As the people of God, we are encouraged more than ever to recognize Jesus Christ as the Word of God in the facet in our time as He wants to reveal Himself to us. This type of manifestation can initially startle us to call us out in our current environment and move forward with Him in the dimension of the Spirit (cf. Matthew 14:25-29).

 

Matthew 14:25-29:
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’
28 ‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’
29 ‘Come,’ he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus.

 

 

Jesus Christ as the Word of God wants to meet us in a new way and take up residence in us in this facet. This process is accompanied by a new kind of communication that can be frightening at first, similar to what the disciples experienced in the boat and also Joshua before he conquered the city of Jericho with the people of Israel.

 

At that time, the LORD appeared to him in the form of the living Word of God, so Joshua was working with a question to find out if the facet was of a kind or hostile nature (cf. Joshua 5:13).

 

Joshua 5:13:
13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, ‘Are you for us or for our enemies?’

 

In 1 Samuel 25:1ff. we can find a principle of God’s approach that alerts us to the fact that a type of prophetic communication was drawing to a close. Samuel has passed away, so that the focus was on the executive royal dynamic of God’s Word represented by king David.

 

1 Samuel 25:1:
1 Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David moved down into the Desert of Paran (Note: Maon).

 

It says in the above scripture that David went into the wilderness of Maon and this means ‘dwelling place, habitation’, which points to the importance of holiness and separation as well as intimate fellowship with the Father in Christ Jesus.

 

Jesus said that in the house of His Father are many dwelling places and He is preparing a place for us. Here, a high importance is placed on the true love for Jesus Christ, which leads to the intensification of the Father’s presence and sonship in the habitation assigned by God (cf. John 14:2-3.23).

 

John 14:2-3.23:
2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. …
23 Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. …’

 

Based on these scriptures, it reveals that love for Jesus Christ is expressed in obedience to His Word. It is essential that especially in times when we may experience blessings or favour in our economy from God, we respond according to His desire when He approaches us with His presence.

 

In this, it is crucial to pay attention to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

We can learn this from the story of Nabal with his wife Abigail.
Nabal (Note: means ‘fool, foolish’) acted from a foolish and wicked attitude of heart. His wife Abigail (Note: means ‘My father is joy.’), on the other hand, acted on him in wisdom and partly without his knowledge.

 

It is said of Abigail that she was a woman of understanding and beauty, which in this context should sensitize us to the guidance and presence of the Holy Spirit.

 

Nabal was blessed in his economy and protected by the righteous guidance and government of king David. This is evident, among other things, from the location of his business, which was ‘Carmel’, meaning ‘fruit garden’ (cf. 1 Samuel 25:2-3).

 

1 Samuel 25:2-3:
2 A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.
3 His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings – he was a Calebite.

 

Despite his evil heart attitude, Nabal was blessed for a long time in his life and you can assume that it was because of the kindness of God and his wife Abigail, who continually ministered before God with understanding and wisdom in her assigned glory (cf. Romans 2:4 i.c.w. Proverbs 12:4a).

 

Romans 2:4:
4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realising that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

 

Proverbs 12:4a:
4a A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, …

 

Abigail possessed a God-given strength because she recognized God as the source of joy and lived in it (cf. Nehemiah 8:10c).

 

Nehemiah 8:10c:
… 10c ‘Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’

 

As mentioned earlier, there was a specific time in Nabal’s life when he was visited by the presence of king David in the form of ten emissaries who required him to bless the king. This occurred during a feast time, that of the shearing of the sheep, which corresponded to the time of Nabal’s economic prosperity.
Prior to this, ‘the royal shield’ was active over Nabal and his economy for many years, and preserved it (cf. 1 Samuel 25:4-8).

 

1 Samuel 25:4-8:
4 While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.
5 So he sent ten young men and said to them, ‘Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name.
6 Say to him: “Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!
7 ‘ “Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not ill-treat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing.
8 Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favourable towards my men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.” ’

 

Contrary to all the protection and economic blessings in the past, Nabal decided to deny king David’s messengers his gift, which David asked for.

 

On the basis of the ten messengers of David that were sent out, it shows that David as a symbol for Jesus Christ stretched out his hand towards Nabal, since the Hebrew letter ‘Yod’ has the numerical value ‘10’ and is connected with the ‘hand’.

 

 

It was God who reached out to Nabal through David to continue to bless him, however it was now necessary for Nabal to break with greed and materialism in his life in order to enter into a new dynamic of God’s blessing.

 

Unfortunately, Nabal decided against this and refused to give David his ‘hand’. In this we can see the word from Isaiah 65:2 i.c.w. Romans 10:21, where it says, ‘that God stretched out His hands all the day long unto His people, who were disobedient and obstinate.’

 

Considering the time of the shearing of the sheep in a spiritual context, it reveals Jesus’ willingness to sacrifice, who while suffering, like a lamb, did not open His mouth before His shearer (cf. Isaiah 53:7).

 

Isaiah 53:7:
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

 

And this clearly shows that the shearing of sheep is the window of expression of God’s love. For it is said that God loved the world by giving His only begotten Son to make it possible for man to receive eternal life through faith in Him (cf. John 3:16).

 

John 3:16:
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 

Based on Job 33:28-30, we know that there are basically two to three times of God’s visitation in a person’s life to choose eternal life in Christ Jesus as well as to walk in the light of the living.

 

Job 33:28-30:
“… 28 God has delivered me from going down to the pit, and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.”
29 ‘God does all these things to a person – twice, even three times – 30 to turn them back from the pit, that the light of life may shine on them.

 

This time is to be correctly discerned and responded accordingly toward the love of God or His outstretched saving hand, not rejecting Him who speaks (cf. Hebrews 4:6-7).

 

Hebrews 4:6-7:
6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, calling it ‘Today’. This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’

 

Unfortunately, Nabal acted foolishly in rejecting king David’s messengers in the form of the ten messengers (cf. 1 Samuel 25:9-12).

 

1 Samuel 25:9-12:
9 When David’s men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in David’s name. Then they waited.
10 Nabal answered David’s servants, ‘Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days.
11 Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?’
12 David’s men turned round and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word.

 

The reaction of Nabal had the consequence that now the presence of the king was not accompanied with a greeting of peace, as it had been before, but with the righteous dynamics of the Word of God. This was accompanied with judgment, as David girded himself with a sword and was escorted by four hundred men. The numerical value ‘400’ is associated with the Hebrew letter ‘Thaw’, which is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet and represents, among other things, a ‘cross’ (cf. 1 Samuel 25:13).

 

1 Samuel 25:13:
13 David said to his men, ‘Each of you strap on your sword!’ So they did, and David strapped his on as well. About four hundred men went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.

 

 

From this it is clear that when Christ moves in the facet as king and enters our spiritual temporary time in this facet or authority to demand something from us, we should respond in obedience honourably to Him.

 

It is like the fig tree that Jesus cursed when He was hungry after being publicly proclaimed as king in Jerusalem. The fig tree bore no fruit because it was not the time for figs. Because of this, Jesus cursed that fig tree (cf. Mark 11:12-14).

 

Mark 11:12-14.20:
12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.
13 Seeing in the distance a fig-tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.
14 Then he said to the tree, ‘May no-one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard him say it. …
20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig-tree withered from the roots.

 

This may sound startling, but based on the Word of God we may know that we, as God’s people, are trees of righteousness that always bear fruit because we are nourished by the flow of the Holy Spirit (cf. Isaiah 61:3 i.c.w. Jeremiah 17:8; Revelation 22:1-2).

 

Isaiah 61:3:
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour.

 

Jeremiah 17:8:
‘… 8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.’

 

Revelation 22:1-2:
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

 

The presence of the king is accompanied by the spirit of the fear of the LORD, which leads us to respond toward the king in the wisdom of God (cf. Proverbs 9:10).

 

Proverbs 9:10:
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

 

Walking in the wisdom of God, includes living in the cross of the king of the Jews, who is the Faithful and True, the King of kings, LORD of lords, and the Word of God (cf. Revelation 19:11-16).

 

Revelation 19:11-16:
11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.
12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no-one knows but he himself.
13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron sceptre.’ He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.
16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of kings and lord of lords.

 

It is about wisdom that God seeks from us as His people, which is shown in our application of knowledge in humility, thanksgiving, obedience and giving in our lives.

 

The only ‘foolishness’ in which we are permitted to walk as God’s people is in the foolishness of preaching, which embraces the message of the cross and is foolishness to those who are perishing. To us, who love Christ it is God’s power (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18-21.25).

 

1 Corinthians 1:18-21.25:
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. …
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

 

Thus, let us remain in recognition and intimacy to the Holy Spirit, even if the reflection of circumstances should lead us to believe that we cannot share our gifts. The wisdom of God finds ways for us to avert disaster from us and to experience favour by pursuing good.

 

The LORD Himself, who dwells in us, bears witness in us to the grace and wisdom of His leading, while we are dependent on the eternal kingship of Christ in all things of life.

 

James 3:13-18:
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
14 But if you harbour bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.
15 Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel & Tina Glimm