Abigail - Portraits of a Woman After God's Own Heart

The Bleeding Woman

LIFE APPLICATION 1. This woman was so desperate she was willing to risk radical social shaming and even potential punishment for violating the Levitical laws of isolation. She was well-known and could have easily been spotted entering and moving about in a crowd. 2. This woman was so desperate she was willing to risk making a Rabbi unclean, knowing that if she wasn’t healed, she just shut down his entire ministry according to the Law. 3. This woman was so desperate she knew the only thing left to her was faith in Jesus. 4. This woman’s faith was so real and so radical, that she believed touch the fringe of his clothes would be enough to heal her. 5. This woman did not let religion keep her from having a relationship with Jesus. 6. Jesus has the authority to heal a woman bleeding to death and raise a young child who had just died. 7. The desperate faith of the unclean woman absolutely infused courage into the faith of Jairus after he was told his daughter had already died. God knew the high status male need encouragement from the sold-out and desperate faith of the lowest status woman slowly hemorrhaging to death. 8. We are all slowly bleeding out and dying. 9. Have you had enough yet with all the alternatives to Jesus?

Acts 2:14-40 Part I

Theological summary: 1. Peter and the Apostles are compelled to fulfill the Commission given them by Jesus. They were tasked “commissioned” to bring the Gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the remotest part of the earth (Acts 1:8). This points to the need for a massive organizational undertaking of the church to be a Missionary-Sending Organization! And yet, in Acts 2, this was initially accomplished in only a few days or perhaps weeks, cf., Acts 1:8; 2:5; 2:41. 2. Regarding tongues, it is striking that during Peter’s sermon, he gives a quick comment about drunkenness (2:15) and then specific focus on the miraculous outpouring of tongues according to God’s intended purpose (Joel), i.e., the PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL. He says nothing about ecstatic speech. 3. Joel’s prophecy eradicates several social barriers, e.g., male-female, young-old, master-slave, stating the Spirit of prophecy will be given to all (Keener, 882). Furthermore, there is a universal sense in which the gospel is for all people, cf., 1 John 2:1-2. In other words, the language of election is absent from the sermon (Schnabel, 164). In fact, we see in this sermon a proleptic universalism (Keener, 844), cf., John 3:16).

The Woman from Tekoa - Portraits of a Woman After God's Own Heart

LIFE APPLICATION 1. A woman after God’s own heart works to forgive and the restore of broken relationships. 2. In 2 Samuel 14:9, By pronouncing her belief that the king and his throne are guiltless she is safe and appeals to David’s ego. This prepares David to listen to her deep and wise appeal… “the king is like one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring back his banished one.” In other words, David, if you’re not guilty, act like it. Restore your son.” The woman of Tekoa didn’t begin her conversation with David by attacking his character and blaming him for his crumbling kingdom. If she had, David would have ordered her to be escorted out of his presence. Rather, she won his respect first and then gave counsel to his heart. 3. Sometimes God uses a woman to guide a broken man in restoring his relationships. 4. The wise woman is from Tekoa. With much irony, east of Tekoa is a wasteland desert spilling into the Dead Sea. To the west of Tekoa, is fertile ground producing sacred Olive trees and figs. Not unlike the desert and the fertile ground, David had two choices, keep his son in the desert of perpetual banishment or restore him to the family and the fertile ground of forgiveness and healing. 5. This woman is wise because she knows a king who has failing family relationships not only has a destabilized home, but he becomes the cause for a destabilizing the nation. The problem between David and Avshalom is a matter of national security. This is proved by the coup led by Avshalom. 6. If David had listened to the woman of Tekoa, it is possible Avshalom would have never started a coup against his father. 7. A man of wisdom will listen to a wise woman of God. 8. God wants us to be like that woman from Tekoa: a. Who is God calling you to forgive and be restored to? b. Who is God calling you to facilitate or encourage in forgiveness and restoration?

Abigail - Portraits of a Woman After God's Own Heart

A woman after God’s own heart has the ability to see trouble coming and does what it takes to protect herself, her family, and the purposes of God. ABIGAIL (אֲבִגָיִל meaning my father is a source of joy) Descriptors: 1. Intelligent (טוֹב good understanding) – 1 Sam 25:3. 2. Beautiful in appearance (וִ֣יפַת תֹּ֔אַר beautiful form) 1 Samuel 25:3. 3. Discernment (טַעַם judgment, discernment) – 1 Sam 25:33. 4. Blessed (וּבָרוּךְ passive participle, blessed) – 1 Samuel 25:33.

Acts 1:9-11

Note: That the four Gospels are sometimes said to be death stories with long introductions is verified by Burridge who observes, “Nearly a sixth of the gospel [of John] is taken up with Jesus’ arrest, trial, death and resurrection appearances, chapters 18-21.” Burridge, Richard. What are the Gospels: A Comparison with Graeco-Roman Biography (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 2004), 225. It is Martin Kähler who is credited with the statement, the Gospels are death stories with long introductions. Cf., Martin Kähler, The So-called Historical Jesus and the Historic Biblical Christ. Translated by C. Braaten (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1964), 80.