When you see evil, speak up – 1st Samuel 25, Part 2

This week we’re talking about the roadblocks that keep us from becoming all that God wants us to be. In 1st Samuel 25, David faces two of those roadblocks, one minor, one serious. In the previous post, we saw both of them. Nabal is the obvious roadblock to David, but he is not the much more serious roadblock. 

One reason that Nabal the Fool is not the major roadblock in this story is because his wife Abigail is so, so good.  I encourage you to reread 1st Samuel 25, verses 1-13, just as we did in the previous post. In those verses we learned that Nabal the Fool is married to Abigail the Good.  Nabal the Fool, surly and mean, marries Abigail who is intelligent and beautiful.  Wouldn’t it be interesting to know how they ended up together!  That’s all we read about her in verses 1-13, but she is about to steal the show. As we keep reading, we’ll see how Abigail quickly identifies both the minor roadblock, Nabal, her husband, and the major roadblock, which I have yet to reveal to you.   

First, we meet another important character in the story. In verses 14-17, an unnamed servant who seems very intelligent like Abigail, reports to Abigail that Nabal has denied David’s request for food for his men.  This behind-the-scenes, no-name servant is a hero in this story.  In Hebrew, the servant is “young man.”  Even though he is young, even though he is not named, he shines.

Look at how the servant describes Nabal in verse 17, “He is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him.”  Have you ever talked with people like Nabal?  Know-it-alls.  You cannot tell them anything.  They do not listen.  They don’t care.  They believe they are right.  Period.

That servant seems to have observed Nabal in action many times before.  The servant also knows that he can go to his master’s wife, and she can do something about what he believes is “disaster hanging over the master and the whole household.”  Perhaps this young servant is thinking, “I better do something or I, along with everyone else in our household, could be in big trouble of retaliation.”  This servant reminds us of the influence people can have by speaking up.  Even if you are young, even if you think your perspective doesn’t matter. Even if you think, “They’ll never listen to me,” speak up! Never underestimate yourself. When you see a wrong, speak up.  Be a whistleblower.

After the servant speaks up, we learn more about Abigail.  Will she take the servant seriously?  Read verses 18-31. 

Did you notice how Abigail deals with both the minor roadblock and the major one?  What Abigail does is a master class in emotional intelligence.  Seems like she would have made a wonderful ruler over the entire country.  Her political, relational and communication skills are amazing.  She is able to move fast, marshal support from her servants, totally keeping Nabal the Fool in the dark, and rush out to ward off impending disaster. 

Abigail deals with the obvious roadblock first.  That is the minor roadblock, the foolishness of her husband, Nabal.  She just simply ignores his decision not to help David, and in her massive gift of food to David and his men, she removes that minor roadblock very efficiently. 

But what about the second roadblock, the major roadblock?  Did you identify it? Abigail does, and she addresses it head on, with graciousness but bluntness.  She is quite courageous, taking a risk to deal with the second roadblock.  In the next post, I will reveal the second roadblock to David and his men, the major roadblock.

Photo by Melany Rochester on Unsplash