Abigail, Christ-Type

While David is fleeing from Saul, he spends time near Carmel, guarding and assisting the shepherds of the wealthy Nabal. When he asks Nabal to let his men participate in the sheep-shearing festivities, Nabal rebuffs him, and David gets ready to attack Nabal’s house (1 Samuel 25).

Fortunately, Nabal has a wise, courageous, and cunning wife who intervenes to stop David in his tracks and save her undeserving husband.

She goes to meet David, sending gifts before her (like Jacob reuniting with Esau) to soften his face. When they meet, she throws herself to the ground in the posture of a defeated enemy. She calls him “my lord” again and again, as if David were already the husband he later becomes. It defuses a tense situation, and leaves room for the wrath of God: God kills Nabal the next morning.

She intervenes to protect a foolish husband from the consequences of his actions. She takes the blame for her husband’s actions, and essentially offers herself as a substitute to turn away David’s wrath. She prevents David from shedding innocent blood, which would stain his reign before he begins. She returns good for evil, and thereby turns David away from his plan to respond to Nabal’s insult with shock and awe.

Abigail’s tactics are shrewd, but they are more than that: They are Christ-like.