Wha t Place Does the Bible Give to Widows?
By MRS. PETER VAN WINKLE
Ruth and Naomi Two of the most famous widows of Bible history
M ANY widows were in Israel” (Luke 4:25), and many widows are in the world today. This multitude, composed of old and young, rich and obscured in the depths of poverty — each was once beloved be yond the whole earth—each, of one heart at least, was a queen. Now they are dethroned, occupying a unique and piti able position, their tragedy not appre ciated by those who have never suffered the bitterness of flesh torn asunder (Matt. 19:5). Though most to be com passionated, they are instead the par ticular prey of the unscrupulous, and victims of the fraudulent. But our Lord has a special, tender care for them. There are many refer ences to them in the Bible. In Exodus (22:22) the people were enjoined not to afflict any widow; hut if any were af flicted “ and they cry at all unto me” said Jehovah, “ I will surely hear their cry.” Many a man who would not think of worshiping an idol, will oppress a widow; yet these two things are classed together as ways Israel was to amend (Jer. 7:6). “ To devour the houses of widows” was one of the practices of the hypocritical scribes, and our Lord warned His followers to beware of such (Matt. 23:14 and Mark 12:40). In James 1:27 we are told what pure reli gion is, the first requisite being “ to visit the fatherless and widows in their af fliction.” Widows, who have each re ceived the highest honor it was in the power of one man to bestow, we are all to honor, if they are widows indeed (1 Tim. 5:3). In the early church they were a class apart. Not only did they receive daily ministration from the church itself, but individuals also ministered to them. There was a certain disciple named Tabitha who was “ full of good works and alms-deeds which she did” (Acts 9:36), and these seem to have consisted largely, if not altogether, in services to the widows of the church, who stood by, after her death, weeping and showing the coats and garments she had made. Her name means a gazelle and that little antelope has a tuft of hair at the knee. I think Dorcas knelt in prayer be fore going about her good works. The accounts of the widows in the Bible are interesting and instructive, and we will examine several for the les sons their lives will teach us.
Tamar Genesis 3 8
Tamar was twice a widow, and she was an ancestress of our Lord (Matt. 1:3). Her history is rich in symbolism. Her name means a palm tree, which is so called because the leaf resembles the palm of the outstretched hand—always a type of need, supplication, desire. And desire was the great characteristic of Tamar. This dissatisfaction was stressed beyond all individual craving because Tamar, whether a Jewess or not, had the sentiments of her husband’s people. To Hebrew women to be a mother was not merely one desire among many, but “ the” desire (Dan. 11:37), for she cher ished the hope that she might become the mother of the Messiah. Tamar’s husbands, Er (Enmity) and Onan (Iniquity) were wicked men and the Lord slew them. Then her father-in- law, Judah, promised to follow the pa triarchal custom in Israel (Ruth 4) and give her in marriage to his son Shelah. But this promise, like so many promises to widows, was broken. According to the custom, Judah, himself, being next of kin, might have married her. But having broken his promise to her as to Shelah, having disregarded hjs duty to her as a near kinsman and having en tered into guilty relationship with her, he would have had her burnt to death! But Judah’s sin had taken place at Enaim, “ The Door of Eyes,” by the way to Timnath, “ Thou wilt behold,” and though he thought lightly of it, God, who shall judge the secrets of men (Rom. 2:16), had been at the door of eyes and had beheld; and now Judah was publicly confronted by the evidences of his guilt; and a bitter confession was wrung from him: “ She hath been more righteous than I.” That the grace of God triumphed over this disgraceful history, we learn from the New Testament where Tamar’s name appears in the genealogy of our Lord as the mother of Phares and Zara. It was contrary to all custom that a woman’s name should appear at all. Sarah’s name is not mentioned, nor Rebekah’s nor Rachel’s; but Tamar’s is given and that of both her twin sons, as if to call attention to the circumstances of their birth. For Tamar is a type of the sinner brought into connection with the Saviour by sin. And so every sinner’s name may be written in the book of life, for “who soever will may come.”
Ruth The Book o f Ruth
In happy contrast to the history of Tamar is the enchanting story of Ruth. The lovely character of this young wid ow, so attractive and so pious, has been admired for centuries. She was not only a Gentile but one of an accursed race, the Moabites. She was brought into con tact with Israel by her marriage to Mahlon, her first husband. His parents had left Bethlehem-Judah (House of Bread-Praise) and had gone to sojourn in Moab, where Elimelech died and both his sons; and from this time, closely interwoven with the history of Ruth, is that of her mother-in-law. There was a remarkable attachment existing be tween these two women, partly because both were believers in the true God; but principally perhaps because Mahlon had respect for those strange and startling words spoken by Adam before a father or mother existed: “ For this cause shall a man leave father and mother.” Dis regard for these words accounts for much of the friction in this relationship. Naomi’s character seems to have been as “pleasant” and “ delightful” as her name means, but she became temporarily embittered by her trials. Perhaps it was without her consent that she went from the “House *of Bread” to sojourn in Moab which means “ fatherless.” There she lost her husband and was afterward brought face to face with a dire calam ity—the “quenching of her coal” (2 Sam. 14:7). Nothing worse could befall a Hebrew woman than to die without descendants; and Naomi little knew how God would work through her daughter- in-law who was better to her than seven sons, to give her a legal heir and a “nourisher of her old age” (Ruth 4:15). So with bitterness in the heart of one at least, the three widows set out to return to the land of Judah. Chilion’s widow turned back to her people and her gods; but Ruth, in accordance with her name which means satisfied, clung to Naomi and to faith in Naomi’s God. God rewarded the faith that left be hind father and mother and native land to follow a mother-in-law to a strange country and an alien race. In Bethlehem, Ruth was married to Boaz, a mighty T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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