The lives of many prophets, patriarchs, and other Biblical characters serve as prophecy. Joseph is a major example that we have explored on several occasions. David, also, is one we have explored as the face-off with Goliath parallels several sections of Revelation.

Recently, a friend pointed me to another interesting picture of David in the Scriptures that confirms something I have pointed to multiple times. Let’s read and then make the connection.

2 Then it came about afterwards that David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up to one of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” So David said, “Where shall I go up?” And He said, “To Hebron.” ² So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. ³ And David brought up his men who were with him, each with his household; and they lived in the cities of Hebron. ⁴ Then the men of Judah came and there anointed David king over the house of Judah.

2 Samuel 2:1-4

The immediate and interesting picture is that King David, upon his ascension to the throne of Judah, had two wives! This exactly parallels what I have already shared on several occasions directly from Scripture. Consider these two articles:

Does God have two brides?

The ‘One Bride’ (of Messiah) Myth…

But, upon closer examination, the picture is far more interesting!

The two ladies were ‘Ahinoam, the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the woman of Nabal the Carmelite.’

Ahinoam means ‘my brother is delight’ and she was from Jezreel in Northern Israel. Verses from Hosea 1 should immediately spring to mind! Oddly, Saul, the former king of all Israel, was married to a woman named ‘Ahinoam’ who by his death had become a widow. David’s Ahinoam is different than Saul’s, but the image of ‘Ahinoam’ becoming a widow, then becoming the wife of David is an amazing twist that bears reflection.

Until I researched Abigail, I did not realize the huge significance of Ahinoam being from Jezreel in the northern kingdom! My error was in always assuming that Carmel was in the north. Such is not the case.

1 Samuel 25 records the encounter between David and Abigail. It begins,

25 Then Samuel died; and all Israel assembled and mourned for him, and they buried him at his house in Ramah. And David set out and went down to the wilderness of Paran.

² Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel; and the man was very rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about while he was shearing his sheep in Carmel ³ (now the man’s name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was intelligent and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was a Calebite), ⁴ that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 

We are given three indicators here that Abigail is from the wilderness south of Hebron. Quite literally, both Strongs’ and Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, Paran is the northernmost reaches of the wilderness that Israel wandered in for 40 years. Maon and Carmel confirm this as an area south of Hebron.

If Ahinoam represents the northern house, then Abigail clearly represents the southern house! Two sticks in David’s hand? Could it be? There is more…

Avigail means ‘my father is joy’ and in a doubly odd twist, David also had a sister named Avigail (1 Chr. 2:16). Surely, (sister) Avigail knowing him while yet a shepherd plays into the overarching remez.

Further confirmation of Avigail’s picture as the southern kingdom is the clear connection, through Nabal, with Caleb!

I am still pondering some parts of 1 Samuel 25, but here are a few thoughts before trying to tie this into a neat package.

David is in the wilderness with his 600 fighting men when he sends 10 men to Nabal as messengers asking for a gift. Nabal’s response is very interesting.

¹⁰ But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master. ¹¹ Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men whose origin I do not know?”

Is this a picture of the ten lost tribes asking for Torah, often described as ‘bread,’ ‘water,’ and ‘meat’ being rejected by a fool who does not see them for who they are? I’ll not get sidetracked here, but the relation to the sequence of events that follow and a bride from the north as well as a bride from the south coming out of a Calebite’s house and under David’s covering is amazing!

David is understandably angered by Nabal’s response, but Avigail’s righteous and quick action is also highly prophetic. Witness her amazing character,

²³ When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face in front of David and bowed herself to the ground. ²⁴ She fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your slave speak to you, and listen to the words of your slave. ²⁵ Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and stupidity is with him; but I your slave did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent.

Compare this with,

¹⁰ “And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of pleading, so that they will look at Me whom they pierced; and they will mourn for Him, like one mourning for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. ¹¹ On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be great, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ¹² The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; ¹³ the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; ¹⁴ all the families that are left, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.

Zechariah 12

Just as Avigail casts herself before the coming king, so will Judah…

1 Samuel 25 continues with Avigail pleading on behalf of her husband, Nabal.

Upon Avigail’s return to her house, Nabal is having a feast, like that of a king. Maybe this is a picture of a false king? I hold that with an open hand… Anyway, the party ends and she does not tell Nabal what she has done until the next morning. Then, ‘his heart died within him so that he became as stone.’ My guess is, that house was not a fun place to be before this incident, but was decidedly brutal afterward. The Father intervened 10 days later and struck Nabal. Revelation 2:10 comes to mind.

1 Samuel 25 continues,

³⁹ When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of the shame inflicted on me by the hand of Nabal, and has kept back His servant from evil. The Lord has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife. ⁴⁰ When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, “David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife.” ⁴¹ And she got up and bowed with her face to the ground, and said, “Behold, your slave is a servant to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.” ⁴² Then Abigail got up quickly, and rode on a donkey, with her five female attendants who accompanied her; and she followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

⁴³ David had also taken Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they both became his wives.

David had shame inflicted upon him by the hand of a fool who thought himself a king. God vindicated him and gave him Nabal’s whole house!

What I find fascinating is David sending messengers to gather Avigail. She, like Ahinoam, joins David in the wilderness before he is crowned king in Hebron!

Of additional interest is that she has five maidens with her. Is this a picture of the Torah? Maybe a Yeshua, when He tell the Parable of the 10 Virgins is winking at this passage where five mount up and ride with Avigail? I don’t know… Bears more pondering, but the known connections and parallels to Yeshua, the Second Exodus, and the two brides in the wilderness are amazing!

But, there is more….

Saul was still looking for David at the end of 1 Samuel 25. In 1 Samuel 27, we are specifically told that for safety, David chose to reside among the Pelishti. See these verses,

27 Then David said to himself, “Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to safely escape into the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.” ² So David set out and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. ³ And David lived with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each with his own household—David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s widow. ⁴ Now it was reported to Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he no longer searched for him.

David hid among the Philistines and was out of the reach of his adversary.

Interestingly, the territory to where the Second Exodus is prophesied to gather kol Israel is in the territory of the antimessiah’s enemies. And, the antimessiah can’t get to them… Several passages tease my mind, but the reader may be able to supply them in the comments section.

Of additional interest is that 1 Samuel 27:7 specifically tells us that David dwelt with the Philistines for 16 months. Deuteronomy 24:5 commands that a man is to stay home for one year and give his wife joy after being married. While David was on the run, he was obviously challenged, but it is interesting that there is a solid case to be made for a one year tribulation/wilderness experience. See the many videos by Steve Moutria at TorahFamily.org/

What is interesting is that this draws clear parallels between David coming up to Hebron with Avigail and Ahinoam just as Yeshua will come up with the house of Judah and the house of Israel, both purified in the refining fires of the wilderness.

63 Who is this who comes from Edom,
With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah,
This One who is majestic in His apparel,
Marching in the greatness of His strength?
“It is I, the One who speaks in righteousness, mighty to save.”
² Why is Your apparel red,
And Your garments like one who treads in the wine press?
³ “I have trodden the wine trough alone,
And from the peoples there was no one with Me.
I also trod them in My anger
And trampled them in My wrath;
And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments,
And I stained all My clothes.
⁴ For the day of vengeance was in My heart,
And My year of redemption has come.
⁵ I looked, but there was no one to help,
And I was astonished and there was no one to uphold;
So My own arm brought salvation to Me,
And My wrath upheld Me.
⁶ I trampled down the peoples in My anger
And made them drunk with My wrath,
And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

Isaiah 63

I’ll not pursue this picture further, but I think there is still much meat on this bone. The major point is that David is a picture of Yeshua. Over and over, David’s life is prophecy. Without question, David ascension with two brides exactly parallels prophecy for Yeshua and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom.

May it be soon and in our day!

Selah!