1 TIMOTHY 5:8-16 - WISDOM ABOUT WIDOWS

1 TIMOTHY 5:8-16

WISDOM ABOUT WIDOWS

1 Timothy 5:8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

Susie: Paul restates the idea from verse four that it is the family members’ responsibility to care for widows. Truly, it is a family responsibility to care for any family member who cannot provide for themselves—children, disabled, or widowed. Paul has strong words for those who do not take care of their widows. A person who does not fulfill his/her responsibility to a family member truly in need is in disobedience to the Lord, not behaving in a Christlike manner. Even non-believers naturally take care of their own, so a Christian who abandons his or her familial responsibilities is behaving worse than a non-believer.

Susan: A person who has the means but does not provide for those in their own family with needs is worse than a heathen.

Notes from The Voice Bible:

Family members have a duty before God to support their relatives. But when a widow has no family to support her, the church must step in to be her surrogate family. Paul, of course, is thinking of those widows who have served faithfully in the ministry of the church. The elderly are easily forgotten, especially those without caring families. The church is called to honor those who have been faithful servants by maintaining relationships with them and helping them when they are in need.

1 Timothy 5:9 Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man.

Susie: Threescore years would be sixty. Oh dear, I would qualify as old enough! This may not have been a list just of those who received assistance from the church but those who pledged to commit their lives to ministry to the body of believers now that their children were grown and their husband had passed away.

Susan: The “wife of one man” is literally a one-man woman. This does not mean that the woman in question could have only been married once. If her first husband died when she was still young, she may have remarried. The point that Paul is making here is that she was a faithful spouse and a faithful member within the congregation of believers.

1 Timothy 5:10 Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.

Susan: A widow should only be put on this list if she were well-respected and kept her commitment to the Lord and to His household, meaning the household of faith. Dorcas, whose story is found in Acts 9:36-42, ministered to widows by using her talents as a seamstress to not only clothe them but to help them feel beautiful and remind them that they were beautiful to the Lord Jesus.

Susie: No husband is mention in conjunction with Dorcas, also called Tabitha. She may have been a widow herself, but one with the means to minister to and gives alms to others; or she may have never married, choosing instead to use her talents and means to serve the Lord. She is an example of the type of woman Paul described in verse ten.

1 Timothy 5:11-12 But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.

Susie: Younger widows, in their time of immediate grief and need, might pledge their lives to the service of the Lord and the church. However, Paul cautions that as time goes on their desires for a marriage relationship might pull them away from being faithful. They would be easy prey for false teachers or succumb to Satan’s temptations.

Susan: Their pledge may have been a knee-jerk reaction due to being distraught and overwhelmed by the depth of their grief. They did not know how they were going to manage to support themselves.

1 Timothy 5:13 And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

Susie: Since most women did not work outside the home in those days, young widows would have way too much time on their hands, especially if they were childless.

Susan: Many of these young widows abdicated their pledges to the Lord and His people, the congregation of the local body of believers. Instead they run around and become a human chain of the hottest gossip in the community and putting their noses in others’ business where it doesn’t belong. This causes trouble throughout the community, especially the body of believers, a vicious rumor mill.

1 Timothy 5:14-15 I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. For some are already turned aside after Satan.

Susie: Paul advises that younger women should remarry quickly and busy themselves with raising children and tending to all the duties of a household.

Susan: Having a new husband and children would keep them too busy to get into or make any trouble.

Susie: This would prevent them from becoming the subject of gossip or being gossipers themselves. Satan would have less material to use against them or entice them to sin. Apparently, this had already been the case with young widows in Ephesus, that Satan had lured them away from the faith.

1 Timothy 5:16 If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.

Susie: The point here is that if Christian family members take care of widows, then the church will have more means to take care of those widows who have no family or whose families are truly destitute. Susan and I are members of a church that ministers to widows and home-found members through both the deacon body and a group called “Second Mile Ministry.” In this way, the widows and others in need are visited, called, encouraged, and cared for. If their Second Mile visitor learns of a need, if can be brought to their deacon or others in the church who can meet that need.

QUESTIONS

1.       What strong words did Paul have for someone who does not take care of their own family members?

2.       What age was the minimum for a widow to be added to the list?

3.       Could a widow have been married more than once?

4.       List some characteristics of the type widow that would be considered.

5.       What should younger widows be urged to do? Why?

6.       Who should be the first to care for a widow before the church steps in to help?