Articles
Are You Nabal - 1 Sam 25
Are You Nabal - 1 Sam 25
We are introduced to this man by contrasting him and his wife. Whereas his wife is intelligent and beautiful, he was harsh and evil. The real beauty was not the outward, but the inner being.
We also see that, although he was rich, he refused to share with those who were poor – for that is what David and his men were at this time. (cp. Vs. 10-11). He was also ungrateful and unthankful. David and his men had been their protection, “a wall” around them.
Thus, his own servants could say: “he is such a worthless man that no one can speak to him”. We then hear his wife tell David: “Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name and folly is with him” (1Sam. 25:25). The NASB footnotes that Nabal means ‘fool’.
Isaiah spoke of this kind of fool: “ For a fool speaks nonsense, And his heart inclines toward wickedness: To practice ungodliness and to speak error against the Lord, To keep the hungry person unsatisfied And to withhold drink from the thirsty” (Isaiah 32:6).
Jeremiah describes this kind of fool: “As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid, So is he who makes a fortune, but unjustly; In the midst of his days it will forsake him, And in the end he will be a fool" (Jeremiah 17:11).
The best known statement concerning such a fool is Psalm 14:1: “The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good.”
His name is FOOL, and so he is! He was ungrateful to man and God, as well as unthankful to man and God. He was uncaring to the plight of his fellow man, and uncaring about God’s commandments. In the end, and it came quickly, he was worthless. Worthless to man and worthless to God. He had no respect for the greatest law: love God with all your heart”, nor the second: “love your neighbor as yourself”. Are you Nabal?
Hugh DeLong
