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Nabal refused. David's temper
flared. Muttering sorne nasty invec–
tive againsl Nabal ( l Sam. 25:22), he
and hundreds of armed roen set out
lo teach Nabal a lesson he would
never remember (since he would die
by the lesson!). Anticipating the
manly responses of bolh Nabal and
David, Abigail quietly got sorne food
logelher and met David before he
could do bodily harm lo Nabal. Us–
ing the utmost of tact and diplomacy,
she managed to bring David to a
screeching ha lt in an action he would
laler have regretted. David recog–
nized the wisdom of her advice (even
if she was "justa woman") and said:
" Biessed be tbe Lord God of Israel,
whicb sent tbee tbis day to meet me:
and blessed be lhy advice, and
blessed be thou, wbicb hast kept me
this day from coming to shed blood,
and from avenging myself witb mine
own hand. . .. Go up in peace to
thine house; see, 1 have hearkened to
thy voice, and
have accepted thy per–
son"!
(I Sam. 25:32-35.)
Are you man enough to take good
advice, even if it comes from "just a
woman" ? Man enough to accept lhe
person, to see beyond prejudice, lo
recogni ze truth wben you see it?
Are you woman enough ... ?
But the story is not fin isbed- it
would make a great movie!
When Abigail got back borne, Na–
bal was in a drunken stupor, so sbe
waited until the morning, whcn he
was undoubtedly suffering from one
of the grcatest hangovers of history,
before sbe lold him what she bad
done- paliently, soft ly, plainly. Na–
bal snapped bis sbower cap, went into
a blind rage, had an apoplectic fit,
suffe red a stroke tha l paralyzed him
for ten days, and died! David married
Abigail , inberited al! of Nabal's
eartbly goods, and they lived bappily
ever after .
Now, foral! you women who have
husbands like Nabal . ..
David and Bathsheba
There's good news and bad news in
lbe story of David and Bathsheba.
Adultcry and murder, sbame and
disgust, repentance and faith, for–
giveness and hope. Most remember
David, but wbat about Bathsbeba?–
there is anotber side of tbe coin.
The PLAIN TRUTH May 1979
David !usted. But why was Bath–
sbeba batbing wbere sbe knew sbe
could be seen? David commi tted
adultery, but it takes two to tango.
. David arranged for Uriah's untimely
deatb, but did Ba lhsheba know noth–
ing of tbe plot?
David repenled lolally, and wrole
perhaps the most beautiful of a ll bis
psalms as a resull: Psalm 51. But do
we think Batbsheba did nol also re–
pent? Dav!d remained married. So
Batbsbeba remained married. And
logether · they produced Solomon.
Solomon means "peace"- with God,
witb men, witb each other : David
ANO Bathsheba.
l t was Bathsbeba, frivolous and
costly act of passion forgiven, who
later in her illustrious life,
logethe~
with Natban, prophet of God, con–
vinced David that he must name Sol–
omon bis successor to the tbrorre be–
fore his deatb. Strong and subtle, for
bad and good, Batbsbeba is quite a
woman-person- being.
By the way, Lemuel, as quoted by
Solomon, may bave written the
words that describe tbe ideal woman
of Proverbs 31, but the Bible says he
was taugbt them by his mother!
Sorne say that " Lemuel" was anoth–
er name for Solomon.
If
that is in–
deed true, then Batbsheba inspi red
Proverbs 31 !
Jezebel was bad. Micha! was bad.
No need to dwell on that. Manasseb
was bad. Pharaob was bad.
After all, only people a re bad.
Unsung Heroine
Elijah is a luminary of biblical record
without peer. His miracles (God's
miracles performed a t Elijah's re–
qucst) are stir.ring examples with
which most laymen a re familiar. But
do you remember the woman (un–
named- as were many famous men
in the biblical record) whose pot of
oil and barre) of flour stayed fui! ?
The widow wbo sustained Elijah
when all others turned him away?
The woman whose son Elijah revived
from the dead? 1 tbink 1 spot an
unsung heroine here. A widow alone
against a bostile world, having only
ber faith and good deeds to keep the
wolf from the door. A woman of
strong cbaract er. A woman wi th
whom God was acqua inted: " l have
commanded a widow woman ... to
sustain tbee"
(l
King 17:9).
Many unkind things must have
been said regarding their relation–
sbip. Undoubtedly all untrue, but
burtful and difficult to live with. His
political and religious views were
anathema to tbe community they
lived in. Her aiding and abetting him
in her borne could not have been pop–
ular. Unnamed, she yet receives her
crown of victory in the words of He–
brews 11 :35-the fait h chapter:
"Women [so there must have been
others] received their dead ra ised to
Life again."
Elijah knew her name; God knows
her name, and it won't make any
difference that she is unnamed or "just
a woman" wben she is resurrected to
eternallife, a member of tbe family of
God in that better resurrection that
same verse mentions. She will be
equally one witb God a long with Eli–
jah. A spirit being, all-powerful, ever–
living: THAT's EQUALITY!
Prefe rred Company
God chooses "woman" throughout
the enti re Bible as the symbol of the
Cburch of God, the Body of Christ.
He refers to the entire group of saved
human beings as tbe Bride of Christ:
THAT's EQUALITY!
There are many prejudiced people
who bave critica! and unkind remarks
regarding Jesus' open acceptance of
women-even more critica) and un–
kind remarks were made in His own
day, as the status of women tben was
worse by far than it now is.
Mary Magdalene, a person of
tragic background, with spiritua l,
mental and pbysical problems, was
one of those closest to Christ, re–
spected, loved, forgiven and encour–
aged by Him. He pointedly preferred
her company to that of the mate self–
important, higb officials of the reli–
gions of His day. He was not afraid
of being seen carrying on a conversa–
tion with a woman (remember tbe
woman at t he well?) contrary to the
tradition of His day. There were
many women who were His disciples,
though most of them remained un–
named in tbe record-and women
furnished an important part in the
foundation of the early Church. And
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