A Fool and a Father's Joy

Now I want you to start by imagining the opening scene to a murder mystery.

Every detail counts.

The camera fades in on a kitchen.

There are eggshells on the counter and a pan on the stove.

It looks like someone's just finished breakfast.

But then the camera pans to the window, and it's still night.

There's a man sitting at the table, dressed in a work uniform, and is eating quickly.

Suddenly, there's a loud crash, and the camera pans to the open door, and ominous music starts playing.

Every detail, the breakfast food, the man's hurried eating, the darkness outside, all work together and set the scene.

At first, it looks like it's morning, but then the moment we realize that it's night, confusion sets in, and something fills off.

The loud crash and the ominous music create tension, hinting that things are not what they seem.

The camera directs our attention, guiding our focus to the open door.

All the details work together to prepare us for what's about to unfold.

Biblical narratives work in a very similar way.

They use tools such as characterization, dialogue, scene changes, plot, tension is created, and a tone is set, and our attention and emotions are guided.

These aren't random details.

They carefully planned to inform the reader about what's to come.

How to feel, and what the underlying message is all about.

Which brings us to today's story from 1 Samuel 25, where we will explore the narrative artistry of biblical storytelling, specifically focusing on how it uses characterization, and the way the author creates impressions about characters through their actions, through details, descriptions, and most importantly, their names.

In 1 Samuel 25, verse 2 and 3, we meet our first character.

A certain man and mound, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy.

He had 1,000 goats and 3,000 sheep, which he was shearing at Carmel.

Now, the first thing we learn about this character is his wealth and his possessions.

Now, these are important details, because in Hebrew stories, usually we're introduced to the name first, and then everything else.

But in this case, we're introduced by the narr-

the narrator introduces us to this character with his wealth, before his name, subtly hinting that his identity is tied to his material status and wealth.

Then, only after emphasizing this wealth, do we finally get told his name in verse 3.

His name was Nabal, and his wife's name was Abigail.

She was an intelligent and beautiful one, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings.

He was a calabite.

Now, notice how this description of Nabal sets up a stark contrast between him and his wife.

But let's focus on Nabal first.

His name is incredibly telling, because in Hebrew, Nabal literally means fool.

That's it.

Now, when we think about a fool, we tend to think of someone who makes some silly mistakes, is a little bit stupid, but overall is relatively harmless.

But in a Hebrew context, the concept of a fool is far more dangerous and far more destructive.

A fool is someone who denies God, who lives without wisdom and spreads corruption.

The same word that is used for navel in 1 Samuel 25 verse 3, the verse we just read, is the same word that's used for fool in these next two passages.

The first passage is Isaiah 32 verse 6.

For fools speak folly.

Their hearts are bent on evil.

They practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the Lord.

The hungry they leave empty, and from the thirsty they withhold water.

And then Psalm 14 verse 1, the fool says in his heart, there is no god.

They are corrupt.

Their deeds are vile.

There is no one who does good.

So when the narrator tells us that this man's name is navel, they're telling us this man is a fool, not just in the sense of being ignorant, but in the sense of someone who lives in complete disregard from God's ways.

But in sharp contrast to navel, we're introduced to his wife Abigail.

She is described as both intelligent and beautiful.

Her name Abigail means my father's joy.

But the father here is not her human father.

Her name is what we call a theophoric name.

A theophoric name points to God, which means that when it's speaking of her father, it's speaking about God.

So Abigail's name basically means the joy of God.

And just like navel's name makes us suspect that something about this character is evil, the same thing is happening for Abigail, except now we suspect that she's of good character.

That she is a woman who brings joy to God.

And we shall see that this is not just in her name, but it's also in the way she lives and acts.

The narrator is already setting up a powerful contrast, navel's foolishness and Abigail's wisdom.

Navel's name foretells his behavior.

He is a fool in every sense of the word.

But Abigail's name tells us that she is a woman of wisdom and grace.

The narrator is guiding us to expect very, very different things from these two characters.

And that expectation is rooted in the meaning of their names that we're told right from the beginning.

Now, we're moving into the heart of the story, which Pat read the beginning of for us.

David, who's been living in the wilderness, hears about navel and his wealth.

As a form of diplomacy, David sends his men to ask for provisions from navel, since they've been protecting navel's shepherds in the wilderness, which we've seen in verse four to eight.

David's men approach navel with respect, asking for whatever navel can spare.

But navel responds in a way that confirms everything we already suspect about him.

He insults David and refuses his request, saying in verse 10, who is this David?

Who is this son of Jesse?

Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days.

Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered from my shearers and give it to men who come from who knows where?

Now, navel's response is arrogant and disrespectful.

His actions confirm this impression we have of him.

He's a fool who treats others with contempt.

David, enraged by this insult, sets out to destroy navel.

And his men, which we see in verse 13, and then later in 21 and 22.

Verse 13, David said to his men, each of you strap on your sword.

So they did.

And David strapped his on as well.

About 400 men went with David, while 200 stayed with their supplies.

And then down in verse 21, David had just said, It's been useless, all my watching over this fellow's property in the wilderness, so that nothing was missing.

He has paid me back evil for good.

May God deal with David ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all but who belonged to him.

But then Abigail comes onto the scene.

One of Nabal's servants, recognizing the danger that is now hanging over Nabal's household, goes to Abigail with a plea for help.

The servant says in verse 17, he is such a wicked man that no one can talk to him.

Even Nabal's own men see his foolishness and turn to Abigail for wisdom.

This vote of confidence in Abigail is important because it shows that despite Nabal's wealth and status, he's not the one that people turn to for wisdom.

Abigail, on the other hand, is someone they can trust.

In verse 18, Abigail acted quickly.

She took 200 loaves of bread, 2 skins of wine, 5 dress sheep, 5 seers of roasted grain, 100 cakes of raisins, and 200 cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on to donkeys.

Then she told her servants, go ahead, I will follow you.

But she did not tell her husband, Nabal.

Abigail acts quickly, gathering the provisions that Nabal has denied David, setting out to meet him.

When David meets, when Abigail meets David, she greets him with humility and speaks words of wisdom, reminding David of his future as Israel's ruler, and asking him to refrain from bloodshed.

In verse 25, she says, please do not pay attention to that wicked man Nabal.

He's just like his name.

His name means fool, and folly goes with him.

Abigail directly connects Nabal's character to the meaning of his name.

She essentially says, what you see in Nabal's name is exactly what you get.

He's a fool and folly follows him.

What's really interesting and what was at the heart of me choosing to do my research project was, in the NIV, we have this phrase, his name means fool.

But in Hebrew, it's just the word fool.

We don't have that phrase because, as we've seen, this word is both his name and has the meaning fool.

Abigail's speech is filled with wisdom and grace, and it disarms David, convincing him to spare Nabal's life.

David recognizes Abigail's wisdom and praises God for sending her to intervene.

He acknowledges that Abigail has kept him from acting rashly and prevented him from committing bloodshed, which we see later in verse 32 to 34.

At this point, Abigail returns home, and she finds Nabal indulging in a feast, which is ironic because he's the man who couldn't spare a meal for David and his men, and now here he is living in excess.

When Abigail tells him what happened, it says in verse 37 that his heart dies within him, and he becomes like a stone.

And then 10 days later, Nabal dies.

He's struck dead by the Lord.

His foolishness leads to his downfall, just as we expected.

Upon hearing of Nabal's death, David sends for Abigail and marries her.

Abigail's wisdom and grace have saved her and her household, while Nabal's foolishness has led to his death.

We began with two characters, Nabal the fool and Abigail the father's joy.

And as we've seen, their actions have lived up to the meanings of their names.

Nabal's foolishness was blindingly obvious, and Abigail's wisdom shone through.

Their stories remind us of the importance of narrative details, especially their names.

Just as an opening scene of a movie sets the tone, the meaning of names in biblical stories set the stage for understanding the characters and their actions.

So next time you're reading a biblical narrative, pay attention to the small details, like names, descriptions, actions, because they're there for a reason.

Sometimes we forget that stories are meant to be entertaining and are meant to draw us in, and we go, oh, they're in the Bible, we've got to take it really seriously.

But a good story does draw you in.

And because we often miss that, we also miss so much of the intentionality and the artistry that are found in stories.

So when we pause and dig a little deeper, we can uncover layers of narrative artistry and intentionality that enrich our understanding and our experience of God's word.

I'm going to pray.

Dear God, I thank you for your word, and I thank you that there is so much in it and that there is so much that we can learn.

And I also thank you, God, that we can enjoy it, that you have given us the privilege of being able to spend time in your word.

And I pray that as we continue to read your word, that you would open our eyes to where there are things we might be missing.

And yeah, I pray that you would help us to enjoy being in your word and in your presence.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

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