Chapter Twenty: Orphans and Widows

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Chapter Twenty: Orphans and Widows

 

Orphans and Widows, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith

Philippians 3:9–11 (NASB95)
9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,
10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

James 2:14–22 (NASB95)
14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;

From Cover to Cover in the bible there is this constant of faith and works with God

Job 29:11–17 (NASB95) The Patriarchs
11 “For when the ear heard, it called me blessed, And when the eye saw, it gave witness of me,
12 Because I delivered the poor who cried for help, And the orphan who had no helper.
13 “The blessing of the one ready to perish came upon me, And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
14 “I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban.
15 “I was eyes to the blind And feet to the lame.
16 “I was a father to the needy, And I investigated the case which I did not know.
17 “I broke the jaws of the wicked And snatched the prey from his teeth.

Job 31:16–23 (NASB95)
16 “If I have kept the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the orphan has not shared it
18 (But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And from infancy I guided her),
19 If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering,
20 If his loins have not thanked me, And if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
21 If I have lifted up my hand against the orphan, Because I saw I had support in the gate,
22 Let my shoulder fall from the socket, And my arm be broken off at the elbow.
23 “For calamity from God is a terror to me, And because of His majesty I can do nothing.

Leviticus 19:9–10 (NASB95) The Law of Moses
9 ‘Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.
10 ‘Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 14:28–29 (NASB95)
28 “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.
29 “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.

Isaiah 1:12–17 (NASB95) The Prophets
12 “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts?
13 “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.
14 “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.
15 “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.

Isaiah 58:6–7 (NASB95)
6 “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke?
7 “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Ezekiel 16:49–50 (NASB95)
49 “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.
50 “Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it.

Daniel 4:24–27 (NASB95)
24 this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king:
25 that you be driven away from mankind and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.
26 ‘And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is Heaven that rules.
27 ‘Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.’

Luke 3:9–11 (NASB95) New Testament
9 “Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?”
11 And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.”

Luke 14:12–14 (NASB95)
12 And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment.
13 “But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
14 and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Joel 3:1–3 (NASB95)
1 “For behold, in those days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all the nations And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land.
3 “They have also cast lots for My people, Traded a boy for a harlot And sold a girl for wine that they may drink.

Matthew 25:31–46 (NASB95) Sheep and Goat nations
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.
32 “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;
43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’
45 “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
46 “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

James 1:27 (NASB95) Two parts!
27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: (1)to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and (2)to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Salvation is religion

Salvation is what God does for us, religion is what God requires from us in return.

James 4:17 (NASB95)
17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

One can be condemned not just for what one did but what one did not do.

General Promises for the caring for the poor

Proverbs 19:17 (NASB95)
17 One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, And He will repay him for his good deed.

Proverbs 31:20 (NASB95) A virtuous woman
20 She extends her hand to the poor, And she stretches out her hands to the needy.

Warnings!

Proverbs 21:13 (NASB95)
13 He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor Will also cry himself and not be answered.

Proverbs 28:27 (NASB95)
27 He who gives to the poor will never want, But he who shuts his eyes will have many curses.

Isaiah 42:3–4 (NASB95)
3 “A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 “He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”

Amos 6:1–7 (NASB95)
1 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion And to those who feel secure in the mountain of Samaria, The distinguished men of the foremost of nations, To whom the house of Israel comes.
2 Go over to Calneh and look, And go from there to Hamath the great, Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms, Or is their territory greater than yours?
3 Do you put off the day of calamity, And would you bring near the seat of violence?
4 Those who recline on beds of ivory And sprawl on their couches, And eat lambs from the flock And calves from the midst of the stall,
5 Who improvise to the sound of the harp, And like David have composed songs for themselves,
6 Who drink wine from sacrificial bowls While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils, Yet they have not grieved over the ruin of Joseph.
7 Therefore, they will now go into exile at the head of the exiles, And the sprawlers’ banqueting will pass away.

Two idols currently in the modern church are comfort and convenience

Colossians 3:23–24 (NASB95)
23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

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Written by Dr. DeCarol