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1 Timothy 5:9-16 - Small Group Bible Study Preparation

Insuring Widows’ Needs are Met

Chapter 5:9-16

9 A widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than sixty years old, having been the wife of one man,

10 having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work.

11 But refuse to put younger widows on the list, for when they feel sensual desires in disregard of Christ, they want to get married,

12 thus incurring condemnation, because they have set aside their previous pledge.

13 At the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention.

14 Therefore, I want younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no occasion for reproach;

15 for some have already turned aside to follow Satan.

16 If any woman who is a believer has dependent widows, she must assist them and the church must not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are widows indeed.

1 Tim 5:9-16

Key Words

· 5 WIDOW / WIDOWS

· 3 HOUSE

· 2 IDLE

· 2 CHILDREN

· 2 LIST

· 2 MARRIED

· 2 YOUNGER

· 1 GOSSIPS

· 1 HOSPITALITY

· 1 INDEED

· 1 BURDENED

· 1 BUSYBODIES

· 1 PLEDGE

· 1 SIXTY

Title(s)

Insuring Widows’ Needs are Met

Outline

I. List Qualifications for Widows 9-10

II. Younger Widows Should Remarry 11-15

III. Widows’ Care Further Clarified 16

Cross References, Questions, Observations

9 A widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than sixty years old, having been the wife of one man,

2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable,

1 Tim 3:2

3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,

4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,

5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

Titus 2:3-5

a) What is the list?

b) Does this exclude a divorcee who remarried and was subsequently widowed?

c) What about a widow who remarried and was once again widowed?

39 A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

1 Cor 7:39

36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did.

Acts 9:36

1 A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, Favor is better than silver and gold.

Prov 22:1

39 A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

1 Cor 7:39

14 Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.

Titus 3:14

12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

1 Peter 2:12

15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

2 Tim 3:15

14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

15 And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us.

Acts 16:14-15

2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Heb 13:2

17 Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, " Please let me drink a little water from your jar."

18 She said, "Drink, my lord"; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink.

19 Now when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, "I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking."

20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels.

Gen 24:17-20

38 and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.

Luke 7:38

5 Then He *poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

John 13:5

a) Are all of these essential requirement to qualify to be a widow indeed?

11 But refuse to put younger widows on the list, for when they feel sensual desires in disregard of Christ, they want to get married,

11 But Naomi said, "Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?

12 "Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons,

13 would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is harder for me than for you, for the hand of the Lord has gone forth against me."

Ruth 1:11-13

8 But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I.

9 But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

1 Cor 7:8-9

1) Paul doesn’t say “if”, but “when” they feel those desires. God has made us sexual beings and as such we have sexual desires that we seek to have met.

2) Sensual desires are a very powerful motivational force. They can lead people to set aside a commitment to the Lord.

3) Examples of Christian leaders in America, especially televangelists.

12 thus incurring condemnation, because they have set aside their previous pledge.

6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;

Gal 1:6

4 ~'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

5 ~'Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.

Rev 2:4-5

1) It seems that in order for widows to be placed on the list, they must take some kind of pledge to singleness in the devotion to Christ.

13 At the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention.

16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

Eph 5:16

Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.

Gen 2:15

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

Gen 2:18-19

11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.

12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.

2 Thess 3:11-12

But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more,

11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,

1 Thess 4:10b-11

27 She looks well to the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness.

Prov 31:27

1) God intends for us to be productive in life. When we have too much time on our hands, without responsibility, bad patterns tend to develop in our life.

14 Therefore, I want younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no occasion for reproach;

22 He who finds a wife finds a good thing And obtains favor from the Lord.

Prov 18:22

18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."

Gen 2:18

1) Getting married and having children is a Biblical way to avoid idleness as well as lustful passions.

2) If this is the solution offered to the younger widows, what solution is offered to the older widows?

3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,

4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,

5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

Titus 2:3-5

15 for some have already turned aside to follow Satan.

18 For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ,

19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.

Phil 3:18-19

20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.

22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb, " A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire."

2 Peter 2:20-22

32 "So you shall observe to do just as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left.

33 " You shall walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.

Deut 5:32-33

16 If any woman who is a believer has dependent widows, she must assist them and the church must not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are widows indeed.·

9 For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

1 Thess 2:9

7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you,

8 nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you;

2 Thess 3:7-8

1) Not just men who had the means were responsible for widows in their families V8, but women who were able shared this same responsibility.

2) The above were the minimum requirements of the church. The church, of course, as it has means, may do more in any given situation.

Key Verse

9 A widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than sixty years old, having been the wife of one man,

Central Teaching

Younger widows are to be provided for through remarriage, but the church should provide for qualified older widows if their needs are not otherwise being met.

Application

What application should you make from this passage?

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