1) Stories from Abigail
- In 1st Samuel, we read of the story of David, Nabal and Abigail. David was in hiding from King Saul in the wilderness with many of his followers. Eventually, David send some of his men to Nabal to request food and supplies. They pointed out how they had been friends to Nabal while protecting his flocks and men. Nabal rudely turned them down and sent them on their way. This infuriated David, who immediately ordered his men to prepare for battle. He and 400 men set off to wipe out Nabal and his estate.
- In the meantime, some of Nabal's men heard of David's response to Nabal's rebuff. They went to Abigail, Nabal's wife, and let her know that David was marching towards them and also reported how David had been a friend to the estate and didn't deserve such treatment at the hands of her husband. Without hesitation, Abigail requested her servants to gather all the food and supplies that David and his men could possibly need and then set off with the supplies to meet David.
- David and his forces met Abigail on their march to Carmel. She got off her donkey and bowed to the ground before David.
- "Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be," Abigail begged David. "Please accept of my offering, that this shall be no grief unto thee...I beg for my house, yes, but for thee also, my lord, that this shall not be an offence of heart unto thee, either that thou hast shed blood causeless..."
- How is Abigail a type of Christ?
- She brought David everything he needed: Bread, wine, sheet, etc. Christ provides for our spiritual and physical needs as well.
- She took Nabal's rebuff on her own head as Christ takes our sins on his head.
- She offered David redemption. "David's heart burned with envy and rage and had turned from the spirit. Unless and until he was redeemed from that sinfulness, he would never taste eternal life" (pg. 51).
- This story is not of Nabal's sin but David's. Abigail was offering a safe environment for David to forgive but asking him to forgive her and atoning for Nabal's sins.
- The atonement is as much for the benefit of the sinned against (the victim of sin) as for the sinner. Christ has atoned for others' sins as well as our own and, in essence, as Abigail did for David, he is asking us to forgive him because he paid for the others' sin and took it on himself. Withholding forgiveness from others is really a withholding from the Lord.
- Forgiveness is really for the sinned against more than the one who sinned. It saves our hearts and souls from being in a sinful state.
- One of the effects of sin is to invite the sinned against to become sinful themselves. The atonement provides the escape from this provocation to sin.
- In Jonah, we read of the story of Jonah, who was asked to go preach in Ninevah. He recoiled from the assignment and fled to Tarshish to hide.
- In Jonah's mind, Ninevah didn't deserve to be saved. They were a warring people that had ravaged cities all over the area and had demanded payment from those they didn't destroy. They had hurt Jonah's people and, from prophecy, Jonah knew that they would soon raid and destroy his city. He was angry towards these people and didn't want to save them; he wanted them to get what they deserved.
- What do we actually deserve? Without the atonement, aka Christ's sacrifice and mercy, all we really deserve is hell. You, Jonah, our neighbors, our friends and our enemies. If Jonah wanted Ninevah to get what they deserved, he must also demand the same of himself. His heart was not in a place to receive Christ's mercy so he was just as sinful as Ninevah.
- Whether or not Ninevah is righteous is critical, but only for Ninevah, not for Jonah. Whether your neighbor is treating you fairly or not or whether another person in the branch has wronged you is critical only for that person, not for you. Where is your heart? With the Ninevites or with Christ?
- Jonah eventually starts preaching to the Ninevites and revels in the prophecies of destruction he is preaching: "You will be destroyed if you don't repent!". Much to his chagrin, Ninevah does repent and that leaves Jonah fuming.
- The book of Jonah ends with a question: Should not I spare Ninevah? Jonah's answer is not given because it matters only to him, just as the answer to that question (replacing Ninevah with the name of someone you are struggling with) matters only to you.
- Your peace is determined not by others but by yourself.
- The great war in Heaven was fought over one fundamental thing: Agency. We put all at stake in the pre-existence to war with Satan to ensure that we had this right on Earth. It was important to each and every one of us before we came here and we should fight to retain that right while we are here.
- Sinning slowly conditions us to give away our agency. Each time you hold onto something in your heart against someone, that sin settles more and more in you until, eventually, when you see that person or are in a certain situation, your body and mind automatically react with sin and negativity. For example, someone wrongs you and you stew over it instead of forgiving. Each time you see the person, you remind yourself anew of how you were wronged. In time, that feeling will become ingrained and automatic in you when you see the person. Your agency to choose those feelings is slowly taken from you by Satan, just as a drug addiction or takes away your agency to choose those substances.
- Warring hearts allow Satan to capture our wills and take our agency, the very agency we fought so hard for.
- When the Lamanites buried their weapons of war in the Book of Mormon, they "buried them deep" so they wouldn't be tempted so easily to dig them up again. Bury your weapons of war deep as well - harsh thoughts, negative emotions, judgments against others, etc.
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