“And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house,
like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was
very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning
light. But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal,
and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he
became as a stone. And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote
Nabal, that he died. And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed
be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal,
and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness
of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take
her to him to wife. And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to
Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to
him to wife. And she arose, and bowed herself on her face to the earth, and
said, Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants
of my lord. And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five
damsels of hers that went after her; and she went after the messengers of David,
and became his wife. David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they were also both
of them his wives. But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to
Phalti the son of Laish, which was of Gallim” (1 Samuel 25:36-44).
Introduction
David was gracious enough to leave the judgement
of Nabal in the hands of the Lord. God dealt with the offender quickly and
within ten days he was dead. As the title of our study indicates, we will take
the opportunity to look at the polygamous marriages of David.
Nabal’s death
The Scripture promise found in Isaiah 54:17 was
certainly fulfilled for David, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall
prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt
condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their
righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.” Nabal
was oblivious to the coming judgement as he feasted and drank the night away. He
felt no guilt for what had taken place between him and David’s men. He did not
even realise that David was on his way to slaughter his household. Abigail knew
that her husband would be too drunk to understand the reason why she had been to
see David concerning this matter. John Wesley writes, “As
he was then incapable of admonition, his reason and conscience being both asleep.”
Charles Mackintosh explains why Abigail kept what she did from Nabal, “It is
almost useless to speak to men about the future who are so wholly engrossed in
the present.”
Nabal probably went to bed intoxicated, but the
next morning, after Abigail explained what she had done, he had a stroke that
paralysed him. Many commentators suggest that the stroke was brought on by the
intense rage he had towards his wife, but it might just as well have been the
realisation of what he had done as Jamieson, Fausset, Brown Bible Commentary
explains, “He probably
fainted from horror at the perilous situation in which he had unconsciously
placed himself; and such a shock had been given him by the fright to his whole
system, that he rapidly pined and died.” The effects of the stroke
lasted for ten days until God took away his life.
David’s blessing
We only see people rejoicing over the death of
another person if he were a tyrannical and merciless dictator. Likewise
Nabal brought the judgement down upon his own head. He had lived his life in
wickedness, selfishness and sin, and so a life of shame brought him to a
shameful end. David also thanks God that He had sent Abigail to stop him
carrying out his evil intention to kill Nabal himself. The death of Nabal must
have startled not only his household, but also David and his men. All saw that
they were dealing with a holy God who will punish all those who offend His own. “For
we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense,
saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:30-31).
David’s polygamy
We read that David took Abigail to be his wife,
even though he was already married to Michal. Also he marries Ahinoam, and later
Bathsheba. Though Saul had given Michal to another man, this does not lessen the
fact that David was now a polygamist. No matter which way we look at it, he was
now bound by sin, for he had violated the word of God. “Therefore shall a
man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they
shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). We wonder if Solomon had learned his
polygamist ways from his father. Maybe David believed he was exempt from the law
because God was blessing him so much, but in doing so he would misunderstand the
eternal reason why God has chosen him.
Men in the Old Testament sometimes took additional
wives, but God did not sanction the practice. This is why the word “if” is
so important in Exodus 21:10, “If he take him another wife; her food, her
raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.” It seems that
God allowed this because it was the state of morality at certain times in
Biblical history, though we believe that the sin would eventually receive its
punishment. Maybe David thought he could legitimately take a second wife since
King Saul took his first away and gave her to another man, but two wrongs do not
make a right, or as Matthew Henry says, “We
deceive ourselves if we think to make others' faults a cloak for our own.”
David’s marriage to Abigail, because she was a
wealthy woman, brought him into a rich estate. All of Nabal’s property might
have become hers because it seems that they had no children to inherit it,
therefore it is possible that Nabal’s wealth came to David.
Conclusion
This passage of Scripture informs us of a very
important fact, one which we ought never to forget, that God works above the
plans and purposes of men to bring about the fulfilment of His perfect will.
© 8/8/2009