In the realm of princesses in the Bible, there’s not a lot of information about Abigail, yet what she did places her in a prominent place in Israel’s history. Her life and many others were spared because she was a peacemaker. The first mention of her is in I Samuel 25:3. She was married to Nabal a very wealthy man. Abigail was very beautiful and discerning, but Nabal was known for being cruel, harsh, and arrogant. His desire was only for what would feed his ego and flesh. Abigail’s father must have only known of Nabal’s wealth when he gave his daughter to him to marry because no good father would give their daughter to such a wicked man.
I Samuel 25:3 “Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.”
At the death of Samuel, David’s only supporter between Saul and him was gone. Saul had not listened to Samuel’s warnings and instructions from God for some time now. Saul’s desire to see David dead was at its height. He and 400 of his men were in the wilderness of Paran running for their lives. David sends messengers to salute Nabal and seek food for his men. They came to Nabal in peace and explained how they knew his shepherds were shearing his sheep in Carmel, but they had been careful to bring no harm to them. Yet, Nabal refuses to give them anything. Nabal was an extremely wealthy man and had more than enough to share with David and his army but because he was a mean man he refused. One of Nabal’s servants tells Abigail how David’s men had been good to them and had been like a wall of protection to them in the wilderness. The young man told Abigail in I Samuel 25:14, that David had sent messengers to salute Nabal but he railed against them. The young shepherd told Abigail that David and his men would be coming to destroy Nabal. She quickly springs into action taking the protection of the estate into her own hands. She determines to be at peace with David and his men. She has her servants gather up enough food and drink to satisfy the army of David. She tells them to go before her and she will ride her donkey in the rear. This wise princess would bring peace between the army of David and her home.
I Samuel 25:14 “But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them.”
I Samuel 25:18-19 “Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses. And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.”
Her gift of food and hospitality was accepted by David, and she found favor in David’s eyes. When she returned, Nabal was having a huge feast and was drunk. She waits to tell him of what she had done to spare them, but the next morning he probably had a heart attack, because the bible says his heart was as stone, and 10 days later he died.
1Samuel 25:36 “And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.”
I Samuel 25:38-39 “And it came to pass about ten days after, that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died. And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.”
Abigail the peacemaker spared the lives of many, and God rewards her. When David hears of the death of Nabal he sends for her to come to marry him. She, a princess as a child of God, becomes a queen to Israel as David’s wife.
I Samuel 25:40 “And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife.”
If you are saved, you too are a princess or a prince of the Almighty King! God wants all His children to be peacemakers. We are to strive to remove contention where and when possible. We are not to feed contention with gossip or sarcasm. We are to seek to reconcile those who oppose each other. We are to take on character traits like our Father. God demonstrated being a peacemaker when he allowed us to be reconciled to Him through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus.
In Matthew 5:9 we will receive a special blessing as a peacemaker. We will be called the children of God. Are you acting like a child of God, seeking ways to be a peacemaker?
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”
