Biblical Womanhood

1 Timothy 5:9–16 AV

Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work. But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith. And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. For some are already turned aside after Satan. If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.

Introduction:

Biblical womanhood is under attack.

Some months ago I preached a sermon entitled, “When God Abandons a Nation,” I spoke about the fact that part of the signs of God abandoning a nation is the Homosexual revolution.

And I spoke about the fact that it seems that when this agenda reaches its lowest is when you have the Lesbian agenda.

And the reason that is seems to be the lowest point is because of the mothering instinct that is ingrained in the heart of all women.

All women are born with a maternal instinct and when that is forfeited for the lustful pleasure of another woman, you know that society is on the brink of being abandoned by God and that Biblical womanhood is under attack.

In our society, it use to be that the line between men and women was very clear.

Then in our society came out with the woman’s revolution in an attempt to have equality among the sexes and the lines between the two became blurred.

Now, we live in a society where the lines between the sexes have been completely erased.

If someone is born a woman and they have ungodly feelings towards the same sex, then God made a mistake in the way that He made and I am really the opposite sex then the way that I was created and now the way that I am is the fought of God.

Thereby, make it the fault of the sovereign and thereby; in their mind, removing natural guilt, accountability, and judgment for their sins.

Listen, men and women are different by design.

Womanhood is even under attack in the Church because the Church acquiesced to the demands of the world.

Husbands are allowing women to take the lead.

Listen, it is not that a woman cannot lead as well as a man; that is not the issue.

The issue is that that is not God’s prescribed way.

Ephesians 5:23 AV

For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

Whether or not a man allows the wife to take charge, God will hold the husband responsible for the family.

So it is not and never has been an issue of ability, but it has always been an issue of the Biblical mandate.

Women are sacrificing motherhood for careers.

Too many have the mindset that I cannot be a mother, I have career.

This is another attack on the family and on womanhood.

I am not, necessarily, opposed to a woman having a career outside the home, if that it needed.

Do I believe that is God’s best?

No.

And I know that because I have lived it not being God’s best.

God was merciful, but it was not the best.

But what families need to mindful is that that is not the most important part of their lives.

And they are not less of women if they decided to fulfill the Biblical design for Women.

Titus 2:3–5 AV

The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

1 Timothy 2:15 AV

Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

Paul says that the way that women overcome their part of the stigma of the fall is in the raising of godly children.

Listen, it is the feminist caricature that says that if a women is in the home then she is a domestic slave; that is not the teaching of Scripture.

Even if a husband and wife decide that a career for the wife is a noble thing, they both must understand that she needs to wield their primary influence in the home.

The woman who decides to wield her influence primarily at home, Proverbs 31 portrays her a a virtuous woman.

And of all the things that the Scripture say that a virtuous woman is, the real prize is:

Proverbs 31:28 AV

Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

That is what fulfills her life and satisfies her heart.

There is no way that the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 could ever feel trapped and stifled.

The Apostle Paul, in the text that is before us, describes Biblical Womanhood.

He does it in the context of Widow’s but the principles that are applied to widows apply to woman of all time.

Ladies, do not allow the world the set the value of your worth, let the Word of God to this.

Paul does this in the verses that follow.

And, as I said, the principles that are applied here to Widows give to us an understanding of Biblical Womanhood.

We are going to break these verses down for you in several manageable parts.

The main points that we are going to see:

First, The Exceptional Widows.

Second, The Excluded Widows.

Third, The Exercising Widow.

We have several sub-points to this and it will take us some weeks to work through this marvelous text, that when we are done we, as men, will have a greater appreciation for our wives.

And wives will haver a greater sense of joy and satisfaction is their very high calling by God to be wives and mothers.

It is with great joy that we must look at this text.

This is the Word of God.

I. The Exceptional Widow (vs. 9-10)

1 Timothy 5:9–10 AV

Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.

The Apostle, having already established the fact that the Church does share in the responsibility of the care of widows and having laid out some qualifying markers of those widows, continues the thought of women in the Church by discussing those women that are qualified for ministry.

The topic of the actual responsibility of the Church to support true widows stops at verse 8.

He is now talking about the list of widows that are eligible for minstry.

But I want you to keep in mind as we look at these areas that though we are talking specifically about widows in this passage, many of the characteristics of these women (those qualifying widows and those non-qualifying widows), are things to remember about Biblical Womanhood in general.

Which is why the title of the sermon has gone away from the “The Ministry of the Church to Widows” to “Biblical Womanhood” because we will see in this passage areas that apply to just the widows, but we will also see in this passage areas that apply to every woman.

And since there are areas in this passage that can apply to every woman, the lessons here on Biblical Womanhood are just as apparent.

So, as we look at each point of this text, many of the main points and the sub-points can really apply to both the widows (which is the immediate context) and women in general in general (which is certainly there by application).

So, as we break down this text for you, keep in mind that many of these things are for widows and many of these things are for you as women who are not necessarily husbandless.

Paul begins by breaking down the Exceptional Widow; what are the qualifying marks of a widow that is truly a widow and what are the qualifiers of Biblical Womanhood.

Again. some of these just apply to the immediate context of widows, while others apply to both; and those will become apparent to you.

A. Her Life (vs. 9b)

1 Timothy 5:9 AV

Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man,

Now, the Apostle speaks here concerning a list.

Now, again, that is not the list of those widows that are eligible to receive support from the Church, but is a list of those widows that are eligible to serve in a greater capacity in the minstry.

It would seem that in the early Church there were a group of widows that served in some officially organized capacity.

Paul’s instructions on who and who cannot be on the list seems to make it evident that there was such a list.

This group of godly women had a spiritual and practical ministry to the women and the children.

The Apostle is instructing the Church on what to look for in these godly women.

Much more detail is given here on the qualifying marks of these women then were given in 1 Timothy 3.

Paul also gave these instructions for the women:

Titus 2:3–5 AV

The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

We cannot be certain what the jobs were of these women; perhaps it was helping with the baptism of women, visiting the sick, visiting prisoners, teaching and disciplining younger women, helping the younger women rear and nurture their children, and providing hospitality for visitors and strangers.

These older women may have also assisted in placing orphans into proper Christian homes.

This would have been a very important ministry in the Roman world, since orphaned or abandoned children wound of slaves, prostitutes, or gladiators.

And with their husbands gone and their children grown, these widows would have had the time to pursue each essential ministry.

The fact that such a group of widows existed in the Church is only known from extrabiblical sources.

1 Timothy: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Obligation of the Church to Maintain High Standards for Widows Who Serve in the Church

In the late first and early second centuries, Ignatius and Polycarp wrote of such an order. Tertullian, who lived in the latter part of the second and early part of the third centuries, also mentioned it. The third-century document known as the Didascalia, and the fourth-century Apostolic Constitutions also refer to an order of widows.

There is no evidence that these widows on the list were supported by the Church, because that is not what the Apostle is even referring to in this context.

This is the list, not of qualifications of Church support, but rather those that are eligible for ministry.

So, in verses 9-10, the Apostle refers to those widows that are put on that list.

He gives by talking about her life; and in particular, the years of her life.

This list of ministry eligibility for widows could only include those that are 60 years of age or older.

Really this heightens the fact that this list of widows was not a list of those that should receive support.

With further study into the passage, I have changed my perspective on this area.

Something to me did not make sense in my previous perspective.

If a woman in husbandless and it desolate, what does her age have to do with it....that question did not sit well with me in making age a requirement for the Church to help true widows.

When Paul said:

1 Timothy 5:3 AV

Honour widows that are widows indeed.

There is no mention there of an age requirement; in fact, in that entire passage verses 3-8, there is no mention of an age requirement.

The only requirement is that she is truly desolate, is engaged in praise of worship of God and does not live for this worlds pleasure.

Nothing mentioned about her age.

But then I began to think, “Well, Paul gives further requirements for the Church to help widows in verses 9-16; but that did not sit well either.

Why?

And we will exegete these verses later:

1 Timothy 5:11–12 AV

But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith.

Now, nothing in that has to do with financial support of true widows.

So, we understand this verse to be teaching that widows who are on the list of eligible ministry work have to be over 60 years of age; and there are reasons for that, and we will see those later in the text.

But why 60?

Well, this is where it is vital that you understand the culture of the day.

60 was the age, in that culture, where people usually retired from their normal activities of life.

According to Plato, it was at the age of 60 that men and women would become priests or priestesses.

It was also acknowledged that at that age sexual passions began to wane and so the age requirement would ensure that the widows would not be driven by desire.

And older woman would have the time, maturity, character, reputation, and compassion to serve the Lord and the Church.

Unlike the younger widows, would be tempted to abandon her commitment to the Lord and remarry.

So, Paul says for a widow to be eligible to be on the list of qualified minstry works, they need to be 60 or older because 60 was viewed as the age in which a person reached full maturity.

So, her life, her age to be eligible to be on the list of church ministry is 60 or older.

B. Her Love (vs. 9c)

1 Timothy 5:9 AV

Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man,

Now the question, and this is the same question we ran into when we discussed the qualifications of elders and deacons in chapter 3, does this mean that for a widow to be put on the list of eligibility to serve in the minstry of the church she could only be married one time?

That interpretation does not seem to fit the context of the Scripture or the usage in the passage.

First of all, we have a parallel with that of 3:2 and 3:12, where the elder and the deacons were to be “one woman man” the construction is the exact same here, just that the feminine noun appears first before the masculine in chapter 3.

The construction appears here that she is to be a “one man woman.”

Meaning that she is to be totally devoted to her husband.

Further, just as the Scriptures allow for divorce and remarriage under certain circumstances, so the Scriptures allow for the remarriage of widows.

1 Timothy 5:14 AV

I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.

So, Paul would not urge younger widows to remarry just to tell them later in life, “I know that you were encouraged to remarry in your youth, but because you did you are not eligible to serve in the ministries of the Church in your old age.”

Such would make so sense at all and would not fit the pattern of Paul at all.

1 Corinthians 7:39 AV

The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.

So, a one time only marriage cannot be the intent here.

The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Timothy, Titus (3) Warning to Younger Widows (5:9–16)

It is more likely that he was demanding faithfulness during her marriage to the single husband whom she once had. The demand was for lifetime fidelity and not singleness during the remainder of her lifetime.

But the intent here is that if a widow is to be eligible to be on the list of those that are eligible for Church service then they have to been loyal and devoted to their husbands.

Just like is 3:2 and 3:12, this is not a reference to marital status, but fidelity to her husband.

And a widow that did not measure up to that standard would not be the proper role model for the younger women to emulate.

Part of what will prepare her for faithful ministry is a faithful marriage.

This describes a widow:

The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Pastoral Epistles Enrollment of Widows to Be Cared for by the Church; Younger Widows: 5:9–15

“If she has lived in chastity with her husband, no matter whether she has had only one, or whether she was married a second time” (II, 161). Thus the phrase demands a life of sexual and marital fidelity.

In order for this widow to be on the list of those widows who serve in the minstry of the Church, there had to be no promiscuity because of her in her marriage; again, whether she was married once or more than once and was widowed, her marriage or marriages need to reflect faithfulness to her husband.

So, we see the Exceptional Widow that is put on the list of widows that were eligible for service in the Church in her aging, must meet certain requirements.

We see Her Life.

We see Her Love.

C. Her Leisure (vs. 10)

1 Timothy 5:10 AV

Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.