ADVICE ABOUT WIDOWS, ELDERS, AND SLAVES
1 Timothy 5:3–6:2
Timothy is giving advice on how to deal with special issues. most of these are self
explanatory but they are interesting.
1Ti 5:3 Take care of any widow who has
no one else to care for her. 1Ti 5:4 But if she has children or grandchildren,
their first responsibility is to show godliness at home and repay their parents
by taking care of them. This is something that pleases God.
This is the first one. Would you
take a grandparent into your home? A lot of people have done this but it can be
a major burden. If you parent is healthy not so bad. If the parent has Alzheimer's
disease it just became much harder. We took my dad in at the end of his life. It
turned out to be a very short time but we are so glad that we did that. My
children were younger at that time and they were able to know him a little bit
better and they learned about dying. I know that sounds odd but it is a fact of
life that we all have to deal with.
1Ti 5:5 Now a true widow, a woman who
is truly alone in this world, has placed her hope in God. She prays night and
day, asking God for his help. 1Ti 5:6 But the widow who lives only for pleasure is
spiritually dead even while she lives. 1Ti 5:7 Give these instructions to the church so that
no one will be open to criticism. 1Ti 5:8 But those who won't care for their relatives,
especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such
people are worse than unbelievers. 1Ti 5:9 A widow who is put on the list for support
must be a woman who is at least sixty years old and was faithful to her
husband. 1Ti 5:10 She must be well respected by everyone
because of the good she has done. Has she brought up her children well? Has she
been kind to strangers and served other believers humbly? Has she helped those who
are in trouble? Has she always been ready to do good?
I find it interesting that Paul put caveats
around the widows and the age of the
person. I am in disagreement with him here. Would you turn your mother away
because she was only 59? I think that Paul's numbers may be more of a benchmark than a absolute. it is interesting
that the widow had to meet the same level of Christianity as the Elders, 1Ti_3:2;
1Ti_3:12
1Ti 5:11 The younger widows should not
be on the list, because their physical desires will overpower their devotion to
Christ and they will want to remarry. 1Ti 5:12 Then they would be guilty of breaking their
previous pledge. 1Ti 5:13 And if they are on the list, they will learn
to be lazy and will spend their time gossiping from house to house, meddling in
other people's business and talking about things they shouldn't. 1Ti 5:14 So I
advise these younger widows to marry again, have children, and take care of
their own homes. Then the enemy will not be able to say anything against them. 1Ti 5:15 For I
am afraid that some of them have already gone astray and now follow Satan. 1Ti 5:16 If a
woman who is a believer has relatives who are widows, she must take care of
them and not put the responsibility on the church. Then the church can care for
the widows who are truly alone.
This is another set of verses that
are hard to explain. Paul is certainly not politically correct in this modern
day era but then Christians are not PC
either. This is what is said in the:
Life Application New Testament Commentary These verses appear to be an
overly harsh indictment of young widows, however, Paul actually was showing
great compassion in this instruction. Widows who were younger
than sixty should not be put on the list of widows (described in 1Ti_5:9). Most likely, this did not mean that
younger widows were refused assistance by the church; rather, younger widows
were not to take a pledge of service to the church, which probably included not
remarrying. Paul understood that younger women might face normal physical
desires and might want to remarry. While this was perfectly
acceptable in most instances, it would be unacceptable if the woman had taken a
pledge to the church—then her desires will overpower her devotion
to Christ and she might have to break her vow. Vows of this kind were not
required nor demanded, but when made, they were considered as binding as
marriage itself. Paul preferred that a young widow not put herself in the
position of trying to meet an ideal of chaste widowhood and then wishing she
hadn’t; instead, she should be free to remarry. In fact, as Paul goes on to
point out, a young widow needed to have direction, since merely submitting to
her own desires might well lead to a denial of the faith through marriage with
an unbeliever or to a lifestyle dishonoring to Christ.
The context of this passage reveals two certain
concerns of Paul: (1) Some young widows did not qualify for inclusion among the
widows under long-term care by the church (1Ti_5:9-11),
and (2) those young widows not under the care of the church should marry and
raise a family in a manner honoring to Christ (1Ti_5:14).
Paul was concerned that these young widows would become victims of
undisciplined desires. If they were put on the list and received full support
from the church, these younger energetic women, with too much time on their
hands, were more susceptible to distractions. Their lack of wisdom that comes
with age might lead them to be lazy, doing visitation for purposes of gossiping
and getting into other people’s business. The picture here describes women
busy accomplishing little good and much that is destructive. While this may
sound like an extremely negative comment about these women, we ought to note
the context and take into account that anyone with too much free time
can often get into trouble.
Verse 16 also needs some explanation so again I refer to the Life Application New Testament
Commentary 5:15 That some of
these young widows have already gone astray and now follow Satan
explains much of the intensity in Paul’s expressions throughout this passage.
Some women from the church had already broken their commitment to Christ.
Though they might still be superficially affiliated with the believers, their
lives were representing Satan’s power. Turning aside after Satan was probably
not total apostasy, but rather the pursuit of a sensually oriented lifestyle
leading to idleness, gossip, and at times even false teaching. Their loss
bothered Paul. He was determined to help Timothy prevent further losses.
Dave
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