The Wise Woman

**This week I was talking to a friend about Abigail and it reminded me of this story from 3 years ago. Since I’m in the midst of my book rewrite I decided to do a repost. I love this story and the woman who is remembered as wise.**

While some religions debase women, our God does not. The opposite is true. In Scripture we see the Lord uses women in many incredible ways. Even though many heroes in the Bible remain nameless, their stories are timeless and encouraging. God loves using ordinary women to do extraordinary things. That is exactly what happened with the wise woman in 2 Samuel 20.

Let me set the stage for the story. Absalom has just caused havoc and been killed; now David has a new enemy named Sheba. The passage tells us that he was a man of Belial (Satan) and was of the tribe of Benjamin. He rallies the people of Israel to go against King David. While the rest of Israel goes against David, Judah remains firmly with their king. While this coup is going on, David sends Amasa to gather troops throughout Judah to stop Sheba. In the meantime, Joab pretends to befriend Amasa and kills him instead. Joab becomes a man on a mission. His sole focus is Sheba and he does not care what happens except that Sheba is dead.

On his tear throughout the country he comes to Abel. He and his troops decide that Sheba is in Abel and they are ready to take over the city and do anything to finish him. I can totally see this picture can’t you. A huge gang of men raising up against a city. The Bible tells us :“While they were battering the wall to bring it down, A wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here so I can speak to him.”

He went toward her, and she asked, “Are you Joab?”

“I am,” he answered.

She said, “Listen to what your servant has to say.”

“I’m listening,” he said.

At this point in the story I’m already hooked. Can you imagine a woman doing this? Joab’s response is even more amazing, he listens to what this wise woman has to say. Her reputation among the people of Abel must have been above reproach. She requests a meeting with him and he obliges her request. The truth and wisdom from this act teaches a great lesson. The Bible tells us to ask and we shall receive, It also tells us to go to the person who has offended us and speak with them. Both of those passages were written much later than this story, yet the principle is already seen here.

I can think of times when I have felt oppressed and intimidated by people before, I’m sure you have too. I felt like there was nothing I could do, or that even if I spoke up they would not listen to me anyway. While all those feelings may turn out to be accurate, if I do not speak up and voice my objection, how can I hold the other person accountable for things I thought they would do?

So what I learn from this wise woman is to just speak calmly and clearly to the person who is offending me. If you feel intimidated, ask the Lord for wise words to say and approach the problem with humility. The Bible tells us nothing of this woman except that she is wise, and her wisdom is obvious right from the beginning of the story. Asking specifically for what we want and working toward peace with others is wisdom you and I can put into practice today.

The story does not end here, but my post today does. I will post a conclusion later on this week