Twelve Ways Abigail Is a Type and Shadow of Jesus Christ (1 Samuel 25)

When we think of types and shadows of Jesus, the Bronze Serpent (John 3:14), manna (John 6:51), rock in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:4), or certain individuals like Joseph, Moses, David and Solomon probably come to mind. But Abigail in 1 Samuel 25? Probably not, but she should! Table of contentsBackground for the TypologyExample 1: Abigail rode a donkey on the way to make atonement.Example 2: Abigail sought to bear Nabal’s iniquityExample 3: Abigail saved a foolish manExample 4: Abigail provided an offering for Nabal’s sin Example 5: Abigail declared the king’s house, innocence, and victory over enemiesExample 6: Abigail was accepted as an intercessor Example 7: Abigail turned away wrath Example 8: She established peaceExample 9: Abigail had pleasing characterExample 10: Her actions defeated the “devil”Example 11: Abigail washed servants’ feetExample 12: She was elevated to a position of honor Background for the Typology Let me briefly run through the verses in 1 Samuel 25 to explain the account: Now Samuel died. And all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him in his house at Ramah. David and Abigail Then David rose and went down to the wilderness of Paran. And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite. 1 Samuel 25:1-3 David and his men are on the run from Saul, and it was common for them to provide for themselves by providing protection. They defended towns, such as Keilah in 1 Samuel 23:1-14, and Nabal’s flocks in this account. David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. And thus you shall greet him: ‘Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.’” When David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. 1 Samuel 25:4-9 Since it was such a common practice for wealthy landowners to pay men who guarded their properties, Nabal shouldn’t have been surprised by David’s request. More than likely he even expected it. Nabal answered David's servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. 1 Samuel 25:10 Nabal responded with two insults. First, when David went to live with the Philistines to escape Saul, the Philistine leaders said: Is not this David, of whom they sing to one another in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” 1 Samuel 29:5 If the Philistines had heard of David’s exploits, Nabal had too, but he acted like David was a nobody. Nabal's second insult referred to David’s separation from to make him look rebellious. Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” 1 Samuel 25:11 An honorable person would’ve been glad to pay David and his men for their services, but Nabal’s response, in particular the repetition of the word my, reveal his selfishness. So David's young men turned away and came back and told him all this. And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage. 1 Samuel 25:12-13 This is a low point for David. He gave into his flesh and we find out later he wasn’t only going to kill Nabal, but all his men too. But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, “Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them. Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them. They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 1 Samuel 25:14-16 We see how well, and honorably, the servants said David and his men protected the animals and servants. Nabal’s servants knew there was no reasoning with him, so they went to his wife, Abigail. Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him.” Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 1 Samuel 25:17-19 Example 1: Abigail rode a donkey on the way to make atonement. And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. 1 Samuel 25:20 Abigail rode on a donkey on the way to make atonement for Nabal’s sin like Jesus rode on a donkey on His way to make atonement for our sin: And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” John 12:14-15 (quoting Zechariah 9:9) Example 2: Abigail sought to bear Nabal’s iniquity Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.” When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 1 Samuel 25:21-24 Abigail reveals substitutionary guilt, especially with the words, “On me alone…be the guilt.” She was willing to bear Nabal’s iniquity. Similarly, Jesus bore our iniquity: For He shall bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:11b Example 3: Abigail saved a foolish man Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 1 Samuel 25:25 Nabal’s name means fool. His disobedience made him foolish, like our disobedience makes us foolish. [God says] “For My people are foolish, they have not known Me.” Jeremiah 4:22 Just as Abigail saved a foolish man who didn’t know God, so too has Jesus saved foolish people who didn’t know God… But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. 1 Corinthians 1:27 Example 4: Abigail provided an offering for Nabal’s sin Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. Please forgive the trespass of your servant. 1 Samuel 25:26-28a Abigail provided an offering for Nabal’s sin so David could forgive him. Similarly, Jesus provided an offering on our behalf so we could be forgiven: And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Ephesians 5:2 Example 5: Abigail declared the king’s house, innocence, and victory over enemies To be clear, this isn’t so much a type, but it’s worth noticing that Abigail spoke about David’s future in such a way that she could’ve used the same words to describe Christ’s future… For the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.” 1 Samuel 25:28b-31 Consider how much this parallels Christ: She spoke of David’s house and Hebrews 3:3 says, “Jesus [is] counted worthy of glory as the builder of [the] house [of God].” She spoke of David’s innocence and in John 19:6 Pilate said, “I find no guilt in him.” She poke of David’s victory over his enemies and 1 Corinthians 15:25-26 says, “[Jesus] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” Example 6: Abigail was accepted as an intercessor And David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 1 Samuel 25:32 David accepted Abigail, not just as an intercessor,...