by Peggy Engeler

Beauty and Brains

In 1 Samuel 25 we read of a woman who is beautiful and intelligent. She is married, but not to Prince Charming. Her husband is described as a wealthy man but crude and mean in all his dealings. In verse 25 the Bible says even his name means “fool.” His name was Nabal, and his wife was Abigail. Her name means “cause of joy.” This is a true story of how the beautiful and wise Abigail ended up married to the man who would become the most famous King in the Bible.

During David’s flight from Saul, he moved down to the wilderness of Maon during sheep shearing time, which was a time for celebration and asked Nabal for food for himself and his men. In this culture this request for hospitality was quite common. Foolish Nabal responded with hurling angry insults. David is a young man but already a mighty warrior. He is greatly offended by the insult and gathers 400 of his men and their swords and heads out to teach Nabal a lesson.

Meanwhile, one of the servants heard what Nabal said to David’s messenger and told Abigail how David and men had shown kindness and even offered a wall of protection for his master’s men and animals. Abigail wasted no time. She quickly gathered food and packed it on donkeys and sent it with her servants to David.

She met David on the road with her offering of sustenance. Her eloquent speech in 1 Samuel 25:24:31 made a huge impression on the young would be King and stopped the plan for murder and mayhem in its tracks. Abigail returned home with David’s blessing and found foolish and drunk Nabal throwing a party. In the morning when he was sober, she told him what she had done. He had a stroke and died ten days later.

But Abigail’s story was not over. When David heard that Nabal was dead he remembered the kindness of the beautiful Abigail and sent messengers to ask her to become his wife.

Abigail is an example of great courage in the face of danger. She didn’t sit around and blame her foolish husband. She took control of a dangerous situation. She used good judgment and took quick action to appear before an approaching enemy to plead for the safety of her household. With her beauty and brains, she won the heart of the man soon to be anointed King over all of Israel.

Already availabe in paperback, on kindle and audio soon to be released in hardcover

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D1T3NGDP