Caring for Widows

a. Verse 3 — “Honor widows that are widows indeed.” Widows without resources (“widows indeed”) are to be cared for and supported (“honor” means pay, cf. v. 17) and not forced to go to work, again reinforcing that a woman is to have her ministry in the home. I believe the principle of supporting a widow without resources could even be applied, for example, to a believing wife whose unbelieving husband commits adultery and forsakes her—leaving her with children at home. She should not be forced to go to work. A woman who has no resources is to be paid. Verse 4 tells us who should take care of her. (Emphasis mine.)

b. Verse 4 — “If any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God.” If a man is related to a widow without resources, he is to practice his Christianity in the home by supplying her need before practicing it in the church. Again, that is so she can stay in the home—where God wants her to be. (Emphasis mine.)

Now remind yourself of one thing. The term is “widow” here and it appears several times in the text. Keep in mind the Greek word is chera and that word means bereft, alone, having been left alone. It has nothing to do with how the woman was left alone. It doesn’t necessarily tell us that the man died, such as the English word “widow” does. It simply says this is a formerly married woman who is now alone, whether through death, divorce, desertion, separation or whatever. The term itself does not necessitate a death. So the church then is obligated to take a good look at how it is to care for those women who have now lost their husband through death, divorce, desertion or whatever and are now alone unprotected, uncared for, unprovided for and vulnerable…and I might add even unfulfilled because of God’s design. (Emphasis mine.)

Now, I want you to look with me in verses 9 and 10 and the qualifications for being a part of this group. Now this is so basic. Here are the qualifications for a woman reaching sixty, having lost her husband to be put on this list, to be added to this group. Qualification number one, verse 9, “Let not a widow be enrolled or put on the list unless she’s over sixty.” That’s the idea. It starts with being over sixty. Now there’s nothing said here about support, as I said before. If you try to equate the two, and some people have tried to do that. They’ve tried to say, “Well the only widows a church is to support are the ones that are over sixty.” That’s not true. That’s not true at all. We have just said that the widows who are to be supported are any women who are without a husband and without support. There’s no age qualification. The age qualification comes for the widows who are put on this list of official servants in the church, not the ones that are supported by the church. The church is to take up the care and demonstrate the compassion of God to any woman who has lost her husband whatever age she is and make sure that her needs are met. (Emphasis mine.)

But when it comes to that official group of women who serve in the church, they have to be over sixty. There’s no age limit placed on the support issue. And I want you to understand that.

Copyright 2007, Grace to You. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Excerpts taken from the following articles and transcripts that originally appeared at Grace to You.

Articles

Widows in the Church, Part 1
Widows in the Church, Part 2
Widows in the Church, Part 3
Widows in the Church, Part 4

Transcripts
Widows in the Church, Part 1
(For some reason, part 1 is not available on the Grace to You website at this time.)
Widows in the Church, Part 2
Widows in the Church, Part 3
Widows in the Church, Part 4

Audio CDs
Widows in the Church, Part 1
Widows in the Church, Part 2
Widows in the Church, Part 3
Widows in the Church, Part 4