Re:Verse passage – 2 Samuel 20 (day six)
The wise woman of Abel weighed the costs. Her city harbored the rebel leader Sheba, while Joab and his army besieged the city. She determined the costs were too high. Death and destruction were literally at Abel’s door (or gate), not to mention the impact its destructive would have on neighboring towns. The wise woman convinces others in Abel that harboring the rebellious fugitive will only lead to death, so they do what needs to be done, they put Sheba to death and show the evidence to Joab, and the city is saved.
What I appreciate most about the wise women is her willingness weigh the costs and take immediate action. Reminds me of Jesus when he said, “If your eye causes you to sin, gauge it out!”
Whatever it takes.
In my professional work environment, the wise woman was wise in the sense that she did perform the Strengths (S), Weaknesses (W), Opportunities (O) and Threats (T) analysis, SWOT analysis for her city versus Sheba. The “SW” analysis is used for internal assessments and the “OT” analysis is used for external assessments. She was the woman with wisdom and critical thinking skills.
SWOT analysis is a great analysis tool to help arrive effective decisions in terms of benefits and costs for any situations and for any organizations. Surely, the “wise woman” did a great job and helped Joab defeat Sheba to provide a win for David without going a bloody war. I am sure God was in it as part of His covenant with David.
Happy Armed Force Day and God bless!