Abigail’s Wisdom in Appeasing David and being Joined to Christ as His Counterpart

When we realize that our old man is crucified with Christ, we will be joined to Christ to be His counterpart and follow Him in His sufferings and battles.

David is the most thorough type of Christ revealed in the Old Testament, and the New Testament also reveals that David typifies Christ; David’s wife, Abigail, is a type of the church, and today we want to see the record of David’s dealing with Nabal and Abigail.

This week we come to another crystal in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, David and Abigail Typifying the Warring Christ and the Warring Church.

In the Old Testament there are several women who typify the church; whether or not a woman typifies the church depends on her husband. If her husband typifies Christ, she will automatically typify the church.

It is amazing to see the typology in the Old Testament and realize the many aspects of the church as typified by the women in the Old Testament that typify it. Adam typifies Christ, so Eve typifies the church.

Her source was the unbreakable life typified by the rib of Adam; Eve signifies the nature and origin of the church, which is absolutely out of Christ and with Christ as its unique element. Isaac is a type of Christ, so Rebekah is a type of the church as the bride, the wife of Christ.

Joseph is an excellent type of Christ, and his wife’s name was Asenath; she typifies the church being gained from the world. Moses was a type of Christ, and his wife – Zipporah – typifies the church in the wilderness.

Boaz is a type of Christ, and Ruth is a type of the church being redeemed. David is a type of Christ, and out of his many wives, Abigail is a type of the church – the warring church joining the warring Christ in His battles.

Finally, Solomon is a type of Christ, so the Shulammite – as revealed in Song of Songs – is a type of the church.

The Shulammite typifies the church’s experience of the resurrection life of Christ and of her enjoyment of rest in Him.

This week in our morning revival we want to see both the history and the spiritual application of how Abigail is a type of the church, in particular, how David and Abigail typify the warring Christ and the warring church.

Abigail was quite an amazing person who not only saw that David was God’s chosen one who fights the battles of God but also joined him in his sufferings and battles.

It is worthwhile for us to go through the details of the history of David’s dealing with Nabal and Abigail and see how the church is typified by Abigail while Christ is typified by David.

It is good to read the Bible with a spirit and attitude of prayer to allow the Lord to shine on us and unveil us to see the divine revelation contained in the Word of God concerning Christ and the church.

Abigail’s Wisdom in Appeasing David and David’s Dealing with Nabal and Abigail

1 Sam. 24:1-44 is a record of David’s dealing with Nabal and Abigail; in particular, in this chapter, we see Abigail’s wisdom in appeasing David (vv. 23-31).

David with his army was watching all the sheepshearers that were serving Nabal; they protected them and took care of them while they were shearing the sheep.

Then David sent some of his soldiers to contact Nabal and make a request since they cared for his servants, that Nabal would send from his supply some food and some milk or water to drink.

Nabal was a foolish man; his own name means, Fool.

When Nabal heard David’s request, he was outraged and railed against him; that report was brought to David, who was really upset and took four hundred soldiers to go and deal with him.

David was so upset that he promised that he will destroy Nabal and his family. But someone went to Abigail, Nabal’s wife, and told her the story.

Abigail was a very beautiful and wise person; how did she marry someone like Nabal we don’t know, but she was married to him.

She had good discernment and was beautiful in appearance, but the man was hard, and he was evil in his doings, though he was very wealthy.

When Abigail heard of David’s request, Nabal’s response, and David’s decision to come and destroy him, she arranged to have all kinds of food and life supply ready, and she set on her donkeys to go and meet David.

When she saw him, she got down from her donkey, fell on her face before David, and apologized in the name of Nabal concerning this situation, telling him that she brought some food supply for them.

Also, she told him not to take the words of this worthless man, Nabal, to heart, for he is as his name is, foolish.

She asked for forgiveness in the name of her husband, and said to David,

“Please forgive the transgression of your female servant, for Jehovah will no doubt make a sure house for my lord, because my lord fights the battles of Jehovah; and no evil will be found in you throughout your days. And though men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, my lord’s life will be bound up in the bundle of the living with Jehovah your God; and the lives of your enemies He will sling out, as from the hollow of the sling.”

She was so wise! She saw something of David’s being anointed and chosen by God, fighting the battles of God, and she begged him not to shed blood without a cause.

Then she concluded, And when Jehovah has dealt with my lord, may you remember your female servant.

David responded to Abigail’s appeal by blessing Jehovah, who sent her to meet him, and also by blessing her, who kept him from entering into bloodshed and from avenging himself by his own hand (vv. 32-35).

She realized that David will one day be king over Israel, and if he destroys Nabal, he will have deep regret concerning himself and will feel shameful.

Therefore, she wanted to intervene in a proper way to prevent this from happening; this shows her discernment.

David’s response to her ended in, Go up in peace to your house. See, I have listened to your voice and have accepted your person.

Abigail went to Nabal, and he was having a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; his heart was merry within him and he was very drunk.

She didn’t tell him anything until the morning after his wine left him; when he heard what she did, his heart died within him, and about ten days later Jehovah struck Nabal, and he died.

When David heard that Nabal was dead, he praised God for withholding him from taking his life and for returning the evildoing of Nabal upon his own head.

Then, he sent men to propose to Abigail, that he might take her to himself as wife, and she gladly and humbly accepted.

She was not only a beautiful person outwardly but also a discerning person inwardly, full of perception.

She was wise in realizing what the situation was and she spoke to her husband about what she did after he woke up from his drunkenness.

Then, Jehovah Himself came in and took action, and both David and Abigail were fully aware of Jehovah as their God.

What a wonderful picture of what the warrior-wife church will be in Revelation 19!

Abigail is a type of the warring church, and she will consummate in the church as the warring bride in Revelation.

May the Lord open our eyes and enlighten us to see what aspects of the church are typified by Abigail, and how Christ is typified by David.

Lord Jesus, shine on us through Your word. Cause us to see Christ and the church typified in David and Abigail in the Old Testament. Grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Christ. Enlighten the eyes of our heart to see Christ and the church in the divine revelation in God’s word. Amen, Lord, infuse us with Yourself much more today so that we become Your duplication, the church as the warring bride to match You in Your battles today. Gain the church, Lord, as the warring church matching You in what You are doing today. Be our wisdom as we deal with all things; make us the wise exhibition of our wise God as You deal with the enemy in us and through us!

When our Old Man is Crucified with Christ, we are Joined to Christ as His Counterpart

Abigail’s first husband, Nabal, was an evil and foolish man; Nabal typifies our old man in forsaking Christ.

Abigail’s previous husband shows how evil our old man is in forsaking Christ.

Though David and his company helped Nabal and took care of his possessions, protected them, and catered to them while they were shearing their sheep, Nabal was evil and ungrateful.

This shows that our old man, our natural man, is evil in forsaking Christ. Even though the Lord is nice to us and takes care of us, the natural man is evil, ungrateful, and foolish person.

Nabal despised and opposed David at the time of his destitution (1 Sam. 25:11), and he rejected David.

Our nature rejects Christ and despises Christ; our old nature, our fallen natural man, opposes Christ and rejects Him.

As typified by Abigail being married to Nabal, we were married to our natural man, and by nature, it rejected Christ and opposed Him.

As we see in the story with Nabal, one day Jehovah struck him down and he died; this provided Abigail the opportunity to become David’s wife.

This shows that, when our corrupted nature was struck down by the cross, we became Christ’s counterpart.

We were married to our old man, who is impotent in the things related to God and even opposes God and Christ.

But praise the Lord, through the cross our corrupted nature was struck down, and we were released from our obligation to it; now we can be joined to Christ to be His counterpart!

Our old nature which forsook Christ, rejected Christ, and despised Christ was put to death, and now we can be Christ’s counterpart, being joined to Him in marriage to be one with Him.

Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are joined to Him and we are His counterpart who follows Him in the midst of sufferings, fighting for the kingdom of God.

This is spoken of in Romans when Paul says that a married woman cannot marry another unless her husband dies, and then she can remarry.

By birth from our human parents, we are born in the flesh, and we are married to our natural man, our old man; our old man is against Christ, he rejects Christ, and he despises and opposes Christ.

But through repentance and faith in Christ, our old man is put to death – he is struck down – and we are joined to Christ to be His counterpart, even His warring bride to follow Him in the midst of sufferings, fighting for the kingdom of God.

May we see things the way God sees them, in their spiritual reality, and may we live by faith, in the organic union with the Lord as His counterpart today!

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for dying to crucify and put to death our old man. Hallelujah, our evil old man was crucified with Christ, and now we can be joined to Christ to be His counterpart! We are now set free from being joined to the natural man who rejects, despises, and opposes Christ, and we are joined to Christ to be His counterpart! Amen, Lord, we are one with You today. We are Your counterpart, following You in the midst of sufferings, fighting for the kingdom of God. Keep us in the organic union with You today to be Your warring bride one with You in the battle for Your kingdom!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ron Kangas, and portions from, Life-study of 1&2 Samuel, msg. 16 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of 1 and 2 Samuel (2021 winter training), week 11, entitled, David and Abigail Typifying the Warring Christ and the Warring Church.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – My old man has been crucified with Him, / With all its foul corruption deep within; / And buried too its nature serpentine, / Completely finished—this great fact is mine, / I hold it fast. (Hymns #1179)
  – Our old man has been crucified with Christ; / Yes, all we are in oldness He sufficed / To bring to naught upon the cross that He / Himself as our new Husband fully be / Enjoyed by us. (Hymns #1140)
  – Enter the veil and go without the camp, / Taste heaven’s sweetness, thus the earth forsake; / If by the Holiest I am satisfied, / How can I of earth’s vanities partake? (Hymns #549)