²⁴ So Jacob WAS LEFT ALONE, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. Genesis 32

The Torah reading for this coming Sabbath commences at Genesis 32:3 where Jacob is about to re-enter the land of Canaan and meet his brother Esau again. At the beginning of the account he fears for his own safety and all those with him when he learns Esau is approaching with a large force of men. (Actually 400 men, the same size as the group who were with David when he met Abigail. 1 Samuel 25:13) Jacob began to prepare for the meeting, by organising small groups to go ahead, each with a gift of livestock for his estranged brother and Jacob also prayed and reminded God of His promise to him.

¹¹ Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. ¹² But you have said, “I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.” Genesis 32

Many devout and devoted people may have thought that Jacob, ever the strategist, had done everything he could to prepare for the reconciliation with his twin brother. On the physical level that was true, but a much more unexpected confrontation awaited him, one he was to face alone. Jacob sent everyone and everything he had across the ford of the Jabbok. He was left completely alone on the Eastern side and he wrestled with a man through the night until dawn.

²⁴ So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. ²⁶ Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’ Genesis 32

Jacob was about to cross over into the place/land of his inheritance, but before he could enter into it he had to wrestle with someone who had the authority to bless him. Jacob was a different man after that meeting, in fact even his name changed to mark the struggle. He left the confrontation in a lot of pain but with a new God given promise over his future.

²⁷ The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’

‘Jacob,’ he answered.

²⁸ Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.’ Genesis 32

Jacob met with God before he left Canaan (Bethel, House of God) and right before he came back into it, he met with God again. This speaks to me of the Believer’s initial salvation and then times of trial and refining. For those who continue to walk in God’s ways they may find themselves stripped of everything and left alone with God, before they can finally step into their full inheritance. God is faithful, but we too have to be conformed to the image of Christ to serve His Kingdom here on earth. Jacob was a very determined individual, but God gave a final touch to his natural strength before he allowed him to cross back into Canaan. He entered the place of inheritance a different man and with a limp to remind him of his life changing struggle.

May the Lord bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us.

 

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and BOWED DOWN BEFORE DAVID WITH HER FACE TO THE GROUND. (Abigail took the initiative) 1 Samuel 25

Abigail, the ‘intelligent and beautiful woman’, verse 3, fell on her face before David and his four hundred men, an act of great public humility. She realised that her family’s future depended upon her appeasing these men whom her husband had so insulted. We said in an earlier blog that Abigail had to act quickly and decisively, but this was the moment when the outcome of her actions would be decided. She had no guarantee that her gift would be accepted but she spoke well to David and REMINDED HIM of the promise of God upon his life.

²⁶ And now, my lord, as surely as the Lord your God lives and as you live, since the Lord has kept you from bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hands, may your enemies and all who are intent on harming my lord be like Nabal. ²⁷ And let this gift, which your servant has brought to my lord, be given to the men who follow you.

²⁸ ‘Please forgive your servant’s presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live. 1 Samuel 25

As I’m writing this today I wonder IF GOD IS EXTENDING AN INVITATION TO SOME OF YOU TO COME BEFORE HIM IN HUMILITY AND SPEAK WITH HIM. A PERSONAL AUDIENCE WITH GOD to tell Him what’s on your heart and mind and ask for His help in your situations.

² Take words with you
    and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
    ‘Forgive all our sins
AND RECEIVE US GRACIOUSLY,
    that we may offer the fruit of our lips. Hosea 14

¹⁸ “Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land; Isaiah 1

David, a man hot with anger, was moved by the sincerity of Abigail’s peace offering and her plea. How much more does a loving, compassionate God want to restore relationship with hurting, fearful people. The account of Abigail ends with a much deeper relationship, she humbled herself once more after Nabal died and David’s men came to take her to be his wife. The Lord is assembling His bride on earth right now and His invitation to come into a deeper, more fulfilling relationship is open to all. Take that step towards Him and you’ll know His love and support afresh in your life.

May the Lord bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us.

 

³² David said to Abigail, ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. ³³ May you be blessed for your good judgment and for KEEPING ME FROM BLOODSHED THIS DAY AND FROM AVENGING MYSELF WITH MY OWN HANDS. ³⁴ Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, IF YOU HAD NOT COME QUICKLY TO MEET ME, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.’ 1 Samuel 25

In the earlier blog on 5 December we saw that Abigail had reacted quickly to the news that Nabal had insulted David’s young men when they came to ask for a gift during a festival time at the shearing of the sheep. We also noted that Rahab had been decisive and hidden the two Israelite spies and saved her whole household. Lastly the Shunamite mother didn’t give up hope when her young son died but set out to find Elisha and plead that God restore his life. All three of these women faced disaster, but took their stand and eventually rescued those dearest to them.

²³ When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. 1 Samuel 25

On meeting David and his men in the ravine (they had to meet, no way around the steep sides) Abigail immediately humbled herself before them. David in his hot anger was now faced with this lovely woman on her face and a small train of gifts. Three times in this account we read the word ‘Quickly’, twice of Abigail, attempting to redeem a dangerous situation and lastly when David responded to her. This is a wonderful picture of an Intercessor, Abigail threw herself between David’s men and her household. She pleaded with David not to shed innocent blood and he acknowledged that God had used her to prevent him from this blood guilt. Even though David was the wronged party on this occasion, God used Abigail to stop him, by her quick thinking and complete humility.

When we are wronged we may need to step back for a moment and rethink before we do something we’ll regret later. On other occasions we may be the one to step in and bring peace to others who are ready to erupt because of ill treatment.

⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5

God does reward those who bring peace into troubled situations.

May the Lord bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us.

 

SOMETIMES IN THE RAVINE, THE TIGHT AND CONSTRICTED PLACE, GOD STOPS OUR PLANS IN ORDER TO RELEASE HIS! 1 Samuel 25:32-44

⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
    AND CROWNS YOU WITH LOVE AND COMPASSION,
⁵ WHO SATISFIES YOUR DESIRES WITH GOOD THINGS
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103, of David 

Most mornings we read the first five verses of this psalm of David, when he, ‘tells his soul to Praise the Lord and forget not all His benefits’. DAVID TOLD HIS SOUL TO SPEAK TO GOD AND PRAISE HIM AND SO CAN WE.

Most Christians have no problem accepting the first part of verse 4, that ‘God redeems our lives’, because only He could accomplish that for us, but I feel there is a dearth of believing the rest of these verses. Many Believers have been through tough times and the intensity of these times is very real, but God still wants to bless and help us in the midst of them. David faced more challenges in his life than most of us, simply because he had a significant calling of God upon him. Our callings will also be tested, but God wants to bless us and give us tokens of His love as we press on with our lives on this Earth.

The Fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden brought trouble upon Adam and Eve and all their descendants. However, God did not abandon them, He provided the ‘fur coats’ to cover their bodies. Genesis 3:21 When Israel refused to enter the Promised Land, fearing the people there and disbelieving God, that generation never entered their inheritance. However, God provided for them again in the wilderness. He gave them shoes that never wore out and fed them. Deuteronomy 29:5, 6 (It’s noteworthy that God only judged the rebellious who were twenty years old and more. Numbers 14:29 He didn’t punish anyone under the age of twenty)

Part of the reason I’m writing about God’s goodness and faithfulness today is that we’ve been blessed this week by a very specific gift of two different things. Anne loves a particular red vegetable and I had a craving this week sausage rolls (sausage meat in pastry), no-one knew about this. During the week we met someone who’d recently gone through surgery and they brought us a gift of both these items. How kind of them and how amazing.

Steve Shultz quote, ‘How does He do that?’. Robin Bullock’s response, ‘That’s why we call Him God’. God’s love tokens may come in the most unexpected ways and at the most unlikely times, but like David we should always thank Him and those He uses to bless us. Amen

Of David.

May the Lord bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us.

 

¹⁸ Abigail ACTED QUICKLY. (OR Flew into action. The Message) 1 Samuel 25

Abigail was presented, without warning, with a situation which threatened to destroy her whole family. The situation was not of her making and the blame was entirely her husband’s, but she immediately, ‘Flew into action’, as the Message Bible puts it. Situations can arise where there is no time for consideration, only prompt action will save the day!

Abigail was warned by an unnamed servant that her husband had insulted David to his ten men and though they had once protected the shepherds and their livestock, now they would come for revenge. She was the one who suddenly found herself with responsibility for the future of the entire family. Abigail acted immediately, she took the decisions alone, without consulting anyone. She also made a personal commitment to be the one to face the angry men threatening to take their lives. She showed great courage!

¹⁸ Abigail acted quickly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. ¹⁹ Then she told her servants, ‘Go on ahead; I’ll follow you.’ But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 1 Samuel 25

She put together a substantial gift, at short notice, for David and his men, which she hoped would be large enough to placate them. Abigail was not the only woman in scripture who faced dangerous situations and had to decide quickly what she must do.

³ So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: ‘Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.’

⁴ But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, ‘Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. Joshua 2

Rahab also showed great bravery in hiding the two Israelite spies and then telling them how to make good their escape. Rahab also took a personal stand and once again, like Abigail, rescued her whole household from destruction. Both these women showed personal bravery and much wisdom in dealing with dangerous situations.

Another example of courage in the face of disaster was the Shunamite woman, for whom the prophet Elisha had promised a son.

²⁰ After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. ²¹ She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.

²² She called her husband and said, ‘Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.’ 2 Kings 4

She also decided upon her course of action and set out to find the prophet Elisha, who had granted her a son. Through her faith and the faith of Elisha her son was restored to her.

All these ladies faced tremendous challenges and all of them received great rewards in their futures when they’d overcome. Abigail became the wife of King David, a much more rewarding life than living with the ‘mean and surly’, Nabal. Rahab and her household survived and Rahab was grafted into the family line of King David and then the Messiah. The Shunamite returned after the famine, had an audience with the king and was given back her property along with the income from it.

God recognises those who take righteous stands when faced with difficult challenges and rewards them here and for eternity. May He guide us to know the right paths for ourselves and those around us in the days ahead. Amen

The Lord bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us.

 

³ His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but HER HUSBAND WAS SURLY AND MEAN IN HIS DEALINGS – he was a Calebite. 1 Samuel 25

We said yesterday that Nabal, the wealthy property owner was mentioned first in the Biblical account regarding David, but then when it came to character and demeanour, the order was reversed and Abigail was put first. We also said that when we leave this earth, character is the key thing that we will take with us into eternity. Nabal’s character and inclination to abuse people, completely unnecessarily, led to his downfall. Nabal didn’t guard his tongue and it cost him his life.

³ Those who guard their lips preserve their lives,
    but those who speak rashly will come to ruin. Proverbs 13:3

15 A gentle answer turns away wrath,
    but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1

²³ When they hurled their insults at him, he (Jesus) did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, HE ENTRUSTED HIMSELF TO HIM WHO JUDGES JUSTLY. 1 Peter 2

A saying in this world is, ‘bite your tongue (to stop yourself speaking) and say nothing’. Even the world recognises that there are times when it’s better to be silent.

⁴ While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. ⁵ So he sent ten young men and said to them, ‘Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name. ⁶ Say to him: “Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours! 1 Samuel 25

David sent ten of his young men to greet Nabal and bless him at the time of the shearing, when God was blessing their work, like the harvest festival. He sent his ‘young men’, so he didn’t intend for it to be a serious nor complicated matter. He was simply asking that Nabal bless them with a token of his abundance in appreciation for their protection of his stock. However, Nabal completely overreacted and insulted them and their master, David. (This happened to David more than once 2 Samuel 10, when his messengers were humiliated by Hanun, king of the Ammonites. Sometimes people overreact in unexpected ways and we need wisdom immediately to deal with it.)

David’s young men reminded Nabal how they’d protected his shepherds and livestock while they were near them in the desert, but he didn’t acknowledge their care of his men or stock. Instead, he sent them away empty handed and insulted David to his men.

¹⁰ Nabal answered David’s servants, ‘Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. ¹¹ Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?’ 1 Samuel 25

Nabal spoke roughly to David’s servants and seemed not to care that his words would go straight back to David, a battle hardened soldier with six hundred fighting men. WORDS SPOKEN IN HASTE OR ANGER HAVE A WAY OF TRAVELLING MUCH FURTHER THAN THE IMMEDIATE RECIPIENT. WORDS MAY TAKE WINGS! Help us to remember this Lord.

the Lord bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us.

² A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. ³ His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. SHE WAS AN INTELLIGENT AND BEAUTIFUL WOMAN, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings – he was a Calebite. 1 Samuel 25

Have you ever noticed how often the Bible refers to people’s character? (Even the Lord’s character was commented upon) Here we have contrasted the character of Nabal, surly and mean and his intelligent and beautiful wife, Abigail. The verse names the husband first ahead of the wife, but when it comes to character, the order is reversed and Abigail is listed ahead of her husband. I listened to a Derek Prince broadcast recently and was impacted by a remark he made regarding spiritual gifts and character. He said that spiritual gifts would cease immediately we left this earth, they would be unnecessary in heaven, when we’ll live in the presence of God. On the other hand he said we would take our character into eternity. My impression is that the Church in our day has valued gifts over character, perhaps in keeping with this world’s love of the dramatic, but I believe that change is coming to the Body of Christ.

In the New Testament Paul lists nine gifts of the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 and then in Galatians 5:22-23 we have the corresponding nine fruit of the Spirit. A modern picture of both gifts and fruit would be like the two wings of a bird, where we need both functioning in tandem to fly. All gifts and no fruit and similarly all fruit and no gifts won’t enable us to get airborne. We need character to carry the gifts in our lives. Once again, I like the quote by Johnny Enlow that the Christian life is about holding two truths together in tension. He says if we veer too far in either direction it’s like falling into a ditch on either side of a road. We must keep both in tension and stay balanced to get airborne in the Spirit.

In the narrative about Nabal and Abigail in 1 Samuel 25, it’s easy to pass over scripture’s character assessment which lays the foundation for the whole account. Nabal’s defective character led to his complete downfall and all his wealth didn’t save him.

³ If clouds are full of water,
    they pour rain on the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
    IN THE PLACE WHERE IT FALLS IT WILL LIE. Ecclesiastes 11

Don’t neglect your character, when we leave the scene of time that’s what we’ll carry into eternity.

May the Lord bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us.

 

⁹ He said to Saul, ‘WHY DO YOU LISTEN WHEN MEN SAY, “David is bent on harming you”? 1 Samuel 24

David had Saul completely at his mercy in the cave where he and his men were hiding, BUT DAVID DID NOT DO THE EASY THING, HE REFUSED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SOMEONE ANOINTED BY GOD. David’s reasoning was that God had called Saul to be King and God should be the one to remove him. In effect David didn’t listen to his men either, he stood apart from their urgent prompting and refused to have Saul’s blood on his hands. It takes courage and determination to stand against the voices of the crowd, especially when your life is being threatened. I believe this was a big test from God as to how much He could trust David in the future with much greater matters. We too shouldn’t be drawn into taking the easy path, nor the quick fix, consider what it means for your future and take the righteous path.

¹⁰ This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord gave you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, “I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.” 1 Samuel 24

When the time for a decision came, David showed that he feared God more than he feared men. Not always the easiest way but someday we may be glad that we too feared God and didn’t take the easy option.

¹² May the Lord judge between you and me. And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. ¹³ As the old saying goes, “From evildoers come evil deeds,” so my hand will not touch you. 1 Samuel 24

David invoked the Name of the Lord in his encounter with Saul and he also told the king that he was in the wrong, while David himself had behaved righteously. David attributed Saul’s actions to his personal nature, what he was at the core of his being. Psychology today talks a lot about, ‘behaviour modification’, ridding ourselves of bad habits, but that’s meaningless when we still hold on to our rebellious old nature. ‘In the flesh/old nature dwells no good thing’. David’s walk with God allowed him to see that Saul was only living out the anger and bitterness that was in his heart. SAUL NEVER CHANGED!

The Lord spoke on several occasions about recognising people by their fruit, that which is manifest, comes forth in their lives. People often try to hide their true nature, but in unguarded moments they LEAK and the truth comes out.

¹⁷ Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognise them. Matthew 7

May the Lord bless and keep you today, and keep all our feet on His paths. Immanuel, God is with us.