God and Widows. Acts 6:1

 

Acts 6:1 ^NASB “Now at this time while the disciples were increasing {in number,} a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic {Jews} against the {native} Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving {of food.}”

 

We see here a situation that grows out of the Old Testament responsibilities of believers for the treatment of widows. Then we see that between the Old and the New Testament there are certain things that continue the same. We have a dispensational shift—God in His administration of history is changing the rules. Some of the things stay the same and some are different. One of the things that will be different in the transition that occurs with the birth of the church is that there will no longer be worship at a central sanctuary. This was part of the Mosaic Law which had been fulfilled and come to an end by virtue of the death of Christ, and Jesus had predicted this in John chapter four in His conversation with the woman at the well. But we are in a transition zone here in Acts so what we see is that the apostles are still participating in temple worship because Israel is still a covenant nation with God and still in the land. God does not bring into effect the fulfilment of His judgment promises from Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, 29 until AD 70.

 

We are 35 years from that judgment in Acts chapter six but we see that one of the things that continues here from the Old Testament, with slight modifications, is that the people of God are to take care of those within their ranks that do not have family members who can provide for them. One of the things we should keep in mind as we look at what the Bible teaches about taking care of the widows (and they are usually connected to taking care of the fatherless and the orphans) is that it is all built upon an understanding of the divine institutions. These divine institutions are social laws that are established by God, built into the warp and woof of His creation, and are just as real as physical laws; but they do not have same the immediate consequences when they are violated as the laws of science. The consequences may not be seen for the next generation or two, it take time for that violation to work itself out. It leads to the self-destruction and implosion of a culture. No culture in the history of humanity has survived a matriarchy. There is no example throughout history of a female led culture that is successful, because that is not how God built the sexes. The man is to be the leader under the authority of God and women are to be the helper of the man. This is how man and woman were created according to Genesis chapter two. Children are to be obedient to parents, but when parents fail in their responsibility to be godly leaders and to teach them the Word correctly then the children grow up without authority orientation. As a result of that when there is no authority orientation what is bred into the soul is arrogance. When arrogance is multiplied by millions then there are a million people who do not know how to submit to one another, do not know how to deal with people in terms of humility and love (Leviticus 19:18). This then leads to a fragmentation within the family and the culture.

 

Whenever we do anything apart from dependence upon God, God says throughout the entire Old Testament that this is sin, that this is evil. So when we violate these standards of the divine institutions what happens is that society begins to crumble. The violations of the divine institutions are the termites that destroy a civilization.

 

In all of this we have these two divine institutions of marriage and family and they are both predicated upon a recognition of human responsibility. One area of responsibility that we have from God is the law of love: we are to love our neighbour as ourselves. That means we are to take care of one another, to take care of people in society who could not take care of themselves. What is going on here in Acts chapter six in terms of the distribution for the needs of the widows is something that is embedded in Jewish culture going back to the Mosaic Law, and it is now having a few modifications that are going to be brought into the standard of behavior within the church.

 

It is important to understand what this responsibility is and why this was important. To do so we need to go back to the Old Testament. The first place we have any clear teaching on this is in Exodus where we have part of the case law in the Mosaic Law. Now that God is going to take the children of Israel to a new land He is going to give them a new law which is going to govern them. There is a standard of behavior for God’s family, and the protocol for God’s family is laid out in the 613 commandments in terms of case law. Case law doesn’t address every possible contingency but what it does is establish parameters and patterns. In Exodus 22 we come to a whole series of different commandments dealing with all kinds of situations and circumstances.

 

When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment He said there are two: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment and the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. In Exodus 22:22 is the first mandate or statute in relation to the treatment of widows and the fatherless. “You shall not afflict any widow or orphan.” The word here that is translated “afflict” is the Hebrew word anah [piel active] and it has several interesting meanings. It means to oppress. It has the idea of causing someone to be dependent. Think about that. You don’t want to create an environment where you make the widow or the orphan dependent—upon whom? Government would be one thing they would be dependent upon because now you basically enslave them to the federal plantation. So it is very important to understand that these mandates here are given to individuals and the culture as a whole, it is not addressed to the government of Israel. How do we know that? Israel at this point is a theocracy and God is the CEO in a theocracy, so this is being addressed to the people so they are responsible individually for the treatment of others within the society. “You shall not afflict any widow or orphan.” Why? Because in that culture the protection came from the husband and from the father, and when there wasn’t a male there to provide that protection then there is a loss of protection, income and provision for a widow and an orphan. So this word “affliction” has to do with taking advantage of them, oppressing them in some way. It can even mean to humiliate them, to do violation to them, to treat them in an unjust manner. There are people in every culture who target orphans and widows as victims and this is a direct mandate against that.

Exodus 22:23, 24 ^NASB “If you afflict him at all, {and} if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.” This is the principle of judgment being equivalent to the crime. There is a promise in Deuteronomy that God stands in the place of the absent husband/father to be a special protector and provider for the widow.

Deuteronomy 14:28, 29 tells us how God provides through the system of taxation known as tithing for the widows and orphans. It is a minimal safety net. When we look at these mandates it involves a very limited role of the government. “At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit {it} in your town. The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.”

There is another way in which this was provided and that is seen in Deuteronomy 24:17 ^NASB “You shall not pervert the justice due an alien {or} an orphan, nor take a widow’s garment in pledge.” In other words, they were not going to be left with nothing. If they were going to secure a loan it will not be secured with something that would take away their house and their home. [19] “When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.”

Ruth 2:1, 2 ^NASB “Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, ‘Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find favor.’ And she said to her, ‘Go, my daughter.’” He is leaving grain in the field that is left for the widow and the orphans and the strangers in the land, those who are destitute. This is God’s provision. Ruth is a young widow. We will see in the New Testament that the younger widows are expected to remarry but the older widows are not expected to remarry. This episode in Ruth chapter two is grounded upon this role of Deuteronomy 24, God’s grace provision to take care of those who are left without a provider.

Psalm 68:5 ^NASB “A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation.” The word “judge” refers to one who upholds justice and uprightness, one who is going to stand in the gap for the righteous application of the law.

Psalm 146:9 ^NASB “The LORD protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked.”

In Isaiah 1:17 there is a challenge to the people by Isaiah ^NASB “Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.”

There is a condemnation upon the Israelites who have returned from the Babylonian captivity in Malachi 3:5 ^NASB “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien and do not fear Me,” says the LORD of hosts.”

When we get into the New Testament there are some similar mandates. In the Gospels Jesus confronts the scribes and Pharisees saying that they Luke 20:47 ^NASB “… devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

In 1 Timothy 5 there is a long chapter that deals with the responsibility of believers to widows in the church. Paul says, “Honor widows who are really widows.” The word translated “honor” time [timh] has to do with financial support. Paul qualifies this in 1 Timothy 5:4—family responsibility. It is not the church’s responsibility or the government’s except in an extreme case.

James 1:27 ^NASB “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of {our} God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, {and} to keep oneself unstained by the world.”