So make no bones about it.
David is on his way to commit what the Torah calls “blood guilt.”
In other words, he is about to commit a murder.
Something for which there is zero atonement or forgiveness available under the Levitical sacrificial system.
If David takes life unjustly, God’s law demands his life be taken in return.
No ifs or buts about it.
The other danger David is in is that he is seeking to gain a victory for himself that should rightly belong to the Lord.
He already demonstrated he knew it would be wrong to win the throne of Israel by his own actions when he made the wise decision to not murder Saul which he could have easily done in that cave.
So the same reasoning applies to this situation with Naval.
David was not to avenge wrongs done to him by slaughtering Naval and his entire family.
Avigayil communicated these two points to David.
Then she concluded her speech by asking David to remember her when he became king.
This is why the sages consider Avigayil to be a prophetess.
In her spirit, she sensed the Lord’s hand upon David, and that it was his destiny to one day rule over all Israel.
Such a revelation could only have come from above.
This reminds me of Peter when he confessed Yeshua was the Messiah.
Yeshua’s response was “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.”
But here’s the thing.
Avigayil not only recognized David’s destiny…
She took vigorous action to preserve it.
This is a far cry from someone who walks down the aisle to say the Sinner’s Prayer at some evangelical event…
And then the next weekend he’s back to his porno binges (which sad to say has been me).
Man, there are so many incredible takeaways here I don’t even know where to begin.
Here are some lessons that popped into my mind.
The first one is to realize and fully internalize that we don’t have to fight our battles alone.
The Lord will fight them for us if we just get out of our own way and let Him.
The problem is we keep trying to take God’s prerogatives into our hands just like David was doing here with Naval, and it leads to nothing good.
Second, if God has given you the wisdom and revealed to you that Yeshua is the Messiah…
Just don’t confess it with your mouth, live that truth out in your life homie…
Just as Avigayil vigorously acted on the truth that God had anointed David as the next King of Israel.
Third, realize that once you have entered into a saving relationship with the God of Israel through faith in His Son, you are instantly put on Satan’s hit list.
The devil doesn’t give two hoots about the atheists and the unbelievers…
He already knows they’re on their way to eternal destruction.
What he takes a delightfully perverse pleasure in is tripping up believers and seeing them fall flat on their faces.
He LOOOOOVES to see believers’ marriages fall apart…
He LOOOOOVES to see a believer waste his (or her) time, money, and energy on porno, prostitution, or other frivolous pursuits.
He LOOOOOOVES to see you turn away from the faith and over time slowly but surely develop that cynical, pessimistic, and condescending attitude that all the Richard Dawkins of the world have that saps all the joy out of life.
He LOOOOOOVES to see you rack up a ton of credit card debt by buying a bunch of online courses and coaching that promise you overnight riches and wealth.
He LOOOOOOOOVES to see you wake up in the morning staring up at the ceiling feeling all depressed, and hopeless and that you’re too old and it’s too late to redeem your life because of all your past sins and failures.
So remember that once you’ve committed to God (a real commitment, not porno on Saturday and prayer on Sunday), you’re in constant danger of attacks from the enemy.
Finally, and this last point is connected to the previous one, remember that without God strategically intervening at certain times in your life, you would’ve been utterly destroyed by now…no question about it.
Just as God protected David by orchestrating Avigayil’s intervention that stopped him from slaughtering Naval and his family.
The truth is you have no idea how close to disaster you have come to many times in your life.
So be grateful for God’s many interventions in your life and that He is intervening even now.
That’s evidence you’re on Satan’s hit list and that He has wonderful plans stored up for you in the future whether on earth or in heaven.
Trust me, that’s much better than being on God’s hit list (and yes, He does have a hit list)…
See ya all next time.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
-Ephesians 6:12
I agree that if we are being attacked by Satan, that’s good news, because it means we are doing something very right.
Of course, it still sucks to be attacked by Satan, but for those who persevere, there will be a crown of glory.
Amen!