The Game of Thrones- Israel’s Experience with Human Kings”
“Revenge or Hospitality?”
I have three stories to share with you this morning. One is from the movie “Lone Survivor” and the other two are from the bible. All three have something in common.
Luke recounts Jesus’ visit in the home of Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-40).
David and Nabal I Samuel 25:4-13
Lone Survivor is a 2013 American war film In Afghanistan, Taliban leader Ahmad Shah is responsible for killing over twenty United States Marines, as well as villagers and refugees who were aiding American forces. In response to these killings, a United States Navy SEALs unit is ordered to execute a counter-insurgent mission. Eventually Luttrell and his unit are discovered by the Taliban and a battle ensues. As they try to escape, jumping off several cliffs, three Seals are killed.
Luttrell stumbles upon a small body of water and submerges himself only to find upon surfacing that a local Pashtun villager, Mohammad Gulab, has discovered his location. Gulab takes Luttrell into his care, returning to his village, where he attempts to hide Luttrell in his home. Gulab then sends a mountain man to the nearest American air base to alert military forces of Luttrell's location. The Taliban fighters arrive at the village to capture and kill Luttrell, but Gulab and the villagers intervene, threatening to kill the fighters if they harm Luttrell.
Why did the villagers protect Lattrell? What did Jesus say to Simon? (Luke 7:44-48)
Why did David say to his men: “Put on your swords?”
This Middle Eastern cultural practice of “hospitality” is what saved the life of Marcus Lattrell.
Jesus challenges Simon with a failure to keep a well-known Middle Eastern cultural practice. Luke 7:44-48
The traveler had few legal or political rights in the ancient world. He was largely at the mercy of the residents where he journeyed. By accepting the traveler, especially in providing him food and sharing that food with him, the host also took the responsibility of protecting him.
The traveler was expected to accept what the host offered. Nabal refused to apply the Middle Easter cultural practice of “hospitality”.
I Samuel 1: 25:10-13, 21-23 To refuse such hospitality would be an insult that only an enemy would inflict. Marcus Lattrell could not refuse the protection. On the other hand, a traveler would interpret a resident’s failure to provide food and amenities as a hostile act. Nabal nearly started a war over his refusal to feed David and his men. Abigal, Nabal’s wife intervenes and feeds David’s men and spares the execution of Nabal and all his male employees.
David was right in seeking revenge against Nabal for his refusal to apply traditional Middle Eastern cultural rules for hostility.
The environment of the desert and arid land in most of the Middle East is harsh. For a traveler, access to water and food was a matter of life and death. Most settlements were built near available water or wells. The traveler needed to have access to the water. Yet, it was also important for the settled community to have protection. As a result, strict codes of conduct developed to govern such encounters. These conventions of hospitality also applied equally to the desert dwellers who lived in tents as they followed the grazing herds. They were obligated to provide for travelers that stopped at their tents, and under these customs could expect some protection from hostile actions from the "stranger."
Simon failed to greet Jesus and provide water to wash his feet. By this omission, he violated the most basic customs of Eastern hospitality. This was a profound insult and hinted at hostility to Jesus. Jesus used Simon’s insult as an example of the failure to understand the nature of sin and forgiveness.
Revenge: Revenge is an American television soap opera that lasted from 2010 through 2014. Emily is really Amanda Clarke, whose father was framed for treason when she was a little girl. After a lengthy trial, he was imprisoned for life, and was murdered in prison by agents of the people who framed him
In this Mini Series Emily has returned to her old neighborhood, blending in with the citizens and making friends, not letting on that she has lived there before. In an effort to right some of the past wrongs, she plans “revenge” on those who wronged her and her family -- and she doesn't care about the personal cost in order to exact punishment for the wrong experienced by her family, causing the death of her father.
There is a growing surliness in our lives today. People are bristling with sarcasms, law suits, hand guns, and nuclear warheads. We are a people at war in our relationships. From our marriages to our child-parent relationships, to our next-door neighbors, to our work relationships and on beyond, we are a people doing combat. And so much of our energy is consumed in licking our wounds and plotting our revenge. We want to hurt back, settle the score, get even. Allow me to meddle in your lives for a few minutes by asking, "Who are you at war with? Who are your enemies? How have you been treating your foes?"
You can be sure that Christ had his enemies. So did Paul, Stephen, Peter, and others. In fact, Jesus said, "Woe be unto you when all men speak well of you" (Luke 6:26). So, if you live for Christ, the question is not, "Will you have enemies?" The question is, "How shall you treat your enemies?" And for those answers we turn to the life of David in 1 Samuel 25. We know that King Saul is trying to kill David. But David slips into the desert and hides out. Twice he has the opportunity to slay Saul, and twice he refuses. Now David is driven to the edge of Israel. He is reduced to living in a cave. He is hot, thirsty, hungry, and lord of a band of renegades in search of survival. His enemy Saul is on the one side. His archenemies, the Philistines, are on the other side. He and his men are on the run.
While hiding out David has served as a kind of peace-keeping force in the area where Nabal lived. His military presence served as a wall against invasion or local mischief. And David saw to it personally that his men didn't bully Nabal's workers, steal from his flocks, or rape his women. But now David needs a friend. He's at the end of his resources
The story of David and Nabal and Abigail is riveting. It’s got it all. There is intrigue, injustice, conflict, anger, revenge, attempted murder, an impassioned plea, sudden death, and unexpected romance. All in the same chapter! It’s like an episode of Baywatch or All My Children, except that this story is entirely true.
David and his men settled near the ranch of a man named Nabal. While they were in the area, David and his men protected Nabal’s flocks and servants from the marauding bandits who would attack without warning.
We are told that Nabal was a wealthy man. He had 1000 goats and 3000 sheep.
He had a wife named Abigail; Verse 3 says that she was “an intelligent and beautiful woman.” Perhaps it was an arranged marriage, because as we know that Nabal is not only selfish, but mean.
"There was a wealthy man from Maon who owned property near the village of Carmel. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats, and it was shearing time. This man’s name was Nabal, and his wife, Abigail, was a sensible and beautiful woman. But Nabal, a descendant of Caleb, was mean and dishonest in all his dealings." (1 Samuel 25:2-3
Knowing that David’s men were hot, tired, and hungry, Abigal whips up a meal for 200 angry men. The feast includes bread, wine, lamb, grain, raisins and figs. She intends to intercept David’s men, feed them, and talk David out of killing her husband. Her offering of food illustrates the Middle Eastern Cultural Custom of “hospitality.” She turns away wrath by the offering of a gift. This is exactly what Jesus did. He turned away God’s wrath against our sin by offering “himself” on the cross in our place.
In I Samuel 25:23-31 is Abigail’s speech to David
She offers three reasons why David should spare her foolish husband:
#1: God sent me to protect you from making a foolish mistake.
Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the Lord will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my master, because he fights the Lord’s battles. Let no wrongdoing be found in you as long as you live” (I Samuel 25:26-28).
This is the doctrine of the restraining grace of God, or you might call it the Preventive Providence of God. Abigail says, “God sent me to keep you from committing murder by killing my husband.” She appeals to his higher nature by calling him to grant forgiveness to a fool.
Abigail meets David and, giving him the food, reminds him of several things. "Why stoop to your enemy's level by fighting with him? Your conscience is clear, your sleep peaceful. Let God take revenge. Keep your own hand from bloodguilt. And what is more, you are the future king. God will provide for your needs even if Nabal doesn't." We all need to be reminded of those truths from time to time. Indeed, like David, we are quick to set off to avenge ourselves, and in so doing we rob ourselves of sleep, of a clear conscience. We lower ourselves to the level of our enemies. The truth is: revenge is a burden. Unforgiveness leads to bitterness and ends up hurting you worse than it does the other person. Hatred is like an acid. It ends up wounding the thrower more than it does the one on whom you throw it. All this is what Abigail came out to remind David of.
#2: God is the avenger of the wicked.
She refers to Saul’s pursuit of David and reaffirms that God will keep him safe. “David, God himself has protected you and will protect you. You can afford to show kindness to Nabal. (read I Samuel 25:29-35) When she mentions “the pocket of a sling,” there is a clear reference to the day David defeated Goliath with one stone from a sling. It’s a subtle way of saying, “If you rely on the Lord to fight your battles, you will win every time.”
#3: You will never regret it later.
Abigail reminds David that one day he will be king and when that happens, little pipsqueaks like Nabal won’t matter. But what will matter is whether or not his hands are clean. It took enormous faith to say that because at the moment David was the leader of a rag-tag band of vagrants on the run from Saul.
Revenge feels good now but it will feel bad later. You simply can’t win by trying to get even. So many tragedies would be avoided, so many broken relationships would never happen, so many tears would never be shed, so many marriages could be healed, if only we would stop and think before we act or speak. Many of us have said or done things in anger and then wished a thousand times we could take them back.
After World War I, President Woodrow Wilson as a Christian urged a greater measure of gentleness in dealing with the defeated nations. French Premier Clemenceau, who felt much more vindictive, objected, saying, "You talk too much like Jesus Christ." And so it was that a harsh revenge was meted out by allies on a fallen Germany. And the seeds were sown that led directly to World War II, a war which some historians say was really WWI fought a second time.
As for Nabal, he comes to a sad end. While Abigail is saving his life, he’s home having a party. When she finally arrives at home, he is drunk. The next morning when she tells him how close he and his men came to being massacred; the news gives him a heart attack. He became “like a stone” (meaning he was in a coma) and died ten days later.
That should be end of the story. But there is one loose detail that needs to be wrapped up. Now that Nabal is dead, Abigail is a single woman again. David realizes what a tremendous woman she is and sends his servants to ask her to become his wife.
“She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, ‘Here is your maidservant, ready to serve you and wash the feet of my master’s servants.’ Abigail quickly got on a donkey and, attended by her five maids, went with David’s messengers and became his wife”
(I Samuel 25:41-42). (Note… now that David was Saul’s enemy Saul gave David’s wife, Michal to another man, Paltiel son of Laish from Gallim.
It is a fairy-tale ending to a very strange story.
Revenge is for fools. Revenge never works the way we want it to. We call it sweet revenge and we say we’re going to get even. We’re going to settle an old score, give him a dose of his own medicine
And when we seek revenge, we are usurping God’s authority and blocking his work in someone else’s life. Either we let God do it or we can do it, and God is much better at revenge than we are. Someone once said: “God is large and in charge.” Leave the revenge to him.
Our Christian responsibility is to show kindness, to turn the other cheek, to go the second mile, to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, and to pour hot coals of love on the head of the person who hates us. In so doing, our kindness may convict them in a way our harsh words never could.
Once again we come face to face with our Lord Jesus who forgave his killers and died that they might be set free. He loved those who hated him. We should go and do likewise.
David’s actions remind us of the human race overcome with anger, lusting for revenge, heading full speed down the road of self-destruction. Abigail’s actions remind us of the Lord Jesus Christ who took it upon himself to intercept us on our headlong rush to destruction. He stood in the road, stopped us in our tracks, and said, “See what I offer you.” And by his death on the cross he turned away forever the wrath of God. His bloody sacrifice satisfied God’s righteous demand and created the basis by which we could be forgiven. God accepted the death of his own Son and therefore will accept the sinner who trusts in him. This means that if you have never met Jesus Christ, he stands in the road right in front of you. He is there whether you can see him or not. He stands with his arms outstretched, bidding you to consider your ways, to turn from your sin, and to trust him as Lord and Savior
God didn't just wait for us, He took the matter of our salvation into His own hands and, in the Person of His Son, cleared a path for us to heaven. Indeed, His love for the world was so great that He gave His only Son to be our Substitute under the law. His Son, Jesus, came into this world as a Man and lived a perfect life on our behalf. Not only did Jesus keep all the Commandments which we had broken, He resisted the temptations which have tripped us up. As part of His Divinely directed work, Jesus carried our sins and, almost 2,000 years ago, died the death which our transgressions had deserved. Now, whoever is brought to faith in Jesus as Savior, will not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16). In other words (Romans 6:23), the wages of sin is death, but, because of the Redeemer, "the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Eternal life is what happens when a sinful soul is forgiven and brought to faith. In truth, it is God's greatest desire to give salvation to sinful human beings
