The story of Naval and David shows it’s best not to seek revenge on our own.
The Lord was David’s avenger and He acted to punish Naval for the disrespect and lack of hospitality he showed God’s anointed.
If Avigayil had not intervened, and David ended up slaying Naval and his family, David would have committed “blood guilt.”
According to the Torah, this is murder, plain and simple.
Would this have disqualified David from becoming the future king of Israel?
I can’t say for sure.
However, what I can say for sure is that committing blood guilt is one of the worst sins one can commit against God.
It’s what the Torah labels an “intentional” or high-handed sin.
In other words, it can’t be forgiven by the Levitical sacrifices.
Would God have allowed a man convicted of blood guilt to replace Saul – a man who was already a failed king?
I highly, highly doubt it.
But thank God, David didn’t take matters into his own hands.
Because the Lord intervened, gave Naval a stroke, and he died ten days later.
You might think I’m assuming something that’s not in the Scripture.
I mean, it doesn’t specifically say God killed Naval to take revenge for David.
Yet, it’s clear the people considered Naval’s death an act of God.
His death 10 days after his stroke, with 10 symbolizing divine completion in the Bible, also supports this.
And David felt it was God’s justice.
But here’s the $64,000 question.
What exactly did Naval do wrong?
As far as we can tell, his big sin was insulting David and being unkind.
I get that Naval was a foolish and godless man (as his name suggests).
But the bottom line is as far as I can tell, he didn’t break a Torah law deserving of death.
So what gives?
Well, this leads us to an uncomfortable attribute of the God of Israel that can be difficult to accept.
The Lord will give and take life as He sees fit…
And more often than not, He’ll do it without explanation.
So why did God kill Naval?
I can only speculate.
He was a wicked and inhospitable man…
And the Lord decided for His own good reasons that such a man wasn’t needed in His Kingdom.
If this happened today, I betcha people would conclude Naval died of natural causes.
But here’s a truth we shouldn’t overlook…
A truth best expressed by the prophet Isaiah:
“’For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,’
declares the Lord.
‘As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.'”
-Isaiah 55:8-9
There are going to be many times when we’re hurt and confused as to why God did or did not act in a certain way…
Or why He commands us to do certain things that simply don’t make any sense to us.
Listen, it’s okay to be hurt and confused.
But at that point, you still have two options.
You can either abandon God and your faith…
Or you can choose to trust God EVEN IF you don’t understand what He’s doing.
Abraham didn’t understand why God asked him to sacrifice his first-born son…
Yet He trusted Him and obeyed God anyway.
Naaman didn’t understand how dunking in the Jordan River seven times would heal him of his leprosy…
Yet he trusted God and did it anyway.
And YOU may not understand why God is asking you to do one thing or another…
Or why He hasn’t intervened supernaturally on your behalf.
“Why can’t I eat pork and shellfish?”
“Why hasn’t God freed me from my alcoholic or porn addiction?”
“Why hasn’t God given me a husband or wife yet?”
“Why am I broke and still struggling financially?”
“Why do I have to forgive that person when he or she has been such a jerk?”
“Why would a loving God order the extermination of every man, woman, and child of certain populations?”
“Why in the hell would God allow such an ungodly man to become President?”
And so on.
Look, in your walk with the Lord, many “Whys” are gonna pop up.
Sometimes God may answer your whys…
But more often than not, He won’t.
The question is when He doesn’t answer your whys…
Like Job, are you still going to trust Him despite the intense confusion and pain you’re experiencing?
Or are you going to use that as an excuse to abandon your faith and Adonai your God?
Ya feel me here?
See ya all next time.
As the writer of Hebrews said, in Hebrews 11:1, faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we don’t see.
In other words, it is believing in that which cannot be proven or understood.
One of the more foolish aspects of human beings is that if we do understand something, we think that it is no longer miraculous. For instance, I understand the whole process of eating an apple, from chewing it through excreting the unused portions, but it is still a miracle of nature! I mean, do you know anyone who could have not just designed how it works, but manufactured all the parts?
The writer of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) found everything in life to be useless, but why?
That’s the reason! it’s because he wanted to understand the “why” of everything: he wanted to have God’s understanding, which is impossible for a human being, and so as hard as he tried, he failed to grasp the “why” of anything. He finally came to the conclusion that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
“Fear of the Lord”- that isn’t being scared, it is worshiping God as God said to, which is to accept he is King and Lord of everyone and everything.
Faith and Trust are building blocks of salvation, and this is why Yeshua said to enter the Kingdom of Heaven we must be as little children. Sure, those little monsters ask questions all the time, but they trust 1000% in what we tell them. That is the type of faith and trust we must have in God- it is OK to ask, but whether we get the answer we want, or none at all, we stil trust completely that God knows what he is doing and why he does something (or doesn’t do something) is always the best thing for everyone.
Even if it means suffering.
Amen Steven. Love you apple example. The truth is the miraculous is unfolding before us every day.
We just don’t take the time to notice or be grateful for the blessings our Father in Heaven showers upon us every day.
Be blessed!