Year 7, Day 311: 1 Samuel 25

Theological Commentary: Click Here

I have to be honest.  The opening verses to 1 Samuel 25 are some of my favorite.  No, not because Samuel dies.    It’s sad when a great spiritual leader dies and is unavailable to be among the people who need him.  But why I love these words is because the eulogy is so understated.  Samuel dies.  Israel mourns.  Life goes on.

That’s a great perspective to remember.  This is the spiritual leader of the whole Hebrew people who just died.  There is no great eulogy.  There is no great retelling of all of Samuel’s great deeds.  He dies, they mourn, and they move on.  What a great perspective!

For the rest of this chapter, we see an interesting mix.  Let’s start with Abigail.  Here is a woman who is of great worth!  She hears about the rash offense that Nabal makes against David.  She takes matters into her own hand and goes out to meet David with what Nabal should have sent in the first place.  She does what is right in spite of her husband’s folly.  David receives the offering and peace is made.  The right thing happens in spite of the folly of a foolish man.

In fact, when Nabal comes to his senses and realizes what has happened, he is struck.  A few days later, God strikes him dead.  Through Abigail, God rescues David and then takes care of Nabal himself.

One last comment.  Once Nabal is dead, David offers to take Abigail as a wife.  Remember, David already has a wife.  This is the beginning of an issue with David, an issue we’ll see occurring again and again throughout the chapter.

The question is, how much credit should we give the death of Samuel with respect to the timing of this event?  How much impact does the death of a spiritual leader have on the morality of the people and its leader?  I’m not saying that it is Samuel’s fault, of course.  Samuel is dead, there’s not much he can do about it!  What I am saying is that I think that there is a lesson to be learned here.  When we find ourselves far from good spiritual leadership we also find ourselves close to the jaws of sinfulness and temptation.

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