Paul the apostle took time
to share with Timothy concerning the widows who belonged to the
church in Ephesus. He gave Timothy several characteristics which were
to be used to identify whether the church was to care for these
“widows indeed” or not. If they were “under sixty
years old”, “the wife of one man”,”well reported of for good
works”, “had brought up children”, “lodged strangers”,
“washed the saints' feet”, “relieved the afflicted” and if
she had diligently followed every good work”, she was a good
candidate for support. However, in chapter five and verse eleven,
Paul gave Timothy another attribute to measure a “widow”
by, and this one concerned her youth where we read:
But the younger widows
refuse: for when they have begun to wax
wanton against Christ,
they will marry;
The
verse wins, “But the younger widows refuse:” Paul
began this verse with the word, “But” which points us to a
contrast or priority over what he just stated, “the
younger” or “more recently
born and youthful” “widows”
which refers to women who were married who have lost their husbands
through death, “refuse”
which means “avert by entreaty or seek to avert, deprecate, shun
and avoid”. Upon first glance this may seem harsh, however Paul
gave Timothy the reason why in the next portion of the verse.
The
verse goes on to say, “...for when they have begun to wax wanton
against Christ, they will marry;” Paul
wrote, “for” which
means “because, since or on account of” “when they have begun
to wax wanton against” which is all one Greek word “katastrēniaō”
and means “feel the impulses of sexual desire” “Christ”
who is “the anointed Messiah of God”, “they
will” which means
“will to, have in mind and intend to” “marry”
or “be led to marry again”. In other words, the work of the
ministry will have a tendency to be forsaken by the younger widows
because they are attracted to another man to marry. Therefore,
Timothy is to “refuse”
them for perpetual care from the church.
When
we think about these words of Paul, we may have more questions than
answers. Our tendency may be to question the word of God and it's
application to the care for younger widows. However, we must always
keep in mind when we are reading the word of God that Our Heavenly
Father through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit caused men like
Paul to write the scriptures, and the Lord has insured that the
scriptures would endure even unto our day. When we read of “refusing
younger widows”, the
Lord knows what is best, and we would be in our best state to simply
agree with Him. Should we encounter such a place in our lives where
the “perpetual” support of a widow becomes our challenge, let us
comply with the word of God and let the Lord Jesus take care of His
own.
Next
time Paul shares more about younger widows, so read ahead, and we
shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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