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She Speaks with Wisdom

Written by  Terrie Fontenot, Hampton Roads, Virginia Wednesday, 02 February 2011 11:20

Don’t you wish your words were filled with wisdom and instruction that make a Godly impact? A woman in the Old Testament, Abigail, gives further meaning to this rich and well known Proverb.

  1. Introduction: Proverbs 31: 10-31 is an acrostic poem. Each verse begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. (i.e. A, B, C…) “The book of Proverbs is a rich collection of God’s wisdom for His people. It consists of practical instruction about how to attain a good, happy, and successful life. The spiritual, ethical, psychological, intellectual, physical, marital, social, and professional areas of our lives are all addressed here. In Proverbs, the way of wisdom is fearing God, doing right, and using common sense to develop life patterns that will bring harmony, happiness, and success in every area of life. Proverbs contains many earnest exhortations to follow that way and to avoid the alternative way of foolishness and wickedness.” (Proverbs: A Topical Study by Eldon Woodcock) We will begin by looking at a woman in the OT who spoke with wisdom and gave faithful instruction to a future king…Abigail in 1 Samuel 25:1-44.
  2. Abigail, a Woman Who Spoke with Wisdom
    1. Abigail was wise, decisive and yet sensitive. The Hebrew word that describes her is translated as “wise”, “good of insight,” “of good understanding,” “intelligent,” or “clever”. Even the servants knew the character and qualities of their mistress. They were not afraid to approach her with the problem and respected her decision.
    2. She was married to Nabal. The Hebrew word for “fool” is nabal. It means to “be foolish,” “stupid,” “senseless,” and “disgraceful.” “They include the ideas of insensitivity to the Lord, moral apathy, and rejecting what is reasonable. The nabal words emphasize strongly the disgraceful, boorish, and domineering aspects of the fool’s behavior.”
    3. While David was on the run from King Saul, a sizeable group of several hundred joined him and became his private army. There were 600 in the group, and 30 of them became an inner core of officers. There were no proper supplies for the army at that time. They were provided for by the families of the soldiers or by living off the land. David and his army had offered protection to Nabal’s shepherds and had not taken anything. David expected that when he asked, at a religious festival time, they would be given some food.
    4. Abigail showed wisdom in how she handled the situation. (P122-123 Every Woman in the Bible)
      1. She got to work immediately to turn things around. She collected the supplies.
      2. V. 23-24 She “bowed down before David with her face to the ground”. She approached David with humility and honored him. She took full responsibility for the insult and asked to be heard.
      3. Abigail sided with David. She agreed that he had been in the right.
      4. Abigail met David’s request. She did not rely on words alone to convey her agreement but added actions to her words.
      5. Abigail emphasized her positive view of David’s character. Abigail reminded David that he was the kind of person who fights the Lord’s battles.
      6. Abigail appealed to David to identify with those he had intended to kill. Abigail reminded David that Saul is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my master will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God. (V. 29) Abigail made an interesting contrast between the two pouches used by the shepherd. The bundle of the living is the pouch that held food; the hollow of a sling is the pouch that held the stone. She is probably also reminding him of how God avenges those who insult Him, as He did with Goliath.
      7. Abigail reminded David of his own values. David himself felt that unnecessary bloodshed was wrong. A person who avenged himself with his own hand violated God’s commandment against murder. Two Hebrew words are translated as “kill” and as “murder”. One of the words describes a killing, without making a moral judgment. This word is used when killing in warfare or judicial execution is involved. The other Hebrew word is found in the Ten Commandments, and should be translated “you shall not murder”. What the word translated “murder” implies is a personal killing. That is, one person takes the life of another for a personal reason, not as an impersonal act in warfare, and not as a judicial, governmental act. Abigail knew (V. 26) that David would be committing murder with Nabal, for this was definitely a personal killing.
      8. Abigail urged David to look to the future. She called him to look ahead to the time when the Lord would make David “ruler over Israel” (V. 30) It would be foolish to have this on his conscience when he is to rule a united Israel.
    5. David realized that Abigail was sent by God as a messenger to him. (V. 32-35) David understood that her faithful instruction helped him to resist the temptation to sin against God. Abigail was not only God’s messenger to David, but also David’s counselor. Abigail offered advice, but in a wise and gracious way. David responded wisely by not letting his ego deter him from heeding what she said. (V. 35 I have granted your request, in Hebrew—“I have lifted up your face”.)
    6. V. 36-38 Abigail showed wisdom in her dealing with Nabal, the foolish one, as well. She spoke the truth at the right time, graciously. Then she faithfully left the outcome in God’s hands, just as she had done with David. V.39 David saw very clearly that God had brought about justice and Abigail had kept him from sin. Abigail was a woman he wanted as a wife.
  3. Two Ways: Wisdom and Folly (Chapter 5 Proverbs; A Topical Study by Woodcock)
    1. Exhortations to Obtain Wisdom
      1. Wisdom’s Invitation: Proverbs 1:20-21; 8:1-7. “In these passages, wisdom is personified as a woman who publicly offers wisdom to any who want to improve their ways. There is an urgency to her invitation.”
      2. Commands to Acquire Wisdom: Proverbs 1:1-6; 4:1-5; 18:15; 19:20. “The wise seek and acquire knowledge (18:15). Acquire is a marketing term that describes purchasing merchandise. Here it pictures doing whatever is necessary in terms of effort, learning, and hard work to gain knowledge. The discerning eagerly pays that price.”
      3. Commands to Keep Wisdom: Prov. 7:1-4; 8:32-34; 23:12, 19, 26. “These images picture internalizing the principles of wisdom to the extent that they saturate our minds, from our attitudes, and control our behavior.”
    2. Characteristics of Wisdom
      1. The Wise Listen to Wisdom: Prov. 5:1-2; 16:21. “Pleasant words, literally sweetness of the lips, picture a gracious, attractive, enjoyable style of teaching. The most effective teaching involves both making clear what is presented and selling its value to the students.”
      2. The Wise Benefit from Good Advice: Prov. 11:14; 15:22; 24:6. “Competent advisers make success more likely, but the lack of such counsel contributes to failure.”
      3. The Wise Accept and Value Rebukes: Prov. 15:31; 25:12.
      4. The Wise Use Self-Control to Appease Anger and to Avoid Danger: Prov. 16:14; 19:11; 25:28. “The wise possess the self-control to shrug off insults and offenses and to avoid heated responses. Their restraint form anger and forgiving attitude promote harmony and bring honor to them.”
      5. The Wise are Righteous and Just: Prov. 2:20-22; 8:8-9. “The correctness of wisdom is not always accepted. The same reaction is seen in the New Testament to the gospel (1 Cor. 1:18-25).”
      6. The Wise Have Power: Prov. 16:32; 21:22; 24:5.
      7. The Wise Are Protected by Wisdom: Prov. 2:9-11; 2:12-15; 4:6. “For wisdom to enter someone’s heart (2:10) is for wisdom to live there, to be absorbed into her personality. Wisdom, which is almost personified here, in that context rescues a person from spiritual, moral, and physical dangers.”
      8. The Wise Find Wisdom Attractive and Pleasant: Prov. 1:8-9; 3:21-26; 27:9. “Walking in wisdom involves the easy progress that results when the obstacles that hinder progress and cause stumbling are removed. The wise person’s confidence in the Lord enables her to follow paths with a sure footing. Such confidence and assurance enable us to relax with sleep that is restful, refreshing, and undisturbed.”
      9. The Wise Value Wisdom Highly: Prov. 3:1-2, 13-18; 4:7; 8:10-11; 19:8.
    3. The Benefits of Wisdom
      1. Life and Health: Prov. 4:20-23; 6:20-23; 11:30. “The important exhortation to guard your heart (4:23) includes the thoughts, emotions, and will of the entire person. The modern equivalent to the heart is the mind. Therefore, it is crucial for us to guard diligently our minds as our most precious possession. To protect them, we must filter out sinful, destructive thoughts and attitudes that shatter our confidence and demolish our effectiveness. The word rendered ‘wellspring’ pictures the mind as the source of the thoughts and attitudes that determine a person’s perspective toward and direction in life.”
      2. Rejoicing Parents: Prov. 23:15-16, 24-25; 27:11.
    4. Results of Rejecting Wisdom
      1. Prov. 1:20-33; 15:10; 19:27; 21:16. “Apathy toward wisdom can be fatal.”
    5. Characteristics of Foolishness
      1. The Foolish Repeat Their Foolishness: Prov. 26:11
      2. The Foolish Have Zeal without Knowledge: Prov. 19:2. “The word ‘zeal’ pictures a person’s thinking, appetites (hunger, thirst), desires (for someone or something), energy, emotions (love or hate), joy and enthusiasm. All these human functionings are neutral; what makes them positive or negative, good or bad, right or wrong is what we desire or are zealous about. The key is to use knowledge to direct our desires and enthusiasm in ways that are honorable and constructive. Equally faulty is for a person to make a decision so quickly that he does not use his wisdom, define his goal, or develop his plan for achieving it. The result is to move rapidly in the wrong direction toward the wrong destination. This is to ‘miss the way,’ a central idea in the Hebrew word used here, which also means ‘to sin’.”
      3. The Foolish Reject the Knowledge That They Lack: Prov. 14:7; 18:2; 23:9.
      4. The Foolish Detest Turning from the Evil They Plot: Prov. 13:19; 24:8-9
      5. The Foolish Are Quick-Tempered: Prov. 14:17
      6. The Foolish are Dangerous, Quarrelsome, and Arouse Hostilities: 17:12; 22:10; 30:32-33.
      7. The Foolish Are Arrogant: Prov. 17:7; 21:24; 26:12. “The greatest obstacle to acquiring wisdom is the deluded impression that a person does not need it.”
      8. The Foolish Are Slanderous: Prov. 10:18.
      9. The Foolish Are Useless to Others: Prov. 26:6, 10.
    6. Results of Foolishness
      1. The Foolish Receive Penalties, Beatings, and Death: Prov. 19:29; 20:30; 26:3; 27:22. “Mockers and fools are so obnoxious that their behavior invites punishment, and they get it.
      2. The Foolish Bring Ruin: Prov. 10:10.
      3. The Foolish Bring Grief to Their Parents: Prov. 17:21, 25; 19:13a.
  4. Read Proverbs 2:1-8. Wisdom comes from God and with it come great rewards. The wise will make the effort to know God and be faithful to Him. Abigail was this kind of woman and David was known as “a man after God’s own heart.” I would encourage you to seek after God’s wisdom above all else in life. There was a time when things were tough for Jesus’ disciples. In John 6:66-68 it says; From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” Because of their continued desire to know and obey God, we have their “faithful instruction” that guides us to eternal life even today.
Read 3974 times Last modified on Wednesday, 02 February 2011 11:27
Published in Studies, Lessons and Devotionals
More in this category: « Authority and Submission (Quiet Times) Let Your Light Shine (Quiet Times) »
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