Lesson 9 - "Abigail"

(Please read 1 Samuel 25:1-42, 27:3, 30:5; 2 Samuel 2:2, 3:3 & 1 Chronicles 3:1)

1. How are we introduced to Abigail?

2. What were her circumstances?

3. What did she do?

4. How do you see her actions? 
(be specific; good/bad/for her husband/against her husband, etc.)

HONEST REFLECTION: 


How would I have responded if my spouse continued to do things that endangered our lives?

5. What were the results of her actions?

Abigail's very name means "source of Joy", and she KNEW her source of joy was the Lord. That enabled her to endure living in very difficult circumstances, and all the while, relying upon the Lord for strength, wisdom and direction (upon which she was quick to respond) for her household.

The following are excerpts from All the Women of the Bible, by Edith Deen:

"Only a capable and affluent woman could have made ready so much food in such haste. Only a women of good understanding could have left so quietly, without informing her husband of her actions. If she had, she knew he would demand that she not give away his food to strangers. She knew, too, that the safety of their entire household was at stake." (page 104)

6. Can I relate to Abigail? (explain your answer)

The following are excerpts from All the Women of the Bible, by Herbert Lockyer:

"Added to her charm and wisdom was that of piety. She knew God, and although she lived in such an unhappy home, she remained a saint." (page 23) 

Also quoted here is Eugena Price, writer of A Woman With God's Own Poise, "only God can give a woman poise like Abigail possessed, and God can only do it when a woman is willing to cooperate as Abigail cooperated with Him on every point." 

Then, Lockyer continues: "True to the significance of her own name she experienced that in God her Father there was a great source of joy enabling her to be independent of the adverse, trying circumstances of her miserable home life."

HONEST REFLECTION:


Am I in circumstances that are other than favorable? What are my feelings towards God in these circumstances? Can I be as Abigail, fully trusting and obedient, and full of the Lord's strength and wisdom?





As we see the Lord honors her faithfulness to Himself, and brings her out of her unfavorable circumstances, and into David's home. There she becomes one of his wives, and also a much trusted confidant as he recognized her wisdom!



AFTERTHOUGHT: 


What can I take to heart from this lesson, and apply it to my daily life?