wonder woman

Wise home builders — Abigail

A couple of weeks ago I began a series of posts called Wonder Woman and chose different women throughout the Bible to highlight as wise home builders. It’s been a busy couple of weeks and this is the first moment I’ve had to resume the teaching. Today’s post is on Abigail in 1 Samuel 25.

Abigail has always been one of my favorite women of the Old Testament. It’s hard to understand how a gracious, generous, loving woman could marry a man who’s character matches his name…. fool. Maybe it was an arranged marriage… it seems unlikely that he was ever a catch that would’ve caught her eye!

1 Sam 25:3 says she was married to Nabal (meaning fool). Psalm 14:1 talks about a fool. The Complete Jewish Bible translation says: Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God”, they deal corruptly, their deeds are vile, not one does what is right, an evil doer) This pretty much summed up Nabal. According to the Midrash (collection of explanatory works on the first five books of the Bible), he believed his lineage entitled him and not David to succeed Saul as King. What does 1 Sam 25 tell us about Nabal and his wife Abigail? It says he is very wealthy, he has 3 thousand sheep and 1 thousand goats. He was hard hearted, oppressive, and evil in his deeds. It also tells us he is a Calebite. He and David are from the same tribe of Judah. Of Abigail, it says she is beautiful and a woman of good understanding. She definitely is a polar opposite of her husband!

In 1 Sam 25:4-8 we see David sending his men to appeal to Nabal for generosity towards them. They greet Nabal in David’s name and pronounce a blessing upon him and his household. They call Nabal’s attention to the fact that it is shearing time, reminding him that while his men were in Carmel they protected them and his sheep. They encourage Nabal to ask his servants to verify the truth of these words. They have politely asked Nabal for a gift, waiting patiently and expectantly for his response.

Nabal’s response: “Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants nowadays that break away every man from his master. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be? “ (1 Sam 25:11).

David’s appeal for food was not an unreasonable request. This was during a sheep shearing feast (1 Sam 25:8) and it was known as a time of abundance, a time of sharing, and public celebration. At such times the Law of Moses instructed the Israelites to be generous with those who were not so fortunate. And since David’s men had contributed to Nabal’s well-being and wealth, David’s request is even more reasonable. But Nabal refused.

At first, it looks like he doesn’t know who David is, asking “who is David?” But obviously, he does as he refers to him as Jesse’s son. It also appears that he knows of the tension between David and Saul. Most likely he also knew of David’s fame as a giant killer and a war hero. But he refers to him as a beggar and a runaway slave. He had just insulted the region’s most powerful man. So the men return to David and report back to him Nabal’s response. David tells his men to grab their swords and he and 400 of his men go after Nabal.

Meanwhile, Abigail (who had been out) hears what her husband did and sets out to repair the situation. She quickly takes a gift of abundance to David (200 loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already prepared, six quarts of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins and 200 fig cakes.) She then asks him to blame her since she was not at home rather than blaming her husband since his inhospitable nature is part of his poor character.

Abigail was a Proverbs 31 woman…… she extends her hands to those in need, she speaks with wisdom, watches over the affairs of her household and definitely feared the Lord.

She had good discernment. Verse 3 describes her as beautiful and having good understanding or discernment. In verse 17 the servants make her aware of the situation, confident that she will “know and see” what to do. This probably wasn’t the first time she had to smooth over things caused by her husband’s foolishness. In verse 33 David praises her for her judgment and perception in the situation. It was her good discernment that saved the lives of her household!
She was courageous. She set off on her donkey to meet with David. She boldly approached David and 400 men with swords who were coming to her home to kill everyone… herself included! She stepped into a potential battle with a man who was known as a warrior! She didn’t think of herself but rather risked her life in order to plead for the lives of her household.
She spoke well. Her words were full of grace (Colossians 4:6). Just like the Proverbs 31 woman, she spoke with wisdom and the law of grace… the law of chesed (covenant loyalty) was on her tongue. She spoke to David as no other woman ever had. She prophesied blessing and destiny over him. Reminding him of God’s care over his life and that he didn’t need to shed needless bloodshed and vengeance. She spoke well of God and well of David. She spoke the Father’s heart and it pierced David’s heart causing him to change his mind.
She walked in humility. She humbled herself before David bowing down before him and apologizing for anything she had done to offend David. She took responsibility for her husband’s actions and asked that the blame falls on her.
She was generous. She didn’t just provide for David’s need…. she abundantly provided food for them. And she did it quickly… she didn’t hesitate.
She had the heart of a servant. In verse 23 when she saw David, she bowed low before him and fell at his feet. At the end of the story when David’s men at his request came to take her back to him as his wife, she again bowed low to the ground. Calling herself a servant… happy to marry David… willing to be a slave… and willing to wash the feet of the servants of her lord.

Abigail was sensitive to the heartbeat of God…. aligning herself with His plans for David. She saw David not as a runaway rebel (as her husband had) but rather as the anointed King of Israel. She knew it was only a matter of time until God’s promises over David’s life were fulfilled.

Wise home builders — Sarah

The wisest of women builds her house, (she saves her household with her wisdom) but folly (lack of good sense or judgment) tears it down with her own hands” ~ Proverbs 14:1

In this series of A Woman’s Purpose we are looking at how God created women. What did it look like when His thought took on human flesh in the form of a woman. Proverbs 31 is a beautiful look at how He sees all of us women. The characteristics that He placed inside of all of us that manifest so uniquely in each of us. All a beautiful expression of who He is in us. He created us to be strong gate keepers of our families. To be wise home builders…. legacy builders…. building and preserving faith in future generations.

There are so many women in Old and New Testament who were wise builders of their homes. Yesterday we looked at Eve. Through the naming of her children, she spoke forth her expectation for a Deliverer to rescue mankind from their hopeless state. Over the next few blog posts we’ll look at several more women who I especially love…. Sarah, Rebecca, Abigail, Deborah, Huldah, Jael, Esther, the Unknown woman of Abel Beth Maacah and some women in the New Testament. Hopefully these women will inspire you like they’ve inspired me.

In Wonder Woman (part 1 of this series) we learned that in order for a wise woman to build her house… to build her legacy IN CHRIST, it’s going to require discernment. God put hostility or hatred between the serpent and the woman. Between in the Hebrew comes from a word meaning discernment. It’s going to take discernment on our part as women to recognize when the enemy is in our midst and trying to wreak havoc in our homes.

Sarah was such a woman who walked in discernment.

Go with me to two Scriptures… Genesis 21:8-12 and Galatians 4:29

Genesis 21:8-12: When Isaac grew up and was about to be weaned, Abraham prepared a huge feast to celebrate the occasion. But Sarah saw Ishmael—the son of Abraham and her Egyptian servant Hagar—making fun of her son, Isaac. So she turned to Abraham and demanded, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son. He is not going to share the inheritance with my son, Isaac. I won’t have it!” This upset Abraham very much because Ishmael was his son. But God told Abraham, “Do not be upset over the boy and your servant. Do whatever Sarah tells you, for Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.
Galatians 4:29 Amp. Yet [just] as at that time the child [of ordinary birth] born according to the flesh despised and persecuted him [who was born remarkably] according to [the promise and the working of] the [Holy] Spirit, so it is now also.

The verse in Genesis 21 shows us the discernment that Sarah walked in which protected her family. We all know the story of Genesis 16 of how Abraham was promised a son (a seed) and after awhile Sarah offered to let him lie with Hagar because perhaps that’s how she could have a son with Abraham… through Hagar giving birth. So Hagar gives birth to Ishmael. In chapter 17 God makes a covenant with Abraham… actually with Himself. He tells Abraham that he will have a son with his wife Sarah and will name him Isaac. Isaac not Ishmael is the son of promise… the seed of the Deliverer. Jump ahead to chapter 21 and Sarah indeed gives birth to Isaac.

As Isaac is weaned from Sarah, Abraham throws a huge feast to celebrate. During the celebration, Sarah sees Ishmael making fun of.. or mocking Isaac. So she turns to Abraham and tells him to “cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.” (verse 10). Seems like harsh treatment against Hagar and her son… after all, kids will be kids right? But Ishmael wasn’t exactly a kid. Isaac was probably 2 or 3 and that would’ve made Ishmael 16 or 17!

This was much more than just an older brother being jealous of a younger brother or two women competeing over which one of them is more important or which son is more important. Ishmael’s mockery revealed that he didn’t have any spiritual insight and saw nothing special about Isaac as the promised son. No spiritual insight….. carnal. Similar to Esau or Cain. Not a lover of righteousness.

Sending Hagar and Ismael away means divorcing Hagar and disinheriting Ishmael. According to laws of the land (Code of Hammurabi) in Abraham’s day, the inheritance rights passed to the son that is “accepted” by the father and thus, Ishmael had to be sent away in order to pass the inheritance rights to Isaac.

While it’s pretty clear that God doesn’t consider Ishmael Abraham’s son…it looks like Abraham does consider him his son. In chapter 17 (when Ishmael is 13 years old) God just refers to him as Ishmael but verse 23 it says Abraham took Ismael, his son, and and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him. Looks like he made a distinction between Ishmael as his son and everyone else in his house. Even in chapter 21 when Sarah has Abraham send Ismael away, God refers to him as the boy and to Hagar as the female slave, maidservant.

Sarah obviously didn’t view Ishmael as his son. In chapter 21 he is referred to by her as the son of the slave woman. Although in chapter 16 she fully expected to have a son with Abraham through Hagar… who would act as a kind of surrogate for them. But Hagar. Hagar after she conceives, rather quickly it appears, she then despises her mistress. She looked upon Sarah as less than…. of no importance. The root of despise is curse… she looked at her as being cursed because she couldn’t conceive. Perhaps Hagar’s bitter, resentful attitude at not being the mistress carried over to her son…. who became hostile and offended towards Isaac, “the promised son”.

Galatians 4:29 gives us the reason for the banishment of Hagar and Ishmael… he despised and persecuted Isaac, the child of promise. He pursued him with hostility.

She saw correctly and through her discernment she helped guide her husband in God’s plans for Isaac. God told Abraham to listen to his wife and send Hagar and Ismael away. We have to be careful not to insert our own opinions into this story. Sarah was not jealous or harsh. She was protecting the lineage of the Deliverer.

She was being a wise builder of her home……

Sarah had Godly discernment

She saw correctly that Ishmael was a threat to Isaac’s destiny and respectfully opposed Abraham. Guiding him in choosing between the son of the flesh or the son of the promise.

God told Abraham to listen to his wife and send Hagar and Ismael away. Why should Abraham listen to Sarah’s voice this time when it was the wrong thing to do before (he listened to her in regards to sleeping with Hagar)? Because this time Sarah had realigned herself with the purpose of God. She chose faith over the power of the flesh to fulfill what God had spoken.

Are you properly discerning those who are coming against the promises of God in your life?

Are you taking a stand to protect your children from those who would speak against their call and destiny in God?

Are you properly aligned with the purpose of God for your family in faith so that your husband can trust your discernment….. your judgement in matters that help guide his destiny?

Discernment is keen perception or judgment. It is to understand the plans, intent, thought or motive. Discernment goes beyond just the words spoken and hears the spirit behind things that are said or done.

To grow in discernment, we need to be renewing our minds in the Word of God… getting the mind of Christ functioning in our minds.. to be guided by His thoughts, purposes, and intents.

Tomorrow we’ll look at Rebecca……

~ Robin

Wise home builders — Eve

The wisest of women builds her house, (she saves her household with her wisdom) but folly (lack of good sense or judgment) tears it down with her own hands” ~ Proverbs 14:1

Yesterday I began a blog post series on “A Woman’s Purpose” entitled Wonder Woman. God created us as women in His image and likeness. I didn’t grow up with that understanding. I didn’t grow up in church, so everything I knew about a woman’s purpose came either from TV or from observing my parents relationship.

My dad was a good man. A good provider and protector of his family. He was however extremely chauvinistic and domineering. My mom, while she was a strong woman, she was very submissive. That was what the expected roles in marriage. They grew up in an era where women didn’t have many career options, and in marriage, the man was the supreme head of the house… there was no equality. I, on the other hand, grew up in the era of Mary Tyler Moore, Charlie’s Angels, and Laverne & Shirley… all independent women who had freedom, careers and no husband to submit to.

So, not surprisingly, I wanted a life different from my mom’s. I moved out on my own at 19 because all of those women in the tv shows lived on their own. I wanted a career, and I didn’t want to get married until I was 30… after becoming self-sufficient, living a life that I wanted…. having freedom and not being told what to do by a domineering husband.

I believed that women kind of got the short end of the stick. That our purpose was to live a life of submission… never questioning our husband’s absolute authority or decisions. I realize now that God created us in His image and likeness…. that we are as Proverbs 31 calls us “virtuous women” or “women of excellence”.

Proverbs 31 became very special to me in my late 20’s. Steve (my husband) read it to me before we started “officially” dating and told me that it described me. In his eyes, I was the Proverbs 31 woman. Of course, after marriage and babies, I began to have a love/hate relationship with the Proverbs 31 woman. It seemed so far out of reach…. this woman appeared to be a type of wonder woman! Unattainable for someone like me!! It seemed like I was always falling so short and that God had set the bar too high for me. It looked like a domestic checklist, and I wasn’t exactly Martha Stewart!

But then God began to give me the revelation that it is a picture of who I was created to be and it’s how He sees me “now”…… not someday when I get it all together.

Phil 1:6: being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you (me….Robin) will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

There are 150 words in Hebrew in this poem (Proverbs 31). The word “female” in Hebrew is nekeiva (nun-kuf-beit-hei). This number, when represented by Hebrew letters, is nun kuf (the first two letters o the word female in Hebrew). The last two letters in the Hebrew word female is beit hei which is a spelling for the Hebrew word “bah” which means “within her”.. literally 150 in her.

So, the word for female, nekeiva, can be read as “150 within her.” All the words, all the meaning, all the potential and all the beauty of the 150 words is within us as women. I don’t have to strive to become this woman, it’s already in me waiting for me to walk in the revelation of it. We are right now fully equipped by God to be what our husbands need to excel and to prosper as men of God.

In the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, there is a scene where the two older women are talking to the younger woman about their power/strength as a woman. They tell her that “the woman, she is the neck and she turns the head whichever direction she chooses.” While it’s funny, there is truth to it. We as women are the neck… either to manipulate it by turning it the direction “we” choose or to be the support system that allows the “head” (our husbands) to function in full mobility.

The term “woman of valor” is only used in the Old Testament to describe Ruth. There are, however, other women in the Bible who were beautiful women of excellence in their families. They were wise builders of their homes… protecting the seed.. securing their future generations. Hating evil and loving righteousness. Respectfully opposing their husbands when the need arose to protect the direction of God in their lives.

One of those women is Eve. I know, I know we tend to only remember that she sinned and caused the fall of man in the Garden. She chose to believe the enemy instead of God. But after leaving the Garden, Eve held on to what God said in Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

This was her promise! A seed would come forth from her…. a seed that would hate evil and love righteousness. A deliverer would come from her!

She held onto the promise of God and spoke it forth…

Genesis 4:1 reveals to us that when she gave birth to Cain, she had the promise of God before her….. she knew she had acquired this child from the Lord. She sounds like she fully expected that the promise was fulfilled when she had her first child. Here was the offspring that would crush the enemies head!

Hebrews 10:23 tells us to “hold fast to the hope set before us”…. Eve was doing just that by naming the son Cain. The name Cain basically meant “I’ve got him” or “here he is.” Most likely Eve thought that Cain was the seed that God promised, the deliverer who would come from Eve.

Obviously, this didn’t prove to be true. But Eve continued to believe……

She persevered with what God had said even after she was wrong the first time

When Cain killed Abel her expectations of the “promised seed” came to naught. Later, when she bore Seth she exclaimed, “For God has appointed another seed.” She held fast to hope of the promise.

With Cain, she was expressing her faith in God’s promise. In Hebrew, it reads kaniti ish et-Adonai, “I have gotten a man – namely, the Lord“. This expressed her hope that this child would be the promised Deliverer in the flesh form of a man. At some point, she noticed the differences between her sons. She would’ve noticed that Abel, not Cain, was a lover of righteousness. Perhaps he was the seed. After he is murdered her hope is restored through the birth of Seth.

She said of Seth, “God has appointed me another seed, instead of Abel” She seemed to have an understanding when she gave birth to Seth that God had assigned another seed for her. The promised Deliverer would not be brought forth from her but rather she would give birth to an appointed seed. And that seed that would produce a lineage that would one day give birth to the Deliverer.

The next couple of verses in chapter 4 tell us that through Seth’s descendant’s men began calling on the Name of the Lord. They had faith in God as the Faithful One…. keeping His covenant promise with them. And they began proclaiming who He was in their lives.

Eve was a wise builder of her home… of her future generations. She is a beautiful example to us of a woman with steadfast faith. A woman of excellence…. directing her family in the promises of God. She looked ahead to Christ and His redemption of mankind.

Are you holding on to the promises of God… holding fast to hope? Speaking out His promises over your families lives? Even when you miss it….. continuing steadfast until you see the manifestation of it?

Next blog post we’ll look at Sarah

~ Robin

This is the first in a series of blog posts about “A Woman’s Purpose.” It’s important that as women we see ourselves as God sees us… as He created us to be. A couple of weeks ago my daughters (both young women now) told me that I was a combo of Wonder Woman and Belle (on Beauty and the Beast). Great compliment from my girls. They see me as strong and powerful and yet at the same time compassionate and kind. I love that!

We are Daddy’s girls. We belong to Him. He took special care in creating us… each of us uniquely reflecting Him.

When we can begin to see ourselves through our Daddy’s eyes we will fulfill our destiny as women of God… Kingdom women. And as a result, our marriages, families, churches, cities, and nation will all be stronger because of it.

true beauty

Because there is nothing more beautiful than a woman who knows who she is IN CHRIST.

We are beautiful, powerful and created on purpose as women!

We were created with a purpose..….

to reflect the image of God… His glory!
to have dominion… dominion is when a person uses their influence to cause those under them to flourish.
to be a life giver… Adam called his wife Eve which means “the life-giving one.” We are to release life….
- One of the ways we release life is through our words
  - Prov 18:21 “death and life are in the power of the tongue.”
  - Romans 4:17 “…the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.”

God loves His daughters. He created us differently than He created men. He took great care with us! We are the grand finale of His creation… His masterpiece…. His pièces de résistance!!

In Genesis 2:20-22 God creates a suitable helpmeet for Adam. Woman was “built” not formed like Adam was. Formed means to press and form into shape as a potter does with clay. Built is to be “skillfully formed”.…it’s an architectural plan or pattern, including all the details of arrangement and decoration.

According to Jewish tradition, “The woman came out of a man’s rib. Not from his feet to be walked on. Not from his head to be superior, but from the side to be equal. Under the arm to be protected, and next to the heart to be loved.”

Our Daddy has a special love for His girls. He wrote an entire Proverb about us women to show us what we look like in His eyes. I used to not like Proverbs 31 because it seemed like such an unattainable goal!! How could I possibly be all those things that this woman is?? But God didn’t give us a picture of a woman that we couldn’t be! He didn’t even give us a picture of a woman we should strive to become. What He did give us in this picture of the Proverbs 31 woman is a picture of a woman we already are…. what He sees when He looks at us.

We don’t have to strive to become this woman… she is not an ideal that we are trying to achieve. All her qualities are already in us waiting for us to walk in it. The Proverbs 31 woman in the Hebrew is described like this…. “who can find powerful, mighty, vailiant woman?”…. Synonyms for these 3 words include wielding power, superhuman, influential, strong, unafraid and brave. Wow!

proverbs 31

This woman in its simplest translation is a warrior. God is saying with this Proverb… this is who you are woman of God!! Powerful, mighty, brave, strong, and influential. The reason we don’t walk in these characteristics or see ourselves like this is because we’ve allowed others to tell us who we are.. we’ve allowed they’re negative words to shape us and to define us.

It’s time we start allowing the Word to mold us into the women He has called us to be. A great place to find out who we were created to be is to go back to Genesis.

Adam was incomplete without her. The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. NIV Gen 2:18… we were created as a “good” thing… as something good for men. Someone to help him and someone suitable for him.

ezer kenegdo

Helper in this verse is a weak translation… it’s more powerful in the original Hebrew.. it means to be a life saver. In Hebrew suitable helper is ezer kenegdo. The word “ezer” is a combination of two words meaning to rescue or to save and also meaning to be strong. Literally an aid, a help, a guard, and a protector. One who offers assistance…. a kind of ”wall builder” or “gate keeper”.

Helper, or “ezer”, is not an inferior role to a man. God Himself is called our Helper (or our Ezer). Ezer describes aspects of God’s character – He is our strength, our rescuer, our protector, and our help! And this was His word choice to describe us as women. We were made to be a vessel of the “ezer” strength of God. It is a remarkable thing to co-labor with Him as women….. as a helper even as God is our Helper.

The word suitable is “kenegdo” in Hebrew and means “what is in front of” and also “according to” and translates as equal and adequate to himself or similar. God made a ‘power’ or ‘strength’ [ an ezer] for the man who would in every way ‘correspond to him’ who would ‘be his equal’. Who would be a source of strength to him on the same level, face-to-face

“Ezer” is used to describe a warrior who continually fights for the right and who is never intimidated by evil or by darkness…..a warrior on behalf of God’s kingdom, joining the man in battling the darkness, advancing God’s kingdom, and watching his back. She was never designed to just be “man’s assistant.” Ezer is a military image… a shield, a defense. She is the man’s intercessor, she is his shield and defense in battle. She is to guard his relationship with God, support him when he embraces God’s direction and respectfully oppose him when he does not.

But what about women who aren’t married? What does it mean to be a helpmate if you are single? An Ezer is not a wife.. “ezer” is a helper… a shield, a defense. An ezer is one who comes alongside another and brings strength to others.

Proverbs 14:1 The wisest of women builds her house, (she saves her household with her wisdom) but folly (lack of good sense or judgment) tears it down with her own hands”.

How does a wise woman build her house? Remember she’s a kind of wall builder or gate keeper…She guards and protects her family… including her future generations. She “builds” in them the Kingdom of God….she builds in them a love for righteousness and a hatred of evil.

Romans 13:12 says, we must wake up, rise up, remember who we are, and confront the evil in this world with light. It’s time as women to wake up and rise up. To know who we are IN CHRIST. To walk in the Light declaring that evil has no access to our homes or our future generations.

Let’s go back again to Genesis. Why did Satan approach Eve instead of Adam? Remember as an ezer, Eve was Adam’s protector… his help and rescuer. She was the gatekeeper. Adam was right there with her… the Hebrew implies he was close enough to touch her. Satan knew if he could deceive Eve, he could get to Adam

After the fall… God curses the serpent in Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Enmity means to be an enemy; to hate as one of an opposite tribe; to be hostile. God, in essence, said to the serpent. “Women will be your enemy. They will hate you and be hostile toward you from this day forward. Furthermore, the hostility women have toward you will be reproduced in everyone they give birth to and one day a woman will give birth to the Savior of the world who will stomp on your head so hard it will bruise His heel.”

God put hostility or hatred between the serpent and the woman. Between in the Hebrew comes from a word meaning discernment. It’s going to take discernment on our part as women to recognize when the enemy is in our midst and trying to wreak havoc in our homes. Discernment is keen perception or judgment. It is to understand the plans, intent, thought or motive. Discernment goes beyond the obvious to hear the spirit

Discernment is keen perception or judgment. It is to understand the plans, intents, thoughts or motives of another. Discernment goes beyond the obvious and hears the spirit behind things that are said or done.

rooted in christ

To grow in discernment, we need to be renewing our minds in the Word of God… getting the mind of Christ functioning in our minds.. to be guided by His thoughts, purposes, and intents;

There are some women in the Bible that were wise builders of their homes… protecting the seed.. their future generations. Hating evil and loving righteousness and making sure their families walked securely.

In my next few blog posts, we’ll look at some of those women.

~ Robin