DAVID AND ABIGAIL
[p. 188] DAVID AND ABIGAIL
1 Samuel 25:1-9; 1 Samuel 25:14-19; 1 Samuel 25:32,33; 1 Samuel 25:39-42
JT There are several types which have served us well from time to time, to instruct us as to the assembly. David and Abigail will serve today, and the Lord might have a word for us in this type. It represents Christ militarily, and the assembly in accord with Him. Indeed the leading thought in the chapter is the assembly as typified in Abigail, who is said to have been marked by understanding. It is said, “the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife, Abigail, and the woman was of good understanding and of a beautiful countenance”. The type makes much of the beauty of Abigail and her understanding, two features of great importance spiritually. The masculine side is not so pronounced; but it is seen in David, who in this chapter would in measure represent the brethren, although he does represent Christ in it. Sometimes those in responsibility in the testimony fail and the subjective side then comes into evidence, steadying the position; hence the wisdom of keeping sisters in mind as well as the brothers, in all matters of administration, because the administrative side requires the sisters as well as the brothers. Abigail specially represents skill and feeling according to God, at least in an administrative sense.
TM Do you see that in principle in the wise woman of Abel? She went to all the people in her wisdom (2 Samuel 20: 20 - 22).
JT Quite so; she is a very good example, Abigail herself comparing with her in the wise approach she made to David.
AI Would you explain the administrative side in relation to the sisters’ service?
JT Well, the woman of worth in the last chapter of the book of Proverbs is intended to represent [p. 189] that. She is like Abigail though a hypothetical person, but presented to us in that light as a woman of great skill and great understanding, knowing what to do in all circumstances.
JB Is that service going on behind the scenes? I was thinking of “her husband is known in the gates”, Proverbs 31: 23.
JT Just so. I was thinking of what might come into that, also the woman in 2 Samuel 20; then in the case of Abigail, and in the instance of Sarah herself, who, although not presented as a type of the assembly, yet presents much that suggests it characteristically. Her words, which show determination as to Hagar and Ishmael, are quoted as scripture. She said that they should be cast out. In the epistle to the Galatians we read, “What saith the scripture?”. Instances of that kind, and others referred to, illustrate the skill and wisdom of sisters in meeting emergencies. For instance, the elect lady in John’s epistle may be so regarded.
TM Would you not regard that more on the line of what is individual? We referred yesterday to the position where there is only one brother in a locality; how would things be carried out assembly-wise with sisters as to administration?
JT Well, I think we see it in the scriptures alluded to. There was the question of Ishmael. His father was very concerned about him, but would have him remain in the house. God said to him as to Hagar and Ishmael, “In all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice”. He did hearken to her, and the word of Sarah at that time is formally quoted by the apostle saying, “What saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son”. So that, whatever emergency might be in mind, and they are coming up constantly, we understand that the assembly is qualified to meet them, because she is here in the absence of Christ. That [p. 190] is the position of the woman of worth in Proverbs 31; her husband is not in view, nor are his activities spoken of, but hers; yet he is known in the gates where administration is carried on. His heart confides in her.
AI Then is the woman in Proverbs a direct type of the assembly in that setting?
JT Yes, but she is spoken of in an abstract way. Undoubtedly the assembly is in mind. The book of Proverbs is the book of the wise man, and thus refers to Christ, but then He is absent; the Lord’s supper supposes that He is absent. He comes to us, but we are to carry on in the interval, as furnished with what God gives us, “the all-various wisdom of God”, which is in the assembly, not simply in Christ, but in the assembly (Ephesians 3).
Ques Does Deborah in the book of Judges show how the feminine side is taken up in an emergency?
JT She really is the guiding spirit in the whole matter there, although she is out of view in a certain sense, and she is not mentioned in Hebrews 11. Barak is mentioned, but Deborah is distinguished in the way that she acted behind the scenes as in the secret of the matter.
GM It is said of the woman in Proverbs, “The heart of her husband confideth in her, and he shall have no lack of spoil”. She would be going in for the spoil.
JT Deborah would represent that, also another woman in the same section; that is, Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite. She was militant.
AI On the side of administration, do you mean that the sisters would be behind the scenes?
JT Well, generally, because they cannot speak in the assembly, but they can speak to their husbands at home.
WC How would you take account of Abigail here being linked with Nabal, and yet she [p. 191] had good understanding, having the features of Christ as seen in David?
JT Well, I suppose the type in this chapter contemplates the history of Abigail and the history of David too. They were contemporary of course, and I should think pretty much of the same age. They were contemporary and hence represent the wisdom to be acquired in the book of Samuel. The first book of Samuel has its own voice, and brings out the wisdom that was in such a man as Samuel himself, prophetic wisdom, which is a great matter now. God is reviving the thought of prophecy in our meetings for ministry, and it is intended to form the saints collectively; it is intended to form us all. So I believe that what we may be initially often changes as we develop through prophetic ministry that comes to us. Undoubtedly Abigail’s whole outlook would be changed as she formed a judgment about Nabal; the young man had a right judgment of him too. The judgment expressed by the young man is like that of anyone in the assembly with light and faithfulness. It says of him, in verse 14, “And one of Nabal’s young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife”. He is spoken of as one of Nabal’s young men, because he was ostensibly one of his servants; he told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold David sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our master; and he has insulted them. And the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything as long as we companied with them, when we were in the fields. They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the while we were with them feeding the sheep. And now know and consider what thou wilt do, for evil is determined against our master and against all his household; and he is such a son of Belial, that one cannot speak to him”. And this represents the judgment of Abigail herself. So that the brethren [p. 192] who are active in the assembly often have changes in their lives, and this is undoubtedly so in her case. She formed the judgment about her husband.
DSM Samuel’s death is referred to at the beginning of this chapter. Would Abigail represent the product of his ministry?
JT That is what I was thinking. He personally is stressed. Samuel died. It was a time of great sorrow really, and all Israel were gathered together and lamented him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. So that we have history behind all this, including Samuel’s ministry; the man who was recognised as the prophet from Dan to Beersheba, whose words did not fall to the ground. Evidently they had not fallen to the ground from Abigail, nor from David.
TM Why do you think that there is stress laid on the greatness of this man Nabal, and what he had here in contrast to David’s position?
JT I think he would represent the Jewish nation at the time of the introduction of the assembly. His character is seen even in Saul of Tarsus, an insolent, overbearing man, we are told.
AM-d Paul speaks of grievous wolves not sparing the flock. It speaks of Nabal here as insulting David’s messengers. That spirit follows on in the course of the testimony.
JT Quite so. You would not be sure of the sheep if you had someone like that about.
AM-d I was thinking of what place king Saul, who did not change, has over against David. He would be of Nabal’s spirit.
JT He had the same character right through.
AM-d Nabal speaks well of Saul. He says, “There are many servants nowadays that break away every man from his master”. He thought much more of Saul than of [p. 193] David.
JT It was a sharp thrust at David, when he said, “Many servants ... break away”. He meant that David was headstrong, unreliable; at least the enemy would say so.
AM-d Nabal suggests that Saul was the man to follow?
JT Quite so. Well, we have now to consider the qualities of Abigail, because the qualities of David are not in mind so much. It is not David so much as the assembly. Although Christ is in mind too, it is rather the assembly, and how reliable it is in an emergency.
GM Would the young man in that way be intelligent as regards what the assembly should do? “Know and consider what thou wilt do”.
JT He is not a mere messenger. He is an intelligent person, an intelligent brother, as we all ought to be. If anything arises, each of us should feel obligated to speak of it. One hears of things being said among the brethren that are not scriptural, but nothing being said by persons who ought to deal with them. That is the thing that enters into the chapter.
TM Are you suggesting that the young man puts information in the right place? He tells the assembly. Along with Abigail he had a right judgment in regard to things.
JT Quite so. If you hear anything, if such a one as myself, for instance, says something not true, the brethren ought to be on the alert, and not be afraid to speak about it.
AI Are you thinking of this matter of weighing things? “Know and consider”. David was inclined to be rash.
JT He was rash. Therefore, it is not exactly the Lord, although He is here too, but I think that David is intended to be seen as a type of the brethren more, those who are responsible. We are apt to be [p. 194] rash in these cases, whereas what the young man does is what any true brother or sister ought to do; if anything that he observes is wrong, he should lay the information where it belongs. Abigail represents the assembly in that sense. “Tell it to the assembly”, is the word in Matthew 18.
WC Do you mean that the church militant has power and wisdom to deal with any evil that might arise?
JT Just so, but especially when it is a question of meeting David. I mean of dealing with brethren themselves who are in the position of administration and may fail in it. She knew what to do. She learned from her young man, or rather Nabal’s young man. He said to her, “And now know and consider what thou wilt do”. He is doing his part, but he is speaking to those who are responsible. He is not speaking to David, but to Abigail, and she is responsible. He says, “For evil is determined against our master and against all his household”. And then it says that Abigail made haste, taking with her abundant testimony to her regard for David. “She came down by the covert of the hill and behold David and his men came down against her, and she met them”. Her wisdom shines in the way she turns David from his purpose, so that David comes to what is right. She has dissuaded him against an act of vengeance that he thought of. God has to do with the matter, and He deals with Nabal, and David is preserved by wisdom. There are things that happen amongst us that God alone can settle, and we have to give Him time to do it. After about ten days “the Lord smote Nabal that he died”.
JB David says to Abigail, “Blessed be Jehovah, the [p. 195] God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me”.
JT Quite so. David is recognizing the wisdom of Abigail, and he said, “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”. So that we can see how the responsible element may be dissuaded from what is not right by the calm, patient advice from sisters. Hence, the sisters need to be wise, to clothe with wisdom what they should say to their husbands. It is said, “Let them ask their husbands at home”.
PM The king’s business requires haste, and it says of Abigail that she made haste.
Ques Do you think that her discernment is particularly emphasised in what she selected, as meeting the situation in the food she brought?
JT Yes. The food is a beautiful thought. Food has a great place in the economy of the assembly. “Let a man examine himself and so let him eat”. The eating must be continued in order to build up the constitution, the power that our constitutions need. I am not saying it is solely dependent on the Lord’s supper, but it is the idea of eating. And so you are struck with the variety. “Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two skin-bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred raisin-cakes, and two hundred fig-cakes, and laid them on asses. And she said to her young men, Go on before me; behold, I come after you”. She is wonderfully furnished to meet David. She had to appease him, because the whole matter was in her hands for the moment. Her husband was yet alive, and vengeance was against him, and it was for her to set aside the vengeance by grace, because that is the idea in the food, the excess of grace.
JM The first words that Abigail said to David were, “Upon me, my lord, upon me let the iniquity be”. Why did she take that [p. 196] place?
JT She is taking the responsible place. It is really like Christ; like Rebecca in relation to Jacob. She took on the responsibility.
WS Would you say that David sets forth the brothers who might sometimes be found acting rashly?
JT Well, that is what I have in mind. Very often we do act rashly and very often feelings arise from behind the rashness.
WB In Acts 5, when evil came up, Peter dealt with it apostolically, but in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul brings the whole assembly in, not merely brothers in care, dealing with evil; it is a question of the value of the assembly as balancing what brothers in care might think to do rashly.
JT Quite so. The sisters ought to have the balance. There is a beautiful word in Nehemiah. Nehemiah sought something from the king, which he succeeded in obtaining, but it says, “the queen also sitting by”. She was not saying anything, but she was there; it is the feminine spirit.
GM Is that seen in what Abigail says, that the food is to be “given to the young men that follow my lord”? The young men that are following David are now getting this food.
JT I think the idea of food in this respect is grace, the overwhelming power of grace, and Abigail was the giver, but then she was in keeping with what she had with her according to David’s own report. “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”. He does not refer to the food, but to her discernment and then says, “Blessed be thou”, meaning that she had acquired a place now in his [p. 197] mind.
AM-d Would the sisters be tested as to their substance? I was just thinking of the women in Luke 8, and at the cross, and of Lydia, and of the elect lady. It is important to have substance.
JT Very good, and there is the other at the end of Romans, Phoebe. You remember the beautiful tribute of the apostle in regard of her. All these and many more are in mind in the feminine side, what they can do in the way of influence and wisdom. According to 2 Samuel 20, as has been remarked already, the wise woman of Abel went to all the people in her wisdom. She went to Joab too. She saved the city.
DSM The households are brought in at Corinth. Does that imply what you are saying? The house of Chloe told Paul.
JT That is remarkable. Paul had learned certain things from her. He had learned other things by common report, such as the incestuous man, but he learned from Chloe the division amongst the brethren at Corinth. Then we have the women in Philippians, who laboured with him in the gospel.
Ques Does what Abigail says of David, in verse 28, “Evil has not been found in thee all thy days”, correspond to the idea of the abstract you were speaking about? She holds on to that.
JT Quite so. She rose in her thoughts above the level of the chapter, I would say, as shown in the beautiful remarks she makes about David. She says further, “If a man is risen up to pursue thee”. She alludes, not to Nabal but to Saul, for she has a judgment about him also. “If a man is risen up to pursue thee and to seek thy life, the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with Jehovah thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out from the hollow of the sling. And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah shall do to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken [p. 198] concerning thee, and shall appoint thee ruler over Israel, that this shall be no stumbling block to thee, nor offence of heart for my lord, either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. And when Jehovah shall deal well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid”. She is prophetic in what she says. All this is a most important matter as regards the composition of the assembly. The assembly is not composed of men. It is men and women. The public assembly is now constituted of men and women. Together they have responsibility. Presently the merging power of God will bring all together, on the one side the feminine and on the other side the masculine in Christ. That is, I think, what we have to understand in regard to Christ and the assembly.
TM Do you not think that we often suffer on account of knowing things and not taking them up? Things are left undealt with. Abigail made haste.
JT Quite so.
AI This would not be Nabal’s house now. “Go up to thy house”.
JT I suppose it would be in a way her house; the abstract idea being continued. Following this we see the result: “And it came to pass in about ten days that Jehovah smote Nabal, and he died”. That is to say, God takes up an issue like this if we give Him time. We are all tested, and we need patience, but God deals with matters. And so when David heard that Nabal was dead (he did not kill him, for Abigail prevented that), he says, “Blessed be Jehovah, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has kept back his servant from evil; but Jehovah has returned Nabal’s evil upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her as his wife”. That is the next thing. It is a question of moral grounds now. It is not simply on the ground of her [p. 199] beauty and intelligence, but on account of her skill and the means she had of dealing with the situation; the food she selected and brought would indicate her skill, too.
DSM In connection with the thought of food, what is introduced in the prophetic ministry in 1 Corinthians 14 is in order that the assembly may be edified and all may learn and be encouraged. Is that the bringing in of the food?
JT Just so, the prophetic word is mentioned; “rather that ye may prophesy”. Let that be the kind of ministry.
GS It says of Abigail that in the morning she told Nabal of these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. Ten days later he died. Does that in any way correspond with what is bound on earth being bound in heaven, Matthew 18: 18?
JT It does. It says his heart died within him. He did not die as yet; the end is prolonged, I suppose. Probably the death of the Jewish system in the early days of the assembly’s history is in mind; from the time of Stephen’s testimony and that wonderful death, his martyrdom, you may see Nabal, as it were, becoming defunct, gradually approaching his death; that is like the death of Judaism, because it had become the positive enemy of Christianity. Paul’s ministry and testimony became the means of that; it dogged his steps throughout, but he said, “Lo, we turn to the Gentiles”, Acts 13: 46 and the Jews were left arguing with one another, and they are doing that yet to this very day.
GW You spoke at the outset of changed persons. I was wondering if this matter was prolonged so that we might come to a right judgment with regard to Nabal?
JT You mean as to the state described in Nabal.
[p. 200] Ques Is your thought in the latter part of the chapter that, as these features come to light in the assembly, Christ delights to bring her into conscious nearness to Himself as united to Him? David communed with Abigail.
JT You see David’s judgment of Abigail; it is not exactly Christ, although He is seen there, but it is the exercise of the masculine side; that is, the responsible element, so to speak, in the assembly. Abigail came to the right thought of Nabal, but David came to the right thought of her, and so the pronouncement, “Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me. And blessed be thy discernment, and blessed be thou”. That is his judgment, and so what follows; that is, the death of Nabal brings about circumstances suitable for the union of Christ and the assembly; that is to say, it brings out the truth of it.
WC Would the smiting of Nabal be expressed in the word, “God has judged your judgment”? (Revelation 18: 20).
JT Just so, but more particularly such judgment as is expressed in the epistle to the Thessalonians. In the second chapter of the first epistle, verse 14, the apostle says, “For ye brethren, have become imitators of the assemblies of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus; for ye also have suffered the same things of your own countrymen as also they of the Jews, who have both slain the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and have driven us out by persecution, and do not please God, and are against all men, forbidding us to speak to the nations that they may be saved, that they may fill up their sins always; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost”. That had to come about to make the way clear for the full thought of the assembly in Paul’s ministry.
WS Has the Lord special pleasure in seeing the assembly answering to its [p. 201] responsibility?
JT I am sure He has. I am sure He is watching over all our care meetings, and efforts to maintain what is right in the spirit of grace. Abigail overcomes the spirit of Nabal, and so the Lord is pleased. I suppose David rises now to a type of Christ. It says, “David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her as his wife. And the servants of David came to Abigail to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to thee, to take thee as his wife. And she arose and bowed herself on her face to the earth and said, Behold, let thy handmaid be a bondwoman to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. And Abigail hasted”. She is hastening again; this time it is to be united to David. “And Abigail hasted and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that followed her; and she went after the messengers of David and became his wife”. These five damsels, I think, would be to emphasise the feminine thought. She was marked by it. There is the masculine thought, but there is also the feminine thought. The expression of femininity in Abigail here would not be to stress administration, but suitability to Christ, in view of our service at the Lord’s supper, implying our suitability for this service.
TM Did David fail on the line of administration, but get adjustment through Abigail? The assembly is responsible for right doctrine; as information is brought to the assembly, things can be adjusted publicly.
JT So that we can have assembly service. Service begins with the Lord’s supper, that is to say, Christ and the assembly, and then going on to the Father, but that does not appear here.
Ques Is the same feature seen in Genesis 24, “Rebecca arose, and her maids, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man”?
[p. 202] JT Just so; it is the feminine side. The femininity of the whole position is in mind, and that it is suitable, and hence the importance of the sisters maintaining feminine qualities according to God, and yet maintaining the wisdom that belongs to them; that is, the wisdom that belongs to women (Proverbs 14: 1). At the same time, there is what goes with wisdom, that is, affection; both are to be maintained.
Ques Are you thinking, too, that the brothers partake of that feminine spirit?
JT Well, we do. The position in the assembly is to be characterised by the feminine spirit, the whole assembly. From one aspect it is feminine and it is to exhibit the feminine idea. Frequently the assembly is viewed impersonally; as for instance, “the assembly of God which is at Corinth”, but when we come to the matter of union with Christ, it is the feminine idea, and all are to be merged in it. The members of the assembly merge into one, in the feminine idea, and the masculine is seen in Christ.
JW Is that why the apostle labours for the saints in the first epistle to Corinthians, in order that, as in the second epistle, he might present them as a chaste virgin to Christ?
JT Quite so. There is more spirituality in the second epistle than in the first; principles are more stressed in the first, but, when we come to the second epistle, we come to the personal thought more; and so he says, in chapter 11, bringing in Adam and Eve, “I have espoused you unto one man, to present you a chaste virgin to Christ”.
JM Do we see feminine wisdom in Abigail in 1 Samuel 25: 36?
JT Yes, she knew how to be silent. We are told, let the women learn in silence (1 Corinthians 14: 34, 35). That is another [p. 203] element.
AM-r Is the right attitude seen in Abigail which would work out in the washing of the assembly? “Behold, let thy handmaid be a bondwoman to wash the feet of the servants of my lord”.
JT That is beautiful. It says, “she ... bowed herself on her face to the earth”, and then we have already noticed that Abigail hasted. That is the third time she hasted.
AI There is another thing to be taken note of; “she came down”.
JT She and David came down together. They met on the same level.
AM-r Would washing the feet of “the servants of my lord” be like John 13?
JT Quite so.
JM This was an opportunity for Abigail to have great thoughts of herself, as you were saying about John the baptist yesterday, but she had no ambitions.
JT I am sure the brethren would agree with that.
Ques I would like to ask about what you were saying about the merging of the masculine and the feminine. Does what is feminine go into eternity in the assembly, while what is masculine is seen in Christ?
JT That is what I understand, Christ and the assembly. The assembly in another sense is seen in the aggregate of all believers having the Spirit, in the sense of persons. David speaks of Jonathan’s personal affection as greater than that of women.