Bad Girls of the Bible- Chapter 9 Bible Study

Welcome back!

If you are new, thanks for stopping by!

It's been a few weeks *cough 8* since we talked about our Bad Girls of the Bible.

I am sorry about that, the move and vacations really has thrown me off my groove.

We only have 2 chapters left in this book so let's get to one of them.

Today I am going to focus on Michal.

Chapter 9: Out of Step

A smitten girl.

A handsome boy.

And a father out for blood.

Sounds like most dating relationships right?

Okay maybe not so much.

The beginning of this story leads us to believe that the bad guy is 100% Saul.

Michal seems to genuinely love David and goes so far as to warn him that if he stays he will be killed.

She sends the love of her life off so that his life will be spared!

In doing so she may never see him again.

Sounds honorable.

Heroic.

But it's possible that her actions were driven by less than pure motives.

The book says "What initially appeared as the selfless act of a loving wife might turn out to be the selfish game-playing of an immature, infatuated girl".

She was making her father look like a fool.

By the time she realized that her father wasn't up for playing games she also realized she needed a better story than "...but I LOVE HIM".

1 Samuel 19:17 "Why have you betrayed me like this and let my enemy escape?" Saul demanded of Michal.  "I had to," Michal replied.  "He threatened to kill me if I didn't help him".

Wait.

Hold up.

WHAT?!

You send away the man you love in hopes of saving him only to give your father a line like that?

EVERY girl should know that a line like that will only fuel a fathers desire to find and kill David that much greater!

David is gone.

Saul still wants him dead.

Michal is married off to another.

Flash forward.

David comes out of hiding.

He's stronger now and he wants Michal back.

And what David wants, he gets.

He's a busy man, doing all he can to glorify the Lord.

2 Samuel 6:16 "And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart." 

"His leaping was the last straw, but the haystack had been building for a very long time.  David had deserted her, ignored her, married other wives, fathered other children, and neglected even to include her in his life until it was politically expedient". ~pg 219

Over the years Michal has been filled with an array of emotions, not one of them being positive towards David.
When David returned 'home' to greet his Michal she stormed out to give him a tongue lashing all her own.
She viewed his dancing as risque, raunchy, inappropriate.
None of which were any of the things that David was going for.
He was dancing to show his passion for God, but Michal was unable to view it that way.
It was her harshness towards David that caused David to lash back.
He cut her from his life, promising to always be 'foolish' for the Lord.
That was that.
Michal always was "daughter of Saul".
She was never really "wife of David".
This was her own doing though, if you don't cleave from your parents when you marry there will always be something getting in the way of you truly growing close to your spouse.
The book sums up Michal as Bad for a Moment.
That moment was when she lashed out at David.
"...she never reached out to her heavenly Father, never gave her heart to God...in truth she never depended on the goodness of God to make her whole". ~pg 221

With all this said.....

WHAT LESSONS CAN WE LEARN FROM MICHAL?

- 1 - When God says dance, strap on your tap shoes!
"You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy". Psalm 30:11

- 2 - Nothing stops worship like unconfessed sin.
"An evil man is snared by his own sin, but a righteous one can sing and be glad". Proverbs 29:6

- 3 - Words spoken in the heat of anger are sure to burn.
"Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for a man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires". James 1:19-20

- 4 - Wise is the woman who rises above her circumstances
"When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other". Ecclesiastes 7:14

In my eyes Michal is not bad.
At least not in the traditional sense.
Michal is like most of us.
If our husbands were sent away and didn't think about us for the extent of their absence we would be hurt.
I know I would.
Michal was hurt and she used that hurt to fuel an anger that was placed in her heart by her father.
We have to be careful of seeds like that.
Family is influential like that.
Family can sway our vote quicker than any other.
Forget peer pressure, parental pressure can be detrimental to your health!
This week remember these lessons and use them to fuel all you do.
Dance.
Repent.
Soften your heart AND your tongue.
Rise above.
In the end you will feel better and you will be honoring God at the same time!

I hope you have enjoyed this time of study.

Please let me know if you would like to see something in particular in our discussions or if you have any questions.

I hope you have a Blessed Friday!