In the Bible, we are given the example of womanhood after the order of Christ by Abigail, the wife of the mean, violent tempered Nabal. The standard of society stood in great contrast to that which Christ ordered, and Solomon’s step mom definitely was a jewel of a kind, no wonder he had to say, “one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among those have I not found” (Eccl. 7:28). Much more in our time, this stands very true.
Men should not feel holier here though. I would like to believe it was just a number since women are basically more in number than men.
God placed Eve, after the fall, in subjection to her husband in order to maintain union and preserve harmony in the family. But women today have claimed “equal rights” as if locked in bars of home life. It doesn’t come much as a surprise though since men have abused their authority and failed to be the tender loving husbands they should be as Christ has been to them. Satan definitely would seek to fail one as to fail both like in the case of Eve who became Adam’s stumbling block, but not in the account of Abigail who remained virtuous beside her churlish husband.
Let’s look at a few major traits that make Abigail a worthy example.
Beautiful
There’s no argument here. God created Eve perfectly beautiful and even after her fall, beauty did not depart from her. And every daughter of Eve came out with beauty distinct to herself.
One of the two descriptions that Samuel wrote of Abigail was of a “beautiful countenance” (1 Sam. 25:3). But although the authors that penned her account added no further visual description of her beauty, we will see from her life the beauty that the authors must have seen. Certainly, the beauty of a woman radiates without from within as repeated in words but not lives of many women.
We are running to and fro making every effort to beautify ourselves as if God formed us void of beauty. It is actually what we do with ourselves that robs us of the natural beauty that God gifted us with and it is how all our ventures of beauty end up in vanity. Moreover, our definition of it lessens our worth from a sound whole to a fairly covered but wearing frame.
Beauty is enriching the natural aspects of womanhood. It is smiling often, keeping negative feelings at bay, having peace within from a confiding trust in the Creator. True beauty cannot be marred by aging itself and even defies it. Ageless beauty, like nature itself, is preserved in the feminine soul as much as nature’s grandeur is retained in the earth. Both blooms and perfumes amidst the foul and darkness around her. Abigail did not cease to be beautiful inside out even with an unfavourable companion. Truly, “favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised” (Pro. 31:30).
Of Good Understanding
Another remarkable trait that the Bible reveals about Abigail is being of “good understanding” (1 Sam. 25:3). Ellen White described her as both kind and intelligent, whose wise course avoided much bloodshed when her husband treated David and his men with contempt (Daugthers of God p. 41.4).
She dealt with David with much reverence, all humbleness, wisdom and love of God. She sought to soothe his irritated feelings with kind words and discreetly reminded him that “he was not to seek revenge for personal wrongs, even though persecuted as a traitor.” “Her speech, seasoned with grace, shed a heavenly influence” and David, his passion died away, he received the rebuke, hearkened to her advice, and blessed her (EP 484.4).
A virtuous woman indeed “openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness” (Pro. 31: 26).
“Would that many more like this woman of Israel would soothe irritated feelings, prevent rush impulses, and quell great evils by words of calm wisdom” (From Eternity Past 485.1).
An Equal Yet in Subjection
We all know that Eve in Eden was Adam’s equal, his “second self,” an help meet for him, to stand by his side, to be loved and protected by him. After the fall, God placed her “in subjection to her husband” for their union to be maintained and harmony preserved. But even in subjection, being his second self, a bone of his bone and a flesh of his flesh, she was still his equal, an help meet for him, to stand by his side, to be loved and protected by him.
When David was on his way with his band to seek revenge upon Nabal, after Nabal returned evil for his good deeds, Abigail, without consulting her husband, “made haste” and went on to meet the band of David, bringing with her a rich provision which she offered as a peace offering.
Women are to be subject “to their own husbands in everything” (Eph. 5:24), but here is an example of a circumstance under which it is “proper for a woman to act promptly and independently, moving with decision in the way she knows to be the way of the Lord” (Manuscript Releases 21:214, 215 [1891]).
As an equal, she showed her devotion to her household when she pleaded to David in behalf of her husband as if she was the one at fault. As his second self, she shared the responsibility of her husband’s action. And without having to destroy him, she “made it plain to David that the unkind course was in no wise premeditated against him as a personal affront, but was simply the outburst of an unhappy and selfish nature” (Daughters of God 42.3). And just like the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 she did her husband “good and not evil all the days of her life” (Pro. 31: 12).
While there are many more qualities we can pen on this subject, I will stop here, for a page or two are not enough to describe such virtue. Nevertheless, the ones mentioned are sufficient to show what Christ meant a woman to be when He formed her out of a man. And such qualities will draw one, even a widow won’t long be a widow. Such was the case of Abigail.
This article written by Samaritana Malinay was originally published in the March 2016 issue of Home Church Herald by Seventh Day Home Church Fellowships.
Smile of Angels 