The doctrine of widows

1. Definition. A widow is a woman who has lost her husband by death. A widow is also a woman who has legitimately divorced her husband under one of four kinds. A widow is also someone who has divorced her husband under no legitimate count. But a widow is a woman who has had at least one husband. She is then the female survivor of a marriage. In our context she represents a very helpless situation on the one hand and a very dangerous situation on the other.

2. The principles of protection of the helpless apply to widows and children — Exodus 22:22. God Himself protects widows and orphans in the helpless category — Psalm 68:5,6; 146:9. God punishes those who attack or abuse the helpless — Psalm 94:6-12. Divine judgement is pronounced on those who bully and abuse the helpless — Malachi 3:5.

3. The law of the levirate marriage.

a) It was considered a tragedy in Israel for a man to die without an heir.

b) It was desirable to perpetuate the name of everyone in Israel and avoid the inheritance transferring to another family.

c) Therefore a law. The law is derived from the Latin word levir which means the dead man’s brother or the husband’s brother.

d) It was the custom when a Jew died without male issue or male heir that his nearest relative, generally his brother, should marry his widow and continue the family of the deceased man so that every family in Israel would be perpetuated.

e) The firstborn son of the marriage between the deceased man’s brother and his widow would be the man’s heir to perpetuate his line.

f) Therefore the family name is perpetuated through this stated law which is found in some detail in Deuteronomy 25:5-10.

g) A pre-Mosaic law illustration. The levirate marriage actually occurred before the law was stated — Genesis 38:6-11. This same levirate law of marriage was used by the Sadducees to attempt to discredit the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 22:23-33. The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection so they used the levirate law to try to trip up our Lord regarding resurrection.

4. Widows are used in the condemnation of the Pharisees. The Pharisees who were highly religious and full of all kinds of pious activity had abused the most helpless class, the widows. So: Matthew 23:14. The same principle is found in Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.

5. Widows and the origin of deacons. The origin of deacons in the local church came out of a problem regarding widows — Acts 6:1-6.

6. The apostle Paul advises widows to remain unmarried — 1 Corinthians 7:8,9.

7. Paul indicates widows qualified for support in the local church — 1 Timothy 5:3-16.