Proverbs – Page 2 – Old Testament Survey

1 Samuel 25.2-44

David settles in the wilderness of Paran, which is west of En-Gedi. David speaks to a man from Carmel, which was the town Saul created a monument to himself. Sometimes the best places to hide from an enemy is in plain sight.

1 Samuel 25.2-44

What David requests of Nabal in verses 2-8 sounds like extortion. However, this was a common custom due to the presence of robbers. This area was known for having many thieves. David was protecting Nabal’s men and possessions from these men. David should have considered what the response would have been from a man whose name means “fool” (1 Samuel 25.25).

David’s request was rejected by Nabal in the next paragraph. The rejection was a crass statement on David’s legitimacy. This enraged David and he set off to battle Nabal with four hundred men.

The main characters in this chapter each present a way we can respond to what others do for us. This paragraph shows us the response of Nabal and of David. The rest of the chapter shows Abigail’s response.

We see Nabal’s response was to repay evil for good (10-11). When he refused to share what he had with David, he was acting foolish. We see that his household was set up for failure because of this attitude (Proverbs 17.13).

The next response is David’s response to what Nabal did as returning evil for evil (12-13). David’s plan was to punish Nabal and his household for being so disrespectful and inhospitable. David was hurt and reacted in anger. David was stopped from doing this by Nabal’s wife, Abigail. It is interesting that David had greater patience for Saul than he did for Nabal. This presents the truth of Song of Solomon 2.15 that shows the little things can destroy us. Or, this was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

One of the servants of Nabal reported to Abigail, not Nabal, to inform her of the truth of David’s words (14-17). His words reflected the character of each of the main characters:

David was kind and protective
Nabal was a foolish, disrespectful, and harsh man.
Abigail would know what to do.

Abigail responded with the kindness that is common in the middle east and did what Nabal should have done. She prepared the food as David had requested (18-20). She reflected the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31. She went to David, without Nabal’s consent for he would not have given it to her even though it is the right thing to do. When a spouse or authority asks us to do something that is against God’s will or is harmful to others (in this case it was not against God’s law for her not to go to David but would be harmful if she did not go; also, it was not against God’s law for her to go), we need to politely do what God has commanded us to do (Acts 4.13-22)

After David considered what Abigail said and did for Nabal and him (26-31), he repented of his words and did not complete his actions (32-35). Abigail showed David that we overcome evil, not with evil, but with good (Proverbs 20:22 and 24.29 with Romans 12.19). In her speech to him, Abigail reminds David of who Nabal is, who he is, who God is, and the consequences of completing this act. Do you have someone like that in your life?

When Abigail returns to Nabal, he is doing for himself exactly what David requested he do for David. For this pride, God struck him dead.

David is already married to Michal, Saul’s daughter. Saul, after the separation between him and David, gave Michal to another (verse 44). God would later condemn and judge the people of Gallim for this and other crimes (Isaiah 10.30). Second Samuel 3.12-16 presents the end of this story when Michal is returned to David. When he hears Nabal is dead, he courts Abigail and marries her. The writer then lists the other wives of David.

A few sidebars for this chapter:

The only time the term “forgive” is mentioned in this book is in verse 28.
Verse 29 shows that Abigail had rehearsed and practice her speech before she said the words to David. If you read them, they are quite poetic.
In verse three, the writer provides a description of Abigail whose name means “father of joy.” He states she was outwardly and inwardly beautiful.
In this chapter names describe character. If you were to be renamed, what would you be called?

Psalm 52

Psalm 52 is a short Psalm that provides the historical context of when Doeg was sent by Saul to kill Ahimelech’s family in 1 Samuel 21 and 22.

Psalm 52 is a short Psalm that provides a poetic backdrop to the historical context of when Doeg was sent by Saul to kill Ahimelech’s family in 1 Samuel 21 and 22.

Verses 1-3-Historically, Doeg lies about Ahimelech. He told Saul that Ahimelech was conspiring against his kingdom when he said that Ahimelech was aiding David’s escape (1 Samuel 22.9-10). What words are you speaking today? Do they reflect godliness or wickedness? Do you enjoy gossip? Do you tell half-truths, which are lies, in order to get out of trouble? When you do this, you are emulating Doeg. This is why David places the Selah here.

Verses 4-5-David pronounces God’s judgment on Doeg and all who are like him. Selah, consider that the next time you speak words.

Verses 6-7-The Hebrew here is interesting at the end of verse seven. Instead of the word “wealth” it has “in his destruction.” Paul reminds us in 1 Timothy 6.10 that the pursuit of wealth (anything other than the pursuit of God) leads to destruction (Proverbs 14.12).

Verses 8-9-David ends this Psalm with confidence in whom God is and an exclamation of praise before God’s people. We should never belittle what God has done in our lives. We need to tell what the Lord has done for us on a regular basis. We need to do this because He is good. When was the last time you gave praise for what God has done?

Judges 19-21

Today it is my goal to finish Judges with another strange story. I wonder when people read the newspaper two-hundred years from now if it will sound like this.

The book of Judges ends with the logical conclusion to the way it began, that is disobedience, life without a ruler, doing what was right in their own eyes. The last two chapters presented personal idolatry becoming national idolatry. This also sounds like the State of the Union address last night. These next three chapters present another Levite, more civil unrest, and the close annihilation of a tribe. It all began with a family squabble with another family residing in Ephraim (Samaria). It seems as though this is the beginning of a horror movie. Read Judges 19.1-21 in light of that because what follows is horrific. This is what happens when man is left to himself.

The Levite’s concubine, think a wife here, leaves her husband and goes home to Bethlehem because of she was angry. He loves her, chases her, and desires to bring her back home. After some time with her family, they return home. Instead of staying the night in Jebus (later called Jerusalem) because it is populated by the Jebusites, they travel onto a safer city, one that is populated by Israelites.

They arrive in Gibeah, of the tribe of Benjamin. The people show no hospitality, which is a sin. Late into the evening an old man puts them up for the night. This is the setting.

The nation of Israel, at least this group of Benjamites, is practicing homosexuals and ones who wantonly rape male travelers. I will have to research this portion of the Old Testament a bit more because it is, on the surface, hard to explain. The men of the city attack the man’s house in order to rape the Levite. The man would have nothing to do with this. Instead, he offers his virgin daughter and the concubine for the men to rape. This also happened at Sodom and Gomorrah. The men did not want the women but clamored for the Levite. The Levite threw his concubine, think a slave here, to the men who abused her through the night so much so that she died in the morning.

The Levite carried her home, butchers her into twelve pieces, to represent the twelve tribes, and mailed a piece of her to each tribe with a threat.

Chapter 20 describes a sorrowful Israel bringing justice upon the Benjamites. The attempt was to discipline and purge the nation of the sin that was committed in Gibeah. God says to destroy such people from the nation of Israel. What would have happened if the church was living out what God had called her to live out during the last century? Would our nation be different? I believe so. We, the church, are at fault for not standing on God’s Word, doing what He has called us to do. I am not stating that we should have killed all homosexuals. I am stating that if we established orphanages, reached out to homeless, widows, impoverished (Matthew 24-25), that when the time of the sexual revolution began, the voice of the church would have been honored.

Back to Judges 20. Instead of punishing the men who committed the crime, the Benjamites thought it better to go to war against their brothers. Four hundred thousand men fighting against one tribe. Benjamin loses. During this horrific time, the other tribes kept going to God asking Him what to do. In order to discipline and purge, He commanded they keep fighting. Only six-hundred men survived.

Chapter 21 is the ultimate in dating. Since no one who fought could give wives to the surviving men, the tribe of Benjamin would no longer exist. One city did not fight. Because of this, they were to be killed (another item to research). Since they had four-hundred virgins there, these would survive and they could be given to the six-hundred Benjamites. Doing the math, there are two-hundred more men than women.

The plan was to send the remaining uncoupled men to Shiloh to “kidnap” a wife for themselves. This way the tribes would be blameless because they did not give the daughters to them. So, the Benjamites survived.

The telling verse is verse twenty-five: “In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.” When I read this, I read the people did not desire God, so they did what they thought was right, which led to destruction.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to destruction (Proverbs 14.12). What path is our nation, our family, yourself taking right now?

Tomorrow Ruth.