Question 1

How does God include the needs of widows in his instructions?

Accepted Answer

Exodus 22:22“You must not exploit a widow or an orphan.”Deuteronomy 10:18“He [the Lord] ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing.”In Israel’s earliest system of laws, God showed deep concern for people groups often overlooked or even abused in societies of the time (in particular here, widows and orphans). God declared himself to be on their side. Vulnerable people continue to be overlooked in today’s world. Those who seek to obey God must show concern for all those whom God takes seriously.Deuteronomy 16:9-14“Count off seven weeks from when you first begin to cut the grain at the time of harvest. Then celebrate the Festival of Harvest to honor the Lord your God. Bring him a voluntary offering in proportion to the blessings you have received from him. This is a time to celebrate before the Lord your God at the designated place of worship he will choose for his name to be honored. Celebrate with your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites from your towns, and the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live among you. Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, so be careful to obey all these decrees. You must observe the Festival of Shelters for seven days at the end of the harvest season, after the grain has been threshed and the grapes have been pressed. This festival will be a happy time of celebrating with your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows from your towns.”God’s instructions for celebrating his blessings at Israel’s annual festivals included specific instructions for including many who might have been easily overlooked, including orphans and widows. A key motivation for taking care of vulnerable people was the memory that they all had once been slaves and that God had freed them.Deuteronomy 24:19-22“When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do. When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don’t go over the boughs twice. Leave the remaining olives for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. When you gather the grapes in your vineyard, don’t glean the vines after they are picked. Leave the remaining grapes for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. That is why I am giving you this command.”Wealthy farmers were not to strip their fruit trees and fields bare at harvest in order to maximize their profits. Late ripening fruit and missed grain in the field was to be left for the poor among them. The vulnerable were allowed to glean what was left to ensure their survival. With this practice, the wealthy were encouraged to be generous and the poor were encouraged to work.Psalm 68:5Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—this is God, whose dwelling is holy.Isaiah 1:17-23“Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat. But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies. I, the Lord, have spoken!” See how Jerusalem, once so faithful, has become a prostitute. Once the home of justice and righteousness, she is now filled with murderers. Once like pure silver, you have become like worthless slag. Once so pure, you are now like watered-down wine. Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves. All of them love bribes and demand payoffs, but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans or fight for the rights of widows.God condemns as sinful the failure to help others—to seek justice, defend the oppressed, support orphans, and fight for the rights of widows. The deepest solution for our sin problem is something only God can supply, but he also calls us to participate in his redeeming work with his Spirit’s help. And obeying God involves more than just making him happy. God wants us to help him renew everything sullied by sin, to participate in the restoration of our broken world. Part of that work involves helping the helpless.Jeremiah 22:3“This is what the Lord says: Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your evil deeds! Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop murdering the innocent!”Zechariah 7:10“Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other.”Malachi 3:5“At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.The prophets repeatedly railed on God’s behalf against the flagrant injustices that followed from the people’s disregard for God and his ways. Those who suffer the most are those less able to fend for themselves. Those who care what God thinks will care for those God cares for.Mark 12:38-44Jesus also taught: “Beware of these teachers of religious law! For they like to parade around in flowing robes and receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces. And how they love the seats of honor in the synagogues and the head table at banquets. Yet they shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, they will be more severely punished.” Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”The contrast between the heartless treatment of widows in Jesus’ day and the simple faithfulness of the actual widow they observed giving her meager sacrificial offering highlighted Jesus’ warning about superficial religiosity that lacks compassion.Luke 4:22-30Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown. Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.” When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.Jesus used two foreigners (the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the leper) to point out how little the people of his own generation really understood the heart of God. Just as the Israelites of Elijah’s time rejected God and experienced the consequences, so the people in Jesus’ audience failed to realize their own distance from God. Their angry response at being reminded of their ungodly condition simply demonstrated the truth of Jesus’ words.

Question 2

What did the New Testament believers do to respond to the needs of widows?

Accepted Answer

Acts 6:1-5As the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.” Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith).The movement of Christ-followers that had recently exploded on the scene began to experience the growing pains of human needs. Conditions had necessitated a practice of daily food distribution. But accusations of racial favoritism threatened to derail the fledgling organization. The report reveals that compassionate efforts were being made but the extent of the needs was overwhelming the original system. The need was recognized but the response needed adjustment.Acts 9:36-43There was a believer in Joppa named Tabitha (which in Greek is Dorcas). She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor. About this time she became ill and died. Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room. But the believers had heard that Peter was nearby at Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him, “Please come as soon as possible!” So Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them. But Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, “Get up, Tabitha.” And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up! He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive. The news spread through the whole town, and many believed in the Lord. And Peter stayed a long time in Joppa, living with Simon, a tanner of hides.Luke’s original reference to the poor whom Tabitha had been helping included the widows who later gathered to grieve her death. She was an early example of a follower of Jesus who exercised her faith in Christ by meeting the needs of others (particularly widows) in practical ways.1 Corinthians 7:8-10So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—it’s better to stay unmarried, just as I am. But if they can’t control themselves, they should go ahead and marry. It’s better to marry than to burn with lust. But for those who are married, I have a command that comes not from me, but from the Lord. A wife must not leave her husband.By the time Paul wrote the Corinthian church, widows were a significant group within the local churches. This group needed instruction related to their roles in ministry as well as future marital status. The apostle balanced his desire for more teammates in ministry with his acknowledgement that personal needs also needed to be addressed.1 Timothy 5:7-16Give these instructions to the church so that no one will be open to criticism. 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. 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. 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? 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. Then they would be guilty of breaking their previous pledge. 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. 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. For I am afraid that some of them have already gone astray and now follow Satan. 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.In his instructions for Timothy who was busy organizing local churches, Paul had the needs of widows very much in mind. Their treatment in the community of faith served as a measure of the compassion shown among believers. The first layer of the safety net for widows was their own extended families, which appears to have been a basic cultural expectation carried out even by unbelievers. The church was to give special extended help to older widows, particularly those with a history of gracious ministry themselves.James 1:26-27If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.James described the most essential form of genuine obedience and love for God as a willingness to love our most needy neighbors: orphans and widows.

Widows