Widows (I Timothy 5:3-16)

(Class Notes)

Requirements for Provision (I Timothy 5:3-10)
- True widows should be honored financially (I Timothy 5:3)
  - Note the Lord's association of honor with monetary gifts (Matthew 15:4-6)
- God desires that a widow who lives with her children should be cared for by her children (I Timothy 5:4,8)
  - Our promised blessings are spiritual and heavenly (Ephesians 1:3) - NOT physical and NOT earthly (II Thessalonians 3:10 cf. Philippians 3:17-20)
  - Israel was promised physical and earthly blessings in her promised kingdom by her king
    (Matthew 10:5-10; Matthew 11:1-6 cf. Isaiah 11; Isaiah 35)
- A solitary widow whose trust is in God as evidenced by her continual intercessory prayer for the church should be cared for by the church (I Timothy 5:5)
- A self indulgent widow is spiritually dead while yet physically alive (I Timothy 5:6 cf. Romans 8:6) and should be refused, so that the church may be blameless in the distribution of its funds (I Timothy 5:7)
- An aged widow and the wife of only one man with no other husband somewhere (I Timothy 5:9) and a reputable widow as proven by good works both past (towards her family) and present (towards the church) is deserving of financial honor (I Timothy 5:10)
Grounds for Refusal (I Timothy 5:11-16)
- Younger widows who are taken in by the church may rebel against the Lord by marrying again and bringing guilt and condemnation upon themselves for having cast off their faith in the Lord's provision
  (I Timothy 5:11-12)
  - Note Paul's distinction between the unmarried woman and the married woman (I Corinthians 7:34)
- Younger widows are more prone to being gossips and busybodies (I Timothy 5:13) in which case it is more profitable for them to be married and ordering their homes, so as not to bring upon themselves the reproach of the adversary by following after him (I Timothy 5:14-15)
- Widows with family are the responsibility of the family and not the church (I Timothy 5:16 cf. I Timothy 5:4,8)

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