|
 |
|
 Copyright © 2007 The Salvation Army USA Eastern Territory. All rights reserved. |
|
Women of the Bible
Bible Study By Gladys DeMichael
November 2007
Widows – Focus of Divine Concern
Scripture: II Kings: 4:1-7; Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4; Luke 7:11-19
Focus Text: “God is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, He’s rich in love” Psalm 103:8 – The Message
Background: Widows, in both the Old and New Testaments, are said to be under the special care of the Lord. The passages in Deuteronomy 25 state clearly the old levirate law written for the protection of the widow. In ancient Israel, three kinds of people were especially vulnerable – the alien, the widow, the orphan. The plight of a widow was a unique matter of concern, because the concept of “independent woman” simply did not exist. Strong widows like Tamar (daughter-in-law of Judah; Genesis 28) and Ruth were the exception. The accepted rule was that a woman depended upon her father, husband, or son. A widow did not inherit when her husband died, his estate passed to their children or, if the couple was childless, to his nearest male relative. A young widow who was childless might remarry or return to her father’s house, but the future of an older woman was more unstable. A brother or close relative of her husband might honor the levirate customs of Israel my marrying her, but he could refuse to do so (Deuteronomy 25:9-10; Ruth 4:6). Thus an older widow who had no children could be left penniless and open to victimization by judges, creditors, or anyone with a small amount of power. Theoretically, widows were to be granted a share in tithes given the priests and in the sacrificial offerings on feast days (Deuteronomy 14:28; 16:11, 14). They were also permitted to glean behind harvesters (Deuteronomy 24:19-21), but these laws lacked specific enforcement.
By New Testament times, a widow might be protected by a financial settlement specified in a marriage contract, or she could sue her husband’s estate to recover part of her dowry. However, this seldom happened and widows had virtually no means of supporting themselves. Matthew (23:14), Mark (12:40), and Luke (20:47) condemn those who do evil against widows. Paul writing to young Timothy (I Timothy 5) has much to say in behalf of the widow. The early church felt compelled to care for Christian widows, but problems arose in ministering to their needs. It became necessary to develop guidelines and structures for this special ministry (Acts 6:1-7). First, the church needed to distinguish between widows who should be cared for by relatives and those who had no means of support. Second, those supported by the church should meet specific qualifications and be active in the ministry to others in the congregation and community. As a result, there soon developed an order of widows who carried out these Christian ministries. Finally, James says that real Christian faith is evident when we show practical concern for those in need (1:27 – “visit…widows in their troubles”).
Principle Lived Out: My mother became a young widow with three children, ages 13, 11, and 9. She was the youth leader in our Salvation Army church. With my father’s death, our home circumstances changed drastically and be became homeless. Our church literally “took us in” for a period of time until we were able to move into a low income housing development unit. One of the Christian education rooms became our “home”. In retrospect, I realize my family was the recipient of the love and caring support of our church congregation. They practiced the I Timothy 5 Biblical principle.
This study will highlight three nameless widows who were the focus of divine concern.
Very early in the story of Elisha, we read of a widow whose oil was multiplied (II Kings 4:1-7). It is a demonstration of the prophet’s divine concern for a poor widow. Elisha had compassion for her since he had known her husband, who feared the Lord. He was perhaps one of Jezebel’s victims (I Kings 18:4). The family debt was so heavy at the time of his death that his creditors came and demanded that her two sons be given as slaves, in payment of the debt. Boldly, she approached Elisha for help. When he asked what she had in her house she replied, “Nothing but a pot of oil”. Elisha told her to go to all her neighbors and borrow jugs and bowls; not just a few but as many as she could get. Then she was instructed to return home, lock the door and she and her sons were to begin pouring oil from her pot into each container. When each was full she was to set it aside. She did what he said until every jug was full. Then the oil stopped. When the widow came back to Elisha and told him her story, he said, “Go, sell the oil and make good on your debts. Live, both you and your sons on what’s left” (vs7). Amazing! Ordinary efforts brought about extraordinary results. Who could have imagined that a single vessel could do so much good?
Biblical Truth: This miracle depended solely on the widow’s faith and obedience. Elisha’s absence at the home emphasizes that God’s power is available to all. “Jesus looked steadily at His disciples and replied, ‘Humanly speaking it is impossible; but with God anything is possible!’” (Matthew 19:26 Phillips).
Biblical Promise: That’s God! He gives us more than we could possibly ask or think! “Now glory be to God! By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope” (Ephesians 3:20 NLT).
In the New Testament, Jesus exemplifies the traditional Jewish awareness of and concern for widows. The widow with two mites has given us one of the most meaningful short stories in the Bible. The story appears in both Mark and Luke just after Jesus’ condemnation of the “devouring scribes”. Of all the nameless women in female biography, this most sacrificial widow is one whose name and background we would certainly love to know about. The incident occurs during Passover week, just before Jesus embarks upon His Passion. This poor woman entered the Court of Women in the Temple at Jerusalem and gave in the treasury (thirteen contribution boxes with horn-shaped openings) her two mites, hardly enough to buy a loaf of bread.
Mite comes from the King James translation of the word “lepton”, the name of the smallest copper coin then circulating in Jerusalem. It was smaller in size than a U.S. dime.
Streams of visitors were in the Holy City through the seven days of the great annual Feast of the Jews, and this woman would have passed unnoticed, but devotion like hers could not escape the eye of Jesus. He made sure the twelve apostles saw it, that Luke and Mark recorded it and that the whole world would read about it. Luke records Jesus comments, “I assure you, this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them (the rich people). For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has” (21:3-4 NLT). The cash value of her gift compared to the wealthy was hardly enough to notice, but the devotion behind it was another matter. She surrendered her all that day. Little did she know that the One sitting near the treasury was God Himself manifest in the flesh.
Mark calls attention to Jesus words contrasting the false religiosity of unjust scribes with the true devotion of the widow (12:38-40). The scribes were rich, but selfish – the widow, poor but sacrificial!
She gave everything she had though she had every reason not to. She had no relatives to look after her and no resources to fall back on. It was all she had and who would have blamed her for keeping it? Yet she didn’t tuck the coins away, she gave them away; without expecting anything in return, and without thought of being noticed.
Biblical Truth: Jesus always notices our offerings, but more importantly He knows the attitude of our heart toward giving. We give because we love God and others. All of God’s blessings are available to us when we give cheerfully to His work because we thus become His partners. “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (II Corinthians 9:7 NKJV).
This widow’s gift probably did not mean a lot to the ministry. But it meant a lot to God. Her two mites represented not only her faithfulness in supporting God’s work but her faith that God would support her. A meal at a time….a day at a time…a prayer at a time. “God, who is your Father, knows your needs before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8 Phillips).
Quote: Have you cast in all you can, keeping in mind the circumstances of your life; perhaps a husband who will not allow you to serve as you wish or financial strain that limits you to giving little when you desire to give much? If you’ve indeed cast in all you possibly can of your money, time and service, God understands. He affirms you in it. He says thank you. Jill Briscoe
Appearing only in the gospel of Luke is the story of the widow of Nain’s son. It was the first manifestation of Jesus power to raise the dead. Occurring early in Jesus ministry, He and His disciples and a multitude following Him had left Capernaum and had entered the village of Nain, located on the lower slopes of the Little Hermon about six miles southeast of Nazareth. When Jesus came to the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. It was bad enough she had lost her husband and her only son, but social attitudes made matters worse: custom attributed the death of a young person to some sin of the parent. Thus, the very crowd that had gathered to comfort the widow would have also been speculating as the nature of her sin.
Moved by compassion, Jesus came to her where she was. Notice that the heartbroken widow did not seek Jesus. She had probably heard rumors of the wonders attributed to this local man named Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary of Nazareth. But she had no idea that He was the only Son of God, the divine Giver of Life, thus His presence did not create in her heart even a spark of hope. Then Jesus spoke the words that changed the entire situation. Walking up to the widow He said, “Weep not” (vs.13). What consolation and authority were wrapped up in that tender exhortation! As God incarnate, He was able to dry the widow’s tears, but the words had a deeper meaning. Going to her son, He touched the bier (a platform on which a coffin is placed before a burial) and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” Jesus said, “get up” (vs.14). And the young man who had been dead sat up and began to speak. This was not about faith. Jesus had no conversation with the widow about believing in Him, about having to have faith in order to see God’s miracle. Jesus knew that when a person is struggling under a burden of grief, it is not the time for a theology lesson. It is a time for compassion. Jesus did what He could because His heart was touched with the woman’s misery.
Biblical Truth: Divine compassion assigns no blame and recognizes no limits. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12 NKJV).
Though Luke does not give us a definite picture of the mother or express how she felt when her son was given back to her (vs.15b), perhaps a Psalm came to mind. “You turned my wailing into dancing; You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give You thanks forever” (Psalm 30:11-12 NIV).
Biblical Truth: As the Lord of Life came to die, He manifested the same care of His own widowed mother, Mary. Thinking of her uncertain future, Jesus said to John, the disciple whom He loved, “Behold thy mother”, and from that hour the Apostle took her home and protected and provided for her through the rest of her days. (John 19:27)
What marvelous lessons we learn from the stories of these three widows. God is the God of the “impossible” and God is the God of “compassion and grace”! The more we understand God’s grace, the more freely we give to God and others. “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10 NKJV).
Ponder-Praise-Pray:
Prayer It is a strange and lovely thing, O Lord, that the person whom You hand down in history as a pattern of selfless giving was a person who gave an insignificant coin. Help me to place into Your hands all that I have, believing that You can do more with my gifts than I could have ever imagined. With my whole heart, I give you my life for today and forever. Amen
Were the whole realm of nature mine? That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. Isaac Watts
December Study Elizabeth – A Life of Consecration
|