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I am not suggesting that every verse applies to all of us today)

What the Bible Teaches About Orphans, Widows & the PoorĪ few questions must be asked: Does the Bible emphasize care for orphans, widows and the poor? Did it cease at one point or does it continue on into today? Consider the following as I seek to make a case that we can easily observe God’s special interest in the care of orphans, widows and the poor through the Bible. This has been a challenge to my heart as for much of my Christian life I have personally failed to see the orphans, widows and the poor how God sees them.įirst, we will look at what the Bible itself teaches on the topic, and second, I will attempt to respond to what I see as a false dichotomy we often create between the responsibility to spread the Gospel and the responsibility to care for orphans, widows and the poor. The purpose of this blog is to highlight one area of personal imbalance in my life- the Biblical topic of orphans, widows and the poor and to show that the Bible consistently reveals to us that God has a special interest in their care and calls us to the same. So we systematize, summarize, synthesize, generalize, emphasize (sometime over-emphasize, sometimes under-emphasize), but when we place ourselves under the Scriptures as students willing to be corrected, studying it with open eyes and a humble heart, it corrects our imbalances it confronts our lives and our theology. However, if we are not careful we can become so content with our own systems that we neglect to keep studying the Bible and allowing those systems be confronted by Scripture itself. This is not a bad thing (I am about to do it in this very blog) it is actually very helpful and necessary. We say things like, “Throughout the Bible God is always…” Or “The Bible teaches that…” and then we fill in those blanks with some action on God’s part or a topic on the Bible’s part that we see as general truths. Wayne Grudem at the outset of his Systematic Theology argues that each one of us “does” systematic theology without realizing it. Then I slow down from my once zealous pursuit of studying through the whole of Scriptures to continue to know Him more deeply and be confronted by Him content on being an expert on my pet topics while remaining shallow in numerous other areas.

The problem is that I can become content with getting to a point in my life where I feel that I sufficiently know and understand the Bible, and that I know and understand God Himself at a deep enough level. We all have our favorite verses, our favorite topics and our favorite soap boxes. Paul writes to Timothy in his second letter this familiar statement, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” It has continually confronted areas of my life and my understanding of God that have been unchallenged. The result of this study has been life-transforming. I came up with a plan of study that would ensure that I spent time all over the Bible instead of just focusing on what had become my favorite parts. Three years ago I began a journey through the Bible that would take me through its entirety in depth over the span of five years (which is now actually looking to be six).