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1 SAMUEL 25: Brendan's FAVOURITE Woman in the Bible
6 Plays2 months ago
Like! Share! Subscribe! Brendan shares a story about a time when he absolutely lost his mind and went bat-crap-cray-cray... and how it relates to his favourite heroine in the Bible! ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
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Transcript
Introduction and Holiday Wishes
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey friends, wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. We are getting closer and closer the day in which we celebrate the birth of Jesus.
00:00:14
Speaker
So today i want to share some thoughts with you on 1 Samuel 25.
David's Unexpected Behavior
00:00:29
Speaker
in the wilderness, the hunt from King Saul. David goes absolutely nuts. He just loses the plot. And sometimes when you're reading the Bible and you just think you know somebody and then they do or say something and you think it's weird, you can almost feel a sense of betrayal. Like, I thought you were someone else.
Personal Story: A Disrupted Day
00:00:53
Speaker
But I remember a number of years ago, i am My school shut unexpectedly halfway through the day. Maybe there was a power outage or a water outage or something.
00:01:05
Speaker
And remember my colleague said to me, hey, would you like to go see the new Lion King movie? You know, that the live action one was called live action, but was a CGI.
00:01:16
Speaker
And I thought, yeah, okay, whatever, sure. So we're working in North Frederick Street in Dublin. And then you had to walk through Parnell Square, and then onto O'Connell Street, and that's where the Savoy Cinema was, and that's where we were gonna go
00:01:37
Speaker
as we were walking toward the cinema, we were still in North Frederick Street, we were about 100 metres from the school building maybe, there was a homeless man sitting on the ground on the side road.
00:01:52
Speaker
So, know, I looked at him and he looked at me, he smiled pitiably and I felt a bit of compassion for him.
Confrontation and Reflection
00:01:59
Speaker
And next thing, this absolute tank of woman comes along.
00:02:04
Speaker
And remember in the moment, the only thing I could think of Jigglypuff. You know that Pokemon? Jigglypuff, Jigglypuff.
00:02:16
Speaker
Yeah, her. um And you know, she had Messy blonde hair, pallid skin. She would blend in, you white sand on a beach. She was wearing a vibrant pink Jeremy Kyle tracksuit.
00:02:31
Speaker
And next thing, she just walks right up. If you can even call this action walking. It was all shaking. It was all going on. Up to the homeless man. So he was holding a sign saying, please help me, I'm homeless. And he had a little hat with a couple euros in it front of him.
00:02:49
Speaker
She pulled the sign from his hands and began running away. Began running all the way down Frederick Street, down Parnell Street, down O'Connell Street. And I kind of looked at my friend, and then my friend looked at me, and I was like, did that just happen?
00:03:07
Speaker
was like, how rude, how wicked. but And the next thing I thought was, um did she know something I didn't know? Is this guy a faker? Because in Dublin City Centre, you see a lot of fakers.
00:03:21
Speaker
You know, they're all homeless, and 80% of them are wearing 150 euro runners and sports jackets. And I just thought to myself, you know what?
00:03:32
Speaker
I actually think this is legit. I just just shrobed. He just really sad. And the next thing that crossed my mind was Captain in America.
00:03:47
Speaker
but You know, Chris Evans, Captain America, Marvel Cinematic Universe, that version, not the comic book version. And I just twiddled my imaginary, WWCAD, what would Captain America do, bracelet.
00:04:02
Speaker
And I said, this will not stand. I'm pretty sure I actually yelled that. And boom, next thing, i was running down the streets after this.
00:04:13
Speaker
cow and oh my goodness the things that were coming out of my mouth was like a plague upon your house you are scum you are everything wrong with society mean oh my goodness and other people looking obviously didn't have a bold notion what had just happened and they probably thought what is this guy's problem with this chick and eventually Outside this voice cinema, I caught up with her.
00:04:44
Speaker
And I reached out like Harry Potter, grabbing the golden snitch. And I grabbed the sign. of one hand. yeah And then two hands. And I said, let go of it, you filth.
00:04:56
Speaker
And she was like, no, I will not let go. Which surprised me. I actually thought would have been so intimidated she would have. But this woman had a spirit of pride. And as I was wrestling free, now here's the thing. I absolutely could have gotten back.
00:05:11
Speaker
Okay, and I mean, was strong enough to do it. All I had to do was actually move my hands a couple inches more, and I would have had that that the main hold of it. I would have had the lion's share. would have taken it back.
00:05:24
Speaker
I was stronger than she was. I could have resorted to i need method to get it back.
00:05:30
Speaker
And then there came a point. Almost like an out-of-body experience. You know when time just, like, slows down? And it was like there was a me watching this madman who looked like me and sounded like me but was behaving very uncharacteristically for me in a tussling match with a sign.
00:05:51
Speaker
And calm, chilled, steady, relaxed me just said, ah what are you doing? How far are you going to go?
00:06:03
Speaker
to get this sign. I mean, seriously, have you thought this through? If she does not let go the next 10 seconds, what is your follow-up? Hello.
00:06:15
Speaker
And this point, the physically wrestling me kind of caught up and i let go.
Realization of Misplaced Anger
00:06:23
Speaker
I just said, God, I can see this through to completion, that's not a place I want to go.
00:06:28
Speaker
And then this jiggly puff, you know, ran in front of traffic with the sign and so on and so forth. Oh, I was livid. I was disgusted. My face was red. Steaming was coming from my ears.
00:06:42
Speaker
was taking those deep, you know, bull about to charge and stampede breaths. And my friend from work caught up with me and stood back from a very safe distance and was like, friendston are you okay?
00:06:57
Speaker
I said, no, let's go see the movie. So she walked, stormed into the cinema lobby and you know she got the tickets. I wasn't in the right mind to talk to anybody behind any counter that day.
00:07:10
Speaker
And we went up the stairs to the screen I was bit surprised that they had left the lights turned on during the trailers. And then, you know, the movie began and, you know, it's the circle of life. The lights were still on and the screen. I thought this is an absolute disgrace. And I was livid about that as well. So we were sitting in the right back room. I got up, walked down stairs. I was like, this is not okay. We're paying for the full movie experience.
00:07:42
Speaker
And then they came and literally, In the screen itself was the light switch. I didn't actually have to go tell anybody who worked there. ah So they followed me in and then they were like, click.
00:07:55
Speaker
ah And then I went back to my seat. My friend was like, thank you, Brendan. Don't talk to me. was huffing and puffing. I don't know what happened in that movie. I know there was a scene where a dung got rolled up into a bowl or some nonsense for like way too long.
00:08:14
Speaker
I remember Beyonce had a solo for some ridiculous reason that could not actually be justified. And don't know what happened.
00:08:25
Speaker
I went in, the lights got turned off eventually, and then it ended. That's the reality. And when it was over, my friend was like, wow, that was amazing. because We were you know, cinema hopping watching all the Disney remakes. Aladdin was particularly good until the end.
00:08:45
Speaker
And she was like, you know, did you enjoy it? What'd you think? And my only response was, I should have gotten that sign back. I was livid. So we get out of the cinema and normally we might go for for for for a dinner or for some cheeky junk food or something. And she was like, I'm just gonna go home. And I said, as will I. I hate this city. turned the corner, hopping the bus and while sitting on the bus, I just said, gosh, I cannot carry this with me into tomorrow.
00:09:22
Speaker
In fact, I don't want to carry this anger home. I said, how did I get here? What happened? Why do I feel this way? And next thing, the Lord took me back.
00:09:37
Speaker
A day beforehand, someone else, another woman with pallid skin and blonde hair, had spoken to me very rudely, had been very, very disgusting and despicable.
00:09:49
Speaker
And the Lord said, transference. You took the pain, the issue, and the grief from that instance, and you transferred them onto this instance. So today you're like, I'm Captain America.
00:10:01
Speaker
I'm going to save the small person. But you weren't. That was a disguise. that was a lie. were actually going to vindicate yourself. You were trying to stand up for yourself.
00:10:13
Speaker
But you were standing up for yourself in a situation where you had not been the victim. The victimizer in this one was not the aggressor yesterday.
00:10:25
Speaker
Two very different situations. But there was projection and there was transference. You projected yourself being vulnerable on the homeless man, and you transferred your offense from yesterday's shrew to this one.
00:10:43
Speaker
And it was a humbling moment. It was. So I said nothing to my own for a couple of days. And then I told one of my friends that the following Sunday we were at church. She was like, how are you? And I just, I couldn't keep a straight face as I was telling it. i just felt bonkers.
00:11:03
Speaker
And he just laughed and laughed and laughed. And in the end he asked, well, how is a homeless man? My response was, how would I know? And he asked, well, mean, you work at in an English school. You've got tons of cardboard and paper.
00:11:17
Speaker
did you give him a new sign to make?
Insight from a Friend
00:11:20
Speaker
and Did you give him cardboard to make a new sign? And I said, well, why would I do that? And he said, well, you use board markers on your board every day. Did you give him a ah marker even?
00:11:31
Speaker
want crowns. And then he asked me, did you give the any money? And I was like... happens what for And that's how you know there's been projection and transference. I didn't give a toss about the homeless man.
00:11:47
Speaker
was all about my own offense. Why do I say that? Because that is just not me. I'm not saying I've never been in a sticky situation before or a hairy one or a violent one. I have two or three many times. I probably will be again in future.
00:12:02
Speaker
But why say this chasing after someone
00:12:13
Speaker
berating her and belittling her at the top of my lungs and calling her a skank and a Pokemon and all this nonsense.
Parallels with 1 Samuel 25
00:12:21
Speaker
No, no, no, that's not me. And 1 Samuel 25, we see David behave similarly and characteristically.
00:12:31
Speaker
where he sends his shepherds to a man called Nabal's home. Nabal's very rich, and David his men living in the wilderness of Endidai have been protecting Nabal's shepherds and flock for quite some time.
00:12:50
Speaker
And there's a festival coming up, David wants to offer him an animal sacrifice, so he says, hey Guys, go ask Nabal if he'll do us solid, he'll be good to us, as we've been good to him and his men.
00:13:05
Speaker
And Nabal absolutely tears, strips off them. He is morally bankrupt. His name means fool, which for us, you know, as an idiot or an eejit,
00:13:17
Speaker
In Hebrew, a fool is someone who is morally bankrupt, someone who's wicked, someone who despises what's good. It's very strong criticism in Hebrew.
00:13:31
Speaker
And he basically says, oh, your master David is just a runaway. Every slave is running away from his master today. Every servant's on the run. They've all got notions. They're too big for their boots.
00:13:43
Speaker
Screw your leader David. And David blows gasket. This guy has been betrayed by his father-in-law, by his wife, by the men he used to lead, but the young men of the country, by people that he's actually protected. um He's public enemy number one in the nation. The whole nation knows his name, and most of them probably don't like him. Or if they've heard lies, they're not actually counteracting the lies. At some level, they're probably in belief or in agreement with the lies.
00:14:18
Speaker
And it's this particular instance, just this one random guy. That's the straw that breaks the camel's back. That's what sends David running down O'Connell Street, um calling this woman a shrew and willing to poleaxe her just to get a sign back. but but but And the servants go and they tell Nabal's wife Abigail, who's a a beautiful woman, a very intelligent woman.
00:14:49
Speaker
um Her name means, my father is joy, or my father's joy, the joy of my father. And she is a prophetess.
00:15:01
Speaker
She knows that there's kingly anointing on David's life. And she says, this will not stand, not a chance. So David and his mighty men are running down valley towards her house to absolutely enact revenge and payback and she just says, no, no, no. up no So she gets wine, she gets bread, she gets cakes and then she hops onto to a donkey and she says, leave it to me.
00:15:32
Speaker
So as David's men are charging downhill, She comes up before them. One woman in front of 400 men. She gets off the donkey and she down before him a posture of humility and submission.
00:15:52
Speaker
And she says, my husband's name is Nabal. Nabal means fool, folly, goes with him wherever he goes. He's an idiot. He is wicked, but you are not.
00:16:06
Speaker
You are the Lord's anointed. The Lord has a plan for your life, a plan that you will step into. The plans of God of your life will be fulfilled and you will not look back and find that there's innocent bloodshed on your hands. Nabal was an idiot. She was innocent.
00:16:23
Speaker
The servants were all innocent. Most people in the house were innocent. And she said, listen, I'm gonna give you the bread. i'm gonna give you the wine. i'm gonna give you everything that I came with on the donkey.
00:16:36
Speaker
But actually, when you step into the plans that God has for you, you step into the position God has for you, remember me. Remember this moment, remember this day. And she even goes on to say that she would be willing to wash the feet of all of David's men.
00:16:56
Speaker
And David is humbled. He's like, oh my goodness, you're so amazing. Thank you so much. I just was about to do something crazy. And he and his men bug her off. They threw out basses.
00:17:12
Speaker
Nabal doesn't know any of this is happening. He is at home, blind, drunk. So we finally falls asleep. He sleeps it off. And when he wakes up, probably with a hangover,
00:17:29
Speaker
Abigail tells him, listen, you missed out a lot yesterday. Let me fill you in. And he is so absolutely repulsed by this that his heart turns to stone.
00:17:40
Speaker
And kind of sounds like he had a heart attack, to be honest. He just got totally stiffened, and within 10 days, he was dead. And at that point, David sends some of his servants to the house, not to express their condolences, not to pay their respects, not to say, oh, he looks so handsome. standing beside the corpse the coffin.
00:18:06
Speaker
No. They go and they say, David would like you to be his wife. David would really like to marry you. You'd be amazed and you'd be a great addition to his family. And she accepts, she and her maidservants go and meet him.
00:18:21
Speaker
And, you know, this is not an upgrade for David materially. he doesn't move into her house or the house Nabal built. He doesn't become rich overnight.
00:18:32
Speaker
He doesn't suddenly have all these servants working for him and thousands of animals. um He doesn't suddenly have hundreds of thousands of euros in the bank.
00:18:45
Speaker
No, it's actually a dying grade for her. She actually walks away from all that from more that material wealth to spend time with him. She walks away from security to live with him.
Abigail's Intervention and Themes
00:18:57
Speaker
She walks away from what's sure or what's economically certain to be with him. She walks away from it all to take up the adventure that God had for David on the risk, the threat, to be on the lam, be on the run from a wicked king.
00:19:19
Speaker
And it's just a really, really amazing story. But what i love about it so much is it is an amazing picture of the love of God, where All people through sin, all people through their folly, all people through their lack of wisdom, all people through their foolishness, have the wrath of God rigged against them.
00:19:38
Speaker
Yes, it's been satisfied for us by the cross through Jesus, but if someone lives in their they die in their sin, then they go to a dimension called hell where they die to die forever. ah Until, like, a fire, which is even worse.
00:19:56
Speaker
But while the wrath was coming, while the judgment was coming, Abigail came on a horse, Jesus. Just like Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey when all the cloaks, palm branches were being thrown before him.
00:20:14
Speaker
Abigail shows us Jesus. And then she got off and she bowed before dave and his men. That was Jesus becoming the most humble man ever to live. We're told the Bible that Moses was the most humble man up to that point.
00:20:29
Speaker
Jesus was more humble. He humbled himself even onto death, even death on a cross.
00:20:38
Speaker
And then we have how she said, I'll wash all your men's feet. The most famous foot wash in the Bible was at the Last Supper when Jesus washed his men's feet.
00:20:50
Speaker
And they had been walking through the streets of Israel, of Jerusalem during the Passover event when people would have been bringing the animals with them for the animal sacrifice.
00:21:01
Speaker
um And, you know, the animals crapping all over the place. mean, there was probably mighty stink in the room at the Last Supper.
00:21:12
Speaker
And yet Jesus Alex is 12 men none of them are taking the initiative to deal with the elephant in the room, the stench in the room. So Jesus wraps a towel on his waist and he says, okay, I will. ha I'll deal with it.
00:21:26
Speaker
And he a bowl of water and he washes all their feet one by one.
00:21:32
Speaker
And then she offers David bread and wine and the bread represents the body of Jesus broken for us to put our broken lives back together again. And the wine represents the blood of Jesus poured out to make us clean, poured out to wash us clean in Jesus' name.
00:21:54
Speaker
So Abigail is my favourite woman in the Bible. Such an amazing, marvellous picture of the love Jesus.
Conclusion and Invitation for Feedback
00:22:04
Speaker
um If you gleaned anything from that story, I'd love to hear it. Feel free to write it in the chat box below. And I wish you and yours a very merry Christmas. All right.
00:22:16
Speaker
God bless, friends. Have a great day.