GOD BLESS OUR MOTHERS! |
The World, the Word & You!
Broadcast
Commentary by Dennis L. Finnan
““THIS WEEKEND AMERICA CELEBRATES THE WONDER
AND BLESSING OF MOTHERHOOD. WE FIND IT EASY TO SAY ‘GOD BLESS OUR MOTHERS,’ BUT
WHAT REALLY MAKES A BLESSED MOTHER & WIFE?”
I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the
Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about an amazing example
of a magnificent mother taken from the pages of the Old Testament Scriptures…
… Today for a mother's day lesson from the Word of God, we go to the Old Testament book of I Samuel, Chapter 25. Here among the pages of history is a colorful and credible story of a woman whose life is found locked in misery and unhappiness. God gives us a contrast in two persons, found as a husband and a wife. The story opens with the death of Samuel, Israel's great prophet and spiritual leader, for which all Israel mourned, all but one that is, King Saul. By now King Saul revealed his anger against God, and set himself up as God's adversary. How sad, King Saul suck to the miserable state of hating God and all that stood for Him. Of course, many of us know that young David, son of Jesse, soon to be King of Israel, was the one who stood as the God “chosen” representative on God’s behalf. Sadly, Israel was at war within itself, and the struggle was between God's glory and rule, or man's corrupt self-rule. Now beginning in verse two, we read there was a man…
1 Sam 25:3 (NIV) “His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings.”
But now,
we find her thrust into a most unhappy marriage to a greedy, drunken,
indifferent infidel husband. Now,
Abigail typifies so many women and mothers, even today, who are without
support, care and genuine love from their husbands. What are they to do? Well
first of all, ABIGAIL'S attitude is clearly seen. Rather than running away and just divorcing him, as is common
these days, she chooses to trust God in the matter, and settles down to live as
best she can under the circumstances.
Would to God many wives and mothers today would consider the same when
they find their mates flaws and shortcomings. Surely Abigail's married life was
one of the worst, but she stuck it out.
Now since
she was a child of God, a woman the Bible later shows had great faith, the
situation in life, which God permitted her to experience, was ultimately used
for good. Amazingly, rather than
becoming “worldly” by the vast wealth she had through Nabal, her sorrow and
grief drew her closer to God, who alone for the moment provided her the only
comfort and joy she could have.
Likewise, we must realize that our seemingly negative situations in live
may be God's tool to draw us closer to Him, and to build in us, a character
that in later years may well be used of the Lord in great ways. Such was ABIGAIL'S future, as we shall see. Well
back to the story. We find young David
is at war with King Saul, and while in the desert regrouping his forces, David
comes upon Nabal's herdsmen. David being a man of God, kindly and tenderly
respects their rights. He and his six hundred men, even at times helped and
assisted Nabal's herdsmen -- so much so, that they had great respect for David.
Well food ran out, so David sent ten men to visit Nabal's residence. With great kindness, diplomacy and with a
humble spirit, on behalf of David, they asked Nabal for food for his men,
promising to repay it when able. Nabal
in one of his usual drunken episodes coarsely rebukes David's men and offers
them nothing. He curses them to their face and tells them to get out!
Well you
can guess what happened. David's men, rebuffed, ride back to tell David of the
terrible response they received from a man whom David showed great kindness and
helped. So in response David declares
him an enemy and prepares for battle with Nabal. Should word get around that Israel's crown prince is rebuffed and
dishonored by the people, God's glory would be ultimately be at stake.
Since the
story is the biblical record, we know that David's actions are correct, and we
must assume God's approval is behind this action. So David mounts with his 600 men to ride into Nabal's camp to
bring judgment on this ungodly reception.
While David’s troops are being readied, one of Nabal's herdsmen who
witnessed the rough treatment David’s men received, goes to his wife ABIGAIL.
He pleads with her and tells what awful, ungrateful and greedy thing Nabal
did. He tells ABIGAIL that he would go
to his master, but in his drunken state, he would never listen. ABIGAIL, a woman of good understanding and
intelligence, realizes Nabal doomed his life.
To save her husband, even though he wasn’t worth it, she prepares a
mighty feast of food to be brought to David's troops. Special foods she hastily gathers and supervises – enough for
feeding over 600 men! The Bible says she baked and packed 200 loaves of bread!
Moreover, she had her servants dress five sheep and five measures of roasted
grain, she packed two skins of their best wine, one hundreds clusters of
raisins and two hundred cakes of figs! (I Sam 25:18) Then supervising it all,
they loaded it on train of animals, and she herself mounted a donkey to travel
with this gift to meet David and his men.
We must be amazed at this, for only a hard working, capable and affluent
woman could have prepared so much food in such haste. Yes, only a woman of keen
intellect could have done this so quietly, and at the risk of her own life.
Just think, what did she owe Nabal for this political and social blunder?
Nabal was
probably not only an alcoholic, but an abusive man too. They usually go
together. Indeed, in human terms she owed him nothing! But, ABIGAIL was a
strong believer in the one true God, and so she was a woman of character. Her
marriage vow was not based on Nabal's PERFORMANCE in life, it was based on her
“pledge” before her God whom she loved and honored to be faithful to him. Would
to God we had more wives and mothers like Abigail! Would to God, many more
wives and mothers today, would remember their vows, for better or worse, in
sickness or in health to death do us part! Yes, ABIGAIL was a godly, FAITHFUL
WIFE, setting out to save her husband, his wealth and his life, and at her own
peril!
Well
after riding long and hard, she finally meets David and his men coming with
swords and the judgment of the Lord against Nabal's wicked rejection of God's
servants for Israel. ABIGAIL, a
courageous woman, unafraid, rides up to David and dismounts and bows before
him. She praises David and apologizes
for her husband's foolhardy greedy actions.
She confesses she is married to this defective man, and without mocking
him she admits her position in life and does not complain about it. In I Samuel 25:24-31, we are told that as
she is speaking to DAVID - the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY came upon her, and she
revealed to David what God had already told him. She predicts David would indeed
be the rightful King of Israel, and that his very life is protected by God's
gracious care. She speaks that if Israel's actions are just, David would in
God's timing be the appointed one to exalt the Lord and be king over Israel.
All through this magnificent speech, ABIGAIL
never forgets her dignity as NABAL'S WIFE OR THE HANDMAID OF THE LORD. Now,
ABIGAIL typifies all women in their noblest purest character, as her actions
reveal her personal godliness, her in depth knowledge of God's Word, and her
unwavering faith regardless of the circumstances and consequences of life. It
appears she greatly understood men and had tolerance even for their often bad
behavior.
Well when
she finished her speech she asked nothing, expected nothing, and quickly
mounted her donkey and returned to her husband. We are told this woman overwhelmed David. We can imagine David watch her ride away
over the hillside. He would never forget her kindness and her love for Jehovah
and his men. Later on, the Bible
reveals that his admiration for her would take on even greater meaning in days
to come.
Well
ABIGAIL returns, exhausted from hastily preparation of food for 600 men, riding
in the hot desert, and pleading for her husband's life. Fully spent, she returns to the life she
seems doomed to live with forever! NABAL as usual is found drunk! He was
FEASTING, totally unaware that he was almost killed for his stupidity! ABIGAIL decides to wait till morning when
the drunkenness is worn off a bit, and then tell him what she did. Notice too, ABIGAIL keeps no secrets from
her husband, even if it will mean punishments of some kind. What she did in
disobedience to NABAL'S command, she was determined to accept the
consequences. Well morning comes, and
she faces NABAL and tells him the tragedy she helped avoid. Now the Bible tells us that the night
before, after years of drinking, Nabal drank more than ever. By morning his
mind was so pickled from the alcohol of years of indulgence, he was unable to
bear the news. We read in I Samuel 25:37:
1 Sam 25:37 (NIV) “Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone.”
Yes, the
years of drunkenness finally took its toll. The years he lived in riotous,
cruel living, most likely abusing ABIGAIL along the way now came to an end, for
the timing of God's judgment for Nabal was at hand. The Bible says in verse 38,
1 Sam 25:38 (NIV) “About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal and he died.”
Now note
those words. The LORD STRUCK NABAL DEAD! The years of ABIGAIL’S faithfulness to
her marriage vows, to her husband regardless of his abuse were now over; for
God was not silent in hearing her tears and seeing her suffer. God used these
difficult years to produce in her a humble, gentle spirit, and God also fortified
her with courage and devotion to the teaching of Samuel, Her faith in Jehovah
deepened as a result of all these good and bad things! Again we are reminded
that the Scriptures says
Rom 8:28 (NIV) “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Now
remember Abigail was a very beautiful woman endowed with sharp intelligence,
which could have easily allowed her to be a vain, cunning and spoiled
woman. But God had a special place for
her, and it was through the evils of life, God perfected this saint for glory.
Now looking at verse 39,
1 Sam 25:39 (NIV) “When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise be to the LORD, who has upheld my cause against Nabal for treating me with contempt. He has kept his servant from doing wrong and has brought Nabal’s wrongdoing down on his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking her to become his wife.”
"David, your kindness is not worthy of me, I will be
satisfied just to be your servant all the days of my life because I know God
has chosen you to be King. My God is king and my Lord will be His servant."
In time,
it proved that ABIGAIL was just the wife David needed. Although and
unfortunately David married other wives, ABIGAIL proved to be his
greatest! Although David was chosen of
God, David like you and me was human too. David was a sinner like every one of
us. His besetting sins included his being a tempestuous man and his character
was at times was quite willful. But, Abigail's tenderness, intelligence,
humility and gentleness took many an edge off David. I'm sure she helped him to learn patience, forbearance, and inspired
much confidence in him.
Though
little more is recorded of ABIGAIL after her marriage to King David, we are
told she became a mother, and gave birth to a son they named CHILEAB, who was
the second son of David through ABIGAIL.
Abigail's hope of a stable home and marriage came true. Abigail's dream
of a man-child was fulfilled, and although it wasn't God's perfect plan for
DAVID to have more than one wife, God permitted it in a time of the ongoing
revelation of God’s Word. So too today,
and in like manner God can make the “crooked straight,” God can bring happiness
and contentment out of less than perfect situations. What is the requirement to
do so? A wife and mother of ABIGAIL'S character. With all going for her she surely made a MAGNIFICENT AND BLESSED
MOTHER! She was a woman who was a committed believer. She was a woman who was
devoted to her husband regardless of his failures. She was a woman of decency,
faithfulness, order, and characterized by being a hard worker, and having a
humble quiet spirit. She held her
husband high, protected him and cherished him, and left her future in God's
noble and perfect hand.
This
Mother's Day weekend, I wonder where God's story of ABIGAIL finds you? “Mother,” are you a committed believer in
Jesus Christ? Are you faithfully serving the Lord, are you an example of
godliness? Are you faithful to your
husband and home? Or are you like so many today that have abandoned the home
for a “career,” only to find the barrenness of soul it eventually brings? Mother and wife, are you a “keeper of the
home,” able to supervise and control all around you? Is your home in order, is
it a place your husband can come home to and in his heart know it's his castle
filled with the beauty of his beloved?
There are
many teachings you can glean from this story and by far I haven't touched all
of them. But one thing I know God
promises – “His Word shall not return void!”
Today, the Spirit of God has now given you His lesson and His Word for
your heart today. How will you respond? If you are an unsaved woman or wife,
God speaks for you to be saved, by becoming a believer in Christ today!
But, if
you are an unfaithful wife or mother, know that God is calling you to return
and begin again. Yes, ABIGAIL surely
was a magnificent mother, but she owed it all to the God whom she loved and
served all the days of her life! May
God bless all our mothers this special day, and may we “men folk,” remember
what women at times have to endure through men like NABAL. May we too come to terms with God and His
Word for Jesus sake, Amen…
…Now in their latter years together, David probably said to ABIGAIL many times, as he had said to her when she first rode up to him in the desert many long years before.
"BLESSED BE THE LORD GOD OF
ISRAEL, WHO HAS SENT YOU THIS DAY TO MEET ME; AND BLESSED BE THY ADVICE."
(I SAM. 25:32-33)
Friends,
you know the Word of God is filled with so many stories that are intended to
bring us to grips with God and His Word. I trust you regularly place yourself
under the preaching of the Word. If my
message today and every week helps you, we would love to know that. This month celebrates twenty-one years of
broadcasting. I want to give God the
glory for allowing me to be his humble servant all these years. I also want to thank the many faithful
friends and listeners who through these 21 years have made it possible for this
program to be on the air around the nation and the world. I am truly unworthy for this blessing and
more, I will never understand how it was that God saved a wretch like me to be
a voice for His glory. So my radio
friends, rejoice with me this MOTHER'S DAY, a beautiful Lord's day, and let us
praise God together for His mercy, love and care.
· Radio talk #1901
· Broadcast date: May 13, 2001
· Speaker: Dennis L. Finnan, Commentator
· Program: The World, the Word & You! Radio Broadcast
· Address: P.O. Box 40133 Grand Junction, CO 81504
The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 22 years, and serves as General Director.
These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them. Also available are actual radio cassette tapes and printed booklets of each message. A free listing of recent messages is available upon request also.
For further information, reprints, or a listing of all topics, please write to our speaker, Dennis L. Finnan(wwy@wwy.org),or visit our webpage at http://www.wwy.org/