Editor's note:
In the audio of this Bible study, two videos are
played. I was not able to play these in the
open as the audience would receive feedback.
When you hear on the audio of this lesson the
introduction of each tape, pause the audio and play
the links provided below. After the first
video, run the audio up 40 seconds and resume.
After the second video, run the audio up 2 minutes
and 15 second and resume.
Let us read the first 8 verses of the chapter:
1 Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father;
and the younger men as brethren;
2 The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.
3 Honour widows that are widows indeed.
4 But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to
shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and
acceptable before God.
5 Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and
continueth in supplications and prayers night and day.
6 But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.
7 And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless.
8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own
house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
CHURCH AND FAMILY DUTY
Honour widows who are genuinely in a widow’s
destitute position. But if any widow has children or
grandchildren, let such children learn to begin by
discharging the duties of religion in their own
homes; and let them learn to give a return for all
that their parents have done for them; for this is
the kind of conduct that meets with God’s approval.
Now she who is genuinely in the position of a widow,
and who is left all alone, has set her hope on God,
and night and day she devotes herself to petitions
and prayers. But she who lives with voluptuous
wantonness is dead even though she is still alive.
Pass on these instructions that they may be
irreproachable. If anyone fails to provide for his
own people, and especially for the members of his
own family, he has denied the faith and is worse
than an unbeliever.
THE Christian Church inherited a fine tradition of
charity to those in need. No nation has ever cared
more for the needy and the elderly than the Jews.
Advice is now given for the care of widows. There
may well have been two classes of women here. There
were certainly widows who had become widows in the
normal way by the death of their husbands. But it
was not uncommon in the Gentile world, in certain
places, for a man to have more than one wife. When a
man became a Christian, he could not go on being a
polygamist, and therefore he had to choose which
wife he was going to live with. That meant that some
wives had to be sent away, and they were clearly in
a very unfortunate position. It may be that such
women as these were also considered to be widows and
were given the support of the Church. Jewish law
laid it down that at the time of his marriage a man
ought to make provision for his wife, should she
become a widow. The very first office-bearers whom
the Christian Church appointed had this duty of
caring fairly for the widows (Acts 6:1). Ignatius
lays it down: ‘Let not widows be neglected. After
the Lord be thou their guardian.’ The Apostolic
Constitutions direct the bishop: ‘O bishop, be
mindful of the needy, both reaching out thy helping
hand and making provision for them as the steward of
God, distributing the offerings seasonably to every
one of them, to the widows, the orphans, the
friendless, and those tried with affliction.’ The
same book has an interesting and kindly instruction:
‘If anyone receives any service to carry to a widow
or poor woman . . . let him give it the same day.’
As the proverb has it, ‘He gives twice who gives
quickly’ – and the Church was concerned that those
in poverty should not have to remain in need while
one of its servants delayed.
It is to be noted that the Church did not propose to
assume responsibility for older people whose
children were alive and well able to support them.
The ancient world was very definite that it was the
duty of children to support elderly parents; and, as
E. K. Simpson has pointed out in his commentary, ‘A
religious profession which falls below the standard
of duty recognized by the world is a wretched
fraud.’ The Church would never have agreed that its
charity should become an excuse for children to
evade their responsibility.
The New Testament ethical writers were certain that
support of parents was an essential part of
Christian duty. It is something to be remembered. We
live in a time when even the most sacred duties are
pushed on to the state and when we expect, in so
many cases, public charity to do what private piety
ought to do. As the Pastorals see it, help given to
a parent is two things. First, it is an honouring of
the recipient. It is the only way in which children
can demonstrate the esteem that they feel. Second,
it is an admission of the claims of love. It is
repaying love received in time of need with love
given in time of need; and only with love can love
be repaid.
There remains one thing left to say, and to leave it
unsaid would be unfair. This passage goes on to lay
down certain of the qualities of the people whom the
Church is called upon to support. What is true of
the Church is true within the family. If a
person is to be supported, that person must be
supportable. If a parent is taken into the home of a
son or daughter and then by inconsiderate conduct
causes nothing but trouble, another situation
arises. There is a double duty here – the duty of
the child to support the parent, and the duty of the
parent to behave in such a way that that support is
possible within the structure of the home.
~this text from the Barclay
Commentary
Now to the commentaries...
1 Timothy 5:6
But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she
liveth.
Most commentaries break this verse into two parts:
1] But she that liveth in
pleasure.
2] Is dead while she liveth.
Let us find the meaning here. Let us also see if
there are messages here for all firstfruits.
1] But she that
liveth in pleasure.
But she that liveth in
pleasure - Margin, “delicately.” The Greek
word (spatalaō)
occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, except in
James 5:5, “Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth.”
It properly means to live in luxury, voluptuously;
to indulge freely in eating and drinking; to yield
to the indulgence of the appetites. It does not
indicate grossly criminal pleasures; but the kind of
pleasure connected with luxurious living, and with
pampering the appetites. It is probable that in the
time of the apostle, there were professedly
Christian widows who lived in this manner - as there
are such professing Christians of all kinds in every
age of the world. ~Barnes
Notes
Quoted verse:
Let me read from the beginning of the chapter:
James 5:1-5
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your
miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are
motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of
them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat
your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure
together for the last days.
4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped
down your fields, which is of you kept back by
fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have
reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of
sabaoth.
5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been
wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day
of slaughter.
Let us look at the commentary for this quoted verse
5:
Ye have lived in
pleasure on the earth - One of the
things to which the rich are peculiarly
addicted. Their wealth is supposed to be of
value, because it furnishes them the means
of doing it. Compare Luke 12:19; Luke 16:19.
The word translated “lived in pleasure, (truphaō)
occurs only here in the New Testament. It
means, to live delicately, luxuriously, at
ease. There is not in the word essentially
the idea or vicious indulgence, but that
which characterizes those who live for
enjoyment. They lived in ease and affluence
on the avails of the labors of others; they
indulged in what gratified the taste, and
pleased the ear and the eye, while those who
contributed the means of this were groaning
under oppression. A life of mere indolence [habitual
laziness, sloth] and ease, of
delicacy [refinement]
and luxury, is nowhere countenanced [supported
or approved] in the Bible; and
even where unconnected with oppression and
wrong to others, such a mode of living is
regarded as inconsistent with the purpose
for which God made man, and placed him on
the earth. Every man has high and solemn
duties to perform, and there is enough to be
done on earth to give employment to every
human being, and to fill up every hour in a
profitable and useful way.
~Barnes Notes
Quoted verses:
Luke 12:19
And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast
much goods laid up for many years; take
thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
Luke 16:19
--Lazarus and the
Rich Man
There was a certain rich man, which was
clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared
sumptuously every day:
And been wanton
- This word now probably conveys to most
minds a sense which is not in the original.
Our English word is now commonly used in the
sense of “lewd, lustful, lascivious.” It
was, however, formerly used in the sense of
“sportive, joyous, gay,” and was applied to
anything that was variable or fickle. The
Greek word used here (spatalaō)
means, to live luxuriously or voluptuously [devoted
to or indulging in sensual pleasures].
Compare the notes at 1 Timothy 5:6, where
the word is explained. It does not refer
necessarily to gross criminal pleasures,
though the kind of living here referred to
often leads to such indulgences. There is a
close connection between what the apostle
says here, and what he refers to in the
previous verses - the oppression of others,
and the withholding of what is due to those
who labor. Such acts of oppression and wrong
are commonly resorted to in order to obtain
the means of luxurious living, and the
gratification of sensual pleasures. In all
countries where slavery exists, the things
here referred to are found in close
connection. The fraud and wrong by which the
reward of hard toil is withheld from the
slave is connected with indolence and
sensual indulgence on the part of the
master. ~Barnes
Notes
Quoted verse:
1 Timothy 5:6
...the verse of this lesson.
Videos:
I want to play for you a couple of videos.
Both capture this idea of excess desire and
greed in the world and what we see in this
widow of verse 6 of 1 Timothy 5 The
first is from the movie, "Wall Street" and
the now famous, "Greed is good" speech as
delivered by actor, Michael Douglas as
Gordon Gekko. Click
here to play this 45-second video.
The second video is from a Phil Donahue
interview of Milton Friedman, an American
economist, statistician and author who
taught at the University of Chicago for more
than three decades. It runs for 2:24.
Click
here to play this video.
Note: If you are listening to the
audio of this lesson, click the Pause
button, play the video and then resume the
audio, first running it up 40 seconds for
the first video and 2 minutes 20 seconds for
the second.
Ye have nourished your
hearts - Or, yourselves - the word
hearts here being equivalent to themselves.
The meaning is, that they appeared to have
been fattening themselves, like stall-fed
beasts, for the day of slaughter. As cattle
are carefully fed, and are fattened with a
view to their being slaughtered, so they
seemed to have been fattoned for the
slaughter that was to come on them - the day
of vengeance. Thus many now live. They do no
work; they contribute nothing to the good of
society; they are mere consumers - and, like
stall-fed cattle, they seem to live only
with reference to the day of slaughter.
~Barnes Notes with
slight editing by us.
As in a day of
slaughter - There has been much
variety in the interpretation of this
expression. Robinson (lex.)
renders it, “like beasts in the day of
slaughter, without care or forethought.”
Rosenmuller (Morgenland)
supposes that it means, as in a festival;
referring, as he thinks, to the custom among
the ancients of having a feast when a part
of the animal was consumed in sacrifice, and
the rest was eaten by the worshippers. So
Benson. On such occasions, indulgence was
given to appetite almost without limit; and
the idea then would be, that they had given
themselves up to a life of pampered luxury.
But probably the more correct idea is, that
they had fattened themselves as for the day
of destruction; that is, as animals are
fattened for slaughter. They lived only to
eat and drink, and to enjoy life. But, by
such a course, they were as certainly
preparing for perdition, as cattle were
prepared to be killed by being stall-fed.
~Barnes Notes |
Now back to the commentaries on this first part
of the verse, "But she that liveth in pleasure."
But she that liveth in
pleasure - She that liveth delicately -
voluptuously indulging herself with dainties; it
does not indicate grossly criminal pleasures; but
simply means one who indulges herself in good eating
and drinking, pampering her body at the expense of
her mind. The word is used in reference to what we
term petted and spoiled children; and a remarkable
passage, is produced by Kypke, from an epistle of
Theanus to Eubulus, found in Opusc. Myth. Galaei,
page 741, where he says: “What can be done with that
boy, who, if he have not food when and as he
pleases, bursts out into weeping; and, if he eats,
must have dainties and sweetmeats? If the weather be
hot he complains of fatigue; if it be cold, he
trembles; if he be reproved, he scolds; if every
thing be not provided for him according to his wish,
he is enraged. If he eats not, he breaks out into
fits of anger. He basely indulges himself in
pleasure; and in every respect acts voluptuously and
effeminately. Knowing then, O friend, that boys
living thus voluptuously, when they grow up are wont
to become slaves; take away, therefore, such
pleasures from them.” I have introduced this long
quotation, the better to fix the meaning of the
apostle, and to show that the life of pleasure
mentioned here does not mean prostitution or
uncleanness of any kind, though such a life may
naturally lead to dissolute manners.
~Adam Clarke
Now to the second part of this verse:
2] Is dead while
she liveth.
Is dead while she liveth
- To all the proper purposes of life she is as if
she were dead. There is great emphasis in this
expression, and nothing could convey more forcibly
the idea that true happiness is not to be found in
the pleasure of sense. There is nothing in them that
answers the purposes of life. They are not the
objects for which life was given, and as to the
great and proper designs of existence, such persons
might as well be dead.
~Barnes Notes
Is dead while she liveth
- No purpose of life is answered by the existence of
such a person. Seneca, in Epist. 60, says of
pleasure-takers, and those who live a voluptuous
life: “We rank such persons with brutes, not with
men; and some of them not even with brutes, but with
dead carcasses. They anticipate their own death.”
Such persons are, as the apostle says elsewhere,
dead in trespasses, and dead in sins.
~Adam Clarke
Let us finish with some quotes on riotous living:
Proverbs 23:20
Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of
flesh:
Proverbs 28:7
Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son: but he that is
a companion of riotous men shameth his father.
Luke 15:13
And not many days after the younger son gathered all
together, and took his journey into a far country,
and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
“The proximity of a desirable thing tempts one to
overindulgence. On that path lies danger.”
Clogged with yesterday's excess, the body drags the
mind down with it.
“Everything in excess is opposed to nature.”
Luke 12:15
And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of
covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the
abundance of the things which he possesseth. |