Up to this point we have talked about submitting to authority even when we don’t understand the reasoning or “feel” the leader is going the wrong way, and how sometimes God will keep the wisdom of a decision from us to see if we will remain submitted to our leaders.
We talked about what to do if we feel a leader has been wrongly influenced, and how to go to the leader with missing facts before or after a decision has been made.
Who remembers how we should present facts to our leaders?
(true submission and humility, presenting facts only, not opinion, maintaining submission and keeping the deciding factor in the leaders hands.)
Ok. Lets continue.
We are going to deal with another story dealing with leaders. This is the story of Abigail. Abigail was married to a harsh, evil, and rich man named Nabal. While David was running from Saul, because Saul wanted to kill him, he was in need of food. David sent a request to Nabal for supplies.
David knew it was festival time, and that Nabal would have abundance. Previously, David had protected Nabal’s servants and had never taken anything in return.
Nabal denied David’s request for food, and insulted him as well. David was extremely angry with Nabal for his behavior and planned to destroy Nabal and all that was belonging to Nabal.
When Abigail heard that David was coming to destroy Nabal and all that he had, she put together a gift of bread, wine, meat, grain, raisins and figs. Then she rode towards David and the men who were coming to destroy Nabal, in order to intercept them.
When she saw David and his men, she got off her donkey and fell with her face to the ground before David, and made a request of him:
“On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let you maidservant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. Please, let not my lord regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.
Now therefore, my lord, as the lord lives and as your soul lives, since the lord has held you back from coming to bloodshed and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now then, let your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal.
And now this present, which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who followed my lord. Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord fights the battles of the Lord, and evil is not found in you throughout your days… But when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.” (1 Sam 25:24-31)
Lets look at what Abigail did for her husband and for David.
1) She addressed David with great respect, representing herself repeatedly as his servant.
2) She took David and his men a generous gift, reflecting her care and regard for their welfare.
3) She interceded for her household by taking on the responsibility as her own. She actually called it her “trespass.”
4) She pointed out to David with fear and trembling that for him to bring such bloodshed would be sin.
5) She reminded David it was God who avenged him and fulfilled the promises made to him.
6) She asked David to remember her when he was promoted.
You may be wondering how Abigail honored her husband. She saved him from death. She didn’t do this by justifying his behavior. His behavior WAS wrong. She took the wrong upon herself. Had she tried to manipulate David to save her husband, she would have made David more angry and her husband would have died anyway. She would have not helped at all.
It would have been a dishonor to her husband if she had heard that David was coming and she left saying that Nabal was getting what he deserved. Or had she gone to David with her gifts for herself to be spared, saying that David was free to give Nabal what he deserved.
True intercession on someone else’s behalf does not mean you ignore the transgression, or wrongdoing. It is an acknowledgement of the wrong doing, and a placing of yourself between the person who has done wrong and the judgment that is due them.
Isn’t that what Jesus did for us?
It in a sense is saying: “I know what was done was wrong, and that it is deserving of punishment, but I ask that you spare the one who has done wrong and give me the punishment that the wrong doer deserves.” This is what Abigail did. David came to bring judgment, and Abigail put herself in the position to receive the judgment.
She also brought to David God’s word where it commands for us to not take matters into our own hands, as a protection for David against sin. She looked for mercy as she stood in the gap and sought righteousness for David.
Abigail didn’t speak bad about her husband to her friends and family, and she didn’t speak to David out of spite, anger, disgust, disrespect or revenge. She spoke to save lives.
Listen to what happened as a result of what she did:
Then David said to Abigail: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you,
unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!” So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice and respected your person.” (1 Sam 25:32-35)
When Abigail got home, her husband was having a feast for himself. He had no knowledge of what had taken place, and Abigail didn’t tell him till the next morning. Now you would think that Nabal would be happy or relieved to hear this, but instead his heart turned to stone. 10 days later the Lord killed Nabal.
This didn’t happen as a result of anything Abigail or David did. God took vengeance on this evil man. David and Abigail were free of any blame or consequence in this matter.
Moses had times where he came to a point where he questioned an Authority’s position. Only his questioning was toward God!
The first time, Israel had sinned and built a golden calf and were worshipping it. God was so angry He told Moses he would kill them all and make a nation out of Moses. Listen to what Moses said to God:
Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’?
Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” (Ex 32:11-13)
Let’s take a closer look at this. I mean, Moses questioned God! First of all, we can note that Moses spoke in complete submission and with fear and trembling. Second, Moses petitioned God, he didn’t demand of God. Third, Moses spoke on behalf of God first and foremost, not on behalf of the people.
He didn’t want God’s name tarnished, and because his thoughts were for God’s benefit, he was able to challenge God’s decision. His motive wasn’t for the benefit of himself, but for God’s.
Before we go to our leaders we should ask ourselves, who or what am I doing this for? Moses’ focus was for God and the integrity of His word. So in Exodus 32:14 we see, “So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.”
God changed His mind!
Let’s also note though that Moses had the ability to speak to God in a direct manner because he had proven his loyalty to God time and again.
Another thing we can point out is that Moses didn’t speak of these things to anyone else. When God planned to harm the Israelites, He spoke of it to Moses, and Moses only spoke of this to God. Moses didn’t tell anyone else.
Many times God was angered at the children of Israel, because they would murmur and complain to one another. Another word for murmuring is called complaining. God hates complaining.
Complaining is a dangerous thing and we should avoid it at all costs. Complaining about the authorities in our lives sows discord and rebellion. We will talk more about this in a later lesson.
Now you may question, “Well, what if authority tells me to do the opposite of what I have felt to do in prayer?” To cover this answer we are going to look back at John’s story of the youth group and the home “party” groups. John shares:
“I earnestly sought the Lord in prayer, and I was sure He instructed me to do so. To this day, I still fully believe He told me to do the home groups because the whole episode proved to be a test for me to see whether I would obey the authority He placed over me.”
When God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, the scripture says, “God tested Abraham” (Gen 22:1). The Lord never intended for Abraham to kill his son. Yet God told him to go, and didn’t tell Abraham not to kill Isaac till Abraham had traveled 3 days and was holding the knife ready to kill him. God saw Abraham’s faithfulness through his obedience. Do you think God still tests us in the same way today?
Paul told the Corinthian church to do something in his first letter, which he altered in his second letter. This is what he said about it, “For this was my purpose in writing you, to test your attitude and see if you would stand the test, whether you are obedient and altogether agreeable [to following my orders] in everything.” 2 Cor. 2:9
Paul gave them orders simply to see if they would submit to his authority, and if they would follow in everything. That is what God did with Abraham. God took Abraham’s promise, which he had waited 25 yrs for, and asked him to give it up. If Abraham showed obedience in this, he would be obedient in all things.
Listen further to what John says, “ My senior pastor told me to give up what was the most difficult. I had worked on it for months, and everyone knew it. In my eyes it seemed to hold the promise of lost souls coming into the kingdom. It was my key to whether I’d have a successful youth ministry.
My reputation was at stake because I told everyone it was God’s will. I had heard that I was to go forward with the program in prayer. I didn’t know it was a test, and often God’s tests are never recognized until after the fact since they always expose our hearts.
My parties might have brought many souls into the kingdom, but God is more concerned that His authority is manifested in our hearts than that of our own methods accomplish His work. He is God; He has many other fresh ideas of how to reach lost souls.
What cannot be done differently is the principle of submission in a man’s heart, for apart from this a man cannot enter the kingdom, and there is no other alternative for an unsubmitted heart.”
We need to know something. Once God delegates His authority to men, He does not override it. The only exception is when the leader directly violates the written word or laws of God.
God will not supersede the delegated authority He establishes. Moses spoke this to the heads of the tribes of Israel:
“This is what the Lord commands: ‘When a young woman still living in her father’s house makes a vow to the Lord or obligates herself by a pledge and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand.
But if her father forbids her when he hears about it, none of her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand; the Lord will release her because her father has forbidden her.” (Num. 30:1-5)
God upholds what the authority has consented to, and cancels what the delegated authority cancels. The Lord respects His delegated authority. Since a young woman is under the authority of her father, and the wife under the authority of her husband, God would deal with the father or the husband, but the woman would be released. Remember the only exception is a direct going against God’s word and law.
In our next lesson we will cover how to handle unfair treatment, and how to respond to authority that is harsh with us. And we will see that God has a plan even in the midst of unfair treatment.