Abel must have been a place of beauty. Several biblical towns are called Abel, and the name has many picturesque meanings. It signifies “a meadow of vineyards,” “a dance place by a perennial stream,” “a city of acacia trees,” and “a water-course of vine-yards.”1
Oh to have the wisdom of this particular woman of Abel. With a place as beautiful as Abel, from the description given above, it is yet another reason why this wise woman took a stand to save her town. Even if it meant having Sheba’s head thrown over the wall, she was committed to protecting her city.
1. What might have given the town of Abel the reputation described in 2 Samuel 20:18-19? 18 She continued, "Long ago they used to say, 'Get your answer at Abel,' and that settled it. 19 We are the peaceful and faithful in Israel. You are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow up the Lord’s inheritance?"
What does this tell you about its inhabitants?
2 Samuel 20:15 reads: 15 All the troops with Joab came and besieged Sheba in Abel Beth Maacah. They built a siege ramp up to the city, and it stood against the outer fortifications. While they were battering the wall to bring it down,
2. What do you think it might have been like for a mother with several small children within the city walls of Abel?
We recently witnessed something similar to this in our own society with the Fundamentalist of Latter Day Saints and Warren Jeffs. Do you think the feelings of those mothers can be compared to the mothers of Abel?
3. What do Joab’s terse words reveal about his reaction to this brave woman of Abel?
4. Have you ever been in a situation where the wise thing to do also required bravery? Did you do it? Why or why not?
1Edith Deen, Wisdom from Women in the Bible.(HaperCollins, 2003), 94-95.
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9 comments:
The Wise Woman of Abel
It always seems like it takes a woman to restore peace during turmoil. As women, we should always exercise wisdom. This lesson has helped me to refocus. The Lord always uplifts and praises the peacemaker! We should not fight fire with fire, but fight it with love and wisdom. After reading this story, I made connection with President Bush and Iraq!!!! I bet he didn’t read this story (smile). Wisdom comes from God, let us seek it!
MJ
The descriptive term "wise woman" is only found three times in the old testament. In II Samuel, the term suggests an older woman who is notable for giving good counsel and thus has gained influence with others.
It is evident that the wise woman of Abel fit the description of "wise woman". Not only was she wise but she was brave. I'm sure the whole city was in a panic, especially the mother's in regard to their children. How fearful it would be to know that you and your children were going to be killed. It took one person to come up with a plan. When things look dim, we should always look to God, think things through and come up with another plan for survival.
Sheba was the guilty party but everyone else was going to have to suffer. It just goes to show how other peoples sins can sometimes effect our lives. Joab promised to spare the city if Sheba was executed. If the wise woman had not taken matters into her own hands, this story would have had a different ending. In addition, it goes to show that our influence over others is very important. If she had not been known to be wise, the people would not have listened to her and as a result the whole city would have been destroyed.
As christians, we should always walk circumspectly so that other's can see Christ in us and we can have a positive influence to help save someone elses soul.
I love this story. My sister said you can have that dude, just don't kill us. She not only threw him "under the bus". She literally threw his head over the wall. It's amazing what you will do when confronted with a crisis. I am so proud of this Wise Woman. I agree with Trina, how fearful this situation must have been for her.
Teegra,
I enjoyed spending time with you this past weekend. You really lifted up my spirits. I love you my sister. :-) You stay strong.
This woman had the wisdom and courage to plead with the forces to get them to listen to her. Just to be able to get the attention of army to persuade them to bring Joab to her was courageous. She was a wise and courageous woman.She didn't know what his response would be but she had wisdom and courage to ask why he wanted to destroy the city. To sacrafice one life to save many was a smart thing to do. This story makes me reflect back to when Sadaam Hussein was captured and how all the Iraqians were celebrating in the streets with e replica of his head hanging from a noose. If only his capture had saved the lives of so many of our military. Just like the mothers of Abel, military mom's, Iraqian mothers, the Warren Jeff followers must have all felt helpless to know that their children were about to be caught up in the mist of something that their innocent lives had not brought on.
Here's a prayer for
"All The Christian Ladies":-)
Heavenly Father, we come to you humbly to say that we dream of being called the wise women of our town. Please work on us to be ready to recieve your gift of Wisdom. We know that it takes more to just being smart to be wise. We ask for a heart of bravery, rightfulness, self-control and obedience. So Father, we ask today that you work in each of us to give us these qualities in our characters to fight the battle ahead. We ask that you be glorified in our lives, actions, walk, talk and in our hearts. We come to praise you for what you have purposed in our lives and for giving us the desire to be the wise women of our town, home, workplace, small group, Moms club, friendship, relationships etc. Wherever we desire to be more like you, we pray that we make it happen by focusing on you and your great love. Help us to come together as sisters in Christ to wisely spread your True Word. In Your Beautiful Son's name; Jesus Christ, AMEN!!
Lauretta, thank you for the beautiful prayer.
Food For Thought
Abel sounds like a place to retreat. We all need that quiet place to go when the going gets rough and we are troubled. Sometimes it’s a get away to a place like Abel. For me and my sisters it’s our childhood home in our mother’s bed. A place to feel safe, comforted and to sometimes gain clarity when life’s sticky wickets have overwhelmed us. When I think about Abel and the importance of my own comforting places, I too would fight for them if they were in danger of being destroyed. But what about those times when we can’t take that trip due to finances, or the ultimate spa day is out of our reach, let us remember that we can always retreat to God’s word to renew our strength. Now stop and take a minute to entertain the thought of someone trying to destroy God’s word; your place of retreat, encouragement, comfort and answers. The place where you learned that he hidith you soul in the clef of the rock and covers you there with His hand. WWWWYD (Wise Woman, What Would You Do)?
The Wise Woman of Abel, spoke through the Spirit by first acknowledging openly that the people of her city were peaceful and faithful children in Israel”. This instantly caused the men to pause and take note and hear what she had to say. A better interpretation would be to back off and listen to reason if not God would surely do the rest. Men in those days were fearful of God’s children, because they understood the power of whom we serve.
Personally, I thought it took a great deal of courage and faith to stand alone against those men that clearly wanted blood. But she stood on truth and when doing so, the majority of the time you’ll stand alone. There are usually earthly repercussions to face; mostly suffering persecution and ridicule. In this life, that’s the cross we as Christians will often bare.
With respect to the negotiation for peace, my first impression was, “What a cruel thing to say” and when I thought on it longer I assumed that Sheba must have done something awful to not have favor with God. In my search to justify this thought, I stumbled on something profound. If you read up to verse 1 of this chapter (20:1), you’ll find that Sheba openly denied both David and the inheritance of Jesse as children of Israel. So, there we have it, this man brought his fate open himself resulting in his head being cut off and thrown over a wall.
In today’s society, we in the flesh can easily get caught up in circumstance and often not have that spokesperson of wisdom and Godly insight to rely upon in times of alarm. We usually heighten matters as opposed to the Wise Woman of Abel and now we have an excellent illustration of a more notable way. With that, all of the comments were very well put and taken, this should serve as a reminder for us in times of despair that should always consult with our God through prayer (Loretta that was beautiful) and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in our decision making.
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