1 Timothy
5:16 Compared with 2 Corinthians 9:13
Hi Brod Rushmore, Greetings! I’m
Omar S. Agustin, member of the
Chruch of Christ in Angeles City, Philippines,
In
1 Timothy 5:16
please explain,
can we use the church treasury for none christian which is widow
whatever age?
Is this text applicable only for the member of the Lord’s
Church? Please
explain 2 Cor. 9:13-14,
the
phrase “unto them and unto all” In Him, Omar S.
Agustin
First Timothy 5:16 is
addressed to Christians who have
widowed parents; the verse is not addressed to the widowed parents.
“If any
believing man or woman has widows” (NKJV).
The purpose of the verse is to prompt Christians to take financial
responsibility for their own widowed parents so that the church does
not have
to undertake that responsibility: “let them relieve them, and
do not let the
church be burdened.” The implication is and further it is
plainly stated that
the church will take financial responsibility for widows who have no
other
financial resources to which they can appeal for their support:
“that it may
relieve those who are really widows.” While the verse
acknowledges that the one
addressed are Christians who have widowed parents, nothing in the verse
says
anything about whether the widowed parents are Christians.
First Timothy 5:16 is similar in
intention to verses
9-14 of this passage in that alternatives are addressed for the
sustenance of
widows so that the financial resources of the church do not have to be
expended
on widows unnecessarily. The church will arise benevolently toward
widows if it
needs to rescue them, but other alternatives ought to be sought first.
First
Timothy 5:8 heads this passage of responsible and financial sustenance
of one’s
family, and biblically, one’s family extends backward as well
as forward. “But
if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his
household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an
unbeliever.”
Second Corinthians 9:13 also discusses
benevolence.
However, the verse mentions benevolence toward Christians and non-Christians: “liberal
sharing with them and all men.” Second
Corinthians 9:13 mirrors Galatians
6:10,
which reads: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do
good to all,
especially to those who are of the household of faith.” While
we have preference
for brethren (Romans 12:10), according to opportunity and available
resources,
the church has an obligation to extend benevolence first to fellow
Christians
who need it, and then to non-Christians as well.
Sanguine Husband and a Choleric WifeI am a Sanguine, my wife is a choleric. So how does one lead a
choleric wife? Ron Kyker, Livermore, Ca
A Christian wife with a proper regard for and
understanding of New Testament teaching about male and female roles in the home
and in the church will submit herself to her husband. “Wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 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. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to
their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ
also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Ephesians 5:22-25). At the
same time, husbands need to recognize and embrace their God-given roles as head
of the home (1 Corinthians 11:3). Irrespective of our personality types, we
have the capacity to obey God and function in the respective male/female roles
he has assigned us.
African Place in Biblical HistorySir, I read the following statement at this web site: https://www.gospelgazette.com/gazette/2001/dec/page2.htm “Therefore, Ethiopia
was at peace with the Roman Empire when in Acts Eight the treasurer of Ethiopia (either as a Gentile proselyte to Judaism
or a Jew whose ancestors sought refuge or business interests in Ethiopia) traveled to Jerusalem for worship. Especially the great
contributions of the Grecian and Roman empires to the so-called civilized world
(e.g., law and order, highways, universal language, common monetary system, postal
service, etc.) permitted introduction of the Gospel in not only Palestine, but in
Europe, Asia and Africa. The background lying behind Acts
8:26-28 when brought to light makes the study of that passage
more rewarding.” I may have read it wrong, but to me, this statement implies that
the Grecian and Roman empires contributed innovations of all types to Africa. This statement is perplexing to me, since in my research,
I’m uncovering evidence that people of African nations founded and established Greek
and Roman cities, and that it is Greek and Roman language that is based on African
languages. Are these statements true? Please refer me to sources. Thank you, Doretha
Riley
Biblical history primarily pertains to a piece of real estate
often referred to as the Fertile Crescent, which extended from the Persian Gulf
west to the Mediterranean Sea and south to Egypt. The shape of this land is crescent
or rainbow in general appearance, arched in the middle. The Fertile Crescent was
well watered with the Euphrates and Tigris
Rivers (as well as other smaller
rivers). North of the Fertile Crescent are high mountains, and south of the Fertile Crescent is desert. A number of countries occupied
and occupy this area of land: Persian (Iran),
Babylon and Assyria (Iraq),
Syria, Lebanon and Palestine (an area rather than a single country),
etc. Biblical history includes besides the Fertile Crescent Italy, Greece and Turkey
as well as Mediterranean islands plus Egypt
and Ethiopia.
In succession, the Fertile Crescent as well as Turkey
(Asia Minor), Greece, Italy and Egypt
were dominated by or affected by the following empires: Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persian,
Greece, Roman. Each
of these empires left some lasting affect, some of which were unintentionally helpful
to the spread of the Gospel and the early church (Christianity). The Medes and Persians
developed a sort of pony express for rapid mail delivery throughout their kingdom.
The Greeks left behind a universally known language (to enable people of different
native languages to communicate). The Romans built 50,000 miles of primary highways
throughout their empire, augmented with 200,000 miles of secondary roads. Virtually
any historical resource that addresses these kingdoms that also appear in biblical history will mention the information just noted.
I am not aware
of what was occurring parallel to the ages mentioned above in areas outside of
inclusion in biblical history (e.g., Africa beyond Ethiopia,
Asia, South America, North America, etc.). The
Roman Empire stopped in Africa at southern Egypt,
having warred with Ethiopia
when Ethiopia attempted to
push Roman occupation from Egypt.
Ethiopia unable to push
Roman occupation from Egypt,
though trying twice, made peace with the Romans. Consequently, because Rome did not desire to extend itself beyond Egypt into Africa, Ethiopia
became the portal for trade between Africa and the Roman
Empire. This proved to be financially advantageous to Ethiopia and Rome.
Regarding
languages, the Bible and modern science concludes that all human languages have
a common parent language, and that the various languages are not only thereby
related, but the feed off each other. Because of the commonality in even what
appear to be drastically dissimilar languages, an unknown language can be
learned by comparison with other languages and common elements in human
language.
When Did the Jewish Nation Begin?Genesis 10:5 (KJV) speaks of the isles of the Gentiles. In
Gen. 11:9 God scattered the people at Babel.
Were all of these still Gentiles? In Gen. 12:2 God tells Abram (Abraham) He
will make of him a great nation, but he does not use the word Hebrew or Jew. When
did the Jewish nation begin? Wanda Miller
Moses, by divine inspiration, wrote the first five
books of the Bible after the establishment of the Jewish nation. When the
historical events occurred that appear in the Book of Genesis, there was not
yet a distinction between Israelites or Jews and Gentiles (everybody else).
However, by the time that Moses wrote the Book of Genesis, there was a
distinction between the Israelites or Jews and the Gentiles. Moses spoke
accommodatively to his fellow Israelites when he spoke of Gentiles in
distinction to himself and his nation.
In addition, the designation of “Jews” was not
contemporaneous with the establishment of the Israelite nation, but came along
years later. (To complicate things a bit more, sometimes the nation of Israel
referred to only ten tribes and not all the tribes, i.e. when for awhile both
Saul’s son and David were kings over different tribes and later when the
Israelite nation split along the same lines following the death of Solomon.)
Abraham is the father of the Jewish or Israelite
nation, as God stated (Joshua 24:3) and first century Jews (and Jewish
Christians) avowed (Luke 1:73; 16:24, 30; John 8:53, 56; Acts 7:2; Romans 4:12),
but Abraham never saw the promises made to him (Genesis 12:2) respecting the
nation of Israel come to fruition in his lifetime. The only land that Abraham
owned as far as we know was the burial cave purchased to bury Sarah (Acts
7:16).
Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, underwent a divinely given name
change to “Israel”
(Genesis 32:28). Though through Jacob whose name was changed to Israel that name came into being, Jacob (Israel) did not live to see the establishment of
the nation of Israel.
Only about 70 souls of Jacob’s family came to dwell in a section in Egypt called Goshen (Deuteronomy 10:22; Acts 7:15). However, over the years while in Egypt, the descendants of the man Israel
experienced a population explosion (Genesis 7:17). Moses led “the children of Israel” out of Egypt
and inaugurated a solemn covenant with God at Mt. Sinai
(Acts 7:37-38). Now, Israel
was a nation.
The term “Jews” first referred to members of the tribe
of Judah
(2 Kings 16:6). After the Babylonian captivity, the word Jew became synonymous
with all the surviving descendants of the Israelite nation that formerly made
its exodus from Egypt and
settled Palestine.
This was the way in which the term was applied in the New Testament literally
(Romans 1:16; 2:9). However, aside from physical ancestry, today, under
Christianity, a true Jew is equivalent to a Christian (Romans 2:28-29; 9:6).
Christians are Jews today spiritually.
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