Caring for the Aged and Widowed
Nature herself teaches us that age demands dignity and honour. Older the redwoods, it’s more majestic. The older wines and cheeses are, the more they are praised and honoured for taste. Should it not hold true that the older a man, the more he is to be appreciated by others. I am convinced that young people are missing one of the greatest opportunities available when they do not get to know the elderly and associate with them. All too soon these towering pillars of faith and wisdom will pass from our midst and the loss will be tremendous.
Proverbs 23:22 tell us “Listen to your father. Without him, you would never have been born. Respect your mother, even when she is old”. In Isaiah 46:4, we study “I will be your God throughout your lifetime, until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you.
Genesis 47: 1-12, describes how Joseph’s family officially arrived as landowners in Egypt and also we see his care for his family
Joseph went in to Pharaoh and said, “My father and my brothers and all their families are here. They have all their animals and everything they own from the land of Canaan* with them. They are now in the land of Goshen.” Joseph chose five of his brothers to be with him before the Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to the brothers, “What work do you do?” The brothers said to Pharaoh, “Sir, we are shepherds, just as our ancestors* were shepherds before us.” They said to Pharaoh, “The famine* is very bad in Canaan. There are no fields left with grass for our animals, so we have come to live in this land. We ask you to please let us live in Goshen.” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. You can choose any place in Egypt for them to live. Give your father and your brothers the best land. Let them live in the land of Goshen. And if they are skilled shepherds, they can also care for my cattle.” Then Joseph called his father Jacob to come in to meet Pharaoh. Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh said to him, “How old are you?” Jacob said to Pharaoh, “I have had a short life with many troubles. I am only 130 years old. My father and his ancestors lived to be much older than I am.” Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and left from his meeting with him. Joseph did what Pharaoh said and gave his father and brothers land in Egypt. It was the best land in Egypt, in the eastern part of the country, around Rameses. Joseph also gave his father, his brothers, and all their people the food they needed.
How should a Widow be treated?
The Bible says widows are to be treated with honour and compassion and offered protection so that no one takes advantage of them. God has a plan for widows; we see it in Proverb 15:25, God would tear down the house of the wicked, self-righteous, and overconfident, but he would keep watch and defend the helpless widow. And not only the widow but the fatherless children as well.
In Ruth 1st chapter, we see Ruth’s love and care for her mother-in-law
The opening of the Book of Ruth begins with sorrow. When a famine devasted Bethlehem, Naomi and her husband sojourned in Moab and their two sons took Moabite wives named Ruth and Orpah. But after a decade, the women were left alone in the world when their husbands passed away.
Naomi, hearing of the Lord’s faithfulness to his people in the land of Judah, decided to set out to return there. Both Ruth and Orpah insisted on accompanying her, but she told them to return to their own mothers instead. Hearing this, Orpah kissed Naomi, and left, but Ruth “clung to her,” refusing to leave her side.
The story of Ruth teaches us that hardships are opportunities to turn to God in faith. God can take a hopeless situation and turn it in to something glorious.
1Timothy 5:3-8, tells us
Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. Give the people these instructions, so that no one may be opening to blame. Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
God honours widows and treats them with compassion, believers should do the same: “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:17).
