Women of the Bible - Michal
A Woman Who Never Had a Mother's Day
by Kathryn Capoccia
Young Adults Sunday School Class
All Scripture references are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW
INTERNATIONAL VERSION (C) 1978 by the New York Bible Society, used by
permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
© Copyright Kathy Capoccia 2000. This file may be freely copied, printed out,
and distributed as long as copyright and source statements remain intact,
and that it is not sold.
I. Introduction
A. Prayer Requests
B. Review of Last Week's Lesson/Verse
II. Character Profile: Michal, A Woman Who Never Had a Mother's Day
A. Who Was She? (read 1SA 14:49; 18:20-28; 19:11-17; 25:44; 2SA
3:13,14; 6:16-23; 21:8; 1CH 15:29).
1. When Did She Live? In the beginning of the monarchy @1050 B.C.
2. Where Did She Live? In Israel.
3. What Was Her Name? Michal is related to "Michael" and "Michaiah"
which mean, "who is like God?".
4. Who Were Her People?
a) her mother's name was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz (1SA
14:50).
b) her father was Saul, son of Kish, a Benjamite; he was the 1st
King of Israel (1SA 14:49).
c) Her brothers and sister were (1SA 14:49):
1) Jonathan, heir to the throne and covenant friend of David
(1SA 18:1-4); he was killed in a battle with the
Philistines at Mt. Gilboa (1SA 31:8).
1SA 18:1 "After David had finished talking with Saul,
Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him
as himself."
2) Abinadab or Ishvi was killed at Mt. Gilboa (1SA 14:49;
31:1-8; 1CH 10:1,6).
3) Malchi-shua- killed at Mt. Gilboa (1SA 31:1-8; 1CH 10:1,6).
4) Ish-Bosheth or Esh-Baal survived the battle at Mt. Gilboa
and was elevated to the throne by Abner, Saul's cousin and
commander-in chief (1SA 14:50; 1CH 8:33; 9:39; 2SA 2:8,9).
5) Merab, older daughter of Saul; she had been promised in
marriage to David (1SA 17:25; 18:17) but was given to
another (1SA 18:19).
5. Was She Married? yes, to David- later she was given to Palti.
B. What Did She Do?
1. She Loved David (1SA 18:20, 28).
1SA 18:20 "Now Saul's daughter Michal was in love with David,
and when they told Saul about it, he was pleased."
WHY DID SHE LOVE HIM?
-He was handsome (1SA 16:12).
1SA 16:12 "He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome
features."
-He worked at court as a musician and armor bearer to Saul (1SA
16:18,21,23).
1SA 16:21 "David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul
liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers."
-He was a hero (1SA 18:6,7).
1SA 18:7 "As they [the women of Israel] danced, they sang: 'Saul
has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.'"
-He was successful (1SA 18:14-16,30).
1SA 18:30 "The Philistine commanders continued to go out to
battle, and as often as they did, David met with more success
than the rest of Saul's officers, and his name became well
known."
-He was famous (1SA 18:30).
a) She became David's wife (1SA 18:27).
1) Merab, Michal's older sister, was offered to David as wife
to in order to endanger him (1SA 18:17).
1SA 18:17 "Saul said to David, 'Here is my older daughter
Merab. I will give her to you in marriage; only serve me
bravely and fight the battles of the LORD.' For Saul said
to himself, 'I will not raise a hand against him. Let the
Philistines do that!'"
a] Saul offered Merab to David on the condition that he
fight "the LORD'S battles" (1SA 18:17).
b] David refused her on the grounds that he was not worthy
(1SA 18:18).
c] Merab was given to Adriel, the Meholathite (1SA 18:19).
2) Michal was offered to David (1SA 18:21,22).
1SA 18:21,22 "'I will give her to him,' he thought, 'so
that she may be a snare ["bait"] to him and so that the
hand of the Philistines may be against him.' So Saul said
to David, 'Now you have a second opportunity to become my
son-in-law.' Then Saul ordered his attendants: 'Speak to
David privately and say, 'Look, the king is pleased with
you, and his attendants all like you; now become his
son-in-law.'"
a] Saul offered Michal in marriage to David as bait to lure
David to expose himself to the Philistines (1SA 18:21).
b] Saul set her dowry as the foreskins of 100 Philistines
so that David would try to pay the price and be killed
in the attempt (1SA 18:25).
1SA 18:25 "Saul replied, 'Say to David, 'The king wants
no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine
foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.' Saul's plan
was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines."
*WHY WOULD SAUL WANT TO HAVE DAVID KILLED?
HE WAS AFRAID THAT DAVID WOULD SUPPLANT HIM AND BECOME
KING IN HIS PLACE.
1SA 18:8 "'They have credited David with tens of
thousands,' he thought, 'but me [Saul] with only
thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?'"
c] David paid the dowry for Michal's hand (1SA 18:27).
i] he killed the 100 Philistines and presented their
foreskins to Saul (1SA 18:26,27).
ii] Michal was given to him as wife (1SA 18:27).
*WHAT WAS THE RESULT OF THIS WEDDING?
1SA 18:28,29 "When Saul realized that the LORD was
with David and that his daughter Michal loved David,
Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained
his enemy the rest of his days."
b) She saved David's life (1SA 19:11-17).
1) Saul wanted to kill David.
a] Saul commanded his servants to put David to death (1SA
19:1).
i] Jonathan warned David (1SA 19:2,3).
ii] Jonathan interceded for David and reconciled them
(1SA 19:4-7).
b] Saul tried to spear David (1SA 19:9,10).
c] Saul put a watch on David's house to put him to death
(1SA 19:11).
2) Michal protected David.
a] she warned him of his danger (1SA 19:11).
1SA 19:11 "But Michal, David's wife, warned him, 'If
you don't run for your life tonight, tomorrow you'll be
killed.'"
b] she helped him escape (1SA 19:12-17).
i] she let David down from a window so he could escape
(1SA 19:12).
ii] she made his bed look like he was in it (1SA 19:13).
-- she took the teraphim (household idol) and put it
on David's bed.
-- she dressed it as a man:
I. she put a goat's hair quilt at its head to look
like David's hair (a goat's hair quilt was a
coarse, thick, black, woven fabric).
II. she covered it with clothes.
*WHAT WAS SHE DOING WITH AN IDOL IN HER HOUSE?
A TERAPHIM WAS AN IDOL WHICH COULD RANGE IN
SIZE FROM SMALL TO ALMOST LIFE-SIZED. THE
POSSESSION OF ONE CONSTITUTED HEADSHIP OF A
HOUSEHOLD WITH ALL ITS RIGHTS (GEN 31:19). THE
PRACTICE OF DIVINATION WITH TERAPHIM WAS
CONDEMNED (JUD 17,18; 1SA 15:23; ZEC 10:2).
*THIS INFORMATION CAME FROM "THE ZONDERVAN
PICTORIAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE BIBLE, VOL.5,
PGS.677,678.
iii] she lied to protect David: she told Saul's messengers
that he could not go to Saul because he was sick (1SA
19:14).
c] she lied to protect herself (1SA 19:17).
i] Saul accused her of deceiving him to protect David.
ii] Michal slandered David by saying that he forced her
to help him upon pain of death.
*Michal may have paved the way for her being given in
marriage to Palti with that lie (plus Saul's hatred
of David and David's long-term absence).
2. She Despised David.
a) She was given to another man to be his wife after David fled
from Saul's court (1SA 25:44).
1) David, though on the run from Saul, still considered Michal
to be his wife (1SA 25:43; 2SA 3:14).
1SA 25:43 "David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel, and
they both were his wives."
*another rendering reads, "And David had taken Ahinoam from
Jezreel; thus they also both became his wives", Kiel and
Delitzsch, "Commentary on the Old Testament", pg. 246.
2SA 3:14 "Then David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth son of
Saul, demanding, 'Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed
to myself for the price of a hundred Philistine
foreskins.'"
2) Saul gave Michal to Palti, son of Laish, of Gallim (which
is located between Gibeah of Saul and Jerusalem).
a] Palti ("Yahweh delivers") was a Benjamite, as was Saul
and Michal.
b] this was illegal since David was alive and had not
divorced Michal.
b) She was returned to David (2SA 3:13-16).
1) David demanded that she be returned to him (2SA 3:13,14).
a] she was lawfully his wife and belonged with him.
b] her return would strengthen David's claim to the throne
of Israel (as the legal son-in-law of Saul).
2) Ish-Bosheth (king of Israel) officially ordered her return
(2SA 3:15).
3) Palti did not willingly give her up (2SA 3:15,16).
a] Michal was taken away from Palti (2SA 3:15).
b] Palti accompanied her, weeping as they went, across the
territory of Benjamin until they reached Bahurim, the
last Benjamite city on the way to Hebron (2SA 3:16).
(Hebron was David's capital for the seven years and six
months he reigned as king over Judah.)
c] Palti would not leave her until he was ordered to return
home by Abner, Ish-Bosheth's commander-in-chief (2SA
3:16).
*Though it says that Palti grieved when Michal was taken
away Scripture says nothing about Michal's feelings- the
very absence of them seems to indicate a coldness in
her.
c) She scorned David (2SA 6:15-20).
1) she despised him in her heart (2SA 6:16).
2SA 6:14-16 "David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before
the LORD with all his might, while he and the entire house
of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and
the sound of trumpets. As the ark of the LORD was entering
the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a
window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing
before the LORD, she despised him in her heart."
*She did not understand the significance of the occasion,
nor David's joy before the LORD. She is called the daughter
of Saul, not David's wife, because she was acting like her
father.
2) she forestalled his blessing (2SA 6:20).
2SA 6:20 "When David returned home to bless his household,
Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said..."
*David had just blessed the people in the name of the LORD,
offering everyone a cake of bread, a slice of date bread
and a slice of raisin bread. He was returning home to do
the same thing for his family when Michal met him at the
door.
3) she criticized him for acting in a way unbecoming to a king
(2SA 6:20).
2SA 6:20 "Michal daughter of Saul... said, 'How the king
of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the
sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar
fellow would!'"
a] for his behavior- his public celebration was not
dignified as a king's comportment ought to be (according
to the standard set by Saul).
b] for his dress- he was not wearing his royal robes in
public, only a linen ephod (a close-fitting armless
outer vest that usually reached to the hips- it was a
garment used exclusively in the worship of God; in the
Old Testament it was a priest's official garment of
ministry). This information came from "the Zondervan
Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible", vol.2, pg. 332.
*Michal could not understand David's devotion to God,
his utter humility before Him, his being "a man after
God's own heart". She missed the essential character of
the man. She apparently had loved only what he
represented- his position and prestige- not who he was
as a man. When he frustrated her, when he failed to
"measure up", she rejected him.
3. She Was Judged.
a) She was rebuked by David (2SA 6:21,22).
2SA 6:21,22 "David said to Michal, 'It was before the LORD,
who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house
when he appointed me ruler over the LORD'S people Israel--I
will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more
undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own
eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in
honor.'"
*David reminded her that it was for Saul's pride and profane
attitude that the kingdom was wrest from him, and that David
was conscious that it was only by God's grace that he was
king.
b) She was made barren (2SA 6:23).
2SA 6:23 "And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the
day of her death."
*A Hebrew woman desired to have children, and to be barren was
considered to be cursed by God; children are a blessing to the
family of believers.
C. What Can We Learn From Her?
1. Michal's attraction to David was not enough for a happy marriage:
because she saw only the external trappings of his office and not
the man himself, and because she did not share his love for God,
her incompatibility doomed their marriage. So it will always be:
the one who bases a relationship on externals will always be
disappointed.
2. Marriage that occurs between a believer and an unbeliever will
experience deep conflict because the two natures of the
individuals will be in opposition; the one will be eager to do
the things that please God, and the other in slavery to sin will
persecute the other and do all things to please Satan (JOH 8;
GAL 4:23, 5:17).
3. God has total sovereign power over the womb, opening it and
closing it as He wills; sometimes He closes it as punishment for
sin (see GEN 16:2; 20:17,18; 25:21; 29:31; 30:2,17,22; JUD 13:3;
1SA 1:20; LUK 1:24,25,31).
4. God judges sin.
III. What Fruits of the Spirit Can We See In Her? None.
IV. Memory Verse: GAL 6:7,8 "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A
man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature,
from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the
Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life."
Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "Kathy Capoccia's Sunday School Lessons for Young Adults" by:
Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
Box 119
Columbus, New Jersey, USA, 08022
Websites: www.biblebb.com and www.gospelgems.com
Email: tony@biblebb.com
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