in effect: There is a terrible thing impending, disaster is overtaking us. He tells what had happened — that Nabal had railed on David’s men. He knew that David’s men had been very good to those of Nabal, but he also knew his master to be a son of Belial. It was clearly a time of crisis. Could he have done better? No. He is a type of a believer who sees impending danger and places the information where it belongs. So Abigail took the matter on her own shoulders at once; she was prepared to accept the responsibility of it and make it her own. In this way the assembly faces difficulties, and it is only thus they can be handled according to God. Abigail knows what to do, and this is what I want now to dwell upon.
As a matter of fact, David at this point was acting somewhat remissly, although the intended judgment was deserved. Smiting tends to misrepresent the position. It is for the assembly to rightly reflect the character of the dispensation, and whatever affects it should be rectified in such a manner that the dispensation is not belied. It is very satisfactory when this is done, for it is a dispensation of grace, not of judgment; the latter is held in abeyance. And we see here how Abigail very beautifully effects the adjustment of the position, in that she prevents David from taking vengeance, for war was in his heart. The Lord Jesus, by and by, will take vengeance; He will come out with these same feelings, having war in His heart. He will then tread the winepress of the wrath of Almighty God, but it is not the time for that now. The saints understand this and so maintain the reign of grace. Normally, the assembly knows how to act in a crisis, and to see to it that things are so adjusted that the character of the dispensation is not denied. It is a day of grace and of salvation, since the Lord is sitting on His Father’s throne, not on His own throne. That is the present [p. 308] position of Christ, and we want to keep that in mind and be in accord with it. The Father’s throne is marked by grace; it is said, “The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son”, (John 5:22). We must keep rightly before us the character of the dispensation, and so present God’s attitude in Christ in our ways and in our words. This is of immense importance.
So Abigail knows what to do. We should be exercised to know what to do at all times. If certain information is laid before us we are under obligation to know what to do regarding it. How quickly and suitably Abigail acts! It is said, “Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses”. In this we see the character of what is to be done. All these loaves, the bottles of wine and the other things, what do they portend? What do they speak of but grace? That is the thing. We have food in abundance. I often think that when trouble arises and a meeting becomes divided, what is needed is food. What is needful is a supply of food whereby saints are nourished and brought into a state wherein they are capable of being adjusted. When such conditions arise it is an evidence usually that they have been living, so to say, on controversy, biting and devouring one another. They will never judge themselves as long as they are living on that kind of food.
So the Lord, before probing Peter (John 21), fed him royally. He did not give him a sandwich, but a good meal! He said, “Come and dine”; that is a dignified word. The Lord had the fire of coals, and fish laid thereon, and bread; the food was cooked for them. What grace on the Lord’s part! How that scene reflects the dispensation! Having thus fed him, the Lord can address Peter’s conscience.
Abigail has plenty here — she has wine to stimulate the heart, that which “maketh glad the heart of man”, (Psalm 104:15); then she has figs to provide sweetness; she also has sheep, solid food needful for the constitution. She has all these and other things, and sends them on before by her young men, for she had great confidence in them! Young brothers need to be developed, and should shew that they are developed and thus establish confidence. Paul says to Timothy, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity”, (1 Timothy 4:12). Young brothers should see to it that no one should have any occasion to despise their youth. They should be so like old brothers in spirit and deportment that there should be no reason for anyone despising them on account of their youth. Abigail had no anxiety as to what impression her young men would make on David.
And now we have another thing — we read that as Abigail rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and David and his men came down against her; they came down on opposite sides. That is another great principle in a crisis: There must be no mounting up. In this instance, both sides were coming down; and they meet on the lowland. It is said of Abigail that she met them. Then a beautiful, if speedy, solution is reached by Abigail, in which she succeeds in pacifying David. She says, You must not shed blood; and David says, You have kept me from doing it. He says, “Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me. And blessed be thy discernment, and blessed be thou, who hast kept me this day from coming with bloodshed, and from avenging myself with mine own hand”. “Blessed be thy discernment” — we have very great need of this quality. Thus in all this she is a very beautiful type of the church; and David fully appreciates and owns her. It is a most beautiful passage of Scripture!
[p. 310] All this is applicable to a local position at the present time. We continually have crises to meet, and Abigail is a model for us in them. In this respect she should be before us continually. Her young men too are all in perfect accord with her, so that grace is thus beautifully set forth.
Then finally she becomes David’s wife; she becomes typical of our position as allied to Christ in His militant position as rejected in this world. This position will be of no value however, save as it rightly reflects the character of the dispensation.
Pages 311 - 474 — “Mountains Around Jerusalem”, Belfast and Dublin 1930 (Volume 102).